Chemical Residues as Anthropic Activity Markers. Ethnoarchaeology,Experimental Archaeology and Archaeology of Food Production and Consumption

ABSTRACT

Chemical residues preserved in floors can be considered anthropic activity markers. In fact, residues are strictly related to the activities performed and reflect their spatial distribution. We present a synthesis of the work carried out over the last few decades in Mexico and Italy related to the study of chemical residues in floors. Residues can be identified performing specific chemical analyses both of plastered or earthen floors samples. We outline a methodological approach concerning the use of the markers of the activities to interpret food production and consumption in the archaeological record, based upon evidence from experimental, ethnoarchaeological and archaeological examples. Here we point out the advantages and problems of such an approach, mainly related to equifinality, of the use of spot tests and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry techniques using examples from different sites in the world.     

BUTCHERING PATTERNS AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF FAUNAL ANIMAL REMAINS CONSUMED AT THE LOS MILLARES CHALCOLITHIC SETTLEMENT (SANTA FE DE MONDÚJAR,ALMERÍA,SPAIN)

The archaeological settlement of Los Millares (Santa Fe de Mondújar, Almería) is located in the Mediterranean coastal area of southern Spain. This archaeological site constitutes one of the most important settlements belonging to the Copper Age in the Iberian Peninsula and has given its name to the ‘millariense’ culture. The settlement has been completely excavated, yielding major archaeological faunal remains, with 27,426 bone fragments classified by researchers from Munich University (Germany). In this paper, we apply different statistical methods (mainly χ² analysis) to study the spatial distribution of bones from domestic and wild animals, reconstructing the patterns of appearance within specific functional spaces. These functions can be associated with meat consumption (sites to cut the animals into small pieces, areas where the meat was eaten, garbage sites, etc.) and the production of handmade objects (bone tools, stone tools, etc.). The results show different spatial distributions of faunal remains within the areas of the settlement, according to the animal species and particular parts of the animal skeleton, as well as the age and the sex of individuals. The findings reflect social behaviour that relates the consumption of certain species to a specific sector of population, and such behaviour can be discerned in the animal remains. Moreover, there is evidence regarding economic matters, such as meat production and the exchange of animals, which require further research.     

Intra-site Spatial Analysis in Ethnoarchaeology

ABSTRACT

The interpretative power of quantitative intra-site spatial analysis has long been recognised by archaeologists. On the contrary, very few ethnoarchaeological works have engaged with the statistical analysis of intra-site pattern of artefacts and ecofacts. Nonetheless, ethnoarchaeology is uniquely placed to guide and assist in the identification of sound techniques and in the development of the methodology of analysis. The possibility to directly connect the distribution of the proxies under study with the activity that generated such distribution, provide the means of fine-tuning the tools we use for identifying these patterns in the archaeological record. As a consequence, archaeological methodology and interpretation both benefit from the application of improved methodologies. In this paper we review some of the most common techniques used to analyse activity areas and we provide examples of the application of such techniques to ethnoarchaeological contexts. The aim is to assess how archaeology can benefit from the intra-site spatial analysis of ethnoarchaeological contexts.     

Following the white rabbit: A case of a small game procurement site in the upper palaeolithic (Sala de las Chimeneas,Maltravieso Cave,Spain)

The role of small game in Upper Palaeolithic economies has been examined by several authors over the past few decades. Among the small fauna, rabbits seem to have been a widely exploited resource in certain geographic areas, making them one of the main sources for subsistence in hunter–gatherer groups of southwestern Europe. Examining aspects such as anatomic profiles, demographics and taphonomic modifications (including bone breakage) allows us to approach determining the origins of the accumulation of assemblages and establishing the role of hominids and other processes in their formation. The faunal remains of level A of the Sala de las Chimeneas (Maltravieso Cave, Extremadura, Spain) show a clear predominance of rabbits. Results point to a complex taphonomic history. The assemblage of rabbit remains recovered at the site is of anthropic, exogenous and intrusive origin. The results of anthropogenic modifications of the bones reveal a different pattern than what is usually found in assemblages of the same age. The differences that set this assemblage apart include the absence of burned bones and the scarcity of anthropic breakage of humeri, femora and tibiae. These features, in conjunction with the characteristics of the archaeological context, have allowed us to rule out the possibility that this location was used as a base camp or bivouac. Along with these data, the presence of Pleistocene age warrens in the deposit supports the hypothesis that the space was used by hominids as a resource procurement site. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrated geoarchaeological methods for the determination of site activity areas: a study of a Viking Age house in Reykjavik,Iceland

For over a decade, geoarchaeological methods such as multi-element analysis and soil micromorphology have been used to identify and interpret activity areas on archaeological sites. However, these techniques, along with others such as magnetic susceptibility, loss on ignition, and microrefuse, artefact and bone distribution analyses are rarely integrated in the study of a single site, even though they provide very different and potentially complementary data. This paper presents a comparative study of a wide range of geoarchaeological methods that were applied to the floors sediments of a Viking Age house at the site of Aðalstræti 16, in central Reykjavík, Iceland, along with more traditional artefact and bone distribution analyses, and a spatial study of floor layer boundaries and features in the building. In this study, the spatial distributions of artefacts and bones could only be understood in the light of the pH distributions, and on their own they provided limited insight into the use of space in the building. Each of the sediment analyses provided unique and valuable information about possible activity areas, with soil micromorphology proving to have the greatest interpretive power on its own. However, the interpretation potential of the geochemical methods was dramatically enhanced if they were integrated into a multi-method dataset.     

The Distribution and Research Value of Archaeological Mussel Shell: An Overview from Mississippi

Abstract

Archaeological mussel shell rarely has been employed beyond paleodietary analysis in eastern North America, and most published work is site-specific in nature. Broad-scale syntheses of data on freshwater mussel shells are needed to realize the research potential of this common archaeological material. Such syntheses should also reveal gaps in our knowledge and perhaps illuminate reasons for why such gaps exist. In this paper, data on freshwater mussel shells from sites in Mississippi are gathered, and broad patterns in temporal and spatial distributions as well as site structure are discussed. The spatial data clearly suffer from survey, recovery, analytical and reporting biases, while data on temporal trends and site structure are lacking or are available at only gross levels. Given that shell data can be used in a number of research areas (e.g., biogeography, paleoenvironment, chemical sourcing, measurement of environmental disturbance), such unsystematic treatment of shell remains is unwarranted and should be corrected.     

Projectile Point Rejuvenation: A Technological Analysis

Abstract

This paper presents the results of the experimental production, use, and rejuvenation of 30 projectile points. Breakage patterns and morphological change of points resulting from rejuvenation are documented. The debitage produced during each stage of the experiment was examined from a technological perspective and assessed in terms of its archaeological visibility. The assemblages resulting from point production and rejuvenation are quite different from one another and each can be identified through a technological analysis. The study indicates that a curational behavior such as rejuvenation can be identified in the archaeological record if the proper sampling, field recovery, and analytical techniques are employed.     

The Spatial Distribution of French Agricultural Cooperatives: An Exploratory Spatial Data Analysis

Abstract

This paper studies the spatial dynamics of French agricultural cooperatives using the recently developed exploratory spatial data analysis tool. Analysis at the level of French districts in 1995 and 2005 shows strong evidence for global and local spatial autocorrelations in the geographical distribution of agricultural cooperatives. The presence of spatial disparities between French districts is confirmed by the detection of such specific spatial patterns as district clusters, a group of neighbouring districts with the same high or low level of agricultural cooperative activities. A typology of all the different Regions is developed to examine the specific spatial patterns of the agricultural cooperative activities. The results indicate that major organizational changes in cooperatives do not significantly modify the initial dynamics concerning the location of activities.     

Preserving Archaeological Remains In Situ: Three Case Studies in Trentino,Italy

Abstract

The paper presents the results of the restoration and conservation work which has been carried out in three archaeological areas in the Autonomous Province of Trento. The areas, which have been opened to the public for more than ten years, are the open-air archaeological site of Monte S. Martino, Roman Tridentum (an underground site under the historical city centre of Trento), and Fiavé (a pile dwelling site in a peat bog). These areas present very different environmental characteristics and have therefore required different interventions according to their speci?c situation.

In order to reduce maintenance and extraordinary costs, appropriate conservation of the archaeological remains is required. This consists of methodologies of conservation according to the characteristics of the environment; continuous monitoring systems and indirect preventive intervention; and annual maintenance planning.     

Almshouse Residency in Nineteenth Century England: An Interim Report

Abstract

This article presents some preliminary findings from the FACHRS almshouse project. Led by Anne Langley and advised by Nigel Goose, a substantial team of volunteers has set out to trace and record pertinent information on almshouses during the period 1500 to 1914 in an attempt to create the first academic history of the institution. The project is envisaged to develop in three strands. Firstly, the creation of a comprehensive gazetteer of Britain's historical almshouses, which will not only be a valuable research tool and a building block for the rest of the project, but will allow for a very simple, yet important, mode of analysis. The data regarding the number of almshouses in a given county, their date of formation, capacity and founder can immediately give us an infinitely better idea of the temporal and spatial distribution of almshouses than is possible at present. Indeed, even for the later 20th century the geography of charity remains obscure (Bryson, McGuiness and Ford 2002: 48–58). After locating these institutions, the second phase of the project will involve the identification and extraction of details on almshouse residents. This will allow for a much more nuanced analysis of the characteristics of almshouse residents, examining age, occupation, gender, marital status and family composition. Finally, having identified areas of the country which are particularly ripe for comparison, the records of individual almshouses will be analysed in an attempt to develop a much deeper understanding of the ways in which almshouses were run, what rules their residents lived by and what life might have been like in these institutions.     

ASSESSING WHAT LIES BENEATH THE SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF A ZOOARCHAEOLOGICAL RECORD: THE USE OF GIS AND SPATIAL CORRELATIONS AT EL MIRÓN CAVE (SPAIN)*

Geographical Information Systems (GIS) are being incorporated into archaeology as a technique to improve the understanding of spatial organization and the relationships among finds within specific areas. Although their use as a basic tool in predicting the location of archaeological sites or in assessing the extent of their catchment areas is relatively common, in general, they have less often been applied to the study of the spatial distribution of archaeological remains within individual deposits, and in particular to faunal assemblages. Despite this, they can prove essential to understanding dispersion and grouping patterns within deposits fully, and, together with various correlation analytical techniques, they provide valuable information about the economic organization of settlements and inhabitant lifeways. To demonstrate the potential of this methodology, a zooarchaeological GIS has been prepared for the Middle and Late Magdalenian and Azilian layers in El Mirón Cave (eastern Cantabria, Spain), and the spatial distribution patterns of various attributes of the archaeological record have been analysed. Significant conclusions in terms of type and duration of human occupation have been drawn.     

Diet Variability and Stable Isotope Analyses: Looking for Variables Within the Late Neolithic and Iron Age Human Groups from Gougenheim Site and Surrounding Areas (Alsace,France)

Several human groups (from the Neolithic to the Bronze Age) have been analysed in France during the past decade (mainly for C and N stable isotope) as part of research programmes focusing on prehistoric dietary variability. The environment, cultural/social choices or even biological characteristics are among the parameters influencing food acquisition and consumption. This short report presents the first diachronic isotopic results on the palaeodiet in northeastern France. Because of the exceptional archaeological characteristics (human deposits in various positions in pits) of the bone collection from the site of Gougenheim and the surrounding areas (Late Neolithic‐Iron Age, Alsace, France), this assemblage provides a new isotopic dataset to study diet and the potential relationship with social elements or other factors involved in food choices. In order to obtain individual palaeodietary information, carbon and nitrogen stable isotope analyses were performed on 23 adults and 20 immature human bone collagen samples as well as on 25 animal remains. Data were then combined with zooarchaeological and anthropological/archaeological results to reconstruct part of the dietary pattern (i.e. protein consumed) and to detect possible links between the deposit and individual or group social status, defined here by specific mortuary practices. For the Late Neolithic period, isotopic values show, among other things, a wide δ¹³C range within the female human group, which is statistically lower than the male one. Women probably consumed more diversified food sources, suggesting increased residential mobility. Although body deposits point to the presence of two distinct subgroups, no relationship with animal protein intake was identified. Moreover, the comparison with Iron Age individuals brought to light different dietary patterns between the two periods, indicating that stable isotope values were affected throughout time either by increased millet/legume consumption or environmental/anthropic changes. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Economic and environmental changes during the 4th and 3rd millennia BC: the 25th Jubilee Symposium of the AEA in Bad Buchau,southern Germany

Abstract

This study represents the first detailed published analysis of a relatively large archaeologically derived faunal assemblage in eastern Beringia for the Late Pleistocene/Early Holocene. The faunal remains, dated to 10,100 cal. BP, are well preserved and have highly resolved spatial association with lithics and hearth features. Factors in the formation of the assemblage are assessed through analyses of weathering, presence/absence of carnivore damage, fragmentation patterns, bone density, and economic utility. Taphonomic analyses indicate that human transport and processing decisions were the major agents responsible for assemblage formation. A spatial model of wapiti and bison carcass processing at this site is proposed detailing faunal trajectories from the kill sites, introduction on site in a central staging area to peripheral marrow extraction areas associated with hearths and lithic items. Data from mortality profiles, spatial analysis, and economic analysis are used to interpret general economy and site function within this period in Interior Alaska. These data and intersite comparisons demonstrate that considerable economic variability existed during the Early Holocene, from broad spectrum foraging to efficient, specialized terrestrial large mammal hunting.     

Ethno-geochemical and Phytolith Studies of Activity Related Patterns: A Case Study from Al Ma’tan,Jordan

ABSTRACT

Understanding Neolithic sites in southwest Asia is often difficult because of the lack of preservation of organic remains and the effects of various taphonomic processes that alter the original record. Here, we use an ethnographic approach to test the potential of using plant phytoliths and geochemistry to aid our interpretation of southwest Asian Neolithic sites. Our study of a recently abandoned stone and mud constructed village in Jordan, shows that for certain activity types, phytoliths and geochemistry can help distinguish different construction methods and functions, particularly for burnt areas, animal use areas and where there has been the addition of a specific construction material. For features constructed from the same source materials distinctions are more problematic. Geochemical and phytolith proxies were individually effective in distinguishing activity areas and construction materials, but signals were diminished when the statistical analysis was run on both forms of evidence combined. It is therefore recommended that the data from plant phytolith and geochemical analyses are subject to separate statistical tests and that the two sets of results are used in combination to interpret archaeological sites and their uses.     

Unraveling a Neanderthal palimpsest from a zooarcheological and taphonomic perspective

Practically all archeological assemblages are palimpsests. In spite of the high temporal resolution of Abric Romaní site, level O, dated to around 55 ka, is not an exception. This paper focuses on a zooarcheological and taphonomic analysis of this level, paying special attention to spatial and temporal approaches. The main goal is to unravel the palimpsest at the finest possible level by using different methods and techniques, such as archeostratigraphy, anatomical and taxonomical identification, taphonomic analysis, faunal refits and tooth wear analysis. The results obtained are compared to ethnoarcheological data so as to interpret site structure. In addition, activities carried out over different time spans (from individual episodes to long-term behaviors) are detected, and their spatial extent is explored, allowing to do inferences on settlement dynamics. This leads us to discuss the temporal and spatial scales over which Neanderthals carried out different activities within the site, and how they can be studied through the archeological record.     

Fish and fishing in colonial New South Wales: new evidence from the Quadrant site in Sydney

Abstract

Excavations at the Quadrant site in Sydney uncovered remains of 19th-century working-class houses and industrial areas including a collection of fish remains. The spatial distribution of bones of northern hemisphere ling and salmonids across house lots suggests these fish were commonly eaten. Little previous research on fish remains from post-1788 Australian sites has been reported and the study has wider research significance to Australasian archaeozoology. Documents indicate that some 19th-century British settlers preferred fish imported from Europe to local species. This study provides new insights into diet, economy and class in early colonial Sydney.     

Polycentricity and the Multiplexity of Urban Networks

Abstract

Empirical studies on polycentric urban regions (PURs) tend to analyse their spatial organization by examining only one type of functional linkage between cities. However, it has generally been accepted that urban networks are multiplex phenomena and that spatial interactions between cities can take many different forms, for example, commuting, shopping trips, and inter-firm trade. The spatial organization of each of these functional linkages is not necessarily identical, and, therefore, a region can appear to be polycentric and spatially integrated based on the analysis of one type of functional linkage but monocentric and loosely connected based on the analysis of another type of functional linkage. The aim of this paper is to stimulate further discussion on the multiplexity of urban networks with regard to the relational complexity of urban regions. Focusing on one PUR (Randstad Holland), we compare the geographical scope and spatial structure of different functional networks within it. Our results indicate that the spatial organization of the urban network depends on the lens through which it is assessed.     

Problems in Data Recovery and Measurement in Settlement Archaeology

Abstract

The importance of demographic information for our understanding of the evolution of society has established the need for intensive settlement reconnaissance at the regional level. In many instances, however, the validity of techniques currently being used to generate population estimates has not been established through rigorous archaeological testing. This study presents empirical evidence for the effect of different types of surface disturbance on the recoverability of cultural debris.     

Anthropogenic units fingerprinted by REE in archaeological stratigraphy: Mas d'Is (Spain) case

On occasions, archaeologists have to deal with serious difficulties to differentiate between processes that ultimately are responsible for the formation of stratigraphic units.Sometimes we face problems related with depositional units in multilayered deposits and other times, we ask for the character of some dark surface soils, very similar to natural paleosols and usually associated with archaeological findings. In both cases, the problems we must address concern the relative impact of human activities.The imbalance between anthropic and natural processes in the formation of archaeological deposits is crucial for a correct interpretation of the processes involved in the formation of archaeological sites, but also of their occupation-abandonment dynamics and the understanding of their spatial behaviors and relationship with the environment.In this paper we propose a new methodological approach for the identification of anthropogenic fingerprints in stratigraphic units through Rare Earth Elements (REE) soil analysis. The role of REE for the effective identification of sediment provenance due to their coherent behavior during weathering, erosion and fluvial transportation and their high resistance to chemical mobilization is well known in other areas of knowledge. We try to explore its potentiality in a challenging archaeological context. Our purpose was to identify human traces in stratigraphic units where archaeological materials are scarce or absent intertwined with others richer in archaeological remains by the determination of multiple elements and statistical studies. We believe that Rare Earth Elements (REE) soil analysis provides unique insights for a better characterization of natural and archaeological sediments but more importantly to recognize different stages of the gradient. We expect to discern between natural versus anthropic units and between primary versus secondary deposits (redeposition), using the case of the Neolithic site of Mas d'Is (Alicante, Spain) as an example. The application of the Principal Component Analysis (PCA) remarks differences in REE values, those analysis show differences between units of undoubtedly anthropogenic origin and control samples taken from natural sediments –including marls bedrock–, in their vicinity, but also we could notice finer nuances like the degree of human contributions to paleosols formation.