Geoarchaeology and Archaeological Site Patterning on the Middle Gila River,Arizona

Abstract

Archaeological surveys and prehistoric settlement patterns are best interpreted when placed on a geomorphic map that defines the distribution and age of physical landforms. Survey data can thus be used to address questions of archaeological site visibility and synchronic and diachronic site patterning on the Gila River Indian Reservation, Arizona. A chronological series of alluvial and eolian landforms are defined on the reservation. The age of the landforms and underlying sediments has affected the preservation and visibility of the archaeological record. Further, late prehistoric Hohokam settlements (A.D. 700–1500) and their associated agricultural lands show a clear landform zonation and that the intensity of use of these landforms has changed over time.     

Construction,labor organization,and feasting during the Late Archaic Period in the Central Andes

Recent data from the site of Cerro Lampay, a Late Archaic Period compound in central Peru, sheds light on the role of ritual and architectural construction in the emergence of social complexity in the Central Andes. Excavations at this site have provided a detailed documentation of the building process that ended in the entombment of architectural compounds, including a remarkable sequence of construction events preceded by the processing and consumption of foodstuffs. There was not a single, large-scale construction event, but several small-scale events that were accompanied by consumption activities. This pattern strongly suggests a permanent reinforcement of ties and commitments through feasting, which was required in order to finish the construction process. This scenario supports the idea of emerging leadership capable of mobilizing labor for the construction requirements. Nevertheless, the reliance on feasting as ritual practices, and the small scale of these events, suggests a limited power capacity and a weakly formalized authority, which needed to be constantly reinforced through the inferred ritual practices.     

考尔雅典女神，雅典卫城682——尊希腊古典晚期雕塑的重建工作

在15世纪的意大利,人们发现了大量的古代雕塑遗存,基本上都是大理石雕塑残片。出于对大理石的迷恋、对雕刻工艺的欣赏、对人体雕塑生动表现的着迷,当时的贵族热衷于收集这些残片并试图拼对与重建这些残破的雕塑。但是几乎没有发现任何颜色的残存,他们甚至不会去探究彩绘他们更赞赏大理石洁白无瑕的表面。19世纪早期,建筑学家们考察了西西里一些古代庙宇的彩绘残存,随后有关一些著名希腊神庙（如帕台农神庙）彩绘的重构工作在全欧洲引发了热烈的讨论。但是对于这些雕塑涂施彩绘的强烈质疑声一直持续到十九世纪八十年代,直到雅典卫城发掘工作的开展才证实了古代大理石雕塑彩绘的事实。出土时,很多破碎的雕塑残片上都残存有鲜亮的彩绘,但通常在出土几个小时后就由于干燥而剥落了,只有依稀的彩绘痕迹残存,以及工作人员的描述和水彩模画。今天,翻开现代有关古代雕塑的书籍,你会发现大量彩色照片,但总是显现白色大理石表面。有关雕塑的工艺、功能和历史发展的意义的讨论已经很多了,但是很难得到一个完整的古代雕塑彩绘的例子。不仅仅是雅典卫城的雕塑曾经涂饰彩绘,经过重建工作这一时期有大量彩绘的例子。本次工作即是采用古代颜料与模具,尽可能完整的重建了一尊古代雕塑。     

Geomorphological setting and Native American acquisition of buff-firing ceramic clays in the Lower and Middle Gila River Valley, Arizona

This study addresses buff-firing clay sources in dynamic alluvial settings along Arizona’s Gila River in the U.S. Southwest. We establish clay resource distribution relative to the geomorphic histories of the Lower and Middle Gila River based on 38 clay samples and ethnographic data from two US Bureau of Reclamation (BOR) projects. Buff-firing clayey alluvium, deposited in the Gila River floodplain 800 to 1,500 or more years ago, was a surficial ceramic raw material source for prehistoric Hohokam and lowland Patayan potters. This geomorphic unit was later removed in some places and buried by up to 3-4 m of sediment in others, reducing the availability of buff-firing clays in the Hohokam Classic period and requiring historic Pee Posh and Akimel O’odham potters to dig pits to access it. Sources were further destroyed in catastrophic floods in the late 19th and early 20th century, affecting ceramic manufacture patterns and ultimately contributing to the decline of pottery production by the O’odham living in the Gila River Valley. Our results contribute to regional ceramic ecology and should also be of interest to others investigating alluvial clay use in general or buff-firing alluvial clays in particular. The study also illustrates the value of combining geomorphic and ethnographic data to examine major changes in resource distribution and use.     

The late prehistoric Cahokia cultural system of the Mississippi River valley: Foundations,florescence, and fragmentation

The development, florescence, and subsequent demise of an organizationally complex cultural system in the American Bottom, part of the central Mississippi River valley, spanned a little over half a millennium. Cahokia, the largest Precolumbian site in the United States, is located within this segment of fertile floodplain, as are many other subsidiary settlements that varied greatly in terms of their size, internal structure, and occupational histories. Numerous projects over the past 30 years have resulted in the rapid accumulation of considerable information and divergent interpretations about the nature of the societies represented archaeologically by a series of superimposed settlement systems.     

Archaeological wells in southern France: Late Neolithic to Roman plant remains from Mas de Vignoles IX (Gard) and their implications for the study of settlement,economy and environment

Abstract

A study of plant remains from seven archaeological wells at Mas de Vignoles IX, near Nîmes, southern France, was used to shed light on a current gap in the archaeological record caused by erosion and modern agriculture. The analysis also explored the reliability of these sources for palaeoenvironmental and palaeoeconomical information. Significant results on the spatial organization of human habitation, economic activities, and on the environment and its exploitation were obtained for the Middle Neolithic to Roman periods. Furthermore, the Neolithic wells also provided the first early finds of fig seeds in France. The abundance of weed and ruderal plants up to the Iron Age is consistent with data from other studies and their dramatic decrease during the Roman period may have resulted from radical changes in land management. The study marks the first time, in southern France, that a group of wells from a single site have provided a complete record throughout the later prehistoric and Roman periods.     

The influence of climatic change on the Late Bronze Age Collapse and the Greek Dark Ages

Between the 13th and 11th centuries BCE, most Greek Bronze Age Palatial centers were destroyed and/or abandoned. The following centuries were typified by low population levels. Data from oxygen-isotope speleothems, stable carbon isotopes, alkenone-derived sea surface temperatures, and changes in warm-species dinocysts and formanifera in the Mediterranean indicate that the Early Iron Age was more arid than the preceding Bronze Age. A sharp increase in Northern Hemisphere temperatures preceded the collapse of Palatial centers, a sharp decrease occurred during their abandonment. Mediterranean Sea surface temperatures cooled rapidly during the Late Bronze Age, limiting freshwater flux into the atmosphere and thus reducing precipitation over land. These climatic changes could have affected Palatial centers that were dependent upon high levels of agricultural productivity. Declines in agricultural production would have made higher-density populations in Palatial centers unsustainable. The ‘Greek Dark Ages’ that followed occurred during prolonged arid conditions that lasted until the Roman Warm Period.     

铜仁锦江流域先秦时期遗址发掘的主要收获

2010年3～5月,贵州省文物考古研究所等单位对贵州省东部铜仁市锦江流域的磨刀湾、笔架冲、方田坝等遗址进行了发掘和试掘,此次工作是建国以来在贵州省锦江流域首次进行的系统考古发掘工作,获得了一批夏商、西周、两汉和宋明清时期的考古资料,具有重要的学术意义.本文着重介绍此次考古发掘中先秦时期遗存的主要收获,并对其学术意义展开初步讨论.     

战国秦汉时期长江中游地区气候状况研究

本文根据历史文献、考古材料和钻孔孢粉资料等,对战国秦汉时期长江中游地区的气候状况进行了初步的探讨。结果表明:战国初期,该地气候温暖湿润;战国中后期至西汉武帝后期,气温下降,气候温凉,极端寒冷事件不断出现;约从公元前100年始,气温明显回升,至公元初年前后,长江中游地区复为温暖湿润的气候环境;公元之初的新莽政权时期,气候经历了由暖而寒的历史转变,降温过程大致持续到东汉明帝时期;之后至东汉中后期,气候暖湿,尤其是冬季气温相对较高;东汉后期,气候再度出现了幅度不大的波动,标志着魏晋南北朝时期大降温的开始。此间气候虽屡有起伏,但总体而言,战国秦汉时期长江中游地区的气候仍以暖湿为主,气温略高于今,或与现今差别不大。在干湿状况方面,具有干湿相间的特点。