Recent AMS Research Articles

Late Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic of the Eastern Adriatic and the Problem of the Regional Middle/Upper Paleolithic Interface

Eastern Adriatic Late Middle Paleolithic is relatively well known. On the other hand, Early Upper Paleolithic sites in the same region are scarce, and in particular the sites from Early Aurignacian, which are completely lacking. Sites with stratigraphy encompassing Late Middle Paleolithic and Early Upper Paleolithic that would signifi cantly contribute to better understanding of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition have not yet been found. In this paper, we give an overview of the archaeological record of the regional Late Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Albania. The information on research of Late Middle Paleolithic sites conducted in different regions of the eastern Adriatic (e.g., Mujina pećina and Velika pećina in Kličevica in Dalmatia, open-air site Campanož and Romualdova pećina in Istria, Bioče and Crvena stijena in Montenegro) is given. AMS and ESR dates give good temporal frame for Late Middle Paleolithic. Contrary to this, radiocarbon dates for Early Upper Paleolithic are scarce, and were made long time ago, hence bringing into question their reliability as is supported by their very late age for Aurignacian. Only one recent AMS date from Šandalja II could represent real Aurignacian age. According to current data, there is a hiatus of several thousand years between Late Middle and Early Upper Paleolithic in the eastern Adriatic. Here we suggest several potential reasons for such fragmentary record of the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition in the eastern Adriatic.

The Izapa Kingdom's Capital: Formative Period Settlement Patterns, Population, and Dating Low-Relief Stelae

This article presents new settlement survey data from the Izapa center of southern Mesoamerica, a site long known for its corpus of low-relief stelae. These data, which track the changing distribution of population from 1000 BC–AD 100, indicate that the city's population peaked at 5,725 inhabitants. Izapa was the capital of a regional kingdom with more than 40 lower-order monumental centers and a territory that covered at least 450 sq. km. Recent AMS dates confirm the apogee of the kingdom at 300–100 BC, and volcanological reconstruction suggests that a Tacaná volcano eruption corresponds with archaeological evidence of political and demographic disruptions to the kingdom. Patterns at Izapa are contextualized in terms of Inomata and colleagues’ (2014) call for redating Kaminaljuyu, placing the erection of stelae there to after 100 BC, as well as Love's (2018) and Mendelsohn's (2018) responses in this journal. Izapa was an integrated kingdom from 700–100 BC, and “Izapa-style” sculptures were a novel medium of political communication introduced after the polity had been functioning without them for centuries. If Inomata and colleagues' (2014) proposal is correct that low-relief stelae were erected only after 100 BC at other centers in southern Mesoamerica, this was centuries after the practice was established at Izapa.

Dark matter annihilation into four-body final states and implications for the AMS antiproton excess

We consider dark matter annihilation into a general set of final states of Standard Model particles, including two-body and four-body final states that result from the decay of intermediate states. For dark matter masses ~10-10^5 GeV, we use updated data from Planck and from high gamma-ray experiments such as Fermi-LAT, MAGIC, and VERITAS to constrain the annihilation cross section for each final state. The Planck constraints are the most stringent over the entire mass range for annihilation into light leptons, and the Fermi-LAT constraints are the most stringent for four-body final states up to masses ~10^4 GeV. We consider these constraints in light of the recent AMS antiproton results, and show that for light mediators it is possible to explain the AMS data with dark matter, and remain consistent with Fermi-LAT Inner Galaxy measurements, for m_\chi ~ 60-100 GeV mass dark matter and mediator masses m_\phi / m_\chi ~< 1.

FOLSOM MAMMOTH HUNTERS? THE TERMINAL PLEISTOCENE ASSEMBLAGE FROM OWL CAVE (10BV30), WASDEN SITE, IDAHO

The 1960s and 1970s excavations at Owl Cave (10BV30) recovered mammoth bone and Folsom-like points from the same strata, suggesting evidence for a post-Clovis mammoth kill. However, a synthesis of the excavation data was never published, and the locality has since been purged from the roster of sites with human/extinct megafauna associations. Here, we present dates on bone from the oldest stratum, review provenience data, conduct a bone-surface modification study, and present the results of a protein-residue analysis. Our study fails to make the case for mammoth hunting by Folsom peoples. Although two of the point fragments tested positive for horse or elephant protein, recent AMS dates indicate that all of the mammoth remains predate Folsom, and horse remains are absent from the Owl Cave collection. Further, no unambiguously cultural surface modifications were identified on any of the mammoth remains. Given the available data, the Owl Cave deposits are most parsimoniously read as containing a Folsom-age occupation in a buried context, the first of its kind in the desert West, but one nonetheless part of a palimpsest of terminal Pleistocene materials.

Neural correlates of autobiographical memory retrieval in children and adults

ABSTRACTAutobiographical memory (AM) is a critically important form of memory for life events that undergoes substantial developmental changes from childhood to adulthood. Relatively little is known regarding the functional neural correlates of AM retrieval in children as assessed with fMRI, and how they may differ from adults. We investigated this question with 14 children ages 8–11 years and 14 adults ages 19–30 years, contrasting AM retrieval with semantic memory (SM) retrieval. During scanning, participants were cued by verbal prompts to retrieve previously selected recent AMs or to verify semantic properties of words. As predicted, both groups showed AM retrieval-related increased activation in regions implicated in prior studies, including bilateral hippocampus, and prefrontal, posterior cingulate, and parietal cortices. Adults showed greater activation in the hippocampal/parahippocampal region as well as prefrontal and parietal cortex, relative to children; age-related differences were most prominent in the first 8 sec versus the second 8 sec of AM retrieval and when AM retrieval was contrasted with semantic retrieval. This study is the first to characterise similarities and differences during AM retrieval in children and adults using fMRI.

Viking Faroes: Settlement, Paleoeconomy, and Chronology

The paper presents a synopsis of the current evidence for the settlement chronology and Viking Age to Early Medieval paleoeconomy of the Faroe Islands. Special emphasis is placed on the recent interdisciplinary research carried out in the village of Sandur, on the island of Sandoy, as part of the Heart of the Atlantic project. A particularly important outcome of this recent work has been the wide application of scientific dating methods to the early settlement remains. Recent AMS radiocarbon dates push the earliest settlement of the islands further back in time than traditionally thought, results that are of great importance because the Faroes were the first stepping-stone for the Viking diaspora west across the North Atlantic.

Two unfortunate properties of pure $f$-vectors

The set of f-vectors of pure simplicial complexes is an important but little understood object in combinatorics and combinatorial commutative algebra. Unfortunately, its explicit characterization appears to be a virtually intractable problem, and its structure very irregular and complicated. The purpose of this note, where we combine a few different algebraic and combinatorial techniques, is to lend some further evidence to this fact. We first show that pure (in fact, Cohen-Macaulay) f-vectors can be nonunimodal with arbitrarily many peaks, thus improving the corresponding results known for level Hilbert functions and pure O-sequences. We provide both an algebraic and a combinatorial argument for this result. Then, answering negatively a question of the second author and collaborators posed in the recent AMS Memoir on pure O-sequences, we show that the Interval Property fails for the set of pure f-vectors, even in dimension 2.

Late Pleistocene butchered Bison antiquus from Ayer Pond, Orcas Island, Pacific Northwest: Age confirmation and taphonomy

Bone modifications on well-preserved Bison antiquus remains recently discovered during pond construction in the Pacific Northwest provide evidence suggestive of Late Pleistocene human activity. Since excavation and recovery conditions were not ideal careful evaluation of all observations separated those that can be made with confidence, and identified and discounted those less reliable. The report focuses on the context of the discovery, the taphonomic evidence, and compares modifications to those from other reported kill sites, considering evidence for human butchering and predator and scavenger damage. New test results confirm the bison is Late Pleistocene in age. A recent AMS radiocarbon date involving different pretreatment protocols places the event at 11,990 14C BP, slightly older than the first test results of 11,760 14C BP. These dates and observations were used to conclude that the bison was butchered by humans shortly after deglaciation.

SIMULATION OF ATMOSPHERIC SECONDARY HADRON AND LEPTON FLUX FROM SATELLITE TO UNDERGROUND EXPERIMENTS

The successful simulation results obtained in the interpretation of the recent AMS measurements of proton, leptons and light nuclei particle flux, are reviewed. A similar success in being met in the analysis of secondary particle flux measured in teh atmosphere (antiprotons, muons) and in underground experiments (neutrinos).

An Initial Description of the Archaeology and Morphology of the Clark's Fork Skeletal Material, Bonner County, Idaho

The Clark's Fork skeletal material was originally discovered in 1940 during road building operations in Bonner County, northern Idaho. According to Neumann (1952), this partially mineralized individual was reputed to be of great antiquity; however, no description of the material has ever been published. Recent AMS dating of a portion of the femur returned a date of 5930 + 100 RCYBP, placing the material within the Early Prehistoric/Early Middle Prehistoric transitional period. Analysis of the skeletal material indicates that at least two individuals are present. The more nearly complete of the two is an older middle-aged adult male roughly 170 cm tall. Although contextual information and anatomical comparison is limited, it appears that the Clark's Fork burial is comparable to others of similar age from the Columbia Plateau.

Secondary electrons and positrons in near earth orbit

The secondary e + and e − populations in near earth's orbit have been calculated by simulation. The results are in very good agreement with the recent AMS measurements. The e + over e − flux ratio for particles below the geomagnetic cutoff appears to be due to the geomagnetic East–West effect.

Validity of Ams Dates on Maize from the Tehuacán Valley: A Comment on Macneish and Eubanks

MacNeish and Eubanks (2000) reject the AMS radiocarbon dates on maize from the Tehuacán Valley, claiming that the specimens were contaminated with a substance called Bedacryl. We do not believe that the dated fragments were contaminated, and we review the processes by which they were selected and analyzed. We also describe Bedacryl and conclude that, had it been present as a contaminant, the resulting 14C ages should have been older rather than younger than expected. Considered along with recent AMS dates on cultigens from Tamaulipas, it seems evident that post-depositional disturbances in rock-shelter sites sometimes caused mixing of older and younger objects. Direct AMS radiocarbon dating is currently the best and least destructive way to determine whether or not an individual plant specimen is the same age as seemingly associated wood charcoal.

More on the Neanderthal Problem: The Vindija Case

Previous articleNext article No AccessDiscussion and CriticismMore on the Neanderthal Problem: The Vindija CaseIvor Karavanić and Fred H. SmithIvor KaravanićArheološki zavod, Filozofskog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, I. Lučića 3, HR‐10000 Zagreb, Croatia ([email protected])/Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Ill. 60115, U.S.A. ([email protected]). 14 iii 00 Search for more articles by this author and Fred H. SmithArheološki zavod, Filozofskog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, I. Lučića 3, HR‐10000 Zagreb, Croatia ([email protected])/Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Ill. 60115, U.S.A. ([email protected]). 14 iii 00 Search for more articles by this author Arheološki zavod, Filozofskog fakulteta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, I. Lučića 3, HR‐10000 Zagreb, Croatia ([email protected])/Department of Anthropology, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Ill. 60115, U.S.A. ([email protected]). 14 iii 00PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 41, Number 5December 2000 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/317410 Views: 82Total views on this site Citations: 18Citations are reported from Crossref PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Luc Doyon The cultural trajectories of Aurignacian osseous projectile points in Southern Europe: Insights from geometric morphometrics, Quaternary International 551 (Jun 2020): 63–84.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2018.12.010Ivor Karavanić, Rajna Šošić-Klindžić, James C. M. Ahern, Natalija Čondić, Ivor Janković, Krunoslav Zubčić, Fred H. Smith Recent Research on the Croatian Middle/Upper Paleolithic Interface in the Context of Central and Southeast Europe, (Jan 2017): 153–169.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0874-4_10Ivor Karavanic´ Early Upper Paleolithic Osseous Points from Croatia, (Jan 2017): 43–54.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-0899-7_4Luc Moreau, Boštjan Odar, Tom Higham, Aleksander Horvat, Darja Pirkmajer, Peter Turk Reassessing the Aurignacian of Slovenia: Techno-economic behaviour and direct dating of osseous projectile points, Journal of Human Evolution 78 (Jan 2015): 158–180.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2014.09.007I. Karavanić, F.H. Smith Alternative Interpretations of the Middle/Upper Paleolithic Interface at Vindija Cave (Northwestern Croatia) in the Context of Central Europe and the Adriatic, Archaeology, Ethnology and Anthropology of Eurasia 41, no.44 (Dec 2013): 11–20.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aeae.2014.07.003Mike W. Morley, Jamie C. Woodward The Campanian Ignimbrite (Y5) tephra at Crvena Stijena Rockshelter, Montenegro, Quaternary Research 75, no.33 (Jan 2017): 683–696.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yqres.2011.02.005Ivor Janković, Ivor Karavanić, James C. M. Ahern, Dejana Brajković, Jadranka Mauch Lenardić, Fred H. Smith Archaeological, Paleontological and Genomic Perspectives on Late European Neandertals at Vindija Cave, Croatia, (Feb 2011): 299–313.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-0492-3_23Ivor Karavanić, Marylène Patou-Mathis Middle/Upper Paleolithic Interface in Vindija Cave (Croatia): New Results and Interpretations, (Jun 2009): 397–405.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-76487-0_26João Zilhão Szeletian, Not Aurignacian: A Review of the Chronology and Cultural Associations of the Vindija G1 Neandertals, (Jun 2009): 407–426.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-76487-0_27Brian Adams The Bükk Mountain Szeletian: Old and New Views on “Transitional” Material from the Eponymous Site of the Szeletian, (Jun 2009): 427–440.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-76487-0_28Marco Peresani, Mauro Cremaschi, Francesca Ferraro, Christophe Falguères, Jean-Jacques Bahain, Giulia Gruppioni, Emanuela Sibilia, Gianluca Quarta, Lucio Calcagnile, Jean-Michel Dolo Age of the final Middle Palaeolithic and Uluzzian levels at Fumane Cave, Northern Italy, using 14C, ESR, 234U/230Th and thermoluminescence methods, Journal of Archaeological Science 35, no.1111 (Nov 2008): 2986–2996.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2008.06.013 Marco Peresani A New Cultural Frontier for the Last Neanderthals: The Uluzzian in Northern Italy Peresani, Current Anthropology 49, no.44 (Jul 2015): 725–731.https://doi.org/10.1086/588540Ivor Karavanić Le Moustérien en Croatie, L'Anthropologie 111, no.33 (Mar 2007): 321–345.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anthro.2007.04.002Rainer Grün Direct dating of human fossils, American Journal of Physical Anthropology 131, no.S43S43 (Jan 2006): 2–48.https://doi.org/10.1002/ajpa.20516Tom Higham, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Ivor Karavanić, Fred H. Smith, Erik Trinkaus Revised direct radiocarbon dating of the Vindija G 1 Upper Paleolithic Neandertals, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 103, no.33 (Jan 2006): 553–557.https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0510005103James C.M Ahern, Ivor Karavanić, Maja Paunović, Ivor Janković, Fred H Smith New discoveries and interpretations of hominid fossils and artifacts from Vindija Cave, Croatia, Journal of Human Evolution 46, no.11 (Jan 2004): 27–67.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2003.09.010Ivor Karavanić L’industrie aurignacienne de la grotte de Šandalja II (Istrie, Croatie) dans le contexte de la région de l’Est de l’Adriatique, L'Anthropologie 107, no.55 (Dec 2003): 577–602.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anthro.2003.10.003Francesco G. Fedele, Biagio Giaccio, Roberto Isaia, Giovanni Orsi Ecosystem Impact of the Campanian Ignimbrite Eruption in Late Pleistocene Europe, Quaternary Research 57, no.33 (Jan 2017): 420–424.https://doi.org/10.1006/qres.2002.2331

New Dates from Old Collections: The Roundtop Site and Maize-Beans-Squash Agriculture in the Northeast

The Roundtop site located in the Upper Susquehanna River Valley of New York has long been held to contain the earliest evidence for maize-beans-squash agriculture in the Northeast. In his reports on this site, Ritchie linked charred maize, beans, and squash remains with a radiocarbon date of A.D. 1070 + 60 and pottery associated with the early Owasco Carpenter Brook phase. Recent AMS dating of the domesticates indicates that there is no evidence for maize, beans, and squash co-occurring at the site before A.D. 1300. The dates are supported by pottery collections and Ritchie's lab notes. These results emphasize that site descriptions in the literature are interpretations not observations. These interpretations need to be carefully assessed before their incorporation into new analyses and syntheses. This can only be done if collections of artifacts, botanical and zoological remains, and field and lab notes are maintained by museums.

Views of Climate Change: A Delphi Experiment in the Midwest

A midwestern group of 46 scientists and 16 nonscientists were polled at a recent AMS meeting about their beliefs on climate change, the CO2 issue, and the overall importance of these issues. Most indicated a belief in a trend to a climate that is colder, wetter, and has more weather variability. The group also indicated that the reports on CO2 were confusing to them and especially to the public. Finally, they indicated that the ongoing climate shift has been important to their lives.