Late Prehistoric Settlement Research Articles

Potential and limitations of LiDAR altimetry in archaeological survey. Copper Age and Bronze Age settlements in southern Iberia

Potential and limitations of LiDAR altimetry in archaeological survey. Copper Age and Bronze Age settlements in southern Iberia

Torwood Broch

This paper presents the first modern account of Torwood’s artefact assemblage and the most accurate survey of the site to date. These are combined with the results of a small-scale excavation on a newly discovered outer rampart and the publication for the first time of a reused concentric ring-marked stone and a carved face. In turn, these are combined with the results of a broader reassessment of the late prehistoric settlement in the Forth Valley. This review reveals a far greater range and variety of potentially contemporary architectural forms than previously recognised, which is argued to have arisen from conspicuous consumption in the context of local competition, which in turn was aided by the increased resources resulting from the proximity of the Roman Empire. It is further argued that Torwood may be pre-Roman in origin. The context of the concentric ring-marked stone may hint at contemporary Iron Age ritual practice, while the large proportion of local sites associated with both destruction by fire and the presence of large artefact assemblages suggests an underlying common practice regarding the closure of a site after its active use, which may share features with the destruction of souterrains in Fife and Angus.
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Core-periphery dynamics in the Kern River watershed

This study generates a comprehensive database of archaeological resources to evaluate Late Prehistoric (c 1500-150 cal BP) settlement and land use behaviours in the Kern River watershed of the far southern Sierra Nevada, California. These behaviours are evaluated using a habitat suitability model that relates the spatial distribution of critical subsistence resources present within the study area to suitability. Determining the habitat distribution operating in the Kern River watershed during the Late Prehistoric period is difficult using the model developed here. Settlement and land use behaviours trend towards a free distribution when evaluating all archaeological data associated with the Late Prehistoric period, but the results trend towards a despotic distribution when only incorporating lower elevation sites typically associated with more intensive residential activities. While it is difficult to identify these patterns using the model developed here, it is possible to identify several preferred areas within the study area. Preferred areas in the Kern River watershed are generally located in ecotonal habitats which contain less access to staple resources than peripheral habitats reflecting traditional Californian or Great Basin ecosystems. A settlement and land use strategy focused on ecotonal habitats at the core of the territory promotes territorial maintenance in several ways including creating a physical and social buffer against potential competitors, maintaining access to two staple resource bases and promoting long-term territorial stability among numerous ethnolinguistic populations. These results have implications for our understanding of the range of territorial behaviours practised by foraging groups, particularly low population density groups like the Tubatulabal.

Integrating a complex late prehistoric settlement system: Neutron activation analysis of pottery use and exchange at Saruq al-Hadid, United Arab Emirates

Temporary sites were a critical component of the prehistoric Near Eastern economy but, because of their ephemeral nature, are less frequently the focus of research than sedentary settlements. The present article presents the results of neutron activation analysis conducted on pottery from the temporary site of Saruq al-Hadid, United Arab Emirates. The results identified both continuity and change in the pottery consumed at the site in the Bronze and Iron Ages, which suggests that the peoples gathering here were integrated into economic practices observed at sedentary sites throughout southeastern Arabia.

Settlement activity in later prehistory: invisible in the archaeological record but documented by pollen and sedimentary evidence

The paper deals with landscape and settlement development between ca. 300 BC and AD 600 in a defined area of the northern Czech Republic. Despite favourable natural conditions, human occupation of the area did not begin until the end of the first millennium BC. Natural soil and vegetation development therefore lasted longer than in the traditionally settled lowland areas. Initial settlement activity from the La Tene period caused substantial erosion of deforested luvisols and retisols, well-documented by an accumulation of eroded soil horizons in a local wetland. The erosion process continued for more than 500 years following the end of the La Tene settlement, despite the fact that archaeological research revealed no reliable evidence of occupation prior to the twelfth century AD. Pollen and sedimentary records from the wetland, however, clearly indicate the existence of settlement activity during the “archaeologically invisible” Roman and Migration periods. This case is not unique and underlines the importance of environmental analysis for the detection of settlement history, particularly during periods of poor archaeological visibility or in places that are difficult to research using standard archaeological methods. The change in conditions after the first deforestation and subsequent late prehistoric settlement triggered the degradation of the deforested luvisols and retisols and led to the diversification of the soil cover, which now also includes regosols, gleysols, and truncated luvisols and retisols.

The Reuse of ‘Antiques’ in Conversion Period Cemeteries

BETWEEN 2005 AND 2007, a large Anglo-Saxon cemetery was excavated at Street House, near Loftus in Cleveland in north-eastern England. The site was discovered during a programme of research into late-prehistoric settlement in the area and hosts a range of monuments dating from 3000 bc to ad 650. In the context of the conversion period, the Anglo-Saxon cemetery is of significant interest due to a range of reused prehistoric and Romano-British objects found as gravegoods. By ad 650, when some of the objects were buried, they were already antiques, and some may have been at least 250 years old when deposited. During the conversion period, furnished burial was a diminishing rite and the placement of objects within the grave may therefore have held a greater significance. This study considers reused artefacts recovered from conversion -period cemeteries. At a time when a number of cemeteries were being founded in relation to earlier monuments, some contained burials that reused artefacts and jewellery of prehistoric and Romano-British date. There is a compelling pattern for this practice at Street House, but this phenomenon also occurred at other sites of a similar date.

Cahokia’s emergence and decline coincided with shifts of flood frequency on the Mississippi River

Here we establish the timing of major flood events of the central Mississippi River over the last 1,800 y, using floodwater sediments deposited in two floodplain lakes. Shifts in the frequency of high-magnitude floods are mediated by moisture availability over midcontinental North America and correspond to the emergence and decline of Cahokia--a major late prehistoric settlement in the Mississippi River floodplain. The absence of large floods from A.D. 600 to A.D. 1200 facilitated agricultural intensification, population growth, and settlement expansion across the floodplain that are associated with the emergence of Cahokia as a regional center around A.D. 1050. The return of large floods after A.D. 1200, driven by waning midcontinental aridity, marks the onset of sociopolitical reorganization and depopulation that culminate in the abandonment of Cahokia and the surrounding region by A.D. 1350. Shifts in the frequency and magnitude of flooding may be an underappreciated but critical factor in the formation and dissolution of social complexity in early agricultural societies.

Mid- to Late Prehistoric Landscape Change, Settlement Histories, and Agricultural Practices on Maupiti, Society Islands (Central Eastern Polynesia)

ABSTRACTWe report on excavations and dating results from Maupiti Island, the smallest high island in the Leeward group of the Society Islands. Our discussion focuses on archaeological and paleo-ethnobotanical data from three coastal sites and two interior sites, in addition to presenting preliminary results of an inland reconnaissance survey. The first goal was to outline the settlement history of Maupiti, including aspects of coastal and inland habitation and subsistence. Utilizing data from auger transects, test excavations, AMS radiocarbon dating of short-lived species, and archaeo-botanical samples, we outline shifts in mid- to late prehistoric settlement and subsistence patterns. Wood charcoal and macro-botanical analyses provide evidence for human-induced landscape change and the first records of pre-contact vegetation on Maupiti. Excavations at two inland agricultural sites document the timing of agricultural intensification. Finally, utilizing data from the analysis of fish, marine shell, and terrestrial faunal remains in addition to the anthracology results, we discuss how vulnerable Maupiti was as a socioecosystem.

The study of spatiotemporal patterns integrating temporal uncertainty in late prehistoric settlements in northeastern Spain

This paper explores the integration of two variables that are typically difficult to use in spatial analysis: time and uncertainty. A framework is constructed to analyse mid- and long-term variation in settlement dynamics during late prehistory in northeastern Spain. Following previous proposals, an aoristic model is built with ceramic dating to feed a Monte Carlo simulation that explores the case study using a discrete time-step approach. At the same time, available radiometric dating is used to validate the accuracy of the simulation results. Departing from the static analysis of spatial variables, the model proposes a new approach by which researchers can address temporal uncertainty. The results show that patterns detected by classical spatial analysis can be produced by artefacts derived from the division of time in chronological units instead of discrete time periods. The model is also used to compare a priori identical variations whose rate of change, when analysed with this approach, is revealed to be completely different.

A landscape of preservation: late prehistoric settlement and sequence in the Jebel Qurma region, north-eastern Jordan

Recent fieldwork in the Jebel Qurma region, in the basalt wasteland east of Azraq, revealed a large number of prehistoric sites, dating from the 7th to the late 4th millennia cal bc. While some sites were little more than lithic scatters over a few dozen square metres, others were of impressive size, up to 8 hectares in extent and characterized by hundreds of stone-built structures. The new data demonstrate considerable diversity in site layout as well as clear shifts in habitation patterns and locational preferences through time. These new insights require a re-evaluation of current thoughts on settlement and community organization in the basaltic uplands of north-eastern Jordan in the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods.

Settlement networks and the organization of lithic tool production in the Late Prehistoric period (a.d. 1000–1780), Lower Nueces River Valley, South Texas

Evidence from one of several Late Prehistoric settlement networks in the Lower Nueces River Valley in Texas demonstrates that base camps were surrounded by smaller-sized temporary camps. Local groups utilized nearby stone quarries, moved raw material to their settlements and reduced cores, preforms, and bifaces into tools for domestic use and portable toolkits. The Lower Nueces River Valley settlement organization and tool production during this period suggest restricted mobility, base camp sedentism, and abundant resource supply. This organizational structure promoted a complex foraging economy and perhaps the emergence of territorial clustering.

The concentration and centralization of late prehistoric settlement in central Italy: the evidence from the Nepi Survey

This article discusses the evidence for the concentration and centralization of late prehistoric settlement in central Italy, using the territory of Nepi as an example of settlement aggregation in southern Etruria. This example helps to explain the regional developments leading to urbanization and state formation in Etruria from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age. The article also publishes new sites with late prehistoric ceramic material from the Neolithic or Epineolithic to the Iron Age in the territory of Nepi found during the Nepi Survey Project. This new evidence is discussed together with previously published material, and presented as further evidence that the developments leading to the occupation of naturally defended sites in the Final Bronze Age had their origins in the Middle Bronze Age. Similarly, the analysis, aided by agricultural and GIS modelling, suggests that the hiatus in the settlement and its dislocation after an apparent break between the Final Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age may have been caused by population pressure. After the settlement aggregated in one centre at Nepi, there are signs of further expansion in the Iron Age.

The peoples of the coast of Ecuador accommodate the Inca state

This paper evaluates ethnohistorical and archaeological evidence regarding the alleged Inca conquest of coastal Ecuador, discusses Inca state strategies, and explores the nature of the indigenous polities of the region in the period C.E. 1470–1532. Benzoni's interview with Cacique Colonchi around 1550 and the presence of an Inca-style aryballus in a tomb in the Colonchi Valley are suggestive of the ability of coastal peoples to resist and accommodate aggressors. To improve our understanding of this historical period, archaeologists must focus more research on the late prehistoric settlements of the western lowlands of Ecuador.

Between chaos and control: spatial perception of domestic, political, and ritual organisation in prehistoric Samoa

The spatial layout of a late prehistoric settlement is examined using comparative analysis, ethnohistorical documents and GIS analysis. The spatial organisation of the settlement is similar to the spatial layout of ethnographically documented Samoan villages, which has been posited to mirror social and political interaction. Spatial concepts developed from analysis of those historic villages are argued to be apparent within this prehistoric settlement, suggesting their origin within prehistory and not after European contact.

Diversity Rules. On Late Prehistoric Settlement of the Eastern Netherlands and the Need for Regionally Specific Models

General habitation models based on well-researched regions tend to be applied to other, less intensively studied regions, usually implicitly. However, whether they lend themselves to do that is hardly ever tested. It may even be that such general models prevent us from obtaining a clear view of patterns of supra-regional, regional, and local diversity. As a test case, this paper focuses on the development of landscape and habitation in the eastern part of the Netherlands from the Late Neolithic period until the start of the Middle Roman period (c. 2850 BC–AD 100). Special attention is given to site location, settlement development, and landscape organisation. The research area until now has hardly entered the archaeological debate on the habitation history of the Low Countries. It is demonstrated that even though some habitation characteristics are well-known from other parts of the Low Countries, and sometimes beyond, the organisation of later prehistoric societies in the research area also deviates in interesting ways. The case-study makes clear that leaning too heavily on research results from other regions brings the risk that specific characteristics of a region will be overlooked or that regional diversity will be ignored in order to make the data fit the expected pattern. One size does not fit all. The only way to prevent this is to build new, solid interpretative frameworks for regions that have so far received little attention, and to create an awareness that existing models should not be applied uncritically.

Upland Olive Domestication in the Chalcolithic Period: New 14C Determinations from El-Khawarij (Ajlun), Jordan

New radiocarbon results on olive stones from el-Khawarij date olive cultivation at this site, in the Jordanian highlands, to the last 2 centuries of the 5th millennium cal BC. This period also sees the emergence of olive cultivation at Teleilat Ghassul, by the Dead Sea. The 10 new AMS dates were deliberately obtained from carbonized olive stones in order to date the exploitation of olives at el-Khawarij, a late prehistoric settlement believed to have been reliant on olive production. The results reveal a much longer span of occupation than hitherto suspected, including 2 dates that may fall later than 3900 cal BC (particularly OZI221, 3950–3530 cal BC). These later dates are in line with dates from other upland sites in the region, and may strengthen suggestions that Chalcolithic settlement persisted for longer in better watered upland areas (Lovell 2002). Further, an early date from a sample in a rock-cut installation in Area A suggests a much earlier date for occupation at the site, implying that upland olive exploitation may have commenced before 4700–4450 cal BC.

GEOARCHAEOLOGY OF A LATE PREHISTORIC WATER STORAGE FEATURE AT PUEBLO OSO NEGRO, CHUPADERA BASIN, NEW MEXICO

The majority of functional interpretations regarding the identification of prehistoric water storage features are based on postulations rather than being founded on evidence that corroborates the presence of water. Pueblo Oso Negro is a late prehistoric settlement that includes a large depression located adjacent to the structural mounds. The lack of any apparent permanent water sources within proximity of the pueblo led to the speculation that this feature likely functioned in a water storage capacity. This investigation was undertaken in an attempt to understand the hydrological role of this feature during the fourteenth century. A geoarchaeological analysis conducted on subsurface deposits from the feature yielded geological evidence and aquatic invertebrate remains indicative of a past water-rich environment. Moreover, during test investigations a spring was discovered within the confines of the depression that supplied a groundwater source to the feature. The results of this research provided clear evidence demonstrating that the feature associated with Pueblo Oso Negro served a water storage role for this prehistoric community.

Pottery and the Visual World at Early Iron Age Hascherkeller, Germany

On most late prehistoric and early historic settlement sites all over the world, pottery is the most abundant material recovered by archaeologists. Analysis of pottery provides information about the chronological position and cultural affiliation of a site, as well as about techniques of manufacture, organization of production, trade relations, and patterns in the social structure of the community. Here, a new approach is presented that focuses on pottery as a principal factor in the visual world of the people who made and used it. Pottery from the Early Iron Age settlement of Hascherkeller in southern Germany is examined in the context of the physical and social world of which the community was a part. It is argued that the shapes, textures, and decoration of the pottery refer to other elements of the physical world. This approach offers a new way to understand how prehistoric people responded to economic and political changes through the purposeful fashioning of their material culture.

Interpreting Wichita Lifeways at the Cusp of Contact

The Lasley Vore site (34TU65), located 21 km south of Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a protohistoric Wichita settlement aggregation that was thoroughly investigated in 1988. Although not as large as some late prehistoric settlements north of there, the author argues that Lasley Vore represents a single-occupation Wichita village that was inhabited at the very cusp of contact with the French. Despite a lack of discernible dwellings, several clues have permitted a reconstruction of certain aspects of the village during this period. Notably, a study of pottery clays has suggested that not all occupants came from the same region, and a lithic use-wear analysis has isolated areas in which specific activities were conducted. These studies flesh out a picture of Wichita settlement as a multi-ethnic mix of people practicing a variety of tasks at specific locales.

The bituminous mixtures of Tall-e Abu Chizan: A Vth millennium BC settlement in southwestern Iran

Various bituminous artifacts were excavated from the Tall-e Abu Chizan, a late prehistoric (Middle Susiana to Middle Uruk) settlement on the middle of the Curvy plain, between the Karun River and the Ram Hormoz Plain. All samples dated from the Vth millennium BC and cover three periods: 5000–4700 BC (Late Middle Susiana), 4700–4200 BC (Late Susiana 1) and 4200–3900 BC (Late Susiana 2). The bitumens were studied using the techniques of petroleum geochemistry and were compared both to the unaltered crude oils produced from the main oil fields in the area and to the famous Mamatain oil seeps. All samples are very rich in bitumen (average 46 wt%) which has been biodegraded and oxidized. Despite these alteration phenomena, δ 13C of asphaltenes occur within a narrow range of less than 1‰ PDB. Biodegradation affected the steranes, terpanes, dibenzothiophenes and mono- and triaromatic steroids. Molecular characteristics of terpanes, especially the occurrence of 18α (H)-oleanane, suggest that the bitumen from Tall-e Abu Chizan is a mixture generated from Cretaceous Kazdhumi and Eocene Pabdeh petroleum source rocks. In that respect, bitumens from Tall-e Abu Chizan belong to the same oil family as oil from the Naft Safid field, which is in the vicinity of the archaeological site. In fact, the bitumen at Tall-e Abu Chizan likely originated from oil seepages at Naft Safid. These oil seeps have not yet been sampled or analysed.