Precolumbian Settlements on Carriacou,West Indies

Abstract

The first systematic archaeological investigation of Precolumbian sites on the island of Carriacou in the West Indies provides a rich source of information regarding Amerindian settlement in the southern Caribbean. Herein, we report results from an island-wide survey and subsequent excavation at two large village sites—Grand Bay and Sabazan—that provide evidence for an intensive late Ceramic Age occupation dating between CAL. A.D. 400–1200. Results from four seasons of excavation at Grand Bay and two at Sabazan indicate that inhabitants colonized the island later than larger nearby islands (although an earlier settlement is possible); were engaged in inter-island and South American interactions as evidenced through analysis of pottery, stylistic artifacts, and faunal remains; exploited a variety of marine and terrestrial foods, including several animals rarely found in the Antilles that were translocated to the island from elsewhere; and buried their dead in and around shell middens and, at least once, under a habitable structure.     

广州市增城区松丁山遗址先秦时期遗存发掘简报

2018年6至8月,为配合花莞高速公路建设,广州市文物考古研究院对广州市增城区松丁山遗址进行了抢救性发掘。该遗址遗存主要为先秦时期,包括墓葬、灰坑、柱洞以及陶器、石器等遗物。其中第一期遗存,兼具珠三角、粤东、粤北文化特色,为研究三地文化交流与传播提供了新的材料。     

区域交流影响下的文化趋同与社会发展——东山村遗址崧泽文化墓葬的启示

东山村遗址的发掘为太湖地区崧泽文化增添了新材料,为进一步探讨崧泽文化的发展进程提供了重要契机。东山村崧泽文化墓地的陶器显示出其在继承马家浜文化的同时,也与周边文化处于相互影响之中,使得区域文化面貌逐步趋同,这种趋势同样表现在太湖地区内部,另一方面,陶鬶差异暗示的地方类型则始终存在。从社会层面来看,太湖地区在崧泽文化早期就已经出现了聚落内部的分层构成,其社会发展进程明显受到区域文化交流的影响。     

Reconstructing Cycladic Prehistory: Naxos in the Early and Middle Late Bronze Age

The lack of published deposits from Cycladic settlement contexts has been a serious setback to our knowledge of Cycladic prehistory, as it has led to inflexible 'pan-Aegean' models of cultural history, imposed on the islands without consideration of local particularities and regional variations. Naxos, the largest and most central of the Cyclades, is a prime example of an important island, whose cultural history, especially in the early and middle Late Bronze Age (roughly from the sixteenth to the thirteenth centuries BC), is not well known. In the present article the author reconstructs the stratigraphic and chronological sequence of the island's only excavated settlement at Grotta, examines the development of settlement pattern on Naxos, and attempts to assess the position of the island in the Aegean during the periods in question. It is suggested that the fluctuations in the number of settlements and the changes in settlement pattern of the island could be tied to the degree of integration of the island into the Minoan and Mycenaean exchange networks. In periods of limited integration (LC I/II and LH IIIB) the settlement pattern consists of one or two important centers (Mikre Vigla and/or Grotta) and a number of small settlements dispersed in the interior of the island. In periods of advanced integration (LH IIIA1-IIIA2), a process of nucleation takes place, in which small settlements are abandoned, Mikre Vigla declines, and Grotta is established as the only settlement of the island.     

湖北郧西县五斗种遗址发掘简报

郧西五斗种遗址发掘出土一批具楚文化特点的遗物以及陶窑等遗迹,还有动物骨骼、铁器等.简报介绍遗址发掘工作,对遗物文化特点进行简要分析,对遗址微地貌、动物骨骼与古环境、动物骨骼与遗址经济特点等也提出初步认识.     

Implications of Petrographic Temper Analysis for Oceanian Prehistory

Petrographic examination of prehistoric Pacific potsherds in thin section allows robust distinctions to be drawn between indigenous temper sands derived from islands where sherds were collected and exotic temper sands derived from other islands, except that calcareous temper sands of reef detritus are undiagnostic of origin. Ceramic transfer or movement of ceramic raw materials from island to island can be detected because small islands serve as virtual point sources of noncalcareous terrigenous sands, and local island geology is controlled by systematic and well-known geotectonic patterns. Prehistoric Oceanian pottery was made locally on multiple islands, rather than being dispersed from a discrete number of ceramic centers, but limited ceramic transfer was widespread within nearly all island groups. As temper analysis is independent of ceramic typology, sherd tempers in common with obsidian artifacts and other manuports provide unambiguous physical evidence for migration, trade, or exchange within and between island groups.     

Prehistory in the northwest tropical Pacific: The Caroline,Mariana, and Marshall Islands

The earliest identified settlement is in the Marianas, dated to about 3500 B.P., while the other islands in the region appear to be settled from about 2000 B.P. onward. The archaeological remains reveal diverse approaches to island living. While Nan Madol and Leluh in the eastern Carolines are major architectural achievements, a discussion of these sites does not detract, for example, from the terrace systems of Palau or the lattestone groups of the southern Marianas. Of equal interest is the settlement of atolls and their recently recognized potential for preservation of stratified deposits. As information allows, each island or group is considered on an individual basis in order to allow for each specific island context to be assessed. This is described within the broader themes of architecture, chronology, environment, material culture, settlement pattern, social organization, and subsistence. In conclusion, the current standing of prehistory in the region is outlined in relation to early settlement, environment, social organization, chronology, settlement pattern studies, portable material culture, subsistence, and atolls. Finally, suggestions for the future are made.     

湖北郧县大寺遗址2006年发掘简报

一、地理位置与工作概况大寺遗址位于湖北十堰市郧县城关镇后殿村,东南距郧县城区约3公里。地处汉江左岸与堰河交汇处的二级台地上。地理位置为东经110°45′26.3″,北纬32°51′08.8″。海拔高程145米(图一)。     

Preliminary Characterization of Pottery by Cathodoluminescence and SEM–EDX Analyses: An Example from the Yeha Region (Ethiopia)

Yeha was a political and cultural centre of the Ethio‐Sabaean culture (D’MT) in northern Ethiopia and southern Eritrea. Part of the archaeological research deals with pottery of local, regional and imported origin. The research—investigations and examinations—tries to classify local pottery in two ways: first, by analysing the mineralogy of the temper using light microscopy and cathodoluminescence; and, second, by analysing the main element composition of the clay matrix using a scanning electron microscope with energy‐dispersive X‐ray detection (SEM–EDX). The cathodoluminescence shows that the temper material has differences in the colours of feldspars with a similar mineralogical composition. The results demonstrate that the pottery was produced by using local material that originates from various sources in the Yeha region and that the same raw materials were used in different types of pottery.     

湖北荆门龙王山新石器时代墓地发掘简报

2007年6月至11月,为配合湖北省荆门220千伏南桥输变电站工程建设进行了龙王山新石器时代墓地考占发掘,发掘面积1700平方米,共发掘清理大溪文化至屈家岭文化时期的墓葬203座,出土器物逾万件,质地有陶器、玉器等。这批墓葬的规模及随葬品数量的多寡不一,显示当时的社会分化情况已十分明显,为研究长江中游地区史前时期大溪文化与屈家岭文化之间的关系以及史前文明进程提供了十分宝贵的资料。     

Evidence of Iberian Bronze Age ‘Boquique’ Pottery in the Balearic Islands: Trade,Marriage or Culture?

Summary.   This paper deals with the recent discovery of Iberian 'Boquique' Bronze Age pottery on the Balearic Island of Mallorca. It marks the 'maritime' spread of this distinctive pottery into a geographic area not previously recorded. It should therefore be of particular interest to mainland investigators and others concerned with its geographical distribution as well as those dealing with long-distance trade and possible kinship links during the period. The find is further supported by the 'micaceous' and 'quartz' composition of the pottery clay fabric, since mica is not known on the island as a component of local clays. The presence of Boquique pottery with 'micaceous' clay properties is demonstrated by microphotographic slab and thin sections as well as chemical clay analysis. This suggests that the pottery was imported, either as a trade item or as personal possessions.
Along with recent evidence of earlier trade in exotic 'elephant' ivory and other items during Bell Beaker times, where the Boquique pottery appears to be a late intrusive element into local Beaker contexts ( Waldren 1998 ), this new evidence represents the first material sign of cultural maritime interaction (Boquique in the present case), either as demographic extension or commercial exchange of these cultural items into the area.
Furthermore, contextual radiocarbon dating surveys strongly indicate a date of 1700–1400 BC for the pottery, in accord both with recent Iberian mainland dates as well as the local archaeological sequence in which it was found.     

Between the Vinča and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Linearbandkeramik</Emphasis> Worlds: The Diversity of Practices and Identities in the 54th–53rd Centuries cal BC in Southwest Hungary and Beyond

Perhaps nowhere in European prehistory does the idea of clearly-defined cultural boundaries remain more current than in the initial Neolithic, where the southeast–northwest trend of the spread of farming crosses what is perceived as a sharp divide between the Balkans and central Europe. This corresponds to a distinction between the Vin?a culture package, named for a classic site in Serbia, with its characteristic pottery assemblage and absence of longhouses, and the Linearbandkeramik (LBK), with equally diagnostic but different pottery, and its apparently culturally-diagnostic longhouses, extending in a more northerly belt through central Europe westward to the Dutch coast. In this paper we question the concept of such a clear division through a presentation of new data from the site of Szederkény-Kukorica-d?l?. A large settlement in southeast Transdanubia, Hungary, excavated in advance of road construction, Szederkény is notable for its combination of pottery styles, variously including Vin?a A, Ra?i?te and LBK, and longhouses of a kind otherwise familiar from the LBK world. Formal modelling of its date establishes that the site probably began in the later 54th century cal BC, lasting until the first decades of the 52nd century cal BC. Occupation, featuring longhouses, pits and graves, probably began at the same time in the eastern and western parts of the settlement, starting a decade or two later in the central part; the western part was probably the last to be abandoned. Vin?a pottery is predominantly associated with the eastern and central parts of the site, and Ra?i?te pottery with the west. Formal modelling of the early history of longhouses in the LBK world suggests their emergence in the Formative LBK of Transdanubia c. 5500 cal BC followed by rapid dispersal in the middle of the 54th century cal BC, associated with the ‘earliest’ (älteste) LBK. The adoption of longhouses at Szederkény thus appears to come a few generations after the start of this ‘diaspora’. Rather than explaining the mixture of things, practices and perhaps people at Szederkény with reference to problematic notions such as hybridity, we propose instead a more fluid and varied vocabulary, encompassing combination and amalgamation, relationships and performance in the flow of social life, and networks; this makes greater allowance for diversity and interleaving in a context of rapid change.     

Investigating the production and distribution of plain ware pottery in the Samoan archipelago with laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS)

This paper presents a provenance study of 170 ceramic artifacts and 21 ceramic tiles from three islands in the Samoan archipelago using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Our analyses confirm that LA-ICP-MS can be used to differentiate between clay formations on a single island. We identify different distribution patterns for pottery recovered from lowland and highland sites on Tutuila Island. We also examine evidence for movement of pottery between islands, and find only limited evidence for such movement. Our findings suggest dynamic patterns of prehistoric interaction and site use that need to be evaluated with further data from across the archipelago.     

山东博兴县利戴遗址清理简报

利戴遗址为省级文物保护单位利城遗址的一部分,整个遗址面积约60万平方米.利戴遗址以龙山文化遗存为主,此次清理的5座灰坑及1座半地穴式房址均为龙山文化遗迹,其中出土陶、石、蚌器38件.从出土的器物看,该遗址龙山文化遗存的文化面貌与潍坊姚官庄、鲁家口和青州凤凰台相类似,其年代约为龙山文化早期偏晚阶段并一直延续到龙山文化晚期.     

Chemical and Petrographic Analysis of Pre‐Hispanic Pottery from the Southern Abaucán Valley,Catamarca, Argentina

Neutron activation (NAA) and petrographic analyses were carried out on Late and Inca Period pottery from 15 archaeological sites and several clay samples in the southern Abaucán Valley, Catamarca, Argentina. The results from the NAA and petrographic analyses provide new data concerning local versus non‐local pottery production and vessel exchange for these two pre‐Hispanic cultural periods. The chemical data demonstrate the use of different clay sources over time until the Inca appearance in the region, when a more structured and controlled production is observed. Petrographic analyses show a similar change in the ceramic paste recipes used by ancient potters.     

On the Origins of Decorative Traditions in the Early Bronze Age Pottery of the Middle Tobol Basin,Western Siberia

The Early Bronze Age is one of the least documented stages in the prehistory of the Middle Tobol region. The key issue in the study of this period concerns the origins of several cultural traditions and the role of the native Chalcolithic population in this process. The analysis of pottery decoration from the Bairyk-Lybayevo Chalcolithic sites reveals cultural heterogeneity, evidently re?ecting the immigration of tribes, unrelated to local tribes, and their contacts with the natives. Two tendencies can be traced in this process. The ?rst is a gradual transformation of separate decorative components of the Bairyk-Lybayevo complex. These components are detached from the main complex and are represented by pottery from sites of the Imbiryai and Mostovoye types. The second is an abrupt change caused by intense contact with the immigrants, eventually resulting in the emergence of the Tashkovo culture.     

浙江平湖戴墓墩良渚文化遗址发掘简报

戴墓墩遗址位于浙江省平湖市乍浦镇,遗址总面积约16万平方米。2001年3月,平湖市博物馆对遗址进行了小范围的发掘,已发现1处良渚文化红烧土堆积和5座良渚文化墓葬,随葬器物有陶器、玉器、石器等。发掘表明,这是一处良渚文化祭坛和墓地的复合遗址,5座墓葬的年代为良渚文化中期。此次发掘出土了一批精美的陶器,其中带盖宽把陶杯是良渚文化陶器中的精品。     

Variability of Ceramic Production and Consumption on the Greek Mainland During the Middle Stages of the Late Bronze Age: The Waterpots from the Menelaion,Sparta

The article examines pottery groups manufactured in non‐Mycenaean traditions from the site of the Menelaion in Laconia (southern Peloponnese, Greece) during the middle stages of the Late Bronze Age. Pottery traditions are first defined using macroscopic study of surface and break features. Two distinct handmade traditions, and another one employing the wheel but with some links to traditional handmade pottery manufactured on the island of Aegina, were recognized and subjected to petrographic analysis. Its results confirmed that potters’ choices regarding clay preparation were different in the case of each identified tradition, being most distinct for the largest group of handmade undecorated water jars. The study highlights survival of pottery traditions with roots in the Middle Helladic period well into the Late Bronze Age, a fact that has not received appropriate attention in the scholarly discourse. It captures the very last stage of their existence, as just a few decades later the production and consumption are entirely dominated by Mycenaean pottery.     

毕节青场瓦窑商周遗址发掘主要收获

青场瓦窑遗址是贵州商周时期非常重要的一处古文化遗址。2008年10月至12月对其进行了第二次发掘,清理出更加丰富的遗迹,出土大量陶石器等遗物,对其文化特征和发展演变有了突破性认识。出土资料表明,它与分布在乌蒙山西缘的鸡公山文化遗存有一定联系但是独立发展的两个文化系统,原因与地理阻隔有关,瓦窑遗址在发展中更多地受到来自其北部四川盆地商周时期古文化的影响。     

四川汉源县麦坪新石器时代遗址2007年的发掘

麦坪遗址位于四川省汉源县大树镇麦坪村,地处大渡河中游南岸的二、三级台地及其以上缓坡地带,海拔高度为820～860米, 遗址总面积约为10万平方米(图一)。此区域在20世纪50年代以来历经多次大规模的围河造田、开山改土等基本建设活动,从而对遗址造成较为严重的破坏,现存地表已被辟为梯田。中国社会科学院考古研究所等单位于