Trash Pits Research Articles

Introduction

Introduction

EARLY MEDIEVAL MATERIAL FROM THE SITE 6 ON MOKHNACH HILLFORT (based on the rescue investigations)

The Early Medieval material that occurred during the rescue excavation on the site 6 on Mokhnach hillfort is analyzed in the paper. The site is located in the eponymous village of Slobidska gromada in Chuhuiv region; it occupies one of the capes on Siverskij Donets right bank (fig. 1). The cultural layer of the Early Middle Age (fig. 2) left by the population of the Romny culture in the mid-10th — early 11th centuries was researched (fig. 3). The remains of the defensive structures, remnants of two household complexes and numerous artifacts of the mentioned historical and archaeological period have been discovered there (fig. 4). A significant part of the site is damaged by the cemetery of the 17th—19th centuries (fig. 6) which in a certain way complicated the excavation.
 The fortifications under research were the remains of a ground rampart and a wide but shallow moat in front of it that was damaged by a trench in World War 2. One of the household complexes («A») was the remains of a trash pit, while another one («Б») was the remains of a small household building that turned into a pit for domestic waste over time (fig. 5).
 The discovered artifacts are mainly the fragments of pottery (fig. 7; 8). The Romny culture ceramics are presented by the fragments of handmade vessels; beside sand, small and average fireclay pieces were widely used in its composition. These are the fragments of cooking pots. However, there are also separate remnants of frying pans and remains of the furnace. The ornamentation is traditional: a serrated stamp or a wooden stick with a wrapped rope was made on the shoulder of a vessel. Also, it could be non cross-cutting deepenings made by an end face of a stick. The top edge was decorated by similar prints of serrated stamp, inclined lines or by a finger. The Saltiv culture ceramics differ in top quality of pottery clay and great firing. Tare cookware is presented by amphorae fragments, kitchenware — by pieces of pots with traditional horizontally drawn lines. Tableware (remnants of jugs, mugs and hydrias) is more extensively decorated with flutes and various polished ornaments.
 Obtained materials indicate the coexistence of the Slavs-Siverians sites (the Romny archeological culture) and the ones of the population represented cultural and technological traditions of the Khazar Khaganate (the Saltiv cultural and historical community). This is confirmed by the analysis of the findings of our predecessors (fig. 9).

Presence of Parasite Remains in Historical Contexts in the City of Córdoba, Argentina, in the Nineteenth Century

We conducted a paleoparasitological study on sediment samples from two trash pits and a cesspool, collected during an archaeological assessment of a building located in the historic downtown of the city of Córdoba, Argentina. People have used these premises for residential and commercial purposes since the beginning of the seventeenth century, although the samples analyzed correspond to nineteenth-century contexts. Light microscopy examination revealed the presence of parasite eggs of whipworm (Trichuris sp.), possibly roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides), and tapeworm (taeniid). The presence of these fecal-oral and food-borne transmitted helminths supports other lines of evidence that indicate poor sanitation and hygiene habits and inadequate food processing, which may have contributed to the high incidence and mortality of gastrointestinal diseases recorded at that time. The paleoparasitological data agree with the historical information on the health status of the populations that inhabited the city of Córdoba in the past, especially in relation to their habits and diet.

Roadside monkeys: anthropogenic effects on moor macaque (Macaca maura) ranging behavior in Bantimurung Bulusaraung National Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia.

A growing body of research focuses on how anthropogenic factors affect the behavior and ecology of primates and their ecosystems. Infrastructural development, such as roads, is an increasingly pervasive anthropogenic impact that destroys primate habitat, affects the distribution and dispersal of primates, and facilitates human-primate interactions. At our field site in Bantimurung-Bulusaraung National Park, Sulawesi, Indonesia, a major road bisects the habitat of the endangered moor macaque (Macaca maura). Beginning in 2015, we observed a behavioral shift by our main study group: they began spending more time along the road foraging in trash pits and waiting for provisions from vehicles. Our objective in this study was to examine how access to anthropogenic foods has affected the group's ranging behavior by comparing ranging data collected before (2010-2011) and after the shift (2016-2017). In contrast to what we expected, home ranges were significantly larger and daily travel distance was significantly longer after the shift compared to before. As predicted, mean distance to the road decreased after the shift. These results likely reflect the irregular and spatially dispersed nature of provisioning at this site. The macaques appear to be attracted to the road because it presents opportunities to obtain palatable and energy-dense foods. Our results indicate that moor macaques are able to flexibly adjust their ranging behavior in response to anthropogenic impacts. However, given the risks of being in proximity to roads and humans, management of this emerging human-macaque interface is needed.

Heads or Snails? A Rustic Feast at Hellenistic Philoteria (Tel Bet Yeraḥ, Israel), circa 150 BCE

Abstract The contents of a small trash pit discovered in the recent excavations in Hellenistic Philoteria (Tel Bet Yeraḥ/Khirbet el-Kerak) offer a unique opportunity to study the components of what appears to have been a single festive meal. Extant remains include numerous mammal bones, mollusc shells, and ceramic tableware; they suggest a rustic Mediterranean cuisine, compatible with the presence of Greek settlers in pre-Hasmonean Galilee.

The Materiality of Fishing, Property, and Labor in Western Massachusetts

This article explores the complexities of property and competing regimes of value in the colonial and Federal periods. The end of the 18th century saw a growing privatization of previously common resources as part of the emergence of a broadly, if unevenly, constituted capitalist mode of production in western Massachusetts. Excavations at the Frary House/Barnard Tavern in rural Deerfield, Massachusetts, provide a seemingly mundane index of this broad social change in the differential presence of fish scales in trash pits at the site. Anadromous fish have been a means of subsistence for indigenous communities who lived along the Connecticut River valley for thousands of years, but following English colonization and conquest, they became caught up in broader anxieties and struggles over the nature of work, property, and social and material value. This article documents some of these struggles in the region, as a reminder that consumption and subsistence are never isolated from broader social and structural processes.

Cuisine of the Chinese at Market Street Chinatown (San Jose, California): using cookbooks to interpret archaeological plant and animal remains

Archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological remains from Market Street Chinatown, San Jose, California, show that 19th century Chinese migrants ate a varied diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, meat, poultry, and fish. Most of the migrants came from southern China, an area with a well-developed Cantonese cuisine. This article explores how cookbooks can help us interpret the dishes, meals, and activities represented by the remains. 20th-century English-language Chinese cookbooks present guidelines related to meal planning, ingredients, flavours, cooking methods, and dining customs. These culinary principals cannot be applied uncritically to the Market Street Chinatown assemblage. But they help us connect remains from trash pits to food on the table and help us compensate for uneven data stemming from the differential preservation of various plant and animal taxa. Cookbooks indicate that grains are severely underrepresented in the macrofloral record at the site, as are vegetables compared to meat. Recipes show how ingredients could be combined and prepared, and suggest how Euro-American foods were adopted, providing an understanding of daily cooking and dining in 19th century California Chinatowns.

Construction history of the Deason House, Jones County, Mississippi

The Deason House is located in the heart of the Piney Woods region in the town of Ellisville, Mississippi. During the American Civil War, the Deason House became the epicenter for an event that started a rebellion against the Confederate government. On 5 October 1863, a Confederate deserter named Newton Knight allegedly shot and killed Confederate Major Amos McLemore in the Deason House, which eventually lead to the formation of the Free State of Jones. Despite the historical importance of the house, oral accounts and written documents have failed to provide accurate construction history of the structure. We coupled techniques of dendrochronology and geophysical survey to better understand the construction history of the Deason House and cultural activities of its inhabitants. We extracted 35 Pinus palustris (Mill.) timbers along the west-facing exterior weatherboards and from various logs within the second-floor attic, 25 of which were successfully crossdated against a P. palustris reference chronology located 15km south in De Soto National Forest (1742–2013). The Deason House chronology anchored against the De Soto time series during the period 1742–1875 (r=0.55, t=4.01, p<0.0001) and extended the reference chronology back to the year 1680 CE. Clustering of cutting- and near-cutting dates from timbers revealed 3 possible stages of construction. First, the house likely existed as a single-pen structure built in the winter of 1835/1836, based on two timbers with wane/bark that were affixed to the original chimney made of clay bricks fired on the homestead. Second, based on the clustering of 1855 cutting dates, we suggest this was the most likely time the original structure was expanded with a vestibule, porch, and larger 4-room house. Finally, six timbers revealed a back addition was constructed in the year 1866. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) helped provide evidence mentioned in written records that the back addition (1866) existed as the detached kitchen then was affixed to the structure ca. 1890. The GPR data revealed geophysical anomalies that indicated the original sites of the detached kitchen, water well, livestock pen, privies, and trash pit. Through the use of dendrochronological analyses and geophysical survey, we were able to provide an updated history of the Deason House construction dynamics and cultural activities of its inhabitants beyond the historical record.

Archaeological Investigations in the Courtyard of Mission Nuestra Señora de la Purisima Concepción Acuña (41BX12)

Archaeological investigations took place in the courtyard of Mission Concepción between 2002 and 2005 in order to identify remnant architectural remains of Spanish Colonial structures prior to the installation of a drainage system. Archaeological investigations were performed under the auspices of two field schools held by the Department of Anthropology’s Center for Archaeological Research of The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). The Center’s Legacy Public Outreach Program also held a field school as part of these investigations. Archival documents indicate that the granary and another structure, possibly the community storeroom or corridor, occupied the courtyard. Investigations in the courtyard uncovered several foundations or architectural alignments that may represent remnants of these structures. Excavations within the said granary area revealed disturbances derived from utilities installations and the construction of a restroom facility during the 1940s. A trash pit containing artifacts dating to the late 1800s early 1900s was uncovered near the northwest corner inside the granary foundations. Test units excavated between the granary and convento situated west of the granary identified three features. East of the granary, high densities of Spanish Colonial ceramics and a plastered surface were exposed. The archaeological investigations were conducted under the Texas Antiquities Permit 2820 with Dr. Steve A. Tomka serving as Principal Investigator.

The Hospital of San Andrés (Lima, Peru) and the Search for the Royal Mummies of The Incas

Abstract The fate of the mummies of the Inca kings following the Spanish conquest of Peru has been the focus of more than a century of historical and archaeological research. Several lines of evidence indicate that five of the royal mummies were deposited in the Hospital of San Andres in Lima in 1560. In this work, we summarize what is currently known concerning the fate of the royal Inca mummies as well as the results of a recent ground-penetrating radar survey and an archaeological testing program that we conducted on the hospital grounds. The excavations revealed the location of the hospital's first cemetery, the remains of a nineteenth-century fountain, an early colonial trash pit, and, most intriguingly, a vaulted structure. While we did not find the royal mummies, the historical research and archaeological fieldwork yielded new information on the history of the San Andres compound and life in Lima during early colonial times.

Detecting “Invisible” Dwellings in the Maya Area Using Electromagnetic Induction: Significant Findings of a Pilot Study at Chau Hiix, Belize

AbstractSettlement studies of the prehispanic Lowland Maya have tended to rely upon dwelling remains that are visible at the ground surface, though floors and living surfaces that leave no surface indications are known to exist. Such “invisible” dwellings have been encountered beneath platforms and in “vacant terrain” lacking surface indications of architecture, and given more systematic attention, could represent a sizable and socially significant segment of the prehispanic populations in the region. This paper describes the application of electromagnetic induction, a geophysical technique, for locating nonplatform dwellings at Chau Hiix, Belize. A conductivity signature for nonplatform dwellings was identified that includes plaster, nonplatform floors, both in an area of vacant terrain and beneath a residential terrace, in association with trash pits and episodes of limestone bedrock mining, presumably for the acquisition of raw material for the floor. The technique also holds promise for locating ground-level floors, use-areas, and possibly footpaths. While this pilot study was limited in scope, it demonstrates the enormous potential of electromagnetic induction for locating these otherwise elusive features.

Bone Chemistry, Body Parts, and Growth Marks: Evaluating Ohio Hopewell and Cahokia Mississippian Seasonality, Subsistence, Ritual, and Feasting

Human stable isotope values and deer utility indices have been used to reconstruct Hopewell and Mississippian diets and subsistence practices, but seasonality studies are also needed to resolve debates about feasting and elite provisioning. Dispersed Hopewell tribes foraged for food and harvested native cultigens. Seasonal feasts at earthworks helped integrate the dispersed populations. Mississippian subsistence cycles are reflected in the seasonal abundance of deposited floral and faunal remains. Pits filled in spring/summer have many fish, but few deer bones. Deer remains are abundant, but fish are rare, in pits filled during the fall/winter. Finding few deer remains in some pits at Cahokia may not mean that deer were scarce but may mean that few deer were hunted during the seasons when those trash pits were filled. Stable isotope values in human burials, analyses of floral and faunal remains from pits and middens filled throughout the year, and diachronic studies of deer size and herd stability indicate that the Cahokia elite consumed a variety of foods including substantial amounts of fish and venison. Patterns in deer element distributions in “elite“” and “non-elite” contexts suggest that venison may have been part of the tribute that was presented to high-status Cahokians.

Reconstruction of spatial organization in abandoned Maasai settlements: implications for site structure in the Pastoral Neolithic of East Africa

The analysis of spatial organization in archaeological sites is important for the interpretation of economic and social issues. In East Africa, the appearance of mobile herders, adoption of pastoralism by some hunter–gatherers, and spread of competing pastoral groups, create a complex archaeological record and interpretive problems associated with the beginnings of food production. Spatial analyses could contribute to their resolution, but are difficult because most sites lack macroscopic features. We present a geoethnoarchaeological study of abandoned pastoral Maasai settlements that allows us to evaluate the ‘‘archaeological visibility’’ of ephemeral features such as hearths, trash pits, gates, houses and fences. Micromorphology, mineralogy and phytolith analyses show that features containing ash have the highest visibility. Livestock enclosures, a feature studied by us previously, can also be identified based on this suite of techniques. Large livestock gates have poor visibility but may be recognized. Small gates, fences and house floors could not be detected using the methods applied here. Identifying livestock enclosures, trash pits and cooking hearths based on this approach, and houses based on post-hole positions, will contribute to a better understanding of the spread of food production in Africa. Our findings will also contribute to studies of pastoralists in other regions of the world. 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bat guano and preservation of archaeological remains in cave sites

The formation of authigenic minerals in cave sediments can be used to reconstruct the paleochemical conditions that prevailed in the past, and in this way to assess the completeness of the archaeological record. Previous studies indicated that the major driving mechanisms for chemical diagenesis in prehistoric caves that result in the formation of authigenic minerals, are the degradation of bat guano and the local hydrology. We therefore investigated contemporary bat guano deposits in caves and the sediments directly below such deposits. The emerging patterns show that the formation of authigenic minerals occurs under acidic conditions within tens of years. The availability of phosphate, Al, K, and Fe increases with increasing organic matter degradation, while the availability of nitrogen and sulfur decreases. Insectivorous bat guano contains larger amounts of phosphate and is more acidic than fruit bat guano. In the first stages of diagenesis micro-chemical environments form within the degrading bat guano that result in the formation of a wide variety of authigenic minerals. During advanced stages of diagenesis steady state conditions are achieved resulting in authigenic mineral assemblages being dominated by one mineral type at the same locale. This is reminiscent of known distributions of authigenic minerals in prehistoric cave sediments. Under the acidic conditions produced by degrading bat guano deposits, calcareous artifacts and bones are not expected to persist for long periods of time, unless there is a lot of calcite in the sediments that could buffer the sediment water pH. Guano itself is not likely to be preserved. Periods of cave abandonment can be inferred from the presence of authigenic minerals in the sediments as it is during these times that bats mainly occupy the cave. The occurrence of certain authigenic minerals in open-air sites may serve as evidence for areas rich in organic matter containing phosphate (i.e., animal enclosures, latrines, sewers, trash pits) and/or bones. As the degradation process is rapid, the use of authigenic minerals to identify these loci is relevant to almost all archaeological, as well as historical sites.

Rethinking Delaware Archaeology: A Beginning

A pit feature containing human remains was originally interpreted as a trash pit based on its shape, the presence of ceramic sherds, flakes, and fire-cracked rocks, and the absence of items traditionally viewed as “grave goods.” However, a cooperative reconsideration of the feature, incorporating the insights of a representative of the Nanticoke Indian Tribe, developed a new interpretation. Ethnohistoric data clearly indicate that local Indian people would not be likely to bury a body in a trash pit. Therefore, the presence of human remains signified a burial and artifacts usually viewed as “trash” could still have symbolic and ritual significance. Upon careful study, many of the feature's artifacts showed attributes which seem to distinguish them from superficially similar items found in non-grave settings. Data gathered from ethnohistoric sources, ethnographies, and linguistic analysis fit together to create a consistent cultural context for the artifacts' ritual and symbolic meaning.

What was Under the McMartin Preschool? A Review and Behavioral Analysis of the “Tunnels” Find

The McMartin Preschool child abuse case began in 1983 in Manhattan Beach, California, and was one of the most visible cases in history. Although two trials were conducted and no convictions were obtained, some individuals continue to believe that dozens of children were sexually abused at the preschool. In 1990 an archeologist was hired to determine whether tunnels had existed under the school because some of the children had alleged that some of their abuse took place in tunnels under the building. The archeologist's report was issued in 1993. It concluded that evidence of back-filled tunnels had been found. This critical analysis of the archeologist's report concludes otherwise, that what the archeologist found was actually the filled-in remains of a rural family's trash pit that pre-dated construction of the school. Regarding artifacts discovered in soil under the preschool, alternative interpretations to those of the archeologist are given. A theoretical functional analysis of the variables that may have accounted for the archeologist's evident misinterpretation is presented.

Tlatilco sculptures, diprosopus, and the emergence of medical illustrations.

Tlatilco was a farming village on the outskirts of what is now Mexico City, and it has long been recognized as one of the earliest New World artistic centers [2]. It became a rich archeological site in 1942, after the discovery of innumerable enigmatic, anthropomorphic figurines and countless burials [3]. Dated to between 1200 and 700 BC,1 these sculptures are among the most ancient representations of the human figure in the Western Hemisphere, as well as the most aesthetically appealing [4–8].2 The majority of these objects, found in more than 500 tombs and trash pits cut into the earth, are solid, hand-modelled female figurines, many of which are designated informally as being in the “pretty lady” configuration (Fig. 1). The figurines are 6 to 30 cm high and are ceramic. Controlled excavations at Tlatilco (Nahuatl for “the place where things are hidden”) have turned up “pretty lady” terracottas in the open fields (and throughout various strata) as well, suggesting that in addition to acting as burial equipment these figurines were sown or ritually buried in the four corners of the cornfields.

The Archaeological Visibility of Storage: Delineating Storage from Trash Areas

Despite the importance attributed to the study of storage behavior, little research has been conducted to determine whether it is even possible to distinguish storage áreas from refuse áreas. Archaeologists routinely separate storage pits from trash pits, but few have systematically investigated the defining characteristics of each. This study suggests that there is an archaeologically visible signature that can help researchers correctly interpret these loci. Research at occupied and recently abandoned camps among the now sedentary residents of Kutse in the Kalahari Desert of Botswana shows that refuse areas have a more homogeneous artifact inventory, regardless of the number of objects present. In contrast, non-trash activity areas at the same camps have a more heterogeneous, or diverse, inventory. The applicability and utility of this finding to the archaeological record is evaluated through the analysis of a Pueblo II Anasazi archaeological site from the southwestern United States. Patterns first recognized ethnoarchaeologically also appear to be recognizable in the archaeological record using the same methods. The results indicate that the statistical tests described here are applicable to distinguishing trash from other activity areas at archaeological sites.

Archaeology studies in southern Arizona using ground penetrating radar

Conventional ground penetrating radar (GPR) surveys typically have a maximum depth of penetration of 1 2 to 1 m in the basin-fill sediments of the southwestern United States. Although this depth of penetration is too limited for many engineering and environmental surveys, it is often suitable for archaeological investigations in this region. We have found a center frequency of 500 MHz to be optimum. Radar signals having a center frequency of about 80 MHz produce records with much lower resolution and only slightly greater maximum depth of penetration. Successful GPR surveys have imaged buried plaster and adobe walls, roasting pits, canals, trash pits, plastered floors, and artifacts such as pot sherds and knives. We have found that GPR is a valuable tool for archaeological studies in this area. GPR can provide some of the detailed survey information that has been provided in the past by extensive excavation, but without the high cost of excavation, without the dangers of vandalism when artifacts are exposed, and without disturbing sensitive areas.

New Smith, 34RM400: A Plains Village Mortuary Site in Western Oklahoma

Structural remains, burials: and trash pits exposed by land leveling activities in Roger Mills County, Oklahoma, were recorded dunng July, 1984. Based on the material remains and corrected radiocar...