Two radiocarbon dates for freshwater shells from hierakonpolis: Archaeological and geological interpretations

Shells of two species of freshwater bivalve (Unio willcocksi Bullen Newton and Etheria elliptica Lamarck) from the predynastic Gerzean (Nagada II) Decorated Tomb at Hierakonpolis, Egypt have given dates of 5000±90 bp for the tomb, and 12,900±120 bp for an episode of Nile terrace accumulation (correlated here with the Sahaba-Darau aggradation event). The archaeological and geological significance of these results is discussed, together with an outline of problems associated with radiocarbon dating of shell. Comparisons are made with the few other radiocarbon dates available for the Predynastic period in Egypt and possible reasons for the presence of shells in the tomb are considered.     

Lower Pecos and Coahuila peyote: new radiocarbon dates

Peyote, a psychoactive cactus native to the Chihuahuan Desert, has been preserved from excavations at only two archaeological sites: Shumla Caves in the Lower Pecos region of southwest Texas and shelter CM-79 near Cuatro Ciénegas in Coahuila, Mexico. We determined three indistinguishable radiocarbon ages of 5160 ± 45, 5200 ± 35, and 5210 ± 35 ¹⁴C years BP, yielding a mean age of 5195 ± 20 ¹⁴C years BP for the three specimens from Shumla Caves. For one of the Cuatro Ciénegas specimens we obtained the first direct radiocarbon date of 835 ± 35 ¹⁴C years BP. This study demonstrates the use of peyote by inhabitants of the Lower Pecos region of the Chihuahuan Desert about 6000 calendar years ago, and confirms its use by inhabitants of the Cuatro Ciénegas region of the Chihuahuan Desert in Late Prehistoric times. The Shumla Caves' specimens are composed of an aggregate of ground peyote mixed with other plant material, i.e., they appear to be manufactured peyote effigies, and are definitely not intact peyote buttons.     

Ancient long-distance trade in Western North America: new AMS radiocarbon dates from Southern California

Eleven Olivella biplicata spire-lopped shell beads from six sites located 250–365 km inland from the Pacific coast of southern California produced AMS dates between 11,200 and 7860 CAL BP. Olivella shell beads were well-documented items of prestige and media of exchange in Native California, and recovery of these examples from inland contexts indicates low-level exchange between resident populations of the coast and the southwestern Great Basin by at least 10,300–10,000 CAL years BP. These findings represent some of the earliest unequivocal evidence for long-distance trade in western North America and push the antiquity of this important form of inter-group interaction back several thousand years earlier than previously thought.     

Problems in the interpretation of radiocarbon dates: the Pastoral Neolithic of East Africa

For the Pastoral Neolithic of East Africa radiocarbon dates suggest two apparent anomalies in the archaeological record: pastoralism in the Central Rift at perhaps 7000 bp, and the very long duration of particular pottery traditions. This paper examines the dating evidence closely, in particular the assertion that apatite gives more reliable dates than collagen. Both the assertion and the anomalies appear to be false. It is shown that there is no firm evidence for pastoralism in East Africa before about 4000 bp. Similarly, the Narosura tradition is of shorter duration and more recent than previously supposed. The meagre dating evidence for the Namoratunga sites and its implications are also assessed. Examination of the dates for the Pastoral Iron Age shows that the Turkwel tradition is dated only by a single date and that the appearance of twisted cord rouletted pottery in the present millennium post-dates the end of stone tool manufacture by several centuries. The paper concludes with a plea for more critical assessment of radiocarbon dates and for greater rigour in their presentation.     

Evaluation of radiocarbon dates from the Middle Holocene hunter-gatherer cemetery Khuzhir-Nuge XIV,Lake Baikal,Siberia

A data set of 87 radiocarbon determinations obtained for the Bronze Age Khuzhir-Nuge XIV cemetery in the Cis-Baikal region of Siberia is analyzed from the perspective of data quality and within the local archaeological context. Bone preservation, expressed in terms of collagen yields, is a very important factor affecting both the accuracy and precision of ¹⁴C dates and, therefore, publication of this information should be adopted as a required standard. According to the calibrated high-collagen dates, after a single Serovo interment the cemetery was used continuously by Glazkovo peoples for up to 700 years (∼2700–2000 BC), and 70% of all burials were interred within a relatively short peak period between approximately 2500 and 2300 BC. The extensive radiocarbon data from KN XIV allow for the re-evaluation of existing models and perspectives on the place of the Glazkovo culture within the Cis-Baikal Neolithic and Bronze Age.     

New insights into the neolithisation process in southwest Europe according to spatial density analysis from calibrated radiocarbon dates

The agricultural way of life spreads throughout Europe via two main routes: the Danube corridor and the Mediterranean basin. Current archaeological literature describes the arrival to the Western Mediterranean as a rapid process which involves both demic and cultural models, and in this regard, the dispersal movement has been investigated using mathematical models, where the key factors are time and space. In this work, we have created a compilation of all available radiocarbon dates for the whole of Iberia, in order to draw a chronological series of maps to illustrate temporal and spatial patterns in the neolithisation process. The maps were prepared by calculating the calibrated 14C date probability density curves, as a proxy to show the spatial dynamics of the last hunter-gatherers and first farmers. Several scholars have pointed out problems linked with the variability of samples, such as the overrepresentation of some sites, the degree of regional research, the nature of the dated samples and above all the archaeological context, but we are confident that the selected dates, after applying some filters and statistical protocols, constitute a good way to approach settlement spatial patterns in Iberia at the time of the neolithisation process.     

Subsistence strategies and palaeodiet of Tell al-Husn,northern Jordan: nitrogen and carbon stable isotope evidence and radiocarbon dates

This research examines the diet and subsistence strategies during the Early Bronze Age III (EB III) or/and the beginning of the Early Bronze Age IV (EB IV) and the Middle Bronze Age I–II (MB I–II) periods of Tell al-Husn, northern Jordan. Stable isotope analyses of carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) were carried out on human teeth of known ages. Faunal samples were radiocarbon dated, while their carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) stable isotopes were analyzed for comparative purposes. The results revealed that the diet of the individuals of the MB I is richer in terrestrial animal protein than the individuals of the EB III and/or early EB IV and MB II, a probable indicator for more agricultural activities toward the end of the MB and the LB and during the EB III and/or early EB IV. The results suggested that the individuals of tomb 2 are probably of higher social status or were subjected to different environmental conditions compared to the individuals of chamber 3 of tomb 1. In addition, the results suggested a higher social status for an individual buried contemporaneously with other individuals in chamber 3 of tomb 1.     

Testing the human factor: radiocarbon dating the first peoples of the South Pacific

Archaeologists have long debated the origins and mode of dispersal of the immediate predecessors of all Polynesians and many populations in Island Melanesia. Such debates are inextricably linked to a chronological framework provided, in part, by radiocarbon dates. Human remains have the greatest potential for providing answers to many questions pertinent to these debates. Unfortunately, bone is one of the most complicated materials to date reliably because of bone degradation, sample pre-treatment and diet. This is of particular concern in the Pacific where humidity contributes to the rapid decay of bone protein, and a combination of marine, reef, C₄, C₃ and freshwater foods complicate the interpretation of ¹⁴C determinations. Independent advances in bone pre-treatment, isotope multivariate modelling and radiocarbon calibration techniques provide us, for the first time, with the tools to obtain reliable calibrated ages for Pacific burials. Here we present research that combines these techniques, enabling us to re-evaluate the age of burials from key archaeological sites in the Pacific.     

Stable carbon isotope ratios and their relevance to the determination of accurate radiocarbon dates for lime mortars

Attempts have been made to date mortar by radiocarbon analysis. Potential problems are discussed, and the possible use of stable carbon isotopes to detect contamination by geological carbonates is investigated.     

Balancing Archaeological Responsibilities and Community Commitments: A Case from Honduras

Abstract

Exploring the implications of a recent discovery in NW Honduras, this paper considers the ethical dilemma that arises when an archaeologist's responsibility to disseminate information conflicts with her/his commitment to protect cultural resources. We suggest that applied archaeology that benefits local communities among which investigations are conducted is a first step toward developing long-term solutions to conservation and stewardship challenges.     

考古对象对考古学研究的影响——考古学反思之一

考古学与人类学、社会学、历史学等社会科学或人文科学一样,其总的研究对象都是人类社会。所不同的是,考古学研究的起点是古人活动遗留下来的遗迹和遗物(总称...     

Archaeological prospecting: A progress report

This article has two main aims: to show how the quality of resistivity surveys may be improved by the use of new probe configurations and consideration of seasonal effects on detectability of features; and secondly to describe the value of the new fluxgate gradiometers for rapid detailed magnetic surveys and for scanning substantial tracts of country for archaeological remains. Methods of survey presentation are also briefly described.     

U-series and radiocarbon dates on mollusc shells from the uppermost layer of the archaeological site of KHB-1, Ra's al Khabbah,Oman

The archaeological site of KHB-1, Oman, has been investigated in order to improve the chronological knowledge of the site, which is dated to the beginning of the fourth millennium B.C. on the basis of the archaeological context. Mollusc shells of the genus Anadara, coming from the uppermost layers of the site, have been dated using two different methods, radiocarbon and U-series technique. The results of the two techniques date the last occupational phase of the site from the end of the fourth millennium B.C. to the beginning of the third millennium B.C.     

Archaeological classification and ethnic groups: A case study from Sudanese Nubia

This is an attempt to discuss the central problem in archaeology, to understand the relationship between the artifacts and the cultural processes which produced them. Classification is our main methodology for the interpretation of this relationship: The problem is, however, to find the significant criteria. The focus of this paper is to show how archaeologists on the basis of classification of artifacts have tried to reconstruct culture history in terms of migration, diffusion or invention. The main example is from Sudanese Nubia. A criticism of the criteria here selected as significant for the identification of people and their movement, is based on a general theoretical discussion of ethnic groups.     

Strontium Isotopes from the Earth to the Archaeological Skeleton: A Review

Strontium isotope analysis of archaeological skeletons has provided useful and exciting results in archaeology in the last 20 years, particularly by characterizing past human migration and mobility. This review covers the biogeochemical background, including the origin of strontium isotope compositions in rocks, weathering and hydrologic cycles that transport strontium, and biopurification of strontium from to soils, to plants, to animals and finally into the human skeleton, which is subject to diagenesis after burial. Spatial heterogeneity and mixing relations must often be accounted for, rather than simply ``matching' a measured strontium isotope value to a presumed single-valued geologic source. The successes, limitations and future potential of the strontium isotope technique are illustrated through case studies from geochemistry, biogeochemistry, ecology and archaeology.

考古材料研究的新视角:人与物之间关系的纠缠理论分析

纠缠(entanglement)理论是著名考古学家伊恩·霍德(Ian Hodder)以长期的考古实践为基础,并在新唯物主义思潮影响下提出的一种全新的考古学理论形态.它强调物自身的性质及其对人的束缚,主张以人与物在人们日常生活实践中产生的依赖关系与依附关系以及涉及到的物质、能量与信息流为视角,对考古材料进行分析,进而对古...     

A comment on Steele’s (2010) “radiocarbon dates as data: quantitative strategies for estimating colonization front speeds and event densities”

We show that Steele’s (2010) criticisms of Hamilton and Buchanan (2007) and Buchanan et al. (2008) do not hold water and demonstrate that his re-analyses of Hamilton and Buchanan’s (2007) and Buchanan et al'.s (2008) datasets are flawed. In the process, we highlight some important issues for researchers interested in using radiocarbon dates to reconstruct population movements and demography. Most notably, we explain why OLS regression is preferable to RMA regression when estimating diffusion velocity, and demonstrate that the summed probability distributions yielded by CalPal are more reliable as guides to past demographic change than those produced by Calib and OxCal.