Archaeological Interpretation Research Articles

The Community of Practice: An Essential and Elegant Framework for Archaeological Interpretation

The Community of Practice: An Essential and Elegant Framework for Archaeological Interpretation

Experimental bison butchery using replica hafted Clovis fluted points and large handheld flakes

Late Pleistocene Clovis fluted points and stone flake tools have been found in association with bison at several archaeological sites in western North America. To gain insight into how these tools may have functioned in bison butchery, as well as to assess the assumptions or interpretations of these implements by archaeologists, we conducted a bison-processing experiment. We examined the relative efficacy in the butchering process of hafted fluted points versus handheld flakes and of different Clovis point forms; the types of tool breakage that might occur during butchering; cut-marks that might occur on bones; and, the effects of edge resharpening, both in terms of cutting efficiency and in the before/after form of the points and flake tools used in the process. We also recorded several unanticipated observations on, but not limited to, field-processor injury, the function of fluted point proximal-lateral edge grinding, and tool loss during the butchery event. Overall, our experiment emphasizes the prevalence of equifinality in archaeological interpretation, as it shows that numerous aspects of the Clovis archaeological record – as it is currently understood – can be equally explained by several distinct processes.

Odd deposits: interpreting sweetgum use at Coles Creek mound centers

ABSTRACT The archaeological record of the Lower Mississippi Valley represents a long history of Indigenous people making wide and variable use of the region’s exceptionally rich ecosystems. Often, archaeological interpretations of these interactions focus on subsistence and do not take into consideration non-food uses of plants and animals. Our excavations at two Coles Creek (AD 750–1000) mound centers, Feltus and Smith Creek, yielded curious concentrations of sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) in addition to the expected suite of plants. We first discuss the archaeological context of sweetgum on these sites, then outline our methods of identifying the plant in archaeological samples. We detail the process of identifying sweetgum both in-field and from flotation and water-screening samples and provide identification criteria that can be used by other analysts. Finally, we review what we know about sweetgum use from the broader archaeological, ethnohistoric, and ethnographic records. Drawing these lines of evidence together, we synthesize pre – and post-colonial ethnobotany to hypothesize about how and why Coles Creek people used this plant in ceremonial activities taking place at mound centers.

The Alligator Lake Throwing Dart, Yukon, Canada

On August 25th, 2018, the Yukon Ice Patch Research Group recovered a 6,000-year-old segmented throwing dart from site JcUu-11 (Hare et al. 2004) located in the traditional territories of the Carcross/Tagish First Nation and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation, Yukon Canada. The discovery was the result of a dramatic retreat of an ice patch over a period of 23 days. This discovery is the first entirely complete atlatl throwing dart retrieved from an archaeological site in arctic and subarctic North America. Beyond its remarkably state of preservation, the artifact offers insights on material use and artifact design that may have significant implications for archaeological interpretations of First Nations’ hunting traditions.

Multi-proxy paleoenvironmental data from Paulina Marsh inform human-environmental dynamics in the Northern Great Basin U.S.A.

Understanding the dynamics between climate change and human adaptive strategies is a longstanding question driving paleoecological and archaeological research in North America's Great Basin. We present multiproxy data from five sediment cores retrieved from Paulina Marsh in the Fort Rock Basin, Oregon, an area renowned for its archaeology but lacking the paleoenvironmental data needed to fully contextualize those records. Radiocarbon, pollen, particle size, elemental, and charcoal analyses of one core, and geochronological data from four additional cores, reveal fluctuating vegetation communities, hydrologic conditions, and fire histories during the Early and Late Holocene that are consistent with models proposed to explain changing settlement-subsistence patterns in the region. There was likely an emergent marsh or meadow and an absence of Juniperus at the core site during the Early Holocene. Middle Holocene deposits are not present due to a geologic unconformity, perhaps because of channel migration and climatic aridity. Late Holocene sediments record a more mesic meandering stream system between ∼3900 and 2200 years ago, followed by an increase in xeric-adapted vegetation in the last 2000 years. The lack of Juniperus pollen in the Early Holocene sediments inform ongoing debates about Juniperus spread in the Great Basin. These data represent the first Early Holocene pollen record from the Fort Rock Basin and are one of few lowland vegetation histories of this age in the region. This study contributes to our understanding of past ecology in semi-arid environments, provides new context for archaeological interpretations, and establishes a framework for future work in the region.

Challenging Classifications? Interpreting a “Difficult” Enclosure at Inchnadamph in Northwestern Scotland

ABSTRACT This paper explores some challenges of archaeological interpretation and classification through an enclosure at Inchnadamph in Sutherland, northwestern Scotland, a site that has proven difficult to interpret. Despite a small number of archaeological interventions, including topographic and geophysical survey and excavation, the site remains enigmatic. We discuss the different interpretations suggested for the site in turn, concluding that the enclosure does not fit readily into existing classification schemes. This raises issues surrounding the use of classification systems, prior assumptions, and the need for critical thinking in interpretation. These are universal issues, applicable beyond the Scottish example chosen, and this paper highlights concerns and difficulties encountered by all who deal with the classification of sites and monuments. Ultimately, this challenges some of our preconceptions and sheds light on the limits of our knowledge, as well as the limits of our classification systems.

Integrating Oral History and Archaeology of the 1845 Franklin Expedition: The Case From Kungearkbeearu

Attempts to accurately reconstruct events that occurred during the final phases of the 1845 Franklin Northwest Passage expedition face a key challenge: how to address inconsistencies and, in some cases, contradictions between historical descriptions of sites and the archaeological evidence they contain. This paper examines the case of site NcLa-1 at Kungearkbeearu, on the Simpson Strait coast of King William Island, for which the Inuit oral history seems incompatible with archaeological interpretations. New archaeological data from the site provide an enhanced framework within which to evaluate both the oral history and archaeology of NcLa-1.

Morphometry of Lamiaceae pollen grains from the archaeological site of Kastrì (Epirus-Greece; 15th–16th cent. AD)

Pollen analysis of a late medieval layer (15th–16th century AD) recovered in the archaeological site of Kastrì (Epirus, Greece) highlighted the occurrence of large amounts of stephanocolpate Lamiaceae pollen grains. Morphometric analysis, by means of Light and Scanning Electron Microscopy, allowed three different pollen types to be identified within the family. In particular, the structure of the bireticulate exine, which is only visible under SEM observation, revealed to be a diagnostic feature for genus and even species identification. This was possible thanks to comparison with modern Lamiaceae species that were selected on the basis of pollen morphological similarity and geographical distribution. The results of comparison, achieved through K-nearest neighbour classification, led to ascribe the subfossil pollen types to the genera Salvia, Mentha and Thymus and to propose S. nemorosa/glutinosa/pratensis, M. arvensis and T. praecox as the most probable species to be associated with the subfossil grains. The significance of such a large quantity of Lamiaceae pollen is not easy to decipher. However, the co-occurrence in the sample of grazing indicators would suggest that these aromatic herbs were probably related to feeding or caring for flocks, in line with the archaeological interpretation of the investigated medieval structure as a shelter for shepherds as well as with the current use of these plants as forage supplements.

The Bronze Age occupation of the Black Sea coast of Georgia—New insights from settlement mounds of the Colchian plain

AbstractAlong the lower course of the Rioni and several minor rivers, more than 70 settlement mounds (local name: Dikhagudzuba) have been identified by field surveys and remote sensing techniques. They give evidence of a formerly densely populated landscape in the coastal lowlands on the Colchian plain (western Georgia) and have been dated to the Bronze Age. As yet, limited information is available on their internal architecture, the chronology of the different layers and their palaeoenvironmental context. Based on archaeological sources, remote sensing measurements of three mounds and sediment cores from one mound and its closer surroundings, our study presents a review of the relevant literature and reveals the internal structure, distribution and spatial extent of the mounds. Geochemical and sedimentological analyses of element contents (X‐ray fluorescence) and granulometry helped to identify different stratigraphical layers and differentiate between natural facies and anthropogenic deposits; using the Structure‐from‐Motion technique the mounds' dimensions were calculated. The studied settlement mounds had relatively small dimension (varying from 30 to 100 m in diameter) and were similar in their stratigraphy. Measurement of elements that can identify types of human activity, notably metals and phosphorus, suggest changing intensities of human occupation, pastoral agriculture and metalworking through the occupation sequence. According to the 14C chronology, the formation of the settlements occurred during the first half of the second millennium B.C., which confirms the archaeological interpretation of their Bronze Age origin. The narrow age difference between the lowermost and uppermost anthropogenic layers indicates an intentional construction of the mounds, rather than a successive accumulation of construction debris due to the disintegration of loam bricks by weathering. Therefore, they are indeed mounds and not tells. It is most likely that the characteristic circular moats that surround them were the source of their construction material. Fluvial and alluvial processes in a warm and humid climate dominated the environment of the mounds.

Commentary

Greer offers an excellent primer on some Black Studies scholars’ critiques of humanism, for which he uses the label ‘counter-humanism’ after Erasmus (2020), distinguishing these approaches from ‘posthumanism.’ He identifies two primary strains of posthumanism relevant to archaeological interpretation, symmetrical archaeology and posthuman feminism, though examples of the latter are drawn from a broader body of academic literature and are subject to less critique. Posthumanists are shown to prioritize dismantling a human–object divide, while counter-humanists critique the human–non-human split. This may appear to be more or less the same project, but the framing of ‘A/not-A’ rather than ‘A–B’ emphasizes the hegemonic relationships between these categories, the continuity within, and makes more explicit the fact that people are included in both the non-human and object categories.

Reconstructing the Underwater Topography in the Medieval Harbour of Oslo

Abstract Many known factors are continuously affecting and changing the landscape. This can lead to challenges in interpreting archaeological remains found underwater, or in areas that used to be underwater, when their depth below the water surface at the time of deposition is unknown. This article is an attempt to investigate if it is possible to reconstruct how the underwater (submarine) landscape might have looked in Oslo in the Late Middle Ages based on data gathered in an archaeological excavation at site B8a. Calculating the known parameters that affect the underwater topography in Oslo – land uplift, sea level change, subsidence of the ground, and technical adjustment of mean sea level – resulted in a model. This model of the seabed around AD 1400 is based on up-to-date information and shows that it is possible to create a relevant framework for archaeological interpretation. Yet, there are challenges like the degree of inaccuracy of the data used, where our calculations end up with an uncertainty range of around ± 0.64 m.

The Archaeological Interpretation of the Determining Criteria and Developmental Path of Chinese Civilization

The research findings of the project of tracing the origins of Chinese civilization substantiate China’s million years of human history, 10,000-plus years of cultural history, and 5,000-plus years of civilizational history. Cities and capitals have been the foremost tangible embodiment throughout the formation and development of Chinese civilization. By examining the sites of ancient Chinese capitals and palaces, noting the transition from “shrines side by side with palaces” to “the imperial ancestral shrine on the left and the altar to the gods of earth and grain on the right,” and observing the evolution from “dual axis” to “central axis” in city planning, we can delve into the cultural genes that have shaped the development of Chinese civilization. Throughout history, China’s first inhabitants and their descendants have forged strong traditions of ancestral identification, the unity and commensurability of family and state, and identification with the state. Characterized by powerful cohesiveness and inclusiveness, these traditions form the subtly ingrained and daily practiced cultural genes of Chinese civilization. They are the fundamental reasons behind the enduring continuity of Chinese civilization for over 5,000 years.

On not seeing like a state: rethinking ancient Honduras (The Gordon Childe Lecture for 2023)

This article exemplifies the way that moving from perspectives on inequality to questions of the exercise of freedom can change archaeological interpretation. Using a case study from Honduras, where conventional models suggest that social evolution stagnated at the level of chiefdoms, the article draws on recent advances in theories of anarchic social organisation to rethink the data relating to occupation during the equivalent of the Maya Classic and Terminal Classic periods (c. 500–1000 ad). Settlement pattern data from northern Honduras have previously been interpreted as exemplifying heterarchy, understood as the expression of multiple overlapping hierarchies, in distinct aspects of social life. Most settlements conform to the needs of farming, with small towns that are roughly evenly spaced providing opportunities for rural populations to participate in seasonal ceremonies, ball games and possibly markets. Considering the structuring role of freedom to move, to refuse commands and to create new forms of social life enables understanding underlying dynamics that the heterarchy model was missing. It allows for an account of the growth and decline of settlements as outcomes of strategies by leading families and refusal of these by the broader population. Central to these strategies are the roles of visual media, specifically art works, through which social values were created among this politically anarchic population.

Forest mosaics, not savanna corridors, dominated in Southeast Asia during the Last Glacial Maximum.

The dominant paradigm is that large tracts of Southeast Asia's lowland rainforests were replaced with a "savanna corridor" during the cooler, more seasonal climates of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) (23,000 to 19,000 y ago). This interpretation has implications for understanding the resilience of Asia's tropical forests to projected climate change, implying a vulnerability to "savannization". A savanna corridor is also an important foundation for archaeological interpretations of how humans moved through and settled insular Southeast Asia and Australia. Yet an up-to-date, multiproxy, and empirical examination of the palaeoecological evidence for this corridor is lacking. We conducted qualitative and statistical analyses of 59 palaeoecological records across Southeast Asia to test the evidence for LGM savannization and clarify the relationships between methods, biogeography, and ecological change in the region from the start of Late Glacial Period (119,000 y ago) to the present. The pollen records typically show montane forest persistence during the LGM, while δ13C biomarker proxies indicate the expansion of C4-rich grasslands. We reconcile this discrepancy by hypothesizing the expansion of montane forest in the uplands and replacement of rainforest with seasonally dry tropical forest in the lowlands. We also find that smooth forest transitions between 34,000 and 2,000 y ago point to the capacity of Southeast Asia's ecosystems both to resist and recover from climate stressors, suggesting resilience to savannization. Finally, the timing of ecological change observed in our combined datasets indicates an 'early' onset of the LGM in Southeast Asia from ~30,000 y ago.

Ancient genomes reveal the origin and kinship burial patterns of human remains during the 11th to 13th centuries in northern China

AbstractThe analysis of familial relationships among individuals co‐buried in a shared tomb is crucial for understanding burial practices and the underlying social organization of ancient human society. However, archaeological interpretation of these relationships has traditionally relied on conjecture and circumstantial evidence. The development of next‐generation sequencing technologies makes it possible to obtain genomic data from ancient individuals and thus can further estimate the genetic relatedness among these individuals in an accurate manner. In this study, we obtained the genomes of four individuals excavated from a single tomb in northern China. We found that three out of the four individuals were from a nuclear family, including the parents and their son, while the remaining female individual was genetically unrelated to the others. Our study not only shows that the burial custom was organized based on both biological relatedness and social kinship ties but also suggests the presence of likely female exogamy in ancient China. Finally, we find the genetic profile of these individuals carried a majority ancestry from the sedentary agriculturalists from the Central Plains of China and subtle ancestry that derived a gene pool associated with nomadic pastoralism, implying a long‐standing genetic continuity among ancient populations in northern China, but with genetic and cultural connections with nomadic groups during the 11th to 13th centuries.

Archaeological History, Memory, and Heritage at the White Marl Site, Central Village, St Catherine Parish, Jamaica

White Marl is the largest, most complexly organized pre-colonial site documented for Jamaica and it is increasingly at risk due to plans for highway improvements. The site is of fundamental importance to overlapping sets of stakeholders: local residents, descendant communities, professional and avocational archaeologists, and heritage managers. We consider concepts of memory and heritage, linking decades of archaeological research at White Marl to current conceptions of the place by descendants of the first Taíno settlers and by residents of Central Village, the modern community surrounding the site. We review White Marl’s archaeological history and situate the site in its current social, cultural, political, and economic context of Central Village. White Marl has been the focus of varied archaeological interpretations since the nineteenth century. In addition to the archaeological community, this heritage resource is important to local community members and descendants of the original Indigenous occupants. The Taíno Museum adjacent to the site, established by the Institute of Jamaica in 1965, now serves as a church and school for local residents. Continuities are explored between the Indigenous pre-colonial occupants of White Marl, current occupants of Central Village, and the Indigenous descendant community.

Remains of fill and floor? contextual taphonomy in a semi-subterranean structure in the hyperarid coast of the Atacama Desert, Chile

Architectural features and shell-matrix sites are one of the most challenging records for archaeological interpretation, due to their intricate stratification and complex depositional paths. In the hyperarid coast of the Atacama Desert, hunter-gatherer-fisher developed standardized stone-built architectural features mostly built on or directly related to shell-matrix deposits during the Late Archaic period (5700 – 4000 cal. years B.P.). These structures have been usually interpreted as sedentary villages or long-term campsites. These functional interpretations are based primarily upon intrasite variability, lacking systematic site formation analysis and chronostratigraphy. As a response to concerns arising from limited interpretive approaches, we propose a detailed taphonomic study of bone assemblages from a stone-built funerary structure of the Zapatero site (∼25°S, Taltal, Chile). We recorded macroscopic taphonomic modification features on mammal and avian bone remains (n = 1776) from five stratigraphic units within the structure. Our results attest that despite some similarities between strata, key differences in overall proportions suggest different taphonomic pathways. This variability within the sample is interpreted as a re-deposition of bone refuse from previous occupations as structural filling, intentionally deposited previous to the abandonment of the structure, therefore not directly related to the occupation of the architectonic feature. Finally, we highlight the role that relatively simple zooarchaeological and taphonomical comparisons intra-site, might shed light on exceptional site formation processes on short timescales, emphasizing why we must consider this sort of data even in low relative abundances in order to interpret taphonomic history pathways and depositional practices.

Potential of paleoecology and paleolandscape modeling to identify pre-Colonial cultural burning in montane forests: case studies in California

Paleoecology and paleolandscape modeling have the potential to differentiate cultural burning from climatic fires, improving interpretations of past fire histories and vegetation resource management practices. People have conducted variations of traditional fire management to increase terrestrial resources for hundreds of millennia, commonly in fire-prone areas where vegetation is adapted to frequent fire events. Over time, these cultural fires influenced regrowth and led to an anthropogenically-modified landscape. For some non-agrarian, semi-nomadic societies, such as the pre-Colonial groups within what is now known as California, identifying anthropogenic landscapes is difficult because of a lack of domesticated plant remains in the environmental record to indicate where human impacts occurred. This paper uses case studies from the central and southern Sierra Nevada range in California to explore the potential of paleoecology, specifically pollen and sedimentary charcoal, and spatially-explicit paleolandscape modeling to identify and distinguish periods of cultural burning in mountainous forests to improve archaeological interpretations of human-fire dynamics. Specifically, I use climate-vegetation dynamics and cluster analysis to look at temporal relationships of change between sites. These case studies are ideal because (1) the region is naturally fire-prone, (2) study sites are typically well-dated and analyzed at a sub-centennial resolution, (3) study sites are associated with archaeological sites, and (4) indigenous groups were proto-agricultural, balanophagy societies known to practice cultural burning. These case study sites show a strong potential to identify periods of cultural burning that help better inform archaeological interpretations and show synchronous evidence for cultural burning during the Little Ice Age (1250-1850). Furthermore, these studies provide better dated timelines of human influence at each site than nearby archaeological studies, indicating that in certain locales, paleoecological studies with high temporal resolutions could be used to inform the timing of archaeological activities and shifts.

Birds in Archaeology

It was a pleasure to review these two books by renowned authorities on the importance of bird remains, both for interpreting archaeological sites and for understanding how human interaction with wild birds has evolved in Western Europe. Wild birds are very important in helping to interpret many archaeological sites and, when I am directing excavations, I always keep to hand Alan Cohen and Dale Serjeantson's manual for identifying bird bones (Cohen & Serjeantson 1996) and I recommend it to the students who participate. For over 60 years Anne Eastham's tireless dedication to Quaternary avifauna and her assiduous preparation, by meticulously dissecting birds to build a comprehensive skeletal reference collection, have furthered the archaeological interpretation of many Western European Palaeolithic sites.

Breaking Free from Field Layers: The Interest of Post-excavation Stratigraphies (PES) for Producing Reliable Archaeological Interpretations and Increasing Chronological Resolution

In order to track diachronic changes in archaeological sequences, researchers typically partition time into stratigraphic layers defined during fieldwork, which serve as the framework for ensuing analyses. These analytical units have a significant impact on archaeological inference, defining its resolution, and influencing both the study of cultural assemblages and the reconstruction of past environments. However, field layers are seldom re-evaluated after excavation despite the fact that archaeological deposits are now commonly recognised as often containing material ‘mixed’ together by site formation processes, excavation techniques, or analytical practices. Although the analysis of intra-site spatial data clearly offers a means to overcome these issues, our literature review of 192 journal articles revealed the potential of this data (notably vertical projections of piece-plotted artefacts) to be under-exploited in prehistoric archaeology. Here, we advocate for the development of a more spatially informed framework for interpretation that we refer to as post-excavation stratigraphy or PES. After proposing a definition for PES, we attempt to develop a framework for theoretical considerations underlying their implication, importance, and potential. Three main benefits of PES are highlighted: ensuring assemblage reliability, increased chronological and spatial resolution, and more reliable interpretations based on a multi-stratigraphic approach. We contend that the stratigraphy defined during fieldwork is insufficient and potentially misleading. By providing a different “stratigraphic view” of the same sequence, each specialist can contribute data that, when combined, produces a better understanding of interactions between changes in, for example, technological or cultural traditions, subsistence strategies, or paleoenvironments.