Integrating dental microwear and isotopic analyses to understand dietary change in east-central Mississippi

Stable isotope and dental microwear analyses are integrated to observe changes in plant food diet in east-central Mississippi. Dental specimens are compared from seven sites in Mississippi and one in Alabama ranging in time from the Archaic to the Protohistoric periods. Microwear analysis of phase II dental facets is performed and pit percentages, scratch length and width, and pit length and width are recorded. Analysis of variance statistical tests were performed between temporally contiguous sites. The results indicate that the size and frequency of microwear features decrease through time until the Protohistoric period where pit feature size and frequencies increase significantly. These results are then compared to stable isotope analysis to test whether the methods yield congruent results and to assess additional dietary changes, specifically the increased importance of nut foods. Carbon isotope analysis indicates differences in dietary maize use between the Mississippian and Protohistoric samples and dental microwear analysis show a significant increase in pit percentages and pit size, microwear features generally associated with hard food mastication. One important question addressed is whether there was a return in the Protohistoric period to naturally available resources, specifically hard foods such as nuts, a pattern observed at sites in Alabama and Arkansas. The use of secondary burials in the later Protohistoric period is examined as a possible cause for this microwear pattern. The study demonstrates the importance of integrating different methods when assessing dietary change, especially when ethnobotanical information is not available.     

Cultural transmission in the ancient Near East: twenty squares and fifty-eight holes

Board games have a wide and complex distribution in the ancient world. Two board games from antiquity that were transmitted across the borders of empires and city states and played for nearly two millennia show only minor changes in the appearance of the board. This lack of branching for antique board games can be explained by the abstract characteristics of the games and the dominance of certain cultures in antiquity. A historical analysis of their transmission process supports this hypothesis.     

The origins of lithic projectile point technology: evidence from Africa,the Levant,and Europe

Projectile weaponry is a human cultural universal, but its origins and antiquity remain poorly understood. Stone- and bone-tipped projectile weapons have long been treated as emergent features of the "Upper Paleolithic" behavioral revolution. Recently it has been proposed that projectile technology was in widespread use among Homo sapiens populations in Africa during Middle Stone Age (MSA) times. One obstacle to researching the origins of projectile point technology is that the criteria archaeologists employ for recognizing plausible and implausible stone projectile points are largely subjective (overall tool shape, microwear traces). Tip cross-sectional area (TCSA) is a ballistically significant dimension that works well at discriminating North American stone projectile points (spearthrower dart tips and arrowheads) from spear points. This paper compares the TCSA values of ethnographic North American stone projectile points to hypothetical Middle and Upper Paleolithic stone projectile points from Africa, the Levant, and Europe. The results of this comparison do not support the hypothesis of widespread use of stone-tipped projectiles in Africa, the Levant, or Europe prior to 40 Ka. In the New World and in Australia, where we have the richest ethnographic record of stone projectile point use, these implements are largely employed in big-game hunting and in warfare. One or both of these factors may have played a role in the widespread adoption of stone projectile point technology after 40 Ka.     

Transition from Shell to Skeleton in Ancient Mediterranean Ship‐Construction: analysis,problems, and future research

During the 1st millennium AD ship‐construction changed. Previously, ships were built ‘shell‐first’—strakes were installed before frames, giving the hull its shape and integrity. About the mid‐1st millennium AD the concept and construction of hulls changed to being shaped by transverse frames fixed to the keel, reinforced by longitudinal members. During the transition varying combinations of the two technologies were used. It has been widely accepted that the transition was completed by the beginning of the 2nd millennium. Recent discoveries, mainly in Dor/Tantura lagoon and lately in Yenikap?, analyses of other hulls, and reassessment of evidence, indicate an earlier completion of the transition. Since this process was the result of many factors, including economic and social, and occurred in different areas of the Mediterranean at different times, no simple linear development is suggested, but a more complex process, which raises questions for future research. © 2012 The Authors     

Osteophagia and dental wear in herbivores: actualistic data and archaeological evidence

The ability of herbivores to produce damage in bones and antlers has recently been described by the present authors (Cáceres et al., 2011), showing several cases of modified bones and various stages of bone modification due to osteophagic behavior by herbivores. Herbivores chew and eat bones and antlers to make up for mineral scarcity in their diet. In this paper we describe how the consumption of bone and antlers by herbivore can result in distinct differential tooth wear, breakage and the loss of some dental pieces. This damage has also been identified in fossils. These preliminary results are especially relevant in archaeological contexts, because this marked tooth wear can be mistaken for dental disease or lead to the incorrect assignment of age to the animals.     

The combined use of oxygen isotopes and microwear in sheep teeth to elucidate seasonal management of domestic herds: the case study of Çatalhöyük,central Anatolia

This paper presents and tests a model designed to investigate how off-site herd management developed in settled pre-historic societies. The model is constructed from data collected from traditionally raised local sheep, acting as an interpretive link to published data. The modern comparator was small, but plausible results allow modelling of the archaeological data to be explored. Birth seasonality and herding location are identified through modelled patterns in oxygen isotope data in tooth enamel, and diet just before death by microwear in the same tooth. In combination, these allow aspects of seasonal management of breeding, fallow and slaughter herd sections to be interpreted. Novel practices are discussed in comparison local wild sheep ethology. The case study is Neolithic Çatalhöyük (7400–6200 cal BC) in central Anatolia. Its location provided the opportunity for different parts of the landscape to be used for herding, although choice might have been socially constrained. Data are taken from 72 specimens; the results suggest settlement-wide preference for a suite of practices that kept herds within a day of the settlement and that maintained breeding cycle synchrony with optimal resource availability. Chronological analysis suggests birth season manipulation was tried but rejected, whilst hay or cereal fodder was introduced and became increasingly important. It is argued that herding was probably on dedicated pasture on the arable fringes rather than in closer integration on ‘garden plots’, as there is no evidence of field-edge weed diets and little evidence of adjusting the birth season to accommodate the crop cycle.     

Multiple traumatic dental injuries: a case report in a young individual from the Samnitic necropolis of Opi Val Fondillo (VI-V century BC; Central Italy)

Traumatic dental injuries, although apparently rare in archaeological populations, can be found under certain circumstances affecting the dentition in a variety of ways. This paper contributes to the paleopathology literature by reporting one case of dental trauma. Evidence for differentiating antemortem/perimortem dental trauma from postmortem damage is presented, and it is suggested that these injuries were sustained due to an accidental fall, supported by the morphology, location and extension of the injuries and characterization of the impact. These data provide a valuable information for a reconstruction of past behaviors in the Samnitic necropolis of Opi Val Fondillo (VI-V century BC; Central Italy).     

Euganean trachytic grinding stones in the Caput Adriae from the Iron Age to the Roman period: Reassessment of the Protohistoric quarries

A group of Euganean trachytic grinding stones from Slovenia and the available data about the same type of artefacts in the whole Caput Adriae are presented. The occurrence of Iron Age saddle querns in Karst and Istria is confirmed, but our study suggests a likely provenance from Mts Cero/Murale instead of Mts Altore/Rocca Pendice, as previously suggested. Este, an important Venetic centre, is just south of Mts Cero/Murale, suggesting its central role in the production and distribution of saddle querns. During the Roman period Euganean trachytes are still used for rotary millstones, but new quarries (Mt Rosso), relatively close to ancient Padua, are exploited. Such shift in the position of millstone quarries most probably reflects the changed geopolitical framework.     

Middle Bronze Age metallurgy in the Levant: evidence from the weapons of Byblos

This paper constitutes a synthesis of a technological investigation on copper base alloy weapons from Byblos. Most of the weapons are typical of the Middle Bronze Age in the Levant. Methods such as metallographic examination and chemical analyses by EDS were used to identify the different stages of the chaîne opératoire used in the making of these weapons. The results reveal precise information regarding the production of several types of weapons such as the type and performance of the moulds used for casting and the deformation process. Furthermore, these results highlight the contribution of economic and cultural factors in the choice of components in a copper base alloy recipe. Finally, the use of silver–copper brazes for joining copper base alloy objects is recorded for the first time for the period and region concerned.     

Stromatolite recognition in ancient rocks: an appraisal of irregularly laminated structures in an Early Archaean chert-barite unit from North Pole,Western Australia

The word ‘stromatolite’ should only be applied to organosedimentary structures predominantly accreted by sediment trapping, binding and/or in situ precipitation as a result of the growth and metabolic activities of benthic, principally prokaryotic, micro-organisms. Structures of uncertain origin that resemble stromatolites should be called ‘stromatoloids’. This cautious approach would eliminate the currently common assumption that structures with mesoscopic morphological similarities to microbially accreted sedimentary structures must be biogenic, a misconception that hampers investigations into the antiquity of life.

A hierarchical series of meso- and microstructural attributes of stromatolites can be used to assign gradually increasing probabilities of biogenicity to stromatoloids. This method is particularly useful for interpreting ancient noncolumnar stromatoloids with poor microstructural preservation. In a range of Early Archaean pseudocolumnar, nodular and stratiform stromatoloids from North Pole studied using this method, none could be proved to be stromatolites and only a few are probable or possible stromatolites. As these stromatoloids closely resemble previously reported structures from North Pole interpreted as stromatolites, we consider that the evidence for the existence of life c. 3500 my ago at North Pole is less definitive than previously supposed.     

Dirty teeth and ancient trade: Evidence of cotton fibres in human dental calculus from Late Woodland,Ohio

Analysis of ancient human dental calculus for the presence of inclusions related to diet and dental health has been overlooked in anthropological literature. Small particles of archaeobotanical debris, which would otherwise not be preserved in the archaeological record, can become incorporated into unmineralised plaque on teeth during mastication and oral manipulation. When plaque mineralises into calculus, debris is preserved in situ. Samples of dental calculus (n = 18) were collected from the Danbury site (33OT16) in Ottawa County, Ohio and viewed under a scanning electron microscope for inclusions. Analysis yielded a variety of noticeable inclusions, including mineralised bacteria, calcium‐phosphate crystalline structures and numerous phytoliths. Here we report the first evidence of fibres consistent with cotton (Gossypium spp.) embedded in the dental calculus from the Late Woodland component (900–1100 AD ) of the Danbury site. Prehistoric cotton has not been previously documented in Ohio. The distinct morphology of the Danbury cotton and its presence in the Late Woodland component at Danbury suggests long‐distance interaction at a time in Ohio when movement of exotic goods appeared to have diminished. These microscopic remains provide insight into paleoethnobotanical history of ancient Ohioans and attest to how analysis of dental calculus could be used to supplement other paleodietary and archaeological analyses. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Marine resource intensification in Viking Age Europe: the molluscan evidence from Quoygrew,Orkney

This paper addresses whether molluscan evidence from Orkney can shed light on the hypothesis that there was a trend towards the intensification of marine resource use at the end of the first millennium AD. The stratified middens of Quoygrew, which date from approximately the 10th to the 13th centuries, are shown to contain predominantly limpets, which may have been used for baiting fish. From metrical data it is shown that these limpets reduce in size through time. In order to test whether this observation is related to intensification in exploitation, analysis of limpet shoreline location was carried out. In addition, age data were used to demonstrate a lowering of average age which suggests intensification in gathering rather than environmental influences, particularly during the 11th–12th centuries at this site.     

Cranioplasty in ancient Peru: a critical review of the evidence,and a unique case from the Cuzco area

Cranioplasty is a well‐known procedure in modern neurosurgery. Although some authors have claimed it was also performed by prehistoric trepanners in various parts of the world, there is little hard evidence to support this. Here we review various claims of cranioplasty in Peru, where trepanation was widely practised in Prehispanic times. We find little support for assertions that cranioplasty was common. One recently discovered burial from the Cuzco region, however, provides the first documented case of the reinsertion of a bone plug into a trepanation opening. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dietary patterns during the late prehistoric/historic period in Cikobia island (Fiji): insights from stable isotopes and dental pathologies

The dietary patterns of eight adults and one child interred in the Korotuku burial mound (Cikobia, northern Fiji), dated from the late prehistoric/historic period (around AD 1850), have been investigated using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures and dental and oral pathologies. Bone collagen isotopic compositions showed that (1) males and females had similar diets in terms of terrestrial C₃ resources and marine fish components and proportions; (2) the proportion of marine fish comprised around 25% of the protein fraction of the diet, and the proportion of vegetal food was high; and (3) one canid that was also studied had a different diet, probably rich in shellfish. Oral and dental examinations of the humans evidenced (1) a low level of dental macrowear, (2) a high rate of carious lesions—interproximal and cervical—of about 15%, and (3) a low amount of abscessing, as well as the presence of alveolar bone recession and calculus in most of the adults. This evidence suggests a diet relying mainly on vegetal food with very limited shellfish consumption. When viewed in the light of ethnohistoric information, this pattern suggests a particular sociocultural behaviour, including food selection, since the analyses of the canid remains indicate that more diversified food resources were available than those consumed by the humans. Overall observations suggest that the deceased in the Korotuku burial mound might be members of an elite living on the island, thus pointing to possible social stratification in the late prehistoric/historic Cikobia community.     

Diet and mobility in Middle Archaic Florida: stable isotopic and faunal evidence from the Harris Creek archaeological site (8Vo24), Tick Island

We explore diet and mobility in Middle Archaic Florida using human burials and faunal remains from the Harris Creek archaeological site (8Vo24) on Tick Island. We conducted stable carbon and oxygen isotopic (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O) analyses of 50 human enamel samples and strontium isotopic (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) analysis of a subset of 10. Most individuals (46/50) subsisted on local freshwater and terrestrial resources, with relatively depleted δ¹³C values (C₃) and δ¹⁸O values matching those of central and north Florida water resources within the St. Johns River valley. Eight of 10 burials have local, within valley ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values. Two human burials yield marine δ¹³C and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values, which we interpret as evidence for across valley movement from the coast. Another two individuals show depleted δ¹⁸O values, likely obtained from northern rivers. We also identified potential food resources and non-local foods from the Harris Creek faunal assemblage. We found six species with estuarine and marine habitat preferences; two of which, whelk and quahog, indicate that people of Harris Creek traveled to or traded with coastal areas.     

Bidirectional blade technology on naviform cores from northern Arabia: New evidence of Arabian-Levantine interactions in the Neolithic

Discovered in March 2015, the sites of DAJ-112 and DAJ-125 in the Al-Jawf province of northern Saudi Arabia consist of a large collection of surface lithic artefacts that can be compared to well-known Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN) B technology from the Levant: the two sites include bidirectional blade technology with naviform core preparation and opposed platforms surface exploitation, as well as burin production at a wide scale. Other surface scatters have been identified during the 2013 and 2015 surveys, showing these two sites are not isolated in Al-Jawf, as rather important occurrences of Early Holocene technology have been identified across the region. Although the sites from Al-Jawf are surface occurrences and not radiometrically dated, the finds have proven to be extremely significant, representing a southward incursion of classic naviform cores-based technology, thus expanding the geographical distribution of this technology beyond the Levant. By addressing the lithic evidence from northern Arabia, the expansion and/or influence of PPN populations and cultural elements will be discussed.     

Radical changes in Islamic glass technology: evidence for conservatism and experimentation with new glass recipes from early and middle Islamic Raqqa,Syria*

The chemical analysis of excavated glass fragments from dated archaeological contexts in Raqqa, Syria, has provided a detailed picture of the chemical compositions of artefacts deriving from eighth to ninth and 11th century glassmaking and glassworking activities. Evidence for primary glass production has been found at three excavated sites, of eighth to ninth, 11th and 12th century dates; the first two are discussed here. The 2 km long industrial complex at al‐Raqqa was associated with an urban landscape consisting of two Islamic cities (al‐Raqqa and al‐Rafika) and a series of palace complexes. The glass fused and worked there was presumably for local as well as for regional consumption. Al‐Raqqa currently appears to have produced the earliest well‐dated production on record in the Middle East of an Islamic high‐magnesia glass based on an alkaline plant ash flux and quartz. An eighth to ninth century late ‘Roman’/Byzantine soda–lime recipe of natron and sand begins to be replaced in the eighth to ninth century by a plant ash – quartz Islamic soda–lime composition. By the 11th century, this process was nearly complete. The early Islamic natron glass compositional group from al‐Raqqa shows very little spread in values, indicating a repeatedly well‐controlled process with the use of chemically homogeneous raw materials. A compositionally more diffuse range of eighth to ninth century plant ash glass compositions have been identified. One is not only distinct from established groups of plant ash and natron glasses, but is believed to be the result of experimentation with new raw material combinations. Compositional analysis of primary production waste including furnace glass (raw glass adhering to furnace brick) shows that contemporary glasses of three distinct plant ash types based on various combinations of plant ash, quartz and sand were being made in al‐Raqqa during the late eighth to ninth centuries. This is a uniquely wide compositional range from an ancient glass production site, offering new insights into the complexity of Islamic glass technology at a time of change and innovation.