World Prehistory Research Articles

A Shark is Going Inland is my Chief: The Island Civilization of Ancient Hawai'i By Patrick VintonKirch Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2012 ISBN 978‐0‐520‐27330‐6. Pp. 386. $US45.

A Shark is Going Inland is my Chief: The Island Civilization of Ancient Hawai'i By Patrick Vinton Kirch Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2012 ISBN 978-0-520-27330-6. Pp. 386. $US45. A Shark is Going Inland ... is an exemplary prehistory written for a popular audience. Archaeologists need to read it to see how to communicate with the public. Jared Diamond provides perhaps the best model for such writing about social history. His Guns, Germs. and Steel (Norton, 1997) was wildly popular, standing for years on the New York Times bestseller list and receiving a Pulitzer Prize for general nonfiction. Kent Flannery and Joyce Marcus have recently published The Creation of Inequality, (Harvard, 2012), which delivers another compelling account of world prehistory. Kirch provides a third example, focused on Hawaiian civilisation as an example of regional prehistory. A Shark ... should be read in conjuncture with How Chiefs Became Kings (University of California Press, 2010), a more conventional academic publication in which Kirch imparts the evidential and theoretical basis for his analysis. The present book is his serious attempt to display his life's work to a broad non-academic audience. His objective is met with a creative writing style and an encyclopedic knowledge. To accomplish his objective, Pat Kirch chose wisely to write a fairly short book (about 300 pages) that weaves together succinctly the excitement of archaeological discovery, a brief history of Polynesian archaeology, the logic of archaeological inquiry, and the uses of oral history and linguistics. The origin of civilisation (state societies) took place independently in several world regions, but none has as good documentation as the Hawaiian case. Kirch has crafted arguably the best book, considering how an archaeologist works with multiple strands of data to complement and evaluate the record. In his brief consideration of Polynesian archaeology's history, he shows how the accumulation of systematic inquiries and new scientific analyses (radiocarbon dating, settlement pattern studies, material sourcing and soil science) have improved the quality of our evidential base. Many still believe that archaeology is based on rather crude conjecture, but Kirch demonstrates how we investigate substantially topics of importance. As a non-academic book, the use of evidence may at times grate with an archaeologist's sensibility. For example, he argues convincingly that we must incorporate Hawaiian oral history, but then uses the histories rather uncritically. Although I would have recommended handling the evidence more conceptually, I see how he depends on them to bring life to the dry bones of archaeology, much in the same way that Flannery and Marcus use traditional ethnography. In the context of non-academic prose, we must suspend some of the debates and concerns that permeate academic writing. Kirch conveys a synthetic view of Hawaiian prehistory that captures well his own research and much of the modern consensus of what probably happened. …

The Importance of Multiple 14C Dates from Significant Archaeological Contexts

Radiocarbon (14C) dates are the most important means for determining the age of Holocene archaeological deposits. The theoretical physical basis of this method is by now unassailable, having been consistently tested and refined over two generations. However, the means by which this method has been applied and the interpretation of these results remain as key issues, particularly for complex archaeological discoveries that substantially affect our understanding of world prehistory and social evolution. Many factors can produce uncertainty or variation in the 14C concentrations of samples, even those that have been selected from the same archaeological context or event. A number of recent studies have also addressed the ways in which ambiguities and irregularities in the 14C calibration curve can affect the interpretation of archaeological dates and temporal patterns. Of greatest concern, however, is a growing practice of using only one or two samples to date a significant prehistoric context or event. The date of these events, usually relative to other human activities, often holds important theoretical implications for evolutionary anthropology and related disciplines. In this article, we demonstrate that such a practice is rarely adequate or acceptable. Rather, proper procedure requires a suite of dates that permit statistical verification that the deposit or event itself is being correctly dated. We present a detailed case study that highlights the importance of analyzing multiple samples of 14C from significant archaeological contexts.

The Archaeology of Money

Money is one of the most timeless, all-pervading, and arbitrary inventions in human history. Its ubiquity in time and space offers great scope for comparative archaeological research into its varying material manifestations. This article takes a broad approach, ranging from Old World prehistory to twentieth-century ethnography. First, the development of archaeological approaches to coinage and money is outlined. Subsequent sections explore research into the use of objects as currencies in prehistory; the origins of coined money; archaeological sites illustrating the adoption and functions of coinage in and around the classical Mediterranean; and the study of coins as archaeological artifacts in the more recent past and in non-European contexts. Finally, we suggest some potential ways forward, employing comparative archaeological study to enhance our understanding of the complexity of functions performed by monetary objects, both in the past and in the present.

Symbolism, Feasting, and Power at Çatalhöyük

Previous articleNext article No AccessSymbolism, Feasting, and Power at Çatalhöyük A Response to Sutliff and to HaydenIan Hodder and Lynn MeskellIan HodderDepartment of Anthropology, Stanford University, Main Quad, Building 50, Stanford, California 94305, U.S.A. ([email protected])/Stanford Archaeology Center, Stanford University, Main Quad, Building 50, Stanford, California 94305, U.S.A. 6 X 11 Search for more articles by this author and Lynn MeskellDepartment of Anthropology, Stanford University, Main Quad, Building 50, Stanford, California 94305, U.S.A. ([email protected])/Stanford Archaeology Center, Stanford University, Main Quad, Building 50, Stanford, California 94305, U.S.A. 6 X 11 Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 53, Number 1February 2012 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/663329 Views: 222Total views on this site Citations: 2Citations are reported from Crossref © 2012 by The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Nigel Goring-Morris, Anna Belfer Cohen ‘Far and wide’: Social networking in the Early Neolithic of the Levant, L'Anthropologie 126, no.33 (Jul 2022): 103051.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anthro.2022.103051Lindsay Der, Justine Issavi The Urban Quandary and the ‘Mega-Site’ from the Çatalhöyük Perspective, Journal of World Prehistory 30, no.33 (Jul 2017): 189–206.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-017-9103-x

The Origins of Agriculture: New Data, New Ideas

The Origins of Agriculture: New Data, New Ideas resulted from a Wenner-Gren-sponsored symposium held at the Hacienda Temozon, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, March 6–13, 2009 (fig. 1). The symposium was organized by T. Douglas Price (University of Wisconsin–Madison and the University of Aberdeen) and Ofer Bar-Yosef (Harvard University). The major aim of the symposium was to better understand the origins of agriculture in light of new fieldwork, new sites, new analytical techniques, and more radiocarbon dates. The global nature of agricultural origins was a key theme, and a major focus of the discussions was on East Asia as well as lesser-known regions such as Papua New Guinea, Africa, and eastern North America, alongside more traditional areas such as the Near East and Mesoamerica. The papers presented in this supplementary issue are designed to provide the latest information on the antiquity of agriculture covering at least 10 different centers of domestication. The organizers, Price and Bar-Yosef, note in their introduction that emerging data point to an unexpected synchronicity in the timing of the first domesticates around the end of the Pleistocene. They also note that, contrary to earlier thought, the environments in which agriculture originated were not marginal and that agricultural experimentation took place in areas of concentrations of populations and resources. Each major area may also have included multiple loci for domestication. These were major areas of agreement in a meeting that was characterized by lively debate over the variety of hypotheses proposed for agricultural origins and whether global or more area-specific explanations were most appropriate. As in any good meeting, there were more questions than answers, but this is the sign of a dynamic field. The degree of collegiality and collaboration among the diverse symposium participants and the speed at which new data are accumulating are good signs that our understanding of this important period in human adaptation will continue to evolve rapidly. The Wenner-Gren Foundation has had a long-standing in-

Prehistoric migration at Nebira, South Coast of Papua New Guinea: New insights into interaction using isotope and trace element concentration analyses

Migration is a commonly used explanation for cultural change in world prehistory, and is also a central theme in the prehistory of the Pacific Islands. However it is rarely subject to direct archaeological research. This paper applies strontium and oxygen radiogenic/stable isotope ( 87Sr/ 86Sr, δ 18O), and trace element concentration (Ba/Sr) analyses to 27 individuals buried at the archaeological site of Nebira ( ca.720–300 BP), located inland on the South Coast of Papua New Guinea. The analyses seek to identify non-local individuals within the population and provide a more in-depth understanding about the social identity of the possible migrants in this community. The strontium isotope data indicates that five individuals were non-local to Nebira, having possibly come from a coastal location. Correlation with biological data, such as age and sex, also indicates that the pattern of migration at Nebira was not sex or age specific. The results support the archaeological findings that suggest the inhabitants from Nebira were in contact with coastal communities during a period in prehistory of increased cultural interaction. However, despite the considerable isotopic variation identified in the Nebira sample, it is also demonstrated that more research is needed to identify the possible origins of these non-local individuals.

Étude préliminaire des industries archaïques de faciès Oldowayen du site de Hummal (El Kowm, Syrie centrale)

The spring site of Hummal is located in Central Syria, near the village of El Kowm between the Euphrates basin and the desert steppe stretching from Palmyra to Deir-ez-Zor. In 1966 the well was noted in a survey as Bir Onusi and a short preliminary study was carried out at the beginning of the 1980s. Since 1997, the Institute for Prehistory and Archaeological Science of the University of Basel has undertaken a complete interdisciplinary research program of this major site under the direction of J.M Le Tensorer, supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and associated with the Directorate General of Antiquities and Museums of Syria under the direction of S. Muhesen. The site of Hummal is a prominent mound at an artesian spring built out of the sediments, which piled up during the whole Quaternary. Tectonic faults in the bed rock enabled the underlying water in a karstic system to flow out into a dolina, which trapped lacustrine, limnic and aeolian sediments since the Oldest Pleistocene. The impressive stratigraphy – 20 m high – comprises 23 geological units preserving a great number of archaeological levels. It covers an extremely long period of time ranging from the Oldest Palaeolithic (Oldowan) to Upper Palaeolithic (Aurignacian) over more than a million years. This impressive Old and Middle Palaeolithic sequence comprises several layers of Oldowan-like assemblage (23-16), an Acheuleo-Tayacian complex (14-13), five layers of Yabrudian (12-8) at least four levels of Hummalian (7, 6c, 6b, 6a) and a thick sediment complex with 8 Mousterian layers, each of them liable to be subdivided into several sublayers. The lithic industry in the lowest levels of the Hummal sequence, associated with abundant remains of large mammals, can be characterized by non-modified, quite fresh flakes, with, once in a while, traces of use but never bearing intentional retouches. Theses flakes are found with pebble-tools: choppers, chopping-tools, polyhedrons, bolas and core-like artifacts. This assemblage is typical in a broad sense of archaic Palaeolithic whose debitage corresponds to mode 1. From a techno-typological point of view, this industry tallies quite well with the so-called Oldowan stage. It shows remarkable similarities with the oldest assemblages at Ubeidiya but, so far, with no occurrence of bifacial knapping. If the layers 17 and 18 of Hummal relate to this period dating back to 1.6 to 1.2 million years, these levels would be the oldest ones ever found in central Syria. However, as we have no absolute dating at our disposal so far, we will remain careful in assigning a chronological time span for these layers. For this area, from a stratigraphic point of view, the Oldowan levels of Hummal occur before the Acheulean and certainly before the Acheulean sequence of El Meirah (region of El Kowm) which is itself related to the period before Matuyama-Brunhes paleomagnetic reverse. Dating of the lowest sequence of Hummal is underway. If we take into account stratigraphic and techno-typological observations, we assume that the Oldowan-like levels of the site should be older than one million years at least. The sequence of Hummal is one of the largest in the Near-East. Therefore, it can be regarded as a key-site for world prehistory.

Archaeology of the Eurasian Steppes and Mongolia

International interest in the prehistory and archaeology of the Eurasian steppes and Mongolia has increased dramatically since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. This article surveys important new evidence and interpretations that have emerged from several collaborative projects in the past two decades. A particular emphasis is placed on issues that are crucial to regional studies in the steppe ecological zone; however, it also is suggested that steppe prehistory must come to play a more significant role in developing more comprehensive understandings of world prehistory. Key developments connected with the steppe include the diffusion of anatomically modern humans, horse domestication, spoke-wheeled chariot and cavalry warfare, early metal production and trade, Indo-European languages, and the rise of nomadic states and empires. In addition to these important issues, thoughts are offered on some of the current challenges that face archaeological scholarship in this region of the world.

Book Reviews

MankindVolume 12, Issue 4 p. 351-379 Book Reviews First published: December 1980 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1835-9310.1980.tb01211.xCitations: 1AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Abstract Book reviewed in this article: The Evolution of Human Sexuality. By Donald Symons. The Sisterhood of Man. The Impact of Women's Changing Roles on Social and Economic Life Around the World. By Kathleen Newland. Mothers and Wives: Gusii Women of East Africa. Sarah LeVine, in collaboration with Robert A. LeVine. New Women of Lusaka, By Ilsa M. Glazer Schuster. The Politics of Anthropology, edited by Gerrit Huizer and Bruce Mannheim. System, Structure and Contradiction: The Evolution of ‘Asiatic’ Social Formations. Jonathan Friedman. Toward a Cultural Theory of Education and Schooling. Edited by Frederick Gearing and Lucinda Sangree. The Public School Phenomenon 597–1977. By Jonathan Gathorne-Hardy. The Religion, Spirituality, and Thought of Traditional Africa. By Dominique Zahan. Community, Self, and Identity. Edited by Bhabagrahi Misra and James Preston. Les Dieux et Les Hommes. Etude des Cultes d'un village du Tirunelveli, Inde du Sud. By Marie Louise Reiniche. Anutan Concepts of Disease: A Polynesian Study. By Richard Feinberg, with a forward by Dr Carleton Gajdusek. In the Shadow of Tlaloc: Life in a Mexican Village. By Gregory R. Reck. Protein from the Sea: Technological Change in Philippine Capture Fisheries. By Alexander Spoehr. The Ainu: The Past in the Present. By Fred C. C. Peng and Peter Geiser. From Field to Factory: Community Structure and Industrialization in West Bengal. By Morton Klass. Lightning meets the West Wind. The Malaita Massacre. By Roger M. Keesing and Peter Corris. Your Own Pigs You May Not Eat. By Paula L. Rubel and Barbara Rosman. Villagers at war: Some Papua New Guinean exyeriences in World War II. By Neville K. Robinson. Urbanization and Urban Growth in the Caribbean. By Malcolm Cross. Urbanization in Papua New Guinea: A Study of Ambivalent Townsmen. By Hal B. Levine and Marlene Wolfzahn-Levine. The Child in the City. By Colin Ward, with photographs by Ann Golzen and others. 'It's Coming Yet …' An Aboriginal Treaty Within Australia Between Australians. By Stewart Harris, for the Aboriginal Treaty Committee. The Street is Their Home: The Hobos' Manifesto. By Jim Ward. Aborigines in Colonial Victoria 1835-86, By M. F. Christie. Songs of the Pintupi. Musical Life in a Central Australian Society. By Richard M. Moyle Shuckin' and Jivin’: Folktore from Contemporary Black Americans. By Daryl Cumber Dance. The Evolution of Designs: Biological Analogy in the Architecture and the Applied Arts. By Philip Steadman A Geography of the Lifeworld: Movement, Rest and Encounter. By David Seaman. Climatic Races and Descent Groups. By Grover S. Krantz. Views of the Past. Essays in Old World Prehistory and Paleoanthropology. Edited by Leslie G. Freeman. Tools and Tillage. A Journal of the History of the Implements of Cultivation and other Agricultural Processes. Volume III:3. Edited by Grith Lerche, Alexander Fenton and Axel Steensberg Wooden Ritual Artifacts from Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. The Chetro Ketl Collection. By R. Gwinn Vivian, Dulce N. Dodgen, and Gayle H. Hartman. Volcanic Activity and Human Ecology. Edited by Payson D. Sheets and Donald K. Grayson. Fossils in the Making: Vertebrate Taphonomy and Palaeoecology. Edited by Anna K. Behrensmeyer and Andrew P. Hill. Citing Literature Volume12, Issue4December 1980Pages 351-379 RelatedInformation

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Sacred Space in the Ancient Near East

Teaching and Learning Guide for: Sacred Space in the Ancient Near East

Introduction: Rethinking the Origins of Agriculture

The papers in this special section are revised contributions to one of the Conversations in the Disciplines funded by the State University of New York and the SUNY College at Plattsburgh, held in Plattsburgh on October 7–9, 2007. This discussion, titled “The Origins of Agriculture,” brought together scholars with diverse perspectives and methodological approaches on the origins of agriculture. My perception is that the many perspectives and methodologies are not in sufficient contact with one another, and my goal in organizing this collection for the SUNY Conversation and for this special section in Current Anthropology was to generate cross-fertilization of ideas. The areas in question include ancient health, paleopathology, paleonutrition, paleodemography, evolutionary theory, genetics, political prehistory, social organization, climatology, human behavioral ecology, archaeobotany, and Neolithic demographic transition theory. As these papers demonstrate, the conversation was successful to a degree in that regard, even though, as is inevitable, we reached no consensus. My perspective was then and is now that such widespread common events require relatively simple common core events and causes. To argue otherwise defies the odds of coincidence given the enormously widespread complex sequences of events occurring in parallel but independently in so many regions of the world. I suggested that we resembled the proverbial blind men, each describing an elephant from the perspective of his or her own incomplete experience. (Hence the reference to elephants in some accompanying papers.) I still insist that there is an “elephant,” or common core of events, despite our various incomplete perspectives; however, many participants do not agree that the elephant or core understanding exists. What follows is my own perspective on the problem, modified and updated by more recent research and, most recently, by participation in the conversation. I take pride of place as organizer and also as the person providing the most primitive, albeit drastically updated, hypothesis. In The Food Crisis in Prehistory (Cohen 1977), I proposed

The Chaîne Opératoire Approach in Middle Paleolithic Archaeology

Since the pioneering days of Paleolithic archaeology in western Europe, the making of stone tools has received special attention. Numerous studies were aimed at creating systematic typologies of artifacts based on descriptions of their technical features and morphological attributes. Recently, the concept of chaine operatoire, or “operational sequence” (sometimes called “core reduction sequence”), borrowed from French social anthropologists, has been introduced into the study of Old World prehistory. Its conceptual framework is focused on the recognition of the overall technology and the practical skills of the prehistoric knapper in employing a particular technique responsible for the transformation of raw material to tools. Although the stone objects of all periods received attention, those of the Middle Paleolithic—due to issues such as the significance of lithic variability in retouched tools, the demise of the Neanderthals, or the emergence of “modern behavior”—have been at the forefront. This paper ...

Late Neolithic Plant Remains from Northern China: Preliminary Results from Liangchengzhen, Shandong

Late Neolithic Plant Remains from Northern China: Preliminary Results from Liangchengzhen, Shandong

Archaeobotanical Evidence for the Spread of Farming in the Eastern Mediterranean

A major topic of debate in Old World prehistory is the relative importance of population movement versus cultural diffusion in explaining the spread of agriculture into and across Europe following its inception in southwestern Asia. An important set of data that has surprisingly been largely absent from this debate is the preserved crops and associated weeds of the earliest farmers. An analysis of archaeobotanical data from 40 aceramic Neolithic sites in southwestern Asia and southeastern Europe shows that there are vegetational signatures that characterize the different geographical regions occupied by the Early Neolithic farmers. On this basis it is argued that the compositional similarities of the crop package between the Levantine core, Cyprus, and Greece are indicative of both the routes of migration of early farming groups and the early agricultural practices of Europes first farmers.

Further Evidence of Heterarchy in Bronze Age Thailand

Previous articleNext article No AccessReportsFurther Evidence of Heterarchy in Bronze Age Thailand1DougaldJ.W.OReillyDougaldJ.W.OReillyFaculty of Archaeology, Royal University of Fine Arts, 2 Samdech Ouk, Phnom Penh, Cambodia ([email protected]). 30 v 02 Search for more articles by this author Faculty of Archaeology, Royal University of Fine Arts, 2 Samdech Ouk, Phnom Penh, Cambodia ([email protected]). 30 v 02PDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 44, Number 2April 2003 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/367973 Views: 142Total views on this site Citations: 18Citations are reported from Crossref 2003 by The WennerGren Foundation for Anthropological Research. All rights reserved PDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Alison Kyra Carter Building from the Ground Up: The Archaeology of Residential Spaces and Communities in Southeast Asia, Journal of Archaeological Research 52 (Jan 2022).https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-021-09170-4Joyce C. White, Elizabeth G. Hamilton The metal age of Thailand and Ricardo's Law of Comparative Advantage, Archaeological Research in Asia 27 (Sep 2021): 100305.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2021.100305Marc F Oxenham, Trinh Hoang Hiep, Hirofumi Matsumura, Kate Domett, Damien Huffer, Rebecca Crozier, Lan Cuong Nguyen, Clare McFadden Identity and community structure in Neolithic Man Bac, northern Vietnam, Archaeological Research in Asia 26 (Jun 2021): 100282.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2021.100282Siavash Samei, Karim Alizadeh, Peter F. Biehl The spatial organization of craft production at the Kura-Araxes settlement of Köhne Shahar in northwestern Iran: A zooarchaeological approach, PLOS ONE 15, no.33 (Mar 2020): e0229339.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0229339Elisabeth A. Hildebrand, Katherine M. Grillo, Elizabeth A. Sawchuk, Susan K. Pfeiffer, Lawrence B. Conyers, Steven T. Goldstein, Austin Chad Hill, Anneke Janzen, Carla E. Klehm, Mark Helper, Purity Kiura, Emmanuel Ndiema, Cecilia Ngugi, John J. Shea, Hong Wang A monumental cemetery built by eastern Africa’s first herders near Lake Turkana, Kenya, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 115, no.3636 (Aug 2018): 8942–8947.https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1721975115Alison Kyra Carter The Production and Exchange of Glass and Stone Beads in Southeast Asia from 500 BCE to the early second millennium CE: An assessment of the work of Peter Francis in light of recent research, Archaeological Research in Asia 6 (Jun 2016): 16–29.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ara.2016.02.004Mina YOKOCHI, Fumie EMISU, Satoko YANAGISAWA, Chizuko SHIMURA Experiences of women who consult a gynecologist for menopausal symptoms, Journal of Japan Academy of Midwifery 29, no.11 (Jan 2015): 59–68.https://doi.org/10.3418/jjam.29.59Dougald J.W. O’Reilly Increasing complexity and the political economy model; a consideration of Iron Age moated sites in Thailand, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 35 (Sep 2014): 297–309.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2014.06.007Nam C. Kim Lasting Monuments and Durable Institutions: Labor, Urbanism, and Statehood in Northern Vietnam and Beyond, Journal of Archaeological Research 21, no.33 (Feb 2013): 217–267.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10814-012-9064-7Fiorella Rispoli, Roberto Ciarla, Vincent C. Pigott Establishing the Prehistoric Cultural Sequence for the Lopburi Region, Central Thailand, Journal of World Prehistory 26, no.22 (Jul 2013): 101–171.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10963-013-9064-7N.J. Harris, N. Tayles Burial containers – A hidden aspect of mortuary practices: Archaeothanatology at Ban Non Wat, Thailand, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 31, no.22 (Jun 2012): 227–239.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2012.01.001Steve Weber, Heather Lehman, Timothy Barela, Sean Hawks, David Harriman Rice or millets: early farming strategies in prehistoric central Thailand, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 2, no.22 (Apr 2010): 79–88.https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-010-0030-3Joyce C. White, Chureekamol Onsuwan Eyre 5 Residential Burial and the Metal Age of Thailand, Archeological Papers of the American Anthropological Association 20, no.11 (May 2011): 59–78.https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1551-8248.2011.01028.xA. Willis, N. Tayles Field anthropology: application to burial contexts in prehistoric Southeast Asia, Journal of Archaeological Science 36, no.22 (Feb 2009): 547–554.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2008.10.010Stephen G. Perz, Angelica M. Almeyda A Tri-Partite Framework of Forest Dynamics: Hierarchy, Panarchy, and Heterarchy in the Study of Secondary Growth, (Sep 2009): 59–84.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-9656-3_4Dougald J .W. O'Reilly Multivallate sites and socio-economic change: Thailand and Britain in their Iron Ages, Antiquity 82, no.316316 (Jan 2015): 377–389.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00096873Lisa Kealhofer, Peter Grave Land Use, Political Complexity, and Urbanism in Mainland Southeast Asia, American Antiquity 73, no.22 (Jan 2017): 200–226.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0002731600042256Miriam T. Stark Early Mainland Southeast Asian Landscapes in the First Millennium A.D., Annual Review of Anthropology 35, no.11 (Oct 2006): 407–432.https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.anthro.35.081705.123157

Coastal hunter-gatherers and social evolution

General accounts of global trends in world prehistory are dominated by narratives of conquest on land: scavenging and hunting of land mammals, migration over land bridges and colonisation of new continents, gathering of plants, domestication, cultivation, and ultimately sustained population growth founded on agricultural surplus. Marine and aquatic resources fit uneasily into this sequence of social and economic development, and societies strongly dependent on them have often been regarded as relatively late in the sequence, geographically marginal or anomalous. We consider the biases and preconceptions of the ethnographic and archaeological records that have contributed to this view of marginality and examine some current issues focusing on the role of marine resources at the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition of northwest Europe. We suggest that pre-existing conventions should be critically re-examined, that coastlines may have played a more significant, widespread and persistent role as zones of attraction for human dispersal, population growth and social interaction than is commonly recognised, and that this has been obscured by hunter-gatherer and farmer stereotypes of prehistoric economies.

McDaniel on Dillehay

Reviewed by: The Settlement of the Americas: A New Prehistory Sarah Schuknecht McDaniel Thomas D. Dillehay, The Settlement of the Americas: A New Prehistory (New York: Basic Books, 2000) Few topics raise such passion among New World prehistoric archaeologists as the debate over the first Americans — the original colonizers of the New World. In his most recent work, Dillehay demonstrates that new discoveries and analyses of previously excavated sites suggest that the traditional Clovis-first model for peopling of the Americas is in need of considerable revision. The broader implications of an earlier-than-previously-thought period of human occupation are discussed, such as why some in the archaeological community are resistant to a paradigmatic change and what new evidence points to an earlier migration. Dillehay effectively summarizes the current issues that surround the first American debate in terms of archaeological, linguistic, osteological, and genetic data. In addition to physical evidence, original human colonization of the New World is considered in terms of necessary social and cognitive cultural features. The book is organized into 11 chapters and is roughly divided into three topical areas. The first four chapters provide a background review of theories of migration, late Pleistocene environmental conditions, and major stone tool traditions. This section is followed by two chapters concerned with specific details of South American archaeology: early prehistoric sites, seminal figures, chronologies, methodological problems, and proposals for future avenues of research as they relate to migration theories. The final chapters of the book review evidence that complements the archaeological record such as DNA and linguistic data, and the social needs of the early settlers. Dillehay concludes by summarizing the importance of New World prehistory on a global scale, and by offering directions for future research. Pivotal to the reevaluation of settlement patterns is the Monte Verde site in Chile, researched by Dillehay and generally accepted by numerous critics to be the most sound evidence for a pre-Clovis culture: dated at 12,500 B.P., it is problematically “too early” for a South American late Pleistocene settlement. Furthermore, artifacts recovered from Monte Verde demonstrate that people had a radically different technology and subsistence strategy than their North American counterparts. All of these inconsistencies point to a need for revision of migration and colonization theories, an obstacle for researchers like Dillehay who are literally rewriting prehistory. Although the presentation of material is as concise as possible, the middle section of the book is filled with a mass of names, dates, and places that tends to overwhelm the reader who is not familiar with South American archaeology. This segment is indispensable, however, because it provides context for the ensuing and more interesting concluding discussions of social and cognitive aspects of the culture of the first colonizers. Dillehay goes beyond basic ecologically deterministic causes of migration and delves into possible ideas regarding social structure, adaptive mobility, cognitive needs, and core institutions that are associated with exploration and eventual colonization by hunter-gatherer populations. Many early prehistorians have shied away from these sorts of projections; the fact that the author dares to hypothesize about such intangible concepts is a credit to his name and a refreshing turn for New World archaeology. While not the first person to suggest some of the ideas in the book, Dillehay builds upon a foundation laid by other anthropologists who have worked in South America, and is arguably the first to synthesize the material into such a readable text. It is, overall, a well-presented synthesis of information appropriate for both amateur and professional archaeologists alike. Much of the technological jargon found in academic writing is omitted or clarified, so that the book is capable of reaching a broad audience. In this reviewer's opinion, it would make a welcome supplemental text to any upper or lower-division anthropology class with a topical interest in early prehistory of the Americas and migration theories. Perhaps most thought provoking are the concluding remarks on the importance of the New World prehistory in terms of a global scale; the Americas are unique because the rapid period between settlement and the development of civilization was unprecedented in world history. A rare opportunity is provided to examine rapid culture change...

Clovis and Early Archaic Crania from the Anzick Site (24PA506), Park County, Montana

The Anzick archaeological site in Montana, known since 1968, has been recognized since 1974 as Clovis age because of the lithic material recovered. Now it is possible to assert that some, but not all, of the recovered skeletal material is also Clovis age. The site contained more than 100 stone and nonhuman bone artifacts in association with the partial skeletal remains of a young child. All were covered with red ocher. The partial cranium of a second youth, not stained red, was also recovered. Recently, radiocarbon dating of these two crania produced two separate ages, 2000 years apart. Forensic examination of the remains, completed in 1999, has determined their ages at death. This site, an important addition to New World prehistory, contains not only the largest single assemblage of Clovis artifacts but also the only known Clovis skeletal remains.

Ceramic Age Seafaring and Interaction Potential in the Antilles: A Computer Simulation

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Ceramic Age Seafaring and Interaction Potential in the Antilles: A Computer Simulation

Ceramic Age Seafaring and Interaction Potential in the Antilles: A Computer Simulation