The molecular palaeoecology of geese: identification of archaeological goose remains using ancient DNA analysis

The remains of six species of geese are commonly recovered from archaeological sites in Britain dating from the Saxon and later periods. However, identification of this material to species level is hampered by a lack of morphological variation and a large overlap in size. To address this issue we obtained DNA sequence data for a section of the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene from modern samples of each species, and successfully identified several DNA markers for Branta species. No markers were found within the cytochrome b gene for the genus Anser. Ancient DNA techniques were then used to recover DNA from goose bones excavated from two archaeological sites. The DNA sequences enabled identification of Barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) from one site and confirmed the presence of Anser species at another. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An Archaeology of Community Life: Appalachia, 1865–1920

Archaeology has the potential to contribute significant information about community building in the lives of former enslaved laborers. In this article, I consider the role of race and racism in the creation, maintenance and material manifestation of community in post-emancipation Appalachia.     

Nails,tacks, and hinges: the archaeology of Camp Monticello,a World War II prisoner of war camp

ABSTRACT

“Provost Marshall General does not concur in the construction of outdoor dance floors at Monticello Internment Camp … Outdoor dance floors would be of no use at an internment camp,” the brigadier general responded to the chief of engineers in 1943. Camp Monticello, located in southeast Arkansas, was an Italian prisoner of war camp constructed according to a set of standardized building plans. Despite the brigadier general’s insistence that Camp Monticello “conform as far as possible to the standard plan,” archaeological research that combines archival research with a metal detector survey shows that the plans were influenced by local politics, access to materials, environmental conditions, and the everyday activities of the prisoners of war.