Subsistence and the isotopic signature of herding in the Bronze Age Hexi Corridor,NW Gansu,China

Dietary patterns at two Bronze Age sites in the Hexi Corridor are investigated by the analysis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes in faunal bone collagen. The findings are compared with archaeobotanical remains from one of the sites which include high proportions of millet (Panicum miliaceum and Setaria italica) as well as the western derived cereals wheat (Triticum aestivum), barley (Hordeum vulgare) and oat (Avena sativa). The isotopic data indicate domestic omnivores (Canis and Sus) had diets dominated by millet. Minimally offset δ¹⁵N values between herbivore and omnivore fauna suggest low consumption of animal protein by omnivores. Diets of herded animal (Bos and Caprinae) included only low proportions of C4 foods, suggesting that these animals were not regularly foddered with millet plants, and that their grazing areas were mostly beyond the agricultural zone. The wide range in δ¹⁵N values amongst herbivore fauna (4.1‰–11.8‰) suggests grazing occurred in a variety of ecological zones, and this would be consistent with the occurrence of long-distance transport of livestock in the region.     

河南淅川县马川墓地118号东周墓

2007～2008年在淅川县马川墓地发现了近百座东周墓。墓葬保存基本完整,其中以118号墓的规模较大。该墓为带墓道的长方形多台阶竖穴土坑木椁墓,由墓道、墓室两部分组成。墓内有一椁三棺,出有陶器、青铜兵器、铜铃及料珠、玛瑙珠等遗物。该墓年代应为战国早期,墓主人为卿大夫级。     

Pathological Changes of the Cranium of a Young Female Cave Bear (Ursus spelaeus R.)—A Case Study (the Sudety Mts,Poland)

A cranium of a young female cave bear (Ursus spelaeus R.) was found in the Upper Pleistocene sediments of Bear Cave in Kletno, SW Poland. A detailed analysis of the cranium, including radiology, CT and histological methods, revealed numerous pathological changes caused both by diseases and by injuries inflicted by another predator. It is likely that during its lifespan, the young female was exposed to several attacks (bites on the head) from adult bears. The injuries varied in extent and caused bone infection and inflammation. The nature of most of them suggests that they were not fatal but could have had a significant effect on the overall fitness of the animal. In contrast, the lesions on the frontal bone and in the anterior part of the parietal bone may have been the cause of the individual's death. Additionally, the cranium was found to have cut marks, sharp‐edged longitudinal scars that indicate the use of a sharp‐edged tool, and are usually interpreted as effects of skinning. The finding is suggested to be indirect evidence of the existence of people in southern Poland during the Pleistocene. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Determining the Provenance of native copper artifacts from Northeastern North America: evidence from instrumental neutron activation analysis

The emergence of archaeological interest in native copper in the mid-1800s developed in concert with explanations that privileged the Lake Superior area over other potential sources of copper. Most scholars have thus assumed that when copper artifacts first appeared in Northeastern North America, they arrived as finished implements or were locally made from Lake Superior raw materials. Procurement models that point to Lake Superior as the sole source of native copper have been widely accepted in the absence of systematic large-scale testing. This article evaluates the dominant model for native copper procurement and presents trace element data derived from instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) to determine whether hunter-gatherers in the Northeast utilized one dominant source of copper or in fact exploited a number of geological deposits. I specifically report on the chemical characterization of copper from 13 discrete geological deposits and 18 archaeological sites dating to the Late Archaic (ca. 5000–3000 B.P.) and Early Woodland (ca. 3000–2000 B.P.) periods to suggest that the dominant model for native copper procurement is oversimplified.     

西汉初年汉郡区城市等级及空间分布特征探析——张家山汉简研究

区域城市等级及其空间分布特征是城市历史地理学研究的核心内容。《张家山汉墓竹简》记载了西汉初年帝国直接统治区(即汉郡区)内四种不同类型城市的名数及其最高管理者的秩等,为城市等级划分提供了依据。综合历史文献及区域环境因素,探讨西汉初年汉郡区城市地理问题。得出不同类型城市等级不同,以及城市等级越高越密集于区域核心的空间分布特征。     

Investigating the peopling of North America through cladistic analyses of Early Paleoindian projectile points

The initial colonization of North America remains a controversial topic. There is widespread agreement that Clovis and related cultures of the Early Paleoindian period (∼11,500–10,500 BP) represent the first well-documented indications of human occupation, but considerable differences of opinion exist regarding the origins of these cultures. Here, we report the results of a study in which data from a continent-wide sample of Early Paleoindian projectile points were analyzed with cladistic methods in order to assess competing models of colonization as well as several alternative explanations for the variation among the points, including adaptation to local environmental circumstances, cultural diffusion, and site type effects. The analyses suggest that a rapidly migrating population produced the Early Paleoindian projectile point assemblages. They also suggest that the population in question is unlikely to have entered North America from either the Isthmus of Panama or the Midatlantic region. According to the analyses, the Early Paleoindians are more likely to have entered North America via either the ice-free corridor between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets that is hypothesized to have opened around 12,000 BP, or the Northwest Coast.     

Taphonomy and Paleoichnology of Olduvai Hominid 1 (OH1), Tanzania

This paper presents a case study of the Late Pleistocene skeletal remains of Olduvai Hominid 1, which were unearthed in Tanzania. Excavated in 1913, this fossil shows severe damage due to subterranean termites (Insecta: Isoptera). By combining methods to quantify and locate traces on the skeleton with the study of the different taphonomic processes that altered the deposit, we demonstrate a non‐arbitrary pattern of termite alteration of the skeletal remains. These results shed new light on the possibility to reconstruct the original position of a skeleton in a deposit and the potential to infer the space of decomposition and past funerary practices. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Micromorphological Study of Concotto Surfaces Protected by the Avellino Eruption in 3945 ± 10 cal. BP at the Early Bronze Age of Afragola Village in Southern Italy

ABSTRACT

The term Concotto refers to fragments or patches of hard heated clay that derive from living surfaces, walls, and ovens. Concotto fragments are found throughout the Italian peninsula and date from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. Current studies express contradictory opinions about whether or not the Concottos on living surfaces represent intentionally constructed surfaces or the secondary products of the contact between hot embers and sediments. This study uses micromorphological analysis to investigate the function and composition of Concotto surfaces from several domestic structures at the Early Bronze Age village of Afragola in southern Italy. Afragola is an exceptionally preserved agricultural village that was covered by almost 1?m of volcanic ash during the Vesuvius eruption in 3945?±?10 cal. BP. The Concottos at Afragola are hard, red surfaces that are typically associated with burned materials. Micromorphological analysis reveals that the Concottos were intentionally made by laying down patches of clay and then heating them to create a hard, flat surface. This study explores the potential uses of the Concotto as cooking surfaces during the Early Bronze Age of southern Italy.     

Post-Roman crop production and processing: Archaeological evidence from Goldthorpe,South Yorkshire

The remains of a ditched field system dating from the late Iron Age to the early post-Roman period, and two associated corn drying ovens (dating to the 5th–6th centuries AD) were revealed during archaeological excavations at Goldthorpe, South Yorkshire. The site was excavated during 2012 and 2013, during which bulk environmental samples were taken in order to retrieve any surviving botanical remains from deposits associated with the corn drying ovens, and other features across the excavated area. Early post-Roman occupation is under-represented in the archaeological record, especially in northern England, as such human activity and subsistence during this period are currently not well understood. This paper combines evidence for the field system, the physical remains of the corn drying ovens and their associated botanical remains to further understand early post-Roman change and continuity in landscape use and crop production and processing practices.     

Unified Theory of Cosmogram Decorations on Potteries of the Upper Midwest: Part I. Early Woodland Period

Early Woodland Liverpool (Black Sand variant) pottery decorations consist of belts, rectilinear panels, and/or punctates encircling the vessel. Vertically arranged thematic motifs reflect the structure of the cosmos in its simplest form: Below realm, Earth’s disk, Above realm. This article postulates that the Early Woodland decorative tradition was an enduring symbolic system shared by women making pottery in the upper Midwest. Cosmograms in pottery motifs trace three universal metaphors of the Woodland era belief system: (1) Cooking vessels were feminine spirit-beings; (2) the Woodland culinary vessel shaped like the female form represented her biological destiny as the reproductive vessel for humankind and cooking was a ritual action (“prayer”), a metaphor for the creation of new members of society; (3) the cooking pot was a mandala of cosmograms expressing daily life, ritual practice, and cosmology. These themes carry through subsequent studies on Middle Woodland Havanoid and Late Woodland corded or trailed pottery in an upcoming book.