Pre-Clovis in Texas? A critical assessment of the “Buttermilk Creek Complex”

Lithic artifacts from the lowest strata of the Debra L. Friedkin site, located on Buttermilk Creek in central Texas, have been interpreted as an undisturbed pre-Clovis assemblage (Waters et al., 2011a). Stone tools and debitage were recovered from sediments stratified just below diagnostic Clovis artifacts and dated by OSL to between 13.2 and >15.5 cal kya. Invoking commonly observed cultural and natural site formation processes, we offer an alternative explanation of the “Buttermilk Creek Complex” as a Clovis assemblage in secondary association with the dated sediments.     

Modelling site formation dynamics: geoarchaeological,chronometric and statistical approaches to a stratified rockshelter sequence,Polynesia

Formation processes and chronology are central to many archaeological endeavours, and accuracy in the latter is dependent on control of the former. Here we consider how to integrate geoarchaeological and chronometric evidence to better understand the formational history, along with the timing and duration of cultural activities, at a regionally significant site in the southern Cook Islands (Polynesia) which dates from ∼12th century AD. Initially we model natural and cultural processes of deposition using geoarchaeological evidence. The results are integrated with 21 radiocarbon dates, including nine new AMS results on identified medium and short-lived materials. Sample outliers are identified manually and statistically and a Bayesian analysis helps to refine age estimates for the site's 12 stratigraphic zones. The timing and rate of sediment accumulation is further considered through an age–depth model. Finally, the chronology developed from these combined approaches is used to address three key processes: 1) initial site use, potentially relevant to human colonisation of this Polynesian island and archipelago; 2) on-site activities and patterns of resource use; and 3) major marine deposition events which disrupted cultural activities and may have palaeoclimatological significance. The approach developed here potentially has utility elsewhere, particularly where human activities are recurrent and of limited duration.     

The role of time-lapse bathymetric surveys in assessing morphological change at shipwreck sites

Data from time-lapse single-beam and multi-beam bathymetric surveys are used to assess the rate and scale of morphological change at shipwreck sites caused by anthropogenic forcing. The technique is illustrated by characterizing changes in wreck site morphology over two sites located on the east coast of Ireland – the Drogheda Boat site on the River Boyne and the Arklow Bank site in the Irish Sea. Results indicate that repeated bathymetric surveys accurately and rapidly capture morphological change, with time-lapse accretion–erosion models indicating possible erosion rates of up to 0.04 m per day and accretion rates of 0.36 m per day at dynamic riverine and marine sites in response to external triggers. These data are valuable in understanding site formation processes at fully submerged archaeological sites and in the derivation of high-resolution site formation models.     

The forgotten slaves of Tromelin (Indian Ocean): new geoarchaeological data

Here we present geoarchaeological results from Tromelin, a small 1-km² atoll in the Indian Ocean, looking to elucidate human–environment interactions following the wrecking of the l'Utile in 1761. Abandoned by their French crew, around 60 Madagascans were enforced to form a micro-society on this remote island for a 15-year period. Little, however, is known about the cultural and environmental adaptations the population made during their stay. This study focuses on sediment archives from Site 5, where GRAN/INRAP archaeological work in 2008 brought to light three rooms attributed to the survivor's living quarters. Particular emphasis is placed on the impacts of cyclonic storm surges, natural hazards that presented serious environmental risks to the long-term survival of the slaves. The small size of Tromelin renders it a particularly discrete unit of analysis for such a study. We have identified four chronostratigraphic units at the site. (1) Unit 4 constitutes coarse white sand incorporating rounded gravels and reworked head and branch corals. No anthropogenic material is attested. We attribute this unit to a storm layer preceding the 1761 occupation of Tromelin. (2) Unit 3 yielded a multiplicity of archaeological material and corresponds to the 18th century cultural layer. The unit varies in thickness from 10 to 40 cm. (3) Unit 2 constitutes a 20 to 40 cm sand sheet across much of Site 5 that we attribute to a powerful cyclone event. It forms an unconformable contact above unit 3 and can be divided into two distinct sub-units, 2a and 2b. Sub-unit 2a is characterised by an inverse grading of the sediments, constituting coarse sands at the base grading into rounded biogenic gravels in the upper part. This sedimentology is typical of increasing flow velocity and is diagnostic of a storm setup flow. The transition to sub-unit 2b marks the onset of the waning flow, characterised by a sharp fall in relative flow velocities. These overwash deposits buried much of the archaeological remains and have been critical to the preservation of the vestiges through to present-day. (4) Unit 1 corresponds to a layer of infill incorporating blocks of coral and cultural objects dating from the 19th to 20th centuries.     

Reburial of shipwrecks in marine sediments: a long-term study on wood degradation

Historical shipwrecks in marine environments are continuously decomposed by wood-degrading organisms, adapted to this specific environment. To protect the wrecks from degradation and to preserve the unique remains for future generations, reburial of wrecks using various covering materials has been suggested as a long-term preservation method. The following experiment was carried out to study the bio-protective effect of sediment. Sound oak, pine, and birch samples were buried above and within marine sediment in Marstrand harbour, and retrieved for analysis after 6, 12, 24, and 36 months. Macroscopic as well as light-microscopic examinations were carried out on each occasion. Marine borers (shipworm, Limnoria), soft rot and tunnelling bacteria were wood degraders immediately above the seabed; soft rot, tunnelling bacteria, and erosion bacteria were active 10 cm below the seabed; erosion bacteria were the only degraders at a depth of 43 cm below the seabed. The wood species had different durability towards the decay agents. After 3 years, wood samples above the seabed were totally decomposed, whereas wood was highly protected at 43 cm depth in sediment. In the sediment, decay decreased significantly with depth of burial. The results suggest that reburial of shipwrecks in marine sediment can be recommended as a simple and efficient method for long-term preservation of the wooden cultural heritage.     

Marine trophic levels targeted between AD 300 and 1500 on the Georgia coast,USA

The marine trophic levels targeted during Swift Creek (AD 300–700) and Savannah (AD 1200–1500) occupations at the Cathead Creek site (9Mc360) and at two sites from the Kings Bay Locality (9CAM171a, 9CAM177), coastal Georgia, USA, differ in a consistent temporal and spatial pattern. Vertebrate and invertebrate remains from these three coastal sites contain similar suites of estuarine animals. However, Swift Creek peoples at these distinct hydrological settings obtained more biomass from fishes and less from molluscs compared to the subsequent Savannah occupants. The two Swift Creek faunal collections are less rich, more diverse, and more equitable than the two subsequent Savannah collections regardless of location. Furthermore, the mean trophic level is higher in the Swift Creek collections compared to the Savannah ones at both locations. These observations apply to both biomass and Minimum Number of Individuals. These differences likely are defining characteristics distinguishing the Swift Creek and the Savannah economies. More research is needed to determine the extent to which these temporal and spatial patterns are attributable to environmental and cultural variables.     

Pleistocene foraminifera from Botany Bay,New South Wales

Unconsolidated sediments from a borehole in Botany Bay have been analyzed for their foraminiferal content. Faunas from between 41 and 54 m below sea level are interpreted as Pleistocene in age. The foraminiferal assemblage from 54 m indicates marine conditions of moderately deep water (25–30 m), and a climate warmer than at present. The higher assemblages indicate a more brackish environment

The foraminifera, belonging to 123 species in 67 genera, are tabulated and 24 are discussed and illustrated. Three species, Oolina bifidocostata, Fissurina alatoquadrata and Elphidium botaniensis and one subpecies, Quinqueloculina affinis atrata, are described as new.     

The application of microfossils in assessing the provenance of chalk used in the manufacture of Roman mosaics at Silchester

Microfossils recovered from chalk tesserae in mosaics from the Roman town of Calleva Atrebatum, modern Silchester, southern England, are used to suggest a provenance for the source-rock. The microfossils include foraminifera characteristic of late Cretaceous (Campanian) foraminiferal biozone BGS20 (quadrata macrofaunal biozone) and foraminiferal subzone BGS21i (basal mucronata macrofaunal biozone). Calcareous nannofossil assemblages from the same tesserae are poorly preserved, preventing precise age determination, but confirm an age of Santonian to Campanian. As indurated chalk beds of this age are not normally present in the stratigraphically higher chalks of southern England, it is probable that calcretised chalk, formed by secondary calcification beneath Palaeogene rock cover, was used to manufacture the tesserae. This suggestion is supported by a comparative analysis of chalk tesserae from the Norden Roman site in Dorset. Although the provenance of the chalk in some of the Silchester tesserae can be placed only within a broad geographical area of downland in southern England, others may have originated in the Dorchester–Swanage area, some 100 km to the southwest of Silchester, or the Portsdown area of southern Hampshire. None of the tesserae have been constructed from chalk found near Silchester.     

Towards cultural sustainable tourism at historic places: A critical study of Port Arthur,Tasmania

Abstract

The Port Arthur Historic Site in Tasmania provides an excellent opportunity to review the effectiveness of Australia's cultural heritage management processes. The place is extraordinarily complex, comprising modern tourist amenities, standing and occupied historic residences, ruins of penal and industrial structures, as well as subsurface and marine archaeological resources. The site represents two major epochs: the convict era, from approximately 1830 to 1877, and a later period, from 1884 to 1974 when it was the rural community of Carnarvon. In the 1920s the community reverted to its earlier name of Port Arthur. A review of the literature on sustainability and cultural tourism provides a context within which various planning documents and implementation outcomes at the Port Arthur Historic Site can be evaluated. The authors conclude that the present processes are confusing and open to manipulation for self-serving purposes. They suggest that the management framework prescribed for the Australian forestry industry is more likely to achieve sustainable outcomes. That framework features appropriate legislation, planning, implementation, monitoring and feedback.     

Micromorphology of a Late Woodland Cave Site,East-Central Iowa

Abstract

This article discusses a micromorphological investigation conducted at Bogus Cave (13JN23), a Late Woodland occupation in Jones County, Iowa. Micromorphology–the study of undisturbed soil and sediment in thin section–was used to evaluate, and differentiate between, natural and cultural processes evidenced within the cave sediments. Twenty-two thin sections were prepared from samples collected from test units excavated in the front room of the cave, the principal site of human occupation. The cultural material was confined to a 55-cm-thick surface layer that rests on an accumulation of angular to subangular boulder-size dolostone blocks, the result of one or more episodes of pre-Holocene ceiling collapse. The thin sections revealed an accumulation of exogenous mineral grains, chert microdebitage, microvertebrate remains, and charcoal fragments in an organic-rich clay matrix. The absence of microstratification in the samples collected from the artifact-bearing stratum supports previous macroscopic evidence for a thorough mixing of the deposits that precludes an accurate contextual interpretation of the archaeological component.     

Preliminary U-series and Thermoluminescence dating of excavated deposits in Liang Bua sub-chamber,Flores, Indonesia

We report the results of a test excavation of deposits in a limestone cave sub-chamber located beneath the main chamber of Liang Bua, Flores, Indonesia; the discovery site of the small hominin species, Homo floresiensis. Well-preserved remains of extinct Pleistocene fauna and stone artefacts have previously been identified on the surface of a sediment cone within the sub-chamber. Our excavation of the deposits, at the base of the sediment cone in the sub-chamber (to 130 cm depth) yielded only a few fragmentary bones of extant fauna. Uranium/Thorium (U-series or U/Th) dating of soda straw stalactites excavated from 20 to 130 cm in depth demonstrates that the excavated sediments were deposited during the Holocene. Red Thermoluminescence (TL) dating of the sediments at the base of the excavation (130 cm depth) indicates these sediments were last exposed to sunlight at 84 ± 15 ka (thousand years), similar to red TL ages of cave sediments from the main chamber. Together, these results indicate that the surface faunal remains, which are morphologically analogous to Pleistocene finds from the main chamber excavations, were transported to the sub-chamber relatively recently from the main chamber of Liang Bua and probably originated from conglomerate deposits at the rear of the cave and from deposits around the front entrance. There is no evidence for hominin occupation of the sub-chamber, instead it seems to have acted as a sink for cultural materials and fossil remains transported from the surface via sinkholes. Despite the small number of finds from the test excavation, it is possible that more extensive excavations may yield additional transported cultural and faunal evidence at greater depths.     

Take the Right Decision Everybody

Abstract

The archaeological deposits in medieval towns are among the most important and distinctive heritage monuments in Norway. At the same time they are among the more challenging phenomena confronting heritage management authorities, municipal planners, and property owners/developers alike, especially in relation to building and infrastructure projects. The modern settlement has developed on top of medieval and younger deposits which means that not only are they an irreplaceable depository of historical information, but they also form a significant part of the modern town’s physical foundation.

Since 2002 the Directorate for Cultural Heritage in Norway (Riksantikvaren) has been funding systematic monitoring of archaeological deposits of the World Heritage Site Bryggen in Bergen. The monitoring programme consists of several approaches: archaeological assessment of the deposits state of preservation, biochemical investigation of preservation conditions within the deposits, hydrogeological mapping of the water table, water flow, and other given parameters.

Continuous systematic monitoring by using testable, replicable methods and measures, data, and results acquire increased quality and validity. These in turn provide the cultural heritage management with a toolbox for making correct decisions and thereby allow the government’s preservation targets to be attained. But, most important, it guarantees the preservation of the ‘underground archives’ and at the same time allows the urban centres to develop.

This paper presents the knowledge developed through monitoring the Bryggen site as a basis for an official Norwegian standard covering archaeological, biochemical, and hydrogeological deposit investigations.     

Tracking changes in bone fracture morphology over time: environment, taphonomy, and the archaeological record

Zooarchaeologists have often employed studies of bone fracture morphology as a means of understanding past human cultural activity, and various methodological approaches have been developed for analyzing archaeological broken bone assemblages. It is widely understood that bones degrade over time, however, few studies have attempted to define and quantify the rate at which bones degrade and fracture morphologies change. This study examines degradation in frozen bones (−20 °C) and bones exposed to hot (40 °C) dry conditions. These two simulated environmental conditions represent extreme real-world climates, and allow for an actualistic understanding of the rates of degradation that bones experience in nature. When frozen, bones degrade slowly but significantly, and demonstrate measurable differences in samples frozen for 1, 10, 20, 40, and 60 weeks. In hot, dry conditions, bones degrade very quickly, and demonstrate measurable differences after 1, 3, 7, 14, and 21 days. These data allow for a more detailed understanding of the relationship between the cultural and natural processes that result in bone fracture, and the time period during which bones can be expected to maintain fresh fracture characteristics. This research also has implications for understanding human subsistence and survival strategies and for interpreting the archaeological record.     

The paleolithic site of Longwangchan in the middle Yellow River,China: chronology,paleoenvironment and implications

The Longwangchan Paleolithic site, situated on the Yellow River terraces in the Hukou area, Shaanxi province, China, was found in 2003–2004, and two areas (Localities 1 and 2) of the site were excavated in 2005–2008. Abundant stone artifacts including microliths, a grinding stone fragment and a shovel, with some animal bones and shells, were recovered from Locality 1. In this study, the cultural deposits from Locality 1 were dated using radiocarbon and optical dating techniques, and the sediment properties of the deposits were analyzed. The results show that the age of the deposits ranges from 29 to 21 ka and most of them were deposited between 25 ka and 29 ka. This indicates that corresponds to late Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 3 and early MIS 2. During the human occupation period, the climate in this area became colder and drier. Sediments from beds where the grinding slab and the shovel were found were dated to ∼25 ka, which is the oldest among the grinding stones found in China. The microliths and the grinding stone are important evidence for an incipient socio-economic process that eventually led to the regional transition from hunting-foraging to farming.     

New ages for the post-Howiesons Poort,late and final Middle Stone Age at Sibudu,South Africa

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurements are reported for single grains of quartz from deposits within Sibudu rock shelter. Such measurements enable rejection of unrepresentative grains and application of the finite mixture and central age models to obtain the most reliable age estimates. Three types of single-grain equivalent dose (D_e) distributions were observed: one sample represented a single dose population, three samples indicated mixing between Iron Age (IA) and Middle Stone Age (MSA) deposits, and 10 samples (in addition to the three mixed samples) showed scattered distributions. The latter type resulted from differences in the beta dose received by individual grains. For these samples, the beta doses were modelled and adjusted accordingly. Ages for the 14 samples collected from MSA deposits post-dating the Howiesons Poort (HP) resulted in three age clusters, which are stratigraphically consistent with the three informally named cultural phases at Sibudu: namely, the post-HP, late MSA and final MSA. Weighted mean ages of 58.5 ± 1.4 ka, 47.7 ± 1.4 ka and 38.6 ± 1.9 ka were calculated for these phases, respectively. The three phases were separated by two occupational hiatuses with durations of 10.8 ± 1.3 ka and 9.1 ± 3.6 ka. We hypothesise that the punctuated presence of humans at Sibudu was determined by large-scale fluctuations in climate during oxygen isotope stage (OIS) 3, which resulted in alternating wet and dry periods. Phases of occupation correspond to wet periods when fresh water was available in the Tongati River, whereas intervals of site abandonment correspond to dry periods when people were forced to migrate in search of a reliable source of fresh water. Where people migrated to, remains unresolved.     

Quantification and Visualization of In Situ Degradation at the World Heritage Site Bryggen in Bergen,Norway

Abstract

Environmental monitoring at the World Heritage Site of Bryggen in Bergen, Norway, has shown damaging settling rates caused by degradation of underlying archaeological deposits. Measurements of piezometric head, oxygen, and soil moisture content, as well as chemical analyses of water and soil samples are key elements of the environmental monitoring.

Groundwater monitoring and geochemical analyses reveal a complex and dynamic flow through the natural and anthropogenic stratigraphy. The preservation conditions within the organic archaeological deposits are strongly correlated with oxygen and soil moisture content, that are controlled by the groundwater flow conditions at the site. To quantify decay rates, it is thus essential to understand the wider hydrogeological context of the site. This paper presents recent advancements in quantifying decay rates in the saturated zone at Bryggen. The paper also shows that 3D geo-archaeological modelling can contribute to preservation management by visually combining results of geological, archaeological, geochemical, and hydrological investigations. This opens up for improved multidisciplinary understanding of preservation potential, thereby contributing to an improved protection of archaeological deposits in situ.     

Possible shell beads from the Middle Stone Age layers of Sibudu Cave,South Africa

Recent excavations at Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, uncovered an Iron Age horizon below which is a complex 3 m thick Middle Stone Age sequence with post-Howiesons Poort, Howiesons Poort, Still Bay and pre-Still Bay layers. Available OSL ages indicate that the Howiesons Poort occupation is older than 60 ky and the Still Bay older than 70 ky. Here we present the archaeological context and the taphonomic analysis of six Afrolittorina africana, three of which bear perforations, from the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort layers of this site. The single specimen from the latter cultural horizon comes from the lowermost layer attributed to this technocomplex. This and the depositional context of this layer suggest that this shell derives, as do the other five, from the Still Bay occupation layers. Taphonomic analysis of the archaeological specimens based on present day Afrolittorina africana biocoenoses, microscopic examination, morphometry, experimental perforation of modern shells, and a review of the natural agents that may accumulate marine shells at inland sites, indicate probable human involvement in the collection, transport, modification, and abandonment of Afrolittorina africana in Sibudu. If confirmed by future discoveries these shells would corroborate the use of personal ornaments, already attested at Blombos Cave, Western Cape Province, by Still Bay populations. The apparent absence of ornaments at Howiesons Poort sites raises the question of the mechanisms that have led to cultural modernity since it seems to contradict the scenario according to which cultural innovations recorded at Middle Stone Age sites reflect a process of continuous accretion and elaboration interpreted as the behavioural corollary of the emergence of anatomically modern humans.     

Late Paleocene foraminiferal faunas with Chapmanina and Reticulophragmium from offshore southeastern Australia: a Tethyan influence

Samples from off southern New South Wales in approximately 1750 m water depth have yielded late Paleocene faunas of benthic and planktonic foraminifera and other invertebrates. Two faunal associations with a strong Tethyan influence, dominated respectively by Chapmanina conjuncta sp. nov. and Reticulophragmium naroomaensis sp. nov., are described; this is the first formal record of these genera from Australasia. The age of the host sediment is based on both benthic species and few planktonic foraminifera.

The environment at the time was warm temperate to subtropical at the southwestern extremity of a counter-clockwise Pacific Ocean gyre. The new occurrence extends the record of Palaeogene marine sediments and palaeoenvironments along the eastern margin of Australia and confirms earlier observations that conditions in the marine environment at that time were considerably warmer along the east coast of Australia than those along the southern margin; the biogeographic association was Tethyan. The circulation model may go some way to explaining coeval warmth along the east Antarctic coast.     

店子头早期遗存人类食物浅议

本文通过对店子头早期遗存的遗物梳理,简略复原出该遗址新石器人类活动时期的自然环境与经济结构,进而对其食物来源作出了一个基本的蠡测,认为店子头遗址早期人类的生产活动,主要是狩猎和捕捞,其次是挖掘与收割。渔猎和采集,是店子头遗址早期遗存的基本经济类型。其食物结构由两种物质组成,一种为纤维淀粉质类,一种为脂肪蛋白类。这两类食物均来源于大自然的赐予,而非人为的驯养和垦殖。     

Intensifying collection and size increase of the tessellated nerite snail (Nerita tessellata) at the Coconut Walk site,Nevis, northern Lesser Antilles,AD 890–1440

Recent archaeological investigation at the Coconut Walk site on the Caribbean island of Nevis revealed dense 40 cm deep midden deposits that accumulated between cal AD 890–1440. Analysis of invertebrate faunal remains reveals an assemblage dominated by nerite snails. We measured the length and width of more than 2700 tessellated nerite (Nerita tessellata) shells to investigate evidence for changing mean size that might be indicative of intensifying human predation pressure or other cultural and natural processes. Contrary to similar archaeomalacological studies in which size decline is detected, we observed a statistically significant size increase for N. tessellata over time. This size increase is coupled with increasing levels of tessellated nerite exploitation at the Coconut Walk site. Results suggest that tessellated nerite use was sustainable over several centuries of site occupation. Our findings have important implications for investigations of anthropogenic impacts on prehistoric mollusc populations. In addition, the findings reported here provide important insight into human subsistence patterns during the Late Ceramic Age in the Caribbean and a framework for comparison with observations from other Pre-Columbian sites in the Caribbean.