Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory最新文献

Energetic conditions during storms cause major geomorphological changes in coastal environments and drive taphonomic transformations of coastal archaeological sites. Facing the emerging realities of modern climate change and sea-level rise, archaeologists have justifiably focused on erosional processes and the loss of cultural heritage. However, sedimentologists have long recognized that storm-forcing also involves significant (re)depositional processes and the formation of supratidal features. Geoarchaeological research at partially inundated Native American shell mound sites in Tampa Bay, Florida, integrated topobathymetric aerial LiDAR with sub-surface testing to reconstruct complex site-formation histories. These histories include reworking of cultural deposits by contemporary, recent-historical, and ancient storms, forming archaeological tempestites—sediment deposits that have been scoured from and/or deposited within archaeological contexts by storm-forcing. Using sedimentological, zooarchaeological, and radiometric data, as well as post-storm observations, we present methods for recognizing storm-driven redeposition in coastal-estuarine archaeological contexts and demonstrate the potential of archaeo-tempestites for improving archaeological and paleoenvironmental interpretation. Storm-reworking of estuarine shell mounds on the Florida Gulf Coast produces diagnostic signatures in stratigraphy, granulometry, organic content, and mollusk-composition. Ephemeral ground surfaces and overwashed sand-sheets provide suitable loci for radiometric dating of past storm events (¹⁴C and OSL). We discuss inter- and intra-site variation among regional archaeo-tempestites to better understand late-Holocene ecosystem transfer and the long-term effects of shell-bearing sites on inshore-estuarine ecological conditions. We consider the absorption of energetic forcing as part of the life-history or use-life of shell-bearing features and suggest that a broader study of Indigenous coastal terraforming may aid modern coastal protection and management efforts.

For the last seven years, PlanetScope satellites have started near-daily imaging of parts of the Earth’s surface, making high-density multitemporal, multispectral, 3-m pixel imagery accessible to researchers. Multitemporal satellite data enables landscape archaeologists to examine changes in environmental conditions at time scales ranging from daily to decadal. This kind of temporal resolution can accentuate landscape features on the ground by de-emphasizing non-permanent signatures caused by seasonal or even daily changes in vegetation. We argue that the availability of high spatial and temporal resolution multispectral imagery from Planet Inc. will enable new approaches to studying archaeological visibility in landscapes. While palimpsests are discrete overlapping layers of material accumulation, multitemporal composites capture cyclical and seasonal time and can be used to interpret past landscape histories at multiple scales. To illustrate this perspective, we present three case studies using PlanetScope imagery in tropical environments on the Indian Ocean islands of Madagascar, Mauritius, and Zanzibar.

Strontium (Sr) isotopes measured in fossil remains have been a useful tool to assess the geographical origin and even migrations of humans and other animals. In particular, dental enamel generally represents the ideal material, as it is dense and less prone to diagenetic replacement of Sr post-burial. However, fossil teeth can often be precious artefacts and difficult to access for destructive analysis. Here, we assess whether measuring Sr isotopes in fossil dental calculus could be used at least as a rangefinder to determine the geographical origin of an individual. We measured trace element concentrations in modern calculus (from a local dental practice), and trace element concentrations and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios in human fossil calculus, dentine, and enamel from specimens collected in York, UK. Comparing trace element concentrations between modern and fossil calculus show that metals present in fossil calculus are mostly acquired post-burial, including Sr. The relationship between ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and Rb/Sr ratios in fossil calculus, dentine, and enamel suggests that the diagenetic end member would have a ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio consistent with the one modelled for the York region, but a low Rb/Sr. Without calculus data, dentine and enamel data would have probably suggested a lower ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratio for a diagenetic end member, expecting high Rb/Sr values. Thus, while Sr isotopes in fossil calculus may not be useful to identify the geographical origin of an individual, they may be useful in constraining the composition of the diagenetic end member. Combining Sr isotopes in fossil dental calculus and enamel could be a more robust approach to identify geographical origin than using enamel alone.

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.