Tells,Invasion Theories and Warfare in Fifth Millennium B.C. North-Eastern Bulgaria

Abstract

Violence and warfare have generally played a peripheral role in studies of fifth millennium B.C. farming communities of the Lower Danube. This paper aims to reconsider the archaeological evidence of violent conflict in chalcolithic north-eastern Bulgaria with the notion that inter-group conflict was an essential part of prehistoric social life. The focus here is on the role of warfare within the context of small permanent settlements, essentially settlement mounds, from their establishment around 5000 B.C. to their alleged violent end at the transition between the fifth and fourth millennia B.C.     

Excavations at Huaca Herederos Chica,Moche Valley,Peru

Abstract

Detailed results of excavations from 1970 to 1973 at the site of Huaca Herederos Chica in the lower Moche Valley, Peru are presented. This now partially destroyed monumental site belongs to the Caballo Muerto Complex, a series of mound sites that span both the Initial Period (2100–1200 CAL B.C.) and the Early Horizon (1200–200 CAL B.C.). The existing mounds were constructed sequentially over a period of some 1000 years; some mounds, like Huaca Herederos Chica, are the result of the superposition of several phases of occupation and building over that long time period, each separated by phases of abandonment. The older remains, dating from the Initial Period, testify to the presence in this coastal region of Peru of architectural features such as small quadrilateral rooms with rounded corners and somewhat circular rooms reminiscent of similar features of the Kotosh Religious Tradition at the highland sites of La Galgada and Huaricoto as well as in the coastal Casma Valley. Huaca Herederos Chica was abandoned from 1200–400 CAL B.C. only to be reoccupied and rebuilt in the late Early Horizon (400–200 CAL B.C.). Architectural changes seen at the site and at the Caballo Muerto Complex as a whole probably reflect important social and political changes along much of the Peruvian north coast.     

Size and Distribution of the Population in Late Bronze Age Messenia: Some Statistical Approaches

Abstract

The region of Messenia in extreme SW Greece has recently received unusual attention not only from archaeologists but also from philologists, historians, and various social and natural scientists. This article represents an attempt to synthesize some of the data thus generated in order to explore the locational concerns of the inhabitants in the Late Bronze Age (1600-1100 B.C.). Some statistical techniques are used to generate a prediction of the regional population, to investigate the differential distribution of the population over the varied landscape, and to attempt to understand the significance of the population distribution in terms of the social and economic organization of the developed kingdom of Pylos (13th century B.C.).     

Demetrius the Chronographer and 141 BCE

We only have six fragments from a book written by Demetrius the Chronographer. Scholars claim he lived and worked in Alexandria about 225-200 BCE and he is an early witness for the date of the LXX. However, the few chronological details we have indicate that he used the year 141 BCE as the base year for his chronology. There are no early witnesses for the LXX and there are no reliable obstacles for lowering the date for the LXX to 130 B.C. or even lower.     

The Prehistoric Settlement Pattern of Nevis,West Indies

Abstract

This paper reports the results of an intensive settlement survey of Nevis, a volcanic island of 132 sq km in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles. Twenty-one sites were discovered from three major periods—the aceramic in the last millennium B.C., the Saladoid in the first 600 years A.C., and the Ostionoid period dating from 600 A.C. until European contact. The implications of the distribution of settlements and their artifact assemblages for the prehistory of the Leeward Islands are discussed.     

Spectrographic Analyses of Mycenaean Pottery from Ialysos on Rhodes: Results and Implications

Abstract

The changing relations between the important Mycenaean site of Ialysos on Rhodes and the Argolid (in the Greek Peloponnese) during the LH III period (the 15th-12th centuries B.C.) have been studied through the pottery found in the tombs of the cemetery from Ialysos. The results of spectrographic analyses of well characterised and dated pots from Ialysos have made possible a clear distinction between locally produced Rhodian pottery and imports that were primarily from the Argolid. During the LH IIIA2 period the large majority of the cemetery pottery at Ialysos was imported from the Argolid. The same situation pertains in the IIIB period, but there are examples of imported pottery from centres other than the Argolid, such as Crete. In the 12th century B.C. (IIIC), however, the position was completely reversed, and the fine Mycenaean pottery was almost exclusively made on Rhodes.     

Civic and Residential Settlement at a Late Preclassic Maya Center

Abstract

The Late Preclassic period in the Maya Lowlands (300 B.C.–150 A.C.) documents the transition toward increased social and economic complexity culminating in the Classic Maya civilization (250–900 A.C.). The Late Preclassic Maya community of Cerros in northern Belize has revealed a settlement pattern of dispersed household clusters and scattered public architecture. Moreover, the site manifests a clear, three-part concentric zonation, similar to later Classic period communities. The authors' analysis provides a definition through time of civic and residential architecture and of the division between elite and non-elite domiciles. The study draws heavily on a functional analysis of the excavated ceramic assemblage. The unique settlement pattern of the semitropical Maya is suggested to be an environmental adaptation with rural elites coordinating the dispersed sustaining population through public monuments and associated ritual.     

Early Woodland Upland Encampments of Central Ohio

Abstract

Most published studies of the Early Woodland period (1000 B.C.–200 B.C.) in Ohio have traditionally focused on the mortuary/ceremonial aspects (e.g. mounds) of the latter half of this time period. Less energy, however, has been devoted to nonmortuary sites, such as those that appear in the uplands as surface lithic scatters. In the past decade archaeological studies in central Ohio have yielded a rapidly growing amount of information concerning upland Early Woodland sites. In this article we compare and contrast variability in site structure, flint acquisition and stone tool production, diet, ceramic attributes, and radiocarbon dates from three central Ohio upland sites: President’s Club, 33LI183, and McCauley. Together, these data reveal an emerging pattern of upland site use during the Early Woodland period in central Ohio.     

Early Neolithic Sites at Brześć Kujawski,Poland: Preliminary Report on the 1976–1979 Excavations

Abstract

Since 1976, excavations have been conducted on two neighboring Early Neolithic sites at Brze?? Kujawski, Wloclawek district, Poland. The aim of this research is to improve the understanding of the developmental sequence of Early Neolithic cultures on the Polish lowlands as well as to recover palaeobotanical and archaeozoological materials to study the changes in subsistence patterns over time. There are three components of Early Neolithic settlement at Brze?? Kujawski: the Linear Pottery, Early Lengyel, and Late Lengyel cultures, which span the period between 4300 and 3000 radiocarbon years B.C. Large amounts of animal bones indicate a shift from cattle-centered stockbreeding in the Linear Pottery component to a very diverse pattern of animal exploitation in the Late Lengyel component. Early Neolithic house remains, storage pits, flint industries, and copper artifacts are also discussed.     

STABLE ISOTOPE ANALYSIS AND DIET IN EASTERN OKLAHOMA

Abstract

Over the last three decades, significant quantitative information on prehistoric diets has come to light from a variety of locations in the Caddoan archaeological area, a region encompassing eastern Oklahoma, western Arkansas, northeast Texas, and northwest Louisiana. Most of this research is based on macro-botanical and faunal remains analysis. As an additional line of evidence for the growing body of botanical and faunal data, stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in bone collagen were analyzed from 82 human and faunal samples from the Arkansas basin and Ozark Highlands in eastern Oklahoma. The research investigates the role of maize in diets through time and across sex and status dimensions. Spanning six phases, within the time range 300 B.C. to A.D. 1650, mean δ¹³C values increase from –19.2 to –12.7 parts per million ‰. Although present prior to A.D. 1000 substantial increases in the use of maize do not begin until the Harlan phase (A.D. 1050–1250). Even with increased use, maize never dominates the diet to the extent seen in Mississippian period sites farther east.     

Editorial Essay

Abstract

Investigations in 2003 and 2004 at Huambacho (PV31-103)) lower Nepeña Valley, yielded significant data to assess the nature of Early Horizon (900–200 B.C.) architecture on the north-central coast of Peru. In Nepeña, the Initial Period (1800–900 B.C.) mounds, such as Cerro Blanco and Punkurí are superseded by several enclosure complexes, and new concepts of architecture appear in the archaeological record. This paper highlights the new architectural forms and presents evidence regarding building technology, function, and spatial Organization. The research indicates the existence, by 800 CAL B.C., of a new architectural canon inspired by the local Initial Period tradition, and significantly different from that which is known at coeval sites associated with the so-called “Chavin Cult” Data from Huambacho contribute to our understanding of the changes that occurred in the region after the demise of Initial Period centers and our understanding of the social complexity and ceremonial variability that characterized the Early Horizon.     

The Simulation of Artifact Diversity at el-Amarna,Egypt

Abstract

A program simulating artifact diversity is applied to excavated data front el-Amarna (14th century B.C.), the largest and best-preserved Egyptian town-site of the pharaonic period. The results of the simulation are used to reassess the function and history of two unusual areas of settlement at el-Amarna: the Eastern and Central Villages, which are traditionally known as the “Workmen's Village” and the “Clerks' Houses” respectively.     

Land Use and Soil Erosion in Prehistoric and Historical Greece

Abstract

Soil erosion resulting from human exploitation of the land has attracted much public and scientific interest. Being regarded mainly as a modern phenomenon, however, its prehistoric and historical extent remain largely unexplored. Here we summarize three regional studies of Holocene erosion and alluviation in Greece, together with information derived from the literature, and conclude that most recorded Holocene soil erosion events are spatially and temporally related to human interference in the landscape. Wherever adequate evidence exists, a major phase of soil erosion appears to follow by 500–1000 years the introduction of farming in Greece, its age depending on when agriculture was introduced and ranging from the later Neolithic to the late Early Bronze Age. Later Bronze Age and historical soil erosion events are more scattered in time and space, but especially the thousand years after the middle of the 1st millennium B.C. saw serious, intermittent soil erosion in many places. With the exception of the earliest Holocene erosion phase, the evidence is compatible with a model of control of the timing and intensity of landscape destabilization by local economic and political conditions. On the whole, however, periods of landscape stability have lasted much longer than the mostly brief episodes of soil erosion and stream aggradation.     

Small Community Organization During the Late Formative Period in Oaxaca,Mexico

Abstract

Late Formative (ca. 300–100 B.C.) cultural systems of highland Mesoamerica have been studied mostly at the regional level and at the tops of local settlement-system hierarchies. We know much less about the structure of small communities. Data from a minor Oaxacan site are used to identify two aspects of this community's internal and external organization: 1) a status-graded set of household units headed by an elite family, itself part of a valley-wide ruling stratum, and 2) workshop-level ceramic production for supra-community consumption.     

Neolithic and Bronze-Age Herders of Pupićina Cave,Croatia

Abstract

Pupi?ina Cave (Croatia) preserves an important archaeological sequence spanning 12,000 years. Here we present and discuss the results of extensive excavations in post-Mesolithic deposits.Pupi?ina Cave,located in NE Istria in a region rich in caves and in prehistoric settlement, has well-dated evidence from the Middle Neolithic, Late Neolithic, Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Roman periods. Visitors to the cave in the Middle Neolithic ca. 5500–5000 in calibrated years B.C (cal B.C.) left typical Danilo/Vla?ka pottery and kept herds of sheep and goats during the spring. Mortality profiles suggest that herds were managed for milk production. During the Late Neolithic (ca. 4550–4150 cal B.C.) Hvar pottery appears along with lithic artifacts from great distances (e.g.,Lipari). Herds of sheep and goats were managed for meat as were cattle and pigs. There was a major hiatus in occupation between the Late Neolithic and the Middle Bronze Age. Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1775–1400 cal B.C.) deposits are found only in one large pit. Pottery is dominated by drinking vessels, and faunal use is the same as in the Late Neolithic. The cave was used primarily as an animal pen during the Iron Age (1st millennium B.C.).     

Neolithic Figurines Manufactured from Phalanges of Equids from Dja'de el Mughara,Syria

Abstract

Worked specimens of proximal phalanges of Equus have been discovered in the Early Pre-Pottery Neolithic B levels (8700–8200 CAL. B.C.) at Dja'de el Mughara, a tell site in the Middle Euphrates Valley in northern Syria. Prior to the present study, one was published as a human figurine (Coqueugniot 2000: 70). Similar objects, dated to the Khiamian and Pre-Pottery Neolithic A periods (10,000–8700 CAL. B.C.), have been recognized at Tell Mureybet in the same region. Analysis of 22 specimens from Dja'de el Mughara reveals morphological variability and different styles of shaping within the sample.

Anthropomorphic figurines in the prehistoric Near East have been approached as a distinct group of representations, often considered in terms of symbolism. Rarely are the raw materials (mainly clay and stone), technology of manufacture, and variations in fashion considered. Here, the major steps of figurine manufacture from whole proximal phalanges of equids at Dja'de el Mughara are described and a classification system based on technological and morphological criteria is proposed. It is hoped that this presentation of the Dja'de el Mughara bone figurine sample will stimulate recognition of analogous finds at other prehistoric sites in the Near East.     

Boole Reviews

Abstract

The roof of the Archaic Temple of Poseidon (early 7th century B.C.) at the Sanctuary of Poseidon on the Corinthian Isthmus in Greece was covered by unusually large terracotta tiles. The construction of a stone temple with a tile roof represented a major advance in building design. The tiles themselves are representative of the growth in technology at that time. Reproduction of the tiles was recently undertaken as a demonstration of the tools, skills, and manpower requirements of the new technology. It is shown here that a relatively small group of men using local materials could make all of the tiles and the kiln(s) to fire them in less than two years. The major innovation was the design of the mold.     

A Short History of Archaeological Sieving at Franchthi Cave,Greece

Abstract

Excavations at the Franchthi Cave in SE Greece, under the direction of Dr. Thomas Jacobsen, have revealed a long habitation sequence of considerable interest to students of the early history of the Aegean Basin. The earliest recoverable deposits date to about 25,000 B.P. The most recent radiocarbon dates indicate that the latest deposits belong to the period around 3000 B.C.

The excavations themselves were carried out over the years 1967–1976. During that time, excavation techniques used at the site evolved considerably. Object recovery by various methods of archaeological sieving forms a major component of this evolution. The purpose of this article, therefore, is to discuss the standards of object recovery at Franchthi and the adaptation of sieves designed elsewhere to the situation at Franchthi, as well as to serve as a guide to other excavations planning a program of archaeological sieving.     

Agricultural production in the Central Asian mountains: Tuzusai,Kazakhstan (410–150 b.c.)

Abstract

The site of Tuzusai is located in the Tien Shan Mountains of eastern Kazakhstan; occupation at the site between 410 B.C. and a.d. 150 represents the transition between the Saka and Wusun periods (Saka: 800–200 b.c.; Wusun: 200 b.c.–a.d. 400). Iron Age people of Central Asia are often described simply as mobile pastoralists, yet at Tuzusai, we have evidence that agriculture was practiced along with pastoral transhumance. This multiresource economic system combined pastoralism and hunting with the cultivation of a variety of crops. Our new finding is significant because Tuzusai has the first clear evidence for the presence of agriculture from the Iron Age of northern Central Asia. The diversity of crops grown at Tuzusai required varying labor and time inputs and a well-planned scheduling system.     

The Franchthi Cave Flint Survey: Some Preliminary Results (1974)

Abstract

Six seasons of excavation have been conducted at Franchthi Cave, a large prehistoric site in southern Greece which has given evidence of essentially continuous human occupation from ca. 20,000 B.C. to ca. 3000 B.C. (in radiocarbon years). A detailed survey of the raw materials used in the local chipped stone industries was initiated in 1973 and is being carried out by one of the authors (DMVH). The objectives of this survey include the identification of the types and the distribution of locally available raw materials with the hope that this information will contribute further to our understanding of the human ecology of the site and its environs. A summary of some of our preliminary observations resulting from a modification of original sampling procedures will be given in the following paragraphs.