The Viking Age settlement pattern of Langholt,North Iceland: Results of the Skagafjörður Archaeological Settlement Survey

An archaeological survey of the Viking Age settlement pattern in the Langholt region of North Iceland suggests that being early in this sequence conferred tremendous advantages to the settlers of this previously uninhabited landscape. Many of the farms established during the settlement of Iceland (which began about a.d. 870) are in use today. However, accessing the Viking Age landscape is difficult. In Langholt the earliest layers of most farmsteads are buried under a thousand years of occupational debris, while the abandoned sites have been covered by extensive soil deposition. Here we report on our coring and test excavation results that outline Viking Age farmstead location, establishment date, and maximum size by the end of the Viking Age. There is a strong correlation between farmstead size and establishment date. This correlation suggests that during the rapid settlement of Iceland, the farmsteads established by earlier settlers were wealthier and that wealth endured.     

PAPERS ON GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF WOODLAND AND CADDO SITES IN THE CADDO AREA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Abstract

Geophysical investigations on archaeological sites in the Caddo area of the Southeastern United States have become in recent years a critical part of the investigation of prehistoric and early historic Caddo sites, from small farmsteads and hamlets to large mound centers. The various articles gathered here provide substantive examples of the range of geophysical research that has been undertaken on Woodland and Caddo sites in southwestern Arkansas, eastern Oklahoma, and East Texas, and how that research has led to a better understanding of the spatial structure and internal organization of habitation sites and mound centers.     

In the shadow of Moundville: A bioarchaeological view of the transition to agriculture in the central Tombigbee valley of Alabama and Mississippi

Biocultural patterns surrounding the emergence of agriculture from 11 sites in the central Tombigbee River valley (500–1200 AD), 50–100 km west of the emerging Moundville polity, suggest that while food production may have alleviated some ecological stress, it came at a cost. Markers of childhood arrest indicate earlier weaning, likely creating a cycle of rising fertility and competition, but surviving adults appear better off following intensification. Health disparities at farmsteads, including more prevalent anemia, growth defects, lower limb infections, and accidental trauma, are consistent with increasingly competing demands of domestic and corporate modes of production. Although these agricultural settlements in the hinterlands were not severely compromised as predicted by a strictly top down model of provisioning, health risks assumed by farmsteads may have resulted from provisioning to centers and/or corporate lineages while simultaneously mitigating larger risks (e.g., raiding). The greater health risks assumed by farmstead females suggest that they had less control over production and decision-making than women buried at centers, while height and upper body strength at mound centers, in addition to rare but extreme trauma, point to identities that were mapped not only onto the landscape, but onto the bodies of men and women occupying elite spaces.     

Finnish Farmstead Organization in Old And New World Settings

During recent years an increasing amount of scholarly attention has focused upon the assessment of ordinary people, conventional places and common events. Most studies of material culture, however, have been directed toward vernacular and ethnic architecture and artifacts, with relatively little attention given to the physical organization of rural enclaves or entire farmstead units. Undoubtedly studies of farmsteads have been limited in number because of the substantial amount of field survey work that is required, and what is perceived as a lack of primary research materials, both archival and structural. Despite these apparent problems, an assessment of extant rural building groupings and remnants in a Wisconsin Finnish-American community and a perusal of various reference materials revealed sufficient evidence to undertake an in-depth study of farmsteads and their spatial organization. By comparing farmsteads developed by Finnish immigrants in Wisconsin with prototypical examples from Finland, it was possible to determine both differences and similarities in functional and morphological characteristics on both sides of the Atlantic.     

DATING THE CONSTRUCTION OF EARLY LATE WOODLAND EARTHEN MONUMENTS AT THE JACKSON LANDING SITE IN COASTAL MISSISSIPPI

Abstract

Middle Woodland and early Late Woodland monuments generally have been interpreted as ceremonial spaces that integrated communities both within and among regions. This article presents information on the early Late Woodland component at the Jackson Landing site, a large site with a platform mound and semicircular earthwork, located on the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Earlier research is synthesized with more recent investigations of the mound to argue that the site’s monuments were built during the early Late Woodland period between approximately A.D. 400 to 700. Determining when Jackson Landing’s monuments were built is important because their construction provides a temporal baseline for regional and, perhaps, interregional social integration along the central Gulf Coast.     

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.     

Reconstructing Nineteenth-Century Midwest Foodways: Ceramic and Zooarchaeological Information from the Moore-Youse House and Huddleston Farmstead

Settled by families from the South and the Northeast, during the 1800s Indiana was a cultural crossroads. Ceramic and faunal data recovered from excavations conducted at the Moore-Youse house and Huddleston farmstead in east central Indiana provide a relevant archaeological example of midwestern foodways during the nineteenth century. Vertebrate faunal material from the two sites reveals early use of wild resources followed by greater reliance on beef and pork after the 1850s. Stratigraphic analysis results of zooarchaeological information are also presented to illustrate diachronic trends in faunal use at the two residences.     

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.     

SLAVES IN BRONZE AGE SOUTHERN SCANDINAVIA?

The article proposes that unfree labour was an integral part of Bronze Age society. The presence of the unfree (thralls or even slaves) in prehistoric societies has rarely been discussed and never in the light of archaeological evidence. The article is based on empirical material from 333 fully excavated house remains from 120 sites in the Viborg area in northwest Jutland, Denmark. Based on the reconstructed size of these longhouses, the location of fireplaces, entrances and the subdivision of space, it is suggested that farmsteads, in general, had two, often clearly separated habitation units. In the Early Bronze Age, a longhouse was usually subdivided into two parts, and during the Late Bronze Age, this subdivision manifested in the construction of two longhouses. After a thorough analysis of the archaeological record, it is suggested that the owner of the land had occupied one habitation unit, while the other was reserved for the unfree.     

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.     

Settlement and environmental history of a multilayered settlement mound in Niederröblingen (central Germany) – a multi-proxy approach

A multi-disciplinary palaeoecological approach on a sequence of dated archaeosediments was accomplished. The sediments derive from a multilayered prehistoric settlement mound in central Germany, representing the remnants of a prehistoric village. Based on the analysis of biological remains and geochemical/physical analysis of the settlement layers its environment was reconstructed. There is a trend to increasing anthropogenic activities and impact on the environment represented through a rise of indicators for productive surplus from the Early Neolithic (5300–4900 BC) until the Roman Times (400 AD). During the Early Neolithic, shifting flat settlements were situated in a locally opened landscape. The immediate surrounding of the floodplain was used by the settlers for their economic requirements (e.g. wood from the riparian forest). After a hiatus of ca. 1900 years, a multilayered settlement mount rose from Late Neolithic Times (3000 BC) to Roman Times. Since the Middle Bronze Age (approximately 1500 BC) the riparian forest was obviously replaced by agricultural fields and meadows and henceforward the hinterland used by the settlers probably grew in size. The continuing demand of wood was maintained by the acquisition of more distant sources. The onset of house constructions substituting wood by loam (wattle and daub) might be a possible societal response to this shortfall. This is reflected in the growing thickness and composition of the settlement layers, as well as in the archaeological record (e.g. tumbled wattle and daub house walls). The rising of the groundwater table and the start of severe floods of the adjacent river Helme during pre-Roman Iron Age (approx. 800–100 BC) might reflect a geomorphological response to the increased land use intensity at a regional scale.     

GEOPHYSICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF LATE FOURCHE MALINE AND EARLY CADDO SETTLEMENT PATTERNING AT THE CRENSHAW SITE (3MI6)

Abstract

The Terán-Soule model provides a testable means to establish if the prehistoric settlement pattern of the Caddo in the Great Bend region of the Red River consists of vacant mound centers with associated dispersed farmsteads. To evaluate the model, a geophysical survey of the Crenshaw site (3MI6) mound center was conducted in off-mound areas to determine if structures were present there. The 3.2-ha survey identified over 100 geometric anomalies, of which more than 50 are possibly structures associated with either Late Fourche Maline or Early Caddo occupations. Several possible structures were found in linear rows, including an oval series of possible structures 90 × 85 m in diameter. Additional finds include large circular anomalies between 25 and 48 m in diameter, sometimes around possible structures, suggesting the presence of compound fences, as shown in the Terán map.     

The Evolution of American Farm Silos

The conspicuous silo on American farmsteads is the result of an evolving process to store ensilage effectively. From merely indoor stone-lined pits in the ground and exterior wooden rectangular and circular silos of the past, today's silos include the highly mechanical fiberglass and metal (Harvestore) structures. Ensilage has become an important aspect of agriculture, especially in the northeastern quarter of the United States and adjacent parts of Canada. The silo reflects the ongoing changes in agricultural production and in the American farmstead.     

TOWARD A NEW VIEW OF HISTORY AND PROCESS AT CRYSTAL RIVER (8CI1)

Abstract

The Crystal River site (8CI1), located on Florida’s westcentral Gulf Coast, has long been counted among the most impressive yet inscrutable archaeological sites in the eastern United States. Excavations by C. B. Moore in the early twentieth century produced a number of artifacts with apparent Hopewellian affiliations, thus indicating an occupation during the Middle Woodland period. However, other features of the site—particularly the presence of flat-topped mounds and negative-painted pottery—suggested a later (Mississippian) date. This apparent conflict cast a cloud of confusion over the site, exacerbated by the later discovery of three purported limestone stelae. We present new insights into Crystal River based partly on new field work, including detailed topographic mapping, geophysical survey, and limited small-diameter coring. These field investigations, when combined with radiocarbon dates and the data gleaned from previous investigations, allow us to make new inferences regarding the chronology of settlement and mound construction at Crystal River. Specifically, we posit, based on these data, a greater degree of planning, structure, and complexity to the site from its founding, possibly as early as cal. 300 B.C. Further, these early practices impact the overarching historical trajectory of the site, guiding subsequent practices over a long time span, likely as late as cal A.D. 600.     

MOUND BUILDING AT LAKE JACKSON (8LE1), TALLAHASSEE,FLORIDA: NEW INSIGHTS FROM GROUND PENETRATING RADAR

Abstract

The Lake Jackson Mounds site (8LE1), located near Tallahassee, Florida, has long been considered to be a frontier Mississippian center. This assertion is primarily based on elaborate burial goods recovered during salvage excavations in the 1970s. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) on the two largest intact mounds at Lake Jackson revealed new information about their morphology and construction histories. These findings demonstrate that mound-building practices at the site were distinct from earlier, local Woodland mound-building traditions, and more similar to those of other Mississippian centers, such as Etowah and Moundville. Lake Jackson revitalized mound building in the Tallahassee area under the influence of external connections with groups in the Mississippian interaction network. These findings show how mound building was an integral practice for expressing and expanding Mississippian ideologies and rituals. This work also shows the utility of GPR in exploring mounds' morphologies and construction histories.     

OYSTER DEMOGRAPHICS AND THE CREATION OF COASTAL MONUMENTS AT ROBERTS ISLAND MOUND COMPLEX,FLORIDA

Abstract

Anthropogenic coastal landscapes often incorporate shell, a durable remnant of subsistence activity. Collection, consumption, and even feasting can thus contribute to histories of site formation and mound construction. This research assesses how oyster consumption related to the creation of Mound A, a shell mound at the Roberts Island Shell Mound Complex in Citrus County, Florida, is differentiated from the instances of oyster consumption that resulted in the midden constituting the rest of the island. I compare the size of shell remains from mound and off-mound midden contexts to assess variation in the sizes represented across the samples, stratigraphic variation within each context, and evidence for directional change indicative of over-exploitation. I identify a relationship of dependence between shell size and stratigraphic depth in off-mound samples that does not appear in mound samples, suggesting a relatively short period of time for the accumulation of mound deposit oyster shells. The findings of this study point to mound construction at Roberts Island Shell Mound Complex as a distinct and deliberate activity, with the construction event likely sharing importance with the community aggregation and consumption that facilitated it.     

Reassembling the household for Icelandic archaeology: a contribution to comparative political economy

SUMMARY: Between the 11th and 19th centuries, household archaeology in Iceland comprises rural, dispersed farmsteads notable for their boundedness and stability, suggesting productive and reproductive autonomy. Insights from Actor-Network Theory and entanglement theory help ‘disassemble’ this assumption by shifting our focus first to the agencies, flows and dependences that comprise a political economy without assuming the household’s relations of production a priori. Architecture, settlement patterns, landscape and midden accumulations from the Langholt region in Skagafjörður, North Iceland, along with historical data illustrate that households in Iceland are actually marked by social dissolution, alienation and instability through dramatic political-economic dis- and re-assembling which in turn produces the stability in the material manifestation of the household. These data caution against a simple relationship between the household and archaeological farmstead, and suggest that measures of dependency and instability are critical to a comparative method for unravelling entanglements between capitalist and non-capitalist political economies.     

Late Holocene Changes in Shellfishing Behaviors From the Gulf of Carpentaria,Northern Australia

ABSTRACT

Dramatic changes in shellfishing behaviors occur across northern Australia during the late Holocene, marked most conspicuously by the cessation of large shell mound construction in some areas, and the reorganization of shellfishing behaviors towards more intensive production in the last 1,000 years. Excavations reveal rapid and widespread changes within coastal sites, an increasing diversification in overall subsistence resources, and patterns of increase in site establishment and use. Some of these changes have been argued to be associated with increasing climate variability and a trend towards increasing aridity during the late Holocene, thought to have transformed coastal ecosystems and mollusc availability. However, when these hypotheses are tested at the local level, more nuanced patterns of human-environment interaction emerge, which call into question interpretations based on broad-scale climate records. We suggest that disjunctions in the timing of the cessation of shell mound construction noted between the west and east Gulf of Carpentaria may be related, at least in part, to the timing and intensity of external cultural contacts with Macassan seafarers, associated with reorganization of mobility and production strategies, rather than as yet undemonstrated environmental changes impacting on shellfish availability.     

The Roles of Pit Houses and Gendered Spaces on Viking-Age Farmsteads in Iceland

Abstract

THE SMALL SEMI-SUBTERRANEAN buildings (jarðhús) with slab-built ovens that have been found on many Viking-Age farmsteads in Iceland (late 9th–11th century) have been subject to wide-ranging interpretations, from short-lived, expedient dwellings to saunas, women’s workrooms, the houses of Slavic settlers and in one case a cult building. This paper tests these hypotheses by making a thorough revaluation of pit-house dates, architectural forms, internal structural features and artefacts, and presents new geoarchaeological evidence from the pit house at Hofstaðir, NE Iceland. This lends strong support to the interpretation that they were women’s workrooms, primarily for the production of woollen textiles. Their abandonment in the later 10th and 11th centuries may be interpreted in the light of changing religious beliefs and social structures, the growing importance of homespun cloth as a valuable export commodity, and the rise in status of the women who made it.     

THE CHRONOLOGY OF MONKS MOUND

Abstract

Monks Mound is the largest single Native American construction in North America. The mound sits at the center of the Cahokia site, and interpretations of its construction and use are fundamental for understanding how Mississippian peoples created mounds and landscapes. In the past, researchers speculated that Monks Mound was both one of the oldest and longest-lived monuments at Cahokia. Using a Bayesian computer model that incorporates both archaeological information and radiocarbon dates, I argue the mound is younger and was built more rapidly than previously thought. The mound likely was built in two very rapid efforts spanning fewer than twenty years. This analysis shows Cahokian society could mobilize vast quantities of labor for short periods, which may have inhibited institutionalized, transgenerational sociopolitical hierarchies.