Mound Site Research Articles

Terrestrial cultural landscapes changed inshore marine ecosystems: Eight centuries of shellfish harvesting from the Kawela Mound site, Hawaiian Islands

Through unfamiliar and at times marginal environments, successful colonisation of the Pacific Islands relied upon the introduction of domesticated flora and fauna as well as widespread burning to reduce forests and lowland vegetation for agricultural production. These transformations led to the extinction of avifauna, the reduction of forests, and extensive slope erosion and sedimentation into valleys and along shorelines. To date, most attention has been paid to human-induced changes to the terrestrial landscape. In this paper we present the archaeomalacological results from the deeply stratified coastal Kawela Mound, one of the oldest habitation sites in the Hawaiian Islands, with occupation beginning during the 12th century AD. We describe how anthropogenic change of the terrestrial landscape caused sediment run-off, increased shoreline turbidity, and progradation of the adjacent shoreline altering marine habitats, which is recorded in the diversity, size, and habitat preference of food shellfish harvested over nearly eight centuries. The construction of ancient stone-walled fishponds along the littoral shore provided an artificial rocky habitat for shellfish otherwise uncommon along the sandy coast. Consequently, AMS dated layers containing these shellfish provide an indirect avenue for determining the chronology of stone-walled fishponds, the construction of which was directed under the aegis of elites and thus one of the hallmarks of increasing social complexity during the last two centuries before Contact in the late 18th century.

Above and below the Green Line: a social history of divergent Mississippian cultures

ABSTRACT A cultural boundary between Late Mississippi period groups has long been observed in the Yazoo Basin corresponding with the mouth of the Arkansas River. However, similarities in mound site structure, settlement location, and processes associated with Mississippianization have sometimes led researchers to downplay these differences, effectively treating the Yazoo Basin as a single physiographic and cultural unit. We examine the idea that subtle differences in physiography within the Yazoo Basin can account for observed differences in material culture. We find that while physiography explains site location and may have influenced how Mississippian people interacted, it does not explain residential patterns, mound site use, or interactions with people from the American Bottom during the “Cahokia horizon.” Instead, we argue that Mississippi period mound sites in the northern and southern Yazoo Basin differed fundamentally in their functions, and that these differences are rooted in Late Woodland Coles Creek and Baytown notions of dwelling and ceremonial practice.

Bakestones in Northern Norway: An Archaeological Witness to Medieval Foodways and Maritime Trade

BAKESTONES ARE A 11TH-CENTURY EARLY MEDIEVAL INNOVATION associated with flatbread production that reflect a distinctive Norwegian food culture spanning some 600 years. Large scale manufacture of chlorite schist bakestones at Ølve-Hatlestrand, western Norway, was linked to further distribution in Norway from the port of Bergen. Bakestones were an important item of maritime trade transported to northern Norway in exchange for stockfish (dried cod) and are most commonly found in coastal fishing villages and settlement mound sites. An attribute-based analysis of bakestones from northern Norway in the Arctic University Museum of Norway archaeological collection, the first comprehensive study outside of medieval towns, explores the role of bakestones for Norse/Norwegian maritime settlement and as a valued trade commodity, as demonstrated by reuse of bakestone fragments. In addition to documenting spatial and temporal bakestone distribution, geochemical (XRF) characterisation and a preliminary analysis of organic residues were also undertaken. Although bakestones are primarily associated with Norwegian settlement, their role in contexts with a combination of indigenous Sámi and Norse/Norwegian elements is also evaluated.

Early Dilmun Burial Mounds in Bahrain: the Wâdî al-Sail Archaeological Project and the Dilmun Mapping Project

This paper overviews the results of archaeological research by the Japanese mission on the Early Dilmun burial mound sites. The archaeological research on Early Dilmun burial mounds in Bahrain has a history of more than 100 years. Excavations of a number of burial mounds, including 'Royal Mounds', have revealed different aspects of the mortuary and burial practice of the Early Dilmun period and the emergence of a complex society on Bahrain Island. However, there are many issues to be discussed with different approaches; how the mortuary practices changed through time, how the distribution pattern of burial mounds changed through time, how the social organization can be approached from burial mounds, and so on. The Dilmun Mapping Project run by Akinori Uesugi, one of the authors of this paper, focuses on the distribution pattern of burial mounds and the formation process of extensive cemeteries. The Wâdî Al-Sail Archaeological Project led by Masashi Abe has been revealing the mortuary and burial practice of the Early phase of the Early Dilmun period, which was not so well understood before. In addition, Wâdî Al-Sail provides an important clue for considering the origins of Dilmun.

Spatiotemporal variation of human settlement distribution between the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties in relation to flooding in the lower Yellow River floodplain, East China

Both historical documents and geological archives have recorded frequent extreme flood occurrences between approximately 3200 and 3000 cal. yr BP (i.e., the late Shang dynasty) in East China. As a flood-prone area, the lower Yellow River floodplain experienced significant changes in human settlement between the Shang (1600–1046 BCE) and Western Zhou (1046–771 BCE) dynasties. However, the relationship between extreme flood occurrences and changes in human settlement remains unclear. This study aims to examine the spatiotemporal variations of settlement distribution between the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties in relation to extreme flooding during the late Shang dynasty. The results indicate that settlement distribution and settlement density exhibited clear shifts between the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties, and the period of the late Shang dynasty was an extreme-flood-rich interval within and around the lower Yellow River floodplain. Because the course of the lower Yellow River was relatively stable during the Shang and Western Zhou dynasties, frequent extreme flood occurrences during the late Shang dynasty should change the hydrological settings in key locations along the lower Yellow River course. The northern Henan and its southeastern low-lying areas were subjected to frequent crevasses from the flooding of the Yellow River between approximately 3200 and 3000 cal. yr BP. These significant hydrological changes in northern Henan and its southeastern low-lying areas, combined with frequent wars and conflicts between local tribes and Shang people, likely contributed to a decrease in settlement number and a contraction of settlement distribution. In response to the floods during the late Shang dynasty, ancient inhabitants most likely elevated their dwellings and created the mound sites that exist in the lower Yellow River floodplain today.

Evidence for the anaerobic biodegradation of higher molecular weight hydrocarbons in the Guaymas Basin

The hydrothermal sediments of the Guaymas Basin are rich in chemically complex petroleum components, including gaseous hydrocarbons, higher molecular weight n-alkanes and aromatic compounds. Studies of indigenous deep-sea microorganisms obtained from these sediments led to novel insights on the fundamental mechanisms for the anaerobic biodegradation of gaseous hydrocarbons. However, the metabolic fate of other hydrocarbons and the requisite organisms involved in the cycling of petroleum components remain largely unexplored. Metagenomic sequencing and laboratory enrichments were used to garner evidence for the anaerobic biodegradation of liquid hydrocarbons in hydrothermal sediments and mineral concretions from three sites in the Guaymas Basin (“Megamat II”, Rebecca's Roost and Octopus Mound). Elevated sulfate consumption by microbial enrichments from the Megamat II and Rebecca's Roost sites was observed at 55 °C when sediment incubations were amended with liquid n-alkanes (C6–C12; C16–C18) or with crude oil as potential electron donors. The biodegradation of the same hydrocarbons, linked to sulfate reduction, was also evident at 31 °C by microbial consortia enriched from the “Megamat II” and Octopus Mound sites. Notably, methane was concurrently produced in enrichments from the Octopus Mound site that was covered by Ampharetid methane-oxidizing worm mats. Metagenomic sequencing revealed that Deltaproteobacteria were predominant at the three sites (up to 47.48% of the microbial community). Moreover, the genes responsible for the activation of alkanes (Ass, alkylsuccinate synthase) and aromatic hydrocarbons (Bss, benzylsuccinate synthase) were identified from all three sites. The reconstruction of high-quality draft genomes from the Desulfobacterales further confirmed their metabolic potential to degrade alkanes via fumarate addition in Guaymas Basin sediments. Collectively, our findings demonstrate that mesophilic and thermophilic microbial consortia from hydrothermal sediments and mineral concretions in different regions of the Guaymas Basin are capable of anaerobically biodegrading C6–C12- and C16–C18n-alkanes as well as crude oil under the ambient temperature regimes. Our findings highlight the importance of integrating multiple approaches to better understand the ecological functioning of microbial communities in hydrocarbon-rich hydrothermal systems.

Knowledge of the Sky among Indigenous Peoples of the South American Lowlands—First Archaeoastronomical Analyses of Orientations at Mounds in Uruguay

We analyzed, from a cultural astronomy perspective, the relationship between the orientations of five mound sites and different astronomical events in the lowland region of Uruguay. We found significant relationships between the orientations of the mounds and the Southern Cross/Milky Way and the full Moon during the winter solstice ca. 3000 years BP. These relationships, meanings and senses to different native peoples of South America were explored from the literature of travelers’ and naturalists’ chronicles, alongside the ethnohistorical, ethnographic and archaeological literature. In particular, we highlighted the link among those peoples of the area of the Southern Cross/ Milky Way with a mythical Ñandú (Rhea americana). Such an interpretation has allowed us to raise the possibility that we are being faced with the integration of knowledge of the sky in the form of the social construction of inhabited space and the configuration of the landscape.

Social change and late Holocene hydroclimate variability in southwest Indiana

The archaeology of how communities in the North American midcontinent responded to environmental change has had global significance for understanding hydroclimate-human relationships in non-industrialized societies. We evaluate how an agriculturalist settlement network, the Angel polity, coped with environmental change through comparing the radiocarbon-derived occupation history to local proxies for hydroclimatic change from Martin Lake, Indiana. Located within the northeast Mississippian (AD 1000–1500) frontier, the Angel polity consisted of a network of hamlets and villages, encompassing ∼800 km2 in southwest Indiana with the Angel Mounds site serving as the polity’s social nexus. The results indicate that Angel Mounds was established as the Medieval Climate Anomaly transitioned to Little Ice Age (LIA) drought with the construction of a community centered around a platform mound earthwork. The Angel polity’s population became more centralized at Angel Mounds during the initial decades of the LIA drought conditions and a large fortification was constructed at Angel Mounds during this time. The dissolution of the Angel polity occurred in AD 1350–1450 during a profound LIA-associated mega-drought and regional depopulation of the midcontinent. These results provide an example of how non-industrialized, agriculturalist communities responded to episodes of hydroclimatic change.

Within-site adaptation: Growth and mortality of Norway spruce, Scots pine and Silver birch seedlings in different planting positions across a soil moisture gradient

Adapting to site conditions is a central part of forest regeneration and can be done through selection of different planting positions. Requirements are tree species specific, and the use of soil moisture maps could be a way to support decision making in forest regeneration planning. At two experimental sites with varying soil moisture conditions in southern Sweden Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.), Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.), and silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) seedlings were planted in four different planting positions following mounding site preparation; Depression, Hinge, Mound and Unscarified. Soil moisture estimates were obtained from a high-resolution depth-to-water raster for each planting spot. The effect of soil moisture, planting position and their interactions on mortality, height and diameter was evaluated for each tree species. In wet conditions mounds proved to be the best option to minimize seedling mortality for conifers, but with decreasing soil moisture, differences between the planting positions decreased. Birch on the other hand had the greatest survival in the hinge. The coniferous species displayed increased height and diameter when planted in mounds independent of the soil moisture conditions, whereas silver birch was less dependent on a specific planting position. Results from this study shows that a soil moisture map can explain mortality, height and diameter and thus can be a useful tool when choosing planting position in different soil moisture conditions.

Río Chico: A Multicomponent Site Precursor of Té Zulay

AbstractThis report presents survey and excavation results from the site of Río Chico, located near the city of Puyo, Ecuador. Currently, Río Chico is the oldest multicomponent village-type mound site of the Pastaza drainage, one of the great rivers of the Amazon basin. It is part of a series of monumental sites in the Upper Amazon of Ecuador but is unique in the area because of its evidence of consumption of certain plants and interregional trade.

ASSESSING THE 14C MARINE RESERVOIR EFFECT IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS: DATA FROM THE CABEÇUDA SHELL MOUND IN SOUTHERN BRAZIL

ABSTRACTPrehistoric shell mounds can be useful for the quantification of the radiocarbon marine reservoir effect (MRE) and, at the same time, knowledge about the MRE allows for the establishment of robust chronologies for these sites. This creates a loop in which the archaeological setting has a dual role: it is part of both the method and the application. Therefore, it is paramount to address these sites from both archaeological and environmental perspectives, investigating their origin and diagenesis in order to overcome biases caused by post-depositional alterations. In this study, samples of bone, charcoal and shell from a Late Holocene shell mound in Southern Brazil, the Sambaqui de Cabeçuda, were analyzed following a multidisciplinary approach to disentangle the complex relationships between archaeology and the environment. We performed X-ray diffraction, radiocarbon dating, stable isotopes (δ13C, δ18O, δ15N) and anthracology analyses as well as Bayesian Chronological Models and Isotope Mixing Models to assess the local MRE and to reconstruct the diet of Cabeçuda builders. Our results reveal a negative local correction for the MRE (ΔR = –263 ± 46 14C yr), expected for the lagoon next to the site, and diets with considerable intakes of marine proteins. We examine the implications of these results for the chronology of the site and discuss a series of complications when performing MRE studies using shell mound sites.

Lifeways of Early Kantharodai, Sri Lanka

In the 1st millennium BCE Sri Lanka was central to the wide-spanning trading networks in the Western Indian Ocean region. Population agglomerations grew on the coast and further inland, where Anuradhapura emerged as the major central place. Parallel agglomerations formed in the south in Tissamaharama and in the north on Jaffna Peninsula in Kantharodai. The site of Kantharodai on the northern tip of Sri Lanka is the largest known early historic mound site on the Jaffna Peninsula, thought to represent the ancient centre of the region. The Early Historic occupation of Kantharodai began ca. 400-100 BCE. In our study we focus on the older historic occupation phase at Kantharodai, represented by a rich midden deposit of domestic refuse that offer insights into the environmental conditions faced by early occupants of the site and their modes of subsistence. We provide a glimpse into the subsistence strategies of the earliest settled population in Kantharodai who augmented a diet based on domesticated livestock through multiple wild species from forests, swamps, mangroves and marine habitats. Based on the faunal evidence from early Kantharodai, this complex socio-economic structure appears to have been in operation, confirming proposed models of mixed economies in operation in the Early Historic period of the region.

THE MARINE RESERVOIR EFFECT: A CASE STUDY OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES AT GUANABARA BAY, RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL

ABSTRACTThis study applied, radiocarbon dating to charcoal and mollusk samples from Sernambetiba and Amourins archaeological sites in the Northeast region of Guanabara Bay, in the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to assess the marine radiocarbon reservoir effect (MRE) of this area, being applied for the correction of the marine samples ages. The results for this estuarine system were ΔR = –87 ± 90 14C yr and ΔR = –244 ± 70 14C yr for 3970 ± 70 14C yr BP and 2357 ± 60 14C yr BP, respectively. Based on these findings, calibrated 14C ages were calculated for Sernambetiba and Amourins shell mound sites surrounding the bay. Marine samples from the Guapi site were analyzed and only their radiocarbon ages presented because there were no paired terrestrial samples for the MRE assessment. These results are coherent with previously published values also derived from archaeological samples for the Rio de Janeiro state coastal region and contribute to the interpretation of human occupation of the region during the Holocene.

Monitoring as a tool to evaluate preservation possibilities. Results from the CULTCOAST project

The CULTCOAST research project has installed environmental monitoring equipment at two cultural heritage sites in northern Norway: one at the coal mine site of Hiorthhamn on Svalbard, one at the settlement mound site Sjåberget on Andøya in Nordland County. Both these coastal heritage sites are situated north of the Arctic circle, in the areas most impacted by climate change. Whereas the global temperature increase since 1970 is just above 1°C, in Svalbard the increase is now 4°C. This is the first example of using this specific type of sensors to monitor the ongoing changes and their possible impacts on preservation of heritage sites.

Emplacement and path dependence in the American Midsouth

The origins and histories of mounds are perennial topics of investigation in the American Southeast, underscoring the centrality of these monuments to the social lives and cosmologies of Indigenous southeastern peoples. Drawing upon theories of persistent place and path dependence, we argue that a focus on the pre-mound histories of mound sites can elucidate emplacement at these monumental locales. Our focus is the Johnston site (40MD3) in what is now known as West Tennessee, one of three sites along the South Fork of the Forked Deer River that witnessed unprecedented monumentalization in the early centuries AD. Geophysical survey, targeted excavations, and AMS dating at Johnston have revealed a 6000-year history that predates Middle Woodland mound building. By contextualizing this evidence against the cultural and environmental backdrop of the Middle Archaic through Middle Woodland Midsouth, we propose that formal emplacement – the creation and reinforcement of connections between people and place – transpired nearly four millennia after Johnston was first occupied, but possibly centuries before mounds were erected there. These findings underscore the complexity of processes of emplacement, and the importance of considering mounds within the larger spatial and temporal extents of monumental sites, and monumental sites within wider regional landscapes and histories.

Spatial patterns and life histories of Macrotermes michaelseni termite mounds reflect intraspecific competition: insights of a temporal comparison spanning 12 years

Termite mounds contribute to the heterogeneity and productivity of many semi‐arid ecosystems worldwide. Regular spatial patterns of termite mounds are well documented but the underlying pattern‐building mechanisms remain to be clarified.This study analysed a comprehensive data set of Macrotermes michaelseni mound metrics, spatial patterns and dynamics, recorded 12 years apart within 1 km2 of Namibian thornbush savanna. We used both unmarked and marked point pattern analyses to assess spatial distributions of termite mounds.We recorded 485 termite mounds in 2007 and 2019. Out of the investigated 142 active termite mounds in 2007, 81 were active 12 years later. Only 2% (n = 3/129) of remnant mound sites in 2007 were newly colonised in 2019. All mounds were distributed at regular distances. Mounds higher than 2 m and long‐term active mounds (active in 2007 and 2019) showed high regularity. Mounds up to 0.7 m height and new mounds occurred in clusters and showed a spatial repulsion to large and long‐term active colonies. The spatial distribution of Boscia albitrunca trees generally clustered around termite mounds, but did not cluster around young colonies.The results contradict the hypothesis of preferred colony settlement on previously inhabited mound sites. Remnant mounds are relatively unlikely to be recolonised when recently abandoned. The observed spatial patterns show that intraspecific competition between large colonies is the decisive factor for regular spatial patterns of termite colonies, whereas small and young colonies are limited to unoccupied patches. Surrounding trees are a pattern‐building factor of only secondary importance.The spatio‐temporal scale in our study reveals general trends of termite mound life histories and spatial pattern‐building mechanisms. Availability of not previously inhabited sites form the patterns of founding new colonies. Well‐established mounds are highly regulated by intraspecific competition. This highlights that termites contribute to ecosystem heterogeneity through self‐organised spatial regularity.

An Archaeoastronomic Assessment of Angel Mounds, Indiana, with Commentary on Moundville, Alabama, and Cahokia, Illinois

Abstract The Angel Mounds site was a large, fortified Mississippian village located in southwestern Indiana. The site flourished from circa AD 1100 to AD 1450 and represents one of the largest recorded Mississippian settlements in the Ohio River valley. In this article, we use astronomic data, lidar imagery, ethnohistoric data, and computer planetarium simulations to identify solar, stellar, and lunar alignments at the site. Of special interest are new findings showing how mound axes are oriented to the Milky Way on the night of the summer solstice. In traditional Eastern Woodlands belief, the Milky Way was the path that souls of the dead traveled on their journey to the Land of the Dead. Supportive of the findings for Angel are similar Milky Way alignments at Moundville, Alabama, and Cahokia, Illinois.

From Mounds to Villages: The Social Construction of the Landscape during the Middle and Late Holocene in the India Muerta Lowlands, Uruguay

This paper presents new data on the spatial organization of mound-builder groups in the India Muerta wetlands, Uruguay. This area presents the beginning of land architecture in the region (ca. 4800–5000 years BP), associated with more arid climate. This construction tradition continues and intensifies, mainly from ca 3000 years BP, from the establishment of warmer and damper conditions. New sources of information and geospatial technologies have made it possible to locate mound sites with greater precision, as well as to analyze settlement patterns. Indigenous communities occupied areas of hills, plains and wetlands, showing differences but also regularities in spatial organization in each area. In the whole area, earthen mound complexes form groups of different orders, from regional to domestic units, configured by mounds, negative structures and limited spaces. The location of the mounds is primarily in dry areas, known locally as islands, which are prominent in the landscape during floods in this wetland-dominated environment. Through this analysis of the landscape, this work delves into the underlying logic of the social construction of the territory. The results achieved in this paper are consistent with previous research suggesting planned occupation associated with villages integrated within broader regional systems.

Monument volumes and viewshed analysis at the Carson mounds site (22CO505), Coahoma County, Mississippi

Earthen mound construction is a cultural practice in the American Southeast that has over 5000 years of history. During this time, earthen mounds were variously associated with mortuary rituals, communal practices, social and political leadership, and/or cosmological structures of the universe. After CE 1200 in Mississippi’s Yazoo Basin, a floodplain of the Mississippi River stretching from Memphis to Vicksburg, numerous large, fortified and mounded towns were constructed. At these sites there is significant variation in numbers of mounds and mound volume. Blitz and Livingood and Payne stipulate in earlier studies that most earthen mounds were built slowly by kin groups for community integration and possibly flood relief. They also suggest that large mounds at large sites take on meanings of hierarchy and leadership. Using Peircean semiotics, Jerry Moore’s concept of relative scale, and with data compiled by Blitz and Livingood and Payne, this study evaluates mound volume and monumental viewsheds at the Carson site, a large Mississippian culture settlement that once had over 88 earthen mounds, some of which were small house mounds, and some of which were monumental.

Automated Archaeological Feature Detection Using Deep Learning on Optical UAV Imagery: Preliminary Results

This communication article provides a call for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) users in archaeology to make imagery data more publicly available while developing a new application to facilitate the use of a common deep learning algorithm (mask region-based convolutional neural network; Mask R-CNN) for instance segmentation. The intent is to provide specialists with a GUI-based tool that can apply annotation used for training for neural network models, enable training and development of segmentation models, and allow classification of imagery data to facilitate auto-discovery of features. The tool is generic and can be used for a variety of settings, although the tool was tested using datasets from the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman, Iran, Iraq, and Jordan. Current outputs suggest that trained data are able to help identify ruined structures, that is, structures such as burials, exposed building ruins, and other surface features that are in some degraded state. Additionally, qanat(s), or ancient underground channels having surface access holes, and mounded sites, which have distinctive hill-shaped features, are also identified. Other classes are also possible, and the tool helps users make their own training-based approach and feature identification classes. To improve accuracy, we strongly urge greater publication of UAV imagery data by projects using open journal publications and public repositories. This is something done in other fields with UAV data and is now needed in heritage and archaeology. Our tool is provided as part of the outputs given.