Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory最新文献

The cave of Saint-Marcel is known for its extensive network (64 km of galleries) and its history of human occupation (Middle Palaeolithic and Neolithic) in the entrance area. Close observation of the main network reveals areas with high concentrations of broken speleothems, which are usually attributed to the first tourist visits of the nineteenth century. However, archaeo-geomorphological mapping of the broken speleothems, many of which are lying on the floor and sealed by stalagmite regrowth or crust, indicates intentional organisation of the underground space into speleothem supply zones and zones in which the speleothems were used to build structures. Age estimates of the stalagmite seals on these human-made structures suggest that the structures were a result of human activity that occurred between the end of the Upper Palaeolithic and the European Mesolithic. These age estimates radically change the way we look at the broken speleothems in the cave of Saint-Marcel and the structures associated with them. They bring to light the engagement of past human communities with the deep underground environment, at more than 1.5 km from the cave entrance, which can only be accessed by crossing obstacles (pits) that, today, are considered as difficult to be crossed. Our findings and ongoing research stress the unequivocal archaeological significance of the cave.

The recognition of low-density urbanisation has been important in documenting how diverse human settlements generated enduring social and economic change. In tropical regions, the key challenges to studying low-density urbanisation have been the difficulty in acquiring past built environment data and integrating the frameworks that illuminate the social behaviours intrinsic to urbanisation. The introduction of lidar mapping and urban science methods has proven revolutionary in our understanding of low-density urbanisation as demonstrated by emerging research on settlements and states in Mesoamerica and Southeast Asia. These studies draw on urban theory to highlight patterns in the built environment associated with profound societal changes including the rise of social institutions, agglomeration effects, and ongoing settlement growth. Here, we present an approach that combines lidar survey and archaeological fieldwork with recent developments in urban science to understand the built environment of Tongatapu; the location of an archaic state whose influence spread across the southwest Pacific Ocean between the thirteenth and nineteenth centuries a.d. Quantitative results show—for the first time—that settlements on a Pacific island were urbanised in a distinct low-density form and that the processes of urbanisation began prior to state development. This study highlights the potential contribution of Pacific landscapes to urban science and the low-density settlement phenomena given the presence of large populations, hierarchical societies, and vast distributions of archaeological built remains on many island groups.

Finger flutings are channels drawn in soft sediments covering walls, floors and ceilings of some limestone caves in Europe and Australia and in some cases date as far back as 50,000 years ago. Initial research focused on why they were made, but more recently, as part of a growing interest in the individual in the past, researchers began asking questions about who made them. This shift in direction has led to claims that by measuring the width of flutings made with the three middle fingers of either hand, archaeologists can infer the ordinal age, sex and individuality of the ‘fluter’. These claims rest on a single dataset created in 2006. In this paper, we undertake the first critical analysis of that dataset and its concomitant methodologies. We argue that sample size, uneven distribution of sex and age within the sample, non-standardised medium, human variability, the lack of comparability between an experimental context and real cave environments and assumptions about demographic modelling effectively negate all previous claims. To sum, we find no substantial evidence for the claims that an age, sex and individual tracing can be revealed by measuring finger flutings as described by Sharpe and Van Gelder (Antiquity 80: 937-947, 2006a; Cambridge Archaeological Journal 16: 281–95, 2006b; Rock Art Research 23: 179–98, 2006c). As a case study, we discuss Koonalda Cave in southern Australia. Koonalda has the largest and most intact display of finger flutings in the world and is also part of a cultural landscape maintained and curated by Mirning people.

Archaeologists are increasingly interested in studying the role emotions have played in past human decision making. This paper demonstrates how awe is under-appreciated within archaeology despite it being uniquely available to archaeological research given its connection to monumental architecture and communal rituals. Archaeological engagement with awe is particularly important as psychological research has demonstrated that it is a prosocial emotion that leads to the creation of more extensive and stronger social bonds between individuals. A novel interpretation of Poverty Point (USA) is provided to illustrate the importance of studying awe, as this massive earthwork site was built more than 3000 years ago through large-scale gatherings. Reconsidered as a place of awe, Poverty Point is recast as an emotional locale where larger social and cultural identities and relationships were formed.

This paper introduces a new perspective on the constitutive role of material culture for memory using the Knossian Kamares pottery style as a case study. It challenges prevalent approaches in mainstream memory studies, which confine memory to individuals’ brains or minds, suggesting a deeper relationship between material culture and memory. Presenting a novel methodology rooted in cognitive archaeology to study the long-term making of Knossian Kamares decorations, I suggest that the Knossian Kamares pottery style is a transgenerational memory that enabled generations of artisans to remember, learn, and update technological skills and knowledge. I also claim that, in assuming this distributed, enactive, and non-representational stance on style as memory, it becomes evident that remembering is something we do: an active engagement that emerges with and through material culture in specific sociomaterial settings.

Utilising multiple lines of evidence for palaeoenvironmental reconstruction improves our understanding of the past landscapes in which human populations interacted with other species. Illuminating such processes is key for a nuanced understanding of fundamental transitions in human history, such as the shift from hunting and gathering to farming, and allows us to move beyond simple deterministic interpretations of climate-driven innovation. Avifaunal remains provide detailed indications of complex multi-species interactions at the local scale. They allow us to infer relationships between human and non-human animals, but also to reconstruct their niche, because many bird species are sensitive to specific ecological conditions and will often relocate and change their breeding patterns. In this paper, we illustrate how novel evidence that waterfowl reproduced at Levantine wetlands, which we obtained through biomolecular archaeology, together with modern ornithological data reveals conditions of wetlands that are conducive for breeding waterfowl. By understanding the interplay between wetland productivity cycles and waterfowl ecology, we argue that human modifications to the environment could have promoted wetland productivity inviting waterfowl to remain year-round. Within this landscape of “mutual ecologies”, the feedback resulting from the agency of all species is involved in the construction of the human niche.

The bipolar technique is a flaking strategy that has been identified from 3.3 Ma until the twentieth century, with no geographical or chronological homogeneous distribution. It is represented by the intentional contact of an active percussive element against a core rested on an anvil. This tool composite has been described by some researchers as a sign of low-skill of hominins, unable to perform successfully free-hand flaking or for flaking low-quality raw materials. Based on this premise, our research focused on the following question: Are there any quantitative and qualitative differences in terms of both kinematic parameters and technical skills between knappers with different levels of expertise when flaking using the bipolar technique? To get an answer, we developed a systematic experimental program with 12 volunteer participants with different levels of expertise. Then, to assess potential quantifiable differences and to understand the mechanics of bipolar technology, we did a video motion analysis based on kinematic parameters (including position, velocity, acceleration, and kinetic energy of the hammerstone). In addition, we performed a technological analysis of the experimental lithic assemblages to assess the technological differences between knappers based on their levels of expertise. In kinematic parameters, both statistical analysis and observations from the experiment clearly show that there are differences between the levels of expertise in this technique. Intermediate knappers have been observed to apply more velocity and kinetic energy than experts and novices. Also, differences were observed in the flaking strategies. Expert knappers show a longer reduction sequence, while intermediates show shorter one. Moreover, some of the novice knappers did not even obtain a single flake. The results of our experiment stress the complexity of bipolar flaking and that previous assumptions about it might be reconsidered, especially in terms of reconsidering the negative connotations attributed to this flaking technique.

Because it is often assumed that fundamental behavioral differences distinguish Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, the ability to structure space within the sites they occupied into distinct activity areas is often invoked as a key distinctive trait of our species. However, this behavior has never been assessed for both groups at a single site, hindering direct comparisons to date. To help resolve this question, this study uses a single methodology to evaluate the spatial organization in the Protoaurignacian levels (A1-A2, associated with Homo sapiens) and the latest Mousterian levels (MS1-MS2, associated with Neanderthals) at Riparo Bombrini (Liguria, Italy) to assess the changes over these three stratigraphic units vis a vis other information about site use. Combining GIS and quantitative methods allows the study of the spatial distribution of plotted finds and features in these levels, showing that Neandertals and Homo sapiens organized their living spaces in accordance with the duration of occupation, the occupation intensity, the tool assemblage and the faunal exploitation. Our results indicate that there is a logic behind the distribution of plotted finds and the use of the space, suggesting comparable cognitive capacities for both anatomically modern humans and Neanderthals. This contributes further data that undermines the notion of ‘behavioral modernity’ as a useful heuristic in human origins research.

Despite interest in preindustrial markets, archaeological discussions have largely been limited to proposing methods to determine the presence or absence of market exchange in ancient societies. While these contributions are important, methodological limitations have prevented theoretical considerations of the emergence and evolution of marketplaces and market exchange in prehistory. We propose that agent-based modeling provides a window to explore physical conditions and agent behaviors that facilitate the emergence of customary exchange locations and how such locations may evolve into socially embedded institutions. The model we designed suggests that simple bartering rules among agents can generate concentrated locations of exchange and that spatial heterogeneity of resources is the most important factor in facilitating the emergence of such locales. Furthermore, partner-search behaviors and exchange of information play a key role in the institutionalization of the marketplace. The results of our simulation suggest that marketplaces can develop, even with the absence of formalized currency or central planning, as a consequence of collective strategies taken up by agents to reduce exchange partner-search costs and make transactions more frequent and predictable. The model also suggests that, once established as a social institution, marketplaces may become highly conservative and resistant to change. As such, it is inferred that bottom-up and/or top-down interventions may have often been required to establish new marketplaces or relocate marketplaces to incorporate new resources, resolve supply–demand imbalances, or minimize rising economic costs that arise as a result of social, political, and economic change.

Archaeologists all over the world face problems regarding complexity and disorganization. Whether surveying, excavating, or doing laboratory analysis, the nature of the evidence of prehistoric societies is fragmented and incomplete. On a global and very general basis, the older the site, the greater the fragmentation, the more the missing data, and the greater the disorganization that the archaeologist must navigate to understand the past. Of course, there are notable exceptions. Most archaeologists consider the topic from the specificity of a particular time, a particular place, and a particular society. In this paper, it is considered in its most non-particular and general format. In order to do so, the paper creates an artificial archaeological region that is surveyed and excavated to a greater and lesser extent and analyzed with a variety of statistical and graphic evaluations. It concludes that when all other things are equal, increasing fragmentation causes far more disorganization and increases complexity than does missing data. Thus, fragmentation is a far more important problem for archaeological interpretation than relatively small amounts of missing data.