陕北靖边五庄果墚动物遗存及古环境分析

五庄果墚遗址位于陕西省靖边县黄蒿界乡小界村西北,距离靖边县城约30公里.遗址面积约30万平方米以上,现为省级文物保护单位.     

The shell game: analytic problems in archaeological mollusc quantification

MNI calculations for archaeological molluscs that rely on counts of non-repetitive elements (NREs) are popular for their analytic speed and efficiency. Yet the reliability of this approach as compared to ‘traditionally’ calculated MNI has not been explored. Here, I examine these approaches using data from the Caribbean coastal midden site of Grand Bay, Carriacou. Results suggest that an NRE-based approach to MNI calculation can be unreliable under certain circumstances. In addition, dependence on the NRE-based method may hinder the integration of invertebrate with vertebrate data, obscuring a holistic understanding of prehistoric diet and resource exploitation. These findings are discussed in relation to practical constraints and fulfillment of zooarchaeological goals.     

Estimating meagre (Argyrosomus regius) size from otoliths and vertebrae

This study presents a method for predicting meagre (Argyrosomus regius) body size (total length) from otoliths and vertebrae recovered from archaeological sites. The method involves regression equations calculated from a reference collection of 36 meagre skeletons and 113 meagre otoliths (sagitta) and allows the simultaneous estimation of original body size and minimum number of individuals (MNI) from archaeological bone structures. We selected the following measurements to predict meagre body size: greatest dorso-ventral height, greatest mediolateral breadth, and greatest anteroposterior length of the vertebrae centra; maximum anteroposterior length, medial anteroposterior length, and dorso-ventral height of the sagitta. Our results show that the original body size of meagre can be accurately predicted from many bone measurements (r² range: 0.921–0.992). We exemplify the use of the regressions in the assessment of size variation and MNI of meagre from four Portuguese Mesolithic sites. We show that regression results provide additional insight into the significant role that this fish played in the subsistence of coastal fisher-hunter-gatherers, who targeted medium-sized animals but were also capable of acquiring rather larger specimens.     

The hunted hunter: the capture of a lion (Panthera leo fossilis) at the Gran Dolina site,Sierra de Atapuerca,Spain

Many Pleistocene caves and rock shelters contain evidence of carnivore and human activities. For this reason, it is common to recover at these sites faunal remains left by both biological agents. In order to explain the role that carnivores play at the archaeological sites it is necessary to analyse several elements, such as the taxonomical and skeletal representation, the age profiles, the ratio of NISP to MNI, the anthropogenic processing marks on the carcasses (location and purpose of cutmarks and burning and bone breakage patterns), carnivore damage (digested bones, location and frequencies of toothmarks and bone breakage), length of the long bones, frequencies of coprolites and vertical distribution of the faunal remains, inter alia. From this, the documentation of carnivores in a faunal assemblage with a clear anthropogenic component can be understood from three main phenomena: (1) the carnivores as accumulators and the use of the site as a den; (2) carnivores as scavengers of hominid refuse and; (3) carnivores as hominids’ prey. Of these three phenomena, the last one is the least documented at the Middle Pleistocene sites. From this perspective, here we present the case of the anthropogenic use of a lion (Panthera leo fossilis) from level TD10-1 of Gran Dolina (MIS 9, Sierra de Atapuerca, Burgos, Spain). The lion bone remains show signs of direct interaction between this big cat and human groups that occupied Gran Dolina in these chronologies. From this perspective, the aim of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge of the role developed by large carnivores in the anthropogenic contexts and to provide data on human use of these predators at the European Middle Pleistocene sites.     

The Ethnoarchaeology of Reptile Remains at a Lake Turkana Occupation Site, Kenya

The role of reptiles in hominid hunter–gatherer subsistence in Pleistocene Africa has been largely overlooked. This study examines the reptile component of a modern lake shore camp (site 20) assemblage of low archaeological visibility. Site 20, located on the eastern shore of Lake Turkana, has been observed from its creation to burial. The site is an ideal modern analogue for the interpretation of African prehistoric archaeological sites. Patterns of element loss, and patterns of bone modifications, namely burn, cut and slice marks, are examined. From this baseline data, three conclusions are drawn regarding the interpretability of reptile remains found at archaeological lakeside sites: (1) the MNI of crocodile remains at a site is likely to be similar to the original number of individuals which contributed to the deposited assemblage; (2) the MNI estimates of the turtle component will be much less than the original number of individuals in the deposited assemblage; and (3) patterns of bone modifications can be related to hominid food procurement and processing activities.     

The use of dental criteria for estimating postnatal survival in skeletal remains of infants

Separate cemeteries and/or burial loci for infants have been variously interpreted as reflecting segregation by age, infanticide or even child sacrifice. Attempts to distinguish between these factors rely primarily on the age distribution found. Currently long bone length is the most commonly used method for fetuses and infants in the perinatal period, but its accuracy is affected by the inherent variation in size for age. We show here how to distinguish between death in the perinatal period and that occurring later in infancy through identification of the neonatal line in ground sections of deciduous teeth. The methodology is reviewed and applied to validate estimations of postnatal survival for infant remains recovered from two archaeological sites in Israel.     

Food for thought: using game cameras to better understand the movement of bones by scavenging in archaeological faunal assemblages

This paper questions our understanding of the movement of bones by animal scavengers in the archaeological record. Since assumptions regarding the effects of animal scavenging shape final interpretations of skeletal element frequencies in archaeological faunal assemblages, they are important for our understanding and reconstruction of ancient human behaviour. The results of a 4-year actualistic kangaroo scavenging study from Australia are used to question our understanding of the movement of the bone by contrasting visual data captured by motion-activated digital game cameras with traditional taphonomic studies using skeletal element frequencies. Game cameras are commonly used by ecologists to capture the behaviour of living species but have not yet been used in experimental archaeology where visually documenting animal scavenging behaviour can be used to understand the movement of carcasses and individual bones. Results suggest that traditional zooarchaeological analyses may not be accurate indicators of hunted versus scavenged prey in archaeological faunal assemblages. Moreover, they most certainly fail to document the entire suite of animals scavenging a carcass. These implications are discussed with particular reference to the ability to definitively ascertain the role of humans in the megafaunal extinction debate in Australia.     

Assessing the reliability of pRIA for identifying ancient proteins from archaeological contexts

The use of immunological techniques for identifying the origin of proteins and inferring foodstuffs exploited by prehistoric occupations has been conducted for several decades. Cases of experimental laboratory and archaeological studies have shown the potential of these techniques for reliable results. However, very few of these case studies employ archaeological sites that have excellent preservation and high-resolution spatial contexts between identifiable faunal remains, features, and stone tools. We present an assessment of the identification reliability of one immunological technique, protein radioimmunoassay (pRIA), using faunal remains and stone tools from two sites from arctic and subarctic contexts. The results of this research indicate that, even in contexts with excellent preservation, the identifications produced by the pRIA technique are subject to misidentification and cross-reactions due to diagenetic alteration of proteins. We propose a higher minimum reaction value (percent binding of labeled antibody) that mitigates these effects, and renders the pRIA results more reliable for ancient, poorly preserved organic remains.     

From Alloy Composition to Alloying Practice: Chinese Bronzes

We propose a new methodology based on standard statistical processes for displaying and rigorously comparing the alloy composition of archaeological bronze alloys. Although traditional approaches using visual comparisons of histograms of alloying elements in an assemblage of archaeological objects are adequate for observing differences between these distributions, we argue that differences in sample size cannot be adequately accounted for without using a statistical approach. We demonstrate this methodology by comparing the alloy composition of bronzes from the sequence of Bronze Age cultures in Central China—Erlitou, Erligang (Zhengzhou, or early Shang), Anyang (late Shang) and Western Zhou. We suggest that this approach allows the identification and rigorous comparison of ‘regional alloying practices’, which in turn enables us to link the alloy composition of the objects with the intentions and skills of foundry workers.     

Animal Resource Exploitation among the Virgin River Puebloans in the American Southwest

Abstract

A review of the literature documenting faunal remains recovered from 16 archaeological sites attributed to the Virjin River Puebloan (VRP) tradition (ca. 300 B.C.–A.D. 1200) of the American Southwest was conducted to identify the importance of wild animal resources to the subsistence strategy. The Number of Individual Specimens (NISP) was counted (NISP = 16,386) and sorted by taxa and animal size categories to explore differences in the distributions of faunal remains by archaeological recovery strategy, site type, physiographic location, and chronology. The most significant factor in the differential use of animal resources among the VRPs was physiographic location. Desert lowland sites had greater species diversity. Sites in the intermediate St. George Basin had more large mammals such as deer, and sites located on the higher plateau had more small mammals such as lagomorphs. These results indicate that the subsistence strategy varied across diverse environmental conditions, but animal resources were always an integral part of the VRP adaptation until their abandonment of the region in the early 13th century A.D.     

Evaluating the Economic Significance of Sharks,Skates, and Rays (Elasmobranchs) in Prehistoric Economies

Establishing the significance of elasmobranchs in ancient economies is complicated by a variety of biological and taphonomic problems that hinder NISP, MNI, and weight measures and comparisons with other fish or faunal classes. To help address these problems, we present length and live weight estimates for 53 elasmobranch specimens, along with bone weight to edible meat weight ratios for 38 specimens. We argue that quantification is best accomplished using NISP and MNI measures in conjunction with meat weight estimates obtained from modern specimens. These data illustrate the importance of using multiple quantitative measures (i.e., NISP, MNI, weight, etc.) when evaluating the economic significance of various taxa within faunal assemblages.     

Terrestrial implications for the maritime geoarchaeological resource: A view from the Lower Palaeolithic

Stone tools and faunal remains have been recovered from the English Channel and the North Sea through trawling, dredging for aggregates, channel clearance, and coring. These finds highlight the potential for a maritime Lower Palaeolithic archaeological resource. It is proposed here that any Lower Palaeolithic artefacts, faunal remains, and sediments deposited in the maritime zone during dry, low-stand phases were once (and may still be) contextually similar to their counterparts in the terrestrial Lower Palaeolithic records of north-western Europe. Given these similarities, can interpretive models and analytical frameworks developed for terrestrial archaeology be profitably applied to an assessment of the potential value of any maritime resource? The terrestrial geoarchaeological resource for the Lower Palaeolithic is dominated by artefacts and ecofacts that have been fluvially reworked. The spatio-temporal resolution of these data varies from entire river valleys and marine isotope stages to river channel gravel bar surfaces and decadal timescales, thus supporting a variety of questions and approaches. However, the structure of the terrestrial resource also highlights two fundamental limitations in current maritime knowledge that can restrict the application of terrestrial approaches to any potential maritime resource: (i) how have the repetitive transgressions and regressions of the Middle and Late Pleistocene modified the terrace landforms and sediments associated with the river systems of the English Channel and southern North Sea basins?; and (ii) do the surviving submerged terrace landforms and fluvial sedimentary deposits support robust geochronological models, as is the case with the classical terrestrial terrace sequences? This paper highlights potential approaches to these questions, and concludes that the fluvial palaeogeography, Pleistocene fossils, and potential Lower Palaeolithic artefacts of the maritime geoarchaeological resource can be profitably investigated in future as derived, low-resolution data sets, facilitating questions of colonisation, occupation, demography, and material culture.     

ASSESSING WHAT LIES BENEATH THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF A ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD: THE USE OF GIS AND SPATIAL CORRELATIONS AT EL MIRÓN CAVE (SPAIN)*

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are being incorporated into archaeology as a technique to improve the understanding of spatial organization and the relationships among finds within specific areas. Although their use as a basic tool in predicting the location of archaeological sites or in assessing the extent of their catchment areas is relatively common, in general, they have less often been applied to the study of the spatial distribution of archaeological remains within individual deposits, and in particular to faunal assemblages. Despite this, they can prove essential to understanding dispersion and grouping patterns within deposits fully, and, together with various correlation analytical techniques, they provide valuable information about the economic organization of settlements and inhabitant lifeways. To demonstrate the potential of this methodology, a zooarchaeological GIS has been prepared for the Middle and Late Magdalenian and Azilian layers in El Mirón Cave (eastern Cantabria, Spain), and the spatial distribution patterns of various attributes of the archaeological record have been analysed. Significant conclusions in terms of type and duration of human occupation have been drawn.     

Inferring Human Behaviors from Isotopic Analyses of Rat Diet: a Critical Review and Historical Application

Rat (Rattus spp.) bone collagen stable isotope values are often assumed to reflect an average of food stuffs that were available to archaeological populations. This paper considers the feasibility of using stable isotope evidence from rat remains as a source of proxy information for human food-related social, economic, and sensorial behaviors. First, a literature review of archaeological and modern ecological rat isotope work reveals that, while rat dietary signatures are often a reasonable proxy for human food waste, they will not always record an unbiased average of foods which are available in a given environment. Second, an overview of ethological, biological, and environmental factors that can influence rat diets is given from the perspective of archaeological bone chemistry, to help identify factors that require explicit and critical consideration when rat stable isotope data is taken as a proxy for human food-related behaviors. Finally, rat stable isotope values are considered to provide new evidence about the social and economic responses of an important historical English fishing community at Ferryland (CgAf-02) to conflict and political turmoil at the turn of the eighteenth century. These results also highlight how information on rat diets can provide a counterpoint to other common faunal isotope approaches that focus on dogs and pigs as a proxy for human dietary behaviors.     

Ritual practices and collective consumption of animal products at the Iron Age rural settlement of Mas Castellar de Pontós (Girona,Spain) (5th–4th centuries BC)

Abstract

Animals have played an important role in certain ceremonies or rites in the past. During such activities, animals may have been alive, dead or been used as raw material. The disposal of detritus from these practices can lead to the formation of faunal assemblages with a particular taxonomic and anatomic composition. At the Iron Age ‘Mas Castellar de Pontós’ site (Girona, Spain), associations of archaeological materials excavated from Pit feature FS362 were suggestive of deposits arising from collective ceremonial consumption. Analysis of the 1309 mammal remains recovered from this feature is used to determine the nature and dynamics of the ceremony. At the same time, the relationship of these faunal remains with the other archaeological materials recovered in the pit will allow light to be shed on the significance and importance of these ceremonies in the framework of the social and political relations that governed the life of the inhabitants of this settlement.     

STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS AND DIET IN EASTERN OKLAHOMA

Abstract

Over the last three decades, significant quantitative information on prehistoric diets has come to light from a variety of locations in the Caddoan archaeological area, a region encompassing eastern Oklahoma, western Arkansas, northeast Texas, and northwest Louisiana. Most of this research is based on macro-botanical and faunal remains analysis. As an additional line of evidence for the growing body of botanical and faunal data, stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in bone collagen were analyzed from 82 human and faunal samples from the Arkansas basin and Ozark Highlands in eastern Oklahoma. The research investigates the role of maize in diets through time and across sex and status dimensions. Spanning six phases, within the time range 300 B.C. to A.D. 1650, mean δ¹³C values increase from –19.2 to –12.7 parts per million ‰. Although present prior to A.D. 1000 substantial increases in the use of maize do not begin until the Harlan phase (A.D. 1050–1250). Even with increased use, maize never dominates the diet to the extent seen in Mississippian period sites farther east.     

Simulating archaeologists? Using agent-based modelling to improve battlefield excavations

The study of material culture generated by military engagements has created an emergent sub-discipline of archaeological studies centred on battlefields. This approach has developed a particular and sophisticated methodology that is able to deal with the fact that archaeologists will often not find either structures or a useful stratigraphical record on the site, as the material remains of the battle will basically be metallic objects carried by combatants. It is therefore rather complicated not only to test hypotheses about battle events based on archaeological data, but also to validate the methodology used. Here we propose the use of agent-based models to explore these issues in the case of eighteenth-century battlefield archaeology. The simulation is divided into four different steps. Firstly, a battle is simulated in order to generate realistic virtual archaeological remains left by an engagement between two armies of this era. We then simulate the loss of information that the passing of time produces in the battlefield. The third step involves simulating the archaeological survey, enabling us to explore different survey strategies and the impact on the interpretation of the event itself. Finally, we design a confidence index in order to compare the results of the different virtual excavations using spatial analysis and statistics. The results show that the methodology is fully functional in terms of understanding a battle, and it allows us to suggest new strategies to improve fieldwork and to develop new ways of exploring these particular archaeological sites. It is concluded that the described approach illustrates how simulation can be used to explore methodological issues of archaeological science.     

Economic and Land-Use Implications of Prehistoric Fire-Cracked-Rock Piles,Northern Arizona

Abstract

Intensive archaeological survey of 14.5 sq km of the Upper Basin, an area located near the Grand Canyon's eastern South Rim in northern Arizona, has discovered 126 fire-cracked-rock piles that are surrounded by artifact scatters of varying size and assemblage composition. Because these phenomena are unprecedented in upland conifer ecosystems of the American Southwest, several hypotheses are explored regarding their formation histories. Analyses of artifact assemblages, botanical remains, pollen, and faunal remains recovered from four excavated sites indicate that they result from flaked-stone artifact production, ground-stone artifact reuse and recycling, ceramic-vessel-fragment recycling, and animal and plant processing. In addition, radiocarbon dates and temporally diagnostic projectile-points and ceramics imply that the sites differ in terms of frequency, intensity, and patterns of use, and with respect to the groups of people who formed them (Anasazi, Cohonina, Havasupai, or Hopi). Byproducts of a little-known, long-term land-use pattern in Southwestern prehistory (ca. A.D. 417–1650), these sites represent a key source of information for understanding how different sources of variability come to be expressed in archaeological landscapes.     

THE BAYESIAN APPROACH TO THE INTERPRETATION OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL DATA

Archaeologists are increasingly becoming aware of an approach to data investigation known as Bayesian statistics. In this paper we outline both the philosophical and statistical background to the approach. We show that it provides a logical and coherent framework in which to make inferences on the basis of both data and a priori expert knowledge. We note that adoption of the Bayesian framework is particularly timely since there have been recent dramatic developments in numerical methods which mean that a number of previous implementation problems have now been solved. As a result, many questions of archaeological interest, which require the use of complex statistical models, are being investigated using this methodology. We use a variety of recently published examples from a range of archaeological areas to illustrate the type of questions that can be answered and the nature of the methodologies used, and we make comparisons with the results obtained using more traditional statistical techniques.