Testing micro-regional variability in the Holocene shaping of high mountain cultural landscapes: a palaeoenvironmental case-study in the eastern Pyrenees

Previous research acknowledges the ancient and complex land-use history of European mountainous areas, which are characterised by a remarkable regional variability in terms of human practices and patterns of occupation during the Holocene. However, the combined palaeoenvironmental and archaeological study of highland human management at a micro-regional scale remains a largely unexplored research field, especially in the Pyrenees. A combined pollen, stomata, non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs) and macrocharcoal study was carried out at three nearby alpine and subalpine peat basins from a relatively small territory (ca.1700 ha) at the Madriu valley (Andorra, eastern Pyrenees), following a fine spatial-resolution strategy. The purpose was to test the suitability of high altitudinal palaeoecological sequences when reconstructing past small-scale land-use variability. The palaeoecological results of those peat records are compared and further integrated with archaeological local data, and together underline the marked complexity of high mountain land-use system over the Holocene period. Main phases of micro-regional land-use and landscape variability can be distinguished from the middle Neolithic to the early Bronze Age and from the Roman Period to the Modern Era. Conversely, several phases of homogeneous landscape management are distinguishable during the early Neolithic, and from the late Bronze to the late Iron Age. Results drawn from this study show that landscape variability is not necessarily connected to topographic or climatic parameters, and underline the role of social, economical and cultural parameters in the land-use organisation and the landscape shaping of high mountain spaces since Prehistory.     

ENSO influence on Holocene Aboriginal populations in Queensland, Australia

In the Pacific region, the onset of modern El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) activity at approximately 5000 years ago may have played a significant role in the development of cultures in the Pacific basin. Within Australia, similar trends in population and resource use have been identified but largely ascribed to cultural changes. To test human responses to changing ENSO activity through the Holocene we analysed a comprehensive suite of 710 radiocarbon ages from archaeological sites in ENSO-sensitive Queensland. We observe a dramatic and sustained increase in landscape activity at inland sites from 4860 ± 15 years ago, statistically indistinguishable from the timing of the onset of modern ENSO activity. Subsequent changes in long-term activity directly impacted on human populations indicating that once established, ENSO maintained a continuous influence on disparate cultures throughout the Pacific basin.     

Human corpse manipulation and the body as symbol: A case study from the Eastern Pampa–Patagonia transition (Argentina) during the Final Late Holocene

Human body manipulation and secondary burials are widespread funerary practices in many areas of the world. The archaeology of the Pampas and North-Eastern Patagonia, Argentina, is no exception. In this paper, archaeological case studies from the lower basin of the Colorado River during the Final Late Holocene (ca. 1000–250 years BP) are presented and discussed. Secondary burials were recovered that indicated an intentional manipulation of bodies. Evidences of cut marks and the coloring of bone surfaces were recorded. The bundles were composed of individuals of both sexes and diverse age categories. The Pampean region and North-Eastern Patagonia witnessed significant hunter–gatherer population dynamics during the last 1000 years BP. Climatic, ecologic, demographic, and economic explanations have been proposed as the background to these changes. In this paper, it is argued that accompanying these factors, as part of a broader socio-cultural scenario, were significant social interaction networks and processes of social complementarity between groups. In this context, it is proposed that the complexity observed in relation to the handling of bodies is part of a worldview in which the body was seen as material culture – as a symbol – that played an important role for the community in group identity maintenance in a cultural context undergoing significant organizational changes.     

The PalaeoEnvironments and ARchaeological Landscapes (PEARL) project: Recent findings from Neolithic sites in Northern Oman

The PalaeoEnvironments and ARchaeological Landscapes (PEARL) research project is a joint German–British project with the principal objective of developing a framework of past human occupation and landscape change in south-eastern Arabia. Fieldwork during 2018 and 2019 involved the systematic survey and excavation of sites in the Rustaq and Ibri regions of Northern Oman, with the aim of establishing the nature and timing of human occupation and landscape change during the Early Holocene period (c. 10,000–7,000 years BP). Further to the findings previously reported, results from recent excavations of the site Hayy al-Sarh in Rustaq revealed the presence of animal remains, stone and shell beads and stone structures, indicating a large Neolithic settlement with burial areas. In addition, preliminary excavations at a rock shelter site near Ibri have revealed stratified archaeological remains, including a Fasad-type assemblage. Future fieldwork will further develop archaeological and palaeoenvironmental records to help build a framework for studying cultural and natural developments in Northern Oman.     

Hunter–gatherer responses to environmental change during the Pleistocene–Holocene transition in the southern North Sea basin: Final Palaeolithic–Final Mesolithic land use in northwest Belgium

Situated along the southern fringe of the North Sea basin, northwest Belgium holds great potential for understanding hunter–gatherer responses to environmental change at the Pleistocene–Holocene transition. Recent intensive fieldwork has yielded valuable data on the palaeoenvironment, chronology, and hunter–gatherer mobility and land use in this region. At the Late Glacial/Early Holocene transition this region was comprised of a landscape of coversand ridges and lakes that flanked the northern part of the Scheldt river basin. This landscape was highly productive for hunter–gatherer populations. As the landscape developed in response to the increasing water table caused by the inundation of the North Sea populations responded by changing their forms of mobility and land use. These changes are indicated by the reduction in the number and density of sites, as well as their geographical settings, from the Late Glacial (Federmesser) and Early Mesolithic to the Middle-Final Mesolithic. Late Glacial/Early Mesolithic sites indicate much higher mobility comprised of rapid displacements of camps and re-occupation of the same coversand ridges over long time-spans. Middle/Late Mesolithic sites indicate a reduction in mobility, increasing focus on prolonged riverside settlement, and a more rigid organization of residential sites.     

Settlement Patterns and Development of Social Complexity in the Yiluo Region,North China

Abstract

This international, collaborative, and interdisciplinary archaeological program examines changes in settlement patterns from the early Neolithic to the full development of states (ca. 6500–200 B.C.) in the Yiluo region of central north China. Full-coverage regional surveys are integrated with geoarchaeological investigations, ethnobotanical studies, and lithic analyses. The data are used to assess changes in population, environment, land use, agricultural production, and craft production, and to test theoretical propositions regarding the emergence and development of social complexity. Research results suggest a significant sociopolitical transformation taking place in the Yiluo basin during the Erlitou period, including the development of the first four-tiered settlement hierarchy, marked population nucleation, and economic integration between urban center and rural areas. These changes indicate the emergence of the earliest state in China.     

Paleochannel Studies in Archaeology: The Case of The Vychegda River,Northeastern European Russia

Geological and geomorphological settings are often taken into account when choosing strategy in archaeological studies. In the Vychegda River valley (Archangelsk Province, Komi Republic), at the end of the Late Pleistocene and in the Holocene, lateral channel migrations were the dominant process of riverine landscape changes and hence directly influenced human occupation of the valley. Therefore, to assess the physical settings of archaeological sites we employed paleochannel analysis, a geomorphological technique aimed at reconstructing river channel transformations in the historical and geological past. The potential application of paleochannel analysis in archaeology includes designing archaeological surveys and predicting destructive river actions at archaeological sites located in river valleys.     

A short history of Mulabbis (Petah Tikva,Israel)

The following article summarizes our current knowledge of the history of Tell Mulabbis (in modern Petah Tikva). As a key archaeological site in the Yarkon River basin, it was inhabited during the Roman, Byzantine, Early Islamic, Crusader, Mamluk and Late Ottoman periods. Based on the published results of recent excavations, older scholarship, and hereto-unnoticed written evidence, the article examines and interprets Mulabbis's material culture within the broader contexts of the region's historical geography. Although possessing important advantages like access to water and arable land, the site was inhabited only intermittently due to malaria and changing economic and political circumstances. Within the framework of Ottoman Archaeology, the article suggests the need to pay closer attention to ‘recent’ archaeological layers. For example, the few Ottoman material remains published so far, testify to continued cultural exchange and economic ties between Mulabbis, the mountainous interior, and the southern parts of Palestine.     

The origin and construction of pre-Hispanic mounds in the Upper Delta of the Paraná River (Argentina)

Pre-Hispanic mounds, known as “cerritos,” “cerritos de indios,” or “aterros” across southeastern South America, are one of the most conspicuous and well-studied cultural manifestations in lowlands archaeology. Nevertheless, in the Upper Delta of the Paraná River, mounds are rarely studied, and even their anthropic origin is under debate. This could be related to the fact that anthropogenic mounds are located on a floodplain where other “mound-like” natural geoforms (generated by fluvial processes) are also present. In addition to this, the natural geoforms also contain evidence of Holocene human occupation (sherds, bones, charcoal, humans burials, etc.), which can lead to interpretive errors of their origin and formation. Thus, this project set out to determine the genesis and evolution of these mounds and also to identify the cultural occupation and transformation of natural landforms found in the area. In this article, natural and anthropogenic systems and processes were identified and characterized through the application of proxy record analysis (i.e., sediment composition, stratigraphy, micromorphology, silica bodies and chronological analysis) at the Los Tres Cerros archaeological locality in the Upper Delta of the Paraná River of Victoria County, Entre Ríos Province, Argentina. This analysis allowed for the recognition of natural anthropogenic interfaces, such as the “pre-mound” occupation as well as evidence of cultural activities such as mound construction, between 1,000 and 500 ¹⁴C years bp. These findings were integrated into current research on the variability of mound construction during the Late Holocene in the lowlands of South America.     

Holistic geoarchaeology in the Penobscot Valley,Maine, USA: context,scale, and interpretation

A holistic landscape approach to cultural resource analysis of a set of archaeological sites in the central Penobscot Valley led to inferences regarding the Holocene physical and biological environmental context. Targeted environmental studies include (1) examination of forest and wetland changes through time and (2) lake-level studies as a key to paleohydrology. These studies were combined with broad-scale geomorphic investigations and detailed stratigraphic analyses, and studies of archaeological sites and their artifact assemblages. Together, these studies provide a picture of dramatic changes to the physical and vegetational landscape. These included reestablishment of a major river following deglaciation, evolution of extensive lakes to uplands and peatlands, and a shifting mosaic of open and closed forest composed of a variety of hardwood and softwood species. Inferences based on buried soils exposed in archaeological excavations supported climatic interpretations based on vegetation and paleohydrology. As a result, this work allowed evaluation of (1) site formation and preservation processes and (2) occupational patterns. Site formation and preservation of Early Holocene sites can be linked to sedimentation by hydraulic damming upstream of rapids at the mouths of tributary streams. Shifting human land use reflected by changes in occupation patterns appears to correspond to changes in forest composition as well as wetland and stream evolution through time.     

Isotopic values of diet of Blastocerus dichotomus (marsh deer) in Paraná Basin,South America

The marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus, Illiger, 1815) is the largest contemporary South American deer, and its habitat includes the floodplains and wetlands of eastern South America. Throughout the Holocene these deer were widely used by indigenous societies, from the southern banks of the Amazon River to the Río de la Plata River, and from the Andean foothills to the Atlantic Ocean. However, despite the enormous ecological and archaeological importance of this ungulate in the region, our knowledge of the isotopic values of their diet is almost nonexistent. This paper is the first systematic approach to the study of the isotopic values of this mammal's diet, using archaeological and present-day samples from interconnected watersheds of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers in east-central Argentina. The results obtained from 24 measurements indicate an average value of ?21.09 ± 1.46‰ in δ¹³C collagen, with a low coefficient of variation (6.92%). The data indicate a marked preference for consumption of plants with a C₃ photosynthetic pathway. Most of the observed variability in the isotopic values corresponds to the period 900–1430 ¹⁴C years BP, a time range during which the values show higher consumption of C₄ plants. This it could be related with a period where temperature and associated humidity increased, synchronous in the area with the Medieval Climate Anomaly.     

Four Millennia of Cultural History in Nigeria (<Emphasis Type="Italic">ca</Emphasis>. 2000 B.C.–A.D. 1900): Archaeological Perspectives

This essay is an analysis of archaeological contributions to the understanding of Nigeria's cultural history between ca. 2000 B.C. and A.D. 1900 focusing on the following themes: the origins of food production; development and transformations in metallurgical traditions; the beginnings of social complexity; and the character of state formation and urbanism. The transformations in everyday material life as a result of the entanglement with the Atlantic commerce and ethnoarchaeological approaches to understanding material culture and archaeological contexts also receive attention. The essay provides pathways to some of the turning points in Nigeria's cultural history, shows the convergence and divergence of cultural historical developments in different parts of the country, and identifies the critical gaps in archaeological research agenda.     

Spatial and temporal variety of prehistoric human settlement and its influencing factors in the upper Yellow River valley,Qinghai Province,China

We report an investigation of forty-two prehistoric sites in the upper Yellow River valley located in Guide, Jianzha, Hualong, Xunha and Minhe, Qinghai Province, China, including forty-four new radiocarbon dates from twenty-four sites, review published archaeological surveys and radiocarbon dates, analyze landform features and discuss the reasons for spatial and temporal variety of regional prehistoric human settlement. Our results suggest that people occupied the upper Yellow River valley during the early Holocene, but a continuous archaeological record begins only after about 5500 Cal yr BP. Thereafter, the intensity of prehistoric human settlement in the area is varied. Neolithic human settlement spread northwestward to high altitude areas of the upper Yellow River valley during early-mid Majiayao and Qijia periods, but moved southeastward to lower locations in the area during late Majiayao period. During the Bronze period, two coeval archaeological cultures, the Kayue and Xindian, occupied the upper Yellow River Region. Kayue archaeological sites are numerous and widely distributed in the high areas of the upper Yellow River, while Xindian sites are restricted to the lowest basin of the region. Variation in site density and location are likely the result of changing paleoclimate and technology.     

Fortifications and Enclosures in European Prehistory: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

This article reviews recent research into the archaeological interpretation and investigation of fortifications and enclosures during the Neolithic and Bronze Age in Europe. Recent methodological, technological, and cultural developments have expanded our understanding of the temporal, spatial, and formal variability of these features on the landscape. Interpretations of this variability also have varied with different theoretical trends in the discipline. We advocate a cross-cultural approach that focuses on the occurrence of enclosures and fortifications over the long term at the continental scale. Such a macroscalar approach complements interpretive frameworks at the regional and microregional scales. The geographic and temporal distribution of these features indicates that social institutions associated with principles of segmentation and substitutability became formalized and tethered to the landscape during the Neolithic.     

Reconstruction of the Late Glacial and Early Holocene landscape and human presence in Lubrza,Western Poland,on the basis of multidisciplinary analyses

This paper presents the results of a multidisciplinary study that combines archaeological and palaeoenvironmental research to examine the relationship between environment and human activities in Western Poland during the Late Glacial and Early Holocene. The study area lying within the young moraine landscape produced several Late Palaeolithic and Early Mesolithic sites, varied in terms of size and function. Analyses of pollen, plant macro-remains and molluscs accompanied by geomorphological investigations and supported by series of radiocarbon dates have enabled a detailed reconstruction of environment. It has shown that despite climatic fluctuations during the Allerød and Younger Dryas, the studied area provided favourable conditions for hunter-gatherer occupation. The presence of micro- and macroscopic charcoal, charred particles of herbaceous plants and charred mosses in peat deposits of former water bodies evidence various activities carried out by Federmesser and Swiderian groups, for example setting up camp-fires and deliberate burning of the local marsh vegetation. Usewear analyses of flint implements have revealed further traces of diversified human activities undertaken at examined sites. Most importantly, this article focuses on plant-based craft activities undertaken by hunter-gatherers, about which little has hitherto been known.     

Holocene paleoshorelines,water levels and submerged prehistoric site potential of Rice Lake (Ontario,Canada)

Rice Lake, located in the eastern Great Lakes of North America, has a high density of prehistoric (11–0.5 ka BP) terrestrial archaeological sites. It has been speculated that a large number of sites are submerged on the lakebed, as lake levels have risen >9 m since the arrival of Early Paleoindian peoples (∼11 ka BP). In order to better understand the submerged landscape and its archaeological potential, a detailed bathymetric survey and sediment-coring program was conducted across a 30-km² area of northeastern Rice Lake. Changes in Holocene water levels and shoreline positions were reconstructed by integrating core data with a digital elevation and bathymetric model (DEBM) that accounted for differential isostatic uplift and basin sedimentation. The DEBM was used to generate a series of maps showing changes in the lake paleobathmetry and paleogeography and areas of prehistoric archaeological potential.     

From stone to metal: New perspectives on the later prehistory of West Africa

Earlier views saw West Africa as culturally stagnant through much of the Holocene until stimulus or intervention from north of the Sahara transformed Iron Age societies. Evidence accumulating over the past 15 years suggests that stone-using societies from 10,000 to 3000 B.P. were far more diverse than previously thought. Against an increasingly detailed record of Holocene climate change, the complexity of local adaptation and change is becoming better understood. Although a strong case currently exists for the introduction of copper and iron to West Africa from the north in the mid-first millennium B.C., the subsequent development of metallurgy was strongly innovative in different parts of the subcontinent. Soon after the advent of metals, a dramatic increase in archaeological evidence for social stratification and hierarchical political structures indicates the emergence of societies markedly more complex than anything currently documented in the Late Stone Age. The best-documented examples come from the Middle Niger region and the Nigerian forest. In these areas, earlier diffusionist models in which complexity originated outside West Africa have yielded to evidence that indigenous processes were instrumental in this transformation. Trade, ideology, climate shifts, and indirect influences from North Africa, including the introduction of the domesticated horse to the Sahelian grasslands, are identified as factors essential to an understanding of these processes.     

Macrobotanical food remains from a trans-Holocene sequence at Daisy Cave (CA-SMI-261), San Miguel Island, California

Carbonized macrobotanical remains from a trans-Holocene archaeological and paleontological sequence at Daisy Cave provide important insights into the use of food plants by Paleocoastal people as well as later groups on California’s Northern Channel Islands. Small seeds are rare among the macrobotanical remains recovered in the cultural strata at Daisy Cave, which are dominated by charcoal from woody plants used as fuel. The recovery of Brodiaea-type corms from the Early and Late Holocene strata suggests, however, that geophytes were an important source of carbohydrates and calories for Channel Islanders throughout the Holocene. The proposed importance of geophytes is consistent with the abundance of Brodiaea in island vegetation communities recovering from more than a century of overgrazing, as well as the large numbers of digging stick weights found in island sites.     

Commoner Power: A Case Study from the Classic Period Collapse on the Oaxaca Coast

This article argues that the agency of commoners has not been adequately theorized in archaeological studies of the political dynamics of complex societies. Recent developments in social theory emphasize that political relations are produced through social negotiations involving commoners as well as elites. This paper considers the role of commoners in the Classic period collapse in the lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca, Mexico. Regional survey and excavation data demonstrate that the Classic-to-Postclassic transition was marked by dramatic changes in settlement patterns and sociopolitical organization, including the decline of the Late Classic regional center of Río Viejo. The research indicates that rather than passively reacting to the sociopolitical developments of the Classic-to-Postclassic transition, commoners actively rejected many of the ruling institutions and symbols that were central to the dominant ideology of the Late Classic state. Early Postclassic people reused and reinterpreted the sacred spaces and objects of the Río Viejo state such as carved stone monuments and public buildings. The evidence from the lower Verde is examined in the context of an emerging theoretical perspective in archaeology that considers commoner power. We argue that commoners contribute to the social negotiation of dominant discourses through three overlapping forms of social interaction: engagement, avoidance, and resistance.