Ancient DNA informs on past cultures Archaeology has used analysis of the artifacts and remains of people to uncover their past behaviors and to infer their cultural practices. However, establishing genetic relationships has only recently become possible. Mittnik et al. examined the kinship and inheritance of the remains of people from the German Lech River Valley over a time period spanning the Late Neolithic Corded Ware Culture, the Bell Beaker Complex, the Early Bronze Age, and the Middle Bronze Age (see the Perspective by Feinman and Neitzel). From genetic and archaeological analyses, it was revealed that the Early Bronze Age household's burials over multiple generations consisted of a high-status core family and unrelated low-status individuals. Furthermore, women were not related to the men within the household, suggesting that men stayed within their birth communities in this society, but women did not. Science, this issue p. 731; see also p. 682 Ancient DNA of 104 individuals from Late Neolithic and Bronze Age Germany elucidates their complex social organization. Revealing and understanding the mechanisms behind social inequality in prehistoric societies is a major challenge. By combining genome-wide data, isotopic evidence, and anthropological and archaeological data, we have gone beyond the dominating supraregional approaches in archaeogenetics to shed light on the complexity of social status, inheritance rules, and mobility during the Bronze Age. We applied a deep microregional approach and analyzed genome-wide data of 104 human individuals deriving from farmstead-related cemeteries from the Late Neolithic to the Middle Bronze Age in southern Germany. Our results reveal individual households, lasting several generations, that consisted of a high-status core family and unrelated low-status individuals; a social organization accompanied by patrilocality and female exogamy; and the stability of this system over 700 years.
Martin H. Trauth, Asfawossen Asrat, Markus L. Fischer
et al.
Abstract The transition from a humid green Sahara to today’s hyperarid conditions in northern Africa ~5.5 thousand years ago shows the dramatic environmental change to which human societies were exposed and had to adapt to. In this work, we show that in the 620,000-year environmental record from the Chew Bahir basin in the southern Ethiopian Rift, with its decadal resolution, this one thousand year long transition is particularly well documented, along with 20–80 year long droughts, recurring every ~160 years, as possible early warnings. Together with events of extreme wetness at the end of the transition, these droughts form a pronounced climate “flickering”, which can be simulated in climate models and is also present in earlier climate transitions in the Chew Bahir environmental record, indicating that transitions with flickering are characteristic of this region.
Exploring prehistoric variation in human–environmental interaction is critical for understanding the historical patterns and mechanisms of long-term human–land evolution. In this paper we review the published radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) data from Late Paleolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in China, analyze the spatial–temporal distribution of these sites, and compare it with the results of recent paleoclimatic and archaeological studies. We seek to study the trajectory and influencing factors of human–environmental interactions in late prehistoric China. We detect changing patterns in the relationship between humans and the environment during different phases of the prehistoric era in China. Climate change clearly affected the environment of hunter-gatherer groups between 50,000–10,000 BP (before present, defined as 1950AD), and variation in human population in Neolithic China (∼10,000–4000 BP) was likely influenced primarily by the development of agriculture, in addition to substantial climate events. The spatial scale of human settlements expanded in the Bronze Age (∼4000–2200 BP) in a period of cooling climate. During this time the impact of human activities on the environment increased significantly, primarily caused by technological innovations related to the onset of prehistoric transcontinental cultural exchange in Eurasia.
Kamen Boyadzhiev, Yavor Boyadzhiev, Victoria Haleva
et al.
This paper considers the structure investigated at the largest area (labeled as BII-21B) in the Chalcolithic level BII of Tell Yunatsite, located in the western parts of the Upper Thracian Plain. It collapsed during a sudden fire, which did not affect the neighboring house to the west. The debris sealed a large number of fragmented vessels, plant remains, and even some of the inhabitants. Detailed analysis of the materials found allows for a reconstruction of diet and storage practices, research on vessels’ function and technology, decoration styles, etc. The plant remains are abundant and demonstrate a diverse species composition. The complex is dominated by lentils, barley, and einkorn wheat. Of particular interest is the evidence on purposeful gathering of grapes for producing a drink, perhaps wine. The investigation of the ceramic assemblage shows that it belongs to a developed – but not final – stage of the Late Copper Age in Upper Thrace. It also provides new information about the contact zone between the Karanovo VI and Krivodol cultures in this area.
A principios de los años 20 del siglo XX las ruinas de la ciudad romana de Pollentia habían llamado la atención de uno de los eruditos con mayor reconocimiento del país, Gabriel Llabrés Quintana. Sus conexiones personales y el conocimiento que tenía sobre la ciudad fueron fundamentales para conseguir financiación estatal para emprender la primer intervención arqueológica oficial en 1923. Ello permitió excavar en cuatro zonas diferentes, descubriendo los restos de varios edificios y piezas todavía hoy emblemáticas. Sin embargo, nunca se emitieron memorias oficiales ni se publicaron los resultados.
En el centenario de esta primera intervención, el presente artículo ofrece un análisis detallado del desarrollo de los trabajos gracias al escrutinio, principalmente, de la documentación original de Llabrés. A la vez, se estudian las circunstancias de la campaña en su contexto histórico y social, para, finalmente, proponer una revisión actual de varios de los hallazgos, en especial los de tipo edilicio.
Prehistoric archaeology, Auxiliary sciences of history
K. Lambers, Wouter B. Verschoof-van der Vaart, Q.P.J. Bourgeois
Although the history of automated archaeological object detection in remotely sensed data is short, progress and emerging trends are evident. Among them, the shift from rule-based approaches towards machine learning methods is, at the moment, the cause for high expectations, even though basic problems, such as the lack of suitable archaeological training data are only beginning to be addressed. In a case study in the central Netherlands, we are currently developing novel methods for multi-class archaeological object detection in LiDAR data based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs). This research is embedded in a long-term investigation of the prehistoric landscape of our study region. We here present an innovative integrated workflow that combines machine learning approaches to automated object detection in remotely sensed data with a two-tier citizen science project that allows us to generate and validate detections of hitherto unknown archaeological objects, thereby contributing to the creation of reliable, labeled archaeological training datasets. We motivate our methodological choices in the light of current trends in archaeological prospection, remote sensing, machine learning, and citizen science, and present the first results of the implementation of the workflow in our research area.
This article presents results of a case study within a project that seeks to develop heavily automated analysis of digital topographic data to extract archaeological information and to expedite large area mapping. Drawing on developments in computer vision and machine learning, this has the potential to fundamentally recast the capacity of archaeological prospection to cover large areas and deal with mass data, breaking a dependency on human resource. Without such developments, the potential of the vast amount of archaeological information embedded in large topographic and image‐based datasets cannot be realized. The purpose of the case study reported on here is to assess existing developments in a Norwegian study against digital topographic data for the island of Arran, Scotland, examining the transferability of the approach and providing a proof of concept in a Scottish context. For Arran, three monument classes were assessed – prehistoric roundhouses, shieling huts of medieval or post‐medieval date, and small clearance cairns. These present different challenges to detection, with preliminary results ranging from a manageable mix of false positives and true identifications to the chaotic. The influence of variable morphology and the occurrence of other, largely natural, objects of confusion in the landscape is discussed, highlighting the potential improvements in automated detection routines offered by adding anthropogenic and natural false positives to additional confusion classes.
Recent advances in the use of summed probability distribution (SPD) of calibrated 14C dates have opened new possibilities for studying prehistoric demography. The degree of correlation between climate change and population dynamics can now be accurately quantified, and divergences in the demographic history of distinct geographic areas can be statistically assessed. Here we contribute to this research agenda by reconstructing the prehistoric population change of Jomon hunter-gatherers between 7,000 and 3,000 cal BP. We collected 1,433 14C dates from three different regions in Eastern Japan (Kanto, Aomori and Hokkaido) and established that the observed fluctuations in the SPDs were statistically significant. We also introduced a new non-parametric permutation test for comparing multiple sets of SPDs that highlights point of divergences in the population history of different geographic regions. Our analyses indicate a general rise-and-fall pattern shared by the three regions but also some key regional differences during the 6th millennium cal BP. The results confirm some of the patterns suggested by previous archaeological studies based on house and site counts but offer statistical significance and an absolute chronological framework that will enable future studies aiming to establish potential correlation with climatic changes.
Nadrzędnym celem artykułu jest analiza podstaw źródłowych oraz interpretacyjnych dotyczących tzw. masek z Opola. Przedmioty te na stałe weszły do studiów nad religią przedchrześcijańską Słowian Zachodnich, szybko osiągając status ikonicznych. Tym, co wzbudza zaskoczenie, jest widoczna w literaturze, w zasadzie bezkrytyczna akceptacja identyfikacji obu omawianych przedmiotów, jaką ponad półwiecze temu zaproponowała Helena Cehak-Hołubowiczowa. Żaden z późniejszych autorów nie podjął się polemiki z tymi ustaleniami, co w konsekwencji doprowadziło do ugruntowania badawczego paradygmatu. Maski z Opola stały się również podstawą do rozwijania rozmaitych hipotez dotyczących pogańskich form obrzędowości na ziemiach polskich we wczesnym średniowieczu. W prezentowanym tekście podjęto próbę rewizji dotychczasowych interpretacji oraz krytyki budowanych na jej fundamencie hipotez.
Auxiliary sciences of history, Prehistoric archaeology
Alan R. Nelson, Andrea D. Hawkes, Yuki Sawai
et al.
We infer a history of three great megathrust earthquakes during the past 2000 years at the Nehalem River estuary based on the lateral extent of sharp (≤3 mm) peat-mud stratigraphic contacts in cores and outcrops, coseismic subsidence as interpreted from fossil diatom assemblages and reconstructed with foraminiferal assemblages using a Bayesian transfer function, and regional correlation of 14C-modeled ages for the times of subsidence. A subsidence contact from 1700 CE (contact A), sometimes overlain by tsunami-deposited sand, can be traced over distances of 7 km. Contacts B and D, which record subsidence during two earlier megathrust earthquakes, are much less extensive but are traced across a 700-m by 270-m tidal marsh. Although some other Cascadia studies report evidence for an earthquake between contacts B and D, our lack of extensive evidence for such an earthquake may result from the complexities of preserving identifiable evidence of it in the rapidly shifting shoreline environments of the lower river and bay. Ages (95% intervals) and subsidence for contacts are: A, 1700 CE (1.1 ± 0.5 m); B, 942–764 cal a BP (0.7 ± 0.4 m and 1.0 m ± 0.4 m); and D, 1568–1361 cal a BP (1.0 m ± 0.4 m). Comparisons of contact subsidence and the degree of overlap of their modeled ages with ages for other Cascadia sites are consistent with megathrust ruptures many hundreds of kilometers long. But these data cannot conclusively distinguish among different types or lengths of ruptures recorded by the three great earthquake contacts at the Nehalem River estuary.
Antonio Jesús Ortiz Villarejo, Luis María Gutiérrez Soler, María Alejo Armijo
La campaña de excavación arqueológica desarrollada durante el año 2014 en la meseta de Giribaile documentó un espacio de almacenaje, el Área 11, en excelente estado de conservación que, entre otros materiales, ha proporcionado un total de 342 fragmentos de material de construcción divididos en los grupos: ladrillo, argamasa, revoque e indeterminados. La generación de una base de datos para su gestión y análisis estadístico así como la realización de los estudios de DRX composicional, análisis de carbonatos y pruebas de resistencia, han permitido avanzar tanto en el conocimiento del proceso de fabricación, cocción en frío, como caracterizar de manera precisa su composición y la realización de un catálogo de estas piezas que puede ser una nueva referencia en este campo.
Soolmaz Mansouri, Ahmad Salehikakhki, Mitra Shateri
Pottery art in Iran reached its apex during the Seljuk and Kharazmshahi eras. In these two periods, artists producedhigh-quality wares, with Minai decorations which are considered as masterpieces of Islamic art from an aestheticalpoint of view. These wares were decorated with motifs from manuscripts illustrated by artists from Baghdad andSeljuk miniature painting schools portraying epic stories in the Shahnameh or love stories in Nezami’s Khamse.Although very noticeable, influences on Minai wares from miniature works of Baghdad and Seljuk schools havereceived little attention by researchers. This led researchers to investigate the similarities of motifs remaining fromBaghdad and Seljuk schools in works such as Varagha and Golshah, Kalileh-and-Dimna and Hariri Maghamat torecognise their influences on the motifs of Minai wares. The main purpose of this paper is to study and explore theimpact of Baghdad and Seljuk miniature painting schools on Minai wares and evaluate their respective influenceson Minai wares. The methodological approach applied in this study includes historical-comparative analysis aswell as researches in libraries and museums resources. Illustrated manuscripts belonging to Baghdad and Seljukschools were identified, their similarities and differences were singled out and finally their influences on Minaiwares were evaluated.
The present work is associated with dietary reconstruction using δ13C and δ15N analysis of humans from the site of Sidon, a Middle Bronze Age (2000BC-1550BC) settlement in Lebanon. The main objective of this research is to focus on collagen extraction of 23 individual bones, discovered in a cemetery, College site (season 2001-2002) in ancient Sidon. Collagen could only be extracted from the 8 adults and 11 sub adults and one faunal sample excavated during the 2001-2002 seasons. Carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes, which are two important tools in palaeodietary analysis, can tell us about the protein sources of the diet. δ13C values shows the proportion of terrestrial against marine protein in the diet and what sort of photosynthetic pathways, including C3, C4, or CAM, were consumed in populations during their lifetime, while δ15N values reveal the proportion of animal against plant protein and also provide an indication of the age of weaning. In this study according to the carbon isotope values, the results show that these individuals were consuming terrestrial food stuffs, typically C3 plants, including cereals such as wheat, barley, rice, as well as lentils and milk products. The nitrogen isotopes indicate that protein originated from a mixture of terrestrial plant and animal food. The animals probably were herbivores such as sheep and goats, which consumed C3 plants. Also, the nitrogen values estimated age of weaning in infants in this population. Infants were breast-fed and their weaning may have been occurred between the ages of 18 months and 3-4 years. The most surprising results of both isotopes are that no trace of C4 plants or marine products was seen, while the site is situated along the Mediterranean Sea.
Antônio Carlos de Barros Corrêa, Demétrio Mutzenberg, Valdeci dos Santos Júnior
Esse trabalho tem como objetivo apresentar os resultados alcançados por meio de pesquisas acadêmicas de campo e em laboratório que permitiram efetuar inferências arqueológicas sobre critérios de escolhas geoambientais por parte de grupos pré-históricos que ocuparam, durante mais de quatro milênios, o Enclave Arqueológico Granito Flores (EAGF), localizado na microrregião de Angicos, Estado do Rio Grande do Norte. Para auxiliar no entendimento dos critérios dessas escolhas, a análise buscou caracterizar os padrões de assentamentos pretéritos da área direta e indireta do EAGF pela perspectiva da Arqueologia da paisagem. Foram adotados procedimentos metodológicos procedentes da Geoarqueologia, tais como elaboração de mapas de análise geoambiental com a inserção dos padrões de assentamentos identi&cados por meio dos lugares arqueológicos, escavações em abrigos rochosos, coletas em tanques naturais e métodos arqueométricos. A partir da análise espacial da distribuição dos padrões de assentamentos humanos, tipologia, localização e gênese de formação dos vestígios arqueológicos nesses locais, foi possível sugerir um modelo hipotético de ocupação pré-histórica da área, onde fatores geoambientais, principalmente presença da água em tanques naturais, existência de abrigos rochosos e fontes de matéria-prima próximas para produção lítica, tiveram influência determinante nas escolhas.
ABSTRACT
This article aims to highlight the results achieved through academic &eld and laboratory research that allowed making archaeological inferences about geoenvironmental choices criteria, as well as having knowledge of the everyday and cultural dynamics, of prehistoric groups that occupied, during more than four millennia, the Archaeological Granite Flowers Enclave –AGFE (Enclave Arqueológico Granito Flores), located in the microregion of Angicos city, in the State of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil. To help understand the choices criteria, the analysis sought to characterize settlements preterit patterns of the direct and indirect area of the AGFE through the perspective of the Landscape Archaeology. Procedures of methodological geoarchaeological were adopted, such as geoenvironmental analysis mapping, with the insertion of settlement patterns identi&ed through archaeological sites, excavations in rock shelters, natural stone tanks collecting and archaeometric methods. From the spatial analysis of the distribution of human settlement patterns, typology, location and formation genesis of the archaeological remains at these sites, it was possible to suggest a hypothetical interpretative model of prehistoric occupation of the area, where geoenvironmental factors, especially the presence of water in natural stone tanks, existence of rock shelters and close raw materials sources tolithic production, had decisive influence on the choices.
Keywords: Landscape Archaeology; Geoarchaeology; Settlement Patterns.