Hopewell Archaeology: A View from the Northern Woodlands

A tremendous amount of research on Hopewellian societies in the Northern Woodlands of the United States has been conducted within the last decade. This article summarizes the main themes and directions of that current research and presents a general model of Hopewellian societies. Local communities appear to have been small in size and relatively sedentary; sets of these communities shared a greater sense of cultural identity within a lineage and possibly clan organization, with each riverine drainage system occupied by a mosaic of lineages. Each in turn was spatially centered on specific clusters of religious, nonresidential public architecture. Alliances were based on a number of historically shifting variables, including religion, kinship, politics, and economics. It is suggested that future research continue existing methodologies and analyses and consider new ecological, genetic, and ideological research as a means of adding greater local historic nuance to this general model of Hopewellian societies.     

A Quantitative Analysis of Skill and Efficiency: Hopewell Blade Production at the Turner Workshop,Hamilton County,Ohio

Abstract

We describe and analyze blade production at a small site near the Turner Earthworks, Hamilton County, Ohio. The Turner Workshop provides perhaps the largest sample of Ohio Hopewell (ca. A.D. 50–350) blades and blade-cores recovered from a single site to date. We focus on describing the production process at Turner and comparing our results with those from other Ohio Hopewell and nonHopewell blade production sites. Special attention will be focused on rates of production errors, metric variability in final products, and the variability introduced into the production process by increases in distance-to-source and how these lines of evidence bear on the question of specialized production in middle-range societies. Our analysis reveals an industry characterized by a high frequency of errors, a high level of variability in final products, and a lack of standardization in reduction process. We therefore conclude that the Ohio Hopewell blade industry did not employ craft specialists.     

江苏丹阳双眼墩土墩墓考古发掘简报

丹阳双眼墩土墩墓现存两座土墩,均为“一墩一墓”形制.两座土墩均遭盗掘,出土遗物不多,其中D2发现器物群(Q1) 一处,出土一组共10件器物,包括印纹硬陶坛、印纹硬陶罐、印纹硬陶瓿、夹砂陶鬲、灰陶盆各1件,原始瓷豆5件.根据墓葬形制以及出土遗物,推测其时代为西周晚期.     

A Bobcat Burial and Other Reported Intentional Animal Burials from Illinois Hopewell Mounds

Abstract

The Elizabeth site is a bluff-top mortuary mound group constructed and primarily used during Hopewellian (Middle Woodland) times. Recent reanalysis of nonhuman skeletal remains from the site reveals that an intentional burial previously identified as a dog (Canis familiaris) is actually an immature bobcat (Lynx rufus). As a result of this discovery, we reevaluated eight other purported animal burials from Illinois Middle Woodland mounds, including seven dogs and a roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja). The dogs all appear to be intrusive or unrelated burial events, but both the bobcat and the roseate spoonbill were definite Hopewellian mortuary interments. The roseate spoonbill was decapitated and placed beside a double human burial. But the bobcat was a separate, human-like interment wearing a necklace of shell beads and effigy bear canine teeth (Figures and ). To our knowledge, this is the only decorated wild cat burial in the archaeological record. It provides compelling evidence for a complex relationship between felids and humans in the prehistoric Americas, including possible taming.     

土墩墓考古:新收获,新思考——在江苏句容、金坛土墩墓群抢救性发掘考古成果汇报会上的讲话

2005年江苏句容、金坛土墩墓群抢救性发掘考古成果在一墩一墓、一墩多墓、向心结构等土墩墓重大学术问题上取得了突破性进展,并为田野考古科学操作提供了典范。从方法论和考古学理论角度思考,土墩墓的发掘和研究还需进一步深化。     

江苏句容下蜀中心山土墩墓发掘简报

2009年2月～4月,南京博物院在江苏句容中心山发掘了一座春秋早期土墩墓,发现祭祀器物群1处、墓葬1座和房址1座。器物群器物出土时破碎严重,属有意识打碎。墓葬堆土成坑。房址位于墓葬下方,主体由基槽和基槽内柱洞组成,为截面呈人字形的两面坡式建筑,有长方形过道,其与墓葬及祭祀器物群的位置关系值得研究。     

试论霍山戴家院西周圜丘遗迹

霍山戴家院西周遗址发现圜丘遗迹,可能与文献记载中的"冬至奏丘"、"祭天燔柴"等有关。实地模拟观测,表明该遗迹与冬至祭天迎日以及观象授时等活动有关;由于遗址规模较小,可能属于乡村公社祭祀土谷神以及民间祭祀天神活动的场所。     

苏州真山四号墩发掘报告

苏州真山墓地是东周时期一处重要的吴楚上层贵族墓地,其中四号墩中7座墓葬历时战国晚期至汉代,为吴楚研究提供了新的实物资料。     

苏州阳山俞墩土墩墓发掘简报

2012年3月,苏州市考古研究所对苏州阳山俞墩进行了发掘,共发现墓葬7座、器物群1处及大量的随葬器物。7座墓葬时代跨度涵盖了马桥文化、西周、春秋几个时期,包含了竖穴岩坑墓、竖穴土坑墓、石床型土墩墓等墓葬形制。其中,M7属于马桥文化时期,为苏州首次发现;M6为西周中晚期的竖穴岩坑墓,是土墩中心位置的大型墓葬,可能为高等级的贵族大墓。     

日本列岛封土石室墓的展开与连云港石室墓

4世纪后半叶,封土石室墓开始在日本列岛出现。日本列岛的横穴石室受到了朝鲜半岛的影响。九州地区的古坟是最早导入的。5世纪后半叶,与此不同的新型石室在近畿地方出现,并在此后的日本列岛得到了广泛普及。7世纪,由于薄葬化的推进,小型的横口式石椁墓出现,这代表着古坟文化走向了尾声。江苏连云港的封土石室墓的构造,虽与朝鲜半岛和日本列岛两地皆有类似之处,但其与中国的砖结构墓葬和朝鲜古坟的关系也是必须要考虑的。而与日本列岛石室墓的类似,笔者认为是以朝鲜半岛为中介的间接的关联。     

江苏新沂市乱墩汉墓群Ⅰ号墩发掘简报

新沂乱墩汉墓群I号墩中发现土坑墓2座、石棺墓11座、砖室墓3座,排列有序,时代跨度为两汉之交,为研究当时家族丧葬制度提供了新的资料。     

Serpent Mound: Still Built by the Adena,and Still Rebuilt During the Fort Ancient Period

Radiocarbon dates from the base of Serpent Mound in Ohio demonstrate that it was built 2,100–2,300 years ago during the Adena period but was subsequently rebuilt or repaired about 900 years ago during the Fort Ancient period. We describe the basis for supporting the chronology of this building sequence, why it is the best and most complete explanation from the data at hand, and discuss the errors and misconceptions that critics of it have put forth. Our interest is in establishing a chronology of mound construction in order to address questions about cultural continuity/discontinuity, appropriation, and reuse of cultural monuments and religious/political symbols. We also plead that researchers jointly collect new data from Serpent Mound to end the back-and-forth questioning of chronological context and research competence.     

马韩古坟坟丘的区划盛土法

坟丘的区划盛土法是指在筑造坟丘时将其分成许多区域,由不同人力分别承担作业的筑造方式。为识别区划界限可设置异色粘土带、土囊列或排列石材作为标志物。坟丘的区划方向都是从坟丘中心呈放射状分布的,随着坟丘规模的扩大,区划数也在增多。中国春秋时期已使用区划盛土法这种技术,因而这种盛土方法应当是起源于中国。     

浙江温州市瓯海杨府山土墩墓的年代及相关问题

杨府山土墩墓出土的青铜礼器、乐器和兵器的年代和性质,对探讨南方地区文化的互动、交融乃至民族的交往具有重要意义。通过对该墓所出鼎、簋、铙、短剑等的具体分析,可以断定这应是一批具有浓郁地域特色的南方系青铜器,时代应在商末周初,墓葬的年代最晚应为西周早期。     

An empirical evaluation of copper procurement and distribution: elemental analysis of Scioto Valley Hopewell copper

In prehistoric North America, artifacts of copper occupy a position of prominence in the Hopewell societies of Ohio’s Scioto Valley. These artifacts also represent the social contacts and long-distance interactions that brought copper to the Scioto Valley. Yet, our understanding of Hopewell copper acquisition, and the movement of copper artifacts within the social networks of the Scioto Valley and beyond, has been limited due to the limited availability of geochemical data concerning provenance and variability. We begin to develop the foundation for understanding these important social issues by analyzing the elemental variability of Hopewell copper through the use of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. We analyze 24 samples from four known copper source regions and 52 samples from 6 prominent sites in the Scioto Valley. Results suggest that a majority of the artifacts are consistent with sources in the Great Lakes, with a plurality classified as Isle Royale. However, 21% of Scioto Hopewell copper artifacts were most consistent with southern Appalachian sources. High elemental variability argues against simple models of copper acquisition and suggests that different social groups had access to a variety of copper sources through varying social networks. Native copper regardless of source seems to have been channeled along similar social and symbolic pathways. Our results suggest that instead of being derived from the struggle to access a specific source, value is derived from the social relationships represented by the copper and the connotation of exotic connection embodied in both style and material.     

Scythian Burial Mound of the 4th Century Bc at Kremenevka,Northeastern Azov Region

The article describes and analyses a burial complex dated to the 4th century BC and located near the village of Kremenevka (Donetsk Province, Ukraine) in the northeastern Azov region. Types of amphoras are identified and the burial complex is more accurately dated to the third quarter of the 4th century BC. A funeral rite unique to the steppes of the Northern Pontic region is reconstructed and described on the basis of stratigraphic data.