Contact and Missionization at Tayasal,Petén,Guatemala

Abstract

Until their conquest by the Spanish in 1697, many Itza Maya occupied a large village at Tayasal, Petén, Guatemala. After the conquest, two missions were built there. The village and missions are located within 2 km of modern Flores, which was once Nojpetén, the Itza capital, and later the Spanish presidio (fortified administrative center). Our excavations uncovered the San Bernabé mission on the Tayasal peninsula and defined the Late Postclassic-period (a.d. 1400–1525) occupation of the site. San Bernabé was established in the early 18th century as part of Spanish efforts to control indigenous populations in Petén. Our research demonstrates that the Late Postclassic settlement was larger than indicated by previous research and supported a relatively large ceremonial architectural group. Evidence of indigenous practices was recovered from deposits within the mission, though many elements of Itza religion found in the Late Postclassic group were absent from the mission settlement. These data provide additional evidence of religious syncretism in colonial situations.     

A sugar-boiling house at Galways: An Irish sugar plantation in Montserrat,West Indies

Abstract

The former village of Cowlam lies on the Chalk Wolds of the old East Riding of Yorkshire at SE/965657. When the village earthworks were threatened with destruction in the early 1970s, the late T.C.M. Brewster carried out a series of rescue excavations for the East Riding Archaeological Research Committee. He examined the remains of four structures within the ‘courtyard farm’ complex of one croft. His excavations demonstrated that this courtyard farm represented the amalgamation of two earlier croft units, probably at some time towards the end of the medieval period.

Three of these four structures had ground plans of typical ‘longhouse’ form, with dwarf chalk footing walls and opposed central doorways. Their similarity of form raised problems of their respective functions and the changing role of buildings within the complex. The wide range of artefact material recovered from the vicinity of these buildings provided additional evidence for their use.

The pottery demonstrated that this courtyard farm had remained in occupation until the later 17th century, a date which correlated with the documentary evidence for the desertion of the village. Cowlam is only one of a number of Wold villages which were abandoned in the post-medieval period.     

Open-area excavations at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village,South Dakota (A.D. 1000–1150): New interpretations of site function from interdwelling areas

Abstract

Excavations at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village (A.D. 1000–1150), an Initial Middle Missouri period Plains earthen lodge village site in eastern South Dakota, revealed new data regarding the lifeways and cultural systems of its prehistoric inhabitants. While extensive excavations had been conducted at the site and at a large number of other Middle Missouri sites prior to the present project, our open-area approach revealed new and significantly different information. New features in the areas between the dwellings were uncovered, features that are rarely studied in the context of the Middle Missouri cultural tradition. Other finds included Mississippian-influenced ceramics, Avonlea projectile points, and ceremonial goods that indicate long-distance cultural interaction. The discovery of large, complex features in the interdwelling areas of the site changes our understanding of Middle Missouri lifeways and settlement structure.     

Excavations at Pevensey,Sussex, 1962–6

The village of Pevensey in Sussex is the shrunken remnant of a medieval port of modest importance. Between 1962 and 1966 several sites on the fringe of the present built-up area were investigated and one was excavated in some detail.¹ At three points the original shore line was found, with traces of quays or retaining walls at two of them. The main site was adjacent to these and revealed a series of buildings from the 12th to 14th centuries. Another occupation-area south of the church was also explored. The pottery and other finds testify to cross-Channel and coastal trade.     

The conservation and management of mudbrick buildings at Tell Qasile,Israel

Abstract

Tell Qasile, in the area of the Eretz Israel Museum in north Tel Aviv, is the location of a small town founded in the twelfth century BCE. The site has significant importance for the study of various aspects of the Iron Age period in Israel. The buildings at the site were constructed of mudbricks on stone foundations. Conservation of buildings at the site was carried out using three methods: 1) building roofs (in roofed areas no other conservation was needed); 2) conserving mudbrick walls by plastering them in modern plaster made up in imitation of ancient building material; 3) full restoration of buildings up to roof level (carried out in one case). These methods were successful, and, due to the location of the site within a large museum compound, it is utilized for archaeological education, mainly of schoolchildren.     

Excavation of a pit at 16 Tunsgate,Guildford, Surrey, 1991

Abstract

The site lies to the south of the High Street in Guildford’s town centre, SU 9980 4944. The pit yielded a large assemblage of artefacts. The significance of the assemblage lies in its size and its coherence as a single, chronologically uncontaminated and sealed deposit. The finds form a discrete group of ceramics, glass, clay pipes and organic remains dating from c.1650-1714, and deposited c.1702-14. Many of the vessels after reconstruction proved to be complete, or almost so. Because of the location of the site in Tunsgate, the artefacts must either have come from the Tun Inn, which had a frontage on the High Street, or from a property nearby belonging to the owner of the Tun Inn. The end of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century is a particularly interesting period for ceramic and glass studies and the finds from 16 Tunsgate reflect this. The assemblage contains previously unknown examples of the work of John Dwight and George Ravenscroft, a soda glass with a hitherto unknown type of seal, the largest group of mould-blown cristallo beakers so far found in the United Kingdom or North America and a unique group of animal remains that provide a snapshot of inn food in the early 18th century. The finds are on display in Guildford Museum.     

Lords and Towns in Medieval Europe: The European Historic Towns Atlas Project

Abstract

THE FIRST significant archaeological excavation within the village of Thorney, Cambridgeshire, has revealed a sequence of occupation deposits associated with the former Benedictine abbey and reflecting some 600 years of use. Thorney Abbey was surrendered at the Dissolution of the Greater Monasteries in 1539 and over successive years many of the buildings were demolished and the stone removed for re-use elsewhere. As a consequence very little is known of the abbey's layout and organisation. In the Middle Ages Thorney was surrounded by fen wetland and the excavations reported on here were located near the northern edge of the former island, slightly to the north of the abbey church and suspected location of the main abbey precinct. The long sequence of deposits offered an important insight into the changing character of fen-edge life on Thorney from the 11th century onwards. Occupation remains and a sequence of contemporary structures indicated that despite the apparently peripheral location of the site in relation to the main abbey complex, life was rarely static on the island's northern edge. It is suggested that the structures and related remains were once part of the abbey's outer court. Dissolution deposits reflected the dismantling of windows and the salvage and recycling of lead came. A re-used architectural fragment, possibly a pillar base, had been converted into a lead recycling hearth and the immediately surrounding area was covered with the remains of the leadworking as well as a large assemblage of broken, high-quality painted window glass, the end result of the lead removal. Late 16th-century structural evidence on the site has also shed light on some of the earliest secular occupation on the island following the Dissolution. A combination of the finds assemblages recovered during the work and documentary research has enabled a picture of life at medieval Thorney to be drawn for the first time. Documentary and cartographic work has also helped to understand the wider fenland context.     

Household economy and gendered labor in the 17th centurya.d. on Guam

Abstract

The gendered division of labor in household economies is well known in documentary accounts of many societies, although archaeological evidence for it is often elusive. Our study compares ethnohistorical accounts of household organization with archaeological patterns at a 17th-century village on the island of Guam in the Marianas archipelago to determine if these different sources of evidence provide similar insights. We investigated archaeological assemblages from two latte (megalithic) buildings to document their economic activities. Unexpected differences in their assemblages revealed that economic activities varied between the two latte buildings. They were domiciles of a single economically integrated household, but their disparate functions likely signaled a gendered division of labor. This study reveals aspects of gendered labor that documentary accounts do not fully describe. Our findings suggest that the assumption that domestic buildings were functionally redundant in traditional societies must be tested on a case-by-case basis.     

The role of research and education in site management at the Lemba Experimental Village,Cyprus

Abstract

The project developed at the Lemba Experimental Village in Cyprus seeks to explain some aspects of the workings of archaeology through the medium of an ongoing and dynamic research project. The Lemba Experimental Village was established in 1988 with a view to understanding site formation processes through the construction of full-scale experimental buildings of the Chalcolithic period (3500–2800 BC). Experiments have been carried out with mud construction, lime plaster making and building construction. Monitoring and recording of construction and erosion processes provides a long-term history of events on the site which can be related to the deposits and features encountered when excavation is undertaken. Comparative information has been obtained from the structural analysis and excavation of buildings abandoned 25–30 years ago in the village of Souskiou, where similar deposits are encountered. The results of the work at Lemba and Souskiou are used as a comparative database for understanding deposits on prehistoric archaeological sites. The juxtaposition of the experimental building constructions with completed excavations at Lemba has led to the emergence of a policy of site presentation in which the methods of a particular form of archaeological research – experimental archaeology – constitute the main focus of interest on the site. This has been encouraged in the development of the site as a visitor centre, with an annually changing programme of new buildings being constructed and older ones being destroyed.     

An 18th-Century Mansion,a Fishpond,and Post-Medieval Finds from St. Neots,Huntingdonshire

Abstract

The remains of Hall Place, St. Neots, a late 17th- or early 18th-century house facing Church Street, were encountered during the excavation of an Anglo-Saxon settlement in 1961. Hall place had been built over the site of a large timber-lined cutting, perhaps a fishpond, which had been filled up with domestic rubbish and demolition debris during the course of the 16th century. The fishpond contained a large group of finds including both local and imported pottery, metalwork and leather objects. Pits, wells and other late and post-medieval structures and features were also found in the garden areas behind Hall Place and other Church Street houses.     

Excavating the 18th- and 19th-Century Urban Flour Mill: the Example of the Archaeological Investigations at the Former J.A. Symes Factory Site,Highbridge Road,Barking

Abstract

The area occupied by the former J.A. Symes match factory, Highbridge Road, Barking, was once home to a large steam- and water-powered flourmill. The mill was originally driven by the tidal flow of the River Roding, prior to its expansion and gradual conversion to steam. A residential redevelopment, undertaken in spring 2006, provided an opportunity to conduct a developer-funded archaeological investigation, carried out by Pre-Construct Archaeology Ltd. The excavation exposed the partial, multi-phase remains of the mill's below-ground foundations, in particular the evidence for successive power systems. These remains were interpreted with the help of documentary research, demonstrating the complementary nature of these two forms of evidence on an urban industrial site.     

Forty-Fourth Annual Congress,Liverpool, 1887

Abstract

The limestone quarried on Ham Hill near Yeovil in Somerset is very distinctive and readily identifiable. It was used extensively throughout the medieval period for a great variety of purposes. Whole buildings were constructed using it from floor to roof and it was also employed for decorative work and sculpture. A large group of church monuments was carved in Ham Hill stone, especially effigies and cross slabs. Monument production can be appreciated in the context of a much larger industry and analysis of the figures has revealed that the clients were predominantly the local gentry. Consequently, there are significantly more male civilian and female effigies than are typically found elsewhere, such as in Devon and Yorkshire. There is evidence of an awareness of the products from other stone centres in the south-west, which the carvers of Ham Hill stone were willing to imitate in order to satisfy customer requirements.     

Exploring the season of mound building through oxygen isotope geochemistry at the Garden Patch site,Gulf Coast Florida,USA

ABSTRACT

The American Southeast saw the development of large ceremonial village centers, the coalescence of households, and monumental architecture integrated into village layout during the Middle Woodland period (ca. AD 1–600). These shifts toward more sedentary lifeways occurred independently of, and prior to, the domestication of plants across the Southeast. This paper examines the seasonality of monumental construction at the Garden Patch site located on the central Gulf Coast of Florida. This site contains evidence for rapid mound construction that followed a predetermined site plan. Here, we present oxygen isotope analyses of archaeological mollusk shells (Crassostrea virginica) to evaluate the seasonality and periodicity of monument construction. We conclude that mound construction occurred during the cooler months of the year. Ultimately, this contributes to an anthropological understanding of the development of these early ceremonial centers in the Southeast.     

The Medieval Village at Garrow Tor,Bodmin Moor,Cornwall

SUMMARY

The site chosen for excavation in the medieval village at Garrow proved to be a platform-house, a variant of the long-house, a widespread form of peasant dwelling. Both types provided for the shelter of man and his beasts under one roof; in its early form, as here, it consisted of a living-room and byre separated by a passage connecting with an entrance in each long side. The platform-house was suited to meet the hard conditions of life in a hilly country of heavy rainfall. It was built on an oblong platform constructed with its long axis at right angles to the contours of the hillside. Thus the house gained considerable protection from wind and rain.

Two outstanding features were the hearth with fireback centrally placed on the floor in the upper room and the manger which was in situ in the byre. Near the house was a small barn. The two buildings stood in a small enclosure. Pottery found in the house and barn and in the fields connected with the settlement showed that there was occupation from the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries. Inhabited farmhouses of this type can still be seen in Cornwall.¹     

WORKING ON THE RAILWAY: THE RISEHILL TUNNEL NAVVY CAMP,CUMBRIA

Abstract

An archaeological evaluation was undertaken by Channel 4's Time Team at the site of a navvy camp associated with the construction of Risehill Tunnel (also called Black Moss) on the Settle to Carlisle railway line, near Garsdale in Cumbria. The evaluation, comprising eight trenches, LiDAR and geophysical survey, highlighted the generally good preservation of the site, although many of the buildings appear to have been of timber with only rough stone foundations. Specialisation and division of different parts of the site between settlement and working areas was also seen. Contemporary documentary evidence has assisted with the interpretation of the archaeological remains, and revealed the extreme conditions which the workers and their families endured.     

Forts or agricultural estates? Persian period settlement in the territories of the former kingdom of Judah

ABSTRACT

The territories of the former kingdom of Judah were only sparsely settled during the Persian period, as exemplified by the extreme rarity of domestic structures unearthed in excavations. Viewed against this background, the large number of excavated forts and isolated administrative buildings from this period is remarkable, and they apparently outnumber the period's excavated dwellings. Not only is this an extremely unlikely situation, but various lines of evidence, pertaining to specific sites as well as to the phenomenon as a whole, render the possibility that all these structures were forts or administrative buildings re-examines implausible. Consequently, this article reexamines the phenomenon within the social landscape of the region in particular, and of the Achaemenid empire in general, in an attempt to embed those unique buildings within the broader demographic and political reality of this time. Given the location of many of the sites and the finds unearthed in them, and in light of the demographic reality in the region and of the broader Achaemenid imperial policy, the article suggests that most of the so-called forts were estates, created in the process of the resettlement of this previously devastated region.     

Re-used Boat Planking from a 13th-century Revetment in Doncaster,South Yorkshire

Abstract

AN EXCAVATION was undertaken during 1993–4 on a site at Low Fisher Gate, Doncaster. Urban archaeological deposits of 11th- to 18th-century date, together with evidence of an earlier course of the River Cheswold (the southern arm of the River Don), were uncovered. The excavations were among the largest ever to take place within Doncaster. Among the most significant finds was a riverside revetment, made from re-used portions of two medieval clinker-built boats. These have characteristics not recorded elsewhere which may represent features of a now lost, South Yorkshire boatbuilding tradition. This type of find is still rather rare and the Doncaster timbers add to knowledge of the variety of local vessels and construction features present in the medieval period. The rolls of fibrous material used to waterproof the vessels were also of interest for comparison with similar finds from England and Norway. The boat timbers have been fully conserved and are now on display in Doncaster Museum.     

Recent Excavation Results at Sa’ida Village,Failaka Island

One of the least known, yet extremely important, archaeological sites in Failaka Island, off Kuwait, is Sa’ida village. A joint Gulf mission started excavation in Sa’ida in 2001. The excavations on Hill 1 then exposed the first Friday mosque discovered on Failaka and in the State of Kuwait. The material data revealed that the village dates to the late Islamic period, specifically to the end of the seventeenth century until the beginning of the nineteenth century, when the village was abandoned due to the plague epidemic that swept the region. Since 2016, four fieldwork campaign indicated that the village was inhabited in the early Islamic era in the seventh–eighth centuries and continued until the beginning of the twentieth century, with a few but long gaps. The six campaigns revealed religious and domestic buildings and were sufficient to reassess the chronology of occupation and abandonment of Sa’ida. They provided a valuable insight into the organisation of the site and the lifestyle of the population, with large courtyard houses and small one-room buildings.     

The Concepts of imitatio and translatio: Perceptions of a Viking‐Age Past

The author presents the results of excavations at Mare Church, North Tr?ndelag. Medieval sources indicate that Mære was the religious centre for Inner Tr?ndelag in pre‐Christian times. It was also the place where the first church (shire church) in Sparbyggjafylke was erected. At Mære if anywhere, therefore, it should be possible to test archaeologically the theory about cult continuity from pagan to Christian times.

Under the present church, which dates from the end of the twelfth century, the remains of an early wooden church surrounded by a churchyard were found, together with vestiges of at least two buildings from pre‐Christian times. On the evidence of loose finds, the oldest of these can be dated to the Migration Period (c. A.D. 500). A series of gold plaquettes were found associated with the later of the two buildings. This find is interpreted by the author as indicating that the building may have been a pagan cult building.