Late Prehistoric Culture Research Articles

Revisiting the late prehistoric sequence of the Port Moresby region of Papua New Guinea: The continuing contribution of Susan Bulmer

ABSTRACTSusan Bulmer's PhD thesis, “Prehistoric culture change in the Port Moresby region”, was a very important, and still often cited, contribution to Papuan South Coast prehistory in the 1970s. Fieldwork for the thesis included the excavation of important sites at Taurama Beach and on Nebira Hill. This paper outlines recent archaeological and bioarchaeological research on stone artefacts, pottery and skeletal materials from these sites and discusses the implications of this research for early ideas about late prehistoric culture change in the Port Moresby region. The results of the recent studies suggest a complex of cultural (Austronesian and Papuan) and environmental influences, as well as population movements into the region over the past 1200 years, leading to the state of affairs at the close of prehistory. This picture is similar to that painted by Bulmer and others during the pioneering period of Papuan South Coast archaeology over 40 years ago.

Ceramic Types from Late Prehistoric Sites along the East Fork of the Trinity River

Ceramics are one of the key diagnostic artifacts that define the Late Prehistoric culture of the peoples that lived along the East Fork of the Trinity and its tributaries. We are completing a 42 year re evaluation of the Late Prehistoric period of the area and have st udied nearly 32,000 artifacts, of which over 10,200 are ceramic sherds. From this study, 20 distinct ceramic types have been recognized. Plain ware, both shell tempered and sandy paste/grog tempered, are the predominant ceramic types present, comprising ov er 90 percent of the total ceramic assemblage. While there is little direct evidence for indigenous manufacture, the abundance of these types suggests they were produced locally. Lesser quantities of decorated ware of distinct Caddo ceramic types from the Red River and East Texas suggest they are likely the product of exchange. There is also a small amount of Puebloan material indicative of a longer distance exchange.

A Matter of Time: The Temporal Relationship of Oneota and Central Plains Traditions

Sites of the Central Plains and Oneota traditions in the Lovewell Reservoir locality, north-central Kansas, provide radiocarbon dates critical to the problem of relations between these Late Prehistoric cultures. Statistical tests of dates from eight sites of that period suggest late thirteenth century occupation by both traditions, and perhaps a third. Despite temporal and geographic proximity, there is no clear archaeological evidence of interaction between these distinct cultures at Lovewell. Temporal placement of Oneota sites at Lovewell is also critical to identification of candidate sites or areas of origin for migrants to that locality. Dates from other western Oneota sites (Leary, Swantek, Ashland, and Dixon) post-date A.D. 1300, indicating they could not have been points of origin for these migrants. Pending a greater sample of radiocarbon dates from all western Oneota sites, hypotheses are offered that posit late thirteenth century Oneota migration to the Lovewell locality from an as yet unidentified Oneota locale that may have displaced some CPt groups.

Steed-Kisker Ceramics: Analysis of the Scott Site (14LVI082) Assemblage

One defining trait of the Steed-Kisker phase, a Late Prehistoric culture of the Central Plains tradition (CPt), is its ceramics. They differ from the ceramics of other Central Plains tradition cultures in that they are predominantly shell tempered, with smoothed surfaces and occasional shoulder decorations. Previous data collected from the Scott site (14LVI082) indicate Steed-Kisker occupation, and the ceramics support this conclusion. Both qualitative and dimensional data have been collectedfrom a sample of the sherds from this site and these data are compared to the Steed-Kisker (23PL13), Crabtree (23CL164), Cloverdale (23BN2), Friend and Foe (23CLl12), and DB (14LVI071) sites. Comparison shows variation among sites and within the Scott site assemblage. The Steed-Kisker and Crabtree sites exhibit no indication of contact with groups of other CPt phases, where as the Scott site assemblage includes three ceramic examples related to the Nebraska phase of the Central Plains tradition. The Scott sample contains mostly Platte Valley Plain ware, with relatively few examples of Steed-Kisker Incised.

Late Woodland Societies: Tradition and Transformation Across the Midcontinent

Archaeologists across the Midwest have pooled their data and perspectives to produce this indispensable volume on the Native cultures of the Woodland period (approximately A.D. 300-1000). Sandwiched between the well-known Hopewellian and Mississippian eras of monumental mound construction, the Woodland period has received insufficient attention from archaeologists, who have frequently characterized it as consisting of relatively drab artifact assemblages. The close connections between this period and subsequent Mississippian and Fort Ancient societies, however, make it especially valuable for cross-cultural researchers. Understanding the cultural processes at work during the Woodland period will yield important clues about the long-term forces that stimulate and enhance social inequality. Late Woodland Societies is notable for its comprehensive geographic coverage; exhaustive presentation and discussion of sites, artifacts, and prehistoric cultural practices; and critical summaries of interpretive perspectives and trends in scholarship. The vast amount of information and theory brought together, examined, and synthesized by the contributors produces a detailed, coherent, and systematic picture of Woodland lifestyles across the Midwest. The Woodland can now be seen as a dynamic time in its own right and instrumental to the emergence of complex late prehistoric cultures across the Midwest and Southeast. Thomas E. Emerson is director of the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program and an adjunct professor at the University of Illinois. He is the author or editor of several works, including Cahokia: Domination and Ideology in the Mississippian World. Dale L. McElrath is statewide survey coordinator and Andrew C. Fortier is special projects coordinator for the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program at the University of Illinois.

The origins of the civilization of Angkor

The transition to states in mainland Southeast Asia began during the first centuries AD, and has commonly been ascribed to the adoption of Indian religious and political ideas which arrived on the maritime silk route. Recent research on the Khmer language inscriptions dating from 611 AD has revealed strong local traditions underlying the Indic veneer. In assessing these trends to increased social complexity, however, we have lacked insight into late prehistoric culture.

The Hernando de Soto Expedition: History, Historiography, and "Discovery" in the Southeast.

This collection of trenchant essays raises the level of debate about Soto, his route, and his effects on Native Americans to new heights of sophistication by critically examining the literary sources and a host of methodological and contextual issues largely ignored in other works.-Paul E. Hoffman, author of A New Andalucia and a Way to the Orient: The American Southeast during the Sixteenth Century. This volume will be a magnificent contribution to de Soto studies. It establishes a modern historiographical foundation from which all future studies must proceed.-Jeffrey P. Brain, author of Winterville: Late Prehistoric Culture Contact in the Lower Mississippi Valley. Hernando de Soto and several hundred armed men cut a path of destruction and disease across the Southeast from Florida to the Mississippi River (1539-1542). The result was the social and demographic collapse or radical transformation of many Native American societies, and the gradual opening of the Southeast to European colonization. Traditionally, studies of the Soto expedition have concentrated on reconstructing its route. While not neglecting this issue, the eighteen contributors to this volume-themselves leading historians, archaeologists, literary critics, anthropologists, and ethnohistorians-investigate broader cultural and literary aspects of the sources themselves. The texts are also used to discuss microhistorical aspects of the expedition (including its daily routine, logistics, and health), and to evaluate their contribution to a better understanding of colonialism and southeastern Native American ethnohistory. Patricia Galloway is Special Projects Officer with the Mississippi Department of Archives andHistory. She is the author of Choctaw Genesis 1500-1700 (Nebraska 1995) and the editor of The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex: Artifacts and Analysis (Nebraska 1989).

The Impact of Late Prehistoric Cultures on the Vegetation of the North York Moors

Palynological data are presented from five sites on the North York Moors for changes in vegetation from Mesolithic times to the present day. Attention is focused on the late prehistoric period for which a considerable body of archaeological evidence is available. The traditional view of the importance of the middle Bronze Age period is challenged and the theory propounded that Iron Age and Romano-British cultures had a greater effect on vegetation and soils in this area than has previously been realized. A mechanism is suggested for man-induced change over the late prehistoric period and a tentative assessment is made of its long-term effects on the regional ecology. THE North York Moors offer ample research material to both the palynologist and the archaeologist. The area forms an isolated block of Jurassic rocks with clearly defined boundaries, crossed by a multitude of peat-filled glacial drainage channels and capped by an expanse of more recent blanket peat. Settlement is for the most part confined to the dales and the fringing lowlands, leaving the high moors as an area of rough grazing and, more recently, recreational land, where many archaeological remains have survived intact from the prehistoric and historic periods. The traditional view (Elgee, 1912, 1914) of the Callunetum as the 'climax' vegetation in this region of relatively low rainfall (only the highest areas receive over iooo mm p.a.) has been discredited by the work of palynologists such as Dimbleby (1952, i96i) and Simmons (1969). Over 30 sites scattered throughout the Moors (Fig. I) testify to a former forest cover, the disappearance of which is attributable to the hand of man. However, although the general sequence of events is well established, the details of the human impact on the vegetation of more restricted areas have not received a great deal of attention from palynologists. In this study a close examination is made of the effects of Bronze Age, Iron Age and RomanoBritish cultures on the vegetation of a small area in the eastern-central part of the Moors (Fig. i). A brief account of vegetation development in the area throughout the post-glacial period will be made to enable the late prehistoric period to be seen in context, but no detailed analysis will be attempted of ecological changes in the preceding or succeeding periods. Within the study area, five sites were examined in a variety of topographical situations (Fig. 2). The pivot site for the study was Fen Bogs, a 20 ha valley mire at the head of Newton Dale at an altitude of 164 m O.D. Peat remains of a maximum depth of i-8 m have been accumulating since the early post-glacial period and overlie a late-glacial solifluction clay. Field stratigraphy borings revealed a succession from carr woodland (Betula, Alnus, Salix) to Phragmites swamp, which was replaced by acidophilous vegetation dominated by Sphagnum, Eriophorum and Calluna probably as a result of drainage schemes associated with the creation of pastureland and the construction of the Whitby-Pickering railway in 1836. Peat deposits at the upland site of May Moss (259 m O.D.) have accumulated in the basins of two moorland streams and have amalgamated to form an area of blanket peat covering Ioo ha. 284 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.25 on Tue, 02 Aug 2016 04:40:58 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Vegetation of the North York Moors 285

Horned Owl Cave, Wyoming

AbstractHorned Owl Cave in the northern Laramie Mountains of Wyoming has provided a wide array of normally perishable artifacts in association with pictographs. Material objects recovered from the cave include fragments of atlatls, darts, shaft feathers, arrowshafts, blunt arrows, bark, weaving, bone tools, pottery, and lithic objects. The disturbed condition of the fill of the cave prevented a controlled stratigraphy, but typologically the material falls within the Late Middle culture and the Late Prehistoric culture phases of the northern Great Plains. The pictographs have been divided into three styles: an early red-figure style, a shield-figure style, and a final and probably late series of black-figure drawings. It is suggested that the red-figure drawings were a product of the last phases of the Late Middle culture, or perhaps the early phase of the Late Prehistoric culture. The shield style and the black-figure style would seem to belong to the Late Prehistoric period.

Stone Celts Found in the Vicinity of Vernon, Texas

Our collection, gathered over a period of years from surface sites in the upper Red River basin of northern Texas, represents only the historic and late prehistoric cultures of this region.The occurrence of pecked and polished celts in the upper Red River area is of interest since they probably represent prehistoric trade objects carried westward up the Red River from somewhere in the eastern forest area, possibly western Arkansas or extreme eastern Oklahoma. Nine of the celts described here were found along a fifteen-mile stretch of the Red River between the mouths of the Pease River and China Creek, which enter it from the south. Several camp sites are located along the south bank of the Red River between these points and two more lie at the mouth of China Creek.