Showing papers in "World Archaeology in 1997"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors show how micromorphology is able to furnish information with the degree of precision necessary for analysing site formation processes and traces of activities in a variety of settings.
Abstract: The aim of this paper is to show how micromorphology is able to furnish information with the degree of precision necessary for analysing site formation processes and traces of activities in a variety of settings. Use of large resin‐impregnated thin sections allows contextual analysis of taphonomy and depositional relationships between sediments and artefact and bioarchaeological remains. We illustrate this by reference to results from a three‐year NERC project which examined depositional sequences in core domestic and ritual contexts in three early urban sites in the Near East in different sociocultural and environmental contexts. We discuss how micromorphology is able to trace different pre‐depositional, depositional and post‐depositional histories of components, before considering its contribution to detecting spatial and temporal variation in uses of space; enabling identification of single depositional episodes within secondary contexts. Together these capacities are providing richly networke...
181 citations
TL;DR: The authors explores colonialist traditions in Mediterranean archaeology and exposes the relationships between representations of ancient colonial situations in the Mediterranean and the recent context of modern (neo-)imperialism in which Classical Archaeology was formed as a discipline and in which many archaeologists have been working.
Abstract: This paper first explores colonialist traditions in Mediterranean archaeology: it exposes the relationships between representations of ancient colonial situations in the Mediterranean and the recent context of modern (neo‐)imperialism in which Classical Archaeology was formed as a discipline and in which many archaeologists have been working. It is argued that dualist representations of colonialism must be abandoned. As an alternative, the postcolonial concept of hybridity is introduced as a useful starting point for examining the more mundane and less polarized dimensions of colonial situations. Such an alternative postcolonial interpretation of Carthaginian colonialism in west central Sardinia during the fifth to third centuries BC is expounded in the second part of the paper.
174 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, an analysis of the changing unities and diversities of cultures in Gaul (modern France), and of the transformation of Roman culture during and as a result of imperial expansion is presented.
Abstract: Revisionist studies of Roman imperialism and Romanization continue to show the traces of modern debates on imperialism and colonialism, in particular a tendency to analyse cultural change in terms of the interaction of two ethnic cultures. An analysis of the changing unities and diversities of cultures in Gaul (modern France), and of the transformation of Roman culture during and as a result of imperial expansion, suggests a new view of the nature and genesis of Roman imperial culture.
164 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors studied the effect of abrupt changes in the watershed of the Nile tributaries on agricultural yield as a function of pronounced interannual variability, as well as episodic variations in response to abrupt climatic changes.
Abstract: Egyptian civilization depended on the bounty of the River Nile. Frequent fluctuations in the height of summer floods influenced both floodplain geomorphology and the area cultivated. Thus agricultural yield oscillated as a function of pronounced interannual variability, as well as episodic variations in response to abrupt climatic changes in the watershed of the Nile tributaries. This situation also created a dynamic landscape and a variety of cultural responses depending on the specific cultural-historical circumstances. The aggradation of the floodplain has also influenced the recovery of archaeological remains. Predynastic settlement sites in the Delta are 4-6m below the surface and Graeco-Roman settlements are 1-2m deep. Subsidence of the Delta and sea-level change were responsible for pronounced changes in the geomorphology of the Delta, the distribution of waterways and hence trade.
129 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present selected results of current research on specialized crafts at the early urban center of Harappa, Pakistan, including shell working, ceramics, and agate and glazed steatite bead making.
Abstract: This paper presents selected results of current research on specialized crafts at the early urban center of Harappa, Pakistan. Many crafts such as shell working, ceramics, and agate and glazed steatite bead making are represented from the earliest levels of the site (c. 3300 BC) and continue up until the final phase of prehistoric occupation (c. 1700 BC). Materials analysis and sourcing, microscopic studies of manufacturing waste and finished objects, experimental replication, and ethnoarchaeological studies have been used to investigate the trade of raw materials and finished objects, as well as the development of technological innovations. Some of these crafts are still practiced in the subcontinent today, and by using more precise methods of analysis and documentation it will be possible to follow the continuities and change of some crafts for over 5,000 years.
76 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the discursive relationship between Roman imperialism and Western European imperialism has influenced the study of Romano-Celtic religion in such a way that we not only can compare colonialisms, but must compare them if we wish both to articulate the nature of religious syncretism in the Roman provinces, and to achieve a reflexive understanding of our own discipline.
Abstract: Questioning existing paradigms regarding religious syncretism in the western provinces of the Roman Empire, this paper addresses the difficulty of reconciling comparative study with historical contingency. It is argued that discourse analysis, as developed in post‐colonial discourse theory, both facilitates comparative study of material culture in colonial contexts, and enables radical new readings of Romano‐Celtic syncretism. It is further suggested that the discursive relationship between Roman imperialism and Western European imperialism ‐ the cycle of interaction between ancient and modern colonialisms ‐ has influenced the study of Romano‐Celtic religion in such a way that we not only can compare colonialisms, but must compare them if we wish both to articulate the nature of religious syncretism in the Roman provinces, and to achieve a reflexive understanding of our own discipline.
73 citations
TL;DR: This article examined cases of such high resolution for the Middle Palaeolithic, and assessed exactly what such ‘flagship’ sites reveal about Neanderthal behaviour, and found that simple spatial organization was an habitual element of the Neanderthal adaptation.
Abstract: Palaeolithic archaeologists have for some time been concerned with high resolution data, which is usually taken to mean intra‐site spatial patterning. This paper examines cases of such high resolution for the Middle Palaeolithic, and assesses exactly what such ‘flagship’ sites reveal about Neanderthal behaviour. Although such cases are rare, and most Middle Palaeolithic sites are just as informative albeit of lower resolution, an attempt is made to interpret what patterning is available. It can be explained by recourse to nothing more that simple human biomechanics, and, in enclosed sites, displays a simple spatial organization that does not differ from that of non‐human carnivores. The degree of repetition of such patterning suggests that simple spatial organization was an habitual element of the Neanderthal adaptation.
72 citations
TL;DR: Verberie is a late Palaeolithic site with high resolution in the preservation of archaeological materials and their spatial configuration as mentioned in this paper, but it cannot be assumed that this is a totally pristine site because postdepositional pedogenetic processes have eradicated stratigraphic bedding of the sediments, leaving a methodological challenge for the archaeologists to separate materials from multiple occupation lenses, which have retained most of their spatial integrity.
Abstract: Verberie is a late Palaeolithic site with high resolution in the preservation of archaeological materials and their spatial configuration While excellent preservation offers great promise for the interpretation of past human behavior, it cannot be assumed that this is a totally pristine site Post‐depositional pedogenetic processes have eradicated stratigraphic bedding of the sediments, leaving a methodological challenge for the archaeologists to separate materials from multiple occupation lenses, which have retained most of their spatial integrity Impressionistic back‐plotting, statistical analysis of artefact elevations, and refitting of flint, fire‐cracked rock and reindeer bones have contributed to deciphering the depositional puzzle These have revealed artefact associations and spatial configurations which can be given well‐founded behavioral interpretations derived from experimental and ethnoarchaeological research
70 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors deal with the stratigraphic and geomorphic contexts of prehistoric and early historic settlements in the Shangqiu area, an archaeologically important region for investigating the origins of Shang civilization.
Abstract: This study deals with the stratigraphic and geomorphic contexts of prehistoric and early historic settlements in the Shangqiu area, an archaeologically important region for investigating the origins of Shang civilization. Geoarchaeological investigation has provided significant insights into the early cultural history of the area by elucidating the impact of landscape evolution on the spatial and temporal pattern of archaeological sites. Various geoarchaeological strategies can be employed to evaluate, interpret and predict prehistoric and early historic sites in the Shangqiu area. This study demonstrates the potential of geoarchaeological study to be dynamically integrated into archaeological investigations by focusing on stratigraphic and landscape contexts as fundamental dimensions of the archaeological record.
70 citations
TL;DR: The role of trade and intercultural contact in the development and transformation of Hueda society during the course of Savi's transition into a major trans-Atlantic trading centre is discussed in this paper.
Abstract: Archaeological research has been underway at the site of the town of Savi, on the coast of Benin, West Africa, since 1991. Savi grew to international fame in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries as the capital of the Hueda (Whydah) Kingdom, and a port of great importance in the trans‐Atlantic slave trade. Traders of many European nations, including the Netherlands, England, France, and Portugal, maintained permanent trading establishments in Savi, until its destruction at the hands of the expanding state of Dahomey. These historical circumstances place Savi in a unique situation which can shed light on the transformations and continuities experienced by an African society in the early period of extensive European trade contacts. This paper discusses recent research that has focused on identifying the role of trade and intercultural contact in the development and transformation of Hueda society during the course of Savi's transition into a major trans‐Atlantic trading centre. Archaeological re...
65 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss four components of the post-European archaeological record of the northwest Northern Territory, Australia; site locations and contents, rock art, stone tools, and evidence of plant food use.
Abstract: We discuss four components of the post‐European archaeological record of the northwest Northern Territory, Australia; site locations and contents, rock art, stone tools, and evidence of plant food use. These provide insights into how Aboriginal hunter‐gatherers have negotiated their interaction with pastoral colonization, and the conditions under which either continuity or change occurred. The strongest influence on both the latter was Aboriginal people's attempt to maintain both social obligations and attachments to particular places. This was more successful than in many parts of Australia because of the limitations the wet season placed on pastoral activity. We discuss the implications of this particular contact situation for understanding longer term change in hunter‐gatherer societies.
TL;DR: Acheulean occupation at Cagny has demonstrated the existence of different specialized activities linked with specific geomorphological/locational contexts, such as flake knapping processes and biface manufacture as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Study of the various Acheulean occupations at Cagny has demonstrated the existence of different specialized activities linked with specific geomorphological/locational contexts. These are the collection of raw materials from a chalk talus at La Garenne 2; flake knapping processes and biface manufacture at La Garenne 1; exploitation of large herbivore carcasses beside a channel at L'Epinette; flaking activities and biface manufacture spread out over a large area on the high position of La Ferme de l'Epinette. There was systematic use of territory or landscape, with certain attractive sites leading to the enactment of the same activities in the same places periodically over a time span of several tens of thousand years.
TL;DR: A review of palaeogeographical and palaeontological data and investigation of former tidal weirs, on the shores of now nearly tideless estuaries and relict marine bodies, gives insight into the chronology of fishing and how this key subsistence activity may have been adapted to changes in estuarine and coastal conditions as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Aboriginal fishing in south-western Australia was significantly affected by Late Holocene physical and biological changes along this region's 1,600km-long littoral. About 4000 BP sedimentological processes, in part generated by climatic factors, altered coastal configurations and estuarine hydrologies, blocking marine lagoons from the sea and causing partial filling and seasonal barring of estuary floors and entrances. These geomorphological changes affected most of the region's estuaries, and intensified seasonal differences in their salinity levels, which, combined with seasonal barring, restricted movements of school fish populations, thus compelling shifts in fishing strategies. Review of palaeogeographical and palaeontological data and investigation of former tidal weirs, on the shores of now nearly tideless estuaries and relict marine bodies, gives insight into the chronology of fishing and into the ways this key subsistence activity may have been adapted to changes in estuarine and coastal conditions. The Late Holocene may be the period when south-western Aboriginal fishing gained the economic and socio-political importance that it had regionally during the period of European settlement.
TL;DR: A joint archaeological and geomorphic research program has revealed that the modern joint floodplains of Papua New Guinea were once a brackish inland sea as discussed by the authors, which allowed an almost direct exchange of ideas and products between the people inhabiting its shoreline and the highlands.
Abstract: Today the Sepik and Ramu rivers drain the north‐west mainland of Papua New Guinea. A joint archaeological and geomorphic research programme has revealed that their modern joint flood‐plains were once a brackish inland sea. During the period of the inland sea the north coast was much closer to the intermontane valleys of the Papua New Guinea highlands. Six to five thousand years ago, this former inland sea would have allowed an almost direct exchange of ideas and products between the people inhabiting its shoreline and the highlands. This was also a period of growing contact with Asia, as attested by the 5800 BP betel‐nut husk excavated from the Dongan marine midden and the pre‐Lapita pottery found in the north coast sites and in the highlands at Wanlek. Such finds challenge the assumption that Lepita pottery signals the entry of Austronesian speakers throughout Melanesia.
TL;DR: This paper argued that the primary Carib product in this exchange was tobacco and that the traditionally established view of total resistance by "warlike Caribs" to the European advance should be modified in the light of this trade.
Abstract: Dominica is the most mountainous of all the islands of the Lesser Antilles which forms the eastern arc of the Caribbean archipelago. It was the last island in the Caribbean to be colonized by Europeans. Its thick oceanic rain forests provided a refuge and ecological resources for the indigenous Carib people facing the Spanish, French, English and Dutch advance into the Caribbean during the sixteenth century. Dominica also provided a strategic location on which to cultivate and process raw materials for trading with the European ships en route to other parts of the Caribbean and American mainland. It is argued that the primary Carib product in this exchange was tobacco and that the traditionally established view of total resistance by ‘warlike Caribs’ to the European advance should be modified in the light of this trade. The recent discovery of a late Amerindian archaeological site at such an important maritime crossroad provides a unique opportunity to re‐evaluate the relationship between Caribs ...
TL;DR: In this article, the results of ten years of interdisciplinary archaeological research along the Rio Verde drainage basin, Oaxaca, Mexico have been discussed, and the authors argue that these factors may be causally related.
Abstract: This article discusses the results of ten years of interdisciplinary archaeological research along the Rio Verde drainage basin, Oaxaca, Mexico. In the highland valleys of the upper drainage basin we have documented six periods of significant geomorphic change. The first two were probably the result of climatic change during the mid‐Holocene. The four subsequent periods of landscape change are correlated with major shifts in demographics and human land use; we argue that these factors may be causally related. Erosion in the highland valleys led to modification of stream channel dynamics, alluviation and expansion of the agriculturally rich floodplain in the lower Rio Verde Valley. Increasing agricultural productivity in the lowlands may explain in part the rapid increase in population and social complexity beginning in the Late Formative. However, increased flooding also created risks for people living on the floodplain. The research demonstrates the dynamic nature of prehispanic ecology in the R...
TL;DR: In this paper, the ring and sector method is applied to two hearths excavated at the Federmesser site of Andernach in Germany, and one hearth can be shown to have been present inside a dwelling, while the other one was out in the open.
Abstract: This paper discusses spatial analysis at site level. It is suggested that spatial analysis has to proceed in several levels, from global to more detailed questions, and that optimum resolution should be established when applying any quantitative methods in this field. As an example, the ring and sector method is applied to two hearths excavated at the Federmesser site of Andernach in Germany. One hearth can be shown to have been present inside a dwelling, while the second one was out in the open.
TL;DR: The authors used a wide range of lithic, faunal, botanical, and chemical analyses to demonstrate that large residential corporate groups exercised privileged access to the best fishing locations and apparently had rights to different mountain regions.
Abstract: Research at the Keatley Creek site near the Fraser River has provided critical new insights into prehistoric social and economic organization on the Canadian Northwest Plateau. Using a wide range of lithic, faunal, botanical, and chemical analyses, it has been possible to demonstrate that large residential corporate groups exercised privileged access to the best fishing locations and apparently had rights to different mountain regions. These corporate groups maintained these rights as well as their ownership over house locations and specific identities for over a millennium. Large corporate groups were also divided internally into privileged domestic groups and non‐privileged domestic groups, probably reflecting hereditary title‐holding families and commoners or even slaves. I argue that in order to derive useful information about past social and economic organization, appropriate concepts and questions must be developed from an explicitly archaeological viewpoint rather than a cultural anthropol...
TL;DR: In this article, an extensive survey of 25km of coast in the Severn Estuary, Wales, databased using Autocad and GIS, is combined with more detailed investigation of 3km at Goldcliff.
Abstract: Estuaries, the interface between riverine systems and coastal environments, have great archaeological potential for interdisciplinary research. Extensive survey of 25km of coast in the Severn Estuary, Wales, databased using Autocad and GIS, is combined with more detailed investigation of 3km at Goldcliff. This demonstrates that coastal wetlands can preserve a diverse range of site types which contrasts with both terrestrial dryland contexts and other wetlands, such as the nearby Somerset Levels. Rectangular Bronze and Iron Age buildings, unique in Britain, trackways and other post settings are exposed on intertidal peat shelves. Activity on these former wetlands was particularly concentrated at the interface with marine flooding in the later Bronze Age and Iron Age, periods of major environmental change in both estuarine and riverine environments of the Severn. Activity seems to have been essentially opportunistic and seasonal, with evidence for cattle grazing and perhaps fishing. Marine inundation in the Iron Age was followed by Romano-British reclamation.
TL;DR: The arrival of Europeans on the southern coasts of Madagascar in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries had profound if unusual consequences for indigenous societies as mentioned in this paper, and the historical evidence indicates that these slave-based societies did not provide substantial numbers of slaves to the Europeans.
Abstract: The arrival of Europeans on the southern coasts of Madagascar in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries had profound if unusual consequences for indigenous societies. Certain of these, the Tandroy, Karembola and Mahafaly peoples, actively shunned contact and trade with the outsiders, although they imported large numbers of trade guns. The historical evidence indicates, however, that these slave‐based societies did not provide substantial numbers of slaves to the Europeans. Descriptions of their isolation and endemic warfare can be matched by archaeological evidence for major discontinuities in the settlement patterns of the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries, when settlements in the river valleys were abandoned for defensive locations in the waterless southern plain. Whilst warfare may have been a feature of the expanding polities in the sixteenth century and later, it was undoubtedly exacerbated by the arrival of French troops and guns in the seventeenth century. The two European trading/colonial...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine Ntsweng and Phalatswe, two Tswana settlements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the period of transition to British colonial authority.
Abstract: When considering the nature of culture contact and colonialism it is as important to study the continuities in the host society, as it is to study the impositions made by incoming peoples. The diverse relationships between colonised and colonising societies are likely to be played out in aspects of material culture. This study examines Ntsweng and Phalatswe, two Tswana settlements of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the period of transition to British colonial authority. Architectural styles and settlement layout are examined in historical perspective and they demonstrate marked continuities well into the twentieth century. These continuities have to be understood not only in terms of the associations between Africans and Europeans, but also in terms of the nature of power in Tswana communities and, in particular, the relations between chiefs and their people. Chiefly power is also an essential factor in understanding the place of religion and the adoption of Christianity. As a consequence, rather than passively receiving introduced ideas and material culture, it appears that these societies coming under British authority were interpreting and incorporating such elements in ways relevant to their own society.
TL;DR: The authors propose an approche archeologique methodologique de terrain applicable a des ensembles de tailles differentes, dans le but de comprendre le fonctionnement des societes passees dans la plus grade objectivite.
Abstract: L'A propose une approche archeologique methodologique de terrain applicable a des ensembles de tailles differentes, dans le but de comprendre le fonctionnement des societes passees dans la plus grade objectivite. Apres une analyse critique de la situation, l'A propose un historique des recherches, montre la contribution des methodes de la nouvelle geographie, de l'ethnologie, de l'analyse spatiale...
TL;DR: In contrast, the preservation of archaeological and environmental deposits are of much better quality on the valley floor, although the sites are generally difficult to locate, being buried beneath alluvium deposited during the past 1-3,000 years as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Since the 1970s large‐scale archaeological projects have been undertaken in the Upper and Middle Thames Valley, driven by development pressures and strongly influenced by the evidence of aerial photographs, most of which have been of the higher gravel terraces where cropmarks are most prolific. These sites have, however, usually suffered heavily from ploughing; water‐logged deposits, occupation horizons and buried soils are rare. In contrast, the preservation of archaeological and environmental deposits are of much better quality on the valley floor, although the sites are generally difficult to locate, being buried beneath alluvium deposited during the past 1–3,000 years. Pressure on gravel deposits means that mineral quarries are increasingly moving onto the lower ground. However, changes in planning policy in the UK now promote the archaeological evaluation of these areas as a result of which buried prehistoric, Roman and medieval landscapes, including new types of well‐preserved site and acti...
TL;DR: A detailed examination of historical documents and photographs reveals, instead, where postcontact technological and social influences have occurred, especially with regard to pueblo households, use of space, increases in room sizes, dwelling construction, kivas, and agricultural processing and storage facilities as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: The Western Pueblos in the American Southwest have been subject to over 450 years of historic contact, yet a myth has emerged about their unchanging nature. A detailed examination of historical documents and photographs reveals, instead, where postcontact technological and social influences have occurred, especially with regard to pueblo households, use of space, increases in room sizes, dwelling construction, kivas, and agricultural processing and storage facilities. A dynamic ethnographic model is proposed that takes into account both postcontact changes and continuity in Western Pueblo society and how these processes can be used for understanding the archaeological record.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors consider some of the circumstances associated with the archaeological study of the Thames river system in south-east England, focusing on work related to the 95km reach of the river below Teddington, examining Holocene archaeological issues in the floodplain, on the urban waterfront and on the foreshore.
Abstract: This paper considers some of the circumstances associated with the archaeological study of the Thames river system in south‐east England. It focuses on work related to the 95km reach of the river below Teddington, examining Holocene archaeological issues in the floodplain, on the urban waterfront and on the foreshore. Plotting the complex development dynamics of the river system itself, over a 10,000‐year period, and the correlation of that information with an understanding of the changes in the patterns of settlement, encroachment and exploitation calls for an integrated multi‐agency, multidisciplinary approach if further progress is to be made.