Showing papers in "Antiquity in 2007"
TL;DR: It is proposed that, at least for the Lower Yangtze region, the advent of rice domestication around 4000 BC was preceded by a phase of pre-domestication cultivation that began around 5000 BC, and the implications for sedentism and the spread of agriculture as a long term process are discussed.
Abstract: Prompted by a recent article by Jiang and Liu in Antiquity (80, 2006), Dorian Fuller and his co-authors return to the question of rice cultivation and consider some of the difficulties involved in identifying the transition from wild to domesticated rice. Using data from Eastern China, they propose that, at least for the Lower Yangtze region, the advent of rice domestication around 4000 BC was preceded by a phase of pre-domestication cultivation that began around 5000 BC. This rice, together with other subsistence foods like nuts, acorns and waterchestnuts, was gathered by sedentary hunter-gatherer-foragers. The implications for sedentism and the spread of agriculture as a long term process are discussed.
257 citations
TL;DR: New dates by which modern humans reached East Timor prompts this very useful update of the colonisation of Island Southeast Asia as mentioned in this paper, where the author addresses all the difficult questions: why are the dates for modern humans in Australia earlier than they are in island Southeast Asia? Which route did they use to get there? If they used the southern route, why or how did they manage to bypass Flores, where Homo floresiensis, the famous non-sapiens hominin known to the world as the "hobbit" was already in residence?
Abstract: New dates by which modern humans reached East Timor prompts this very useful update of the colonisation of Island Southeast Asia. The author addresses all the difficult questions: why are the dates for modern humans in Australia earlier than they are in Island Southeast Asia? Which route did they use to get there? If they used the southern route, why or how did they manage to bypass Flores, where Homo floresiensis, the famous non-sapiens hominin known to the world as the ‘hobbit’ was already in residence? New work at the rock shelter of Jerimalai suggests some answers and new research directions.
143 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors compare the earlier pictures (Corona) with the later (Ikonos), sites captured on the former can be accurately located by the latter, revealing the stark implications for archaeology as large parts of west Asian landscape change from a state of benign neglect to active redevelopment.
Abstract: Satellite surveys in Syria have made use of imagery recorded some 30 years apart. By comparing the earlier pictures (Corona) with the later (Ikonos), sites captured on the former can be accurately located by the latter. The comparison also reveals the stark implications for archaeology as large parts of west Asian landscape change from a state of ‘benign neglect’ to active redevelopment. Based on their experience in the Homs survey, the authors have important advice to offer in the design and costing of surveys using satellite imagery.
117 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors placed this sequence in a new chronological framework: the ashmounds, formed by burning cattle dung, are created by a few generations of people.
Abstract: The Neolithic period in South India is known for its ashmounds, superseded (in its Iron Age) by megalith builders with craft specialisation. Thanks to a major radiocarbon dating programme and Bayesian analysis of the dates, the authors have placed this sequence in a new chronological framework: the ashmounds, formed by burning cattle dung, are created by a few generations of people. In many cases the mounds are then succeeded by villages, for which they may have acted as founding rituals. The new tightly dated sequence also chronicles the cultivation of particular crops, some indigenous and some introduced from Africa.
108 citations
TL;DR: Oates et al. as discussed by the authors showed that the world's earliest cities are as likely to have been in north-eastern Syria as southern Iraq, and the model of a core from the south developing a periphery in the north is now ripe for revision.
Abstract: For many years, the southern Mesopotamia of Ur and Uruk, ancient Sumer, has been seen as the origin centre of civilisation and cities: "The urban implosion of late-fourth- and early-third-millennium Mesopotamia resulted in a massive population shift into large sites" said Nissen in 1988. "These new city-states set the pattern for Mesopotamia as the heartland of cities" (Adams 1981; Yoffee 1998). And for Stone & Zimansky (2005) "Remains of the world's first cities are the most noteworthy feature of the landscape in southern Iraq". But at Tell Brak Joan Oates and her team are turning this model upside down. A long campaign of study, culminating in the new discoveries from 2006 reported here, show that northern Mesopotamia was far along the road to urbanism, as seen in monumentality, industrialisation and prestige goods, by the late fifth millennium BC. The "world's earliest cities" are as likely to have been in north-eastern Syria as southern Iraq, and the model of a core from the south developing a periphery in the north is now ripe for revision.
102 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a herd of eight wild cattle (aurochs) were slaughtered and joints of their meat placed in a pit which was covered over and the human burial laid on top.
Abstract: Evidence for a Neolithic funeral feast has been excavated in northern Israel. A herd of eight wild cattle (aurochs) were slaughtered and joints of their meat placed in a pit which was covered over and the human burial laid on top. This was covered in turn with plaster, but the human skull was later removed through an accurately sited hole. It was the feast that began this funerary sequence, and the authors conservatively calculate that it provided a minimum of 500kg of meat. Given a 200g steak apiece this could theoretically feed some 2500 people, endorsing the authors' claim that the site was a central cult site serving surrounding villages. It is also suggested that the aurochs skulls, missing from the pit, may have been reserved for ritual purposes elsewhere, an early example of the Near Eastern bull cult that was later to have a long history in Europe.
100 citations
TL;DR: The authors found that the long-distance traders in early medieval Europe were largely self-directed actions of these intrepid merchants which created what the author calls ''the nodal points'' and found that this type of non-political initiative may well have proved pivotal.
Abstract: Did towns return to early medieval Europe through political leadership or economic expansion? This paper turns the spotlight on a particular group of actors, the long-distance traders, and finds that they stimulated proto-towns of a special kind among the Vikings. While social and economic changes, and aristocratic advantage, were widespread, it was the largely self-directed actions of these intrepid merchants which created what the author calls �the nodal points.� One can think of many other periods and parts of the world in which this type of non-political initiative may well have proved pivotal.
92 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the transition from a "stone age" to an "iron age" is discussed and the model of widespread cultural replacement by Bantu-speaking iron producers is questioned and instead the authors propose a long interaction with regional variations.
Abstract: The exploratory investigation of two sites in Kenya throws new light on the transition from a ‘stone age’ to an ‘iron age’. The model of widespread cultural replacement by Bantu-speaking iron producers is questioned and instead the authors propose a long interaction with regional variations. In matters of lithics, ceramics, hunting, gathering, husbandry and cooking, East African people created local and eclectic packages of change between 1500BC and AD500.
85 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the remains of wild grapes and figs were found at the site of Dikili Tash in northern Greece and it was argued that the juice was probably used to make wine.
Abstract: Houses burnt down at the Neolithic site of Dikili Tash in northern Greece preserved the remains of wild grapes and figs. The charred shapes showed that there was a pile of grape pips with skins - clear evidence for the extraction of juice. The authors argue that the juice was probably used to make wine - towards the end of the fifth millennium BC the earliest so far from the Aegean. The occupants of the houses also had two-handled cups, providing another clue to consumption of a special kind.
83 citations
TL;DR: This article identified starch grains belonging to wild plants on the surface of a stone from the Gravettian hunter-gatherer campsite of Bilancino (Florence, Italy), dated to around 25000bp.
Abstract: The authors have identified starch grains belonging to wild plants on the surface of a stone from the Gravettian hunter-gatherer campsite of Bilancino (Florence, Italy), dated to around 25000bp. The stone can be seen as a grindstone and the starch has been extracted from locally growing edible plants. This evidence can be claimed as implying the making of flour -and presumably some kind of bread - some 15 millennia before the local "agricultural revolution".
82 citations
TL;DR: In this article, it was shown that the ambiguous dating of the trilithons, the grand centrepiece of Stonehenge, was based on samples taken from the wrong context, and can now be settled at 2600-2400 cal BC.
Abstract: Stonehenge is the icon of British prehistory, and continues to inspire ingenious investigations and interpretations. A current campaign of research, being waged by probably the strongest archaeological team ever assembled, is focused not just on the monument, but on its landscape, its hinterland and the monuments within it. The campaign is still in progress, but the story so far is well worth reporting. Revisiting records of 100 years ago the authors demonstrate that the ambiguous dating of the trilithons, the grand centrepiece of Stonehenge, was based on samples taken from the wrong context, and can now be settled at 2600-2400 cal BC. This means that the trilithons are contemporary with Durrington Walls, near neighbour and Britain's largest henge monument. These two monuments, different but complementary, now predate the earliest Beaker burials in Britain – including the famous Amesbury Archer and Boscombe Bowmen, but may already have been receiving Beaker pottery. All this contributes to a new vision of massive monumental development in a period of high European intellectual mobility….
TL;DR: From examining the remains of charred cowpeas from rock shelters in Central Ghana, this article showed that the Kintampo operated as both foragers and farmers, cultivating selected plants of the West African tropics, notably cowpea, pearl millet and oil palm.
Abstract: From examining the remains of charred cowpeas from rock shelters in Central Ghana, the authors throw light on the subsistence strategies of the Kintampo people of the second millennium BCE. Perhaps driven southwards from the Sahel by aridification, the Kintampo operated as both foragers and farmers, cultivating selected plants of the West African tropics, notably cowpea, pearl millet and oil palm.
TL;DR: In this article, the introduction of Indo-Europeans and other languages, the horse and the chariot, and the transition towards nomadism in the southern Urals are discussed.
Abstract: Cultural interactions in central Russia are famously complex, but of very wide significance. Within the social changes they imply are contained key matters for Europe and Asia: the introduction of Indo-Europeans and other languages, the horse and the chariot, and the transition towards nomadism. Of crucial importance to future research is a sturdy chronological framework and in this contribution the authors offer 40 new radiocarbon dates spanning the conventional Bronze Age in the southern Urals.
TL;DR: The Yafteh cave in Iran has an intact Aurignacian sequence over 2m deep and was explored by Frank Hole and Kent Flannery in the 1960s, its strata and assemblage are here reevaluated at first hand by a new international team as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The Yafteh cave in Iran has an intact Aurignacian sequence over 2m deep. First explored by Frank Hole and Kent Flannery in the 1960s, its strata and assemblage are here re-evaluated at first hand by a new international team. The authors show that the assemblage is genuine Aurignacian and dates back to about 35.5K uncal BP. They propose it as emerging locally and even as providing a culture of origin for modern humans in West Asia and Europe.
TL;DR: In this paper, it was shown that neither trade nor migration can account for the distribution of Bell Beakers and associated artefacts and burial practices in Europe, and that materials were generally local and rooted in local know-how.
Abstract: In this important new review the author shows that neither trade nor migration can account for the distribution of Bell Beakers and the associated artefacts and burial practices in Europe. The materials were generally local and rooted in local know-how. However recent stable isotope results show small-scale population changes associated with the arrival of Beaker practice. The distribution of Bell Beakers could thus reflect the movement of marriage partners.
TL;DR: The evidence for violence in early Neolithic Europe is presented in this article, where the authors argue that Linearbandkeramik (LBK) people first attacked the hunter-gatherers they encountered and then entered a period of increasingly violent warfare against each other, culminating in an intense struggle in the area of central and western Germany.
Abstract: Armed with a number of powerful arguments, the authors invite us to face up to the evidence for violence in early Neolithic Europe. Linearbandkeramik (LBK) people first attacked the hunter-gatherers they encountered and then entered a period of increasingly violent warfare against each other, culminating in an intense struggle in the area of central and western Germany. The building of fortifications, physical mutilation and cannibalism, while no doubt enacted with ritual airs, nevertheless had their context and purpose in the slaughter of enemies.
TL;DR: In this paper, an Aboriginal man done to death on the dunes 4000 years ago was discovered during excavations beneath a bus shelter in Narrabeen on Sydney's northern beaches and the presence of backed microliths and evidence for trauma in the bones showed that he had been killed with stone-tip spears.
Abstract: An Aboriginal man done to death on the dunes 4000 years ago was recently discovered during excavations beneath a bus shelter in Narrabeen on Sydney's northern beaches. The presence of backed microliths and the evidence for trauma in the bones showed that he had been killed with stone-tipped spears. Now we know how these backed points were used. A punishment ritual is implied by analogies with contact-period observations made in the eighteenth century AD.
TL;DR: The authors decouple the semi-legendary textual histories from the up-to-date archaeological sequence at Erlitou itself, which is a blow for archaeological reasoning that will be felt far beyond the Yellow River.
Abstract: Erlitou is one of the most important settlements in early China, a prime site for the investigation of early cities and states. Traditionally, it has been described, dated and explained in terms of dynastic succession - the dynasties of the Xia and the Shang being the ethnically-distinct actors and prime movers that made history here. In a brilliant analysis, the authors decouple the semi-legendary textual histories from the up-to-date archaeological sequence at Erlitou itself. This article strikes a blow for archaeological reasoning that will be felt far beyond the Yellow River.
TL;DR: In this paper, the precision radiocarbon dating of the super-important Copper Age cemetery at Varna has been carried out and the first dates show the cemetery in use from 4560-4450 BC, with the possibility that the richer burials are earlier and the poor burials later in the sequence.
Abstract: The research team of this new project has begun the precision radiocarbon dating of the super-important Copper Age cemetery at Varna. These first dates show the cemetery in use from 4560-4450 BC, with the possibility that the richer burials are earlier and the poor burials later in the sequence. The limited number of lavish graves at Varna, representing no more than a handful of paramount chiefs, buried over 50-60 years, suggests a stabilisation of the new social structure by the early part of the Late Copper Age.
TL;DR: In this paper, the first use of cereals in the British Neolithic was investigated and it was shown that the early cereals reported in the pollen record (from 5000 BC) are attributed to wild species.
Abstract: When does Neolithic life begin in Britain? The author gathered up the current evidence for radiocarbon-dated first use of cereals, distinguishing between dates from charcoal in contexts with cereals, and dates from the charred grains themselves. The charred grains begin to appear around 4000 cal BC and become prominent in settlements between 3800 and 3000 cal BC. This correlates well with the appearance of megalithic tombs (3800-3500 cal BC) and argues for a relatively rapid adoption of the Neolithic package during an experimental phase of two centuries, 4000-3800 cal BC. The early cereals reported in the pollen record (from 5000 BC) are attributed to wild species.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors map a signature landscape belonging to Sasanian irrigators, and discover that the traces of the nomadic peoples that succeeded them also show up on CORONA - in the form of scoops for animal shelters.
Abstract: CORONA satellite photography taken in the 1960s continues to reveal buried ancient landscapes and sequences of landscapes - some of them no longer visible In this new survey of the Mughan Steppe in north-western Iran, the authors map a "signature landscape" belonging to Sasanian irrigators, and discover that the traces of the nomadic peoples that succeeded them also show up on CORONA - in the form of scoops for animal shelters The remains of these highly significant pastoralists have been virtually obliterated since the CORONA surveys by a new wave of irrigation farming Such archaeological evaluation of a landscape has grave implications for the heritage of grassland nomads and the appreciation of their impact on history
TL;DR: The authors use this phenomenon to investigate Late Neolithic pig exploitation and find that the pig �signature� was more frequently found among residues from Grooved Ware than other prehistoric pottery types.
Abstract: By extracting lipids from potsherds and determining the d13C of the most abundant fatty acids, degraded fats from ruminant animals, such as cattle, and non-ruminant animals, such as pigs, can be distinguished The authors use this phenomenon to investigate Late Neolithic pig exploitation and find that the pig �signature� was more frequently found among residues from Grooved Ware than other prehistoric pottery types
TL;DR: As well as being modes of supplying metal, cross-shaped copper ingots in Zimbabwe are shown to be emblems of currency and status and connect the appearance of ingots to increased social stratification.
Abstract: As well as being modes of supplying metal, cross-shaped copper ingots in Zimbabwe are shown to be emblems of currency and status. The author dates them to the first half of the second millennium AD and connects the appearance of ingots to increased social stratification.
TL;DR: In this paper, the discovery of five Mesolithic hazel fish traps some 6.3m below mean sea level in the River Liffey in Ireland has been investigated in advance of new construction, and they imply a well organized community that knew how to catch fish using the tide, to make wattle-work and baskets and who undertook coppicing on an eight year cycle in about 6100-5700 cal BC.
Abstract: An opportunity to investigate in advance of new construction led to the discovery of five Mesolithic hazel fish traps some 6.3m below mean sea level in the River Liffey. Closely paralleled on the continent of Europe they imply a well organised community that knew how to catch fish using the tide, to make wattle-work and baskets and who undertook coppicing on an eight year cycle in about 6100-5700 cal BC. The likelihood of more Mesolithic remains under European towns that have remained attractive to fishers and settlers has considerable implications for Cultural Resource Management. Do we always know how to find and access such delicate and important traces?
TL;DR: In this paper, an early mass grave was found in which the bodies were bound tightly with plaster and textile in a type of mummification, and the presence of traces of gold, silver and probably amber with many of the bodies suggests a group of some status being interred in the early years of the catacomb, at the end of the second century AD or beginning of the third.
Abstract: Investigations in a catacomb revealed an early mass grave, in which the bodies were bound tightly with plaster and textile in a type of mummification. Over 100 individuals, mostly young adults, including women, were stacked in rows apparently following a communal fatal incident, perhaps an epidemic. The presence of traces of gold, silver and probably amber with many of the bodies, and their burial in an imperial property suggests a group of some status being interred in the early years of the catacomb, at the end of the second century AD or beginning of the third.
TL;DR: The Anuradhapura city of Sri Lanka has been the subject of one of the world's largest and most intensive archaeological research projects as mentioned in this paper, which traced its growth from an Iron Age village to a medieval city, and now moves to the task of modelling the surrounding landscape.
Abstract: The ancient Sri Lankan city of Anuradhapura is currently the subject of one of the world's largest and most intensive archaeological research projects. Having traced its growth from an Iron Age village to a medieval city, the research team now moves to the task of modelling the surrounding landscape. Three seasons of fieldwork have located numerous sites of which the most prominent in the urban period are monasteries. Here is a clue about how the early urban hinterland was managed which has implications well beyond Sri Lanka.
TL;DR: In this article, assemblages from coastal towns and from surface survey in the interior are used to paint a different picture of urban (Swahili) origins, showing that coast and interior shared a common culture, but that coastal sites grew into "stonetowns" thanks to the social impact of imports.
Abstract: Urban communities on the medieval East African coast have been previously discussed in terms of ethnicity and migration. Here assemblages from coastal towns and from surface survey in the interior are used to paint a different picture of urban (Swahili) origins. The author shows that coast and interior shared a common culture, but that coastal sites grew into "stonetowns" thanks to the social impact of imports: the material culture structured the society.
TL;DR: Hardh et al. as mentioned in this paper reported the discovery of a central place at Uppakra in southern Sweden which promised to be unusually rich and informative, with surface finds of Roman and late Iron Age metalwork (second-tenth century AD).
Abstract: Six years ago we reported the discovery of a central place at Uppakra in southern Sweden which promised to be unusually rich and informative (Hardh 2000). At 40ha it already stood out as the largest concentration of residual phosphate in the whole province of Scania, with surface finds of Roman and late Iron Age metalwork (second-tenth century AD). Following this thorough evaluation, the project moved into its excavation phase which has brought to light several buildings of the first millennium AD, among them one that has proved truly exceptional. Its tall structure and numerous ornamented finds suggest an elaborate timber cult house. This is the first Scandinavian building for which the term 'temple' can be justly claimed and it is already sign posting new directions for the early middle ages in northern Europe. (Less)
TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe the discovery and investigation of a planned, circular, mid/late-third millennium BC city beyond the limit of rain-fed cultivation in the arid zone of inner Syria.
Abstract: The Fertile Crescent of the Ancient Near East is well known for its early cities in irrigated farming regions. Here the authors describe the recent discovery and investigation of a planned, circular, mid/late�third millennium BC city beyond the limit of rain-fed cultivation in the arid zone of inner Syria. Founded on the initiative of an unknown power and served by pastoralists and cultivators, the research at Al-Rawda demonstrates how environmental constraints were overcome in order to establish and sustain new centres in demanding regions at a time of maximum urbanisation.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors date the field systems and suggest that they were introduced by farmers from the north seeking wetlands in the face of increasing aridity in the central Andes and southern Amazon.
Abstract: Lands in south-central Chile, long thought to have been marginal until the Spanish conquest, are here shown to have been developing complex societies between at least AD 1000 and 1500. Part of the motor was provided by coastland cultivation on raised platforms, here identified and surveyed for the first time. The authors date the field systems and suggest that they were introduced by farmers from the north seeking wetlands in the face of increasing aridity in the central Andes and southern Amazon.