Test Excavations Research Articles

Iron Age Transformations at Mmadipudi Hill, Botswana: Identifying Spatial Organization Through Electromagnetic Induction Survey

Mmadipudi Hill (CE 550–1200) is an Iron Age site in east-central Botswana approximately 3 km west of Bosutswe, a major Iron Age trade center at the eastern edge of the Kalahari Desert. A 5,000-m2 electromagnetic induction (EMI) survey conducted in 2011 revealed a cattle post arranged in the Central Cattle Pattern, including a central animal kraal with at least three clusters of houses flanking the eastern edge. A test trench confirmed the presence of a Taukome daga structure, possibly a house, 100–150 cm in depth. The EMI survey is one of, if not the first, archaeogeophysical surveys conducted in Botswana. It has proven invaluable as a means to understand the settlement organization and to pinpoint excavations to gain a more detailed understanding of the material culture. The perspective it offered on thorn brush fencing would not have been possible through excavation alone. Although small in scope, the test excavation yielded Taukome and Toutswe artifacts related to the larger sets of issues the Bosutswe region faced as Indian Ocean trade transformed the local political economy. The nature of the relationships between Bosutswe and its surrounding communities likely evolved due to the rise of a prestige goods economy, growing inequality, and environmental degradation around CE 1200. The occupation at Mmadipudi Hill would have immediately preceded these changes. By determining the spatial organization of Mmadipudi Hill, this article begins a crucial first step towards exploring what the local settlement pattern looked like prior to CE 1200 and understanding what the relationships among sites may have been.

Test excavations in the vicinity of Cserkeszőlő (Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County, Hungary)

The staff of the Institute of Archaeological Sciences of the Eötvös Loránd University carried out test excavations in the autumn of 2015 prior to the construction of motorway M44 in Tiszazug, Jász-Nagykun-Szolnok County, Hungary. This preliminary report presents the most interesting features and finds of this campaign.

New Middle Palaeolithic sites from the Mani Peninsula, Southern Greece

We here report the first results from a systematic research project in Mani (Southern Greece), which includes survey and test excavations. Forty-six caves, rockshelters and open-air sites in lowland settings were surveyed. Geomorphological data were collected in order to assess how geological processes affect the preservation of sites and bias site distribution patterns. Artifacts manufactured from non-local rock indicate potential raw material transfers and suggest links among the different regions of Mani, related to mobility patterns. Our research in the Mani has nearly doubled the number of known Middle Palaeolithic sites from the region and confirmed that the peninsula has the strongest ‘Neanderthal signal’ identified to date in Greece. Almost all sites are located at coastal areas. Despite the influence of Pleistocene landscape dynamics, this distribution emerges as a persistent pattern, perhaps indicating a preference for coastal locations. The Neanderthal occupation of Mani can illuminate importan...

Recent Investigations at the Cedar Creek Earthworks (AaHq-2), Essex County, Ontario

Abstract This paper presents and contextualizes the results of recent research at the Cedar Creek Earthworks (AaHq-2) in Essex County, Ontario, one of the few remaining Late Prehistoric earthen enclosures in the western Lake Erie region. First documented in the 1930s, the site consists of a unique semicircular berm and ditch feature to which has been appended three earthen projections or “nodes.” Despite a combination of remote sensing, testpitting, and targeted test excavations both within and beyond the earthworks, a dearth of material culture remains and subsurface features (including evidence for a palisade) suggests the site did not serve as a village and raises questions regarding the role(s) Cedar Creek played in the lifeways of past aboriginal populations.

New Middle Palaeolithic sites from the Mani Peninsula, Southern Greece

We here report the first results from a systematic research project in Mani (Southern Greece), which includes survey and test excavations. Forty-six caves, rockshelters and open-air sites in lowland settings were surveyed. Geomorphological data were collected in order to assess how geological processes affect the preservation of sites and bias site distribution patterns. Artifacts manufactured from non-local rock indicate potential raw material transfers and suggest links among the different regions of Mani, related to mobility patterns. Our research in the Mani has nearly doubled the number of known Middle Palaeolithic sites from the region and confirmed that the peninsula has the strongest ‘Neanderthal signal’ identified to date in Greece. Almost all sites are located at coastal areas. Despite the influence of Pleistocene landscape dynamics, this distribution emerges as a persistent pattern, perhaps indicating a preference for coastal locations. The Neanderthal occupation of Mani can illuminate important aspects of Middle Palaeolithic adaptation in one of the southernmost coastal regions of Europe.

The settlement of the Baden culture at site 1 in Zofipole, Kraków district (results of excavations conducted in 1986)

Site 1 in Zofipole east of Krakow is known for long-standing research conducted in 1930s and 1940s. In 1986 test excavations were conducted in the eastern, up to then unrecognized part of the area. This research led to the discovery of a part of a small settlement of the Baden culture yielding interesting and diversified (while not numerous) sources for studies into this culture in Lesser Poland. This research is worth discussing due to new radiocarbon data, animal bones analyses, the discoveries of a dwelling feature and presumed symbolic burial and fragments of pottery for salt production

Grabungsvorberichte/Preliminary Excavation Reports: Preliminary Report on the First Season of the Tell Nabasha Project, Autumn 2015

A team from the University of Liverpool undertook the first season of fieldwork at the site of Tell Nabasha near the modern village of el- Hosayneya in the North-eastern Delta in the autumn of 2015. After mapping the eastern portion of the tell, the team conducted test excavations revealing domestic architecture dateable to the transitional period between the Late Period and the early Ptolemaic. More than 200 small finds, as well as 600 diagnostic sherds of pottery and whole vessels were recorded. The ceramic corpus was largely domestic in nature but included a smaller amount of Phoenician and Hellenistic imports.

The Caddo Archaeology of the San Pedro Creek Valley, Houston County, in East Texas

The Nabedache Caddo that lived on San Pedro Creek in Houston County in the East Texas Pineywoods were a prominent nation during the early years of European contact, from ca. A.D. 1687-1730, if not later. Their villages, hamlets, and farmsteads sat astride an aboriginal Caddo trail that came to be known as El Camino Real de los Tejas, and thus their community was a principal gateway to Europeans and other Native American tribes who came from the west in Spanish Texas to meet with the Tejas or Hasinai Caddo peoples. The first Spanish mission in East Texas was established amidst the Nabedache Caddo community in 1690. According to Swanton, Nabedache means the place of the thorny trees with black berries growing on them (beidatco). The “Na” is the Caddo language locative prefix meaning “the place of;” it can also “refer to the people residing at that place”. Rogers and Sabo indicate that Nabedache means “blackberry place.” The archaeology of the Nabedache Caddo, or that of their pre-A.D. 1542 ancestors, is not well understood, primarily because of the dearth of intensive investigations at a range of Nabedache Caddo sites that likely occur along San Pedro Creek as well as nearby streams in the Neches River basin. Work that has been completed, primarily on sites at Mission Tejas State Park, have included surveys and limited test excavations at a few sites that have Caddo material culture remains (sherds from ceramic vessels, chipped stone tools, etc.) and European trade goods, including glass beads, gunflints, lead balls and sprue, an iron hoe, an iron rowel, a possible strike-a-light, an iron gun cock, trigger plate, butt plate finial, and gun barrel fragments, iron cast iron kettle fragments, iron knife fragments, wrought iron nails, brass tinklers, and Spanish majolica sherds. In this article, I discuss the archaeological material culture remains from ancestral Caddo sites along San Pedro Creek, including those known to have been occupied by the Nabedache Caddo peoples after the mid-1680s.

Archeological Test Excavations in Areas to be Affected by a Proposed French Drain West of the Granary, Mission San Jose State Site (41BX3), Bexar County, Texas

Limited archeological test excavations were conducted along the west wall of the granary at Mission San Jose State Historic Site (41BX3) in Bexar County, Texas, during July and August, 1979. The investigations were designed to provide information regarding the presence or absence of significant archeological materials in areas to be affected by the construction of a proposed French drain intended to relieve moisture-related structural problems along the west wall of the granary. six 0.5 by 1 meter test pits were excavated; 1,303 artifacts and 1,809 bone and shell fragments were recovered. Seven features were documented; these included a wall and a flagstone floor remnant, 4 pits and a lime filled trench. The wall and floor may represent the remains of a Spanish Colonial blacksmith shop while the pits probably originated during the late 19th Century. The artifacts are primarily trash resulting from nearly 240 years of activity at the mission complex although some items may be relatable to the smithy. Two alternatives for the proposed construction are suggested: 1) abandon plans for a French drain and develop an alternate non-disruptive method for relying moisture problems; or, 2) continue plans for constructing a French drain but precede the modifications with an intensive program of archeological excavations in a broad area along the west wall of the granary.

Seaside life in Early Horizon Peru: Preliminary insights from Samanco, Nepeña Valley

Studies of social complexity increasingly acknowledge the crucial role maritime communities play in the constitution of societies. Research at Samanco, a seaside center in the Nepeña Valley, north-central Peru, provides new evidence on coastal life during the Early Horizon (900–200 b.c.) ascribed to early urban developments. Samanco comprises hundreds of structures organized into distinct compounds spread over 30 ha in the northern margin of the Nepeña River, bordering the ecologically rich Samanco Bay. Fieldwork in 2012 mapped and excavated the site, currently under threat by encroaching human developments. Test and block excavations indicate that Samanco was primarily occupied during the Early Horizon and reused later in prehistory as a cemetery. This article presents the 2012 excavations, focusing on the nature of Samanco's Early Horizon occupation and connection with contemporary inland Nepeña centers. Results point towards the presence of a significant residential population and a settlement focused on the processing of agrarian and marine resources, camelid husbandry, and possibly trade.

Pellet mixtures in isolation barriers

Granular mixtures made of high-density pellets of bentonite are being evaluated as an alternative buffer material for waste isolation. Ease of handling is an often-mentioned advantage. The paper describes the experimental program performed to characterize the hydro-mechanical (HM) behaviour of compacted pellet mixtures. Grain size distribution was adjusted to a maximum pellet size compatible with the specimen’s dimensions. Dry densities of statically compacted specimens varied in most of the cases in the range from 1.3 to 1.5Mg/m3. Pellets had a very high dry density, close to 2Mg/m3. The outstanding characteristic of these mixtures is their discontinuous porosity. Pore sizes of the compacted pellets varied around 10nm. However, the inter-pellet size of the pores was four to five orders of magnitude higher. This double porosity and the highly expansive nature of the pellets controlled all the hydraulic and mechanical properties of the mixture.Performed tests include infiltration tests using different water injection rates and mechanisms of water transfer (in liquid and vapour phases), suction-controlled oedometer tests and swelling pressure tests. The interpretation of some performed tests required back analysis procedures using a hydro-mechanical (HM) computer code.Material response was studied within the framework of the elastoplastic constitutive model proposed by Alonso et al. (1990) (Barcelona basic model, BBM). Parameters for the model were identified and also a set of hydraulic laws are necessary to perform coupled HM analysis.A large scale in-situ test (the “EB” test in Mont Terri, Switzerland) was described and analyzed. Rock barrier parameters were adjusted on the basis of available tests. The test excavation, barrier emplacement and forced hydration were simulated by means of the CODE_BRIGHT program. The comparison between measurements and computed results include data on relative humidity in the rock and the buffer, swelling pressures and displacements.

The Middle Paleolithic occupations of Üçağızlı II Cave (Hatay, Turkey): Geoarcheological and archeological perspectives

The site of Üçağızlı II is located in a partially collapsed cave on the Mediterranean coast of the Hatay region, South Central Turkey. A small intact chamber (chamber D) preserves a sequence of Middle Paleolithic deposits nearly 2m thick. Test excavations at the site in 2005 and 2007 produced large assemblages of artifacts, vertebrate and shellfish remains. The entire sequence formed during the Upper Pleistocene, subsequent to MIS 5a. Faunal and lithic assemblages are comparatively homogeneous, consistent with the inference that the deposits formed under relatively constant environmental conditions. Micromorphological analyses reveal an abundance of combustion features and products, although the visibility of the features is locally compromised by local, small-scale bioturbation. There is evidence that the ways fires were created and maintained changed along with the intensity of occupation. Lithic assemblages most closely resemble other Middle Paleolithic assemblages from the northern Levant but there are inconsistencies with the accepted pattern of technological change over time in the Levantine Mousterian more broadly. Faunal and lithic evidence indicate that the intensity and duration of occupational events declined over time at Üçağızlı II. While there are many parallels in raw material economy with the early Upper Paleolithic of the nearby Üçağızlı I site, the Middle Paleolithic hominins may have used the coastal landscape in a different way from later Upper Paleolithic groups.

Recent Investigations at the Cedar Creek Earthworks (AaHq-2), Essex County, Ontario

This paper presents and contextualizes the results of recent research at the Cedar Creek Earthworks (AaHq-2) in Essex County, Ontario, one of the few remaining Late Prehistoric earthen enclosures in the western Lake Erie region. First documented in the 1930s, the site consists of a unique semicircular berm and ditch feature to which has been appended three earthen projections or “nodes.” Despite a combination of remote sensing, testpitting, and targeted test excavations both within and beyond the earthworks, a dearth of material culture remains and subsurface features (including evidence for a palisade) suggests the site did not serve as a village and raises questions regarding the role(s) Cedar Creek played in the lifeways of past aboriginal populations.

The last occurrence of Megaceroides algericus Lyddekker, 1890 (Mammalia, Cervidae) during the middle Holocene in the cave of Bizmoune (Morocco, Essaouira region)

During the course of archaeological test excavations carried out in 2007 in the cave of Bizmoune (Essaouira region, Morocco), seven archaeological layers yielding Pleistocene and Holocene artefacts and faunal remains were identified. In the layers C4, C3 and C2, respectively from the oldest to the most recent, terrestrial Helicidae mollusk shells (Helix aspersa) were dated by 14C. These layers also contained many fragments of eggshell, belonging to Struthio cf. camelus, associated with mammal remains such as Oryctolagus/Lepus, Gazella sp., Sus scrofa, Ammotragus lervia, Alcelaphus buselaphus, Equus sp., Phacochoerus aethiopicus and an undetermined Caprini. Among these remains, an incomplete mandible of Megaceroides algericus Lydekker, 1890 with M1 and M2 was found in layer C3. The 6641 to 6009 cal BP time range attributed to this layer has provided the most recent date known so far for M. algericus. In this study, we review and contextualize the findings of this particular species both in time and space and discuss its systematic position. We describe the morphology of the typical pachyostosic mandibular bone with the teeth and compare the dimensions with existing data. The assumption of the combined development, on the one hand, of the pachyostosic phenomenon and on the other hand, of the body weight fluctuations and growth of antlers for cervids strongly affected by seasonality is not supported. In order to understand the origin and the extinction of M. algericus, we examined the AMS radiocarbon dates available in the literature and calibrated them with RenDateModel software. Comparisons are then made with sea surface temperatures (e.g. GISP2 δ18O), eustasy and related environmental changes throughout the time span of this species. Based on these data a possible migration route by the Strait of Gibraltar connected with with eustatic rises in sea-level rises are discussed. The speciation-extinction processes for M. algericus and their correlations with climatic shifts on a long time-scale in North Africa (e.g. Heinrich events, 8200 cal BP event) are also considered. Finally, this new discovery in Bizmoune cave clearly shows that M. algericus lasted until the very end of the Epipaleolithic, around 6000 cal BP (middle Holocene), whereas this species was formerly not believed to have survived until the early Epipaleolithic (around 8000 cal BP).

Test Excavations at Wadi Zarqa Maʿin 1, a Natural Sinkhole Faunal Trap Site, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

The site of Wadi Zarqa Maʿin 1 (WZM-1), in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, was test excavated beneath a large fissure that is a frequent roost for barn owls (Tyto alba). The site is located approximately 730 m above mean sea level, and 10 km south-southwest of Madaba, Jordan. This large limestone sinkhole is a natural faunal trap and roosting site for multiple species of raptor, accumulating significant faunal remains from their prey within its deposits. The mammalian taxa Suncus etruscus, Crocidura suaveolens, Spalax leucodon, Cricetulus migratorius, Gerbillus dasyurus, Meriones tristrami, Mus musculus, Rattus norvegicus, Acomys cahirinus, Allactaga euphratica, Microtus guentheri, Otonycteris hemprichii, and Hemiechinus auritus were identified, with a total MNI of n = 1,713 from a maxilla and mandible NISP of n = 5,465. Mollusk, bird, reptile, amphibian, and scorpion remains were also collected and are under analysis. This site was investigated as part of a larger regional palaeoecological project. WZM-1 has the potential to be a significant source of faunal, sedimentary, palynological, and macrobotanical data regarding climate change in Jordan, with deposits that may span the entire history of domestication in the Near East and extend well into the Pleistocene.

The Coffin Bison Kill (5JA7)

A growing body of research is geared towards bridging the blurred perspectives of archaeology and ethnohistory into cohesive statements about the pre- and post-contact history of the Northern Great Plains to elaborate upon the highly dynamic cultural interactions among and between the Native groups who occupied this region, and the myriad Euro-Americans that infiltrated and settled it. This paper seeks to add to the data pool available to these discussions by presenting preliminary results from surveys and test excavations at the Coffin Bison Kill (5JA7), a Late Prehistoric- through Protohistoric-era (ca. 460–120 cal B.P.) bison kill-butchery that is situated at the head of the North Platte River Valley in northern Colorado. This region, and perhaps this site, both feature prominently in Euro-American historical accounts and Native American ethnogeography, and its archaeology can offer a unique window into late period cultural evolution, particularly with regard to the complexities born of US Western expansion.

Looting and vandalism around a World Heritage Site: Documenting modern damage to archaeological heritage in Petra’s hinterland

In 2012 the ancient city of Petra celebrated the 200th anniversary of its Western re-identification. The Brown University Petra Archaeological Project (BUPAP) has sought to document the northern hinterland of Petra through a multi-component methodology that includes intensive field survey, feature documentation, and limited test excavations. The iconic site of Petra has a long and storied history, and it is a site that presents many challenges to archaeologists and cultural heritage managers. During a series of test excavations, meant to ground truth locations earmarked by the overlapping intensive field survey and feature documentation, several patterns of looting were identified. These instances of looting were often paralleled by observed vandalism that defaced archaeological heritage, within and outside the Petra Archaeological Park, with archaeological artifacts being sold to tourists at nearby shops. This study provides crucial documentation of these processes of vandalism and looting recorded over the last three years. We propose that only through continued monitoring can local authorities be provided with ample evidence calling for additional cultural heritage protection.

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

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

Characterizing Archaeological Assemblages from Eastern Lake Natron, Tanzania: Results of Fieldwork Conducted in the Area

Unlike Peninj and Monik localities in western Lake Natron, eastern Lake Natron remains an archaeological terra incognita. A brief survey of the landforms adjacent to the eastern shoreline revealed 28 Stone Age archaeological sites exhibiting technological and typological features suggestive of the Acheulean Sangoan, Middle Stone Age (MSA), and Later Stone Age (LSA) distributed in three different landforms. While the majority of the assemblages were recovered from the surface, test excavations at two sites also yielded artifacts. The majority of the assemblages are MSA, predominantly made of chert and distributed on the landscape. Although intersite typological variability is negligible, the density of artifact concentration is variable, perhaps as a result of the factors of redeposition encouraged by topographic differentials.

Archaeological Investigations within San Pedro Springs Park (41BX19), San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas

Archaeological Investigations within San Pedro Springs Park (41BX19), San Antonio, Bexar County, Texas