Archaeological Assemblages Research Articles

Archaeological Investigation Into Microlithic Assemblage of Bhorgiri - Bhimashankar Region of the Upper Bhima Basin in Pune District of Maharashtra State (Human and Heritage: An Archaeological Spectrum of Asiatic Countries, Felicitation to Professor Ajit Kumar, Vol. II, 2019)

Archaeological Investigation Into Microlithic Assemblage of Bhorgiri - Bhimashankar Region of the Upper Bhima Basin in Pune District of Maharashtra State (Human and Heritage: An Archaeological Spectrum of Asiatic Countries, Felicitation to Professor Ajit Kumar, Vol. II, 2019)

Reconstructing the climatic niche breadth of land use for animal production during the African Holocene

AbstractAimDomestic animals first appeared in the archaeological record in northern Africa c. 9000 years before present and subsequently spread southwards throughout the continent. This geographic expansion is well studied and can broadly be explained in terms of the movement of pastoralist populations due to climate change. However, no studies have explicitly evaluated changes in the climatic niche of these domesticates. A priori, one cannot assume a relationship between the geographic spread of animal production and changes in climatic niche breadth because their relationship is highly variable. Therefore, we investigated Holocene changes in the climatic niche of domestic animals (animal production) and compared these to changes in the climatic niche of hunted terrestrial ungulates.LocationThe African continent.Time period9000–500 BP.Major taxa studiedDomestic animals, hunted (wild) terrestrial ungulates.MethodsFor the first time, we applied methods from environmental niche dynamics to archaeological data to reconstruct and quantify changes in the climatic niche breadth of animal production during the African Holocene. We used faunal remains from archaeological assemblages and associated radiocarbon dates to estimate the proportion of the African climate space used for animal production and hunting at 500‐year intervals.ResultsWe found that the climatic niche of domestic species broadened significantly with the geographic spread, most notably during the termination of the African Humid Period, whilst no such broadening occurred for the climatic niche of hunted species.Main conclusionsOur results provide a quantitative measure of the extent to which humans have constructed and adapted the climatic niche of animal production to manage their domestic animals across increasingly diverse ecological conditions. By incorporating ecological analysis into estimations of past land use, our methods have the potential to improve reconstructions of land use change, and to provide a foundation on which further niche construction hypotheses may be tested.

The Missing Step of Pottery cha\xeene op\xe9ratoire: Considering Post-firing Treatments on Ceramic Vessels Using Macro- and Microscopic Observation and Molecular Analysis

Post-firing treatments, produced by the interaction of an organic material with the hot surface of a ceramic, are frequently described in ethnographic literature, but have rarely been identified in archaeological ceramic assemblages. In order to address this question, this paper describes a methodology that combines macro- and microscopic observation and molecular analysis. The study of experimental ceramic vessels provided diagnostic tools to identify the type of substances, their liquid or solid state, and their mode of application and attested that the post-firing treatments do not completely waterproof the ceramics. The difficulty to observe macro- and microscopic evidence of post-firing treatments when pots are fired in reducing atmosphere suggests that these processes are probably underestimated in archaeological assemblages. Furthermore, the identification of molecular thermal transformation markers, such as ketones, calls into question their classical interpretation as markers for the cooking of fatty content. This pioneering work highlights the complexity of studying post-firing treatments, which leave small traces that are easily missed or misinterpreted. In order to address this issue, we propose a multi-analytical approach, which can serve as a basis for future studies to explore the full diversity of post-firing treatments mentioned in ethnoarchaeological literature.

The earliest evidence of Acheulian occupation in Northwest Europe and the rediscovery of the Moulin Quignon site, Somme valley, France

The dispersal of hominin groups with an Acheulian technology and associated bifacial tools into northern latitudes is central to the debate over the timing of the oldest human occupation of Europe. New evidence resulting from the rediscovery and the dating of the historic site of Moulin Quignon demonstrates that the first Acheulian occupation north of 50°N occurred around 670–650 ka ago. The new archaeological assemblage was discovered in a sequence of fluvial sands and gravels overlying the chalk bedrock at a relative height of 40 m above the present-day maximal incision of the Somme River and dated by ESR on quartz to early MIS 16. More than 260 flint artefacts were recovered, including large flakes, cores and five bifaces. This discovery pushes back the age of the oldest Acheulian occupation of north-western Europe by more than 100 ka and bridges the gap between the archaeological records of northern France and England. It also challenges hominin dispersal models in Europe showing that hominins using bifacial technology, such as Homo heidelbergensis, were probably able to overcome cold climate conditions as early as 670–650 ka ago and reasserts the importance of the Somme valley, where Prehistory was born at the end of the 19th century.

Human occupation of Northern Europe in MIS 13: a response to comments by Gibbard et al. (2019)

In a recent paper (Lewis et al., 2019) we reported the results of geological and archaeological investigations at Happisburgh Site 1. We also considered the significance of the site for understanding the human occupation of northern Europe during the early Middle Pleistocene. In a comment on the paper, Gibbard et al. (2019) raise a number of issues concerning lithostratigraphic terminology, the age of the deposits at Site 1, and the wider regional context of the Site 1 archaeological assemblage. Here we respond to Gibbard and colleagues’ objections and, in particular, we present evidence in support of our contention that the Palaeolithic assemblages from the Breckland sites of Warren Hill and High Lodge pre-date the Anglian (MIS 12) glaciation and may be considered to date to MIS 13.

Admiral: a 19th‐century Tyne‐built paddle tug

This paper reports on the discovery in the Thames Estuary and the partial recovery and recording of the remains of a 19th‐century Tyne‐built paddle tug. The wreck is believed to be that of Admiral built in Newcastle in 1870 and sunk following a collision in the estuary in 1872. This unexpected discovery provided a rare opportunity to examine the archaeological assemblage of one these once‐familiar working vessels and revealed the continuities and innovations of a specific type of engine used on paddle tugs.

Modeling landscape mobility and lithic resource procurement areas in Calerizo de Cáceres, Extremadura, Spain

Provenance studies and characterization of materials are significant for understanding the geological origin and geographical location of materials, which in turn allows us to have an insight into the way different sources of lithic materials were exploited and the procurement strategies adopted by human groups who utilized them. Through the study of the lithic landscape of Calerizo de Caceres which would have provided raw materials for human groups, we explored the procurement radius of exploitation to understand the extent of the landscape that human groups possibly traversed to acquire needed resources. Least Cost Path Analysis was employed to estimate the distances of raw materials outcrop from the Santa Ana cave which served as the origin point for the analysis. The result of the characterization of the archaeological assemblage in relation to geological samples from source outcrops revealed that distance played a major role in the choice of lithic materials selection as nearby outcrops to the cave site were exploited better compared to sources far from the cave. The analysis also revealed that activities are conditioned to different loci on the landscape as resources are spatially distributed at different parts of the landscape which would have made exploitation of resources accessible as and when due. The study revealed that because needed lithic resources are available, scale of movement was conditioned within the local environment and this explained why human occupation of Calerizo de Cáceres has been from the Lower Pleistocene until the beginning of Agricultural societies.

Shaping Marble, Shaping Minds: Apprenticeship in an Early Neolithic Bracelet Quarry

ABSTRACTStone bracelets are one of the most outstanding aspects of personal ornamentation of the Early Neolithic in the south of the Iberian Peninsula (5500–4800 cal. BC). These ornaments are an element of cultural identity and a chronological marker of the first Neolithic societies in this area. Discovery and study of the Neolithic quarry of Cortijo Cevico (Loja, Granada) has allowed us to identify the extraction and initial reduction of dolomitic marble for the manufacture of bracelets. The archaeological assemblage from the quarry comprises knapping waste, circular roughouts (from which bracelets were manufactured), and the tools used in these activities. In this paper, we evaluate the evidence for apprenticeship processes in the quarry. We use different methodological resources to demonstrate that knowledge transmission occurred in the quarry including experimental knapping by experienced and novice knappers, ethnographic examples, and the application of diacritical schemes to the abandoned archaeological roughouts.

Comparative osteology and osteometry of the coracoideum, humerus, and femur of the green turtle (Chelonia mydas) and the loggerhead turtle (Caretta caretta)

AbstractFragmented skeletal remains of marine turtles occur frequently in archaeological and natural deposits on tropical and subtropical coasts. Identifying these remains to species based on their differential osteomorphology is vital to address questions pertaining to the historical ecology, archaeology, and conservation of marine turtles globally. Although the species‐specific features of extant marine turtle skulls and carapax are relatively well known, the comparative osteomorphology and osteometry of postcranial endoskeletons in closely related species of marine turtles remains unstudied. In this paper, we provide verbal descriptions, line drawings, and photographs of diagnostic morphological criteria for the coracoideum, the humerus, and the femur of two closely related species of Cheloniidae: Chelonia mydas (green turtle) and Caretta caretta (loggerhead), based on observations on modern skeletons. We also present osteometric indices of the humerus and the femur that can be used to distinguish between both species. We comment on the applicability of these criteria on archaeological marine turtle assemblages from the Mediterranean.

Inter- and Intra-rater Reliability in Lithic Analysis: a Case Study in Handedness Determination Methodologies

Inter- and intra-rater reliability studies in experimental archaeology promote consistency and replicability in the lithic analysis methods that are applied to interpretations of the archaeological record. Replication attempts to classify a knapper’s hand preference post-hoc using published methodologies that focus on right- and left-oriented flake features, have been largely unsuccessful. We tested the validity of flake feature categories described in three studies to be useful for determining a knapper’s hand preference (Bargallo and Mosquera, Laterality, 19(1), 37–63, 2014; Dominguez-Ballesteros and Arrizabalaga, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 3, 313–320, 2015; Rugg and Mullane, Laterality, 6(3), 247–259, 2001). Five experienced lithic analysts independently made blind predictions of knapper hand preference on an experimental assemblage of mode I flakes produced by 18 knappers (9 left-handed), which included 344 complete flakes from 43 knapped cores. Inter-rater reliability measures (using Fleiss’ Kappa) showed significant agreement between raters for only one of the features (eraillure scar), with fair agreement for impact point, and poor agreement for the other features (cone of percussion, hackles, ripples, extraction axis, and platform inclination); poor agreement was found even within raters. Chi squared tests and correspondence analyses show that raters fail to perform significantly better than chance at predicting hand preference. These results suggest not only that these flake features are unreliable predictors of a knapper’s hand preference, but also that most of these features do not represent objective categories. We therefore urge caution in applying these methods to archaeological assemblages pending further independent replication.

Mineral assemblages and low energy sedimentary processes in the FLK-Zinj, DS, PTK and AMK complex palaeolandscape (Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania)

The mineralogical composition of the clay stratum (level 22) that contains the FLK Zinj-DS-PTK-AMK complex, the only example of pene-contemporaneous early Pleistocene sites occurring on the same palaeolandscape and simultaneously covered by the same ash fall tuff, shows significant intra-site and inter-site differences. Overall, level 22A is related to a more hydrologically closed system, with higher salinity and alkalinity than level 22B. Both levels show fresher water was entering the system from the DS area during deposition. Textural analysis of the studied samples shows great microporosity and abundant edge-to-edge and edge-to-face contacts between crystals. These results have major repercussions for the interpretation of the archaeological assemblages in the FLK Zinj-DS-PTK-AMK palaeolandscape. First, this implies that two distinct archaeological levels formed at different times with different environmental conditions in most of these localities. Second, textural analyses provide evidence that no important sedimentary compaction took place after the deposition of this layer. This affects interpretations of palaeolandscape geomorphology. Third, it shows that the sedimentary processes during all the clay sequence occurred in very low-energy conditions. This reinforces that no significant physical forces disturbed the original configurations of materials contained within these assemblages and reinforces their autochthony. Behavioural interpretations can, thus, be more solidly built upon the conception that those sites preserve most of their original in situ properties.

The river that never was: Fluvial taphonomy at Olduvai Bed I and II sites and its bearing on early human behavior

Olduvai site integrity has been questioned through interpretations of fluvial inputs on most assemblages from Beds I and II that rest on a contradictory use of taphonomic variables, lack of geological support, and lack of adequate experimentally-supported referential frameworks. Most variables used to address fluvial impact in faunal assemblages have been independently used in other contexts and all of them are subjected to variable degrees of equifinality. Their resolution when applied to archaeological assemblages is low. A more recent approach founded on experimentation simulating actual archaeological sites shows that it is the intrinsic properties of each bone specimen (i.e., composition and shape) that best determine the resistance of each bone to be moved by water, regardless of size. The application of this approach, which combines the relative representation of specimens according to their composition (i.e., texture: dense or spongy-trabecular or mixed) and shape (flat, tube, or cube-polyhedral), shows not only that fluvial inputs on bone assemblages can be well detected, but also that the scale and magnitude of such inputs can be efficiently assessed. Thus, site formation can be more accurately interpreted with the aid of these new experimental analogical frameworks. A selection of some of the most relevant Olduvai sites from Bed I and Bed II have been used to show that all represent autochthonous concentrations of fossil materials and that their potential fluvially-caused distortion was marginal in most sites and moderate (in the form of semi-lag assemblages) in just a couple of them. This reinforces the causality of biotic agents (i.e., hominins and carnivores) in the formation of these sites.

El valle del río Tocantins entre el fin del Pleistoceno y el Holoceno Medio: discutiendo hipótesis sobre poblamientos y fronteras

Apresentamos neste texto uma síntese do contexto arqueológico para o vale do Rio Tocantins entre o fim do Pleistoceno e o Holoceno Médio. Através de um levantamento bibliográfico trabalhamos com uma mostra composta por 48 sítios arqueológicos para os quais dispomos de 137 datas no intervalo acima definido. A partir do cruzamento de dados sobre contexto ambiental (atual e pretérito), localização espacial, cronologia e composição artefatual desses sítios apresentamos hipóteses sobre a existência de processos diferenciados de povoamento entre médio e baixo vale, envolvendo transformação cultural e fronteiras culturais entre essas porções do vale do rio Tocantins.

Don't throw the baby teeth out with the bathwater: Estimating subadult age using tooth wear in commingled archaeological assemblages

AbstractCommingled assemblages of fragmentary human skeletal remains are a common feature of many archaeological sites and pose significant analytical problems for bioarchaeologists. Such deposits often contain a high volume of the teeth of subadults for which it is challenging to estimate age, including developing permanent teeth with damaged roots, articulated teeth with roots obscured by alveolar bone, and deciduous teeth with completed root apices.Here, we present a new method for more precisely estimating age for the developmentally ambiguous teeth of subadults from archaeological contexts. We used a sample of articulated subadult dentition from the Copper Age site of Marroquíes in Jaén, Spain, to build linear models of the relationship between dental age and tooth wear for deciduous and permanent molars. We tested three different strategies for identifying and removing outliers to build a linear model with the strongest relationship between age and wear. The Adjusted Residual strategy, which used diagnostic plots of linear regression residuals in the statistical package R to identify and remove outliers, was found to produce the strongest linear model. The linear model developed using the Adjusted Residual strategy was then used to provide estimated midpoint ages and upper and lower age bounds based on the wear scores from the sample of developmentally ambiguous teeth.This study demonstrates that it is possible to estimate the age of developmentally ambiguous deciduous and permanent molars with reference to an adequate sample of subadult dentition with estimated ages from the same population. This new method is valuable as it extracts information from developmentally ambiguous teeth that would otherwise be inaccessible, allows for rapid data collection, employs standard macroscopic dental scoring methods, and can be used for sites from other regions and periods. We conclude by discussing the applications of this new method within bioarchaeology and identify directions for future research on subadult dental wear.

Ontogenetic dental patterns in Pleistocene hyenas (Crocuta crocuta Erxleben, 1777) and their palaeobiological implications

AbstractDuring the Pleistocene, humans and hyenas co‐occurred at sites, which included cavities and rock‐shelters, accumulating bone assemblages attributable to both the hominids and carnivores. Studies of these co‐occurrences have given rise to much debate about the relationships established, suggesting that an interpretation of the nature of the biological activities conducted could be useful for understanding predator behaviour and for reconstructing the palaeobiology of these sites. Dentition analysis is an effective technique, employed in zooarchaeological studies, to interpret the use of shared spaces. However, to date, tooth development studies aimed at determining the age of an archaeological assemblage are scarce. At Pleistocene sites, isolated hyena teeth are typically the most common elements. In Terrasses de la Riera dels Canyars (Gavà, Barcelona, NE Iberian Peninsula), a fluvial deposit dated at ̴39.6 ka cal Before the Present (BP) (Heinrich Stadial 4) with a sizeable record of large mammals and just a few lithic tools (Aurignacian), cranial and postcranial hyena bones are remarkably well‐preserved, exhibiting all their ontogenetic stages. Here, we conduct an analysis of dental ontogeny (employing X‐ray imaging techniques), wear and replacement, and propose four age categories for hyena juveniles and one category for subadults based on complete (or almost complete) mandibles and maxillae. By employing these five, more detailed, age clusters, the minimum number of individuals is found to increase. Application of the method to the site's isolated teeth confirms its validity. The hyena mortality pattern recorded at Canyars, together with descriptions of extant hyena behaviour, indicate that the site was used primarily as a communal den.

Cochlear shape reveals that the human organ of hearing is sex-typed from birth

Sex differences in behavioral and neural characteristics can be caused by cultural influences but also by sex-based differences in neurophysiological and sensorimotor features. Since signal-response systems influence decision-making, cooperative and collaborative behaviors, the anatomical or physiological bases for any sex-based difference in sensory mechanisms are important to explore. Here, we use uniform scaling and nonparametric representations of the human cochlea, the main organ of hearing that imprints its adult-like morphology within the petrosal bone from birth. We observe a sex-differentiated torsion along the 3D cochlear curve in samples of 94 adults and 22 juvenile skeletons from cross-cultural contexts. The cochlear sexual dimorphism measured in our study allows sex assessment from the human skeleton with a mean accuracy ranging from 0.91 to 0.93 throughout life. We conclude that the human cochlea is sex-typed from an early post-natal age. This, for the first time, allows nondestructive sex determination of juveniles’ skeletal remains in which the biomolecules are too degraded for study but in which the petrosal is preserved, one of the most common bone within archaeological assemblages. Our observed sex-typed cochlear shape from birth is likely associated with complex evolutionary processes in modern humans for reasons not yet fully understood.

Size and weight estimations of subfossil monitor lizards (Varanus sp. Merrem 1820) with an application to the Hoabinhian assemblage of Doi Pha Kan (Late Pleistocene, Lampang province, Thailand)

Several Late Pleistocene and Holocene South-East Asian subfossil deposits are known to contain important osteological assemblages of Monitor lizards (Varanus sp.) possibly accumulated by past human populations. Indeed, thanks to their large sizes, Monitor lizards are supposed to have been an important source of meat intake for past hunter-gatherer groups. However, the taphonomic and zooarchaeological study of their bones currently suffers from strong limitations related to the lack of appropriate comparative frameworks concerning their osteology and osteometry. These limitations preclude having a good understanding of the biological characteristics of subfossil individuals but also of their accumulation process in the sites and their possible exploitation by past humans. In the present study, we try to solve these issues by producing size and weight estimation equations using bone measurements that are applicable to subfossil Southeast Asian Varanus. These equations are then applied to the study of an archaeological assemblage of Varanus from a Late Pleistocene Thai deposit, the Doi Pha Kan rock shelter. The obtained data help to demonstrate that these lizards were accumulated by Hoabinhian hunter-gatherers, and allow for the description of the hunting strategies of these human groups. We also demonstrate the interest to develop new methodological tools concerning taxa of tropical areas that present a rich biodiversity but remain understudied in zooarchaeology.

Non-adult Fracture Patterns in Late and Post-medieval Flanders, a Comparison of a Churchyard and a Church Assemblage

ABSTRACTThe study of trauma in non-adults (<18 years) from archaeological assemblages is relatively recent, partly because immature bones present distinct injury patterns, while rapid healing and remodelling can erase macroscopic evidence. However, non-adult trauma provides information about age-related differences in risk, and the lifestyles and social roles of immature individuals. This study recorded possible fractures in 135 non-adults from a churchyard and a church assemblage from medieval and post-medieval Flanders, to evaluate the presence of fractures and analyse type, prevalence, age distribution, and socio-economic differences. Eighteen individuals presented lesions, including typical non-adult injuries. Prevalence was generally low , but some trends emerged. The churchyard had a higher prevalence, and these individuals likely had a lower social background compared to the church, suggesting socio-economic differences. In the churchyard assemblage older non-adults showed an increased prevalence, possibly related to occupational risks since many children and particularly adolescents, worked as servants, labourers, or apprentices.

Gombore II (Melka Kunture, Ethiopia): A new approach to formation processes and spatial patterns of an Early Pleistocene Acheulean site

To assess the integrity of Pleistocene archaeological sites is crucial in the analysis of human behaviour. Most of the Early Palaeolithic sites are in active fluvial environments where it is necessary to understand the degree of sedimentary disturbance. The analysis of the formation processes through geoarchaeological and geostatistical techniques offers new tools to evaluate if the archaeological assemblage is in autochthonous or allochthonous position. Gombore II, ≈850 Ka, within the archaeological and paleontological complex of Melka Kunture (Ethiopia), extends over estimated 1000 m2 and yielded a large number of Acheulean artefacts, fossil mammal bones and two fossil hominin remains. The geomorphological setting and deposition patterns of high-energy sedimentation in a fluvial channelized environment are similar to those of many other Early Palaeolithic African sites. This is traditionally described as producing a disturbed record, with the fortuitous association of faunal remains and lithic industry driven by fluvial processes. To assess this hypothesis, we analyse here the formation processes and the spatial patterning of the remains. We apply geoarchaeological (orientation and fabric) and spatial tests (density, grouping, k-means) to the mapped archaeological surfaces and to a present-day fluvial surface. We observe substantial differences in geoarchaeological features and spatial patterning between the archaeological record (lithic materials and faunal remains) and the natural clasts of both the archaeological deposit and the bed of the present-day river. This suggests different depositional processes or temporal events. We conclude that the remains produced by the hominins did not haphazardly accumulate after extensive erosion and re-sedimentation. They rather preserve a reasonable degree of taphonomic and spatial integrity and are possibly representative of different activities.

The Materials to the Porthmion Chronology

The Bosporus expedition of the Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences conducted a small archaeological research in the northwestern sector of Porthmion in 2002–2003. Two exploration trenches were laid on the excavation area. Archaeological assemblages of the trenches contain information on historical chronology of the settlement. The fire-destruction layer recorded in trench 1 marks the period of destabilization of Greek-barbarian relations in the region, probably connected with the activity of nomadic tribes during the early 5th c. BC. The foundations of the residential building identified in trench 2 refer to the 4th c. BC. This period was associated with the relatively calm reign of the Spartokids dynasty in the Bosporus. Traces of active building dating back to the early 2nd c. BC are associated with the period of the so-called Bosporus “cultural revival”, which took place against a background of stabilization in the region after the Sarmatian invasion.