Late Settlement Research Articles

An elusive record further exposed: additional excavations and chronometric data on human settlement in the northern Congo Basin rain forest, southern Central African Republic

ABSTRACTRecently, Lupo et al. (2015, 2018) reported novel data on the nature and timing of late Holocene human settlement and iron production in the northern Congo Basin rain forest, southern Central African Republic. This paper expands those data by presenting new archaeological and chronological information discovered in field investigations conducted in 2017–2018. Twenty-five archaeological sites were identified and radiocarbon dates from 14 signal human habitation over some 1900 years. Together with the previously reported investigations a diverse suite of sites has been identified, including slag mounds, ceramic scatters, habitation sites and the only documented series of iron ore quarries in the Central African forest. Cumulatively, the results of radiocarbon assay of charcoal samples from 32 sites indicate nearly continuous human activity in the Lobaye River Basin over the past 2300 years. Among others, these data: 1) indicate, for the first time, an Early Iron Age interval in the region with evidence of iron production; 2) include multiple calibrated age estimates on sites/components dating within the c. 1400–800 BP hiatus in human occupations reported elsewhere in Central Africa forests; and 3) afford a number of additional radiocarbon age estimates that fall during the Late Iron Age increase in human use of the forest reported in neighbouring contexts.

Osadnictwo mezolityczne w południowej części Pojezierza Łagowskiego

Despite a growing recognition of late Palaeolithic and Mesolithic settlement in recent years, the area of Pojezierze Łagowskie still represents one of less known regions of western Poland, both in terms of Old and Middle Stone Age settlement and reconstruction of of contemporary environmental conditions. The article provides results of technological, typological, functional analyses, as well as that of raw materials used in stone industry of Mesolithic communities occupying sites 13 and 16 in Wilenko. Majority of functional tools is characterised by use-wear traces, which should be interpreted as results of variability of meat, bone, antler, and leather processing activities or game hunting. In the article an attempt has been made to reconstruct environmental conditions, on the basis of the results of pollen analysis.

Forming the Spatial and Institutional Framework of a Communal Town in Medieval Lublin (13th and 14th centuries)

<p class="Normalny1">Artykuł dotyczy formowania się struktur instytucjonalnych i ram przestrzennych późnośredniowiecznego osadnictwa miejskiego, które rozwinęły się w ciągu XIII i XIV stulecia na Wzgórzu Staromiejskim w Lublinie. Autor reinterpretuje ustalenia wcześniejszych badań nad historią Lublina w świetle koncepcji Maxa Webera o zachodnioeuropejskim modelu miasta komunalnego. Miasto tego typu jest charakteryzowane jako autonomiczna jednostka administracyjna, posiadająca własny samorząd gminny i system sądownictwa, jak również jako podmiot terytorialny z określonymi granicami. Autor wyróżnia trzy etapy rozwoju miejskiego w Lublinie: 1) powstanie wczesnomiejskiego osadnictwa wzdłuż dzisiejszej ulicy Grodzkiej, w sąsiedztwie kościoła św. Michała Archanioła w XIII w., 2) wprowadzenie prawa miejskiego i stworzenie nowego układu urbanistycznego przez Władysława Łokietka i Kazimierza Wielkiego, 3) gwałtowne przyspieszenie rozwoju instytucjonalnego i przestrzennego po śmierci Kazimierza.</p>

Ethnocultural Reflexes of a Language Border Zone in Regional Phytonymic Lexicon of Belgorod Region (On Materials of Dialectological Researches for Department of Russian Language and Russian Literature of NIU "BELGU")

The results of long-term field dialectological studies fulfilled of the Department of Philology of Belgorod State National Research University are presented in the article. During these studies the departmental catalog of the folk dialects of Belgorod has been collected. Regional and Belgorod region dialects pose a less understood layer in the Russian dialectic corpus. The term dialect is interpreted as a specific language formation functioning within the boundaries of the region and absorbing local speech features. Belgorod dialects and regional dialects, being a language type of a border zone region, despite its relative marginality in the Russian dialectal system, are a significant object of dialectological description and a source for domestic historical linguistics. Herein they are associated with the dialects of the territories of late settlement. Therefore the crucial tasks are to make linguistic and linguocultural analysis of the Belgorod regional and dialectal vocabulary, to identify and describe the basic lexico-semantic groups, to view the systemic relations within lexical groups, correlation between dialectal and national language vocabulary, to explore borrowings and their sources. This will allow speaking not only about different types of variability and synonymous relations between dialectal and national language units, but also about the formation and evolution of Russian dialects and the language as a whole. Often, dialectal phenomena are caused by the influence from outside. This is more peculiar to outlying dialects, which are affected by foreign-language neighborhood. At the same time, as a whole, dialects of Belgorod region are Russian in their base morpheme and by their origin and often preserve the language antiquity. Thus, at the Belgorod territory, there is a clash of different ethno-linguistic streams and traditions. In this context, plant world nominations are of special interest in the system of Belgorod dialectal and regional vocabulary.

An elusive record exposed: radiocarbon chronology of late Holocene human settlement in the northern Congo Basin, southern Central African Republic

ABSTRACTArchaeological surveys and excavations in the NGotto Forest Reserve, Central African Republic, discovered 98 artefact concentrations or cultural features that included ceramic scatters, iron-ore mines and iron smelting features. These investigations provide, for the first time, a series of radiocarbon dates that chronicle the timing and context of prehistoric occupation along the northern margin of the Congo Basin rain forest in the Central African Republic. Thirty-three age estimates from 19 sites are distributed throughout the late Holocene and together document 2500 years of occupations. A number of the dates are from iron extraction and processing features that reflect extensive pre-colonial use of the area between about AD 1750 and 1840, while a radiocarbon date of 2179 ± 37 BP in direct association with pottery signals settlement by ceramic-bearing peoples perhaps as early as 350 cal. BC. Three radiocarbon dates from two sites reflect occupations during the purported hiatus and reduction in regional forest populations c. 1400-800 BP and five dates from four additional sites in southern Central African Republic rain forests also fall during this interval. In concert with scrutiny of summed probability distributions and potential artefacts embedded within the radiocarbon calibration curve, the number of these dates question the reality of this occupational hiatus, at least in the north-central Congo Basin.

LATE AND FINAL BRONZE AGE SETTLEMENTS IN THE BASIN OF THE RIVER SIVERSKIY DONETS AND ON THE DONETS RIDGE: ARCHEOLOGICAL MAP OF THE REGION

The paper is devoted to the mapping of the Late and Final Bronze Age settlements that are situated in the basin of the river Siverskiy Donets and on the Donets Ridge. On the basis of analyses more than 800 Late Bronze Age settlements the horizon of the late stage Berezhnovka-Maevka Srubnaya culture and post-Srubnaya settlements horizon were identified.
 The Late Bronze age settlements are evenly spread over the territory of the basin of the river Siverskiy Donets and on the Donets Ridge. The Final Bronze age localities are the same to the previous stage. On the contrary, the Bondarikhinskaya culture settlement’s location differs from the post- Srubnaya sites. All of them are located on the left bank of the river Siverskiy Donets and none of them are situated on the right bank. The location of settlements indicates a high population density in the basin of the river Siverskiy Donets and on the Donets Ridge during the Bronze age from the first stage of Berezhnovka-Maevka Srubnaya culture and to the end of the Bronze Age.

Investigating the origins of eastern Polynesians using genome-wide data from the Leeward Society Isles

The debate concerning the origin of the Polynesian speaking peoples has been recently reinvigorated by genetic evidence for secondary migrations to western Polynesia from the New Guinea region during the 2nd millennium BP. Using genome-wide autosomal data from the Leeward Society Islands, the ancient cultural hub of eastern Polynesia, we find that the inhabitants’ genomes also demonstrate evidence of this episode of admixture, dating to 1,700–1,200 BP. This supports a late settlement chronology for eastern Polynesia, commencing ~1,000 BP, after the internal differentiation of Polynesian society. More than 70% of the autosomal ancestry of Leeward Society Islanders derives from Island Southeast Asia with the lowland populations of the Philippines as the single largest potential source. These long-distance migrants into Polynesia experienced additional admixture with northern Melanesians prior to the secondary migrations of the 2nd millennium BP. Moreover, the genetic diversity of mtDNA and Y chromosome lineages in the Leeward Society Islands is consistent with linguistic evidence for settlement of eastern Polynesia proceeding from the central northern Polynesian outliers in the Solomon Islands. These results stress the complex demographic history of the Leeward Society Islands and challenge phylogenetic models of cultural evolution predicated on eastern Polynesia being settled from Samoa.

Influence of Global and Local Environmental Change on Migratory Birds: Evidence for Variable Wetland Habitats in the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene of the Southern Levant

ABSTRACTAnalysis of avifaunal remains from Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene settlements on the edge of a seasonally refreshed, yet diminishing, wetland in eastern Jordan illustrates the impact that habitat loss can have on bird migration. The wetland was a key wintering ground for a variety of waterfowl, with passage migrants also pausing on long-distance routes that ended at more southerly destinations. These birds were hunted by people who made substantial use of their seasonal abundance. Over time climatic fluctuations and altering dynamics of local fluvial systems reduced the wetlands ability to attract waterfowl. Understanding causes of underlying changes to bird migration furthers our knowledge about the wetland ecotones favoured by people in the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene in the southern Levant.

The chronology of the Kura-Araxes: New data and old problems of periodization and chronology of the Early Bronze Age materials in Armenia

In a recent article I defined my concept for the periodization and chronology of the Kura-Araxes in Armenia, the main provisions of which are as follows:
 The Kura-Araxes sequence had a discrete character. Its periodization can be dated between 3600/3500–2900 (KA I) and 2900–2600/2500 (KA II) BC. The distinction of the Kura-Araxes phenomenon is reflected in the largely single-layered character of both early (KA I) and late (KA II) settlements: a destroyed layer demonstrates the discontinuity of certain multi-layered (KA I-II) settlements.
 The KA I phase represented throughout Armenia is marked by ‘Elar-Aragats’ type ceramics, which belong to a rather homogeneous complex, widespread almost all over the Armenian Highland.
 The homogeneity of the complex disintegrates around 2900 BC, and a mosaic of local ceramic styles follows. The KA II phase contains a series of ceramic complexes similar in basic characteristics, but stylistically rather specific. Today throughout Armenian territory there are at least three synchronous complexes, whose areas correspond to physical-geographical regions of the country: the ‘Shresh-Mokhrablur’ complex in the central part of Ararat valley, ‘Karnut-Shengavit’ to the north and east (Aragatsotn, Shirak, Kotayk, and Lori-Pambak regions), and ‘Ayrum-Teghut’ in the basins of the Aghstev and Debed rivers.
 Newly obtained data and my observations correspond to the above provisions. This research allows us to complement and flesh out some of them, particularly the periodization of the first period of the Kura-Araxes and a list of local variations of the KA II ceramic complexes.

Buildings of the late settlement stage site Serteya XIV: cultural attribution and possibilities of graphic reconstruction

The lake settlement Serteya XIV (Velizhskiy district, Smolensk region, Russia), studied during the 1990s the beginning of 21st century, was found to contain several different habitation horizons with finds and building remains dating from the Mesolithic to the Final Neolithic or Chalcolithic (9 the 1st half of 2 Millennia cal. BC). Cultural layers of the settlement lie both within sandy coastal sediments and peaty part of the lake basin. The dwellings remains from the later stages of habitation are discussed in this paper. These include two buildings located on the sandy shore terrace and one in the peaty part of the site. During the excavations and initial find analysis these buildings were connected with the Middle and Late Neolithic. These conclusions were revised after the subsequent analyses of ceramic material and spatial distribution of different ceramic groups and other objects at the settlement, as well as obtaining a series of radiocarbon dating. The earliest of the dwellings was determined to belong to the Early Neolithic, to the final stage of Serteyskaya or the beginning stage of Rudnyanskaya archaeological culture (the 4th quarter of 6 Millennium cal. BC). Two different chronological phases were detected in the remains of the second building: the first one connected with the final stage of Rudnyanskaya archaeological culture (the end of 6 Millennium cal. BC), the second one with Usvyatskaya archaeological culture (the late 54 Millennia cal. BC). The third construction originally associated with Rudnyanskaya culture was confirmed to belong to the Final Neolithic/Chalcolithic (the 1st half of 2 Millennium cal. BC). Its date and cultural attribution have not been determined more precisely yet. The second important question of the present research concerns the possibilities to make graphic reconstruction of Stone Age buildings. As the cultural layers of most sites in the studied region are laid in sandy deposits, which do not preserve any organic materials or details of the buildings, all reconstructions have tentative character. Therefore, the building found in the peaty part of Serteya XIV is of great importance due to the preserved details of wooden construction. These materials provide additional information about the used tree species and the ways they were utilized in building activities.

Polynesian colonization and landscape changes on Mo’orea, French Polynesia: The Lake Temae pollen record

An analysis of sediment cores from Lake Temae utilizing pollen, accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dating, magnetic susceptibility measurements, and charcoal particle counts was undertaken to assess landscape transformation following Polynesian colonization of Mo’orea in the Society Islands. A significant influx of terrigenous sediment accompanied by increases in charcoal and the presence of the Polynesian cultigen Colocasia (taro) are indicative of human presence on the island by at least 1060–980 cal. yr BP. Polynesian arrival resulted in the rapid alteration of lowland vegetation illustrated in the pollen record by the removal of the coastal tree Pandanus and the promotion of more economically important trees such as Cocos. The most significant period of burning in the charcoal data overlaps with archaeological evidence for expansion into the island interior and the establishment and growth of more intense agricultural practices from 700 to 500 cal. yr BP. The pollen record also documents the apparent abandonment of the coastal plain near Lake Temae during this phase of inland expansion with the terrestrial landscape returning to an environment similar to that found before colonization. A final phase of environmental transformation commenced with European contact at the end of the 18th century and is marked most clearly in the Lake Temae sequence with the conversion of the system to a freshwater body accompanied by the expansion of the freshwater reed Typha and a level of burning not seen at any time over the previous 1000 years. Importantly, the new data from Lake Temae support the colonization model for central Eastern Polynesia of ca. 1000 cal. yr BP and refute the late settlement scenario for the Society Islands.

Some Results of the Geophysical Investigation at the Late Eneolithic Settlement of Gordineşti II-Stînca goală, Edineț District, Republic of Moldova

Some Results of the Geophysical Investigation at the Late Eneolithic Settlement of Gordineşti II-Stînca goală, Edineț District, Republic of Moldova

Campanas cerámicas prehispánicas y la presencia de tráfico caravanero tardío en la cuenca de Nasca, sur del Perú

espanolEn los Andes, el tema del trafico caravanero prehispanico ha sido ampliamente estudiado especialmente en el norte de Chile y en el noroeste argentino. En el Peru, en cambio, las investigaciones arqueologicas tradicionalmente llegaron solo a esbozar aspectos muy generales de los modos de explotacion de los rebanos de camelidos. Recientemente, varios investigadores han aportado nuevas propuestas sobre el modo de tenencia de camelidos durante la epoca prehispanica en la Costa Norte, los que se basan en buena cuenta en estudios isotopicos de colecciones oseas. Este articulo pretende aportar al tema anadiendo detalles sobre otro caso prehispanico diferente de tenencia de camelidos, esta vez de la Costa Sur peruana. El punto de partida de esta reconstruccion son las primeras evidencias arqueologicas de campanas ceramicas de la cuenca norte del rio Grande de Nasca, la que se complementa con informacion de ejemplares adicionales provenientes de otros sitios de la region. Este grupo inicial de campanas proviene del sitio arqueologico Ciudad Perdida de Huayuri, en la quebrada de Santa Cruz, y se asocia particularmente al Horizonte Tardio (1470-1532 AD). Luego de un analisis del contexto en las que se encontro, sostengo que las campanas ceramicas se usaron como campanas de llamas (Lama glama) o cencerros, y a la luz de informacion etnografica, su presencia en Huayuri sugiere la participacion de las unidades domesticas en la organizacion del trafico caravanero. A un nivel interpretativo mas general, y a la luz de documentos coloniales tempranos y de la distribucion espacial de los ejemplares adicionales, se sugiere la existencia de un eje de circulacion norte-sur a lo largo de la costa atravesando el desierto de Nasca e Ica, quiza extendiendose desde Ica al norte hasta Arequipa al sur. EnglishThe topic of Prehispanic llama caravan trade has been widely examined in the archaeology of Northern Chile and Norwestern Argentina. Comparatively speaking, in Peru the topic has been previously explored only minimally. Recently, research based on bone isotope analyses from sites in the North Coast of Peru is adding to our knowledge of Prehispanic camelid herd management systems. The present article aims at advancing yet a different case of camelidherd exploitation, this time from the South Coast of Peru. This interpretation stems from the first evidence of ceramic bells from Huayuri, a Late Prehispanic Nasca settlement (1100-1532 AD) with a clear Late Horizon occupation (1470 – 1532 AD), and is complemented with information of other examples from the region not formally reported before. After presenting the context of the findings, I propose these ceramic bells were llama bells. As suggested by ethnographiesof llama (Lama glama) herders, the presence of these bells in the domestic area of the site strongly suggests a direct involvement of some of Huayuri’s domestic units in the organization of the caravans. At a more general level, descriptions from colonial documentation and the regional distributions of additional bells, support the idea a northsouth axis of circulation crossing the deserts of Ica and Nasca, from Tacaraca in Ica to Arequipa to the south of Nasca.

Late Middle Archaic settlement systems in West-Central Illinois

Data from a sample of late Middle Archaic sites in west-central Illinois are examined in light of Binford’s forager–collector model. Quantitative methods (correspondence and diversity analyses) are applied to the lithic data from the sites. It is suggested that a mix of mobility strategies was employed in the region during late Middle Archaic. Large, possibly multiseason, valley located residential sites were occupied during the warm season. People occupying such sites were logistically mobile and employed logistical sites to supply some of the resources. In contrast, smaller, upland residential sites were occupied by few people for shorter durations during the cold season. People were residentially mobile while occupying the upland residential sites. The methods demonstrated in the paper are applicable to other regions and time periods.

Появление позднескифских поселений в Северо-западном Крыму: проблемы датирования и атрибуции

Появление позднескифских поселений в Северо-западном Крыму: проблемы датирования и атрибуции

Book Review of Mochlos III: The Late Hellenistic Settlement. The Beam-Press Complex, by Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan, edited by Jeffrey S. Soles and Costis Davaras

Book Review of Mochlos III: The Late Hellenistic Settlement. The Beam-Press Complex, by Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan, edited by Jeffrey S. Soles and Costis Davaras

From art to context: Holocene roots of an Initial Neolithic Pastoralism (INP) in the Atlas Ouled Naïl, Algeria

The Algerian Highlands and their surroundings attracted Holocene communities by 7000–4000 cal BC. Co-existence of hunter-gatherers and shepherds of an Initial Neolithic Pastoralism phase (INP) is documented by cultural contexts from foothill settlements and rock engravings/paintings sites (game and domestic flocks), in the Ouled Naïl and Ouled Djellal areas. Shepherds' signatures on cliffs dated from optimum climatic conditions showed a mosaic of behaviours within a cultural diversity. They add their semantic contributions to a mid-Holocene framework. Further pastoral development lasted until late settlement of an agro-pastoral tribal system in these Highlands, “Country of the Sheep”.

The Doug Martin Site (41AN88), a Late Caddo Period Frankston Phase Settlement in the Trinity River Basin in East Texas

The Doug Martin site (41AN88) is a Late Caddo period Frankston phase settlement on a southern-flowing tributary to the Trinity River in the Post Oak Savannah of East Texas (Figure 1). Several avocational archaeologists from the Palestine, Texas, area, principally including Clyde Amick, worked at the site in the early 1980s, and donated a collection of artifacts from the site, along with some information about the work done there, to the Texas Archeological Research Laboratory at The University of Texas at Austin (TARL) in November 1985.

Transforming the inedible to the edible:An analysis of the nutritional returns from Aboriginal nut processing in Queensland’s Wet Tropics

In ethnohistorical records, tree nuts are frequently referred to as important food sources for Aboriginal people in the tropical rainforest region of northeast Queensland. Experimental processing and chemical analyses were undertaken of nuts from yellow walnut (Beilschmiedia bancroftii), black walnut (Endiandra palmerstonii), black pine nut (Sundacarpus amara) and black bean (Castanospermum australe). Their energy values and potential dietary benefits were analysed through replication experiments that followed traditional Aboriginal processing techniques. Results indicate these species were all high energy-high return food sources. We propose that, despite the relatively intense preparation required, they would have provided an important and reliable source of starchy food within a varied rainforest diet. Findings support the proposal that processed toxic and noxious rainforest nuts may have played a significant role in the late Holocene permanent settlement of the rainforest region and in the development of a unique Aboriginal rainforest culture.

New Archaeobotanical and Feature-Use Data from Post-A.D. 1550 Contexts at the Madisonville Site, Ohio

In 2004-2005, salvage excavations at the Madisonville Village and Cemetery Site, a Late Fort Ancient settlement in southwestern Ohio, provided an opportunity to gather new information concerning post-A.D. 1550 occupation at the site. This article documents the use histories of excavated features and their resultant archaeobotanical remains. Results indicate that Madisonville features have incredibly complex formation histories which reflect continual reuse of a geographically restricted landform. Archaeobotanical analysis indicates a high reliance on maize by site inhabitants, although such reliance was not constant but instead increased threefold over time. Maize agriculture was supplemented by a diversity of additional cultigens (e.g., beans, erect knotweed, little barley, sunflower, and squash) and wild foods, especially nut resources, which remained an important dietary component throughout Madisonville's long occupation.