Beyond the buildings: Formation processes of ancient Maya houselots and methods for the study of non-architectural space

The success of activity areas research in domestic contexts has highlighted the need for archaeologists working in the tropics to explore both indoor and outdoor spaces. The preservation of houselot boundaries at ancient Chunchucmil, Yucatán, Mexico, provides an ideal environment to explore methods for the investigation of broad spaces beyond buildings, to test ethnoarchaeological models of activity areas and refuse disposal, and to demonstrate the importance of open spaces to understanding ancient economic organization. The results of methodological experiments reported in this paper favor the use of systematic subsurface sampling (as opposed to surface collections) for characterizing specific uses of space around houses. Formation processes dictate that soil chemistry, paleoethnobotany, and other laboratory techniques should supplement excavations. Our explorations of three houselots suggest that ethnoarchaeological models of the use of space in contemporary houselots serve as successful templates for interpreting the use of space in ancient times. Post-abandonment deposition within houselots, however, can confuse these interpretations. This paper therefore reports a new ethnoarchaeological study that helps illuminate the nature of post-abandonment discard. After resolving critical issues of methodology and formation processes, this paper assesses the economic contribution of houselot activities. Given Chunchucmil’s agricultural marginality, such home economics played an important role in the subsistence needs of this urban center.     

The ‘walking’ megalithic statues (moai) of Easter Island

Explaining how the monumental statues (moai) of Easter Island were transported has remained open to debate and speculation, including their resource expenditures and role in deforestation. Archaeological evidence including analysis of moai variability, particularly those abandoned along ancient roads, indicates transport was achieved in a vertical position. To test this proposition we constructed a precise three-dimensional 4.35 metric ton replica of an actual statue and demonstrate how positioning the center of mass allowed it to fall forward and rock from side to side causing it to ‘walk.’ Our experiments reveal how the statue form was engineered for efficient transport by a small number of individuals.     

Late Ordovician and Early Silurian conodonts from the “Uralba Beds”, northern New South Wales

Limestone outcrops that form a north-south belt approximately 1.4 km long, 15 km east of Manilla and previously referred to as the Uralba Beds, and associated rocks, are shown to be an olistostromal component of the Wisemans Arm Formation. Elongate olistoliths up to 100 m in length are flanked by limestone conglomerate with clasts set in a volcaniclastic matrix derived from a range of volcanic rock types. Volcanic olistoliths, including a mass of ankaramitic basalt, are also present. Conodont faunas of differing ages were obtained from various outcrops. A Late Ordovician (Eastonian, Ea3) fauna of over 400 elements from some outcrops is identical to one recently documented from elsewhere in the Wisemans Arm Formation. A small Early Silurian (late Llandovery-early Wenlock) fauna from four outcrops (including two formerly thought to be Ordovician) comprises the first documented conodont fauna of this age from the New England Fold Belt.     

Stable isotope investigations of charred barley (Hordeum vulgare) and wheat (Triticum spelta) grains from Danebury Hillfort: implications for palaeodietary reconstructions

Palaeodietary studies typically focus on the analysis of bone collagen due to the limited availability of plant remains. Isotopic analysis of plant remains, however, allow for a more extensive consideration of the contribution of plants to the human diet and can potentially provide information about the environment in which the crops were grown. This paper reports the results of carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses performed on charred barley and wheat grains recovered from pits within Danebury Iron Age hillfort. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first Iron Age site in Britain from which charred grains have been isotopically analysed. Our results suggest that cereals found at the hillfort were grown in several different environmental contexts. The isotope data demonstrate that the herbivores were not consuming a diet primarily based on grains as the δ¹⁵N values of the grains are very similar to those of the herbivores. Palaeodietary investigations typically assume that humans eating plant protein only would have the same δ¹⁵N value as the local herbivores. This assumption is clearly invalid at Danebury, where the humans and animals appear to have consumed either different parts of the same plants or different plants. Researchers typically interpret high differences between human and animal δ¹⁵N values as indicative of diets high in animal protein, however where major plant resources have δ¹⁵N values similar to those of the herbivores our ability to distinguish between plant and animal sources of protein in the diet is limited. Our research has demonstrated that whenever possible it is desirable to measure the isotopic signatures of potential major plant resources in order to understand past subsistence strategies.