Hearth Features Research Articles

Diversion Dam Cave (10-AA-99): A Paleoindian Site near Boise, Idaho

In this article we describe the results of excavation at the Diversion Dam Cave (10-AA-99) near Boise, Idaho, sponsored by the Bureau of Reclamation. Although the site has been heavily impacted over the years by illegal digging and urban encroachment, the data from these excavations confirmed that some deposits are intact. Radiocarbon data suggest a Paleoindian occupation, prior to 9220 ± 100 RCYBP and as far back as approximately 12,000 RCYBP. No artifacts diagnostic of a specific cultural group were recovered, but the hearth features, hand polish on rocks, and river cobbles with pecking damage all point to human occupation. Faunal analysis suggests that small and medium mammals and fish were exploited, while botanical data suggest the use of both local and more distant resources as fuel. Although the cultural deposits were sparse, radiocarbon dates suggest occupation during the Paleoarchaic Period, a time frame with few examples in Idaho.

Eastern and Plains Late Woodland Transitions as Seen at the Lafayette Mound, Northwest Missouri

The Lafayette Mound, 23LF3, a burial site which dates to the latter part of the Late Woodland period in northwestern Missouri, provides insight into the poorly-understood geographical area between the Central Plains Late Woodland and Eastern Late Woodland regions. The mound was deflated and partially disturbed, but large portions of it contained intact fill. Diagnostic material indicates the mound was constructed on a previously utilized location. Fill contained artifacts diagnostic of the Early or Middle Woodland period and a Late Woodland occupation area. Human remains were primarily cremated subadults. Associated with these graves were miniature Scallorn projectile points, clay pipes, ochre, hematite objects, and pottery vessels. The mound base contained one hearth feature which is interpreted as a ceremonial or pre-mound feature. Comparisons with adjacent areas indicate that the Lafayette mound is part of a continuum of Late Woodland sites that spans the Central Plains and Eastern Missouri Late Woodland areas.

Understanding Hearth Function: An Approach from Harappa

Hearth features possess potential for providing valuable archaeological data on past cooking and heating practices. Ethnographic study demonstrates a relationship between hearth morphology and function in rural Punjabi homes. Preliminary work from the nearby Indus civilization site of Harappa suggests a relationship between hearth content and morphology. If hearth contents reflect hearth function, future research may provide further insight on archaeological hearth use in conjunction with hearth type.

Site 48UT375: Late Paleoindian Period Subsistence and Land Use Patterns in the Green River Basin, Wyoming

Excavations at Site 48UT375 in the Green River Basin of southwest wyoming provide an excellent opportunity to explore subsistence and land use patterns in a high elevation, sagebrush-covered intermountain basin during the late Paleo indian period. Excavations at this site uncovered large quantities of heat-altered rock situated around several hearth features that were radiocarbon dated between 8, 600 and 8,300 years ago. Each of these hearth features contained hundreds of highly fragmented and carbonized bone specimens representing small mammals, predominantly rabbits. In addition to the opportunistic procurement of small mammals for immediate consumption, the site occupants probably extensively processed some resource such as biscuitroot obtainable from the playa adjacent to the site. Another component dating to 7890 years ago and representing similar activities was also excavated. Comparisons with other excavated sites dating to this period in the Green River Basin including Sites 48UT786 and 48LNII85 and the Vegan and Blue Point sites indicate similar subsistence patterns. Each of these sites also contained evidence of a series of later intermittent occupations dating throughout the midHolocene, suggesting that these site localities were the focus of repeated reuse during this period.

Archaeological Testing of Site 41BX1199, Government Canyon State Natural Area, Bexar County, Texas

In May 2001, the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR), The University of Texas at San Antonio, tested two areas of site 41BX1199 in the Government Canyon State Natural Area. The Natural Area is located in northwest Bexar County and is under the ownership and management of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). In advance of opening the Natural Area for public use, TPWD contracted with the CAR to conduct a 100 percent pedestrian survey of proposed trail systems within the property and to carry out National Register eligibility testing of site 41BX1199. CAR personnel conducted the testing of 41BX1199 under Texas Antiquities Permit 2582. This report discusses only the results of the test excavations performed at 41BX1199. Two spatially isolated portions of site 41BX1199 were to be impacted by the construction of picnic locations and camping facilities. The two areas covered 7 acres (2.8 hectares) and 11.6 acres (4.7 hectares), respectively. The CAR testing efforts focused on these areas. Thirty-five shovel tests and one 1-x-1- meter test unit were excavated in the larger area, while 14 shovel tests were dug in the smaller area. Testing efforts identified a low-density, disturbed surface scatter of artifacts and a modern hearth feature. No temporal diagnostic artifacts were recovered. The sparse collection of lithic artifacts, the lack of temporal diagnostics, the deflated character of some of the deposits, and the modern hearth feature suggested that the examined portions of 41BX1199 have low research potential and are not eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places or designation as a State Archeological Landmark. It is recommended that the area connecting the two impact zones be periodically examined for exposed artifacts that may come to light as a result of pedestrian and equestrian traffic. It is further recommended that an archaeologist monitor the work to be carried out in the impact zones and document any intact cultural materials encountered during construction.

Ash Deposits in Hayonim and Kebara Caves, Israel: Macroscopic, Microscopic and Mineralogical Observations, and their Archaeological Implications

A study of the hearths and ash layers preserved in Hayonim and Kebara caves, Israel, showed that they are composed of one or several different minerals. These include the polymorph of CaCO 3, calcite, a variety of phosphate minerals and a suite of siliceous minerals. The major component of the latter are siliceous aggregates that are present in wood. Detailed studies of the mineral associations in these fossil ash layers, as well as in fresh wood ash, using optical and scanning electron microscopy in the back scattered electron mode together with elemental analyses, showed that ash in these caves undergoes a series of diagenetic changes. The best preserved ash layers resemble fresh ash and are composed mainly of calcite with minor amounts of siliceous minerals. The calcite reacts with phosphate-rich solutions to form carbonated apatite and with time the latter dissolves and a variety of other phosphate-containing minerals form. With each diagenetic change, some of the more soluble minerals are lost and ultimately only the ash-derived siliceous minerals remain. In both caves there are local accumulations of such siliceous minerals that are metres thick. In fact ash-derived minerals in general are major components of the sediments in both Kebara and Hayonim caves. Their diagenesis involves a hugh reduction in volume, which in turn may have important effects on the geological structures and stratigraphy of the sediments. The changing mineralogy of the sediments due to diagenesis complicates the use of present-day estimates of radiation content of the sediments for correcting age estimates by thermoluminescence and electron spin resonance. Finally, the presence of the relatively stable ash-derived siliceous minerals in a sedimentary layer in other caves, could be a useful means of identifying the presence of ash in other archaeological sites where macroscopic hearth features are absent.

Archeological and Geomorphological Investigations at Prehistoric Sites 41WY50 and 41WY60, Willacy County, Texas

In January through March 1993, archeological and geomorphological investigations were conducted at two clay dune sites, 41WY50 and 41WY60, in the outfall area of the Hidalgo-Willacy Drainage Ditch system. This work represents the final investigations of a cultural resource management program conducted for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the local sponsors, Hidalgo County Drainage District No. 1 and Willacy County Drainage District No. I, by Prewitt and Associates, Inc. The results of the archeological investigations were poor. Neither site yielded materials of unquestionable cultural origin, although several small basin-shaped hearth features were encountered. Based on radiocarbon assays from soil humates and the stratigraphic provenience of the features, it is speculated that the occupation(s) at 41WY50 is late Archaic and the occupation(s) at 41WY60 is Late Prehistoric to Historic. Both sites represent very short term occupations and most likely do not represent repetitive use on a seasonal or yearly basis. These investigations suggest that, since the development of the modem coastal environments approximately 3,000 to 4,000 years ago, the south Texas coast between Baffin Bay and the Holocene delta of the Rio Grande has been a resource-poor and inhospitable area that probably was utilized only sparsely or intermittently. The geomorphological investigations were more successful, adding valuable data ahout paleoenvironments and the formation of the modem coastal environments of the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The clay dunes formed through the eolian transport of fine to very fine quartz sand and fine to very fine sand-sized aggregates of clay from adjacent wind-tidal flats during the late Holocene. Stable carbon isotope studies of soil humates suggest that the clay dune plant community was and still is dominated by C, and/or CAM plants. These investigations also disclosed fluctuations in sea level during the late Holocene. An abandoned wind-tidal flat, encountered at 41WY50, indicates that sea level was at least I m higher than present mean sea level between 2300-1100 B.P.

A Methodological Approach for Identifying Archaeological Evidence of Fire Resulting from Human Activities

The identification of unequivocal evidence of humanly-controlled fire is extremely problematic in archaeological contexts where obvious remains, such as charcoal and ash, have not been preserved. Until recently, the difficulty of identification had been magnified by the lack of an established methodological approach which addressed the problem. A methodological approach which can be used to identify and discriminate between archaeological evidence of fire resulting from natural processes and archaeological evidence of fire resulting from human activities is now available. The approach utilizes several parameters of investigation, including: (1) macroscopic examinations of fire feature surfaces and profiles, (2) analyses of magnetometer data, (3) magnetic susceptibility studies, (4) analyses of alternating field demagnetization characteristics, (5) studies of isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM) acquisition, (6) analyses of coercivity of remanence characteristics, and (7) palaeointensity studies. The methodological approach is illustrated by comparing the results from analyses of features and samples from grass fire experiment sites, isolated tree stump fire experiment sites, multiple-burn campfire experiment sites, modern forest fire sites, known archaeological hearths from Modoc Rock Shelter, Illinois, and known archaeological clay ovens from Tell Ashkelon, Israel, for each available parameter of investigation. Comparisons revealed that multiple-burn campfire sites exhibited basin-shaped three-dimensional configurations of oxidized sediments and diagnostic magnetic anomalies, while multiple-burn campfire samples displayed dramatic increases in magnetic susceptibility, highly stable to very highly stable responses to alternating field demagnetization, dramatic differences in IRM acquisition and coercivity of remanence responses, and diagnostic palaeointensity results, when compared with the responses of adjacent unfired control samples. Archaeological hearth features and samples, and samples from archaeological clay oven features, exhibited results which were broadly consistent with the results from multiple-burn campfire sites and samples. The results displayed by grass fire, isolated tree stump fire, and forest fire sites and samples were generally found to be mutually exclusive from the results exhibited by multiple-burn campfire and archaeological hearth and oven sites and samples for all parameters of investigation. The results demonstrate that the methodological approach can be used to unequivocally identify archaeological evidence of humanly-controlled fire resulting from multiple-burn campfires, fire hearths, ovens, and similar kinds of humanly-produced fires.

Data Recovery at Justiceburg Reservior (Lake Alan Henry), Garza and Kent Counties, Texas: Phase III, Season 1

Phase III data recovery investigations at one historic and three prehistoric sites, augmented by additional survey and off-site geological investigations, were conducted at Lake Alan Henry (formerly Justiceburg Reservoir) on the Double Mountain Fork of the Brazos River in Garza and Kent counties, Texas, during the fall and winter of 1990-1991. Descriptive data from this first of three field seasons of data recovery are presented here in anticipation of a final synthetic report that will relate all the investigations to a series of research design hypotheses. Analysis of surface distributions at 41KT42, a late nineteenth- to early twentieth-century ranch line camp known locally as the Ed Scott Cabin, groups the artifacts into material and functional categories that demonstrate primary and secondary refuse accumulations adjacent to the cabin. The distribution of primary refuse shows kitchen artifacts are spatially distinct from other types that include architectural, firearm, ranching, clothing, and personal items. The primary discard pattern is obfuscated by redistribution attributed to secondary refuse discard. The uppermost of two superimposed hearths at 41GR484, the Grape Creek Bench Site, is radiocarbon dated to 260 B.P. and yielded charcoal identified as Carya sp. Excavations were halt~d at this Late Prehistoric II site because of extremely low artifact recovery. Geoarcheological investigations demonstrate that most of the site has been destroyed by cut bank erosion associated with the meanderings of Grape Creek. At 41KT33, the Late Prehistoric I South Sage Creek Site, stone-lined hearth features dated to 1005 B.P. are surrounded by clusters of artifacts. Petrographic analysis of brownware ceramics suggests affiliations with the local Palo Duro Complex and nonlocally with the Pecos River valley. The Gobbler Creek Bridge Site, 4IGR383, spans the late Archaic and Late Prehistoric I periods. Intact· and dispersed stone-lined hearths radiocarbon dated to 1865-1215 B.P. are surrounded by artifact clusters. Both of the sites appear to have been multifunctional campsites, and repeated occupations are likely. Dense concentrations of fire-cracked rocks at these sites may represent secondary refuse disposal. Lithic analysis indicates extensive use of nonlocal materials derived from Cretaceous formations that occur in the Callahan Divide and Edwards Plateau to the south. Freshwater mussels are the only faunal remains recovered from either of these sites. The meat is presumed to have been consumed as food, while the shells sometimes were made into ornaments. An additional 440 acres of land were surveyed for cultural resources; 360 of these acres were subsequently acquired by the City of Lubbock for use as wildlife mitigation lands. Nine prehistoric archeological sites and one isolated find were documented and evaluated for their eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Five of these sites are considered to be ineligible for listing on the National Register, and five are potentially eligible for listing. Avoidance is recommended at these five sites, with testing recommended to determine their National Register eligibility if avoidance is not possible. Geological investigations provide information about depositional environments in and near the archeological sites. Two soils buried in the Double Mountain Fork floodplain are radiocarbon dated to 8~00 B.P. and 1700-1300 B.P.; fluvial sediments extend as much as 15 m below these soils in portions of the floodplain. An older terrace previously was identified 18 m above the modem river channel. Current work obtained a terminal date of 8690 B.P. from a buried soil that caps this older terrace. Another radiocarbon date of 3320 B.P. was obtained from fill in a gully that is eroded into the older terrace. These dates bracket an erosional episode when the older terrace was heavily dissected. The erosion coincides with the Altithermal, a period believed to have been characterized by a hot and dry climatic regime.

A TL/ESR Study of the Hearth Feature at the Calico Archaeological Site, California

TL/ESR measurements were made to test whether a semicircular arrangement of cobbles at the Calico site was a man-made hearth. Results of an earlier magnetic study of one of the cobbles suggested the inner portion had been heated to 360ºC. Such a temperature would destroy radiation-induced defects on the inner portions of the cobbles, which can then be measured by TL/ESR. TL/ESR signals of the inner and outer portions of four cobbles were measured and showed no significant differences. Moreover, all samples appeared to be at full TL and ESR saturation. Progressive heating of a control cobble taken from outside the hearth feature indicated that destruction of the TL/ESR signal occurs at 200ºC. Estimates of the dose rate at the site indicates that at least 400,000 years are required for an annealed rock to attain full TL/ESR saturation, a much longer time than the estimated 200,000-year age of the deposit.

Integrating pattern and context in spatial archaeology

Traditional approaches to intrasite spatial analysis in archaeology have concentrated on identifying associations among classes of artifacts over a site surface. This focus has tended to ignore the possible effects of contextual constraints on inter-class relationships, for example the “gravity effects” of hearth features on object deposition. Consequently, sets of co-occurring artifact classes defined in space are usually ascribed behavioural significance as “tool kits”, even though they may represent unrelated objects simply discarded into the same spatial location. This paper attempts to illustrate this problem through contextual integration of artifact and feature distributions. Quantitative methods are employed to carry out contextual spatial analysis of artifact distributions from the Upper Palaeolithic rockshelter site Le Flageolet I (Dordogne, France). Results indicate that associations among artifact classes in space might be constrained by feature locations at Le Flageolet I and that contextual interpretations are warranted for the observed inter-class relations.