Middens Research Articles

Sedimentation of Crassostrea gigas and Perna perna biodeposits in the South Atlantic

This study aimed to determine the vertical sedimentation velocity of fecal and pseudofecal matter from the bivalve molluscs Crassostrea gigas and Perna perna in the Santa Catarina Island bays, focusing on two diferente locations: Caieira da Barra do Sul (CBS) and Sambaqui (SBQ). The initial phase involved collecting biodeposits using a system with twelve chambers, directing a controlled seawater flow at a rate of 500 mL.min−1. The organisms were individually housed in these chambers, and biodeposits were collected over a three-hour period. Fourteen campaigns were conducted to collect biodeposits from the two species under study. Three types of samples were produced after each campaign: feces, pseudofeces, and a combination of both (F, PF, and F/PF, respectively). The subsequent phase involved evaluating sedimentation velocity in a controlled environment using a two-meter-long, 150 mm-diameter acrylic column filled with filtered seawater. Sedimentation tests were conducted using samples from the initial phase. The sample was inserted at the top of the column, and turbidity was measured over a specified period (up to 25 min). The sedimentation velocities for F were as follows: for C. gigas, 1.56 ± 0.19 cm.s−1 and 2.08 ± 0.83 cm.s−1 in CBS and SBQ, respectively, and for P. perna, the corresponding values were 2.36 ± 0.70 cm.s−1 and 3.33 ± 0.00 cm.s−1, respectively. For F/PF samples, the corresponding sedimentation velocities were: 2.41 ± 0.85 cm.s−1 and 1.15 ± 0.61 cm.s−1 for C. gigas and 2.36 ± 0.70 cm.s−1 and 2.96 ± 0.64 cm.s−1 for P. perna, in CBS and SBQ, respectively. The sedimentation rates of samples composed solely of pseudofeces could not be determined, as the particles in these samples did not settle within the 25-minute analysis period. The velocities determined were closely related to the characteristics of particles found in the marine water habitat of the organisms. Their filtration-based feeding mechanism significantly influences the vertical sedimentation velocity and biodeposit formation. The methodology used to determine sedimentation velocity proved to be effective and quick, offering a more cost-effective approach than other available methodologies.

Spat of pacific oysters (Crassostrea gigas) grown in subtropical environments

ABSTRACT This study aimed to compare the growth and survival of Crassostrea gigas spat at four sites (Sambaqui (SBQ), Paraíso das Ostras (PAR), Atlâtico Sul (ATL), and Cia das Ostras (CDO)) in Brazil. Batches of spat were reared in the summer and winter of 2018 and the summer of 2019 for two month periods. SBQ site had higher total particulate matter and particulate inorganic matter values than those observed at the other sites. The salinity at the PAR site was higher than that found at the other sites, but the temperature was lower. No differences in survival were observed among the sites in the summer or winter of 2018; however, in the summer of 2019, there were significant differences. Shell height was higher during warmer seasons than during winter. In conclusion, the SBQ and ATL sites were found to have better conditions for spat cultivation than the PAR and CDO sites.

Tid, arkeologi och konst

Time, Archaeology and Art – the Pillar of Culture in Lund. The article is an investigation into how archaeologists and artists may relate to time departing from the so-called “Pillar of Culture” at The Cultural Museum in Lund. The pillar is a six meter high stratigraphical section from an excavation in Lund 1913. It was exhibited in 1932 in a context of artifacts from the actual excavation. The pillar was relocated to the Medieval Hall in 1959, where the section was supplemented with a series of pottery and a wooden sculpture by the artist Torsten Treutiger. The pillar was moved again later in time and became a part of the Metropolis exhibition that opened in 1999.
 Stratigraphic thinking and methodological practice are followed from the 17th century to the present. An excavated section of a “kitchen midden” exhibited at the National Museum of Copenhagen is identified as a possible model. The pillar is analyzed as a visualization of the history of Lund based on different types of sources, which are combined – soil, artifacts, written documents and monuments. From the beginning the pillar was supposed to represent 10.000 years, later a period of only 658 years, the “long Danish Middle Ages”.

The Rødhals kitchen midden – marine adaptations at the end of the Mesolithic world

The Rødhals kitchen midden was located on a tiny stretch of land 18 km from the nearest major landmass in present-day Denmark. It dates to the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition, roughly 4300 to 3700 cal BC. Its inhabitants practiced a remarkably broad-scale exploitation of marine resources spanning from the collecting of mollusks on the sea-shore, over open-sea fowling and deep-water angling to the killing of small whales. The sparse traces of terrestrial diet are mainly from cattle, sheep, pig and cereals dating to a late stage of the habitation. Strategic raw materials of bone and antler from large forest game were only occasionally imported from across the sea. In terms of artefact types and production modes, the material culture of Rødhals represents the ultimate stage of the local fisher-hunter-gatherer Ertebølle Culture and an initial stage of the farming-based Funnel Beaker Culture. The extreme marine adaptation seen at this site may reflect a historically extraordinary situation, where an indigenous population of foragers had lost major parts of its territory to immigrant farmers.

På munkenes bord

På munkenes bord

Dieta e condições de vida em Saquarema-RJ

Nos últimos anos, o setor de Antropologia Biológica do Museu Nacional/UFRJ realizou a retomada dos estudos de dieta de sambaquis da região de Saquarema, RJ, dentro da perspectiva bioarqueológica. O objetivo dessas pesquisas é o de compreender tais aspectos da vida dessas populações com o uso das metodologias e protocolos empregados atualmente. Os resultados encontrados trouxeram informações relevantes para esse debate. Porém, com a perda das coleções osteológicas de Saquarema devido ao incêndio do Museu Nacional, algumas análises planejadas foram impossibilitadas. Mesmo com tamanha perda, os dados sugeridos apontam caminhos futuros de investigação, uma vez que os sítios de Saquarema ainda possuem histórias, e os esforços para que elas sejam contadas permanecerão.

Palaeoenvironmental and hunting activity of the Upper Palaeolithic population in Western Transbaikalia: A case study on the Podzvonkaya Settlement, South Siberia

AbstractPaleontological data from Palaeolithic sites in the Transbaikal region are frequently interpreted from the viewpoint of palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. This research describes faunal material from one of the largest Initial Upper Palaeolithic settlements in Transbaikalia Podzvonkaya and the general characteristics of ancient human hunting activity there. The archaeological context of the faunal remains (located near hearths and in the kitchen midden) indicates the bones at the site are kitchen waste. The species composition indicates which species Podzvonkaya's inhabitants preferred to hunt. The largest number of remains belongs to horse, argali, bison, and Mongolian gazelle—animals that prefer open steppe and dry‐steppe landscapes. The results of a spore‐and‐pollen analysis of Podzvonkaya deposits reveal the domination of grass flora. The Tamir River valley could have been the habitat of the main target species, and ancient people probably hunted in the territory within the valley and in the valley's vicinity. Intraregional correlation with data on the species composition of the large mammals within other Palaeolithic remains of the Western Transbaikal region supports a conclusion regarding the identity of fauna at the final stage of the late Neopleistocene. Data from sites belonging to the same culture and period reveal identical prey lists, with certain preferences explained by site type (ie, long‐term base settlement or short‐term hunting camp).

A ocupação sambaquieira no entorno da Baía de Guanabara

Rio de Janeiro, Niterói, Duque de Caxias, São Gonçalo e Magé, cidades situadas na baía de Guanabara, se desenvolveram em território antes ocupado pelos sambaquieiros. Durante o processo de urbanização, muitos sítios arqueológicos foram destruídos, e algumas pequenas porções estão cobertas por calçamentos de ruas e sob construções das cidades. Com o objetivo de investigar o sistema de assentamento, foram sistematizadas as informações sobre o nordeste da Baía, que ainda contem agrupamentos de sambaquis, alguns deles compostos por sítios em bom estado de conservação, e elaborada uma projeção para o entorno da Baía,­ com o objetivo de delinear suas principais características, traçar um panorama da ocupação sambaquieira no entorno da Baía e estabelecer correlações com outras regiões litorâneas.

PEMANFAATAN GUA-GUA ALAM DI KABUPATEN MOROWALI UTARA SEBAGAI BUKTI AKTIVITAS MANUSIA MASA LALU

Human life in the past, especially in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene are very dependent on the availability of natural resources around them. One of adaptation to an environment that does is use the cave as a shelter. The location was chosen with consideration of the cave near the water source, easy to get the food needed and is safe from the threat of wild animals. Natural caves scattered Morowali district is used as a shelter and burial with the remains of stone-tool artifacts flakes, blades and waste product; kitchen midden and animal bones: skull, bones and human teeth; rock painting in the form of hand stencils.

On the subsistence types of the Xiantouling Culture

Abstract The Xiantouling Culture featured sand dune sites and shell midden (kitchen midden) sites. Through an analysis of the faunal and floral remains and tools unearthed from these sites, with the relevant unearthed pottery wares and paleo-environmental research results taken into account, it can be evidenced that the subsistence types of these sites were mainly plant gathering supplemented by fishing and hunting, instead of relying on marine resources. The subsistence type of the sand dune sites was mainly plant gathering and occasionally rice gathering or farming; that of the earlier kitchen madden sites was gathering freshwater shells, and that of the later ones was more relying on marine resources. From the late phase of Xiantouling Culture, the archaeological cultures in the coastal areas of southeastern China began to utilize marine resources in a large scale.

Exploratory palynological studies at the Tell el-Daba'a-Avaris archaeological site.

A palynological study of samples collected from the Tell el-Daba'a (Avaris) archaeological site, the capital of the Hyksos located in the Northeastern Nile Delta, Egypt, was conducted. A range of samples were analyzed for pollen content: mudbricks from tomb walls dating from the Middle (cal. 2124–1778 BC) and New Kingdom ages (cal. 1550–1750 BC), kitchen remains dating from the Middle Kingdom, kitchen middens from the 19th Dynasty (cal. 1750–1058 BC), and tomb offering jars from the Late Period (cal.1000-600 BC). Floristic composition of modern vegetation analysis at different habitats revealed four community types and nine associated types, providing an indicator of high soil salinity and moisture content. Cereal and Achillea-type pollen were common in the mudbrick samples, indicating the probable use of these plants as temper during mudbrick manufacturing in the Middle and New Kingdoms. The kitchen samples were dominated by cereals, broad bean, celery, and other weed pollen types, indicating the importance of cereals, legumes, and celery as strategic crops for food or medicines during the Middle Kingdom period. Weed pollen types were probably associated with crops, with “Cheno-am” pollen type recorded at highest abundance in the tomb filling jar, which may indicate the use of these aromatic herbs to repel insects and animals from tombs.

Amphotis marginata (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae) a highwayman of the ant Lasius fuliginosus.

The space occupied by evolutionarily advanced ant societies can be subdivided into functional sites, such as broodchambers; peripheral nest chambers; kitchen middens; and foraging routes. Many predators and social parasites are specially adapted to make their living inside specific niches created by ants. In particular, the foraging paths of certain ant species are frequented by predatory and kleptoparasitic arthropods, including one striking example, the nitidulid beetle, Amphotis marginata. Adults of this species obtain the majority of their nutrition by acting as a kind of “highwayman” on the foraging trails of the ant Lasius fuliginosus, where they solicit regurgitation from food laden ant-workers by mimicking the ant’s food-begging signals. Employing food labeled with the radio isotope 32P, we assessed the quantities of food the beetles siphoned-off of food-laden ants, and we investigated the site preferences, behavioral mechanisms and possible morphological adaptations underlying the food kleptoparasitism of A. marginata.

The Impact of Climate Change on an Archaeological Site in the Arctic

Climate change may accelerate the degradation of archaeological sites in the Arctic and lead to a loss of important historical information. This study assesses the current preservation conditions and the processes controlling the physical and chemical stability of the Qajaa kitchen midden in western Greenland. Currently, the site is well protected by low ground temperatures, permafrost and a high water/ice content, keeping the deposits anoxic. Based on 5 years of monitoring data, degradation experiments and model simulation, our results suggest that the combined effects of permafrost thaw, thermal and hydrological erosion and oxygen exposure may lead to substantial loss of archaeological evidence before the end of the 21st century.

Zooarqueología de un centro administrativo inca del Valle de Yocavil (Catamarca): el Tambo de Punta de Balasto

Este trabajo presenta los resultados del análisis de la arqueofauna del sitio inca Tambo de Punta de Balasto, localizado al sur del valle de Yocavil o Santa María (Catamarca, Argentina). Tambo de Punta de Balasto es un centro imperial; entre sus funciones debió estar la administración político-económica del territorio y el albergue de autoridades y trabajadores al servicio del Estado. El artículo hace foco en la fauna de un basural en las inmediaciones del Grupo Arquitectónico 7, una estructura del tipo kancha. Si bien se conocen otros materiales faunísticos del Período Inca del Noroeste argentino, la mayoría proviene de sitios del Período Desarrollos Regionales que fueron afectados al Tawantinsuyu, mientras que el Tambo de Punta de Balasto fue construido y utilizado exclusivamente para fines de la administración imperial.

Identifying Specialized 19th Century Fishing Camps on California's Northern Channel Islands: Applying AMS Radiocarbon Dating to Historical Sites

California’s Northern Channel Islands have long been an epicenter of specialized fishing economies dating from 13,000 yr ago to the mid-19th century. With thousands of well-preserved shell middens, some dominated by single shellfish species and little to no material culture, it can be difficult to distinguish between specialized prehistoric and historical deposits at some site types. Beginning at least in the Early Holocene and continuing into the Historic period, California mussels, turban snails, and abalone were targeted for specialized collection and processing by Native Americans and later Chinese and Euro-American fishers. Here, we demonstrate how selective accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating of specialized abalone processing camps can help distinguish between prehistoric and historical sites. While unconventional, our case study demonstrates the utility of 14 C dating at sites less than 300 yr old. DOI: 10.2458/azu_rc.57.18397

THE PORT CRAIG-SANDHILL POINT REGIONS OF SOUTHLAND: A PRELIMINARY ARCHAEOLOGICAL REPORT

Description of Area Sandhill Point is located at the western extremity of Te Wae Wae Bay. Mobile coastal sand dunes rise from behind a modest f oredune and tower over the surrounding terrain. As the sand is blown about, occupation lenses are exposed and eroded away, so that large areas of the dunes are covered with a thin scatter of midden material. Oven stones are common, particularly in the higher areas of the dunes.

Análisis morfométrico en Mytilus edulis : una herramienta para el análisis de los sitios concheros y la arqueología de la Costa Patagónica

Fragmentation is one of the most important taphonomic processes in archaeomalacological assemblages. The quantity of fragmented malacological material introduces biases that affect the interpretation of formation processes, shell midden preservation and human gathering strategies. In this paper we analyze the process of Mytilus edulis fragmentation at the PE 133 site, thereby presenting a methodology for studying archaeomalacological assemblages. The results show that no relationship could be established between shell size and the degree of fragmentation. This demonstrates that fragmentation depends on the mollusk characteristics. Therefore, shell thickness, shape and chemical composition, are more important that the size of the individual, the type of sediment, or site formation history. Finally, fragmentation introduces bias into shell length analysis, so that morphometric equations are a useful tool that permits us to to study fragmented individuals, resulting in a decrease in fragmentation bias.

A indústria lítica do sambaqui do Morrote

This article presents the lithic assembly of the Morrote shell mound (sambaqui). This collection comes from a burial mound site, located on the southern coast of the state of Santa Catarina. Morrote is considered, by regional standards, to be a middle size sambaqui, comprehending a succession of archaeological layers with more than 5 meters high and, a complex stratigraphy alternating organic and malacological layers including, hearths, postholes and a large amount of fish remains. However, the focus of this article is to discuss the lithic industry as well as the methodological choices derived from the laboratory analysis, followed by brief discussion of intra-site context of those artifacts.

Nest etiquette--where ants go when nature calls.

Sanitary behaviour is an important, but seldom studied, aspect of social living. Social insects have developed several strategies for dealing with waste and faecal matter, including dumping waste outside the nest and forming specialised waste-storage chambers. In some cases waste material and faeces are put to use, either as a construction material or as a long-lasting signal, suggesting that faeces and waste may not always be dangerous. Here we examine a previously undescribed behaviour in ants – the formation of well-defined faecal patches. Lasius niger ants were housed in plaster nests and provided with coloured sucrose solution. After two months, 1–4 well defined dark patches, the colour of the sucrose solution, formed within each of the plaster nests. These patches never contained other waste material such as uneaten food items, or nestmate corpses. Such waste was collected in waste piles outside the nest. The coloured patches were thus distinct from previously described ‘kitchen middens’ in ants, and are best described as ‘toilets’. Why faeces is not removed with other waste materials is unclear. The presence of the toilets inside the nest suggests that they may not be an important source of pathogens, and may have a beneficial role.

PREHISTORIC SUBSISTENCE PATTERNS IN THE NORTHERN MARQUESAS ISLANDS, FRENCH POLYNESIA1

Faunal and floral material from seven excavated sites on Uahuka and Nuku hiva Islands was quantitatively analyzed, in order to provide an outline of adaptations in the Marquesan economic system from ca. 300 to 1800 a.d. A primary shift occurred during the Developmental Period from marine-oriented hunting and gathering techniques to terrestrially-oriented agricultural and animal husbandry practices. This shift may have been caused by a combination of demographic factors and by the over-exploitation of marine resources. A number of rapid and drastic changes in the Marquesan ecology as a result of human activity are also indicated. In 1964 and 1965, Dr. Yosihiko Sinoto and Marimari Kellum, of the B. P. Bishop Museum, excavated several archaeological sites on the southern coast of Uahuka and re-excavated at Ha'atuatua, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands. This report concerns the analysis of faunal and floral material from seven of these sites (20·67 kilograms of midden). Previous stratigraphic excavation in the Marquesas had been carried out by Suggs (1961) on Nuku Hiva (including the Ha'atuatua site), and by a Kon-Tiki Museum expedition on Hivaoa (Sinoto, personal communication, 1970); results of the Hivaoa excavations have not been published. Suggs, although including economic considerations in his prehistoric sequence, did not undertake a detailed analysis of his faunal material, limiting himself to a checklist of mammals. Ottino (1972) analyzed midden material from Hanapete'o shelter on northern Hivaoa. Such is the present status of midden analysis for Marquesan archaeological sites.