Long-Term Occupation and Seasonal Settlement of Eastern Eurasian Pastoralists at Begash,Kazakhstan

Abstract

Recent excavations of the prehistoric pastoralist settlement of Begash, located in the Semirech'ye region of eastern Kazakhstan, provide evidence of one of the earliest pastoralist settlements in the eastern Eurasian steppe region. The archaeological complex at Begash includes a multi-period cemetery and rock art in addition to the settlement—a site complex that is well distributed throughout the koksu River Valley. Excavations at Begash have revealed three major phases of architectural development and six phases of material transition and site use, dated by a series of 34 calibrated radiocarbon AMS dates. These data demonstrate that mobile pastoral populations were active in the Dzhungar Mountains and koksu River Valley (Semirech'ye) as early as 2460 CAL B.C., more than 800 years earlier than previous theories suggested. Pastoralist activity at this domestic locale spans nearly 4000 years, with no archaeological evidence for long-term abandonment of the site in prehistory. Rather the occupational phases of the site are only interrupted by short-lived periods of disuse followed by centuries of re-engagement by local pastoralist communities. Thus, the broadly continuous record of material culture, domesticated faunal remains, and settlement at Begash index a local evolution of herding economies in Semirech'ye throughout the Bronze Age, beginning in the middle part of the 3rd millennium B.C. Ultimately, the data from Begash contribute a new perspective on the dynamic nature of Eurasian mobile pastoralists while also illustrating broad continuity in the settlement ecology of local populations that had a key role in the regional transmission of numerous innovations throughout the Bronze Age and later.     

Mound ZZl,Nixtun-Ch'ich', Petén,Guatemala: Rescue Operations at a Long-Lived Structure in the Maya Lowlands

Abstract

Mound ZZl, located on the tip of the peninsular portion of the large lowland Maya site of Nixtun-Ch’ich’ in Petén, Guatemala, was investigated in 2007 during a salvage operation. An axial trench revealed a long sequence of activity in the area, beginning before 1000 B. C. and extending into the early 18th century. Early platform construction was accompanied by feasting and smashing of Middle Preclassic (1000—400 B.C.) pottery in a termination and/or dedication rite. The mound grew through the construction and reconstruction of numerous platforms and structures—and further episodes of termination and dedication—that primarily extended it laterally, rather than vertically. The location of Mound ZZl and its features—reincorporation of Middle Preclassic fill materials; secondary burials; clay figurines; protection by a large wall-ditch complex; pecked plaster symbols; and the presence of a Spanish mission church—suggest that it was a key civic-ceremonial component of the region's sacred landscape for nearly three thousand years.     

The development of the agrarian landscape on gotland during the early iron age

The author discusses the investigations on prehistoric agrarian landscape recently started on the island of Gotland. Main attention is focused on traces of deserted (fossilised) fields. Systematic reconnaissance in 1972–73 all over the island has brought forth a quite new material with ‘Celtic fields’ of a very great size and regional extent. The reconnaissance and regional mapping are mainly carried out by aerial photography.

Through the field work, which started in 1973 at Uggårde‐Vinarve in Rone parish, it has been possible to demonstrate a continuous field system to a total extent of about 130 hectares (325 acres). This field pattern is superimposed by a new agrarian landscape structure with building remains and stone wall fencing systems as the dominating features. The two stratigraphically separated structures of agrarian landscape put into an agrarian economic context indicate a development from extensive farming with long fallow periods to intensive farming with established land‐use (arable, meadow, and grazing) on smaller areas than formerly. A rough dating of the two structures gives 500 — 100 B. C. and 100 B. C. ‐ A. D. 500 respectively.

The investigations carried on by geographers and archaeologists in collaboration with Quaternary geologists are included in a research project by the Swedish Council for Social Science Research.     

Multi-scale tribological analysis of the technique of manufacture of an obsidian bracelet from Aşıklı Höyük (Aceramic Neolithic,Central Anatolia)

Tribological analysis is employed in a pilot study of the technological steps involved in the manufacture of a polished obsidian bracelet from A??kl? Höyük, an Aceramic Neolithic site in Central Anatolia (8300–7500 cal. B.C.). The study includes morphological analysis of the bracelet, based on profile measurements, and identifications of wear variations indicated by surface topographic features and parameters. The manufacturing skill that is revealed suggests early appearance of a regional tradition of obsidian working, which reached its full development in the 6th millennium cal. B.C. with the production of various ornamental objects, including mirrors and vessels. The cultural record and location of A??kl? Höyük make the site important for our understanding of the technological developments during the early Neolithic in Anatolia.     

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     

Santo Domingo de Talaje: resurrecting a seventeenth-century Spanish mission at Darien Bluff,Georgia

ABSTRACT

This paper presents an overview of archaeological investigations conducted at Darien Bluff, McIntosh County, Georgia, over the past 75 years. The discovery of lost artifacts, missing excavation records, and several draft reports provided an opportunity to obtain a comprehensive overview of Spanish Mission period activity at the site of Mission Santo Domingo de Talaje, a primarily seventeenth-century mission that once stood on the banks of the Altamaha River. Included are archaeological and historical perspectives of the researchers who excavated the site and new interpretations by the authors that draw on recently relocated artifacts and excavation records.     

Returning to the Kamp Mound Group (11C12): Results from Geomagnetic Survey and High-Density Topographic Mapping in Calhoun County,Illinois

This article addresses the use of high-density topographic mapping and geomagnetic fieldwork as part of an ongoing research program focused on evaluating the role of monumental architecture in the construction and maintenance of differing scales of community during Middle (ca. 50 cal B.C.–cal A.D. 400) and Late (ca. cal A.D. 400–1000) Woodland periods in the Lower Illinois River Valley. At the 2013 Center for American Archeology and Arizona State University field school, a 2.46-ha area at the Kamp Mound Group (11C12) containing Mounds 1, 6, 7, 8, and 9 was surveyed using magnetic fluxgate gradiometry and mapped using a high-density robotic total station. Our survey results demonstrate that highly disturbed mounds have significant interpretable structure that can be used as primary data to better understand spatial attributes related to evaluating site organization, distribution of activity areas in nonmounded space, and internal mound structure and composition.     

A Short History of Archaeological Sieving at Franchthi Cave,Greece

Abstract

Excavations at the Franchthi Cave in SE Greece, under the direction of Dr. Thomas Jacobsen, have revealed a long habitation sequence of considerable interest to students of the early history of the Aegean Basin. The earliest recoverable deposits date to about 25,000 B.P. The most recent radiocarbon dates indicate that the latest deposits belong to the period around 3000 B.C.

The excavations themselves were carried out over the years 1967–1976. During that time, excavation techniques used at the site evolved considerably. Object recovery by various methods of archaeological sieving forms a major component of this evolution. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to discuss the standards of object recovery at Franchthi and the adaptation of sieves designed elsewhere to the situation at Franchthi, as well as to serve as a guide to other excavations planning a program of archaeological sieving.     

The Lost Loci of Tell El-'Ajjul: Petrie's Area C

Abstract

Flinders Petrie excavated the site of Tell el-'Ajjul in southern Palestine over five seasons between 1930 and 1938, with publication of his finds following swiftly on the heels of his fieldwork. These reports were only ever meant to be a preliminary investigation into the potential of this rich site, and often raised as many questions as they answered. This material is now the subject of the Petrie Palestinian Project, based at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, which aims to re-evaluate Petrie's finds in the light of more recent research. In the course of this work a detailed study of Petrie's field practices has helped clarify a number of issues relating to this site, which remains of major importance to the Bronze Age archaeology of Southern Palestine. One of the more problematic of these issues has been chosen for discussion here: the location of Petrie's area C.     

Excavations at Huaca Herederos Chica,Moche Valley,Peru

Abstract

Detailed results of excavations from 1970 to 1973 at the site of Huaca Herederos Chica in the lower Moche Valley, Peru are presented. This now partially destroyed monumental site belongs to the Caballo Muerto Complex, a series of mound sites that span both the Initial Period (2100–1200 CAL B.C.) and the Early Horizon (1200–200 CAL B.C.). The existing mounds were constructed sequentially over a period of some 1000 years; some mounds, like Huaca Herederos Chica, are the result of the superposition of several phases of occupation and building over that long time period, each separated by phases of abandonment. The older remains, dating from the Initial Period, testify to the presence in this coastal region of Peru of architectural features such as small quadrilateral rooms with rounded corners and somewhat circular rooms reminiscent of similar features of the Kotosh Religious Tradition at the highland sites of La Galgada and Huaricoto as well as in the coastal Casma Valley. Huaca Herederos Chica was abandoned from 1200–400 CAL B.C. only to be reoccupied and rebuilt in the late Early Horizon (400–200 CAL B.C.). Architectural changes seen at the site and at the Caballo Muerto Complex as a whole probably reflect important social and political changes along much of the Peruvian north coast.     

THE CHRONOLOGY AND HISTORY OF MOUNT TAYLOR PERIOD (CA. 7400–4600 CAL B.P.) SHELL SITES ON THE MIDDLE ST. JOHNS RIVER,FLORIDA

Abstract

Mount Taylor period (ca. 7400–4600 cal. B.P.) shell mounds on the St. Johns River in northeast Florida were some of the first Archaic freshwater shell sites to be documented in the Southeast. However, there is much that remains unknown about their chronology, history, and changing significance through time. This paper presents a regional chronology ofMount Taylor shell sites based on radiocarbon assays from well-documented contexts. Three major changes in the distribution, arrangement, and use of shell sites are identified which correspond with significant shifts in social interaction and environmental change. An examination of the contexts of shell deposition demonstrates that shell sites were frequently established as places to dwell and were subsequently transformed into places of commemorative ceremony or mortuary ritual. The history of Mount Taylor shell sites has implications for the broader debate on whether shell sites were middens or monuments.     

Wear Analysis on Early Mesolithic Microliths from the Verrebroek Site,East Flanders,Belgium

Abstract

This paper discusses the results of recent wear analysis on a series of 467 microliths excavated at the early Mesolithic (8410–7930 cal B.C.) site of Verrebroek in Belgium. Based on both macro-fractures (bending fractures and spin-offs) and traces of microscopic linear impact a distinction could be made between non-geometric microliths used as tips and geometric microliths mainly used as barbs. During the Pre-boreal the latter occur in large numbers and in various forms (triangles, crescents) that are used in mutually exclusive ways. At the transition from the Pre-boreal to the Boreal, almost simultaneously with the disappearance of bone and antler points from the Mesolithic tool kit there is a considerable increase in microlith tips. In this paper several possible explanations for this change are discussed.     

Excavations at Opovo, 1985–1987: Socioeconomic Change in the Balkan Neolithic

Abstract

This is the second preliminary report of excavations and analyses of Opovo-Ugar Bajbuk, a Neolithic settlement of the Vin?a-Plo?nik culture located in the lower Tami? river valley, NE Yugoslavia. The Opovo Archaeological Project began in the summer of 1983; this report coversthe 1985–1987 field seasons. Work at Opovo has continued to reveal more about the unusual reliance placed by the site’s inhabitants on wild food resources, the apparent lack of long-term settlement occupation, and the social organization of production and consumption. An unexpected find of the 1987 season was a fragment of linen, the earliest direct evidence for textile production in European prehistory. Detailed examination of methods of house construction and house destruction—part of an effort to investigate the role of households at the site—led to the discovery of the first two-story dwelling ever encountered at a Vin?a site. The site of Opovo-Ugar Bajbuk is providing new light on previously unknown dimensions of variation within the Vin?a culture.     

Exploring Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) Habitat Collection via Oxygen Isotope Geochemistry and its Implications for Ritual and Mound Construction at Crystal River and Roberts Island,Florida

Research at Crystal River and Roberts Island Shell Mound Complex, on the western coast of Florida, USA, offers a quantitative assessment of the temporality of shell deposit construction, Native subsistence practices, and mobility patterns through stable oxygen isotope data from eastern oyster (C. virginica). The δ¹⁸O_water values of oysters vary synchronously with salinity, assuming relatively constant δ¹⁸O_water/salinity gradients since the time of occupation, allowing for an examination of shifts in oyster habitat exploitation over time. Our previous (Thompson et al. 2015) study indicated that midden accumulation occurred throughout the year, while oysters from mound deposits were collected in colder months. New data indicate that in addition to differential season of collection, habitat exploitation also varied. During early occupation at the site, oysters were collected primarily from lower saline habitats, while in later phases oysters were obtained from higher salinity waters; we relate this to a lower sea level and concomitant settlement shift seaward. Additionally, oyster from later mound contexts was collected from higher saline habitats relative to those in midden contexts; Native people may have targeted specific bioherms at certain times for the year for feasting-related mound construction.     

Economics and environmental change during the Late Mesolithic and Neolithic periods — investigations in the valley of the Gieselau near Albersdorf,Schleswig-Holstein,Germany

Abstract

Interactions between people and the environment have resulted in constant changes in relief and soil conditions since the Neolithic. Soil transport and degradation had considerable effects on human land use. Extensive field investigations (excavations, auger sampling), measurements (e.g. texture, pH-value, C_org, N), datings (¹⁴C, pottery), together with extensive literature searches in different scientific disciplines (archaeology, palaeoecology, palaeoclimatology etc.), made it possible to reconstruct the Holocene landscape development in four study areas along the valley of the Gieselau near Albersdorf (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany). Stratigraphies were established in the study areas. This paper describes landscape developments around Albersdorf and in northern Central Europe during the Late Mesolithic and Neolithic. The compiled data for the landscape and land-use history serve as a basis for the design of the extensive Archaeological-Ecological Centre Albersdorf (AÖZA) — occupying a site of approximately 40 hectares — using reconstructed features from the Neolithic landscapes.     

Diet uniformity at an early farming community in northwest Anatolia (Turkey): carbon and nitrogen isotope studies of bone collagen at Aktopraklık

Aktoprakl?k is a settlement site composed of three areas (A–C) in the Marmara region of northwest Anatolia, with phases of occupation that date to the Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic periods, mid-seventh to mid-sixth millennium bc (ca. 6400–5600 cal. bc). Here, we present 54 human and fauna bone collagen stable isotope results from the site, alongside five modern fish bone collagen isotope results, to examine the nature of human diet. The stable isotope analysis shows that human diet comprised the consumption of select C₃ terrestrial resources, with a preference for domestic animal proteins over plant proteins. The evidence to date suggests that animal husbandry was at the forefront of Late Neolithic and Early Chalcolithic subsistence practices. No isotopic difference in humans is observed between biological sex or between areas B and C at the settlement.     

Medieval Pottery

Excavation of an area of over 750 sq. m during 1992–94 and 1999 revealed a multi-period prehistoric site preserved beneath the Roman fort. Flints attested mesolithic activity. In the early Neolithic a segmented ditch may represent part of a causewayed enclosure. By c. 3000 cal. B.C. this had been superseded (in this area) by pits and shelters associated with flint-knapping. Finds, but not structures, attest a bronze-age presence. Within the period 390–170 cal. B.C. a roundhouse with cultivation plot, part of an unenclosed settlement, occupied the area. This had been burnt and was rich in carbonised plant remains which provided information about the arable economy and spatial variations in the use of the roundhouse interior. In the later Iron Age the area was reclaimed by cultivation associated with an unlocated settlement. The nature of the occupation on the eve of the Roman period is not known.     

Expanding the Dimensions of Early Agricultural Tells: The Podgoritsa Archaeological Project,Bulgaria

Abstract

A single season of field work was carried out in 1995 at the Podgoritsa Tell, an Eneolithic (5th millennium B.C.) settlement mound located between the villages of Dralfa and Podgoritsa in the Turgovishte region of NE Bulgaria. Results provide significant new data about the physical and social dimensions of early agricultural settlement tells in SE Europe. Most important is the first discovery of architectural structures and activity areas located outside of the topographic circumference of an Eneolithic tell. Additional, and equally unprecedented, information from geophysical and soil coring investigations proves that the land around the Podgoritsa site went through cycles of use and disuse. These cycles were determined by variations in the level of the local water table. Evidence of a bank and ditch structure on the western edge of the tell raises the possibility that the site's inhabitants may have been actively managing local water supplies. The firm evidence for off-tell activity (which explodes the myth that the modern visible topographic limits of a tell represent the limits of activity) and the possibility of 5th millennium hydrological engineering have important consequences not only for our understanding of the SE European Copper Age but also or future strategies of tell excavation across SE Europe and western Asia.     

Hesitant hunters: a review of the introduction of agriculture in western Norway

Abstract

Evidence for the introduction of agriculture in western Norway is presented, using three categories of data: (1) palaeobotanical data, including pollen diagrams from lakes, bogs and archaeological sites, focusing on the presence of cereals, Plantago lanceolata L. and anthropogenic pollen indicators, and charred macro remains of cereals from archaeological sites; (2) osteological data, focusing on the occurrences of bones of cattle, sheep and goats in three rock-shelters, and the bone material from one open-air Neolithic site; (3) archaeological data, including artefacts indicating agricultural practices, distribution of residential settlement sites, and stray finds. The evidence for agricultural activity at the beginning of the fourth millennium BC (Early Neolithic, EN) is low, whereas the presence of both cereals and animal husbandry is indicated in the palaeobotanical material from the Middle Neolithic A (MNA, 3400–2600 cal. BC). The earliest record of domesticated animal bones is dated to the Middle Neolithic B (MNB, 2600–2200 cal. BC), while palynological and archaeological data also indicate an expansion in the area cultivated by early farmers. All data confirm the establishment of an agrarian society and animal husbandry in the Late Neolithic (LN, 2200–1700 cal. BC). It is concluded that agriculture was introduced into western Norway by the indigenous hunter-fisher populations. During this process, social and ideological factors played principal roles.