Early Historic Sites Research Articles

Ricardo’s Law of Comparative Advantage in Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Early Historic Mainland Southeast Asian Metallurgy: Copper-base Metal Production, Exchange, and Consumption Behaviours at Khao Sai On, Nil Kham Haeng, Non Pa Wai, Phromthin Tai, Sab Champa, and Tha Kae in Central Thailand

Since its late 1970s to early 1980s discovery, the Khao Wong Prachan Valley (KWPV) of central Thailand has been assumed to have been a major supplier of copper in Bronze Age, Iron Age, and Early Historic Southeast Asia. KWPV was the first regional metal production system to be characterised by lead isotope (LI) analysis in the late 2000s, revealing a coherent signature easily distinguished from subsequent analyses of production systems at Phu Lon (northern Thailand) and the Vilabouly Complex (central Laos). Despite KWPV’s scale of production, its LI signature has scarcely been detected at Bronze Age metal consumption sites in nearby northeast Thailand and not at all in Iron Age assemblages. We study copper production and copper/bronze consumption behaviours of Iron Age and Early Historic sites in KWPV’s immediate vicinity: Khao Sai On, Phromthin Tai, Tha Kae, and Sab Champa. Khao Sai On and Phromthin Tai production signatures are highly consistent with those previously established, while the uranogenic tendency at Tha Kae explains outliers from Bronze Age Non Pa Wai and Nil Kham Haeng. Analysis of consumption assemblages reveals little to no consistency with local production signatures. This tendency was tested with LI Iron Age and Early Historic datasets for Ban Khu Muang, Ban Mai Chaimongkol, Ban Pong Manao, and Ban Pong Takhob. The pattern is clear: central Thai populations imported copper/bronze, potentially from the Vilabouly Complex or production loci with closely comparable signatures. We examine this counterintuitive behaviour inductively using Ricardo’s Law of Comparative Advantage combined with a technological appreciation of the relatively low productivity of central Thai primary copper production. This suggests central Thailand’s unattached copper producers freely exchanged copper for exotic goods (bronze, glass, semi-precious stone), with potentially poor terms of exchange, from their desire to participate in wider regional trends in conspicuous consumption.

Prehistoric Cult Sites along the Desert Roads

The Negev desert, the southern half of Israel, is an arid-to-hyper-arid region. Despite that, some 13,000 ancient sites have been recorded here to date, and many were excavated. One characteristic of the Negev (as well as of other deserts) is the abundance of prehistoric and early historic cult sites, dated ca. 8000–2000 BCE. Another is the many ancient roads. The roads, the main types of cult sites and the connection between them are described and discussed in the following sections.

Comparative microstructural and elemental analysis of iron artefacts from Kaveri valley archaeological sites

AbstractIron has been one of the most critical technotraditions that had lasting impact on social formation throughout the Iron Age and historical period. Iron was used in warfare and subsistence economy. Our knowledge on ancient iron smelting and working have generally been derived from ethnography and ethnohistory, which is by all means, time, region, and raw material specific. Scientific analyses of ancient iron have contributed in understanding this heritage to a respectable extent, yet a comprehensive knowledge about the evolution of iron making through time and space in India eludes us. In this work, a comparative study of iron artefacts from two Iron Age/Megalithic‐Early Historic sites of Tamil Nadu, south India, that is, Mangadu (burial site) and Ambal (habitation‐cum‐burial site) is carried out to understand the iron thermal‐processing capabilities. The retrieved artefacts were examined using X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) for elemental composition. The imaging of the artefacts was done using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD), and Optical Microscopy (OM). In addition, phase identification was performed using X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive X‐ray Spectroscopy (EDS). Combination of these analyses illustrates that inhabitants of Mangadu and Ambal were aware of the iron alloy manufacturing/processing techniques such as forging and hammering.

한반도와 중국 동북지방의 골촉 연구

This thesis presents a comprehensive analysis of bone arrowheads discovered in prehistoric and early historic sites in Korean Peninsula and Northeast China. It tries to reanalyze the function of arrowheads that had been thought to be simple replacement of iron arrowheads and to find out the background of their use, the reason for its popularity, and the background of the extinction of bone arrowheads. This paper also compares bone arrowheads of Korean peninsula with those of Northeast China and discusses their similarities and differences.
 First of all, their nominal and numeric attributes are analyzed in order to understand their formal characteristics of bone arrowheads from Korea and Northeast China. Bone arrowheads of Korea can be divided by the presence or absence of the tang and can be divided into steptanged/non-step-tanged subtypes. Next, the relationship between the cross section of the bone arrowheads and the raw material was reviewed, and whether the cross section of the bone arrowheads reflects temporality was discussed. The width of most of the bone arrowheads discovered in Korea is below 1.1cm and is narrower than their contemporary stone and iron arrowheads. This difference may be related to their function. Bone arrowheads of Northeast China can be divided by the presence/absence of the tang and can be divided by the shape of their tips. The flat-tip-tanged arrowheads are most numerous subtype and may be related to the local environment of Northeast China where bamboo shaft was difficult to acquire. The width of most of the bone arrowhead discovered in Northeast China is below 1.1cm as in Korea and is narrower than their contemporary stone and iron arrowheads.
 Compared to the wide stone and iron arrowheads, the bone arrowheads is suitable for strike vital parts of the game such as heart or lung. The number of arrowheads with triangular cross section increased over time and the total length of bone arrowheads increases over time. This seems to contain an intention to increase penetrative power. The prevalence of the use of bone arrowheads after stone arrowheads is related to the spread of metal tools. It is concluded that bone arrowheads were not replacement of metal ones but improvement over earlier stone arrowheads as major types of arrowheads due to their better efficiency. Finally, by comparing the bone arrowheads of Korea and Northeast China, it is also suggested that environmental factors influenced mostly on the shape of bone arrowheads and cultural factors rather influenced on their prevalent time.

Disjunction, or continuity: Re-identifying the “Kushan” and “post-Kushan” periods at Kausambi

The investigation of Early Historic sites has often found a culturally rich “Kushan” accumulation in contrast to the scanty finds of later centuries. This discrepancy has led to a hypothesis of urban decline and associated changes in socio-economic structure. However, more recent research has suggested that the missing archaeological record has primarily resulted from the poor investigation of the late occupation and related artefacts. This article is a case study to further discuss the issue by reexamining the excavated data from Kausambi, one of the largest Early Historic cities in the upper Gangetic plain. The coin-based chronological sequence derived from the residential area near the Ashokan pillar suggests that the habitation ended in the early fourth century CE. However, an observation of the ceramic evidence from the last period illustrates that the site was not abandoned after the “Kushan” age but occupied throughout the first millennium CE. The absence of the “post-Kushan” period is more likely a consequence of uncritical dating criteria. By pooling and integrating the available archaeological materials from other fieldwork around the site, this article will suggest a prolonged settlement of this great city and characterise its temporal patterns in a new and refined chronological framework.

Lifeways of Early Kantharodai, Sri Lanka

In the 1st millennium BCE Sri Lanka was central to the wide-spanning trading networks in the Western Indian Ocean region. Population agglomerations grew on the coast and further inland, where Anuradhapura emerged as the major central place. Parallel agglomerations formed in the south in Tissamaharama and in the north on Jaffna Peninsula in Kantharodai. The site of Kantharodai on the northern tip of Sri Lanka is the largest known early historic mound site on the Jaffna Peninsula, thought to represent the ancient centre of the region. The Early Historic occupation of Kantharodai began ca. 400-100 BCE. In our study we focus on the older historic occupation phase at Kantharodai, represented by a rich midden deposit of domestic refuse that offer insights into the environmental conditions faced by early occupants of the site and their modes of subsistence. We provide a glimpse into the subsistence strategies of the earliest settled population in Kantharodai who augmented a diet based on domesticated livestock through multiple wild species from forests, swamps, mangroves and marine habitats. Based on the faunal evidence from early Kantharodai, this complex socio-economic structure appears to have been in operation, confirming proposed models of mixed economies in operation in the Early Historic period of the region.

Spatial and Temporal Evolution and Human–Land Relationship at Early Historic Sites in the Middle Reaches of the Yellow River in the Sanhe Region Based on GIS Technology

The Sanhe region in the middle reaches of the Yellow River is an important area for the origin and development of early civilization in China. Many early sites, from the Paleolithic to the Xia, Shang and Zhou Dynasties, remain in the region, all of which are important material carriers to record the historical process from the emergence of human beings to the formation of early civilization. In this study, all of the early archaeological sites in the research area were collected and loaded into the GIS platform. With the help of kernel density estimation, adjacent index analysis, standard deviation ellipse and other tools, the spatial and temporal distribution characteristics of these sites were explored, and the correlation between the distribution of early sites and geographical factors was explored through coupling analysis with the geographical environment. The results show that: (1) the evolution of the spatial distribution characteristics of early sites in the time dimension can reflect the development process of early civilization; (2) elevation, slope, aspect, topographic relief, hydrology and other factors are closely related to the distribution characteristics of early sites in the Sanhe region, and the correlation between site distribution and geographical factors is also different in different periods; (3) under the combined effects of elevation, slope, aspect, topographic relief and hydrological factors, the early sites show the existing spatial–temporal distribution characteristics. It is hoped that this study can provide reference ideas for the origin and development of early civilization in the future, as well as the discovery, protection and utilization of early sites.

Early historic sites in Bhogavati River Basin with special reference to Barshi Taluka, Dist Solapur, Maharashtra

Barshi taluka is one of the 11 tehsils of Solapur district in the Maharashtra India. River Bhogavati is large tributary of river Sina, originates at south facing scarps of Balaghat range in Osmanabad district &flows through Osmanabad enters in Barshi taluka of Solapur district. The period begins from the 6th century BCE to the 4thcentury BCE. It is an important time span in the development of Indian history, socio-economic factor. In early historic period Black &Red ware potteries, Red Polished potteries and Black Slipped potteries were found at Zadi, Pangaon, Pimpalgaon Sites. These types belong to early historic& early medieval period. These types were not found in next phase of medieval period. From this period may be this region has lost all connections with other parts of country or people using such kind of utensils were not in existence in medieval period mostly potteries found with coarse red ware variety. With reference to size of pottery, if compared in both periods there is not much difference in size of pottery.

Lived monuments: A microarchaeological study of monumental architecture in the tell-site of Arslantepe (Malatya, Turkey)

Inspired by concepts of monumentality and materiality, this article discusses the results of the first microstratigraphic study conducted on the monumental buildings of the pre- and early historic site of Arslantepe (Malatya, Turkey). The earthen surfaces (floors and fixtures) of three monumental buildings—two belonging to the 4th and one to the 1st millennium BCE—were analysed by means of micromorphology, sometimes in combination with chemical spot-tests. Sampling strategies were adapted to these contexts, which are part of an open-air museum and required minimally invasive procedures. The results show a recycling of tell-construction material and the use of selected plasters for specific features, as well as the different maintenance practices and activities traced in apparently homogeneous surfaces. This revealed a multifaceted picture of how these monuments were experienced and given meaning to. Ultimately, by following a deposit-oriented approach, monuments go from representing mere embodiments of ideology and inequality to being understood as the multi-layered outcome of practices and different forms of material engagement with the built environment.

Resolving Indigenous village occupations and social history across the long century of European permanent settlement in Northeastern North America: The Mohawk River Valley ~1450-1635 CE.

The timeframe of Indigenous settlements in Northeast North America in the 15th-17th centuries CE has until very recently been largely described in terms of European material culture and history. An independent chronology was usually absent. Radiocarbon dating has recently begun to change this conventional model radically. The challenge, if an alternative, independent timeframe and history is to be created, is to articulate a high-resolution chronology appropriate and comparable with the lived histories of the Indigenous village settlements of the period. Improving substantially on previous initial work, we report here high-resolution defined chronologies for the three most extensively excavated and iconic ancestral Kanienʼkehá꞉ka (Mohawk) village sites in New York (Smith-Pagerie, Klock and Garoga), and a fourth early historic Indigenous site, Brigg’s Run, and re-assess the wider chronology of the Mohawk River Valley in the mid-15th to earlier 17th centuries. This new chronology confirms initial suggestions from radiocarbon that a wholesale reappraisal of past assumptions is necessary, since our dates conflict completely with past dates and the previously presumed temporal order of these three iconic sites. In turn, a wider reassessment of northeastern North American early history and re-interpretation of Atlantic connectivities in the later 15th through early 17th centuries is required. Our new closely defined date ranges are achieved employing detailed archival analysis of excavation records to establish the contextual history for radiocarbon-dated samples from each site, tree-ring defined short time series from wood charcoal samples fitted against the radiocarbon calibration curve (‘wiggle-matching’), and Bayesian chronological modelling for each of the individual sites integrating all available prior knowledge and radiocarbon dating probabilities. We define (our preferred model) most likely (68.3% highest posterior density) village occupation ranges for Smith-Pagerie of ~1478–1498, Klock of ~1499–1521, Garoga of ~1550–1582, and Brigg’s Run of ~1619–1632.

Resource risk and stability in the zooarchaeological record: the case of Pueblo fishing in the Middle Rio Grande, New Mexico

Disarticulated fish remains are frequently recovered from late preHispanic and early historic archaeological sites in the Middle Rio Grande basin of central New Mexico, but they are rare during earlier time periods. Increased aquatic habitat quality brought on by wetter climatic conditions may have impacted Ancestral Pueblo foraging goals related to risk minimization, leading to an uptick in fish exploitation. Wetter stream conditions can increase the number of different energy channels that help support fish populations and increase ecological stability, which makes fish less risky to pursue for human foragers. Here, we illustrate how to identify stable ecological communities in the archaeological record using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values of fish bones recovered from archaeological sites in the Middle Rio Grande. We find that energy derived from terrestrial C4 plants—a stabilizing “slow” allochthonous energy source—was important for the Middle Rio Grande aquatic food web during the late preHispanic/early historic period. This result suggests that fish populations were supported by a broader resource base and were thus more stable and less risky to pursue for Ancestral Pueblo people.

Petrography and Micromorphology Face-to-Face: the Potential of Multivocality in the Study of Earth-Based Archaeological Materials

Soils and sediments are among the most commonly found materials in archaeological contexts, occurring in a myriad of forms. We need only think of pottery, which is a manipulated and fired sediment, or the different earthen deposits that compose the bulk of many sites. Traditionally, the study of the microscopic and compositional characteristics of pottery has been the focus of ceramic archaeometry, while the microstratigraphic analysis of archaeological sediments was always the main task of geoarchaeology. In this paper, the authors explore the potential of a closer collaboration between researchers dealing with the same type of raw material and often using the same methods (optical microscopy), who rarely confront the approaches and expertise of the other field. For this purpose, two samples belonging to the pre-historic and early historic site of Arslantepe were selected for a methodological exercise: a fragment of an andiron and a piece of a double-vaulted oven. Ultimately, the results of this work demonstrate that researchers from both fields can profit from a more intense exchange: one that takes advantage of the expertise developed in answering distinct but complementary research questions, and calls for the blurring of strict inter-disciplinary boundaries.

Agricultural systems in Bangladesh: the first archaeobotanical results from Early Historic Wari-Bateshwar and Early Medieval Vikrampura

The present paper reports the first systematic archaeobotanical evidence from Bangladesh together with direct AMS radiocarbon dates on crop remains. Macro-botanical remains were collected by flotation from two sites, Wari-Bateshwar (WB), an Early Historic archaeological site, dating mainly between 400 and 100 BC, with a later seventh century AD temple complex, and Raghurampura Vikrampura (RV), a Buddhist Monastery (vihara) located within the Vikrampura city site complex and dating to the eleventh and sixteenth centuries AD. Despite being a tropical country, with high rainfall and intensive soil processes, our work demonstrates that conventional archaeobotany, the collection of macro-remains through flotation, has much potential towards putting together a history of crops and agricultural systems in Bangladesh. The archaeobotanical assemblage collected from both sites indicates the predominance of rice agriculture, which would have been practiced in summer. Spikelet bases are of domesticated type rice, while grain metrics suggest the majority of rice was probably subspecies japonica. The presence of some wetland weeds suggests at least some of the rice was grown in wet (flooded) systems, but much of it may have been rainfed as inferred from the Southeast Asian weed Acmella paniculata. Other crops include winter cereals, barley and possible oat, and small numbers of summer millets (Pennisetum glaucum, Sorghum bicolor, Setaria italica), a wide diversity of summer and winter pulses (14 spp.), cotton, sesame and mustard seed. Pulse crops included many known from India. Thus, while most crops indicate diffusion of crops from India eastwards, the absence of indica rice could also indicate some diffusion from Southeast Asia. The later site RV also produced evidence of the rice bean (Vigna umbellata), a domesticate of mainland Southeast Asia. These data provide the first empirical evidence for reconstructing past agriculture in Bangladesh and for the role of connections to both India and mainland Southeast Asia in the development of crop diversity in the Ganges delta region.

Plant macroremains from Sarethi: An Early Historic site in Saryu region of Ganga Plain, Uttar Pradesh

The paper highlights additional data on the carbonized remains of crop plants, weeds and wild taxa recovered from excavations at Sarethi, a multicultural site in district Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh. The field–crops are represented by the grains and seeds of Oryza sativa (rice), Hordeum vulgare (barley), Triticum aestivum (bread wheat), T. sphaerococcum (dwarf wheat), Pisum arvense (field pea), Lens culinaris (lentil), Lathyrus sativus (grass pea), Vigna sp. (green/black gram), Macrotyloma uniflorum (horse gram), Linum usitatissimum (linseed), and Gossypium arboreum/herbaceum (cotton) dating back to 200 BCE–700 CE. In addition, few weeds and wild taxa denotative of cultivated fields and surrounding vegetation have also been recorded in the assemblage. The plant remains have been discussed and compared with the information on plant based subsistence economy from other sites in the region.

Koppa Archaeological Research Project (KARP): Exclusive Iron Age landscapes in the Western Ghats, India

Koppa Archaeological Research Project (KARP) conducted systematic transect surveys and excavations in the Coorg plateau at the upper reaches of river Kaveri in the Western Ghats, Karnataka. The archaeological record of the study area is exclusively an Iron Age landscape, as we did not find any other prehistoric or early historic sites. We focused on studying thirty-nine Iron Age (1200 BCE–300 BCE) sites of two categories, habitation and megaliths, and we present here our preliminary observations addressing to site findings, their landscapes and settlement patterns. We then consider the geographical and climatic implications for understanding the formation of their economy and politics. We argue that sites in the Western Ghats did not differ significantly from the temporal and cultural material typologies of contemporary Iron Age sites in the semi-arid or savannah conditions of Deccan plateau. Yet the adaption of Iron Age communities to Western Ghats climate which is characterized by high rainfall, lush tropical forests, fallow lands and diverse faunal ecology should have had distinct implications for the development of their economy and politics.

A Bioarchaeological Study of Trauma at Late Iron Age to Protohistoric Non Ban Jak, Northeast Thailand

The Late Iron Age to early historic period site of Non Ban Jak (ca. fourth to eighth centuries a.d.), in the Upper Mun River Valley, northeast Thailand, provides one of the largest and best preserved skeletal samples from an important period of change in social and technological complexity in prehistoric Southeast Asia. This study assessed the patterning of individual-level trauma prevalence and long bone fracture rates in this community to determine the level of risk of injury and the possible relationship with cultural change. One quarter (25.5%) of adults experienced antemortem or perimortem trauma. This level of trauma is high when compared to other Iron Age sites in the Southeast Asian region. Injury patterning suggests the majority of antemortem trauma is the result of accidental injury through occupational hazards and lifestyle activities. However, cranial injuries such as a depressed fracture, facial fractures, and perimortem sharp force trauma, as well as a possible parry injury and multiple trauma observed in some individuals, are indicative that at least a portion of the population had been engaged in interpersonal violence. This study emphasizes local variation. Non Ban Jak is one of only a few excavated sites that contributes to an understanding of the transition from the late Iron Age to the early protohistoric period in Thailand as well as the wider region in Southeast Asia.

Data for: Early Agriculture in Sri Lanka: New Archaeobotanical Analyses and Radiocarbon Dates from the Early Historic Sites of Kirinda and Kantharodai

Data for: Early Agriculture in Sri Lanka: New Archaeobotanical Analyses and Radiocarbon Dates from the Early Historic Sites of Kirinda and Kantharodai

Data for: Early Agriculture in Sri Lanka: New Archaeobotanical Analyses and Radiocarbon Dates from the Early Historic Sites of Kirinda and Kantharodai

Data for: Early Agriculture in Sri Lanka: New Archaeobotanical Analyses and Radiocarbon Dates from the Early Historic Sites of Kirinda and Kantharodai

Early agriculture in Sri Lanka: New Archaeobotanical analyses and radiocarbon dates from the early historic sites of Kirinda and Kantharodai (Kandarodai)

Archaeobotanical evidence from two Early Historic sites in Sri Lanka, Kantharodai and Kirinda, is reported, providing significant evidence for agricultural diversity beyond the cultivation of rice. These data highlight the potential of systematic archaeobotanical sampling for macro-remains in tropical environments to contribute to the understanding of subsistence history in the tropics. Direct AMS radiocarbon dating confirms both the antiquity of crops and refines site chronologies. Both sites have Oryza sativa subsp. indica rice and evidence of rice crop-processing and millet farming. In addition, phytolith data provide complementary evidence on the nature of early rice cultivation in Sri Lanka. Both Kantharodai and Kirinda possess rice agriculture and a diverse range of cultivated millets (Brachiaria ramosa, Echinochloa frumentacea, Panicum sumatrense, and Setaria verticillata). Pulses of Indian origin were also cultivated, especially Vigna radiata and Macrotyloma uniflorum. Cotton (Gossypium sp.) cultivation is evident from Kirinda. Both sites, but in particular Kirinda, provide evidence for use of the seeds of Alpinia sp., in the cardamom/ginger family (Zingiberaceae), a plausible wild spice, while coconuts (Cocos nucifera) were also found at Kirinda.

Examining the influence of hide processing on Native American upper limb morphology

AbstractThe commercial pelt trade between Native Americans and Europeans flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries. However, the impact of this economic change and increased hide processing efforts on Native American upper limb morphology is unknown. The hide scraping hypothesis, tested in living subjects, suggests that hide processing efforts may lead to significant changes in humeral morphology. Two modern human Native North American skeletal collections from south‐western Virginia, USA, were studied to test if intensive hide processing led to changes in humeral morphology. At the earlier Late Woodland Crab Orchard site, animal skins and furs were prepared for household use. During the occupation of the later early historic Trigg site, processing activities intensified to produce surplus hides for the commercial pelt trade. In this study, the cross‐sectional geometric properties at the mid‐distal humerus (35% of length) of Crab Orchard and Trigg adult males and females were examined. We assessed whether Trigg site individuals had increased humeral symmetry, changes to diaphyseal shape, and increased robusticity. Additionally, humerus morphological properties were compared between males and females to assess if there were sex‐based differences.Trigg site males had greater humeral robusticity than Crab Orchard males. The humeri of females from the Trigg and Crab Orchard sites were both relatively anteroposterior strengthened and displayed quite low levels of bilateral asymmetry. This pattern suggests that females at both sites may have employed techniques that involved bimanual hide processing tools. The differences between the morphologies predicted and those observed in these Native American populations may indicate (a) adaptation to bimanual hide processing techniques or (b) adaptation to osteogenic tasks not involved in hide processing but associated with postcontact economic changes.