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Archaeological Anthropology

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Articles 1 - 30 of 181

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Beyond City And Country At Mycenae: Urban And Rural Practices In A Subsistence Landscape, Lynne A. Kvapil, Jacqueline A. Meier, Gypsy Price, Kim Shelton Dec 2019

Beyond City And Country At Mycenae: Urban And Rural Practices In A Subsistence Landscape, Lynne A. Kvapil, Jacqueline A. Meier, Gypsy Price, Kim Shelton

Lynne A. Kvapil

No abstract provided.


Differential Preservation Of Endogenous Human And Microbial Dna In Dental Calculus And Dentin, Allison E. Mann, Susanna Sabin, Kirsten Ziesemer, Ashild J. Vagene, Hannes Schroeder, Andrew T. Ozga, Krithivasan Sankaranarayanan, Courtney A. Hofman, James A. Fellows Yates, Domingo C. Salazar-Garcia, Bruno Frohlich, Mark Aldenderfer, Menno Hoogland, Christopher Read, George R. Milner, Anne C. Stone, Cecil M. Lewis Jr., Johannes Krause, Corinne Hofman, Kirsten I. Bos, Christina Warinner Aug 2019

Differential Preservation Of Endogenous Human And Microbial Dna In Dental Calculus And Dentin, Allison E. Mann, Susanna Sabin, Kirsten Ziesemer, Ashild J. Vagene, Hannes Schroeder, Andrew T. Ozga, Krithivasan Sankaranarayanan, Courtney A. Hofman, James A. Fellows Yates, Domingo C. Salazar-Garcia, Bruno Frohlich, Mark Aldenderfer, Menno Hoogland, Christopher Read, George R. Milner, Anne C. Stone, Cecil M. Lewis Jr., Johannes Krause, Corinne Hofman, Kirsten I. Bos, Christina Warinner

Andrew Ozga

Dental calculus (calcified dental plaque) is prevalent in archaeological skeletal collections and is a rich source of oral microbiome and host-derived ancient biomolecules. Recently, it has been proposed that dental calculus may provide a more robust environment for DNA preservation than other skeletal remains, but this has not been systematically tested. In this study, shotgun-sequenced data from paired dental calculus and dentin samples from 48 globally distributed individuals are compared using a metagenomic approach. Overall, we find DNA from dental calculus is consistently more abundant and less contaminated than DNA from dentin. The majority of DNA in dental calculus is …


The Ethnohistory Of Freshwater Use On Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile), Carl P. Lipo Jun 2019

The Ethnohistory Of Freshwater Use On Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile), Carl P. Lipo

Carl Lipo

Sources of drinking water on islands often present critical constraints to human habitation. On Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile), there is remarkably little surface fresh water due to the nature of the island’s volcanic geology. While several lakes exist in volcanic craters, most rainwater quickly passes into the subsurface and emerges at coastal springs. Nevertheless, the island sustained a relatively large human population for hundreds of years, one that built an impressive array of monumental platforms (ahu) and statues (moai). To understand how Rapanui acquired their scarce fresh water, we review ethnohistoric data from first European arrival (1722) through the …


In Search Of A New Indigeneity: Archaeological And Spiritual Heritage In Highland Bolivia, Isabel Scarborough Apr 2019

In Search Of A New Indigeneity: Archaeological And Spiritual Heritage In Highland Bolivia, Isabel Scarborough

Isabel Scarborough

This article appears as part of the special issue on "Archaeology and New Religious Movements". Bolivians are inventing spiritual practices that fit into the current dominant political discourse of decolonization and revalorization of native beliefs by associating these new traditions with archaeological spaces and objects. This new Bolivia is believed to emerge from the ashes of the old economic and social order, which for centuries oppressed and elided native religious practices, and harkens back to precolonial values. Drawing from long-term ethnographic research, media reports, and scholarly works, I aim to examine these new practices to improve our understanding of emerging …


Using Structure From Motion Mapping To Record And Analyze Details Of The Colossal Hats (Pukao) Of Monumental Statues On Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Sean W. Hixon, Carl P. Lipo, Terry L. Hunt, Christopher Lee Apr 2019

Using Structure From Motion Mapping To Record And Analyze Details Of The Colossal Hats (Pukao) Of Monumental Statues On Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Sean W. Hixon, Carl P. Lipo, Terry L. Hunt, Christopher Lee

Carl Lipo

Structure from motion (SfM) mapping is a photogrammetric technique that offers a cost-effective means of creating three-dimensional (3-D) visual representations from overlapping digital photographs. The technique is now used more frequently to document the archaeological record. We demonstrate the utility of SfM by studying red scoria bodies known as pukao from Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile). We created 3-D images of 50 pukao that once adorned the massive statues (moai) of Rapa Nui and compare them to 13 additional pukao located in Puna Pau, the island’s red scoria pukao quarry. Through SfM, we demonstrate that the majority of these bodies …


The Human Transformation Of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Pacific Ocean), Terry L. Hunt, Carl P. Lipo Apr 2019

The Human Transformation Of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Pacific Ocean), Terry L. Hunt, Carl P. Lipo

Carl Lipo

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) has become widely known as a case study of human-induced environmental catastrophe resulting in cultural collapse. The island's alleged "ecocide" is offered as a cautionary tale of our own environmental recklessness. The actual archaeological and historical record for the island reveals that while biodiversity loss unfolded, the ancient Polynesians persisted and succeeded. Demographic "collapse" came with epidemics of Old World diseases introduced by European visitors. In this paper, we outline the process of prehistoric landscape transformation that took place on Rapa Nui. This process includes the role of humans using fire to remove forest and convert …


Diet Of The Prehistoric Population Of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) Shows Environmental Adaptation And Resilience, Catrine L. Jarmine, Thomas Larsen, Terry L. Hunt, Carl P. Lipo, Reidar Solsvik, Natalie Wallsgrove, Cassie Ka'apu-Lyons, Hilary G. Close, Brian N. Popp Apr 2019

Diet Of The Prehistoric Population Of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) Shows Environmental Adaptation And Resilience, Catrine L. Jarmine, Thomas Larsen, Terry L. Hunt, Carl P. Lipo, Reidar Solsvik, Natalie Wallsgrove, Cassie Ka'apu-Lyons, Hilary G. Close, Brian N. Popp

Carl Lipo

Objectives: The Rapa Nui “ecocide” narrative questions whether the prehistoric population caused an avoidable ecological disaster through rapid deforestation and over-exploitation of natural resources. The objective of this study was to characterize prehistoric human diets to shed light on human adaptability and land use in an island environment with limited resources.

Materials and methods: Materials for this study included human, faunal, and botanical remains from the archaeological sites Anakena and Ahu Tepeu on Rapa Nui, dating from c. 1400 AD to the historic period, and modern reference material. We used bulk carbon and nitrogen isotope analy- ses and amino acid …


Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Monument (Ahu) Locations Explained By Freshwater Sources, Robert J. Dinapoli, Carl P. Lipo, Tanya Brosnan, Terry L. Hunt, Sean W. Hixon, Alex E. Morrison, Matthew Becker Apr 2019

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Monument (Ahu) Locations Explained By Freshwater Sources, Robert J. Dinapoli, Carl P. Lipo, Tanya Brosnan, Terry L. Hunt, Sean W. Hixon, Alex E. Morrison, Matthew Becker

Carl Lipo

Explaining the processes underlying the emergence of monument construction is a major theme in contemporary anthropological archaeology, and recent studies have employed spatially-explicit modeling to explain these patterns. Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) is famous for its elaborate ritual architecture, particularly numerous monumental platforms (ahu) and statuary (moai). To date, however, we lack explicit modeling to explain spatial and temporal aspects of monument construction. Here, we use spatially-explicit point-process modeling to explore the potential relations between ahu construction locations and subsis- tence resources, namely, rock mulch agricultural gardens, marine resources, and freshwa- ter sources—the three most critical resources on Rapa …


Resource Scarcity And Monumental Architecture: Cost Signaling On Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile, Dylan Davis, Carl P. Lipo Apr 2019

Resource Scarcity And Monumental Architecture: Cost Signaling On Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Chile, Dylan Davis, Carl P. Lipo

Carl Lipo

Costly signaling theory (CST) explains a variety of elaborate behavioral displays as a consequence of competition over resources when the risk of direct conflict is high. Within an archaeological context, monumental architecture is potentially explained as a facet of costly signaling between individuals and groups. On Rapa Nui, CST offers an explanation for the construction of labor-intensive monuments including massive statues (moai) and ceremonial platforms (ahu). Using hypotheses derived from CST and spatial data about the distribution of archaeological features, the degree to which CST accounts for the investment in prehistoric monumental architecture on Rapu Nui is evaluated.


Automated Mound Detection Using Lidar And Object-Based Image Analysis In Beaufort County, Sc, Carl P. Lipo, Matt Sanger, Dylan Davis Apr 2019

Automated Mound Detection Using Lidar And Object-Based Image Analysis In Beaufort County, Sc, Carl P. Lipo, Matt Sanger, Dylan Davis

Carl Lipo

The study of prehistoric anthropogenic mounded features– earthen mounds, shell heaps, and shell rings – in the American Southeast is stymied by the spotty distribution of systematic surveys across the region. Many extant, yet unidentified, archaeological mound features continue to evade detection due to the heavily forested canopies that occupy large areas of the region, making pedestrian surveys difficult and preventing aerial observation. The use of object-based image analysis (OBIA) as a tool for analysing light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data, however, offers an inexpensive opportunity to address this challenge. Using publicly available LiDAR data from Beaufort County, South Carolina …


The Endurance Of Tell Qarqur: Settlement Resilience In Northwestern Syria During The Late Bronze And Iron Ages (Ca. 1200 – 700 Bc), Eric Robert Jensen Mar 2019

The Endurance Of Tell Qarqur: Settlement Resilience In Northwestern Syria During The Late Bronze And Iron Ages (Ca. 1200 – 700 Bc), Eric Robert Jensen

Eric Roberts, MD

This dissertation analyzes the material culture, paleobotanical, and faunal remains excavated at the site of Tell Qarqur, Syria, recovered from occupational levels dating from the end of the Late Bronze Age to the Iron II period (from approximately 1200 to 700 BC). Based on archaeological evidence and ancient textual sources, many ancient Near Eastern kingdoms and polities endured social and political turmoil during the late 13th and early 12th centuries BC. Most likely caused by an unknown hostile group or groups, the destruction of monumental scale architecture and the disruption to the people of Qarqur’s agricultural and animal husbandry practices …


The Endurance Of Tell Qarqur: Settlement Resilience In Northwestern Syria During The Late Bronze And Iron Ages (Ca. 1200 – 700 Bc), Eric Robert Jensen Mar 2019

The Endurance Of Tell Qarqur: Settlement Resilience In Northwestern Syria During The Late Bronze And Iron Ages (Ca. 1200 – 700 Bc), Eric Robert Jensen

Aurora Heart Failure / Transplant Faculty

This dissertation analyzes the material culture, paleobotanical, and faunal remains excavated at the site of Tell Qarqur, Syria, recovered from occupational levels dating from the end of the Late Bronze Age to the Iron II period (from approximately 1200 to 700 BC). Based on archaeological evidence and ancient textual sources, many ancient Near Eastern kingdoms and polities endured social and political turmoil during the late 13th and early 12th centuries BC. Most likely caused by an unknown hostile group or groups, the destruction of monumental scale architecture and the disruption to the people of Qarqur’s agricultural and animal husbandry practices …


Among The Ancestors At Aidonia, Lynne Kvapil, Kim Shelton Dec 2018

Among The Ancestors At Aidonia, Lynne Kvapil, Kim Shelton

Lynne A. Kvapil

No abstract provided.


The Argument For Archaeology, Megan C. Kassabaum, Rebecca Yamin Dec 2018

The Argument For Archaeology, Megan C. Kassabaum, Rebecca Yamin

Megan C Kassabaum

No abstract provided.


Early Platforms, Early Plazas: Antecedents Of Mississippian Mound-And-Plaza Centers In The American South, Megan C. Kassabaum Dec 2018

Early Platforms, Early Plazas: Antecedents Of Mississippian Mound-And-Plaza Centers In The American South, Megan C. Kassabaum

Megan C Kassabaum

Platform mounds and plazas have a 5000-year-long history in the eastern United States but are often viewed through the lens of late prehistoric and early historic understandings of mound use. This review approaches the history of these important landscape features via a forward-looking temporal framework that emphasizes the variability in their construction and use through time and across space. I suggest that by viewing platform mounds in their historical contexts, emphasizing the construction process over final form, and focusing on nonmound sites and off-mound areas such as plazas, we can build a less biased and more complex understanding of early …


Ticcih Congress 2015, The International Committee For The Conservation Of The Industrial Heritage Aug 2018

Ticcih Congress 2015, The International Committee For The Conservation Of The Industrial Heritage

The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage

No abstract provided.


Residue Analysis Of Smoking Pipe Fragments From The Feltus Archaeological Site, Southeastern North America, Stephen B. Carmody, Megan C. Kassabaum, Ryan K. Hunt, Natalie Prodanovich, Hope Elliott, Jon Russ Dec 2017

Residue Analysis Of Smoking Pipe Fragments From The Feltus Archaeological Site, Southeastern North America, Stephen B. Carmody, Megan C. Kassabaum, Ryan K. Hunt, Natalie Prodanovich, Hope Elliott, Jon Russ

Megan C Kassabaum

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The practice of pipe smoking was commonplace among indigenous cultures of the Eastern Woodlands of North
America. However, many questions remain concerning what materials were smoked and when tobacco first
became a part of this smoking tradition. Chemical analysis of organic residues extracted from archaeological
smoking pipes is an encouraging avenue of research into answering questions regarding the development of a
smoking complex within indigenous cultures of the Eastern Woodlands. In the right environmental conditions,
absorbed organic compounds within artifacts can remain structurally stable for millennia, allowing …


Gathering In The Late Woodland: Plazas And Gathering Places As Everyday Space, Casey R. Barrier, Megan C. Kassabaum Dec 2017

Gathering In The Late Woodland: Plazas And Gathering Places As Everyday Space, Casey R. Barrier, Megan C. Kassabaum

Megan C Kassabaum

No abstract provided.


The Moorehead Phase Occupation At The Emerald Acropolis, Jacob Skousen Dec 2017

The Moorehead Phase Occupation At The Emerald Acropolis, Jacob Skousen

Jacob Skousen

The Emerald site, also known as the Emerald Acropolis, was an early Mississippian pilgrimage center key to Cahokia's development. This paper presents the hitherto unpublished results of two archaeological projects conducted at the site, one led by Howard Winters and Stuart Struever in 1961 and the other by Robert Hall in 1964. These investigations produced the most comprehensive information on Emerald's Moorehead phase (1200-1300 CE) occupation during which two of its mounds were capped, a secondary mound was constructed on the central mound, and a mound-top structure was erected on this secondary mound. Similar activities took place throughout the region …


Among The Ancestors At Aidonia: Accessing The Past In Mycenaean Mortuary Contexts, Lynne A. Kvapil, Kim Shelton Dec 2017

Among The Ancestors At Aidonia: Accessing The Past In Mycenaean Mortuary Contexts, Lynne A. Kvapil, Kim Shelton

Lynne A. Kvapil

No abstract provided.


Getting Vessels From Sherds: The Utility Of Archaeological Illustrations In Reconstructing Assemblages, Megan C. Kassabaum Dec 2017

Getting Vessels From Sherds: The Utility Of Archaeological Illustrations In Reconstructing Assemblages, Megan C. Kassabaum

Megan C Kassabaum

Ceramic data and radiocarbon dates from two Coles Creek mound centers in the lower Yazoo Basin, Mississippi, are used to modify the chronology of the local Coles Creek period sequence. The modifications have ramifications for efforts to understand the Coles Creek to Mississippian transition ca. AD 1200.


Review Of Ancestral Mounds: Vitality And Volatility Of Native America, By Jay Miller, Megan C. Kassabaum Dec 2017

Review Of Ancestral Mounds: Vitality And Volatility Of Native America, By Jay Miller, Megan C. Kassabaum

Megan C Kassabaum

No abstract provided.


Rocks And Residues: Rekindling The Past Microscopy Of Flint Flakes, Sean Deryck, Bruce Hardy May 2017

Rocks And Residues: Rekindling The Past Microscopy Of Flint Flakes, Sean Deryck, Bruce Hardy

Bruce Hardy

Exactly when and where humans gained control over fire has been an archaeological dispute for years. What is undisputed is how profound of an impact this discovery had on human evolution, influencing everything about how people lived. It provided protection and warmth, allowed for cooking, and likely changed social structures as a whole. Determining when this milestone was reached, and thus how exactly it impacted our past, requires a way to discern if fires were started incidentally, or opportunistically controlled. This can be done by examining the tools that would have been used to make the fires: strike-a-lights, or pieces …


Image, Epigram, And Nature In Middle Byzantine Personal Devotion, Brad Hostetler Apr 2017

Image, Epigram, And Nature In Middle Byzantine Personal Devotion, Brad Hostetler

Brad Hostetler

In Nectar and Illusion, Henry Maguire examines Byzantium's ambiguous relationship with nature in both art and literature. He demonstrates that after Iconoclasm, visual representations of the terrestrial world displayed in public settings were in "a constant tension between acceptance and denial," but "tended to flourish most abundantly in relatively inconspicuous locations," such as on small private objects. I build upon Maguire's work by examining the ways in which nature was invoked, represented, and utilized through epigrams, images, and materials in personal devotional contexts in the Middle Byzantine period.


Standing Posts And Special Substances: Gathering And Ritual Deposition At Fetlus (22je500), Jefferson County, Mississippi, Megan C. Kassabaum, Erin S. Nelson Dec 2015

Standing Posts And Special Substances: Gathering And Ritual Deposition At Fetlus (22je500), Jefferson County, Mississippi, Megan C. Kassabaum, Erin S. Nelson

Megan C Kassabaum

Because it immediately precedes the Mississippi period, Coles Creek (A.D. 700–1200) culture is often viewed through the lens of Mississippian social organization. In particular, early platform mound-and-plaza complexes have long been understood as elite compounds due to their physical similarities with later sites. However, evidence regarding the construction and use of the monumental landscape at the Feltus site (22JE500 ) in Jefferson County, MS, suggests that platform mound construction was but one aspect of a broader ritual sequence aimed at gathering the dispersed Coles Creek community. In addition to mound building, this sequence included the setting and removal of freestanding …


Gazelles, Liminality, And Chalcolithic Ritual: A Case Study From Marj Rabba, Israel, Max Price, Yorke M. Rowan, Austin C. Hill, Morag M. Kersel Dec 2015

Gazelles, Liminality, And Chalcolithic Ritual: A Case Study From Marj Rabba, Israel, Max Price, Yorke M. Rowan, Austin C. Hill, Morag M. Kersel

Morag M. Kersel

Endangered today, gazelles were both economically and symbolically important to the peoples of the ancient Near East. In various contexts, the gazelle has represented liminality, death, and rebirth. Gazelles held special significance in the southern Levant, where archaeologists have documented cases, spanning 20,000 years, of ritual behavior involving gazelle body parts. What roles did gazelles play during the Chalcolithic (ca. 4500–3600 b.c.), a period of both decreased hunting and ritual intensification? In this article, we discuss a unique find of burned gazelle feet at the site of Marj Rabba (northern Israel). The feet were found within a well-constructed building that …


Landscape Setting As Medium Of Communication At Chavín De Huántar, Peru, Daniel A. Contreras Apr 2015

Landscape Setting As Medium Of Communication At Chavín De Huántar, Peru, Daniel A. Contreras

Daniel A. Contreras

The Central Andean ceremonial centre of Chavín de Huántar is situated in a dramatic, mountainous and dynamic environment high on the eastern slope of the Peruvian Andes, yet the site's landscape setting has remained in the shadow of its monumental architecture, complex lithic art and highly elaborated material culture. Nevertheless, that dynamic landscape setting was an integral part of the site's significance as a ceremonial centre and may be read as evidence of the capacity, worldview and message of the site's builders. First, Chavín's setting is evidence of capacity, demonstrating the considerable degree of labour mobilization and organization, as well …


Civil Societies? Heritage Diplomacy And Neo-Imperialism., Morag Kersel, Christina Luke Dec 2014

Civil Societies? Heritage Diplomacy And Neo-Imperialism., Morag Kersel, Christina Luke

Morag M. Kersel

No abstract provided.


The “Land Of Conjecture:” New Late Prehistoric Discoveries At Maitland’S Mesa And Wisad Pools, Jordan, Yorke Rowan, Gary Rollefson, Alexander Wasse, Wael Abu-Azizeh, Austin Hill, Morag Kersel Dec 2014

The “Land Of Conjecture:” New Late Prehistoric Discoveries At Maitland’S Mesa And Wisad Pools, Jordan, Yorke Rowan, Gary Rollefson, Alexander Wasse, Wael Abu-Azizeh, Austin Hill, Morag Kersel

Morag M. Kersel

Major cultural transformations took place in the southern Levant during the late prehistoric periods (ca. late 7th–4th millennia B.C.). Agropastoralists expanded into areas previously only sparsely occupied and secondary animal products played an increasingly important economic role. In the arable parts of the southern Levant, the olive in particular became increasingly significant and may have played a part in expanded exchange contacts in the region. Technological expertise developed in craft production, and the volume and diversity of status goods increased, particularly in funerary contexts. Mortuary and other ritual practices became increasingly pronounced. General study syntheses, however, rarely include more than …


Review Of D. Comer (Ed.) Tourism And Archaeological Heritage Management At Petra: Driver To Development Or Destruction?, Morag Kersel Dec 2014

Review Of D. Comer (Ed.) Tourism And Archaeological Heritage Management At Petra: Driver To Development Or Destruction?, Morag Kersel

Morag M. Kersel

No abstract provided.