The visibility of past trees and woodland: testing the value of insect remains

The reconstruction of woodland history is important in relation to archaeological, ecological, biogeographical and evolutionary problems, and insect remains are a significant source of relevant information. Fully natural interglacial and Holocene ‘waterlogged’ deposits assumed to have formed in woodland generally contain abundant macrofossils of both plants and insects indicative of trees. In contrast, British archaeological deposits rich in macrofossil remains of trees often lack, or contain very few, tree-associated insects. To cast light on this contradiction, assemblages of insect (Coleoptera and Hemiptera) remains from a range of modern deposits with various spatial relationships to woodland and trees have been analysed. The proportions of tree-associated insects varied greatly. There was a general trend from higher values in woodland and near to isolated trees of species supporting a rich insect fauna, to low or zero values where there were no trees. However, low values sometimes occurred in woods or near trees, so that rarity of tree-associated insects in archaeological deposits does not always carry the implication of a treeless environment. Further investigation is suggested, with emphasis on the importance of identifying isolated trees, scrub and hedges as a resource for humans and wildlife in the past.     

Insect invaders of reconstructed Anglo-Saxon houses at West Stow,Suffolk, England

Abstract

The insect fauna, particularly beetles (Coleoptera), of four modern reconstructions of Anglo-Saxon houses at West Stow, Suffolk, UK, has been investigated by pitfall trapping. Modest numbers of insects were recovered from each structure. The overlap with the fauna recovered from archaeological floor deposits of about the same period was notable, being greater than predicted, since the reconstructions lacked the litter and waste believed to have been available as insect habitats in the past.     

Insect species associations characterise past occupation sites

Assemblages of insects, mainly beetles (Coleoptera) from nine archaeological occupation sites in Northern England and one in Northern Ireland have been analysed statistically (principally using Spearman's rank-order correlation between pairs of species) in order to identify associations of taxa. Some sites gave strong and fairly discrete groupings, which could be related to individual insect habitats, or spatially or successionally related habitats, or to taphonomic pathways. Where less sharp groupings were identified, they included elements from those seen repeatedly elsewhere and appeared to reflect the character of the site, for example juxtaposition of habitats (as in stable manure), very uniform conditions, or rarity of insect habitats. It is concluded that, with suitable caution, analyses of this kind represent a transferable methodology of great value in obtaining archaeologically relevant information, as well as in improving our understanding of the way insects adapted to artificial habitats in the past.     

An insect fauna from a modern cesspit and its comparison with probable cesspit assemblages from archaeological sites

The insects recovered by sampling a present day disused cesspit located in south Shropshire are compared with similar assemblages from two sites in 16th century Worcester, and, as controls, with faunas from a modern compost heap and garden soil. A simple experiment is described designed to test whether stored product pest species could have arrived in archaeological deposits considered to be the sites of cesspits after having been eaten with the foodstuffs they were infesting.     

Pitfalls in the environmental interpretation of insect death assemblages

Attention is drawn to the absence of an established basis for the reconstruction of past environments from insect death assemblages. A naïve reconstruction based on a modern death assemblage from a drain in the City of York is tested and shown to be inadequate in a number of respects. Certain of the habitats indicated by the fauna are absent from the surroundings, while the importance of some others is exaggerated. It is concluded that these errors were brought about by the active or passive long distance transport of insects.     

The appropriation of the Phoenicians in British imperial ideology

The Phoenicians played ambivalent roles in Western historical imagination. One such role was as a valued predecessor and prototype for the industrial and maritime enterprise of nineteenth‐century imperial Britain. Explicit parallels were drawn in historical representations and more popular culture. It was widely believed that the Phoenicians had been present in Britain, especially in Cornwall, despite a lack of convincing historical evidence, and much importance was placed on supposed archaeological evidence. Ideological tensions arose from the need to reconcile ancient and modern Britain, and from the Semitic origin of the Phoenicians. This example shows the power of archaeological objects to provide material support for national and imperial constructions of the past.     

Prologue to Uses of Chemical Residues to Make Statements About Human Activities

Soil chemistry provides the potential for interpreting the archaeological record without necessarily resorting to artifacts, historical documents, ethnoarchaeological observations, or experiments. The range of studies incorporating new technological developments, such as mass spectrometry and multi-element analyses, for analyzing and interpreting the chemical residues found at archaeological sites or modern contexts are increasing in the literature. However, the dilemmas of interpretation concentrate on evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of different techniques. Analytical approaches to how scientists make use of chemical residues to make statements about the past, discussed here, expand the potential of the breadth of techniques to investigate daily life activities and further our understanding of the materiality of social life.     

Countermapping the Past: Reenvisioning Ancient Maya Spaces at Say Kah,Belize

This paper explores possibilities for recognizing and analytically using culturally-specific understandings of artefacts and spaces at an ancient Maya archaeological site. In the case study that we present, we use Classic Maya material categories – derived from hieroglyphic texts – to re-envision our representations of artefactual distributions and accompanying interpretations. We take inspiration from countermapping as an approach that recognizes the positionality of spatial representations and makes space for multiple/alternative spatial perspectives. We present spatial analyses based on our work at the Classic Maya archaeological site of Say Kah, Belize, juxtaposing modern modes of visualizing the results of multiple seasons of excavations with visualizations that instead draw upon reconstructed elements of ancient inhabitants’ perspectives on the site, its spaces, and usages (based on information drawn from Classic Maya textual ‘property qualifiers’). We argue that even incomplete information, such as that available for archaeological contexts, allows us to reimagine past spatial perspectives and experiences. Furthermore, doing so represents a move towards inclusion that changes our understanding of sites in terms of ancient experience and usage. The outcome is a shifted perspective on the spaces of the site that decentres the modern, archaeological vision, accompanied by a more reflexive awareness of the processes we use to construct our interpretations. We end with larger reflections useful for archaeologists curious about translating these ideas to other cultural settings.     

Minimally destructive DNA extraction from archaeological artefacts made from whale baleen

Here we demonstrate the successful extraction and amplification of target species DNA from artefacts made of whale baleen collected from excavations of past palaeo-Eskimo and Inuit cultures in Greenland. DNA was successfully extracted and amplified from a single baleen bristle of 1.5 cm length dated based on archaeological context to the period of the Saqqaq culture, more than 4000 years ago and following decades of storage at room temperature at the National Museum. The results reveal ancient baleen in archaeological material as a potential source of DNA that can be used for population genetic studies. We conclude that genetic investigation of historical baleen collections can contribute to our knowledge of the prehistoric population genetics of baleen whales, for example by quantifying the impact of modern whaling on the genetic diversity of bowhead whales.     

Archaeology and Regional Identity in Saxony

Abstract

The paper discusses the interrelation between archaeological method and regional identity using the example of Saxony, a federal state of Germany. While the role of archaeology in the nationalist and ethnic discourse has been discussed relatively intensively, little is known about the hidden or open resistance present and the subnarratives used on a more local level. Saxony, with a multi-ethnic past (Germanic, Slavic and German settlement) and strong indications of a multi-ethnic identity, can be used to demonstrate the changing strength of the ‘Germanocentric’ view of German prehistory.

The paper follows the evolutions of the ‘Saxon character’ and its reflection in the archaeological narrative from the Romantic phase (c. 1817–70), through Nationalism, Fascism and archaeology in the GDR to modern times. This specific point of view does not only determine the evaluation of past events, but the questions asked and the methods used to interpret archaeological finds as well.

In conclusion, the ‘instrumentalization’ of archaeology as part of the public domain is seen as inescapable. But archaeologists retain responsibility for the use their data are put to. Any construction of identity by way of a common past is exclusive and potentially xenophobic. The author argues for a greater independencce from the past that leaves room for the recognition of distance and ‘strangeness‘.     

Archaeological aspects of insect use

Insects are present in most archaeological contexts as a result of both natural and cultural processes. Insect data can be used to address a number of issues, including environmental reconstruction, forensics, identification of domesticates, taphonomy, and diet. This paper focuses on the archaeology of insect use in antiquity: their collection, processing, and storage and the archaeological manifestations of those activities. Consideration also is given to the incorporation of insect data into settlement/subsistence models.     

Archaeology,conservation and the late twentieth-century village landscape: With particular reference to Westmorland and North Lancashire in northwest England

Abstract

This paper argues that the present landscape and village is of archaeological significance and is needed both to understand and to preserve a representative sample of the past. It explores the relationship between archaeological data and monument types, and landscape character. Landscape assessment, including attribute analysis, is advocated as an essential archaeological method separate from the process of value judgement and selectivity. It concludes that function and process are as important as period in determining conservation strategies, and the potential role of sustainable development is discussed. The importance of village plan forms, vernacular architecture, field and landholding patterns is stressed, together with the need to recognize the historical importance of industrial villages.     

Defining an indicator package to allow identification of ‘cesspits’ in the archaeological record

This paper summarises the insect, plant macrofossil and other environmental evidence from a large number of deposits, thought to be cesspits, at a range of archaeological sites. A potential ‘indicator package’ (sensu Kenward and Hall, 1997), consisting of a range of biological materials and archaeological artefacts, is outlined which should allow a more accurate identification of cesspits in the archaeological record enhancing further studies of the rich evidence often preserved in them.     

When a ‘Waterhole’ Is Full of Dung: An Illustration of the Importance of Environmental Evidence for Refining Archaeological Interpretation of Excavated Features

Prehistoric field systems sometimes encompass excavated, pit‐like features which are difficult to classify due to the complex stratigraphies resulting from reuse, infilling and collapse. They are frequently classified as wells and watering holes, but other potential uses for excavated depressions are rarely cited. We argue the need for environmental archaeology in the interpretation of features of this nature, and present a case study from a Bronze Age site at Pode Hole, near Peterborough (UK), where fossil insect material clearly contradicts the archaeological interpretation. We present empirical evidence for a sealed context filled with dung which cannot be interpreted as a water source. This evidence strongly contrasts with other superficially similar features at the site.     

An investigation of historical and archaeological evidence for age‐related bone loss and osteoporosis

A growing awareness of the problems caused by osteoporosis‐related fractures has led to increased investigation of the condition in past populations. The present study seeks to examine the ways in which osteoporosis‐related fractures may be explored through different approaches; modern clinical information, historical records of fractures and analysis of archaeological bone may provide fuller information on the condition. The three types of fractures upon which this study focuses are fractures of the femoral neck, Colles' fractures and vertebral compression fractures. The results of the investigation clearly demonstrate the way in which the various sources produce a slightly different picture of the condition. The archaeological significance of the different types of fractures was found to be the reverse of that which would be suspected in the light of information derived from historical sources and the clinical literature. To date vertebral crush fractures have been the most commonly found osteoporosis‐related fracture in archaeological material, but their significance to people in the past is likely to have been minimal. In contrast hip fractures have rarely been reported from archaeological bone material, but historical information makes it clear they were well known, and knowledge derived from clinical sources emphasizes the serious consequences of such a fracture for the affected individuals. The results indicate the value of undertaking a multi‐disciplinary approach where possible. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cut and Tooth Mark Distributions on Large Animal Bones: Ethnoarchaeological Data from the Hadza and Their Implications For Current Ideas About Early Human Carnivory

Distributions of cut and tooth marks on the bones of large animals found in archaeological sites are increasingly used as sources of inference about the relative importance of hunting and scavenging in early human diets, and (by extension) about the role of meat-eating in human evolution. Here we review the empirical basis for these inferences in light of ethnoarchaeological data from the Tanzanian Hadza, a modern East African foraging population. Comparison of the Hadza data with those produced by other actualistic work indicates that while there may be a relationship between cut and tooth mark distributions and order of consumer access (human- versus carnivore-first), it is less clear-cut than many have suggested. Application of these results to the analysis of Plio-Pleistocene archaeological collections is further complicated by inconsistencies in the ways cut and tooth marks have been defined and counted, and by significant differences between patterns observed in modern control samples and those reported at ancient sites. These observations indicate that cut and tooth mark analyses are unlikely to speak effectively to questions about early human carnivory in the absence of: (1) better-warranted, more comprehensive expectations about the potential range of variation in past human carcass acquisition strategies, (2) a larger, more rigorously designed set of control experiments that model the archaeological consequences of these strategies, and (3) a larger, more consistently analysed archaeological data base. Even if these requirements are met, the idea of meat-eating as an important catalyst in the evolution of early humans will remain highly problematic, mainly due to problems involving the frequency and short-term reliability of carcass access.     

Archaeological Visualization: Towards an Archaeological Information Science (AISc)

This paper reviews and evaluates the potential use of modern visualization techniques in archaeology. It suggests the need to apply and develop such techniques as a central part of any modern archaeological investigation. The use of these methods is associated with wider questions about data representations, in particular, their integration with archaeological theory and their role in facilitating analysis and shaping interpretation. Concern for these questions and with the overall potential that information systems provide to capture, represent, analyze, and model archaeological information suggests the need for a new interdisciplinary focus, Archaeological Information Science. For such a focus to prosper, archaeologists need to develop additional skills that go beyond mere technical ones. They need to become more active in the design and creation of future information archaeological systems. To this end, archaeologists are urged to view this task as a way to extend archaeology in new directions and to recognize that the digital representation and treatment of archaeological information can generate new forms of doing archaeology.     

Correlation between modern plant δN values and activity areas of Medieval Norse farms

This further nitrogen isotopic study of Greenlandic Norse archaeological sites provides new evidence of the affect of past human activity on modern plant δ¹⁵N values. Grass samples were taken from a number of spatially defined features at four Norse farms and one site interpreted to be a seasonally occupied herding station (sæter). At the farms, un-naturally high δ¹⁵N values were found for plants from each sampled feature, including those from the likely infields and a churchyard. At the sæter no strong isotopic effect was expected and none was found. Comparing the data from the farms we found that the average plant δ¹⁵N values were similar for features that were functionally alike. We conclude from these observations, that the unusually high plant δ¹⁵N values reflect the strong conservation of the isotopic composition of the nitrogenous materials deposited in the past, and the magnitude of the values reflects the amount of this material admixed in the soil. The results confirm previous exploratory studies of this isotopic effect and further demonstrate its potential value as an archaeological tool.     

Morphometric analysis of limpets from an Iron-Age shell midden found in northwest Portugal

The present work reports an analysis of a shell midden found in Terroso hillfort, an important Iron-Age oppidum located in northwest Portugal. The midden was dated from the latest phase of occupation of the hillfort, between the Ist century BC and the Ist century AD (Roman period), and contained 684 well-preserved Patella shells. The identification of archaeological shells was carried out comparing them with modern specimens collected in two shores in the neighborhood of the hillfort. The identification of modern shells was based on radula pluricuspid teeth and shell morphology. Relative abundance of Patella species in the Terroso midden was different from modern populations. Archaeological shells were dominated by Patella vulgata, but Patella intermedia was the most abundant species in modern populations. Dimensions of archaeological shells were very different from modern populations. Shell length range and variability in archaeological shells were lower than in the modern populations. Log height vs. length plots for archaeological shells were different from modern populations. Patella shells from Terroso midden was significantly taller then modern specimens. These differences between archaeological shells and modern populations could be due to environmental changes, namely an increase in wave action and intensity. These harsher costal conditions could have resulted from an alteration in the morphology of the coast, caused by a rise in the mean sea level from 2000 years BP to the present. Alternatively or additionally, the observed differences can be related to gathering strategies. Archaeological shells could have been selected by size, and collected preferentially at high shore and in sheltered sites.