TESTING FOR EVIDENCE OF PALEOINDIAN RESPONSES TO ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES DURING THE YOUNGER DRYAS CHRONOZONE IN GEORGIA

Abstract

For the Southeast, it has been proposed that climate changes during the Younger Dryas period triggered a human population decline and/or substantial reorganization. We use the Georgia point record in the Paleoindian Database of the Americas to test for evidence of changes in landscape use through the Paleoindian period and consider these changes in the context of the Georgia paleoenvironmental record spanning the Younger Dryas. Based on differences in point frequencies, distributions, raw material types, and transport distances and directions, we conclude that significant changes in landscape use occurred during the Paleoindian period, and these correspond to destabilization of the immediate coastal zone due to fluctuations in sea level.     

THE ROLE OF FINNISH LEFTISTS IN SOVIET–FINNISH ARTISTIC EXCHANGES DURING THE LATE SOCIALIST PERIOD

The article examines artistic exchanges between the USSR and Finland from the viewpoint of the Finnish left. After WWII, Finland was in a difficult geopolitical position; although not occupied by the USSR, it received little support from the West and so remained an independent capitalist democracy, with little foreign leverage. The Soviet influence was felt in many areas, and throughout the Cold War, Finland received many more world-class Soviet artists than any other Western country. This was in part a consequence of Finland’s proximity to the USSR, but the Finnish Communist Party, a major domestic political force, also played a role. Immediately after the war, organizations associated with the Finnish Communist Party enjoyed a virtual monopoly over such exchanges, but this began to change in the mid-1950s. Around that time, the USSR began to allow Finnish artists to train and perform at its world-class arenas, and many of those Finnish students had links with the political left. Based on interviews and supported by archival material from Finland and Russia, the article explores the role of the Finnish left in these artistic exchanges.     

CONFIRMATION OF AN ARCHAIC PERIOD MOUND IN SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI

Abstract

Site 22LI504 is a predominantly Archaic period site in Lincoln County, Mississippi. One of its primary elements of interest is a single conical mound from which small-diameter cores revealed evidence of advanced pedogenesis. A radiocarbon sample from one soil core produced a date suggesting that the mound was Archaic in age (Fulmer 2001); however, it was unclear whether the sample came from within the mound or an underlying midden. In the spring of 2006, we excavated a 1-x-1-m unit in the mound to investigate this question. Diagnostic lithic artifacts, an advanced state of soil horizonation, and a lack of ceramics indicate that the mound is of Archaic period construction, with as many as five construction stages and artifact-rich features. We describe the soil profiles, features, and artifacts recovered from the mound, with comparisons to excavation units in an adjacent Archaic midden to show that there is no clear evidence for the mound being a functionally specific locus. We also present radiocarbon dates that indicate the earthwork is over 5,000 years old. These results are evaluated within the broader context of Archaic mound building, focusing in particular on environmental parameters underlying bet-hedging behavior.     

'ROMAN' OR 'NATIVE' BODIES IN BRITAIN: THE EVIDENCE OF LATE ROMAN NAIL-CLEANER STRAP-ENDS

Summary.   This paper reviews late Roman 'nail-cleaner strap-ends', a group of objects first discussed by Hawkes and Dunning (1961 ). The precise function of these objects is unclear as their shape suggests use as toilet instruments but the split socket suggests that they were part of belt-fittings. We suggest a detailed typology and discuss the dating evidence and the spatial distribution of the type. Regardless of their precise function, it is argued in this paper that nail-cleaner strap-ends of this type are unique to late Roman Britain and thus represent a distinct regional type. The use of nail-cleaner strap-ends can be viewed in the context of gender associations, military status and religious beliefs.     

TEMPORAL HYGIENE: PROBLEMS IN CULTURAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE LATE PREHISTORIC PERIOD OF THE MIDDLE OHIO RIVER VALLEY

Abstract

Radiocarbon dates are an independent source of data for constructing temporal relationships. Too often dates are shoehorned by preconceptions and hobbled by casual sample selection, reporting, and interpretation. Several authors have established quality-control criteria for evaluating and cleansing regional radiocarbon databases. Recent applications of such temporal hygiene practices in paleoecology and archaeology have resulted in significant reinterpretations of the sequence, timing, and tempo of change. Further, a new appreciation is often gained of the extent of synchronic variability. I apply a minimal hygienic protocol based on three criteria: material dated, method of age estimation, and when the sample was run. I illustrate both the value of and the need for such analyses by cleaning up a small sample of dates (N = 125) from 11 Fort Ancient sites. The single largest problem for determining occupation timing is the use of wood samples. Nearly 80 percent of the assays are unacceptable for use in reconstructing occupation history, except to frame the maximal age of occupation. The modifications to the timing and duration of occupation for these 11 sites significantly undermine the logical inferential structure of current reconstructions of change and difference in the middle Ohio River valley.     

SEQUENCE OF INTERNAL EVENTS DURING THE FOUNDATION PERIOD OF THE HITTITE KINGDOM

The events we will be dwelling upon and which are known from the cuneiform sources unearthed at Bogazkoey date directly to the time of Hattusili I or later, and provide information about the foundation period of the Hittite kingdom which took place in the cities that were closely linked to or directly occurring in the capital city, Hattusa, or elsewhere. It is not possible to put campaigns, conquests and the events in exact chronological order within the foundation period of the Hittite kingdom. However, it can be said that while the early part of the reign of Hattusili I was mostly a period when the borders were expanded by military campaigns and conquests, the later part of this king‘s reign was most probably when internal turmoil arose.     

EVIDENCE FOR THE MIXING OF FATS AND WAXES IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CERAMICS

Lipid residues from two Late Saxon/early medieval ceramic vessels recovered from excavations at West Cotton, Raunds, Northamptonshire, U.K., have been investigated by high-temperature gas chromatography (GC) and GC/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The solvent extracts of sherds sampled from different points on each vessel (i.e., base, body and rim) were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively and compounds were identified which were characteristic of beeswax and animal fat. Furthermore, by determining the sites of accumulation of the specific lipid types and their concentrations in different parts of the vessels it can be inferred that the beeswax was added to the vessels prior to the addition of the fat. It was concluded that the two vessels performed different functions in antiquity.     

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN METALWORK, COPPER SOURCES AND THE EVIDENCE FOR SETTLEMENT IN THE GREEK LATE NEOLITHIC AND EARLY BRONZE AGE

Summary. This paper discusses the evidence for copper- and bronze-working in later Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Greece and seeks to define the relationship between these industries and the copper ore sources which were potentially available. It compares the distribution of metalwork with that of contemporary settlement, and lists the occurrence of copper sources in each region. A contrast is also drawn between the later Neolithic industries, which resemble those of the Balkans, and those of EB II and III, which have essentially a Near Eastern Background. Although the same ore sources may have been used in both periods, the scope and organisation of the industries was markedly different. It is concluded that even though there were enough local and widespread copper sources to meet demand, there is no evidence that any one copper source was systematically exploited in EBA. The extent to which the Laurion copper source influenced the organisation of copper acquisition in MBA is discussed.     

抗战后期南通地区发行的几种抗币

江苏省南通市(除市区外辖启东、海门、通州、如东、如皋、海安六县市),在抗日战争后期属新四军东进后开创的苏中抗日根据地重要区域之一。它地处长江下游北岸,战略位置也十分重要。日寇侵华期间,曾派重兵占领了南通地区的主要城镇。由于政治上、军事上扫荡与反“扫荡”、“清乡”与反“清乡”斗争十分激烈,经济上江淮银行与日伪币争夺市场的斗争形势亦相当严峻。日军大量使用日本军用手票及汪精卫伪政权发行的“中央储备银行券”,抢购他们所需的重要物资。当时南通地区抗日根据地军民主要用苏中统一发行的江淮银行币去占领市场,抵制日伪币。…     

DIRECT EVIDENCE OF PRIMARY GLASS PRODUCTION IN LATE BRONZE AGE AMARNA,EGYPT

This paper presents direct archaeological evidence for the primary production of glass at the LBA site of Tell el‐Amarna, in the form of numerous finds of semi‐finished glass. The diagnostic microstructural and chemical composition of these finds is presented alongside macroscopically similar finds, of shapeless lumps of finished white glass. The semi‐finished glass was found to contain numerous inclusions of residual quartz and newly formed lime‐rich crystal phases, but no added colorant. However, several samples of semi‐finished glass have antimony oxide levels comparable to those of finished white glass, suggesting that the opacifier was added to the initial glass‐making batch. The results are discussed in comparison with the evidence for glass‐making from Qantir – Pi‐Ramesse, identifying some close technical similarities, which indicate that the same technological processes were used at both sites for the production of glass.     

NEW EVIDENCE FOR THE NATURE OF THE ATTIC BLACK GLOSS

New evidence is reported here using transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and laser reflectance for the nature of the black glossy decoration layer present on the Attic black or red figure vases of the sixth to fourth century BC. The black layer, of total thickness about 20 μm, consists mainly of poly crystalline magnetite (Fe₃O₄) particles of dimensions from 0.2 μm down to extremely fine sizes embodied in an amorphous vitreous matrix. On the outer surface of the black paint we discovered for the first time a thin clear glassy film of approximate thickness 0.1 μm which is rich in Al and Fe and poor in Si. This film must be responsible for the characteristic sheen of the surface. This is verified with the reflection of laser light mostly in specular direction, a unique property compared with black paints of other areas and other periods.     

THE OLIVE IN THE PREHISTORIC AEGEAN: THE EVIDENCE FOR DOMESTICATION IN THE EARLY BRONZE AGE

Summary. In 1972 Colin Renfrew suggested that the rise of Mycenaean civilization may have been made possible by the development of a polycultural triad of wheat, vine and olive in the Early Bronze Age. A careful examination of the botanical and archaeological evidence for the domestication of the olive lends little support to this aspect of the thesis. The palynological evidence from various points in Greece is inconclusive, but for most areas it would seem to suggest that the intensive cultivation of olive began in the Late Bronze Age or even later.
No conclusive archaeological evidence for processing or storage of olive oil exists for any period in the Bronze Age. The question of when olive domestication took place must remain unanswered until more data are available from Early and Middle Bronze Age contexts and more conclusive botanical data have been collected.     

THE SETTLEMENT OF EUROPEAN RUSSIA DURING THE ROMANOV PERIOD (1613-1917)

This paper compares and contrasts Russian frontier experiences on the northern and southern parts of the European plain during the Romanov era (1613-1917). Both were “open” frontiers, in Turner's sense of a frontier as the “hither edge of free land,” but their environments and the settlement processes which affected them were very different. It is suggested that the character of a frontier society is decisively influenced by the process whereby settlers must adapt to their new environment, the features which attract them to that environment, and the character of the pre-existing inhabitants. The northern frontier formed part of what Meinig has called a “boreal riverine empire” with a harsh environment, to which paradoxically the Russians found it relatively easy to adapt, the great attraction of fur-bearing animals and reasonably benign relations with native peoples. By contrast, the southern frontier was a “frontier of exclusion,” following Lattimore's phrase, with hostile indigenes, a natural environment demanding special methods of adaptation, but with many more attractions than the north. Such contrasts gave rise to considerable differences in the settlement process, in the character of land allocation and in the type of society evolving subsequently, with long-term consequences for emerging human landscapes.     

PLACE-NAME EVIDENCE IN THE HISTORICAL GEOGRAPHY OF MOSCOW

The authors demonstrate that place names can help to reconstruct the changing geography of Moscow by identifying and localizing the stages of the city's growth, the development of its radial-circular layout, the absorption of adjoining villages, the distribution of handicrafts and industries, and the existence of hydrographic features and vegetative cover. (The translation was prepared by James R. Gibson of York University, Toronto.)