Showing papers in "World Archaeology in 2013"

Stable carbon isotope analysis as a direct means of inferring crop water status and water management practices

Abstract: Stable carbon isotope analysis of plant remains is a promising tool for researchers studying palaeoclimate and past agricultural systems. The potential of the technique is clear: it offers a direct measure of the water conditions in which plants grew. In this paper, we assess how reliably stable carbon isotope discrimination can be used to infer water conditions, through the analysis of present-day crop plants grown at multiple locations across the Mediterranean and south-west Asia. The key findings are that: (1) ∆¹³C, as expected, provides an indication of water conditions, (2) even for plants grown in similar conditions there is variation in ∆¹³C and (3) ∆¹³C may reflect crop water status for a period beginning well before the grain filling period. A new framework is presented which increases the robustness with which ∆¹³C values of plant remains can be interpreted in terms of the water conditions in which ancient crops grew.

Integrating botanical, faunal and human stable carbon and nitrogen isotope values to reconstruct land use and palaeodiet at LBK Vaihingen an der Enz, Baden-Württemberg

Abstract: In this paper we reconstruct the palaeodietary setting of LBK Vaihingen an der Enz, south-west Germany (later sixth millennium cal. bc) using δ13C and δ15N values of human and faunal bone collagen and of charred plant remains from cereal crops (e.g. emmer and einkorn wheat) and pulses (lentil and pea). Our examination of this Neolithic dietary ‘food web’ incorporates crop δ15N values within a linear-mixing model to examine the estimated proportions of animal and plant protein in the human diet. We interpret the stable isotope dietary model outcomes together with accompanying archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological evidence to shed light on the role of crops in land use strategies and human diet, and conclude that (manured) crops probably formed the dominant protein source.

Why move starchy cereals? A review of the isotopic evidence for prehistoric millet consumption across Eurasia

Abstract: The spread of agriculture is an important topic of archaeological research, but relatively few studies address the drivers behind the spread of specific species empirically. Here we use published isotopic data to consider whether the millets spread from their putative domestication centre in the East to western Eurasia for use as a staple food. We show that the consumption of significant quantities of millet was both far more sporadic than the earliest appearance of millet might suggest and delayed. This is not to say that millet was not consumed, rather that any consumption was below the level of isotopic detectability, and thus millet cannot generally be considered a staple. Nevertheless, individuals who regularly consumed millet occur both as typical members of their population and as unusual individuals. The reasons for this pattern open up new questions about, and avenues of research into, the spread of agriculture.

Nitrogen isotopic composition of collagen amino acids as an indicator of aquatic resource consumption: insights from Mesolithic and Epipalaeolithic archaeological sites in France

Abstract: Aquatic resource exploitations in human evolution have raised many questions related to cognitive abilities and subsistence developments. It has been pointed out that the evaluation of freshwater resource consumption based on conventional stable CN isotopic composition of bulk bone collagen faces some difficulties, primarily because isotopic distinction between terrestrial and freshwater animals can be ambiguous and, even worse, can show similar values. In this study we tested the potential of nitrogen isotope analysis of individual amino acids in this evaluation. Our preliminary results for archaeological human and faunal remains from Mesolithic and Epipalaeolithic sites in France (Noyen-sur-Seine and Pont d'Ambon) show that estimated trophic positions for terrestrial animals based on δ15N of glutamic acid and phenylalanine are more precise than the bulk collagen isotopic method, allowing human aquatic resource consumptions to be identified. However, since the ability to quantify is still limite...

‘There is no heritage in Qatar’: Orientalism, colonialism and other problematic histories

Abstract: This article discusses the construction of Qatari heritage in the context of pre-conceived ideas of ‘cultural heritage’ predominant in the global and regional spheres that operate in this country. It considers the location of Qatar within Middle Eastern heritage discourses and debates, and identifies productive similarities as well as unique avenues for further discussion. The authors identify the challenge of formulating methodologies that are able to recognize, accommodate, encompass and reflect local heritage dialogues and practices that exist in Qatar, which may aid in further researching the wider Arabian Peninsula, its histories and heritages.

Levallois lessons: the challenge of integrating mathematical models, quantitative experiments and the archaeological record

Abstract: Contemporary scientific archaeology has an array of methodological approaches at its disposal. In addition to a multitude of specialist techniques, this endeavour may, more generally, draw upon data from field survey and excavation, experimental approaches and mathematical modelling. However, the extent to which these different strands of enquiry are adopted may vary widely from researcher to researcher. Lip service is often paid to the notion of ‘integrating’ different approaches but whether this is genuinely achieved is debatable, while some may ignore one or more particular approach entirely. The study of Levallois artefacts (e.g. flakes and cores) has been an important topic within Palaeolithic archaeology for more than a century. Studies of these artefacts have been implicated in major debates concerning cognitive and behavioural aspects of evolution in hominins. Here, we discuss something of the history of investigation into Levallois, and consider whether insights that have been gained by applying ...

Sophisticated cattle dairy husbandry at Borduşani-Popină (Romania, fifth millennium BC): the evidence from complementary analysis of mortality profiles and stable isotopes

Abstract: Bordusani-Popina is a Gumelniţa tell site in south-eastern Romania. The cattle mortality profile suggests a husbandry oriented towards prime meat exploitation and dairy production highlighted by the keeping of cattle to advanced age. Besides, the culling strategy also targeted young calves. A stable isotope ratio study was undertaken on dental rows. Bone and dentine collagen δ15N values show that the calves within the slaughtering peak were well-advanced in the weaning process, suggesting that the slaughter was delayed until the end of the cows’ lactation. A consequence would be the sharing of milk production between herders and calves. High inter- and intra-individual variability in bone collagen and enamel bioapatite δ13C values indicated variations in the seasonal ratio of C4 and C3 plants in fodder and between age groups. Overall, the complementary study of mortality profiles and stable isotopes provide evidence of sophisticated husbandry during the fifth millennium cal. bc.

Origin of Old World pottery as viewed from the early 2010s: when, where and why?

Abstract: A critical evaluation of the existing data corpus on the earliest pottery in East Asia and its chronology as of early 2013 is presented here. Pottery in the Old World emerged in three regions within greater East Asia, namely South China, the Japanese Islands and the Russian Far East, at c. 14,800–13,300 bp (or c. 18,500–15,500 cal. bp). Most probably, pottery-making appeared in these places independently; no solid evidence exists about migrations and/or diffusion of this technology from a supposed single centre in South China. Because the Upper Palaeolithic humans in Eurasia were familiar with clay (as a raw material for making figurines), the most probable driving force for the origin of pottery was the necessity to produce in large amounts durable, light containers for the processing (including boiling) and storing of food.

The Spanish conquest and the Maya collapse: how ‘religious’ is change?

Abstract: The phenomenon of the Spanish Conquest of the Maya region suggests strongly that, in the process of socio-cultural transformation, ‘religion’ has no meaning as a concept with its own particular dynamic. There is no such thing as ‘religious’ change that is not also tied to other sorts of changes and indeed to continuity. One dramatic change was the adoption by whole communities, or large segments of communities, of Christian burial practice in which the body was placed in the supine position, head to the west, facing east. Christian burial is seen to represent ‘religious conversion’ but it was one of a broad sweep of changes in how power was gained and wealth appropriated, and the way in which killing was socially sanctioned through warfare. Evidence is accumulating from sites in Belize that a significant change in burial practice also took place at time of the Maya collapse in the ninth and tenth centuries. The question that remains to be answered is whether or not the new interment practices wer...

Fragments of a conversion: handling bodies and objects in pagan and Christian Scandinavia ad 800–1100

Abstract: The article discusses aspects of changing relationships between the living and the dead in Scandinavia in the Viking Age (800 – 1050AD) and the beginning of the Early Middle Ages (1050 – 1100AD). This period was characterized by the change of religion from Paganism to Christianity. The changes and variations in the treatment of the deceased' bodies and the grave goods are explored in a number of case studies. Fragmentation and wholeness in relation to changing world views are analysed, through a discussion on personhood: On what constituted a person in this period, and how persons were deconstituted through the acts of the burial during a period of religious change. Parallel ways of handling of bodies and objects in the graves are examined, demonstrating that treating the bodies and the grave goods were a means of negotiating or handling different notions of ideas of the body, death and the afterlife.

British Iron Age chariot burials of the Arras culture: a multi-isotope approach to investigating mobility levels and subsistence practices

Abstract: Iron Age chariot burials in the UK are rare and restricted in their distribution. Historically it has been suggested that their Arras culture affinities with Continental Europe, particularly with the Paris basin in France, may be indicative of migration. The majority of them are found on chalk and the putative source region is also chalk. This has meant that a study using only strontium isotopes to identify mobile individuals is problematic. Here we present a range of isotope ratio data (strontium, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen and sulphur) for seven chariot burials from Wetwang, Garton Station and Kirkburn. The majority of them are of men and women who were born and lived locally, although the individual from Kirkburn is likely to have spent his childhood elsewhere. They do, however, differ quite subtly from others in the local population, probably in their relationship to a local land-use pattern operating between two distinct biospheres.

Reconsidering obstetric death and female fertility in Anglo-Saxon England

Abstract: Little has been written about female fertility and maternal mortality from an archaeological perspective. Typically debates focus on the physical aspects of childbirth, ignoring an obvious truth: the biggest single cause of death for women was childbirth. Whether death took place as a result of mechanical malpresentation, infection or blood loss, the root cause was undeniable. In this article we argue that post-mortem extrusion is improbable and that young infants and women found buried together are likely to have died together. However, most deaths would not have been simultaneous and so we build on demographic data to conclude that the early Anglo-Saxons engaged institutions which controlled female sexuality. Late marriage, cultural and legal taboos and an emphasis on mature fertility acted to limit the probability of death; however, the risk to the individual was real and each funerary party was the agent that constructed death ways to manage loss.

How to develop Intangible Heritage: the case of Metolong Dam, Lesotho

Abstract: After ten years and extensive debate of UNESCO’s Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Heritage (2003), workable definitions and frameworks for safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) are either emergent or non-existent. This is particularly significant in the case of heritage mitigation associated with large-scale construction projects: where these entail population resettlement and/or landscape loss, recording ICH is necessary both for impact assessment and mitigation and for helping impacted-upon communities cope with trauma. Nevertheless, there is little discussion of how to implement ICH safeguarding frameworks in salvage contexts.This paper focuses on attempts to record ICH impacted upon by western Lesotho’s Metolong Dam. We highlight the practical shortcomings of existing ICH definitions and safeguarding protocols. We discuss the methodology used at Metolong and its ethical entailments, and take inspiration from UNESCO policy (and debates thereupon) and other sources in an attemp...

Archaeologies of Buddhist propagation in ancient India: ‘ritual’ and ‘practical’ models of religious change

Abstract: This paper assesses the degree to which current ‘ritual’ and ‘practical’ models of religious change fit with the available archaeological evidence for the spread of Buddhism in India during between the third and first centuries BC. The key question is how Buddhist monastic communities integrated themselves within the social, religious and economic fabric of the areas in which they arrived, and how they generated sufficient patronage networks for monastic Buddhism to grow into the powerful pan-Indian and subsequently pan-Asian institution that it became. While it is widely recognized that in time Indian monasteries came to provide a range of missionary functions including agrarian, medical, trading and banking facilities, the received understanding based on canonical scholarship and inadequate dialogue between textual and archaeological scholarship is that these were ‘late’ developments that reflected the deterioration of ‘true’ Buddhist values. By contrast, the results of the author's own landscape-based ...

Archaeology of religious change: introduction

Abstract: This issue explores archaeology’s contribution to the study of religious change, transmission, interaction and reception. While the study of how certain religious traditions move into new areas and relate to pre-existing religious, cultural, political and economic structures has been dominated by sociology, anthropology and comparative religion, archaeology has made significant contributions to the field. The aim of this volume is to bring together recent field-based research on the material correlates of religious change. Of particular interest are those studies which look beyond the traditional ritual-based focus of religious change, to its wider economic, political or ‘practical’ ramifications. The resulting papers encompass a broad chronological and geographical scope, ranging from the fifth millennium BC to the sixteenth century AD, and including case studies from Australia, the Indian subcontinent, South America, Scandinavia, Spain and northern England. Eight out of a total of ten papers deal with three of the major ‘religions of the book’, Christianity, Buddhism and Islam, and their interaction with pre-existing traditions; the remaining two deal with the origins of prehistoric religions in northern Europe (Bradley and Numara), while Eeckhout focuses on early Peruvian traditions prior to European contact.

Gazelle behaviour and human presence at early Neolithic Göbekli Tepe, south-east Anatolia

Abstract: With its impressive megalithic architecture dating to the tenth to ninth millennium cal. bc, the site of Gobekli Tepe (south-east Anatolia) is singular in the cultural history of mankind. Excavations at this ritual centre produced a rich archaeofaunal assemblage dominated by skeletal remains of Persian gazelle (Gazella subgutturosa). In order to trace relevant features of this species' behaviour in early Neolithic times relating to its dietary demands, catchment area and annual round, zooarchaeological analysis was complemented by stable isotope analysis of carbon, oxygen and strontium in tooth enamel and bone apatite. Demographic profiles and stable isotope results are consistent with a seasonal presence and hence migratory behaviour in gazelle. Conceivably working events, feasting and performing rituals at Gobekli Tepe coincided with high game density in the southern Anti-Taurus piedmont.

Palaeodiet and beyond: stable isotopes in bioarchaeology

Abstract: Stable isotope analysis arguably constitutes a third ‘isotope revolution’ comparable in impact to the advent of radiocarbon dating and of calibration curves in archaeology (cf. Renfrew 1973). It en...

Vampires, criminals or slaves? Reinterpreting ‘deviant burials’ in early medieval Poland

Abstract: Unusual funerary behaviour is now an exciting area of research in Central and Western European archaeology. In Poland, since the first half of the twentieth century, finds of atypical or deviant burials have been almost exclusively interpreted as evidence for so-called ‘anti-vampire’ practices, intended to prevent the dead from rising, haunting and hurting the living. In the last decade or so, new attempts have been made, especially in the UK, to develop more sophisticated understandings of deviant burials, and to perceive them not only in the context of popular superstition, but also with regard to judicial practices. Inspired by these new developments, this paper offers a range of new interpretations of deviant burials from early medieval Poland with a focus on burials where people were buried in a prone position, decapitated or covered with stones.

The significance of places: the Christianization of Scandinavia from a spatial point of view

Abstract: The question of cult continuity from pagan ‘temples’ to Christian churches in Scandinavia is a classic issue in archaeology and history. In this paper the discussion is surveyed and new perspectives are outlined, based on the ritual differences between the two religious traditions. Churches were located in relation not so much to pagan ritual buildings as to different elements in multi-focused pagan ritual landscapes, for instance burial grounds. This means that the spatial patterns varied between different parts of Scandinavia.

Change and permanency on the coast of ancient Peru: the religious site of Pachacamac

Abstract: Pachacamac is a vast ceremonial centre on the Coast of Peru, and one of the biggest sites of the ancient Andes. During its 1,000-year history prior to the Spanish Conquest (ad 1533), the site saw various changes in terms of religious beliefs and practices, as seen through variability in burial customs, methods of sacrifice and offrenda, temple architecture and iconography. As capital of the Ychsma chiefdom and sanctuary of the eponymous Creator God, it attracted pilgrims from across the region who came to consult the oracular idol and seek cures for severe diseases. Inca regeneration of the site during the fifteenth century saw Pachacamac achieve great symbolic and political importance; it became a pan-Andean sanctuary and pilgrimage centre, dedicated to the ancient coastal god. Unlike most other Prehispanic religious centres in the Andes, Pachacamac not only survived numerous episodes of socioeconomic and ritual/religious upheaval, but seems to have thrived and expanded as a result thereof. This...

Islamicization or Islamicizations? Expansion of Islam and social practice in the Vega of Granada (south-east Spain)

Abstract: This study strives to understand Islamicisation from a social point of view, rather than related only to the religious conversion or to a set of specific Islamic material manifestations. A historical context is considered as a case study. The period of the Islamicisation in the Vega of Granada (south east Spain) lasted from the 8th to the 11th centuries CE. The process of social change in this context is described using a combination of historical and archaeological sources, and then insights are made on the relation of such changes with the form of Islam that was adopted. The results point to two distinctive periods that are related with a different form of Islam and therefore, arguably, with two different islamicisations.

Counting sheep: sample size and statistical inference in stable isotope analysis and palaeodietary reconstruction

Abstract: The analysis of stable isotopes from biological remains has contributed greatly to archaeological knowledge in recent decades, with major contributions to areas such as prehistoric diet and mobility. The increasing importance of isotopic studies within archaeology has been paralleled by an increasing sophistication of laboratory techniques. At present, however, the relationship between sample size and the strength of the conclusions that can be drawn about the underlying population has received insufficient attention. In this paper we undertake to provide a series of statistical analyses that demonstrate the strength of inference in relation to sample size using a large corpus of carbon and nitrogen isotope measurements of bone collagen from a single species at one site (n = 174). We employ a sub-sampling approach to establish sample sizes at which estimated mean values asymptote, and derive confidence intervals accordingly. Our study quantifies the probability that means calculated from samples ...

Beyond hierarchy: the archaeology of collective governance

Abstract: This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in World Archaeology on 15 Oct 2013, available online at: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00438243.2013.847634.

Cultures of infancy and capital accumulation in pre-urban Mesopotamia

Abstract: This paper explores connections between infant mortuary rites and strategies of wealth transmission in Mesopotamia prior to urban expansion. By considering the social roles of infants in relation to lineage and household reproduction, it challenges interpretations linking ‘rich’ infant burials to ascribed rank at birth during the Late Chalcolithic period. Drawing upon recent theoretical developments in the anthropology of childhood and models of gift exchange, the intramural burial of infants is explained as a positive measure that revived the productive capacity of households. Building on this argument, it is suggested that the ambiguous status of infants sanctioned the removal of wealth from circulation as part of mortuary rites, thereby guaranteeing its future flow within the closed context of the household group. A reappraisal of the infant burial record demonstrates how mortuary rites can form part of the cultural strategies that allow kin groups to expand their authority and capital over time.

Untimely death: atypical burials of children in early and late medieval Poland

Abstract: This paper examines the notion of infant and child burials in early and late medieval Poland which differed significantly from the normative funerary behaviour. Particular attention is devoted to the so-called ‘atypical’ or ‘deviant’ inhumation graves that contained allegedly apotropaic objects or stones placed directly on the deceased as well as the peculiar burials of infants in ceramic vessels. In addition to discussing archaeological materials, the authors also examine historical sources and folkloristic evidence for unusual and magic practices associated with newborns in the Middle Ages.

The earth, the sky and the water's edge: changing beliefs in the earlier prehistory of Northern Europe

Abstract: There have been two kinds of study of ancient beliefs in the earlier prehistory of Scandinavia. One considers the impact of ideas which originated further to the south and east. It considers a cosmology based on the movements of the sun. A second tradition develops out of the ethnography of the circumpolar region and combines archaeological evidence with the beliefs of hunter-gatherers. It postulates the existence of a three-tier cosmology in which people could communicate between different worlds. This paper argues that certain elements that are thought to epitomize the ‘Southern’ system might have been suggested by existing ideas within Scandinavia itself. Both sets of beliefs came to influence one another, but they became increasingly distinct towards the end of the Bronze Age. This paper reconsiders the rock carvings, metalwork and mortuary cairns of that period and the Iron Age in relation to the process of religious change.

‘The sieidi is a better altar/the noaidi drum's a purer church bell’: long-term changes and syncretism at Sámi offering sites

Abstract: The changes in the Sami ethnic religion practised by the indigenous people in northern Fennoscandia have often been described in terms of Christianization brought by Lutheran missions. The changes were, however, more long term and multifaceted. Archaeological excavations conducted at Sami offering places have shown that the ethnic religion was never static, but the offering practices changed with time and in connection with changes in livelihood and society. In addition, syncretistic influences did not just derive from Christianity, but there were various agents and interplay among Christianity, the ethnic religion and contemporary neo-paganism.

Reformation of the English cathedral landscape: negotiating change in York Minster Close c. 1500–1642

Abstract: A recent surge of interest in archaeological approaches to the Reformation has moved away from long-established models of destruction and theological debate, focusing instead on the popular responses to religious change, which have highlighted both continuity and adaptation in material culture and practices. However, there are also considerable methodological challenges requiring an approach considering material culture and text. This article discusses these issues through the study of the landscape of York Minster between c. 1500 and 1642. The secular cathedral of York at the Reformation, despite iconoclasm and loss of liturgical communities, was not subjected to widespread destruction; the precincts were redeveloped through several decades for new lay communities that inhabited or frequented the Close. I interpret the complex changes to the interior of the cathedral and to its urban precincts as evidence of ongoing tension between continuity and change, in which individuals and communities were...

Thorir’s bargain: gender, vaðmál and the law

Abstract: Archaeological textiles from Iceland have not been objects of significant analyzes until recently, yet they provide important new data on the use of cloth in legal transactions. Medieval Icelandic law codes and narrative sources include regulations governing the production of ‘legal cloth’ – vaðmal – and its uses for paying tithes and taxes, for economic transactions and in legal judgments. Archaeological data provide new insights on its production, the extent to which these laws were followed, and how ubiquitously Iceland’s ‘legal’ cloth was produced. This paper compares documentary sources and archaeological data to document intensive standardization in cloth production across Iceland from the eleventh to the late sixteenth centuries. The role of women as weavers is critical, as it is they who oversaw production and ensured that regulations were respected and as a result they may have been bestowed with more power than previously anticipated.

The transition from foraging to farming in prehistory and ‘ethnography’

Abstract: Coded data on subsistence dependence in George Murdock’s Ethnographic Atlas have been interpreted as showing that traditional societies face a stark choice between foraging and farming modes of subsistence. Supposedly, scheduling conflicts and the need to stay mobile effectively prevent foragers from supplementing their diet with low-level food production. However, close inspection of Murdock’s data reveals several potential problems with how he arrived at his estimates of subsistence dependence. When his data are corrected to counter these problems, foraging activities appear to rival agriculture in importance in most farming societies. Accordingly, this study infers that foraging and farming tasks do not necessarily pose scheduling conflicts, even though a commitment to farming tends to lead to its increased economic importance over time.