Strontium isotope ratios in fossil teeth from South Africa: assessing laser ablation MC-ICP-MS analysis and the extent of diagenesis

This study tests the precision and accuracy of laser ablation multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS) for measuring strontium isotope ratios (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) in fossil teeth from Swartkrans and Sterkfontein in South Africa, and explores the extent of diagenesis in these specimens. Compared to solution MC-ICP-MS or thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) methods, LA-MC-ICP-MS can be faster and less expensive, but has lower precision and accuracy. We found that ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in fossil rodent teeth measured by LA-MC-ICP-MS were offset from solution values by a mean of 0.0005 ± 0.0010 (2σ). Because of the very wide spread of biologically available ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (∼0.710 to ∼0.790) in the region, LA-MC-ICP-MS is more than sufficient for assessing the geographic origins of the fossil rodents. The concentration of strontium in modern and fossil enamel from the area is statistically indistinguishable, as is the range of ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in modern rodents and fossil rodents from Swartkrans. Thus, there is little evidence of diagenetic Sr in the fossil enamel. In contrast, the fossil dentine may contain up to ∼50% diagenetic strontium, although many dentine ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios are still far removed from the background cave value of 0.729. We propose that LA-MC-ICP-MS will also be of use for investigating the geographic origins of other, non-rodent fossil teeth from the Sterkfontein and Swartkrans collections, and may prove of similar utility at other suitable sites.     

Testing the “shift in the balance of power” hypothesis at Swartkrans, South Africa: Hominid cave use and subsistence behavior in the Early Pleistocene

C.K. Brain documented two interesting patterns in the Pleistocene faunas of Swartkrans Cave, South Africa: (1) The earliest depositional units, Members 1 and 2, preserve high numbers of hominid fossils, while the numbers drop sharply in the more recent Member 3. (2) Burned bone specimens, which seem to have been altered in fires tended by hominids, appear for the first time in Member 3. It was suggested that mastery of fire provided a “shift in the balance of power”, allowing hominids to carry out activities in the cave for the first time unmolested by predators. A lack of butchered bones in Members 1 and 2 and their presence in Member 3 provided support for the hypothesis. However, we have now identified butchered bones in all three units. Further, our findings reveal a lack of variability in butchery patterns through time at Swartkrans; in all cases hominids appear to have been proficient carcass foragers. The real “shift” at Swartkrans does not appear to be one of eventual hominid dominance over carnivores, but rather one of a predominance of leopards at Swartkrans in Member 1 times to the alternating presence of leopards and hyenas in Members 2 and 3. Consistent leopard presence in Member 1 seems to have discouraged hominid activity in the vicinity of the cave. In contrast, by the time Members 2 and 3 were forming hominids may have temporarily used the cave, taking advantage of those periods of carnivore absence.     

Assessing the function of early hominin bone tools

Bone tools from early hominin sites in southern Africa continue to intrigue researchers interested in the development of early human technology and cognition. Sterkfontein, Swartkrans and Drimolen have all yielded bone tools dated to between 1 and 2 Mya associated with numerous Paranthropus robustus and few early Homo remains. The bone tools are described by different authors as implements used to excavate tubers from the ground and termites from their nests, work hides and strip bark from trees. The purpose of this research was to develop a more powerful analytical tool for the study and interpretation of bone surface modifications in general, and early hominin bone tool function(s) in particular. We used an optical interferometer to scan the worn areas of a sample of bone tools from Swartkrans and Drimolen, an ethnographic collection of implements used for defleshing marula fruits, and a set used experimentally to excavate in the ground and in termite mounds. The 3D rendering of archaeological and experimental wear patterns better highlights previously described differences between these patterns, and demonstrates the pertinence of this analytical tool to visually discriminating between different bone modifications. Analysis of selected 2D and 3D roughness variables indicates that the wear pattern on the early hominin bone tools from Drimolen is significantly different from that of tuber digging, very similar to termite foraging, and not unlike marula fruit processing. Marked differences are detected between the Swartkrans and Drimolen wear patterns, which suggests that the tools from these sites may have been used with different motions, in contact with abrasive particles of different size, or in different tasks. Principal component analyses conducted on 2D and 3D variables suggest that early hominin bone tools from southern Africa may have been used to forage for termites, extract tubers in a motion parallel to the tool main axis, process fruits and conduct other, as yet unidentified, tasks.     

Possible evidence of bone tool shaping by Swartkrans early hominids

Ever since Dart (J. Phys. Anthrop. 7 (1949) 1) interpreted certain bones from Makapansgat as tools, scientific consensus has fluctuated as to whether some bone objects from early hominid sites should be interpreted as artefacts, or the result of non-human taphonomic processes, which are known to produce pseudo-bone tools morphologically similar to human modified or used artefacts. Here we present possible evidence of bone tool shaping from Swartkrans (Members 1–3; ca. 1.8–1.0 Mya). Four horncores and the proximal end of an ulna used as tools in digging activities also have facets covered by parallel spindle-shaped striations characteristic of grinding. Identification of these traces as possibly resulting from deliberate shaping or re-sharpening of the bone tools is based on the characterisation of the use-wear pattern and other taphonomic modifications observed on the Swartkrans bone tools. This interpretation is also supported by the study of the remainder of the horncores from Swartkrans, horncores from other southern African Plio-Pleistocene sites (Sterkfontein, Makapansgat, Gondolin), modern horncores affected by pre- and post-mortem modification, ethnographic, LSA, African Iron Age and experimental bone tools shaped by grinding. These data suggest that early hominids had the cognitive ability to modify the functional area of bone implements to achieve optimal efficiency.     

Baboon Bone Mineral Densities: Implications for the Taphonomy of Primate Skeletons in South African Cave Sites

C. K. Brain (e.g., 1981) documented an interesting difference in relative skeletal part representation between primates and bovids of similar live body size recovered from the fossil cave site of Swartkrans (South Africa). Hominids and baboons are represented primarily by skull parts and a paucity of postcranial bones, while small sized bovids (Size Classes 1 & 2) are represented by more equivalent abundances of all skeletal elements. Brain argued that the Swartkrans bones were primarily carnivore collected, and postulated that the difference in element frequencies between primates and bovids is the manifestation of less durable primate postcranial skeletons relative to those of bovids when either are subjected to a destructive process such as carnivore feeding. Experiments by Brain (1981) in which baboon and bovid carcasses were fed to large, African carnivores lend support to this hypothesis. Bovid postcranial elements survived carnivore feeding more frequently and more completely than those of primates. Assuming that bulk bone mineral density (bulk BMD) is a measure of durability, we supplement Brain's observational data by presenting the first systematic, element-by-element comparison of baboon and bovid postcranial bulk BMD measurements obtained by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). While the bovid in our sample exhibits greater absolute bulk BMD values in 57·8% of all measured bone areas, when grouping areas by body region, a statistically significant difference in absolute bulk BMD values between the baboons and bovids is documented only in the hindlimb region (i.e., femur, tibia and patella). Density differences in other body regions are not statistically significant. Further, in only one case (i.e., small bovids in the Member 2 [1948–1953/1965–1975 excavation] assemblage) is there a significant and positive correlation between skeletal part frequencies of primates or bovids and bulk BMD. This suggests that, for the most part, primate and bovid skeletal part representation at Swartkrans is not the result of density-mediated processes. Differences in skeletal part representation between primates and bovids at Swartkrans may thus be attributable to factors other than bone density—such as bone size, length, shape, and/or the relative palatability of surrounding soft tissues on bones.     

Prosaic state governance of community low carbon transitions

This paper unpacks the complex relations between community low carbon transitions, the prosaic state, neoliberal modes of governing, and the role of numbers therein. It aims to outline the ways in which the prosaic state can, through everyday tasks, decisions, measurements and demonstration requirements, force a calculative logic onto and into community based movements and groups in ways that can be counterproductive. It centrally argues that the will to quantify, in particular the accompanying demonstration requirements (most often a number), enacts three fundamental shifts in the collective subjectivity integral to community groups and movements. First, the preferred form of knowledge becomes abstract, disembodied and fungible (episteme) over and against relational ways to understand and conceive togetherness (mētis), including ecological relationships. Second, the vision of community shifts from a search to belong, an intrinsic end in itself, towards an instrumental means to achieve specific targets. Finally, third, the splitting of means from ends. These can all be traced from the demonstration requirements, and numbers, accompanying neoliberal prosaic state engagement with community groups.     

Land Snails from an Ancient Shipwreck: The Need to Detect Wreck-Independent Finds in Excavation Analysis

Land snails recovered from shipwreck excavations can potentially provide information regarding human-based dispersal of the involved species and also contribute to hypotheses regarding a ship's route and geographical origins of some of its cargo. Such faunal material, however, must be subjected to critical study to ascertain whether they represent specimens originally associated with the ship itself or are simply elements introduced to the site after the ship sank. The excavation of a Late Bronze Age shipwreck at Uluburun, in southern Turkey, produced 36 land snails. Of these, 32 specimens are believed to have been on board the vessel in antiquity. Three other specimens represent an endemic Metafruticicola species, which lives exclusively in a 10 km zone in the region of Uluburun. The proximity of the species' habitat to the shipwreck site suggests that these specimens are intrusive elements. The intrusive nature of a single Zonites specimen also recovered from the excavation is amply demonstrated by a detailed comparative study of Zonites specimens collected in the same locality. The last study, which involves the analysis of spatial shell variations of populations collected from 61 separate localities (totalling 367 specimens) within a 50 km area extending from Megisti (Kastelórizo) and Kas to Finike, suggests that: (1) Zonites beydaglariensis is conspecific with Z. caricus, and (2) the shipwreck specimen not only belongs to this species, but that it originates from a population on the rocky Uluburun peninsula 0·8–1·2 km north of the shipwreck site. The specimen was probably blown into the sea by a natural phenomenon and settled on the shipwreck site.     

Morphometric analysis of limpets from an Iron-Age shell midden found in northwest Portugal

The present work reports an analysis of a shell midden found in Terroso hillfort, an important Iron-Age oppidum located in northwest Portugal. The midden was dated from the latest phase of occupation of the hillfort, between the Ist century BC and the Ist century AD (Roman period), and contained 684 well-preserved Patella shells. The identification of archaeological shells was carried out comparing them with modern specimens collected in two shores in the neighborhood of the hillfort. The identification of modern shells was based on radula pluricuspid teeth and shell morphology. Relative abundance of Patella species in the Terroso midden was different from modern populations. Archaeological shells were dominated by Patella vulgata, but Patella intermedia was the most abundant species in modern populations. Dimensions of archaeological shells were very different from modern populations. Shell length range and variability in archaeological shells were lower than in the modern populations. Log height vs. length plots for archaeological shells were different from modern populations. Patella shells from Terroso midden was significantly taller then modern specimens. These differences between archaeological shells and modern populations could be due to environmental changes, namely an increase in wave action and intensity. These harsher costal conditions could have resulted from an alteration in the morphology of the coast, caused by a rise in the mean sea level from 2000 years BP to the present. Alternatively or additionally, the observed differences can be related to gathering strategies. Archaeological shells could have been selected by size, and collected preferentially at high shore and in sheltered sites.     

Studies on Amerindian dogs: Taxonomic analysis of canid crania from the Northern Plains

Archaeological investigation of the economic role of domestic versus wild canids among late prehistoric and historic villagers in the Northern Plains has long been hindered by difficulties in reliably distinguishing between remains of different species, especially dogs (Canis familiaris) and wolves (Canis lupus). Taxonomic confusion is the result of deliberate human selection for large, strong dogs for use as draft animals, and occasional but probably consistent hybridization between dogs and wolves. Discriminant analysis is used to help identify 33 archaeological canid crania from the Northern Plains, many of which are taxonomically confusing. Reference samples for classification of these specimens consist of six groups of modern or archaeological dog, wolf and coyote (Canis latrans) crania from North America. Thirteen measurements are used. Analysis indicates that, relative to wolves, the dogs tend to have proportionally wide posterior cranial vaults, short snouts and palates, steeply rising foreheads, and small teeth. Although convincing evidence for dog—wolf hybrid specimens from recent Plains archaeological contexts is lacking, the identification of such specimens probably has little practical significance with regard to canid domestication in general. Compared to dogs, a greater proportion of specimens identified as wolves exhibit evidence of butchering.     

The consequences of internal displacement on civil war violence: Evidence from Syria

How do flows of internally displaced persons (IDPs) affect wartime violence? We argue that government and rebel forces respond to IDP flows in different ways, which condition where and when they employ violence. State responses are driven by the need to identify insurgents and their civilian supporters, and depend on how much information they have about where IDPs are coming from and where they are seeking to resettle. Rebel responses are driven by their need to monitor and control civilian movements, which leads to more violence against civilians in transit areas heavily trafficked by IDPs. Drawing on novel subnational data from Syria, we employ social network analysis to examine migration flow characteristics beyond aggregate IDP inflows and outflows. We find that the greater the local clustering of IDP flows – i.e., the less complex and diverse displacement movements are – the more pro-government combatants are able to detect IDPs’ origins and destinations, and the higher the number of civilian killings. Transit locations, meanwhile, become epicenters of rebel violence against civilians. While scholars have found that more information about civilian behavior causes combatants to employ more selective violence, our results suggest that more information about displacement prompts more collective violence from governments. The findings also indicate that governments respond to IDP flows after movement, whereas rebels respond to IDP flows during movement. This underscores the importance of focusing on how armed groups respond to displacement flows in order to better understand the consequences of population movements in wartime.     

Between nation and state: `fractured' regionalism among Palestinian-Arabs in Israel

Theories of nationalism have often overlooked variations in ethnic spatial settings, and have too easily subsumed nation and state. But nationalism surfaces in a variety of dynamic forms, such as among homeland ethnic minorities `trapped' within states controlled by others. In such cases `ethnoregional' identities often emerge, combining ethnonational and civic bases of identity with attachment and confinement to specific places or territories. Ethnoregional movements denote spatial and political entities which mobilise for rights, resources and political restructuring within their states. This is the case in the Israeli Jewish `ethnocracy', where an oppressed Palestinian-Arab minority resides in stable but confined enclaves which make up an Arab `fractured' region. The spatial, socioeconomic and political characteristics of the Arab struggle in Israel provide early signs for the emergence of an ethnoregional movement. This movement is creating a new collective identity, situated between Palestinian nation and Jewish nation-state. The ethnoregional interpretation challenges existing accounts which perceive the minority as either politicising or radicalising, and points to a likely Arab struggle for autonomy, equality and the de-Zionisation of Israel. Arab mobilisation also resembles other ethno-regional movements, whose persistent struggles expose embedded contradictions in the global `nation-state' order.     

Assessing diet and seasonality in the Lower Pecos canyonlands: an evaluation of coprolite specimens as records of individual dietary decisions

This article presents an evaluation of coprolite specimens from the Lower Pecos canyonlands as records of individual dietary decisions. Prior studies of coprolites from this region have greatly expanded our knowledge of Archaic subsistence patterns, but have not taken full advantage of the record of individual dietary decisions recorded in each coprolite specimen. The menu, or dietary combinations, reflected in individual coprolite specimens are assessed through the identification of several congruent botanical components derived from the same food resource, phytoliths, fiber ultimates, and epidermal sheets. The data is analyzed with hierarchical cluster analysis, an exploratory statistical technique. The resultant menus reflected in these clusters are evaluated with reference to a diet-breadth model developed for the known staple resources of the canyonlands.Three main menus are apparent in the specimens. The first menu consists of prickly pear (Opuntia sp.) cladodes, or nopales, and was principally, although not exclusively, consumed in the late spring. This menu is primarily consumed when other resources were not readily available and may be considered a dependable but undesirable meal. The second menu consists of pit-baked lechuguilla (Agave lechuguilla) and sotol (Dasylirion sp.) caudices, or hearts, common throughout the cool season. This menu entails high processing costs, but would provide a reliable caloric return. The third menu exhibits a monolithic reliance on prickly pear fruits, or tunas, during the summer. The ease of harvest and consumption is reflected in the seasonal dominance of this resource, which was assuredly a highly desirable meal. The dietary patterns recorded in the coprolite specimens from the Lower Pecos canyonlands demonstrate a seasonally variable diet-breadth that incorporated low-ranked resources during times of seasonal scarcity as well as a monolithic dependence on high-ranked resources when they were available in the local landscape.     

Critical reassessment of putative Acheulean Porosphaera globularis beads

Excavations at Acheulean sites in northern Europe at the end of the 19th century have yielded fossil sponges belonging to the Late Cretaceous species Porosphaera globularis. The spherical morphology of these fossils, their small size, and the presence of a natural complete perforation in their center have led some archaeologists to interpret them as the oldest known beads. Others argue that the presence of these fossils at archaeological sites is due to natural processes. Re-examination of material collected during the 19th century has recently revived the bead interpretation. We tested the bead hypothesis by analyzing 13 samples of Porosphaera from nine sites in Britain and France. We conducted morphometric and microscopic analyses on specimens recovered from archaeological sites (n = 349), a natural geological sample, which was collected directly from Cretaceous strata (n = 352), and a sample from a Bronze Age burial (n = 43). Reappraisal of contextual data shows that the association of these finds with Acheulean artifacts is uncertain. Our results show that archaeological specimens are significantly different in size and perforation pattern from those of the natural geological sample. This may be due to size-sorting caused by sedimentary processes, size-selection by Palaeolithic people or by 19th century collectors. Modifications of the fossils' natural shape were detected on a few specimens in the form of localized abrasions and microchipping along the hole margins. A single specimen displays a facet close to the hole produced by grinding. The surfaces of these features exhibit a hue lighter than that observed on the remainder of the specimens indicating that they may be recent in origin and due to post-excavation and preservation treatment. However, this seems contradicted, for some specimens from Bedford, by the fact that according to Smith, W.G. [1884. On a Palaeolithic floor at North-East London. Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland 13, 357–384] the specimens bearing microchipping and abrasions were found by him and “not touched or manipulated by the workmen”. We conclude that new excavations of these sites, involving systematic screening of sediments, are needed in order to attempt to solve the Porosphaera “mystery”.     

Changes in shell gathering in an early agricultural society at the head of Ise Bay,Japan

We examined changes in shell gathering in an early agricultural society at the head of Ise Bay, Japan based on the analysis of almost 20,000 individual shell remains from four coastal settlements. We analyzed historical changes in the composition and size range of the shell species Meretrix lusoria. The most common species went from Crassostrea gigas in the early Middle Yayoi period (about 400–350BC) to M. lusoria in the mid-Middle Yayoi period (about 320–200BC). It is possible that the seacoast tideland, an environment suitable for C. gigas, was buried in sediment from the rivers and thereby transformed into muddy sand bottoms, an environment more suitable for M. lusoria. We also analyzed historical changes in the size range of M. lusoria. The mean size of M. lusoria increased significantly from the early Final Jomon (about 1250–1000BC) to the late Early Yayoi (about 500–400BC), from the late Early Yayoi to the early Middle Yayoi, and from the early to the mid-Middle Yayoi periods. Evidence suggests that during the Yayoi period, the demand for shells decreased and therefore, the pressure to collect M. lusoria also decreased. We concluded that the larger specimens of M. lusoria were collected selectively.     

Using Pyrotechnology: Fire-related Features and Activities with a Focus on the African Middle Stone Age

Pyrotechnology was important in prehistory and has been a research topic for decades, in particular, the origins of controlled and habitual use of fire. The earliest putative evidence of fire use is from the African sites of Swartkrans (1,500,000–1,000,000 years ago) and Koobi Fora (1,500,000 years ago). In contrast, researchers working with European sites debate whether habitual use of fire occurred before 400,000 years ago. This paper provides a brief introduction to early fire use and then focuses on the African Middle Stone Age. Published evidence on fire use is available for 34 sites in southern Africa. Combustion features yield much evidence about human behavior, not only in regard to technical skills but also concerning social activities. Several activities using fire, symbolic behavior, spatial structuring, and group size in the Middle Stone Age are inferred from bone and lithic data, ash discard, site maintenance, and hearth size. The current status of knowledge on Middle Stone Age pyrotechnology demonstrates the benefits of applying new methodological approaches, facilitates comparisons with earlier and later archaeological periods, and is an important reminder of the benefits of a multidisciplinary approach.     

Palm reading: a pilot study to discriminate phytoliths of four Arecaceae (Palmae) taxa

A pilot study of an opal phytolith morphotype series diagnostic for palms (Arecaceae), using modern specimens of four economically important palm species (Areca catechu L., Calamus aruensis Becc., Cocos nucifera L., and Metroxylon sagu Rottb.), was undertaken to identify distinctive features of leaf phytoliths from each taxon. Our univariate and multivariate analyses documented that although it was not possible to identify individual palm phytoliths unambiguously to taxon, interspecific differences in phytolith morphology significantly outweighed intraspecific variation, revealing the potential value of further research in this area and the possible utility of assemblage-level analysis to palm phytoliths in archæological assemblages. The methods are applied to archæological phytoliths from Watom Island, East New Britain, Papua New Guinea, and directions for further research outlined.     

Differentiating Aspen and Cottonwood in Prehistoric Wood from Chacoan Great House Ruins

Accurate taxonomic identification is an essential part of archaeological wood analysis. However, making identifications more precise than the genus level is usually not possible since species within the same genus typically possess very similar cellular morphology. This paper describes a method for distinguishing aspen (Populus tremuloides) from cottonwood (Populus fremontii, Populus angustifolia, Populus acuminata) in samples of wood collected from the San Juan Basin in northwestern New Mexico and southwestern Colorado. This method is then applied to archaeological wood samples from the Anasazi great house at Aztec Ruins National Monument in Aztec, New Mexico. The results of this study demonstrate that quantifiable differences do exist between aspen and cottonwood species and that the technique can be used to separate archaeological specimens of Populus wood.     

Radiocarbon age determinations of fossil Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler) from the River Thames in West London

In the early 1900s shells of a large freshwater mussel, Margaritifera auricularia (Spengler), were discovered in calcreted gravel dredged from the channel of the Thames at several sites between Mortlake and Battersea in west London. These specimens were said to have been associated with Neolithic polished stone axes, supposedly as food remains. M. auricularia is now extinct in Britain, but it has been reported living in several large rivers in southern Europe although apparently not in recent years. Three radiocarbon dates of 4140±50, 4340±45 and 4860±40 bp have been obtained from Thames specimens, supporting a Neolithic age for these shells. The theory that the shells represent debris from imported human food is discounted and it is considered more likely that M. auricularia was actually living in the Thames in Neolithic times. Its extinction in Britain should be seen as part of a general recession during the Post-glacial, as revealed by fossil occurrences to the north and east of its present-day range.     

Methods for inferring paleohabitats from the functional morphology of bovid phalanges

The functional morphology of postcranial remains can be used to infer habitat preference. This approach is typically considered an “ecomorphological” method, and has frequently been applied to bovid postcranial remains. Methods for predicting habitat preference from bovid postcrania currently exist for femora, metapodials, and astragali. Here we describe three methods for predicting paleohabitats using measurements of African bovid phalanges (proximal, intermediate, and distal). The proximal phalanx method correctly predicted the habitat preference for 130 of 183 modern bovid specimens (71.0%, 2.8 times better than chance, p < 0.0001). The intermediate phalanx method correctly predicted the habitat preference for 115 of 163 modern bovid specimens (70.6%, 2.8 times better than chance, p < 0.0001). The distal phalanx method correctly predicted the habitat preference for 87 of 122 modern bovid specimens (71.3%, 2.8 times better than chance, p < 0.0001). These accuracies compare well with those of existing such methods (1.8–3.4 times better than chance). Analysis of the probabilities associated with the habitat predictions allows confidence thresholds to be established that identify specific predictions which have <5% chance of being in error. This raises the effective accuracy of the methods to 95%. Extensive exploration and manipulation of the underlying data demonstrate that the habitat predictions are generally robust, and are relatively independent of body weight, taxonomy, and sample composition. These methods are broadly applicable, relatively accurate, and can be used to generate independent predictions of habitat from different elements, and thus constitute a useful approach to inferring past environments.