Showing papers in "Antiquity in 1994"
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that not every first footstep on a virgin shore leaves enduring trace, nor every first human settlement an enduring deposit that chances to survive, and then chances to be observed archaeologically.
Abstract: Not every first footstep on a virgin shore leaves enduring trace, nor every first human settlement an enduring deposit that chances to survive, and then chances to be observed archaeologically. Good environmental evidence from Mangaia Island, central East Polynesia, gives - it is contended - a fairer picture of the human invasion of remote Oceania than the short and sceptical chronology recently published in ANTIQUITY.
156 citations
TL;DR: A reappraisal of the artefactual and chronological evidence for the earliest occupation of Europe, with proper attention to its limitations and its reliability, makes for a short chronology.
Abstract: A reappraisal of the artefactual and chronological evidence for the earliest occupation of Europe — with proper attention to its limitations and its reliability — makes for a short chronology. The first solid traces of hominid activities in this part of the world are around 500,000 years old.
154 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a careful survey of reports of early sheep in southernmost Africa combines with new radiocarbon dates to revise our knowledge of early pastoralism in the Cape, showing the keeping of domestic stock and the making of pottery are not simultaneous and intertwined but separate events in a more complex history.
Abstract: A careful survey of reports of early sheep in southernmost Africa combines with new radiocarbon dates to revise our knowledge of early pastoralism in the Cape. The new chronology shows the keeping of domestic stock and the making of pottery are not simultaneous and intertwined but separate events in a more complex history.
133 citations
TL;DR: The growing story of early settlement in the northwest Pacific islands is moving from coastal sites into the rainforest, and evidence of Pleistocene cultural layers have been discovered in open-site excavations at Yombon, an area containing shifting hamlets, in West New Britain's interior tropical rainforest as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The growing story of early settlement in the northwest Pacific islands is moving from coastal sites into the rainforest. Evidence of Pleistocene cultural layers have been discovered in open-site excavations at Yombon, an area containing shifting hamlets, in West New Britain's interior tropical rainforest. These sites, the oldest in New Britain, may presently stand as the oldest open sites discovered in rainforest anywhere in the world.
112 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a variabilite morphologique of microlithes is presented, which forme the base du systeme de differenciation des traditions culturelles/temporelles majeures de l'Epipaleolithique final in Asie du Sud-Est.
Abstract: Les archeologues ont longtemps suppose que les variantes morphologiques des microlithes refletaient d'abord les differences culturelles de leurs createurs. Cette hypothese forme la base du systeme de differenciation des traditions culturelles/temporelles majeures de l'Epipaleolithique final en Asie du Sud-Est. L'A. propose une autre explication a cette variabilite morphologique et qui souligne les aspects dynamiques de la technologie lithique des chasseurs-cueilleurs, il met en doute la theorie admise des changement culturels
93 citations
TL;DR: As one digs back through the archaeological record, art and other evidence of symbolic behaviour becomes scarcer, so it is much disputed just when human marking behaviour and human language began as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: As one digs back through the archaeological record, art and other evidence of symbolic behaviour becomes scarcer, so it is much disputed just when human marking behaviour and human language began. Is the fading away a real fact of prehistory, or a distorting effect of selective survival?
87 citations
TL;DR: Meltzer et al. as mentioned in this paper presented a considered view of Pedra Furada from three archaeologists with a wide range of experiences in sites of all ages in the Americas and elsewhere.
Abstract: The last decades of fieldwork have not decisively upset the long-held view that the settlement of the Americas occurred in the very latest Pleistocene, as marked in North America by the Clovis archaeological horizon at about 11,200 years ago, and by a variety of contemporaneous South American industries. Yet there are several sites that may prove to be older, among them Pedra Furada, in the thorn forest of northeastern Brazil, a large and remarkable rock-shelter, whose Pleistocene deposits have been interpreted as containing clear evidence of human occupation. This paper offers a considered view of Pedra Furada from three archaeologists with a wide range of experiences in sites of all ages in the Americas and elsewhere, but who also share a special interest and expertise in the issues Pedra Furada has raised: Meltzer from long study of the peopling of the Americas and the frame of thinking within which we address that issue (Meltzer 1993a; 1993b); Adovasio from his intensive excavations and analysis of the Meadowcroft Rockshelter in Pennsylvania, the prime North American pre-Clovis candidate (Adovasio et al. 1990; Donahue & Adovasio 1990); and Dillehay from his work at the Monte Verde site in Chile, a site in which extraordinary preservation has produced a rich archaeological record with radiocarbon ages in excess of 12,500 years b.p. (Dillehay 1989a; in press). At the invitation of the Pedra Furada team, the three travelled to Brazil last December to participate in an international conference on the peopling of the Americas, and see first-hand the evidence from Pedra Furada.
86 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the strength of the long chronology with their new optical dates can be improved by using a luminescence-based approach, contrary to Allen's (1994) view of the continent's human chronology.
Abstract: The team that has been dating early Australian sites by luminescence methods replies to Allen's (1994) view of the continent's human chronology, published in the June ANTIQUITY (68: 339–43). They argue the strength of the long chronology with their new optical dates.
80 citations
TL;DR: Phytoliths, the microscopic opal silica bodies inside plant tissue that often survive well in archaeological deposits, are becoming a larger part of the world of human palaeobotany as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Phytoliths — the microscopic opal silica bodies inside plant tissue that often survive well in archaeological deposits— are becoming a larger part of the world of human palaeobotany. They give a new view of early rice in southeast Asia.
73 citations
TL;DR: The civil war in the former Yugoslavia, the largest conflict in Europe for half a century, is more than incidentally about objects from the past and proofs of past possession as discussed by the authors, which is the case in the present case.
Abstract: The civil war in the former Yugoslavia, the largest conflict in Europe for half a century, is more than incidentally about objects from the past and proofs of past possession. Here is a report on some of the specifics and some of the generalities.
68 citations
TL;DR: The revised radiocarbon calibration curve, published last year, extends back into the Pleistocene and can be converted to real calendar years as discussed by the authors, but it requires the right judgements and statistical considerations must be followed if the real information held in the determinations is to be found.
Abstract: The revised radiocarbon calibration curve, published last year, extends back into the Pleistocene the radiocarbon determinations that can be converted to real calendar years. For determinations of any age, the right judgements and statistical considerations must be followed if the real information held in the determinations is to be found. Here is advice with some worked examples.
TL;DR: For the most part the Pleistocene, and even the earliest postglacial, is a blank when it comes to evidence of humans eating plants as mentioned in this paper, and no wonder the old men's stories, of chaps who hunt great mammals and eat their meat, still dominate our unthinking visions of hunter-gathering.
Abstract: For the most part the Pleistocene, and even the earliest post-glacial, is a blank when it comes to evidence of humans eating plants. No wonder the old men's stories, of chaps who hunt great mammals and eat their meat, still dominate our unthinking visions of hunter-gathering in that period. Some real evidence, slight though it is, from a classic European Upper Palaeolithic site provides a more balanced view.
TL;DR: In this article, the economy of subsistance pratiqué par la civilisation de l'Oxus (2100-1800), a savoir l'agriculture and l'activite pastorale.
Abstract: L'A. s'interesse a l'economie de subsistance pratiquee par la civilisation de l'Oxus (2100-1800), a savoir l'agriculture et l'activite pastorale. Cette etude a ete realisee a partir de donnees archeologiques, botaniques et osteologiques obtenues lors des fouilles de l'habitat de Gonour tepe (Turkmenistan)
TL;DR: More on whether evidence of prehistoric environment on the Pacific island of Mangaia does or does not demonstrate an early human presence there can be found in this paper, however, the evidence is limited.
Abstract: More on whether evidence of prehistoric environment on the Pacific island of Mangaia does or does not demonstrate an early human presence there.
TL;DR: The tendance postmoderne, ou postprocessuelle, en archeologie contemporaine prete plus d'attention a sa rhetorique que le plus large public dont les visions du passe equivalent peu ou pas avec celles des theoriciens as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: La tendance postmoderne, ou postprocessuelle, en archeologie contemporaine prete plus d'attention a sa rhetorique que le plus large public dont les visions du passe equivalent peu ou pas avec celles des theoriciens. Que se passe-t-il quand les realites de l'archeologie dans le monde reel, rencontrent celles des theories postmodernes ?
TL;DR: In this article, new field evidence challenges an old-established fundamental of the Lower Palaeolithic sequence in Britain, and the authors propose a new method to verify the reliability of the sequence.
Abstract: New field evidence challenges an old-established fundamental of the Lower Palaeolithic sequence in Britain.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors commentait de recentes datations australiennes obtenues par thermoluminescence, considerablement plus anciennes que les determinations par radiocarbone obtenue ailleurs en Australie et Nouvelle Guinee, who formainet un seul continent au Pleistocene final.
Abstract: L'editorial de septembre 1993 (Antiquity 65 : 44-5) commentait de recentes datations australiennes obtenues par thermoluminescence, considerablement plus anciennes que les determinations par radiocarbone obtenues ailleurs en Australie et Nouvelle Guinee, qui formainet un seul continent au Pleistocene final. La periode impliquee, v. 30-60000 ans, est cruciale egalement pour le Vieux Monde, ou le debut du Paleolithique Superieur europeen, determine par radiocarbone, est couramment estime a 35000 ans
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors study six early Chinese cities from the key Eastern Zhou period, study their shape and topography, see how their development represents both migration into the urban centres and the established structures of the ruling class.
Abstract: Take six early Chinese cities from the key Eastern Zhou period, study their shape and topography, see how their development represents both migration into the urban centres and the established structures of the ruling class.
TL;DR: A decade after an important ratty meeting at the Natural History Museum, London, in 1981, this noxious rodent pest is again reviewed in this article, where the authors show that the black rat Rattus rattus and the brown R. norvegicus are among mankind's most destructive and dangerous enemies.
Abstract: The commensal rats — notably the black rat Rattus rattus and the brown R. norvegicus — are among mankind's most destructive and dangerous enemies, and have spread relentlessly with humans across the globe. A decade after an important ratty meeting at the Natural History Museum, London, in 1981, this noxious rodent pest is again reviewed.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe des temples de l'âge du Bronze localises sur les sites de Gonour et Togolok, en Margiane (delta de la riviere Mourgab, Asie Centrale).
Abstract: Description des temples de l'âge du Bronze localises sur les sites de Gonour et Togolok, en Margiane (delta de la riviere Mourgab, Asie Centrale). L'A. soutient que les caracteristiques architecturales de la civilisation de l'Oxus sont definies par ces complexes rituels monumentaux
TL;DR: In this article, the age of paintings in Northern Australia is estimated by linking across to these deposits and their dateable contexts, and the authors assess the antiquity of those systems of knowledge and of "signifying".
Abstract: Northern Australia is one of the very few regions of the world where an established tradition of rock-art has continued and extends into present-day knowledge. Excavation of deposits under the painted surfaces allows the age of the paintings to be estimated, by linking across to these deposits and their dateable contexts. One can begin to assess the antiquity of those systems of knowledge and of ‘signifying’.
TL;DR: Granito del foro is a distinctive igneous rock, in fact a granodiorite rather than a granite, long known and named for its use in buildings of the Roman Forum.
Abstract: Granito del foro is a distinctive igneous rock, in fact a granodiorite rather than a granite, long known and named for its use in buildings of the Roman Forum. Exactly what is it? Where does it come from? Where else was it used and not used? What does the granito del foro say about ownership and empire?
TL;DR: The genetic history of wheat is the story of the world's temperate staple food as mentioned in this paper, and charred grains are the common way wheat is preserved, and DNA is present in wheat from the British Iron Age.
Abstract: The genetic history of wheat is the story of the world's temperate staple food. Arcahaeologically, charred grains are the common way wheat is preserved. Study of burnt spelt wheat from the British Iron Age shows DNA is present, and begins to shows the wheat's character.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors find a chronological order in the celebrated, and hard-to-date, copper-mining sites of the region in Israel and Jordan, and identify distinctive patterns in the nature and composition of early metal objects.
Abstract: Distinctive patterns in the nature and composition of early metal objects in Israel and Jordan make it possible to find a chronological order in the celebrated, and hard-to-date, copper-mining sites of the region.
TL;DR: This article investigated early domestication with particular emphasis on cereals and legumes and found that these foods may have been staples in their own time, for which we have no simple continuity into a later subsistence in the classic region of Near Eastern domesticates.
Abstract: Since cereals and legumes were successful domesticates, archaeologists and botanists have investigated early domestication with particular emphasis on these plants. What about other foods, which may have been staples in their own time, for which we have no simple continuity into a later subsistence in the classic region of Near Eastern domesticates? The mediterranean climate, and the lifeways, of California provide an analogy.
TL;DR: This article presented des changements regionaux et des implantations humaines intervenus dans le bassin du Phuthiatsana-ea-Thaba Bosiu pendant le Later Stone Age.
Abstract: Presentation des changements regionaux et des implantations humaines intervenus dans le bassin du Phuthiatsana-ea-Thaba Bosiu pendant le Later Stone Age
TL;DR: In 1978, the excavation of the Macedonian royal tombs at Vergina in north Greece gave a more physical aspect to the historical place of Philip and of Alexander the Great as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: In 1978, the excavation of the Macedonian royal tombs at Vergina in north Greece gave a more physical aspect to the historical place of Philip and of Alexander the Great. These archaeological finds now have an active role in the region's politics, where the present is again being re-made by the pictures of the past.
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TL;DR: Barfield as mentioned in this paper reviewed several sources and accounts of the discovery of "Otzi the Iceman" in German, but no collected report in English was available until 1991, when a mummified body was discovered in a high snowfield on the Italian-Austrian border.
Abstract: Two-and-a-half years ago, in September 1991, a mummified body was discovered in a high snowfield on the Italian-Austrian border. It dates to about 3200 BC. Several sources and accounts, mostly in German, now exist of ‘Otzi the Iceman’, but there is no collected report in English. We invited Lawrence Barfield, himself a specialist on the region and period, and co-author of one of the first Otzi books, to review these accounts of a great prehistoric discovery.
TL;DR: In this paper, a modele de changement social for le Pleistocene final du sud ouest de la Tasmanie a travers la technologie lithique et l'implantation des sites, en particulier l'utilisation croissante de grattoirs de quartz and de chert semble.
Abstract: Presentation d'un modele de changement social pour le Pleistocene final du sud ouest de la Tasmanie a travers la technologie lithique et l'implantation des sites, en particulier l'utilisation croissante de grattoirs de quartz et de chert semble etre la reponse a un plus grande mobilite
TL;DR: In this paper, les habitudes culinaires et l'economie de subsistance du site maya preclassique de Cuello (Belize) basees sur l'etude de vestiges botaniques utilises for l'agriculture and comme nourriture.
Abstract: Resultats de recherches concernant les habitudes culinaires et l'economie de subsistance du site maya preclassique de Cuello (Belize) basees sur l'etude de vestiges botaniques utilises pour l'agriculture et comme nourriture