The ‘walking’ megalithic statues (moai) of Easter Island

Explaining how the monumental statues (moai) of Easter Island were transported has remained open to debate and speculation, including their resource expenditures and role in deforestation. Archaeological evidence including analysis of moai variability, particularly those abandoned along ancient roads, indicates transport was achieved in a vertical position. To test this proposition we constructed a precise three-dimensional 4.35 metric ton replica of an actual statue and demonstrate how positioning the center of mass allowed it to fall forward and rock from side to side causing it to ‘walk.’ Our experiments reveal how the statue form was engineered for efficient transport by a small number of individuals.     

An island-wide assessment of the chronology of settlement and land use on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) based on radiocarbon data

The archaeological landscape on Rapa Nui (Easter Island) contains a palimpsest of surface archaeological features reflecting a long history of settlement and land use. The popular narrative of societal collapse prior to European contact relies on chronometric data from the late pre-European contact period and also cites major settlement shifts as evidence for societal collapse and socio-political reorganization. This paper explores the archaeological evidence for proposed changes in settlement by assessing the spatial and temporal distribution of radiocarbon determinations collected from archaeological and landscape contexts. A corpus of over 300 determinations is placed into an island-wide GIS database and analysed. The results of this study suggest that Rapa Nui settlement and land use exhibit continuity rather than punctuated, detrimental change during the late pre-European contact period.     

关于聚落考古的方法问题

所谓聚落考古,就是以聚落为对象,研究其具体形态及其所反映的社会形态,进而研究聚落形态的演变所反映的社会形态的发展轨迹。聚落考古往往要与环境考古相结合,才能取得较好的效果。我们讲的聚落形态不是遗址形态。在聚落形态没有根本改变的情况下,它所反映的社会面貌或社会组织结构也应当没有本质的改变。有些聚落中的遗迹保存得比较好,不但可以进行功能区的划分,还可以进一步了解各功能区乃至单体建筑之间的联系,借以复原当时的社会。要做到这一点,仅仅依据地层关系和文化分期难以达到目的,还需要引入地面的概念,要设法揭示完整的地面。聚落调查的目的不仅是要了解有没有遗址,也不仅仅是了解遗址中有哪几个时期的东西。从聚落考古的要求来说,至少要了解遗址中是单一文化期的聚落,还是有几个时期不同范围的聚落。     

Stylistic variability of stemmed obsidian tools (mata’a), frequency seriation,and the scale of social interaction on Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

Easter Island, or Rapa Nui, has been the focus of much research and speculation, particularly with reference to the island’s hundreds of giant, enigmatic statues and the set of conditions that supported their construction and transportation. In this paper, we analyze an abundant class of lithic artifacts, mata’a, to study of patterns of cultural transmission with implications for the evolution of groups, competition, and scale of socio-political organization among this island population. While these kinds of studies often draw upon assemblages of decorated ceramics, here we show how analysis of variability unconstrained by performance allows us to measure aspects of inheritance related to the manufacture of these artifacts. In the case of mata’a from Rapa Nui, we demonstrate that it is possible to reach falsifiable conclusions about the evolutionary dynamics that shaped the remarkable archaeological record on Rapa Nui.     

关于赵宝沟文化的聚落形态问题

本文对赵宝沟文化的白音长汗、水泉、小山和赵宝沟四处居住址的结构进行了分析,总结和阐释了以往在赵宝沟文化聚落形态认识上的主要观点和产生分歧的原因,认为只有对赵宝沟文化居住址做全面的揭露,才能真正解决赵宝沟文化的聚落结构问题。依据现有材料初步将赵宝沟文化的聚落区分为大、中、小三个层次,应该是较为切合实际的。     

Ancient DNA of the Pacific rat (Rattus exulans) from Rapa Nui (Easter Island)

We report analysis of ancient mitochondrial DNA sequences from nine archaeological specimens (8 femura and 1 incissor) of Rattus exulans excavated from Anakena Beach Dune on Rapa Nui. Sequence of a 239-base-pair fragment of the hypervariable mitochondrial control region reveals a single mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence of all samples corresponding to the R9 haplotype prevalent in East Polynesia. This suggests a single or very limited introduction of Rattus exulans to the island. Rapa Nui, like other remote islands of Polynesia, remained effectively isolated following colonization.     

Settlement networks and the organization of lithic tool production in the Late Prehistoric period (a.d. 1000–1780), Lower Nueces River Valley,South Texas

Abstract

Evidence from one of several Late Prehistoric settlement networks in the Lower Nueces River Valley in Texas demonstrates that base camps were surrounded by smaller-sized temporary camps. Local groups utilized nearby stone quarries, moved raw material to their settlements and reduced cores, preforms, and bifaces into tools for domestic use and portable toolkits. The Lower Nueces River Valley settlement organization and tool production during this period suggest restricted mobility, base camp sedentism, and abundant resource supply. This organizational structure promoted a complex foraging economy and perhaps the emergence of territorial clustering.