Midden Sites Research Articles

Fish and crayfish from the Washpool Midden site, New Zealand: Their use in determining season of occupation and prehistoric fishing methods

Abstract A method is suggested whereby modern ecological information on fish behaviour and distribution, together with commercial catch figures, may be used to assess season of occupation of archaeological sites. Monthly catch probabilities for each species are scaled by minimum numbers from prehistoric osteological assemblages to yield an overall likelihood of the fish being caught at different months of the year. A test case on two assemblages from Palliser Bay, New Zealand, suggested year-round habitation, and this was consistent with individual qualitative seasonal markers. The fishbone evidence can also be used to comment on aspects of prehistoric technology connected with marine foods, such as the use of canoes, baited traps, long line hauling, rock fishing and seine netting. In addition, the fish information substantiated subtle environmental changes which are believed to have taken place in this region.

Full-Glacial and Recent Vegetation of Livingston Hills, Presidio County, Texas

A fossil packrat midden from 1280 m elevation in the limestone Livingston Hills south of Shafter, Presidio County, Texas, was radiocarbon dated at 15,695 ? 230 B. P. (A-1581 on Juniperus). The paleocommunity was a pinyonjuniper woodland with Pinus edulis and 26 associated species. Holacantha stewarti was an important desert species in the paleocommunity. A total of 139 species was recorded in the present xeric Chihuahuan Desert flora near the midden site. Late Pleistocene paleocommunities and the timing of biotic changes in the northern Chihuahuan Desert are discussed. The Chihuahuan Desert reaches its lowest elevations along the United States-Mexico International Boundary along the Rio Grande in the Big Bend of Texas. The varied geology and vegetation of the region produce as scenic a painted desert landscape as any in the southwestern deserts. However, the desert has not been in the Big Bend for long. Wells' (1966) analysis of fossil packrat (genus Neotoma) middens from the Big Bend found a xeric woodland with pinyon (Pinus cembroides var. remota) as low as 600 m elevation in Maravillas Canyon during the last glaciopluvial period. His sites were from 600 to 1200 m elevations in three areas peripheral to the Chisos Mountains. Wells (1977) suggested that the present Chihuahuan Desert vegetation entered the Big Bend less than 11,500 years ago. Here we report a late Pleistocene plant macrofossil assemblage from an ancient packrat midden from the west side of the Big Bend in the Livingston Hills (Fig. 1).

Bahamas Prehistory

A program of surveys and test excavations has located 53 prehistoric open midden sites in the Bahamas and procured a large artifact sample from them. Sites in the central Bahamas, concentrated in the eastern islands of the area, are characterized by the shell-tempered Palmetto Series pottery. While sharing specific modes with Antillean cultures, it is an indigenous development, originating in the Caicos where the earliest sites have only ceramics imported from the Antilles. Distribution of sites and ceramic analyses suggest a movement of Antillean Arawaks to the Caicos to secure salt. An indigenous cultural tradition developed there by shortly after 1000 A.D. and spread rapidly to the central Bahamas. Factors affecting the limits of cultural expansion were the temperature and rainfall requirements of bitter manioc agriculture, which eliminated the northern Bahamas, and perhaps, in part, a time factor affecting expansion to the west.

Amino acid studies of the Del Mar, California, midden site: Apparent rate constants, ground temperature models, and chronological implications

Amino acid enantiomeric ratios in shell samples from the Del Mar, California, midden are interpreted in terms of apparent rate constants (derived from observed radiocarbon ages), exponentially decreasing ground temperatures (to values equal to those of mean annual air temperature at depths of approximately 1 m), and sample burial histories involving exposure to high ground temperatures during periods of shallow burial. These models, while approximate, are important in establishing the utility of shell material in amino acid racemization studies. The radiocarbon chronology (∼4000 to ∼9000 years) of the Del Mar shell samples (shell carbonate analysis) is stratigraphically consistent and quite reasonable within the uncertainties of these interpretive models. One level (the lowest) in the Del Mar site has yielded samples whose enantiomeric ratios indicate great antiquity. It is possible that these samples have a geological rather than archaeological origin.

Racemization of isoleucine in fossil molluscs from Indian middens and interglacial terraces in southern California

The amino acid racemization dating technique is applied to the West Coast mollusc Chione from interglacial terrace deposits and Indian midden sites. The racemization kinetics of isoleucine were studied in Total hydrolysates and in the non-dialyzable Protein fraction from Chione shell. The reliability of the isoleucine dates was evaluated by (1) comparison with ages determined by radiocarbon and uranium disequilibrium dating, (2) species effects, and (3) reproducibility. Isoleucine dates for the interglacial terrace shell were found to be more reliable than the midden shell dates. A radiocarbon analysis of amino acids extracted from Del Mar midden shell was performed in order to resolve the discrepancies between the racemization ages and the 14 C dates on shell carbonate.

Middens of the Central Coast, New South Wales

Now that extensive investigation has been carried out on the coastal midden sites of the north and south coasts of New South Wales (see references), it is timely to record those of the central coast.

Open Station Shell Midden Sites and Associated Features from the Pearly Beach Area, South-Western Cape

Open Station Shell Midden Sites and Associated Features from the Pearly Beach Area, South-Western Cape

A Proposed Method for Deriving Seasonal Data from the Echinoid, Evechinus Chloroticus (Val.), in Archaeological Deposits

AbstractIn recent years, the importance of seasonal dating in archaeology has been widely acknowledged. To this end, relatively sophisticated methods of determining the season of death of cockles (Chione stutchbury) from coastal midden sites in New Zealand, have been developed. These methods can only be applied when the midden deposits contain cockles and those middens are normally found in the vicinity of lagoons, sandy beaches, or estuaries. However, the Echinodermata are endemic to the rocky shore sub-tidal zone, and recent research in New Zealand on one species of echinoid (Evechinus chloroticus) has defined growth patterns which are seasonally dependant. This research has provided the basis for exploring a method of determining seasonal dates for midden deposits containing Echinoidea. This method, when fully developed, should prove useful for extracting seasonal data from middens which do not have any cockles, and will provide a further means of cross-checking seasonal dates.

Interpretation of archaeological material eroded from coastal dune sites

Abstract THE archaeologist may sometimes extract useful cultural data from coastal midden sites in eroding sand dunes. An understanding of the dune feature, the “blow-out”, is considered a prerequisite to understanding the various phases of midden erosion. A model is described based on observations in the field and it is used to explain the erosional processes that destroy middens. A method of dealing with the eroded material is outlined.

Burned Rock Midden Sites on the Southwestern Edge of the Edwards Plateau, Texas

Data from two groups of burned rock midden sites are presented. Occupation of the sites seems to have been heaviest during Archaic times, with some Late Prehistoric and possible Paleo-Indian components also recognized. A burial is described from one site. Problems pertaining to burned rock midden sites are briefly discussed.

Use of Chemical Composition of Freshwater Clamshells as Indicators of Paleohydrologic Conditions

The feasibility of using the Ca, Mg, and Sr content of freshwater clamshells as indicators of paleohydrologic conditions has been investigated. The Sr/Ca ratio varies with the discharge of Mill Creek, Iowa. The Sr/Ca ratios of clamshells excavated from American Indian midden sites near the Big Sioux River in Plymouth County, Iowa (Kimball Site 13 PM 4), and the Phipps site (13 CK 21) located near Mill Creek in Cherokee County, Iowa, show significant changes that can be related to changes in climate in the period 900 to 1400 A. D. Based on the results of this investigation, the alkaline earth composition of freshwater clams probably can be used as an indicator of paleohydrologic conditions.

Browns Valley and Milnesand Similarities

For the student of the archaeology of the Plains, Browns Valley Man has been an engima. Loosely dated between 8000 and 12,000 years ago by Jenks (Jenks 1937a: 17) it has remained in splendid isolation — an important group of artifacts found in a burial site with the skeleton of a man who may be presumed to have been their maker — with, heretofore, no known close affiliations. That he hunted the giant bison has been inferred in an unpublished script by Lloyd Wilford to accompany a filmstrip on Minnesota archaeology being prepared by the University of Minnesota. This must be presumed to be based on one or both of 2 midden sites of giant bison dug by Jenks, Wilford, and Eddy. One of these has been described in a brief note in Science by Jenks (Jenks 1937b: 243–4). The other site has no published data.

Animal Remains from Four Preceramic Sites in Florida

The present article is an attempt by zoologists to draw conclusions from the vertebrate and other remains found in certain midden sites. Some of the remains have been discussed in papers presented at meetings of the Florida Anthropological Society (Brodkorb 1953; Gut 1952).Two of the authors have been interested in local archaeological problems, as such. In addition, helpful advice was had from Ripley P. Bullen, Curator of Social Sciences at the Florida State Museum; from John M. Goggin, of the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Florida; and from John W. Griffin, of the St. Augustine Historical Society (Florida). Thanks are due to these archaeologists; also to Barney R. Beck, owner of the Lemon Bluff site; to Bernard S. Good, owner of Good's Shellpit; to J. E. Price, owner of the Bluffton site; to Jerry Allen, manager of Silver Glen Springs at the time excavations were made there; to James B. Gut and Marjorie A. Briggs for assistance in collecting; and to E.

VII Interpretations and Conjectures

A comparison of Tchefuncte traits suggests that there are three groupings or foci which at present comprise the Tchefuncte culture. The Copell site on Pecan Island, although a single site, represents the first group. The absence of pottery, presence of artifacts with burials, interment in a cemetery, and other traits tend to isolate this component from other Tchefuncte groupings.The three shell midden sites, Tchefuncte, Little Woods, and Big Oak Island form another grouping. The construction and use of shell middens, presence of certain types of bone and shell artifacts, and styles of chipped flint projectile points differentiate these midden sites from the others.The third grouping is represented by the two mound sites, Lafayette and Lake Louis. The traits of circular mounds, differences in the styles of projectile points, and absence of other Tchefuncte traits delimit this focus.A number of traits held in common, or traits which overlap from one component or site to another, link all of these groupings together to form the Tchefuncte culture. For instance, burial traits and styles of bone implements link the Copell site with the midden sites of the Tchefuncte period. The midden sites and the mound sites are bound together by common types of pottery and pipes. For the reader who disagrees with our interpretations, or who has a better method, we have listed all of our traits in the summaries of each component (Chapter II).

Yale University Publications in Anthropology, Nos. 25 and 26

THE two areas of excavation under review lie to the west and east of Cuba respectively. Cayo Redondo is a swamp island close to the sea at the head of Guadiana Bay; the Maniabon hills have yielded a number of kitchin midden sites and a cave habitation. Everything earlier than the coming of the Spaniards is, of course, prehistoric, and the early story of Cuba has still to be written in detail. But the generalized outline is known and much suggestive information can be obtained from the volume under review. Yale University Publications in Anthropology, Nos. 25 and 26 The Ciboney Culture of Cayo Redondo, Cuba, by Cornelius Osgood ; Archeology of the Maniabon Hills, Cuba, by Irving Rouse. Pp. 252 + 14 plates. (New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Press; London: Oxford University Press, 1942.) 23s. 6d. net.

ANIMAL CEREMONIALISM IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA IN THE LIGHT OF ARCHAEOLOGY

ANIMAL CEREMONIALISM IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA IN THE LIGHT OF ARCHAEOLOGY By ROBERT F. HEIZER and GORDON W. HEWESl C ALIFORNIAN ethnological literature is replete with descriptions of ceremonial observances and treatments accorded various animals, living and dead. Notwithstanding the fact that special attitudes have ap­ parently. been developed by all peoples toward their local faunas, it appears that in California this phenomenon has been emphasized and specialized into what certain ethnographers have called cults. This general aspect of Californian ethnography has been recognized by numerous investigators. 2 Certain recently excavated archaeological sites in Central California have revealed evidence of ritual post-mortem treatment of animals. It is the purpose of this paper to determine whether and ·to what extent these may be interpreted through the application of ethnographic data. Californian culture has long been pointed out as a unique example of cultural conservatism. Historical reconstructions, using ethnographic data as a point of departure, have heretofore been limited to the extent that they had little archaeological evidence of physical and cultural types with which they might effect a correlation. This simple, uniform culture, assumed to have persisted in essentially the same form from earliest times to the present day, was the background against which the ethnographic culture was pro­ jected. The archaeology of the last few years, however, has been able to establish definitely a succession of physical and cultural types in Central California. 3 Early Sacramento, so far the oldest culture discernible in the central valley, occurs in highly compacted calcareous midden sites now almost submerged in the alluvium of this overflow region. Most striking in this horizon are burials fully extended, face down, heads oriented invariably to the west; the skulls are dolichocephalic, and the bones are permineral­ ized. Cremation is absent. Certain types of shell beads, bone and stone ob­ jects, are distinctive; the slab metate seems to be the characteristic grinding implement. In less calcareous and less compacted middens, and more widely distributed, the Transitional culture presents features linking it with the 1 The authors are indebed to the following for infonnation: J. B. Lillard, Franklin Fenenga and E. B. Niehaus of Sacramento, and to Dr Ann Gayton for unpublished Yokuts notes. 2 See especially: Merriam, 1908; Gifford, 1916, 1926; Barrett, 1917; Kroeber, 1925; Gayton, 1930. 2 Heizer and Fenenga, 1939. In this paper will be found a full description of the three cul­ tural horizons. See also, Lillard and Purves, 1937; Heizer, 1939; Kroeber, 1936, 1938; Lilliard, Heizer, and Fenenga, 1939.

The Distribution of Pottery Wares in the Glades Archaeological Area of South Florida

The Glades archaeological has been defined as region between the Kissimee and Indian Rivers and all the peninsula from Lake Okeechobee to the Florida Keys inclusive.l This comprises all of the Everglades, the Big Cypress Swamp, the Ten Thousand Islands, and strips of pinelands and flatwoods along both the east and west coasts.2 This is a country of many and diverse features ranging from forests of pine to jungles of West Indian hardwoods. Swamps vary from those composed of cypress, or of water oak and bay, to the great mangrove swamp of Florida's southwestern coast that is known as the Ten Thousand Islands. The Everglades bisect this area from the north to the south forming a barrier that could only be crossed by means of a canoe in aboriginal times. The Everglades themselves seem to have been comparatively uninhabited except along their edges, where rivers drained off the overflow of water.3 The greatest centers of aboriginal population seem to have been at the mouths of creeks, rivers, and inlets, on keys, and on the coastal beaches that are separated from the mainland by mangrove swamps. The early inhabitants were essentially fisherfolk, and without exception their villages were always accessible by water. Burial and ceremonial sites are sometimes found in the pinewoods, but midden sites are never so situated. (Big Cypress Swamp may be an exception.) When the first European explorers came to Florida, this part of the state was occupied by two outstanding tribes plus a number of lesser ones. On the west coast, from Charlotte Harber south, the Calusa held sole sway. It seems probable that they controlled the Cape Sable region, but the Keys were most probably occupied by the Tekesta Indians. The main center of the Tekesta was on Biscayne Bay. Northward they may have controlled as far as Pompano or Lake Worth. Centered around Jupiter Inlet were the Jeaga or Hobe Indians, and at St. Lucie River were the Santa Lucia Indians.4