Testing the sustainability and sensitivity to climatic change of terrace agricultural systems in the Peruvian Andes: a pilot study

The results of an integrated geoarchaeological and palaeoecological pilot study of a prehistoric agricultural terrace and nearby mire basin are presented. They reveal two stages of terrace construction for the cultivation of Zea mays during the Middle Horizon (615–695 AD) and late, Late Intermediate Period (1200–1400 AD). These stages were strongly associated with evidence for vegetation succession, destabilisation and erosion of the surrounding landscape, and changes in mire surface wetness. The reasons for agricultural terrace abandonment and/or reconstruction are uncertain, with only circumstantial evidence for climatically induced agricultural change.     

Toward an archaeology of late prehistoric Eskimo bands in coastal northwest Alaska

The methodology of analogical explanation of prehistoric Eskimo remains in northwest Alaska is examined. The sociospatial organization of Wales or, Kingigan, settlement and the greater Kingikmiut territory is evaluated as an example based on ethnohistorical studies and archaeological excavations carried out at three sites in the locality since 1926, and relationships between the archaeological material and historic socio-spatial divisions of Kingigan are explored. The review reveals that only two historic family compound locations have been sampled archaeologically, and that several others have not yet been sampled. However, existing samples nevertheless represent the larger Agianamiut, Kiatanamiut and Kurigitavik districts in the settlement, ca. AD 1800–1850 and extending back to prehistoric times from ca. AD 1000. A nomenclature for socio-spatial units is proposed that includes compound families, local bands, tribal capitals and tribes based on examples of historic Eskimo territorial organization. Caution is suggested in applying the nomenclature to prehistoric cultures in cases where continuity of artifact forms, art styles and motifs with historic local cultures are not demonstrable. Application of historic Eskimo analogues to prehistoric entities such as Birnirk and Punuk cultural remains risk fallacious interpretations because continuity with historic examples are not demonstrable and alternative explanations cannot be eliminated.     

Prehistoric dental disease and the dietary shift from cactus to cultigens in northwest Mexico

Differences in dental health of prehistoric human groups are commonly attributed to specific subsistence practices, whereby food foragers generally have a lower incidence of dental disease than agriculturalists. Dental health was assessed on a sample of 135 human skeletons from northwest Mexico that date to the Early Agricultural period (1600 BC–AD 200), which coincides with the initial introduction of domesticated cultigens into the region c. 2000 BC. High rates of dental caries (13.5%) and antemortem tooth loss (17.6%) encountered in these prehistoric forager‐farmers from the Sonoran Desert were determined to be the result of the consumption of highly cariogenic local wild resources such as cactus. These patterns mask the degree of reliance on agriculture in the area and highlight the importance of constructing local nutritional histories to better understand the diversity of human diets and their relationships to health and disease. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Treponemal Disease,Tuberculosis and Subsistence‐settlement Pattern in the Late Woodland Period West‐central Illinois

In later pre‐Columbian prehistory (post AD 1000), the adaptation and intensification of maize agriculture and its correlate of aggregate village settlement (i.e. Mississippianization) is temporally and geographically variable. In the Midwest, consequential to the florescence of the major ceremonial centre of Cahokia (AD 1050–1300), the Mississippi River Valley alluvial plain in Illinois, known as the American Bottom, became a core area of this subsistence‐settlement change. Much archaeological research has traced aspects of this transition in the Lower and Middle Illinois River Valley, but little is known outside of these areas. A skeletal sample from the remote hinterland area of the Upper Mississippi River in west‐central Illinois was examined for arguable paleopathological correlates of sedentism (treponemal disease) and Mississippianization (tuberculosis). The Schroeder Mounds (AD 900–1100) adult skeletal sample (N = 53) exhibited a high frequency of treponemal disease (13.2–15.1%). This result is consistent with paleopathological literature linking a 9+ % pre‐Columbian North American prevalence with sedentism, challenging archaeologically based inferences that the hinterland was occupied by mobile forager‐horticulturalists. A hallmark of Mississippianization is the presence of diagnostic cases of tuberculosis. No cases were observed in the Schroeder sample, suggesting a pre‐Mississippian subsistence‐settlement pattern. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tephrochronology,Environmental Change and the Norse Settlement of Iceland

Abstract

The first human impacts on the Icelandic environment came with the Norse colonisation or Landnám of the ninth century AD. The colonisation represents a fundamental environmental change that is both rapid and profound. In this paper we assess geomorphological dimensions of the initial settlement period using a tephrochronology that includes the Landnám Tephra, erupted ca. 870 AD, two tenth century AD tephras KR 920 and E 935, and 11 other well dated tephra layers. We report a new ¹⁴C age of 1676 ±12 ¹⁴C yr BP (cal AD 345 (400) 419) for the tephra SILK-YN which forms a key prehistoric marker horizon that constrains rates of environmental change in the centuries before Norse Settlement. Aeolian sediment accumulation rates show five geomorphological responses to settlement that differ in the rate and trajectory of change. These distinct anthropogenic signals are the result of spatially variable sensitivity to grazing and deforestation, and reflect the extent of local soil erosion. This critical erosion threshold is variable in space and time.     

Palaeoenvironmental significance of grain-size distribution of river flood deposits: a study of the archaeological sites of the Apengjiang River Drainage,upper Yangtze region,Chongqing, China

The grain-size distribution (based on cumulative probability curves) in the sediments produced by potential palaeofloods at the Shiniusi archaeological site is similar to that of modern flood sediments from the Wujiang River Drainage in the upper Yangtze River. There is an obvious pattern in the curves, with two segments, and the mean grain size (Mz), standard deviations (σ1), skewness, and kurtosis are all similar. Combined with the AMS¹⁴C dating data and the ages judged based on the presence of cultural remains, our data suggests frequent palaeoflood events within the Wujiang River Drainage. We hypothesize the existence of seven high flood possibility layers in the QST4 unit from Shiniusi archaeological site: during the periods of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD) to the Qing Dynasty (1616–1911 AD), and the end of the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 BC–256 BC) to the Shang Dynasty (1600–1100 BC). We also hypothesize ten high flood probability layers in the QST2 unit from Shiniusi archaeological site: during the periods of the Ming Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, the periods of Song Dynasty (960–1279 AD) to the Yuan Dynasty (1206–1368 AD), as well as during the Han Dynasty (207 BC–220 AD) to the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770 BC–256 BC). These results are consistent with palaeoflood events inferred from pollen and spore analysis and from historical records in other rivers.     

FIRING ANALYSIS OF SOUTH-EASTERN MISSOURI INDIAN POTTERY USING IRON MÖSSBAUER SPECTROSCOPY*

The Mössbauer spectra of prehistoric pottery and clay from the Malden Plain of south-eastern Missouri, USA, were examined. The pottery dates from AD 500 to 1400. The earlier sherds were tempered with sand and the later ones with shell. The sherds and clay contain a mixture of illite, smectite, and kaolinite. Most samples of clay and sherds contained both ferric and ferrous species. The spectral parameters for the ferric species were %DLE_Q～0. 7—1.1 mms^-1 and δ～0.0–0.3 mms^-1 for the ferrous species, ΔE_Q～2.1–2.7mms^-1 and δ～0.7–1.0mms^-1. The ferric to ferrous ratio is more accurately determined from the spectra than from consideration of the colour or the firing core of the sherds, which are not always related to the iron species ratio. Differences among sherds in the ferrous ΔE_Q can be related to original temperature of heating but with low precision.     

The Movement and Exchange of Dogs in the Prehistoric Caribbean: An Isotopic Investigation

This study explores the feasibility of using strontium isotope (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr) analyses of enamel from domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) to investigate networks of exchange in the prehistoric Circum‐Caribbean. Dog teeth were obtained from burial and domestic contexts from two prehistoric sites (Anse à la Gourde and Morel) on Grande‐Terre, Guadeloupe (Lesser Antilles). Strontium isotope results were compared with local biosphere ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr data at the scale of the site, island and archipelago. The isotope results indicate both local and nonlocal origins with three dogs (30%) identified as nonlocal (one from Anse à la Gourde and two from Morel). The variance in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of the nonlocal dog teeth is consistent with diverse multiple origins external to the island of Grande‐Terre but consistent with origins from other islands of the Lesser Antilles. The diverse origins of the nonlocal dog samples indicate that the prehistoric circulation of dogs occurred at multiple scales from regional to long distance. Significantly, the ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of some of the dog teeth are comparable with values of nonlocal humans at Anse à la Gourde determined in previous studies. It is possible that these comparable ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios result from similar natal origins, for example if individuals were migrating to Guadeloupe with dogs. The results of this study contribute to an ongoing regional investigation of the economic, social and political roles of animals and animal remains and the multiscalar networks of prehistoric mobility and exchange in the Circum‐Caribbean region. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prehistoric Molluscan Faunas of the Yazoo River,Mississippi, USA: Archaeological Perspectives for Modern Conservation

Archaeological faunal assemblages can provide data valuable to modern conservation ecology. For example, while freshwater mussels (Bivalvia: Unionidae, Margaritiferidae) are common constituents in the archaeological record of North America, today they are one of the world’s most imperiled faunal groups. Efforts to aid habitat restoration, population growth, and species reintroduction can be informed by studies of prehistoric mussel assemblages. These data can provide a historical perspective, cataloging communities as they existed prior to extensive modern impacts, thus representing an ecological baseline to be compared with modern populations. This study focuses on two late prehistoric (ca. 300–600 AD) sites on the Yazoo River, where nearly 24,000 freshwater mussel valves were recovered. Though modern data are extremely limited for the river, analysis revealed it once supported a diverse mussel community containing numerous species currently considered rare, endangered, or extinct in Mississippi. In total, the combined shell assemblages yielded 23 new river records for the Yazoo River. One species in particular, Quadrula fragosa, represents the second such occurrence in Mississippi, and bolsters its candidate status as a new state record, as argued in a recent report from a neighbouring river in the Yazoo Basin.     

‘Parry’ fractures and female-directed interpersonal violence: Implications from the Late Archaic Period of west Tennessee

The recognition of a high frequency of ‘parry’ fractures in the females from the Late Archaic Period (2500–1000/500 BC ) west Tennessee site of Eva prompted a more thorough examination of female-directed interpersonal violence in prehistoric Tennessee sites. The study examined forearm fractures in eight (N = 308) Late Archaic Period hunter-gatherer sites and five (N = 501) Mississippian Period (c. AD 1200–1600) agriculturalist sites. On the basis of chi-square test results, there does not appear to be any gender bias in forearm fracture occurrence in the Archaic Period. The high frequency of female ‘parry’ fractures at Eva was an artefact of the ratio of females to males. More importantly, craniofacial trauma data do not support an aetiology that would explain mid-shaft forearm fractures as a result of interpersonal violence.     

Subsistence and Settlement Correlates of Treponemal Disease: Temporal Patterns in Pre‐Columbian East Tennessee

After ca 1000 BC , coinciding with the transition to sedentism, tertiary stage treponemal disease apparently becomes osteologically pervasive in pre‐Columbian North America. However, varying interobserver treponemal disease diagnostic thresholds, sampling error and the possibly ecosensitive nature of the pre‐Columbian nonvenereal treponemal disease variants (i.e. yaws and treponarid) prevents subsistence‐settlement pattern from becoming a reliable predictor of treponemal disease prevalence. This is particularly true of later prehistory with the transition from horticulture to intensive, maize‐based agriculture. To address whether treponemal disease visibility does vary across this specific subsistence‐settlement threshold, subadults (4+ years of age) and adults from 11 late prehistoric sites (N = 997) from the same geographic area of East Tennessee were sampled for the presence of treponemal disease. Six sites (N = 279) primarily date to the Late Woodland period (AD 700–900) and culturally belong to what is referred to as the Hamilton mortuary complex. The sample is archaeologically characterised as horticulturalist with presumably a dispersed farmstead or hamlet settlement pattern. Six sites (N = 718) date to the Late Mississippian (AD 1300–1550, Dallas phase) and are maize‐intensive agriculturalists with a large, aggregate village settlement pattern. The sites were examined using three different levels of treponemal disease diagnostic confidence. Treponemal disease raw frequency does indeed differ across the levels of diagnostic confidence between the total Late Woodland horticulturalist sample (4.3–5.5%) and total Late Mississippian maize agriculturalist sample (5.4–6.5%). The meaning is complex as the Dallas phase sample may have a socially segregated elite; the mound‐interred (1.8%) relative to the village‐interred (6.1–7.4%) exhibited significantly fewer cases of treponemal disease. Tentatively, treponemal disease visibility does appear to co‐associate with sedentism and perhaps (if the mound‐interred Dallas individuals are elites) also aggregated settlement. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cleft palate: a case study of disability and survival in prehistoric North America

This study presents an analysis of an adult male that demonstrates diagnostic markers of cleft palate. The burial is associated with the Grider Site, Late Woodland context (AD 500 to 1000), located in Pike County, Indiana, USA. The analysis draws on clinical and palaeopathology literature to consider other possible conditions responsible for the skeletal anomalies. Cleft palate occurs in about one in 1000 live births, and is one of the most common defects of the face. Despite the high frequency of cleft palate, few cases are reported from the archaeological record. It is possible that, in the past, few infants survived extreme forms of cleft palate, and such cases are not present to be recorded. Or, it is possible that the lesion simply goes undocumented. This analysis outlines the markers of cleft palate in this individual and demonstrates that a prehistoric culture could overcome the health issues experienced by an infant with the condition (full communication between the oral and nasal cavities) and survive to adulthood. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Pre‐Columbian Tuberculosis in Northwest Argentina: Skeletal Evidence from Rincón Chico 21 Cemetery

Systematic excavation of collective burial sites makes possible the recovery of skeletal series which may show bony evidence of infectious pathological conditions. This paper presents the first evidence of the existence of tuberculosis in prehistoric populations of NW Argentina with a subsistence economy based on agriculture and pastoralism. The study was carried out on individuals from Rincón Chico 21 cemetery, a burial site located in the Santa María Valley, Catamarca, used between the Late Ceramic Period and the onset of the Inca empire expansion (AD 1000–1400). Six individuals out of the 70 so far excavated showed destructive lesions in the vertebral bodies and periosteal reactions in other bones. The morphology and distribution of bone lesions led us to rule out several diseases from a broad spectrum of possible diseases that could have affected the skeletal system. Thus, the lesions were interpreted as caused by mycobacterial infections (Mycobacterium tuberculosis Complex). Considering previous studies on the dynamics of biocultural interactions which take into account information related from contextual associations and chronology, we can conclude that a tuberculosis‐like disease was present in prehistoric populations from NW Argentina. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Cut‐marked and Fractured Mesolithic Human Bone from Kent's Cavern,Devon, UK

An isolated adult human ulna fragment recovered from the ‘black mould’ layer of Kent's Cavern by William Pengelly in 1866 exhibits a series of stone tool cut marks. The specimen has been directly AMS ¹⁴C‐dated to 7314–7075 cal bc (OxA‐20588: 8185 ± 38 bp ) and may be from the same individual as a maxilla fragment dated to the same period. The cut marks are located on the olecranon process, in a position indicative of dismemberment, whereas the fracture characteristics of the bone furthermore suggest peri‐mortem breakage, typical of butchery for the extraction of marrow. We here present and discuss the specimen and consider both ritual mortuary treatment and anthropophagy as possible explanations. Although it is difficult to interpret a single element in isolation, the latter scenario seems to be better supported and is not without parallel in prehistoric Europe, as indicated by a review of the available literature. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Eggshell and the archaeological record: new insights into turkey husbandry in the American Southwest

Eggshell in the archaeological record has interpretive potential beyond simple species identification. Structural features of eggshell itself indicate the degree of development of the embryo. Using a scanning electron microscope, a reference collection of modern eggshell characteristics has been produced that can be used for species determination and for the assessment of embryo development of prehistoric eggshell. We apply this technique to a sample of prehistoric eggshell from northwestern New Mexico and conclude that purposeful breeding of captive turkey populations is present during the 12th century AD. These preliminary results suggest a behavioral shift in turkey husbandry, concomitant with the well documented phenomenon of intensified turkey utilization after about AD 1100 in the American Southwest.     

Earliest evidence of spinal tuberculosis from the Aneolithic Yayoi period in Japan

Tuberculosis has existed from early prehistoric days to modern times. The main causative agents of tuberculosis worldwide are Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) and M. bovis, along with M. africanum, M. cenettii and M. microti; these species make up the ‘M. tuberculosis complex’. This worldwide infection has been of special interest to palaeopathologists due to its characteristic bone lesions as well as its great antiquity. Historically, tuberculosis has been recognised in Japan for more than a thousand years. However, the origin and early prevalence of tuberculosis remain unknown. In the present study, we present the earliest evidence of skeletal tuberculosis found in the Aneolithic Yayoi period in Japan (ca. 300 BC to AD 300). The skeletal remains showing typical pathological changes of spinal tuberculosis were dated to between 454 BC and AD 124 by dendrochronological methods using coburied arrow-shield board and house columns made of Japanese cedar. We discuss the early prevalence of this infectious disease and its influence on the population history of the Japanese from prehistoric to Aneolithic times. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

THE EARLIEST USE OF CORUNDUM AND DIAMOND,IN PREHISTORIC CHINA*

The majority of prehistoric lithic artefacts were fashioned from rocks and minerals no harder than quartz, and there is no prehistoric evidence for the working of harder materials, such as corundum and diamond. The earliest physical evidence for the use of corundum (ruby, sapphire) is thought to be the abrasive grit recovered from Bronze Age Minoan quartz beads (c. 1700–1500 bc ), while diamond is thought to have been used no earlier than 500 bc , in India. Here we show that corundum was worked c. 4000–3500 bc during the Neolithic period in China, in the form of polished axes from the Liangzhu and Sanxingcun cultures. We also present physical evidence that later Liangzhu axes (c. 2500 bc ), made from the same previously undescribed rock whose most abundant component is corundum, were polished to a mirror‐like finish with a diamond abrasive. Our findings, which are the first to support the use of corundum and diamond in a prehistoric context, may also help to explain the trademark feature of the Neolithic in China, vast quantities of finely polished nephrite jade artefacts.     

The Identification and Modification of Greater Adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius) Bones in the Holocene Archaeological Record of Northern Vietnam

We report on the first prehistoric identifications of the Greater Adjutant (Leptoptilos dubius ) in the prehistoric archaeological record of Vietnam, the earliest known example of this species in Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA). The two bone fragments, a proximal tarsometatarsus and a distal tibiotarsus, were found in the hunter–gatherer midden/cemetery site of Con Co Ngua in Thanh Hoa Province, and date to c. 6000 – 5500 BP. The tarsometatarsus has been modified into an edge ground implement similar to artefacts recorded at other archaeological sites in the region. Modifications to the functional end suggest that the implement is consistent with the manipulation and/or manufacture of plant‐based fibres. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adding insult to injury: opportunistic treponemal disease in a scalping survivor

Although the taking of scalps is arguably a perimortem trophy‐taking behaviour, cases of scalping survival are occasionally reported in the historical documents of the American Colonial Period and the 19^th century westward expansion. Survival cases are also detected in pre‐Columbian bioarchaeological contexts. Although scalp avulsion injuries can heal without complication, often the process is compromised by secondary osteomyelitis, usually attributable to environmentally ever‐present Staphylococcal or Streptococcal bacteria. A scalping survivor case from the late prehistoric (AD 1200–1600) Hampton site (40RH41) of East Tennessee unusually displays infectious sequelae in the area denuded by scalp avulsion which are pathognomonic for treponemal disease (caries sicca, stellate scarring). This infection is probably a reflection of the easy opportunity afforded by the large size of the wound bed, poor post‐trauma hygiene, and direct inoculation of the diploë by a ubiquitous Treponema. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.