Showing papers in "Antiquity in 2010"
TL;DR: In this paper, an early assemblage from Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, was used to detect bow and arrow technology in use there 64 millennia ago.
Abstract: The invention of the bow and arrow was a pivotal moment in the human story and its earliest use is a primary quarry of the modern researcher. Since the organic parts of the weapon – wood, bone, cord and feathers – very rarely survive, the deduction that a bow and arrow was in use depends heavily on the examination of certain classes of stone artefacts and their context. Here the authors apply rigorous analytical reasoning to the task, and demonstrate that, conforming to their exacting checklist, is an early assemblage from Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, which therefore suggests bow and arrow technology in use there 64 millennia ago.
240 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, high precision recovery and dating have revealed the presence of both wheat and broomcorn millet in the later third millennium BC, and the context, a cremation burial, raises the suggestion that these grains might signal a ritual rather than a subsistence commodity.
Abstract: Before 3000 BC, societies of western Asia were cultivating wheat and societies of China were cultivating broomcorn millet; these are early nodes of the world's agriculture. The authors are searching for early cereals in the vast lands that separate the two, and report a breakthrough at Begash in south-east Kazakhstan. Here, high precision recovery and dating have revealed the presence of both wheat and millet in the later third millennium BC. Moreover the context, a cremation burial, raises the suggestion that these grains might signal a ritual rather than a subsistence commodity
192 citations
TL;DR: The authors give a newly documented account of the dissemination of agriculture, and rice cultivation in particular, into southern China and beyond from the central and eastern Yangtze.
Abstract: The authors give us a newly documented account of the dissemination of agriculture, and rice cultivation in particular, into southern China and beyond. From the central and eastern Yangtze it spread in two prongs - east to Guangdong, Taiwan and island Southeast Asia and south to Guangxi and Vietnam.
143 citations
TL;DR: The first attempt to produce a chronological framework for the Iron Age in the Levant, using radiocarbon dating alone, was made by as discussed by the authors, who proposed six ceramic phases and six transitions which cover c. 400 years, between the late twelfth and mid eighth centuries BC.
Abstract: The Bayesian model presented in this article is the first attempt to produce a chronological framework for the Iron Age in the Levant, using radiocarbon dating alone. The model derives from 339 determinations on 142 samples taken from 38 strata at 18 sites. The framework proposes six ceramic phases and six transitions which cover c. 400 years, between the late twelfth and mid eighth centuries BC. It furnishes us with a new scientific backbone for the history of Iron Age Levant.
97 citations
TL;DR: In this article, high-precision analyses of use-wear and starch residue were used to show that early Neolithic people were mainly using these stones to process acorns, which defines a new stage in the long transition of food production from hunter-gatherer to farmer.
Abstract: Grinding stones have provided a convenient proxy for the arrival of agriculture in Neolithic China. Not any more. Thanks to high-precision analyses of use-wear and starch residue, the authors show that early Neolithic people were mainly using these stones to process acorns. This defines a new stage in the long transition of food production from hunter-gatherer to farmer.
96 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the Rhind Lectures for 2009, the author brought together his thoughts about the Neolithic revolution, and comparing Childe's ideas with today's, and concluded that the modern vision is a reversal of the old: Epipalaeolithic people came together in the first large, permanent communities, to form extensive settlements which only later needed to be fed by farming.
Abstract: Shortly after his retirement from a distinguished career in the Department of Archaeology at Edinburgh, the author gave the Rhind Lectures for 2009, bringing together his thoughts about the Neolithic revolution, and comparing Childe's ideas with today's. These lectures, summarised here, announced the modern vision to a wide audience. It is a reversal of the old: Epipalaeolithic people came together in the first large, permanent communities, to form extensive settlements which only later needed to be fed by farming.
81 citations
TL;DR: Chewing coca in South America began by at least 8000 cal BP: as discussed by the authors found and identified coca leaves of that date in house floors in the Nanchoc Valley, Peru.
Abstract: Chewing coca in South America began by at least 8000 cal BP: our authors found and identified coca leaves of that date in house floors in the Nanchoc Valley, Peru. There were also pieces of calcite � which is used by chewers to bring out the alkaloids from the leaves. Excavation and chemical analysis at a group of neighbouring sites suggests that specialists were beginning to extract and supply lime or calcite, and by association coca, as a community activity at about the same time as systematic farming was taking off in the region.
69 citations
TL;DR: The early distribution of New Zealand's Mayor Island obsidian demonstrates efficient exploration and dispersal, and the rapid establishment of long-distance exchange networks similar to that seen in early Melanesian obsidian movements as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: An analysis of the exchange of lithics in settlement period New Zealand (fourteenth century AD) is used to throw light on the mechanisms of colonisation more generally. The early distribution of New Zealand's Mayor Island obsidian demonstrates efficient exploration and dispersal, and the rapid establishment of long-distance exchange networks similar to that seen in early Melanesian obsidian movements. But in New Zealand the motivation is the cementing of social networks, rather than maintaining connections back to a homeland. In the sixteenth century, the distribution of a new high status material, nephrite, shows a different supply system - suggesting trade.
60 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present three case studies from USA and Jordan, where ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has produced new interpretations of prehistory and history.
Abstract: During its development years, geophysical survey has served field archaeology by defining possible sites underground, prior to excavation or preservation. Now we can see the art taking off as a research method in its own right. After summarising some recent research applications of magnetic mapping, the author gives us three case studies from USA and Jordan, where ground-penetrating radar (GPR) has produced new interpretations of prehistory and history. Since GPR can map in horizontal slices without damage, it opens up important heritage preservation options. In one case, excavation was discouraged on ethical grounds, in another it was inhibited by the presence of later monuments and in a third, an early agricultural site, the GPR actually saw more than the excavators. This presages a research tool of particular power.
55 citations
TL;DR: A new initiative in combating looting from the air, building on previous work in Iraq and Jordan, is presented in this paper, where looted sites in the Viru Valley, Peru, are visible as pit clusters on dated versions of Google Earth.
Abstract: This article presents a new initiative in combating looting from the air, building on previous work in Iraq and Jordan. Looted sites in the Viru Valley, Peru, are visible as pit clusters on dated versions of Google Earth. Compare these with earlier air photographs and Gordon Willey's famous survey of the 1940s, and we have a dated chronicle of looting events. This makes it possible to demonstrate that modern looting is certainly taking place and linked to an upsurge in the antiquities trade. As well as being a new instrument for managing heritage, the author shows that the looting survey offers an important research dividend: the location of cemeteries not previously systematically documented, with potential for more thorough investigation even of already looted areas.
55 citations
TL;DR: The Fenland area of England has many Bronze Age sites, and deposits of metalwork and a well-mapped ancient environment too as mentioned in this paper, and they begin to assemble a grammar of deposition: swords and rapiers in rivers, some mixed collections placed in still water and others on once-dry land with burnt mounds.
Abstract: Finds of metalwork always raise the question of why they were deposited: a smith's collection, a concealed hoard or a votive offering? Findspots in water suggest offerings, since they would be awkward to retrieve. But understanding the context of deposition means knowing the prehistoric environment. The Fenland area of England has many Bronze Age sites, and deposits of metalwork and a well-mapped ancient environment too. Putting all three together the authors begin to assemble a grammar of deposition: swords and rapiers in rivers, some mixed collections placed in still water and others on once-dry land with burnt mounds.
TL;DR: The site of Tell Sabi Abyad in Syria offers a superb stratified sequence passing from the aceramic (pre-pottery) to pottery-using Neolithic around 7000 BC as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The site of Tell Sabi Abyad in Syria offers a superb stratified sequence passing from the aceramic (pre-pottery) to pottery-using Neolithic around 7000 BC. Surprisingly the first pottery arrives fully developed with mineral tempering, burnishing and stripey decoration in painted slip. The expected, more experimental-looking, plant-tempered coarse wares shaped by baskets arrive about 300 years later. Did the first ceramic impetus come from elsewhere?
TL;DR: The excavation of 81 skeletons at Cerro Cerrillos provided the occasion for a rigorously scientific deconstruction of human sacrifice, its changing methods and its social meaning among the Muchik peoples of ancient Peru.
Abstract: The excavation of 81 skeletons at Cerro Cerrillos provided the occasion for a rigorously scientific deconstruction of human sacrifice, its changing methods and its social meaning among the Muchik peoples of ancient Peru. This paper shows how bioarchaeology and field investigation together can rediscover the root and purpose of this disturbingly prevalent prehistoric practice. Be warned: the authors' clinical and unexpurgated accounts of Andean responses to the spirit world are not for the fainthearted.
TL;DR: This paper used a combination of scientific techniques to illuminate Roman York, and later Roman history in general, with their image of a glamorous mixed-race woman, in touch with Africa, Christianity, Rome and Yorkshire.
Abstract: Modern methods of analysis applied to cemeteries have often been used in our pages to suggest generalities about mobility and diet. But these same techniques applied to a single individual, together with the grave goods and burial rite, can open a special kind of personal window on the past. Here, the authors of a multidisciplinary project use a combination of scientific techniques to illuminate Roman York, and later Roman history in general, with their image of a glamorous mixed-race woman, in touch with Africa, Christianity, Rome and Yorkshire.
TL;DR: The authors explored the workplace and house of copper workers of the early Iron Age (twelfth to tenth century BC) in Jordan's Wadi Faynan copper ore district, showing that it belongs in time between the collapse of the great Bronze Age states and the arrival of Egyptians in the area under Sheshonq I.
Abstract: The authors have explored the workplace and house of copper workers of the early Iron Age (twelfth to tenth century BC) in Jordan’s Wadi Faynan copper ore district, showing that it belongs in time between the collapse of the great Bronze Age states and the arrival of Egyptians in the area under Sheshonq I. They attribute this production to local tribes – perhaps those engaged in building the biblical kingdom of Edom.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The only prehistoric flint mining area in Sindh to be exploited during the Indus civilisation was thought to be the Rohri Hills (Allchin 1979; Starnini & Biagi 2006; Biagi et al. as mentioned in this paper ).
Abstract: Until recently the only prehistoric flint mining area in Sindh to be exploited during the Indus civilisation was thought to be the Rohri Hills (Allchin 1979; Starnini & Biagi 2006; Biagi & Starnini 2008). However, recent discoveries made at Ongar and Daphro, south of Kotri, revealed that these hills also show evident traces of flint mining, although most of the prehistoric extractive structures have been destroyed by ongoing industrial activities (Biagi 2008; Biagi & Franco 2008). Now surveys carried out by the Italian Archaeological Mission in January and February 2010 have discovered goodquality flint sources, mining areas and workshops in the neighbourhood of Jhimpir, in Lower Sindh (Figure 1).
TL;DR: In this paper, the arrival of the earliest Gravettian in north-west Europe, using new high precision radiocarbon dates for bone excavated at Maisieres-Canal in Belgium to define a short-lived occupation around 33 000 years ago, was explored.
Abstract: The authors explore the arrival of the earliest Gravettian in north-west Europe, using new high precision radiocarbon dates for bone excavated at Maisieres-Canal in Belgium to define a short-lived occupation around 33 000 years ago. The tanged points in that assemblage have parallels in British sites, including Goat's Hole (Paviland). This is the site of the famous ochred burial of a young adult male, confusingly known as the ‘Red Lady’, now dated to around 34 000 BP. The new results demonstrate that this British ‘rich burial’ and the Gravettian with tanged points may belong to two different occupation horizons separated by a cold spell.
TL;DR: Neolithic human occupation of Cyprus was contemporary with PPNA in the Levant, and with signs of belonging to the same intellectual community, these were not marginalised foragers, but participants in the developing Neolithic project, which was therefore effectively networked over the sea.
Abstract: Intensive survey and initial excavations have succeeded in pushing back the Neolithic human occupation of Cyprus to the earlier ninth millennium cal BC. Contemporary with PPNA in the Levant, and with signs of belonging to the same intellectual community, these were not marginalised foragers, but participants in the developing Neolithic project, which was therefore effectively networked over the sea.
TL;DR: Using etymology, textual analysis and archaeology, the authors deconstructs the road system of the Khmer, empire builders of early historic Cambodia, and encourages us to regard road networks as a significant topic, worthy of comparative study on a global scale.
Abstract: Road systems in the service of empires have long inspired archaeologists and ancient historians alike. Using etymology, textual analysis and archaeology the author deconstructs the road system of the Khmer, empire builders of early historic Cambodia. Far from being the creation of one king, the road system evolved organically to serve expeditions, pilgrimages and embedded exchange routes over several centuries. The paper encourages us to regard road networks as a significant topic, worthy of comparative study on a global scale
TL;DR: The existence of low-level food producers, neither wholly hunter-gatherers nor wholly agriculturalists, is predicted but hard to prove as discussed by the authors, and the authors use lithics, the one ubiquitous common indicator, to show how the detection of missing flakes can indicate degrees of mobility.
Abstract: The existence of low-level food producers, neither wholly hunter-gatherers nor wholly agriculturalists, is predicted but hard to prove. Here the authors use lithics, the one ubiquitous common indicator, to show how the detection of missing flakes can indicate degrees of mobility, while mobility in turn shows how people coped with the unpredictable appearance of food resources. In Australia, they were opportunists, armed with a ready cutting edge. In the Fayum, they had less far to go, but still roamed.
TL;DR: In the early Bronze Age or earlier, elaborate stone-wall arms gather in gazelles from their habitual trails and canalise them into a sunken enclosure, cunningly hidden from view of the galloping herd until it was too late as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Archaeological investigations of "desert kites" in south Israel show them to have been animal traps of considerable sophistication and capacity, constructed in the Early Bronze Age or earlier. Extensive stone-wall arms gather in gazelles from their habitual trails and canalise them into a sunken enclosure, cunningly hidden from view of the galloping herd until it was too late...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the context of Timbuktu's prehistoric urbanism by mapping the settlement patterns in its hinterland, and sought to understand the social impacts of the Sahara's changing climate.
Abstract: Timbuktu, an iconic destination for medieval caravans crossing the Sahara, has a prehistoric phase, here before AD 1000, which shows varying urban traits. The author's new project examines the context of Timbuktu's prehistoric urbanism by mapping the settlement patterns in its hinterland, and seeks to understand the social impacts of the Sahara's changing climate.
TL;DR: In this article, a detailed analysis of the anatomy and taphonomic process of a burial in Jordan shows that the body was originally bound in a sitting position and placed in marshland, where it collapsed into the splayed tableau eventually recovered by excavation.
Abstract: Detailed analysis of the anatomy and taphonomic process of a burial in Jordan shows that the body was originally bound in a sitting position and placed in marshland, where it collapsed into the splayed tableau eventually recovered by excavation. The authors succeed in reconstructing a burial rite from one of the most elusive of mortuary phases: the Early Epipalaeolithic in south-west Asia.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors reveal a powerful signal of the change from Neanderthals to early Modern humans in Eurasia: the abrupt appearance of a well-formed bone industry and ornaments.
Abstract: New work from the Caucasus is revolutionising the timing and character of the shift from Neanderthals to early Modern humans in Eurasia. Here the authors reveal a powerful signal of that change from excavations at Mezmaiskaya: the abrupt appearance of a well-formed bone industry and ornaments.
TL;DR: In this paper, powerful scientific, anthropological and archaeological arguments are deployed to show that climate affects behaviour and social process in the Marquesas Islands. But they do not consider the effects of climate change on human behavior.
Abstract: Does climate affect behaviour and social process? In this case study, powerful scientific, anthropological and archaeological arguments are deployed to show that it can. The capricious climate of the latest centuries of the Marquesas Islands was instrumental in transforming a chieftain society into less hereditary and more flexible polities by the time of European contact.
TL;DR: A petroglyph showing a human face found in East Timor is dated to the late Pleistocene as mentioned in this paper, which recalls ancient Australian forms and raises the possibility of connecting early cave art with the better known painted figures of Lapita/Austronesian art ten millennia later.
Abstract: A petroglyph showing a human face found in East Timor is dated to the late Pleistocene. It recalls ancient Australian forms and raises the possibility of connecting early cave art with the better known painted figures of Lapita/Austronesian art ten millennia later. This new discovery at a known cave shows what precious evidence still lies in store even in well-trodden places.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors demonstrate a more complex socio-economic situation of Indian Rouletted ware pottery, and show that Rouleted ware is made in at least two regional centres for coastal communities using a new ceramic language, one appropriate to an emerging international merchant class.
Abstract: Indian Rouletted Ware pottery is the iconic marker of the overseas reach of the subcontinent at the turn of the first millennium AD. In the mid twentieth century this was naturally seen as prompted by the contemporary Roman Empire, while the later post-colonial discourse has emphasised the independence and long life of Indian initiatives. In this new analysis the author demonstrates a more complex socio-economic situation. While Greyware is distributed long term over south India, Rouletted ware is made in at least two regional centres for coastal communities using a new ceramic language, one appropriate to an emerging international merchant class.
TL;DR: In this article, the arrival of metallurgy in Europe is neither diffusionary nor piecemeal, but the result of real historical events and social contacts, mapped for us by radiocarbon.
Abstract: Precision radiocarbon dating continues to bring historical order into key moments of social and economic change, such as the use of metals. Here the author dates human bone in graves with metal artefacts and shows that copper, antimony and silver were being fashioned into daggers and beads in west central Italy by the early to mid fourth millennium cal BC; but the new-fangled objects had not reached contemporary cemeteries on the other side of the Apennines. We can perhaps look forward to a time when the arrival of metallurgy in Europe is neither diffusionary nor piecemeal, but the result of real historical events and social contacts, mapped for us by radiocarbon.
TL;DR: The authors show that a type of coarse-ware pottery, the BRB, performed a key role in early Mesopotamian governance, providing a fine loaf of risen bread, supplied perhaps as tasty recompense to those undertaking the newly-proliferating public administrative duties.
Abstract: Well-designed experimental archaeology combined with ingenious social argument show that a type of coarse-ware pottery, the BRB, performed a key role in early Mesopotamian governance. Its thick walls and conical shape produce a fine loaf of risen bread, supplied perhaps as tasty recompense to those undertaking the newly-proliferating public administrative duties.
TL;DR: The discovery of rare bird stencils from a unique Australian rock art complex is reported, the species they most closely resemble is discussed and their significance in terms of world rock art and climate change is highlighted as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The discovery of rare bird stencils from a unique Australian rock art complex is reported, the species they most closely resemble is discussed and their significance in terms of world rock art and climate change is highlighted.