Dynamics of Social Complexity in Early Nineteenth-Century British Fur-Trade Posts

During the early nineteenth century, the Hudson's Bay and the North West Companies controlled much of western Canada. Both companies employed hierarchical command structures that influenced all elements of social life within the posts. Both companies confronted a significant level of interrank tension, and sought to reinforce authority figures using imported wealth items and privileges. However the enormous transportation costs made it prohibitively expensive to supply many of these status items to junior officers stationed at remote outposts. As a result, new informally derived means of symbolizing and defending social position were negotiated using techniques and commodities that were unaffected by transportation difficulties.     

Negotiations with the Animate Forest: Hunting Shrines in the Guatemalan Highlands

Ethnoarchaeological research at highland Maya hunting shrines documents the material remains of interactions between two types of animate beings: humans and the forest. When either active agent enters the others’ domain there are accompanying ceremonial activities to assuage the inherent danger, often leaving physical traces in the material record. These traces, if found in the archaeological record, might reveal similar ancient interactions. Using the material correlates of modern hunting rituals, we explore the utility of ethnoarchaeological research in identifying negotiations with non-human agents associated with the animate forest – an active agent in many societies.     

Foodways and community at the Late Mississippian site of Parchman Place

ABSTRACT

Communal eating events or feasts were important activities associated with the founding and maintenance of Mississippian communities in the southeastern United States. More often than not, however, archaeological deposits of food refuse are interpreted along a spectrum, with household-level consumption at one end and community-wide feasting at the other. Here, we draw attention to the important ways that domestic food practices contributed to social events and processes at the community level. We examine ceramic, botanical, and faunal assemblages from two fourteenth-century contexts at Parchman Place (22CO511), a Late Mississippi period site in the northern Yazoo Basin. For the earlier deposit, everyday ceramics and plant foods combined with high-utility deer portions and exotic birds suggest potluck-style feasting meant to bring people together in the context of establishing a community in place. We interpret the later deposit, with its pure ash matrix, focus on serving wares, and purposeful disposal of edible maize and animal remains, as the result of activities related to maize harvest ceremonialism. Both practices suggest that household contributions in general and disposal of domestic food refuse in particular are critical yet underappreciated venues for creating and maintaining community ties in the Mississippian Southeast.     

Seventeenth-Century Glass Trade Beads from La Salle's Fort St. Louis and the Grand Village of the Kaskaskia

Abstract

Glass trade beads are described here from two seventeenth-century sites located in the upper Illinois Valley, La Salle's 1682–1691 Fort St. Louis and the nearby Grand Village of the Kaskaskia, destroyed during an Iroquois raid in 1680. Simple monochrome drawn beads characterize both bead assemblages and each contains significant percentages of very small (<2 mm) and small (2–4 mm) size beads. Dominant colors are blue, white, and black. Turquoise-blue beads were a staple of the French trade at this time in the Illinois Country, particularly in transactions involving La Salle and his successors based at Fort St. Louis. Comparative treatment provided as part of this research indicates that there are significant similarities between the bead assemblage from Fort St. Louis and the beads recovered from the 1686 wreck of La Salle's ship Belle in Matagorda Bay off the Texas coast.     

Herds for the Gods? Selection Criteria and Herd Management at the Mass Sacrifice Site of Huanchaquito-Las Llamas During the Chimú Period,Northern Coast of Peru

ABSTRACT

The discovery of the sacrificial remains of 140 children and 206 camelids sacrificed at the site of Huanchaquito-Las Llamas, on the northern coast of Peru, has provided new data on mass sacrifice practices during the Chimú period. The exceptional state of preservation of the camelids, including the presence of coats and hides, opens new research perspectives on the utilisation of animals in ritual contexts. This article will focus on the results of the zooarchaeological analysis, particularly of mortality profiles and coat colour, to address the criteria used to select the sacrificial victims. Young individuals were exclusively selected, and while there is a majority of brown coats, three colours that are present in modern herds are absent at Huanchaquito. This reveals the preferential choice made by the Chimú officiants for this sacrifice. A spatial analysis did not reveal preferences in the organisation of the deposits. The killing of the youngest cohort of the livestock probably had an impact on the whole livestock. This suggests the existence of large herds that were controlled by the Chimú empire. Our results provide additional insights into the management of camelid herds and show the complexity of pastoralism on the pacific coast during pre-Hispanic times.     

山东省菏泽市定陶区何楼遗址大汶口早期动物资源利用初探

何楼遗址位于鲁西南地区,遗存的年代分别属于新石器时代、汉代及金元时期,其中新石器时代遗存十分丰富,有助于认识和了解这一地区考古学文化格局的演变。何楼遗址出土了较为丰富的动物骨骼遗存,其中哺乳动物以猪为主,鹿等野生动物也占有一定的比例,此外还包括少量的贝类、鱼类、爬行类和鸟类等。通过动物遗存研究,对于认识该地区的古代自然环境、古人对动物资源的利用和当时的生业特点具有重要意义。     

陕西临潼康家龙山文化遗址1990年发掘动物遗存

一、前言 陕西临潼康家遗址是龙山时期的村落遗址,面积约１９万平方米。自１９８１年以来,曾进行过多次发掘①,出土了大量动物骨骼,本文将分析１９９０年夏秋两季发掘中出土的动物遗存。 １９９０年发掘是在遗址的中南部进行的,发掘 １０ × １０米探方１个（１２６）。康家遗址Ｔ２６的龙山地层厚度约３米,发现迭压多层的房屋一排,房前的院子里有许多灰坑。大部分兽骨出于灰坑和房屋的夯土墙内。发掘报告尚未发表,但为叙述方便本文根据建筑遗迹的分布情况初步将龙山文化地层分为早晚两期。早期：厚度约２米,每层房基包括４间房屋…     

Taphonomy and zooarchaeology of a high-altitude Upper Pleistocene faunal sequence from Hovk-1 Cave,Armenia

The Caucasus is a key region for the study of hominid evolution and Neanderthal ecology. Taphonomic and zooarchaeological studies of sites from this region are few and only focused on sites at low-to-mid altitude zones with evidence of relatively intensive hominid occupation. This study focused on the taphonomic and zooarchaeological characteristics of a high-altitude site from the Upper Pleistocene – Hovk-1 Cave – looking at diachronic change in both natural and cultural processes which shaped the faunal assemblage. Results best fit a model in which the bones of most large mammals, mainly ungulates (wild goat, Capra aegagrus and red deer, Cervus elaphus) and cave bears (Ursus spelaeus) accumulated naturally through pitfalls, with minimal input from human or carnivore activity. This accumulation is characterized by a high frequency of complete ungulate and carnivore bones, a bear assemblage which is dominated by young-adults and a wild goat assemblage that includes juvenile and young-adult individuals. Our taphonomic reconstruction serves as a point of reference for comparative studies of palaeoenvironments and human subsistence patterns of Middle and Upper Palaeolithic sites in the Caucasus and broadens our perspective on hominid occupation and ecological adaptation in other high-altitude world regions.     

A bone grease processing station at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village: Archaeological evidence for the exploitation of bone fats

Recent excavations at the Mitchell Prehistoric Indian Village, an Initial Middle Missouri site in Mitchell, South Dakota have revealed a large, clay-lined feature filled with fractured and fragmented bison bones. Fracture and fragmentation analysis, along with taphonomic evidence, suggests that the bones preserved within the feature represent evidence of prehistoric bone marrow and bone grease exploitation. Further, the character of the feature suggests that it served as a bone grease processing station. Bone fat exploitation is an activity that is frequently cited as a causal explanation for the nature of many fractured and fragmented bone assemblages in prehistory, and zooarchaeological assemblages have frequently been studied as evidence of bone fat exploitation. The Mitchell example provides some of the first direct, in-situ archaeological evidence of a bone grease processing feature, and this interpretation is sustained by substantial analytical evidence suggesting bone fat exploitation. This new evidence provides a clearer concept of the nature of bone fat exploitation in prehistory as well as an indication of the scale and degree to which bone grease exploitation occurred at the Mitchell site. Finally, this research demonstrates the importance of careful zooarchaeological and taphonomic analysis for the interpretation of both artifactual remains as well as archaeological features.     

Ground Penetrating Radar in the Northern Great Lakes: A Trial Survey of a Contact Period Occupation in Marquette County,Michigan

ABSTRACT

Timing, inclement weather, and limited budgets can obstruct archaeological survey efforts. Here, we ameliorate some of these with use of ground penetrating radar (GPR) at the Goose Lake Outlet #3 (GLO#3) site (20MQ140). GPR surveys to guide survey and excavation efforts in these well-drained sandy soils are limited. GPR imagery exhibited false positives; however, shovel probes, subsequent site excavation, and artifact analysis led to numerous discoveries at this protohistoric site—including glass trade beads dating to the 1630s. These discoveries solidify evidence for some of the earliest European-made trade items in the region and provide further confirmation for placement of an Indian trail and ancient travel corridor between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. Two ¹⁴C samples obtained from moose-bone in features with trade goods fall within the expected occupation range of 1633–1668 and 1615–1647. Several anomolies, possible hearth clusters were seen on the GPR imagery; however, many features remained invisible.     

成都市金沙村唐墓发掘简报

2005年3月,成都成房置业有限公司在成都市西郊金沙村修建天韵金沙商住小区。该小区东邻青羊大道,南距成温公路约500米,北与金沙遗址博物馆相接(图一)。成都市文物考古研究所在对该工地进行文     

皮毛：清代北美对华贸易的重要货品

北美皮毛对华商路的开拓者是英国人,美国随后介入。美、英皮毛输华量在1801年达到顶点;两相比较,早期,英国占有优势地位,略后,美国反超。中国人原先穿用皮种多为陆地动物,而北美输华的主要是海洋动物皮毛。在工业革命完成之前,一般的国际贸易多为资源性经营,但人类的过量捕杀势必造成珍贵动物资源濒于灭绝。这是18和19世纪之交的国际皮毛贸易由盛转衰留下的深刻教训。     

Animal Use and the Urban Landscape in Colonial Charleston, South Carolina, USA

The quantity and variety of animals contributing to foodways and landscapes are often overlooked in studies of urban colonial experiences. In colonial Charleston, South Carolina (USA), wild and domestic animals contributed to a unique lowcountry cuisine. Some of these animals lived in the city where their activities shaped, and were shaped by, the urban landscape. Many aspects of the environment were designed to accommodate and restrict these animals. Excavations at two eighteenth-century sites provide more detailed views of the changing role of animals in the lowcountry foodways and landscape from 1720 into the 1800s.     

抗战时期西北皮毛贸易与大后方经济变动

皮毛是西北地区重要的畜牧产品。近代以来,随着天津的开埠通商,在天津口岸的经济辐射作用下,大量西北皮毛通过黄河水运汇集至包头后再通过平绥铁路运至天津出口美英等国,皮毛成为西北最重要的出口物资,大量西北皮毛的出口也成为西北地区皮毛业外向化的重要表现。但抗战爆发以后,西北皮毛贸易发生了巨大变化。首先,西北皮毛出口运输路线改为向西汇集兰州后再通过甘新公路或甘新大道运至猩猩峡出口苏联,使得苏联取代战前美国成为中国最大皮毛进口国,这也直接推动了战时中苏易货贸易的发展。其次,由于战时西北皮毛出口运输较战前出口运输路途艰险,加上战时出口市场萎缩等原因,造成战时西北皮毛出口量较战前减少。战时西北皮毛出口量的减少,迫使部分皮毛出口转内销,西北皮毛业从战前外向化开始转为战时内向化。西北皮毛内销数量的增加,也推动了大后方毛纺织业的发展。因此,战时西北皮毛业的内向化一定程度上为战时大后方经济的发展积累了新的动力因素。     

Pneumonic Plagues,Environmental Changes,and the International Fur Trade: The Retreat of Tarbagan Marmots from Northwest Manchuria, 1900s-30s

Inspired by recent environmental historical studies on animal extinctions and human-animal relations, this paper shifts scholarly attention from the plague-centered narrative of the great Pneumonic Plague Epidemics (1910-11) to the fate of the plague host animals, Tarbagan marmots (Marmota sibirica), and examines their near-extinction in Northwest Manchuria (Hulunbuir) from the 1900s to 1930s. Focusing on changing images of Tarbagan marmots from “inexpensive,” “sacred,” and “beneficial” in the pre-modern period to “valuable,” “dangerous,” and “noxious” in the early twentieth century, it argues that three interrelated factors: the international fur trade, pneumonic plagues, and environment changes together resulted in the “retreat of the marmots.” It also uses this case study to help us better understand larger historical changes that occurred by contextualizing them in terms of human-marmot relations in Manchuria, China and beyond.     

浙江永嘉县溪口村明代净水池的清理

2004年4月下旬,永嘉县溪口乡溪口村村民在清理李家大院房基时发现几个排列有序的水池(图一),随即报告县文物管理部门。温州市文物保护考古所和永嘉县文化馆闻讯后即派考古人员赶赴现场,确认是一处重要的水处理系统遗迹,并于5月11日开始对遗迹进行发掘,发掘工作历时9天。现将净水池发掘情况简报如下。     

Detecting the medieval cod trade: a new method and first results

This paper explores the potential of stable isotope analysis to identify the approximate region of catch of cod by analysing bones from medieval settlements in northern and western Europe. It measures the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values of cod bone collagen from medieval control samples collected from sites around Arctic Norway, the North Sea, the Kattegat and the Baltic Sea. These data were considered likely to differ by region due to, for example, variation in the length of the food chain, water temperature and salinity. We find that geographical structuring is indeed evident, making it possible to identify bones from cod caught in distant waters. These results provide a new methodology for studying the growth of long-range trade in dried cod and the related expansion of fishing effort—important aspects of the development of commercialisation in medieval Europe. As a first test of the method, we analyse three collections of cod bones tentatively interpreted as imported dried fish based on a priori zooarchaeological criteria. The results tentatively suggest that cod were being transported or traded over very long distances since the end of the first millennium AD.     

河南南阳市陈棚村68号汉墓

南阳市宛城区陈棚村是古代墓葬较集中区域之一(图一)。南阳市文物考古研究所和原南阳市考古队近几年配合基本建设时,在该区域发掘一大批战国至明清时期的墓葬。2002年1-2月,南阳市文物考古研究     

Spatial organization of the Gravettian mammoth hunters' site at Kraków Spadzista (southern Poland)

One of the largest and best known sites of the Central European Gravettian is the Kraków Spadzista site. This article summarizes archaeological, palaeontological, and zooarchaeological data from the site, obtained in the course of more than 40 years of excavations and studies. The site is known mainly from the discovery of the large mammoth bone accumulation in trench B. During field work conducted in a few trenches located close to this assemblage, numerous human artifacts and faunal remains were found. On the basis of analyses of lithic materials, faunal remains, and radiometric data it is concluded that the Krakow Spadzista site was frequently re-occupied during a few weeks or months, by groups of Gravettian hunters in the period 24–22,000 rcyBP This short-term camp site was related to mammoth hunting. The analysis allowed identification of three possible activity zones, characterized by the presence of different groups of flint tools, fireplaces, and different faunal assemblages: a camp area, a lithic workshop, and an animal-processing area, besides the well known accumulation of mammoth bones.