Stable isotope reconstructions of shellfish harvesting seasonality in an estuarine environment: implications for Late Holocene San Francisco Bay settlement patterns

Seasonality estimates based on stable isotope analyses of shellfish remains has been an important thrust of settlement pattern reconstruction, allowing researchers to place people on the landscape at points in space at different times of the year. In exposed coastal settings seasonality reconstructions are typically dependent on annual changes in water temperature. This paper has two goals. First, we continue development of a method for determining shellfish harvest seasonality in estuarine environments where annual salinity changes, not temperature, drive isotopic variation. Second, we contribute to settlement pattern studies by showing how small and large sites can be linked into a single system by examining different site types and shellfish species. Our case study focuses on the Late Prehistoric period of the San Francisco Peninsula, includes a large shellmound (CA-SMA-6) and an ephemeral camp (CA-SFR-171), and examines clam (Macoma spp.) and mussel (Mytilus spp.) harvesting. In this case, data support a fission-fusion settlement pattern, with periods of dispersal during late winter through early summer and aggregation in late summer through early winter.     

Stable isotope analysis on human remains from the final Early Holocene in the southern Puna of Argentina: The case of Peñas de las Trampas 1.1

In this work are presented the results of isotopic analyses made on bone remains of human individuals (n?=?6) from the southern Puna of Argentina dated to the final Early Holocene (ca. 8230–8000 BP). They were found in structures located in Peñas de las Trampas 1.1, a rockshelter at 3582 m.a.s.l. in Antofagasta de la Sierra, in the southern Argentinian Puna. They contain multiple secondary burials. Bone fragments were recovered from at least six individuals, three in each structure. Stable isotopes of Carbon (δ¹³C) and Nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) analysis were aimed at defining aspects related to the palaeodiet of the six individuals within the palaeo-economic subsistence spectrum typical of hunter–gatherers. It is worth noting that these human remains are among the earliest from North-Western Argentina, where funeral practices are related with the transportation of certain anatomical parts. The palaeodietary inference considers, on the one hand, the extreme aridity of this geographical area and its impact on the isotopic ecology. And, on the other, it takes into account the fact that four of the six individuals under study were breastfed infants. The results are in agreement with the expected values of the period, which has been characterized as the beginning of the arid Altithermal.     

Great white shark teeth used as pendants and possible tools by early‐middle Holocene terrestrial mammal hunter‐gatherers in the Eastern Pampas (Southern South America)

Two great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias) teeth recovered in a terrestrial mammal hunter‐gatherers context in the Pampas are described. Associated lithic (mainly quarzite) tools, and the predominant exploitation of the Lama guanicoe relate the ancient inhabitants of the site with those of the early‐middle Holocene sites of the Area Interserrana of the Provincia de Buenos Aires. According to the stratigraphic context and the terrestrial fauna, the age of the deposit seems to be constrained to the early‐middle Holocene. The root tips of the shark teeth are marked by an artificial transvers groove fitted to tie a thread. Tooth edge serrations are strongly eroded, suggesting they were used as tools. We favour the hypotheses that the fish could have stranded on the beach or a small estuary in the neighbourhood, or that the teeth were obtained from the body of a pinniped attacked by a shark and sobsequenty found by humans. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The Fluted Point tradition and the Arctic Small Tool tradition: What’s the connection?

This paper presents a comparative study of two colonizing populations in the Americas: the Fluted Point tradition (FPt) and the early Arctic Small Tool tradition (ASTt) with the aim of understanding the role of lithic technologies in the colonization process. The FPt and ASTt are seen as residentially mobile groups with comparatively little reliance on food storage and minimal transportation aids. At the same time they also produced very similar flaked stone technologies that differed greatly from all later groups, being characterized by standardized core reduction, excellence in manufacture, production of a wide range of often hafted tools, use of the highest quality toolstones and a reliance on flaked stone, as opposed to ground stone, tools. The main advantage of these technologies is that they are not only flexible but can be rapidly produced. It is suggested that the key variable accounting for these choices is the lack of efficient transportation aids. In colonizing situations, the limited transport capabilities force populations to: (a) rely more on less predictable search and encounter methods of resource procurement and in turn, residential mobility to position people with regard to resources and (b) place a high premium on efficient time allocation to meet the excessive demands needed to maintain social contacts and mating networks amongst very low density populations.     

A historiography of an ahistoricity: on the beothuk indians

The Beothuk Indians of Newfoundland have long been perceived as a cultural anachronism in the native history of northeastern North America. They appeared to represent cultural holdovers from some earlier age that had been preserved in a primitive state due to isolation on a cold North Atlantic isle. To many, their history seemed shallow, timeless even. Those that supported this position did so by drawing on four lines of evidence. They interpreted Beothuk material culture and other cultural “traits” as indicative of an archaic state; they cited the Beothuk's place of residence‐a northern island‐as evidence of isolation from other peoples and the march of time; they cited linguistic differences as further evidence of isolation; and finally, the fact that the Beothuk became extinct seemed to offer proof that these people had indeed belonged to another age, incapable of making the leap from prehistory to the modern era. This article explores this evidence and attempts to understand the “logic” or rationale by which scholars come to view the Beothuk and their history as timeless.     

Bipolar Reduction and Behavioral Variability During the Mid-Late Holocene at Eagle's Nest,Mount Sinai Harbor,New York

Recent syntheses for the Long Island Sound region argue for long-term cultural continuity amongst Holocene coastal hunter-gatherers. These notions derive primarily from studies of quartz lithic assemblages, which archaeologists argue show structural stasis over time. The remaining variability is explained with a ‘distance to source' model in which near-coastal sites tend to show a lack of quartz conservation while interior sites show quartz recycling. Under this model, technological strategies traditionally associated with raw material conservation (e.g., bipolar reduction) should not occur at near-coastal sites. We test the ‘distance to source’ model by reexamining a quartz lithic assemblage from Eagle's Nest-Long Island's richest Holocene coastal hunter-gatherer site. We find conclusive evidence for bipolar reduction in the site's “block/shatter” materials. Toolmakers used bipolar reduction to conserve raw material. Toolmakers also used anvils and bipolar reduction to open quartz cobbles, to stabilize freehand cores, to efficiently access cutting edges, and possibly to create crushed coarse quartz temper for pottery production. Our results point to previously unrecognized aspects of behavioral variability in the Eagle's Nest lithic assemblage and to possible revision of the ‘distance to source’ model. Similar variability may be present at other North American sites with quartz “block/shatter” material.     

Persistent deathplaces and mobile landmarks: The Holocene mortuary and isotopic record from Wadi Takarkori (SW Libya)

Recently, a new program of territorial study was launched in the area of Wadi Takarkori (Wadi Takarkori Project, hereafter WTP), located in south-western Libya at the border with Algeria in a strategic position between the Tassili and Acacus Mountains. The core of this program was the excavation of a rock shelter together with the systematic mapping and selected excavations of stone structures in the wadi area, mainly tumuli, a typical Saharan feature.     

Monumentalization and ritual landscapes at Fort Center in the Lake Okeechobee basin of South Florida

Why do some places seem to emerge out of a void and then continue to be occupied for millennia? How do historical factors contribute to this process? Examples of sites with grand and lengthy occupational histories can be found in the Lake Okeechobee basin of South Florida. Our research at one such site, Fort Center, contributes to the broader theoretical understanding of these issues by examining and evaluating some of the architectural constructions at this famous site. In order to conceptualize such sites, we introduce the concept of persistent monumental places. We use this notion to structure our discussion of geophysical and archaeological data on the earthworks of Fort Center in an attempt to historicize its development as an enduring place as well as microcosm of the surrounding landscape. We suggest that such a perspective aids in the investigation of larger social, economic, ritual, and environmental dimensions related to monument construction and use in the region.     

Correlation between dental occlusal wear and approximal facet length

The aim of this paper is to examine the relationship between occlusal surface wear and approximal facet length in a North American archaeological sample of modern human hunter–gatherers (n = 111) and agriculturalists (n = 123). First maxillary molars (M¹) were selected. The approximal wear facet was measured on the mesial surface of each M¹ at the widest breadth using needle tipped digital callipers. Digital images were taken of the occlusal surface and wear was recorded as the percentage of dentine exposed to the total occlusal surface. Independent age estimate was based on age‐related changes, (pubic symphysis and auricular surface). Results show the hunter–gatherers had a significantly faster rate of wear on both tooth surfaces compared to the agriculturalists in each of the four age groups. Both lifeway groups showed a positive correlation between the two tooth surfaces during the early stages of tooth wear (less than 25% occlusal wear), where the percentage of occlusal wear and the length of the approximal facet increased at a similar rate. During the middle and final stages of tooth wear (occlusal wear greater than 35%) there was a strong negative correlation between the two surfaces in both groups. It is suggested this pattern is due to the shape and function of the M¹. Both correlations were more extreme in the hunter–gatherers than the agriculturalists. When the per cent of occlusal wear exceeded 35% the length of the approximal facet started to decrease, and it is therefore recommended studies that include approximal wear exclude molars with heavy occlusal wear. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.