Archaeological Identification of Stone Fish-weirs Mentioned to Freycinet in 1819 on the Island of Guam

ABSTRACT

In 1819, when the French corvette L'Uranie anchored off Apra Harbor in the Micronesian Island of Guam, its captain Louis Claude de Freycinet was told of the former use there of stone fish-weirs. This reference has long puzzled archaeologists and historians who assumed Freycinet was misinformed or such features were no longer in existence, given the frequent typhoons that affect the region. Recent archaeological surveys of Apra Harbor tidal flats, however, have identified low-walled coral enclosures at the mouth of two freshwater estuaries. At first. these were hypothesised to have been built to foster shellfish production under the Japanese occupation of Guam during World War II. However, controlled excavation of small sites adjacent to one of these complexes yielded late Latte Period pottery and wood charcoal radiocarbon dated to AD 1645–1725. This historic timeframe is within the plausible memory of the oldest generation of Freycinet's informants. These archaeological findings, combined with interviews, research of historical accounts and ethnographic comparisons of fishing practices in Micronesia and further afield suggest that Chamorro fishermen may have used the weirs to feed local populations and visiting sailors during the seasonal arrival of the Manila galleons for a long period after Ferdinand Magellan's visit in 1521. This conclusion has practical and contemporary implications for Chamorro today.     

The Geoarchaeological Context of Grand Island

Abstract

Interpretations of the geoarchaeological context of Grand Island, Michigan have been a critical part of prehistoric archaeological investigations. Geoarchaeological investigations have generally focused on determining the age of various geomorphic surfaces, interpreting site settings, and paleoenvironmental reconstructions. Although no Paleoindian materials have yet been found, the island was available for human occupation following final deglaciation sometime after 13,000 cal b.p. High lake levels during the Nipissing Phase (ca. 5700–4450 cal B.P.) built a series of coastal landforms that where heavily used by Archaic Period people. Post-Nipissing fluctuations in lake levels presented a highly variable coastal setting for Terminal Archaic and Woodland Period people     

Stability in the South Pacific surface marine C reservoir over the last 750 years. Evidence from American Samoa, the southern Cook Islands and the Marquesas

Although minor climatic and sea-level changes have been documented for the South Pacific during the late Holocene, our understanding of the consequent impact of these changes on the marine ¹⁴C reservoir, and therefore the ¹⁴C content of shellfish, is limited. Ultimately, this has implications for documenting the chronology of human movement and adaptation in this region. In this paper we compare marine reservoir (ΔR) data obtained from tightly controlled archaeological proveniences with known-age, pre-AD 1950 shells from the southern Cook Islands, American Samoa, and Marquesas Islands. Results indicate that there has been no significant change in the near-shore marine reservoir in these three locations over the last ca. 750 years. Furthermore, known-age, pre-AD 1950 shell samples provide more precise ΔR values for use in sample calibration than archaeological paired shell/charcoal samples. This is attributed in part to the limitations of assigning provenance and age to material from archaeological sites. On the basis of these results we conclude that the known-age, pre-AD 1950 shell derived ΔR values can be used to calibrate shell ¹⁴C results from deposits of late Holocene age.     

Marine Mammal Train Oil Production Methods: Experimental Reconstructions of Norwegian Iron Age Slab-Lined Pits

Seal hunting and whaling have played an important part of people’s livelihoods throughout prehistory as evidenced by rock carvings, remains of bones, artifacts from aquatic animals and hunting tools. This paper focuses on one of the more elusive resources relating to such activities: marine mammal blubber. Although marine blubber easily decomposes, the organic material has been documented from the Mesolithic Period onwards. Of particular interest in this article are the many structures in Northern Norway from the Iron Age and in Finland on Kökar, Åland, from both the Bronze and Early Iron Ages in which these periods exhibited traits interpreted as being related to oil rendering from marine mammal blubber. The article discusses methods used in this oil production activity based on historical sources, archaeological investigations and experimental reconstruction of Iron Age slab-lined pits from Northern Norway.     

A 2500‐year record of marine resource use on Ulong Island,Republic of Palau

The paper reports fish bone and shellfish assemblages from Ulong Island in the Rock Islands of Palau, western Micronesia dating from ∼3100 to 500 BP . Use of marine resources in early prehistory appears to have been highly localised with increasing capture of outer‐reef/pelagic taxa including shark and tuna after 1000 BP . Local stocks of large Tridacnids were depleted during initial human use of Ulong Island, and there is a size decrease in Scarus sp. remains consistent with pressure on the inshore fishery, especially after establishment of permanent stonework villages in late prehistory. Comparison of archaeological assemblages of fish bone from other Rock Islands dated to after 2000 BP indicate that the captured fish species and major capture methods differ between sites and likely reflect local marine environments at each location. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seventeenth-Century Vehicle of the Middle Passage: Archaeological and Historical Investigations on the Henrietta Marie Shipwreck Site

This study describes the archaeological investigations that have taken place at the wreck site of the English slave ship Henrietta Marie (1700) since its location in 1972. Information is provided on the methodology utilized during on-site archaeological data recovery, and the artifacts retrieved from the wreck site are described in detail. An account of complimentary documentary research on this wrecked slaver is also presented. Contemporary historical data gleaned from shipping lists, slaver’s logs, seamen’s wills and other sources are utilized to place Henrietta Marie within her proper context as a vehicle involved in the notorious transatlantic slave trade.     

Bahamian hutia (Geocapromys ingrahami) in the Lucayan Realm: Pre-Columbian Exploitation and Translocation

ABSTRACT

Bahamian hutia (Geocapromys ingrahami) are endemic to The Bahamas. The skeletal remains of this species have been recovered from multiple Lucayan-associated archaeological sites in the region, suggesting that it was an important source of human food. This study explores the role of pre-Columbian indigenous peoples in the geographic distribution of Bahamian hutias, and the possibility of intentional management of the animal. We provide an overview of archaeological occurrences of Bahamian hutia and present new skeletal morphometric data comparing modern museum-curated Bahamian hutia specimens with archaeological specimens from the Palmetto Junction site on Providenciales located in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Bahamian hutia do not exist in the fossil record in the Turks and Caicos, indicating their translocation to the islands by humans. Our data show that individual hutia at Palmetto Junction were larger than modern specimens. This size variation may be due to anthropogenic influence; however, there is limited information regarding either natural size variation within the species or environmental factors possibly influencing size. Continued research on anthropogenic influences related to Bahamian hutia populations, coupled with isotopic studies of the Bahamian hutia diet, may further elucidate the practice of pre-Columbian management of the species.     

CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF TIN‐LEAD GLAZED POTTERY FROM THE IBERIAN PENINSULA AND THE CANARY ISLANDS: INITIAL STEPS TOWARD A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF SPANISH COLONIAL POTTERY IN THE AMERICAS*

Majolica pottery was the most characteristic tableware produced in Europe during the Medieval and Renaissance periods. Because of the prestige and importance attributed to this ware, Spanish majolica was imported in vast quantities into the Americas during the Spanish Colonial period. A study of Spanish majolica was conducted on a set of 186 samples from the 10 primary majolica production centres on the Iberian Peninsula and 22 sherds from two early colonial archaeological sites on the Canary Islands. The samples were analysed by neutron activation analysis (NAA), and the resulting data were interpreted using an array of multivariate statistical approaches. Our results show a clear discrimination between different production centres, allowing a reliable provenance attribution of the sherds from the Canary Islands.     

Prehistoric Human Impacts to Marine Mollusks and Intertidal Ecosystems in the Pacific Islands

From long-term stratigraphic records in Pacific Island archaeological sites, researchers have documented alterations to molluskan species richness and abundance, decreases or increases in mollusk shell size and, in rare cases, human foraging may have contributed to the extirpation of mollusk taxa. Mollusks perform critical ecosystem functions in tropical intertidal environments, including improving water quality through filtration, regulating algal cover, and increasing habitat and substratum complexity through ecosystem engineering. These critical ecosystem functions can be negatively affected by human foraging, possibly contributing to decreased resilience of coral reefs to climatic alterations. We review modern ecological research on human impacts to mollusks and intertidal ecosystems that illustrates the mechanisms and effects of human foraging. We then examine centuries to millennial scale archaeological records from the Pacific Islands to understand long-term, time-averaged trends in human impacts to intertidal ecosystems.     

Introducing δSr analysis in archaeology: a demonstration of the utility of strontium isotope fractionation in paleodietary studies

Isotopic methods are widely used in archaeology to investigate paleodiet. Here, we present a new method to identify trophic level in archaeological human populations and to investigate paleodiet. We demonstrate that strontium isotope compositions (reported as δ^88/86Sr) vary in a mass-dependent manner with increasing trophic level and can elucidate paleodiet in archaeological human populations. We present new mass-dependent strontium isotope data from tooth enamel and bone from individuals buried during the Late Intermediate Period (c. AD 1000–1300) in the large cemeteries of Chiribaya Alta, Chiribaya Baja, San Gerónimo, and El Yaral in the Ilo and Moquegua Valleys of southern Peru. We compare these data to radiogenic strontium isotope data (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) and light stable isotope data (δ¹⁵N_col and δ¹³C_col) from the same individuals to investigate geologic variability in strontium sources as well as marine food consumption among the Chiribaya. Our results demonstrate the utility of measurements of strontium isotope fractionation as a new tool for archaeological investigation of paleodiet. Importantly, this new technique can be used to generate paleodietary (δ^88/86Sr) and paleomobility (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) data from the same specimen, minimizing destructive analyses of invaluable archaeological material, and provides a new way to examine paleodiet through hydroxyapatite, which is particularly important when collagen is poorly preserved.     

Mortuary patterns in burial caves on Mangaia,Cook Islands

The behavioural, cultural, and political implications of archaeological human remains in non‐mortuary, possibly culinary, contexts requires that we understand the range of mortuary practices in a particular region. Although several rockshelter sites on Mangaia, Cook Islands have yielded burned, fragmentary human bones in earth ovens that seem to support archaeological models and ethnohistoric accounts of ritual sacrifice and cannibalism, the absence of data on the range of Mangaian mortuary patterns obscures these interpretations. We describe burial patterns based on 40 above‐ground interments representing at least 92 individuals in caves of Mangaia, Cook Islands, in order to begin to develop an island‐wide perspective on mortuary patterns. Sampling both pre‐ and post‐European contact sites we found that multiple interments dominate probable pre‐contact burials (73%, 19 of 26) and single interments dominate post‐contact contexts (80%, eight of ten burials), probably reflecting the influence of Christianity on mortuary ritual. Subadults were more frequent in all post‐contact contexts suggesting alternative burial places, probably church cemeteries, for adults. Burial cave remains are broadly consistent with ethnohistoric accounts of interment in caves, however, they also illustrate additional burial practices and differences between time periods, such as primary body position and the role of multiple‐individual interments, which are not discussed ethnohistorically. The mortuary practices in Mangaian burial caves differ from burials associated with marae and seem completely unrelated to the presence of highly fragmentary and burnt human remains in pre‐contact rockshelter middens elsewhere on the island. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Breadfruit Fermentation in Pohnpei,Micronesia: Site Formation,Archaeological Visibility,and Interpretive Strategies

Fermentation is a common method of processing and preserving breadfruit throughout the Pacific Islands. While these pits are often reported in the archaeological record, they can pose some interpretive challenges. This paper presents an analysis of probable archaeological breadfruit (Artocarpus altilis (Parkinson) Fosberg) fermentation pits on Temwen Island, Pohnpei, Micronesia. Using the existing ethnographic record as a guide, I present archaeological and paleoethnobotanical criteria for identifying fermentation features. Architectural and stratigraphic analyses from four excavated pits match ethnographic expectations. Phytolith analysis shows some concurrence in terms of taxonomic data, but is more useful for indicating disturbance specific to building activities. Based on the distribution and size of pits present in the survey area, I suggest that breadfruit fermentation took place as primarily a household level (rather than community level) activity during the late prehistoric and early historic period in Pohnpei.     

Pig exploitation in the southern Kanto region,Japan

This study investigates changes in past human and animal relationships by focusing on pig (Sus scrofa) remains excavated from archaeological sites in southern Kanto, Japan. Pigs and humans have had a close relationship since prehistoric times and the process of change in this relationship, including possible domestication, is one of the major issues in Japanese zooarchaeology. This study attempts to gain a better understanding of the nature of past interaction between humans and pigs by investigating their relative importance compared with other vertebrate remains, kill‐off patterns, and changes in their size and shape at these sites. The materials used for this study date from the Earliest to Final Jomon (ca. 10,000–2500 BP), Yayoi (ca. 2500–1700 BP) and Kofun (ca. 1700–1300 BP) periods. The relative proportions of pigs were calculated to show the overall trend of pig exploitation in each site. Age at death was obtained based on the state of tooth eruption. Bucco‐lingual crown measurements were taken on the third and fourth premolars and on each cusp of the first and second molars of the mandible, and the logarithmic ratio technique was then applied to these data. The age structure of Sus varies between different sites in the Jomon Period, and significant changes were observed in the Yayoi and Kofun Periods. A decrease in the relative proportion of pigs in the faunal assemblages was observed from Jomon to Kofun. Three major differences were observed in the size of pigs. The overall size of pigs significantly increased from Early to Middle Jomon, whilst a decrease in size occurred in the Yayoi Period. Finally, overall size increased significantly during the Kofun Period. Together with the archaeological evidence—such as the ritual burial of pigs accompanying human burial—we suggest that the interaction between pigs and humans became gradually stronger at some sites during the Late Jomon Period, and the relationship intensified in the Yayoi Period. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The terracotta figurines from ed-Dur (Umm al-Qaiwain, U.A.E.): the human representations

The present article proposes an examination of the human terracotta figurines found during the course of eight archaeological seasons carried out by a Belgian team at the coastal site of ed-Dur in the Emirate of Umm-al-Qaiwain. Since most fragments lack a secure archaeological context, the figurines will be studied mainly in comparison with similar data occurring at other contemporary sites throughout the Gulf and Mesopotamia. We shall see that the ed-Dur figurines appear mostly to be isolated cases coming from abroad instead of objects playing a prominent part in local religious or ritual beliefs.     

The Role of Functional Efficiency in the Decline of North America’s Copper Culture (8000–3000 BP): an Experimental,Ecological, and Evolutionary Approach

The copper-using cultures of North America’s Archaic Period (10,000–3000 BP) have long been an archaeological enigma. For millennia, Middle and Late Archaic hunter-gatherers (8000–3000 BP) around the Upper Great Lakes region made utilitarian implements out of copper, only for these items to decline in prominence and frequency as populations grew and social complexity increased during the Archaic to Woodland Transition. From a cultural evolutionary perspective, the trajectory of North America’s copper usage presents a conundrum, as it is generally assumed that “superior” tools, i.e., metals, will replace inferior ones, i.e., stone. For well over a century, scholars have pondered the reason for the demise of copper technology that was once a wide-spread phenomenon. To address this question, an extensive archaeological experimental program was conducted which compared replica copper tools (spear points, knife blades, and awls) to analogous ones made of stone or bone to assess whether relative functional efficiency contributed to the decline of utilitarian copper implements. Here, the results of this three-part research program are presented in concert with population dynamics and ecological change to paint a broader picture of the complex interrelationships between the social, ecological, and technological spheres of past human behaviors. The synthesis of these approaches reveals that functional explanations—derived from experimental archaeology placed in an evolutionary framework—can shed much light on the trajectory of metal use in the North American Great Lakes.

     

Pollen-Analytical Results from Lake Katajajärvi – Aspects of the History of Settlement in the Finnish Inland Regions

Abstract

The Early Metal Period (1800 cal BC–AD 300) of the Finnish inland regions is characterized by a scarcity of archaeological remains. Its latest stages, in particular, have proved to be difficult to interpret. This paper discusses the continuity of settlement in the Early Metal Period as indicated by archaeological survey and pollen-analytical data. The study area is situated in Repovesi National Park in southeastern Finland. The pollen analysis was constructed from a sediment sequence taken from Lake Katajajärvi. The archaeological survey data from Repovesi National Park supports earlier hypotheses of the small number of Early Metal Period sites. In the pollen data, the first anthropogenic impact is recorded from about 2600 BC onwards, with weak signs of cultivation around 2370 BC. From around 1900 BC onwards a clear change in tree, shrub and herb pollen percentages indicates anthropogenic impact, possibly grazing, in the area. The pollen-analytical results also revealed a cultivation period of about 900 years at the end of the Early Metal Period, providing proof of continuity in settlement during a period characterized by a scarcity of archaeological material. A new beginning of cultivation from cal AD 1160 to 1250 onwards can be considered as indicating population growth, developing settlements and the colonization of new areas. The results from Repovesi are challenging from an archaeological point of view, because they represent slash-and-burn cultivation that appears to have been practised in total wilderness conditions. Comparison of the Lake Katajajärvi results with other areas raises new questions that call for a discussion of early slash-and-burn cultivation in new perspective.     

High-resolution sclerochronological analysis of the bivalve mollusk Saxidomus gigantea from Alaska and British Columbia: techniques for revealing environmental archives and archaeological seasonality

The butter clam, Saxidomus gigantea, is one of the most commonly recovered bivalves from archaeological shell middens on the Pacific Coast of North America. This study presents the results of the sclerochronology of modern specimens of S. gigantea, collected monthly from Pender Island (British Columbia), and additional modern specimens from the Dundas Islands (BC) and Mink and Little Takli Islands (Alaska). The methods presented can be used as a template to interpret local environmental conditions and increase the precision of seasonality estimates in shellfish using sclerochronology and oxygen isotope analysis. This method can also identify, with a high degree of accuracy, the date of shell collection to the nearest fortnightly cycle, the time of day the shell was collected and the approximate tidal elevation (i.e., approx. water depth and distance from the shoreline) from which the shell was collected.Life-history traits of S. gigantea were analyzed to understand the timing of growth line formation, the duration of the growing season, the growth rate, and the reliability of annual increments. We also examine the influence of the tidal regime and freshwater mixing in estuarine locations and how these variables can affect both incremental structures and oxygen isotope values. The results of the sclerochronological analysis show that there is a latitudinal trend in shell growth that needs to be considered when using shells for seasonality studies.Oxygen isotope analysis reveals clear annual cycles with the most positive values corresponding to the annual winter growth lines, and the most negative values corresponding to high temperatures during the summer. Intra-annual increment widths demonstrate clear seasonal oscillations with broadest increments in summer and very narrow increments or no growth during the winter months. This study provides new insights into the biology, geochemistry and seasonal growth of S. gigantea, which are crucial for paleoclimate reconstructions and interpreting seasonality patterns of past human collection.     

An Analysis of the Gut Contents of Five Well-Preserved Human Bodies from Tarapacá, Northern Chile

The detailed microscopic analysis of the gut contents from five well-preserved desiccated human bodies, dated between 540 BC and AD 600, from the Tarapacá quebrada, Northern Chile, has been undertaken. This analysis indicated that local wild resources such as the seeds of Chenopodium sp., pods of Prosopis sp. and the underground organs of Schoenoplectus/Scirpus sp. made up a substantial part of the diet even after the presence of domesticated species can be demonstrated for the area. Evidence for the consumption of fish was also recovered but the identification of larger mammals such as the Andean camelids in the diet is only tentative. This stands in contrast to the data recovered from other classes of archaeological remains and highlights the need to correlate as many different classes of complementary data as possible if a more complete picture of ancient diet is to be forthcoming.