DOCSLIB.ORG

The View from the Midden: an Analysis Of

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The View from the Midden: an Analysis Of JULIA A. KING resolve important questions about the relationships HENRY M. MILLER between activities and material remains and the causes of variation in spatial distributions. Refuse disposal at most British colonial sites in The View from the Midden: An North America occurred primarily in surface Analysis of Midden Distribution middens located around structures and only sec- ondarily in so-called trash pits or other features. and Composition at the van Many of these sites have been subjected to post- Sweringen Site, St. Mary’s City, occupational plowing, resulting in the destruction of vertical stratigraphy and a mixing of deposi- Maryland tional contexts. Recent research has demonstrated, however, that horizontal relationships are only minimally affected by agricultural activities ABSTRACT (O’Brien and Lewarch 1981). Hence, plowed midden contexts contain information of potential Most intrasite spatial studies in historical archaeology have significance for site interpretation. Not surpris- focused on the horizontal distributions of artifacts with only ingly, most spatial analysis in historical archaeol- minimal attention given to the associations of materials found in midden contexts. In this paper the distribution and ogy has focused upon the evaluation of artifact composition of plowed midden deposits from the van distributions. Sweringen site, a late 17th and early 18th century dwelling The study of horizontal distributions of artifacts in St. Mary’s City, are investigated. Temporal changes in is an important element in artifact analysis. How- disposal patterns and midden composition, spatial variation ever, if the full potential of archaeological spatial among midden deposits, and the relationships between midden content and building function are presented. These data is to be realized, it is necessary to go beyond finding5 demonstrate the potential of midden analysis and distribution analyses and evaluate the composition the importance of plow zone contexts for site interpretation. of middens. In this paper, the results of a prelim- inary study of artifacts from plowed midden con- texts at a well-documented colonial site are pre- Introduction sented. The identification of temporally discrete middens in plowed soils is discussed and temporal The intrasite spatial analysis of archaeological changes in disposal behavior are evaluated. The materials has been a focus of considerable research composition of these middens, including both within the last fifteen years. Most published stud- temporal and spatial variation, is also investigated. ies, however, have emerged in prehistoric archae- Finally, the relationship of midden content to the ology, and much of this research has been con- function of buildings and rooms within them is cerned with the development of analytic and examined. interpretive methods (cf. Whallon 1973a, 1973b, 1974; Hodder and Orton 1976; Hodder 1978; Hietala 1984). A major problem encountered by The van Sweringen Site prehistoric archaeologists is the interpretation of their findings, especially the functional identifica- The data used in this study derive from the van tion of artifacts and artifact patterning. Historical Sweringen site (18 ST 1-19), a late 17th and early archaeologists can overcome much of this diffi- 18th century household in St. Mary’s City, Mary- culty since the availability of documentary land (Figure 1). The site is located on a high bluff sources, the tight temporal and functional control adjacent to the St. Mary’s River, a small tributary provided by many artifacts, and a similar cultural of the Potamac River. The site is near the heart of heritage all greatly facilitate the interpretive pro- Maryland’s first settlement and 17th century cap- cess. Indeed, research at historic sites should help ital, St. Mary’s City. Founded in 1634, St. Mary’s 38 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, VOLUME Figure 1. The van Sweringen site in St. Mary's City, Maryland. THE VIEW FROM THE MIDDEN 39 c Fireplace N Figure 2. Plan view of the van Sweringen site. served as the political center of the colony and was its facade (Stone 1983). This enlarged building, one of the few major settlements in the Chesapeake which now measured approximately 55 by 20 feet, region. It remained the capital until 1695, when had three rooms on the ground floor with a loft the govemment was moved to Annapolis. After above (Figure 2). Van Sweringen also constructed that, much of the former capital was abandoned a kitchen immediately adjacent to the dwelling and and St. Mary's City became a small agricultural a small, 20-by- 18-foot outbuilding approximately hamlet in the 18th century. 55 feet to the east. This outbuilding may have been Garret van Sweringen, a free immigrant of constructed as a bake and brew house, since van Dutch origin, owned a one-acre lot separated from Sweringen had planned to go into that business in the river by one of the major roads in the town, the late 1670s (Carr 1972). Aldermanbury Street. The site was initially occu- Throughout the late 17th century, van Swer- pied c. 1665, when an unheated, 20-by-40-foot ingen operated a lodging house out of his residence frame structure was constructed to house provin- during meetings of the Maryland Provincial Court cial records. In 1677, van Sweringen purchased or and General Assembly. Unlike the public ordi- leased the lot and made several additions to the nary, which was required by law to provide food, property over the next decade. He expanded the lodging, and stabling to all travelers, the lodging frame dwelling and added a partial brick veneer to house required reservations and catered to a much 40 HISTORICAL ARCHAEOLOGY, VOLUME 21 more exclusive clientele. Van Sweringen enter- During the excavation of the van Sweringen tained and housed only the most prestigious Mary- site, only five major feature deposits were encoun- landers, members of the Governor’s Council. tered, and only two of these dated to the 17th Lodgers at van Sweringen’s probably never num- century. Four of these pits contained few artifacts, bered more than six or seven individuals, and then and the information they yielded was insufficient only when the assembly was in session. for fully interpreting the site. The fifth, the dairy Van Sweringen died in 1698, willing the prop- cellar, contained a large quantity of domestic erty to his son, Joseph. Joseph van Sweringen had refuse in the lower levels, mostly deposited during both high economic and social standing in the the last years of the site’s occupation. Conse- community through inheritance, a fortuitous mar- quently, research was directed toward analysis of riage, and his own business capabilities. He par- the large quantities of archaeological materials in ticipated in the early 18th century tobacco trade as the plow zone in an attempt to redress this problem both a planter and merchant, and, at his death in through detailed midden analysis. 1723, had an estate valued at over E1000. During The plow zone level was carefully excavated in his occupancy of the site, Joseph probably built or 5-by-5-foot units and screened to standardize and improved a small dairy with a brick-lined cellar but facilitate recovery. All subsurface features were made few modifications to the dwelling and recorded and many were excavated. The five kitchen. Shortly after his death, his widow married major features include a borrow pit, two storage William Deacon, the Royal Customs Collector for pits, a 17th century cellar and the dairy cellar. the Northern Potomac and one of the wealthiest Other features encountered were primarily archi- men in the county. Archaeological evidence sug- tectural, including post holes and molds and build- gests that Deacon and his wife remained at the site er’s trenches. Numerous fencelines were also iden- for several years before moving to a newly con- tified, and several of these were partially structed dwelling on Rosecroft Point, about one excavated. mile south of St. Mary’s City. Deacon retained Preliminary analysis of the distributions of plow ownership of the van Sweringen property, and an zone artifacts at the van Sweringen site was ac- unknown tenant was apparently living at the site complished using the SYMAP computer mapping during the 1730s and early 1740s. Occupation package (Dougenik and Sheehan 1979) available at ceased about 1745, based upon archaeological the VAXlVMS facility of St. Mary’s College of data. Maryland. The SYMAP package uses a nearest- neighbor statistic to project complete densities across a study area using sampled data. Excavation Data Base and Methods of Analysis units were standardized to 25 square feet and the center of each was used as the mapping point. Historic St. Mary’s City began preliminary ex- Depth of strata above subsoil was generally con- cavations at the van Sweringen site in 1974, with sistent at the site, averaging ten inches. intensive archaeological work occupying four sub- Spatial patterning usually involves highly vari- sequent seasons. The initial excavations focused able shapes and sizes that may indicate rather com- on the recovery of information relevant to the plex underlying regularities. At present, statistical evolution of the site’s architecture. After a firm techniques used to identify clustering often require understanding of the structures had been estab- unwarranted assumptions about the data and, in lished, a strategy of stratified random sampling at many cases, require complete excavation of the approximately 10 percent was applied in the yard study area. For these reasons, visual inspection of areas to collect spatial data (Figure 3). Final spatial distribution maps is one of the more sophis- excavations to resolve specific questions and pre- ticated (and practical) methods of pattern identifi- pare the site as an exhibit were conducted from cation currently available to archaeologists (Doran 1982 to 1985. and Hodson 1975: 151). Midden deposits at the van THE VIEW FROM THE MIDDEN 41 Sweringen site were located using the computer- Once major clusters were identified and dated, generated SYMAPS to visually identify overlap- artifacts from excavation units within the most ping concentrations of artifact types.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Relationship Between Shell - Midden S and Neolithic Paleoshorelines with Examples from Brazil and Japan *
    Rev. do Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, São Paulo, 3: 55-65,1993. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SHELL - MIDDEN S AND NEOLITHIC PALEOSHORELINES WITH EXAMPLES FROM BRAZIL AND JAPAN * Kenitiro Suguio** SUGUIO, K. Relationship between shell-middens and neolithic paleoshorelines with examples from Brazil and Japan. Rev. do Museu de Arqueologia e Etnologia, Sâo Paulo, 3: 55-65, 1993. RESUMO: Este trabalho trata de aspectos gerais dos sambaquis da costa sudeste brasileira, particularmente da planície Cananéia-Iguape (SP), enfatizando a sua utilidade na reconstrução de paleolinhas de costa a partir do Holoceno médio. Algumas peculiaridades dos sambaquis da planície de Kanto (Japão), aproximadamente contemporâneos aos brasileiros, são também apresentadas. Em ambos os casos, para a identificação da posição de paleonível relativo do mar, as seguintes informações devem ser obtidas de cada sambaqui. (a) distância da atual borda marinha ou lagunar; (b) natureza e idade do substrato; (c) altitude do substrato acima do nível de maré alta; (d) épocas de ocupação e de abandono do sítio; (e) valores de Ô13C (PDB)dos carbonatos das conchas; (f) espécies predominantes de moluscos e (g) tamanho do sambaqui. UNITERMOS: Paleolinha de costa neolítica - Transgressão Santos - Transgressão Jomon - Holoceno, Brasil, Japão. Generalities hundreds of giant shell-middens (Fig. 2) are known. Their usefulness for sea-level height/ Artificial accumulations made up of shells of shoreline reconstruction has been not very clearly brackish water and marine organisms are very expressed in many papers, but this problem was commonly found in coastal regions around the more precisely emphasized in Brazil only in the world, as in Natal (South Africa), southern recent years (Martin & Suguio, 1976; Martin et Madagascar, eastern Australia (particularly the al., 1981/1982; 1986; Suguio, 1990 and Suguio “New England” coast of New South Wales), etal., 1992).
    [Show full text]
  • The Rock Art of Madjedbebe (Malakunanja II)
    5 The rock art of Madjedbebe (Malakunanja II) Sally K. May, Paul S.C. Taçon, Duncan Wright, Melissa Marshall, Joakim Goldhahn and Inés Domingo Sanz Introduction The western Arnhem Land site of Madjedbebe – a site hitherto erroneously named Malakunanja II in scientific and popular literature but identified as Madjedbebe by senior Mirarr Traditional Owners – is widely recognised as one of Australia’s oldest dated human occupation sites (Roberts et al. 1990a:153, 1998; Allen and O’Connell 2014; Clarkson et al. 2017). Yet little is known of its extensive body of rock art. The comparative lack of interest in rock art by many archaeologists in Australia during the 1960s into the early 1990s meant that rock art was often overlooked or used simply to illustrate the ‘real’ archaeology of, for example, stone artefact studies. As Hays-Gilpen (2004:1) suggests, rock art was viewed as ‘intractable to scientific research, especially under the science-focused “new archaeology” and “processual archaeology” paradigms of the 1960s through the early 1980s’. Today, things have changed somewhat, and it is no longer essential to justify why rock art has relevance to wider archaeological studies. That said, archaeologists continued to struggle to connect the archaeological record above and below ground at sites such as Madjedbebe. For instance, at this site, Roberts et al. (1990a:153) recovered more than 1500 artefacts from the lowest occupation levels, including ‘silcrete flakes, pieces of dolerite and ground haematite, red and yellow ochres, a grindstone and a large number of amorphous artefacts made of quartzite and white quartz’. The presence of ground haematite and ochres in the lowest deposits certainly confirms the use of pigment by the early, Pleistocene inhabitants of this site.
    [Show full text]
  • Recent Advances in the Prehistoric Archaeology of Formosa* by Kwang-Chih Chang and Minze Stuiver
    RECENT ADVANCES IN THE PREHISTORIC ARCHAEOLOGY OF FORMOSA* BY KWANG-CHIH CHANG AND MINZE STUIVER DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY AND PEABODY MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, AND DEPARTMENTS OF GEOLOGY AND BIOLOGY AND RADIOCARBON LABORATORY, YALE UNIVERSITY Communicated by Irving Rouse, January 26, 1966 The importance of Formosa (Taiwan) as a first steppingstone for the movement of peoples and cultures from mainland Asia into the Pacific islands has long been recognized. The past 70 years have witnessed considerable high-quality study of both the island's archaeology' and its ethnology,2 but it has become increasingly evident that to explore fully Formosa's position in the culture history of the Far East it is imperative also to enlist the disciplines of linguistics, ethnobiology, and the environmental sciences.3 It is with this aim that preliminary and exploratory in- vestigations were carried out in Formosa under the auspices of the Department of Anthropology of Yale University, in collaboration with the Departments of Biology at Yale, and of Archaeology-Anthropology and Geology at National Taiwan Uni- versity (Taipei, Taiwan), during 1964-65. As a result of these investigations, pre- historic cultures can now be formulated on the basis of excavated material, and be placed in a firm chronology, grounded on stratigraphic and carbon-14 evidence. This prehistoric chronology, moreover, can be related to environmental changes during the postglacial period, established by geological and palaeobiological data. Comparison of the new information with prehistoric culture histories in the ad- joining areas in Southeast China, the Ryukyus, and Southeast Asia throws light on problems of cultural origins and contacts in the Western Pacific region, and suggests ways in which to utilize Dyen's recent linguistic work,4 as well as current ethnologi- cal research.
    [Show full text]
  • Prehistoric Settlements of Coastal Louisiana. William Grant Mcintire Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1954 Prehistoric Settlements of Coastal Louisiana. William Grant Mcintire Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Part of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons Recommended Citation Mcintire, William Grant, "Prehistoric Settlements of Coastal Louisiana." (1954). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 8099. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/8099 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. HjEHisroaic smm&ws in coastal Louisiana A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geography and Anthropology by William Grant MeIntire B. S., Brigham Young University, 195>G June, X9$k UMI Number: DP69477 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI DP69477 Published by ProQuest LLC (2015). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest: ProQuest LLC.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Paper
    Bell Beaker resilience? The 4.2ka BP event and its implications for environments and societies in Northwest Europe Jos Kleijne, Mara Weinelt, Johannes Müller Abstract This paper deals with the Bell Beaker phenomenon in Northwest Europe, and the question of its development around 2200 BC, in relation to the well-known 4.2ka climatic event. The duration of settlement occupation and the subsistence economy are the variables used in this study to address this resilience on a regional scale. Concluding, we state that regional variability exists in the ways in which communities were impacted by the 4.2ka event. In addition to agricultural intensification, the flexibility of subsistence strategies seems to have played an important role. Keywords Resilience; Bell Beaker; Northwest Europe; Settlement; Subsistence Introduction From 2600 BC onwards, Western and Central Europe are characterised by what archaeologists have historically labelled as “the Bell Beaker phenomenon” (e.g. Vander Linden 2013). In various parts of Europe, especially the Iberian Peninsula, the end of this phenomenon is often considered to date around 2200 BC, with the rise of the El Argar civilisation in the Southeast of the Peninsula, associated with significant changes in social organisation, settlement structure and food economy (Lull et al 2015). The role of climate in the demise of the Bell Beaker phenomenon, and the resilience and vulnerability of prehistoric communities, is currently being debated (e.g. Blanco-Gonzalez et al 2018; Hinz et al in press). Specifically, an abrupt climatic event around 2200 BC, commonly known as ‘the 4.2ka event’, has a well attested influence on human society in other parts of the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Prehistoric ·Art of the Central Coast of British Columbia ROY L
    CHAPTER 7 Prehistoric ·Art of the Central Coast of British Columbia ROY L. CARLSON glance at any Northwest Coast art book attests firmly to the existence of a highly developed tradi­ A tion of painting and carving wood during the nineteenth century by the ancestors of the Bella Bella and Bella Coola peoples of the central coast of British Columbia. Similarly, examination of the journals of Sir Alexander Mackenzie and George Vancouver carries this tradition backward into the last decades of the eighteenth century. The reading of Mcllwraith's, The Bella Coo/a Indians (1948), or Boas', Mythology of the Bella Coo/a (1900b) and Bella Bella Tales (1932), provides some insights into the meaning of this art in the cultures which produced it. But what of the decades, centuries and millenia which preceded both the early explorers and the later ethnographers? What art was produced Fig. 7:1. Whalebone pendant resembling a rockfish from then? What techniques were employed and what styles the site of Namu dating to about 3,500 years ago. were produced? What was the meaning of this art and what were its historical relationships? This paper is directed toward answering these questions, even though in wood. At the bottom-the beginning of time for this in spite of the considerable archaeological research over part of the world-archaeological evidence comes from the last fourteen years, the data base is still very much a single component at the site of Namu (ElSx 1). The limited. assemblage from the basal levels of this site is a chipped stone industry with relationships to both the Pebble Tool Tradition and the Microblade Tradition (Ch.
    [Show full text]
  • Phytolith Evidence for Early Holocene Cucurbita Domestication In
    R EPORTS amined 18 fruits from 18 different popula- tions of wild and semi-domesticated varieties Phytolith Evidence for Early from the only known Cucurbita native to Ecuador, Cucurbita ecuadorensis (10–12). Holocene Cucurbita Domestication We dated archaeological Cucurbita remains using refined methods of phytolith 14C study in Southwest Ecuador (8) (figs. S1, A and B). All archaeological sediment samples yield- Dolores R. Piperno1* and Karen E. Stothert2 ed spherical scalloped phytoliths specific to the fruit rinds of the genus Cucurbita (7, 9, 13, 14). Cucurbita (squash and gourd) phytoliths recovered from two early Holocene An increase in mean and maximum size above archaeological sites in southwestern Ecuador and directly dated to 10,130 those recorded in modern wild plants is a stan- to 9320 carbon-14 years before the present (about 12,000 to 10,000 cal- dard criterion for separating wild from domes- endar years ago) are identified as derived from domesticated plants because ticated macrobotanical remains (such as seeds they are considerably larger than those from modern wild taxa. The be- and peduncles) of Cucurbita archeologically ginnings of plant husbandry appear to have been preceded by the exploi- (2). Our data show that size criteria are useful in tation of a wild species of Cucurbita during the terminal Pleistocene. These phytolith studies, because mean and maximum data provide evidence for an independent emergence of plant food pro- phytolith length and thickness in modern wild duction in lowland South America that was contemporaneous with or slight- species are substantially smaller than in domes- ly before that in highland Mesoamerica.
    [Show full text]
  • Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia
    World Heritage papers41 HEADWORLD HERITAGES 4 Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia VOLUME I In support of UNESCO’s 70th Anniversary Celebrations United Nations [ Cultural Organization Human Origin Sites and the World Heritage Convention in Eurasia Nuria Sanz, Editor General Coordinator of HEADS Programme on Human Evolution HEADS 4 VOLUME I Published in 2015 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 7, place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France and the UNESCO Office in Mexico, Presidente Masaryk 526, Polanco, Miguel Hidalgo, 11550 Ciudad de Mexico, D.F., Mexico. © UNESCO 2015 ISBN 978-92-3-100107-9 This publication is available in Open Access under the Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 IGO (CC-BY-SA 3.0 IGO) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/igo/). By using the content of this publication, the users accept to be bound by the terms of use of the UNESCO Open Access Repository (http://www.unesco.org/open-access/terms-use-ccbysa-en). The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The ideas and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors; they are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. Cover Photos: Top: Hohle Fels excavation. © Harry Vetter bottom (from left to right): Petroglyphs from Sikachi-Alyan rock art site.
    [Show full text]
  • An Investigation Into the Placement of Disarticulated Human Remains Into Shell Middens During Prehistory
    An investigation into the placement of disarticulated human remains into shell middens during prehistory Emily Rebecca Hellewell PhD University of York Archaeology October 2015 Abstract The aim of this thesis was to critically evaluate the evidence for disarticulated human remains in shell middens, using sites in northwest Europe dating to the Late Mesolithic/Early Neolithic as case studies. Traditionally, disarticulated remains placed in shell middens have been overlooked and assumed to be the result of burial disturbance with little in-depth analysis to the plausibility of this as an interpretation. The research considers whether it is possible to determine that the remains occurred through disturbance to inhumations, and to assess to what extent it is possible to reconstruct the processes of deposition of disarticulated remains. A new methodology has been developed with specific emphasis on identifying what taphonomic processes may have led to commingled human remains to be found at shell midden sites. Six hypothetical bone profile diagrams are presented, based on differing taphonomic processes known to affect burial remains. These hypothetical diagrams then provide comparative models to assess the evidence presented in the case studies. Three case studies located on the coast of western Scotland; Cnoc Coig, An Corran and Carding Mill Bay, demonstrate that it is likely that the placement of human remains into ancient shell middens emerged as part of secondary burial practices employed around the time of the Mesolithic/ Neolithic transition, while a Danish case study, Havnø, highlights a potential change in practices occurring from the Mesolithic into the Neolithic. Critically, the close assessment of the disarticulated remains provides strong evidence that disarticulated remains in shell middens are likely to be the result of more complex burial processes than previously thought.
    [Show full text]
  • NOTES This Article Intrinsically Interesting and Topical, with Talking
    NOTES This article intrinsically interesting and topical, with talking about one Indonesian archaeological issues that are important to the present, which is the root of the nation's diversity. The author tries to explore the diversity that since the beginning of the Holocene in Northern Sumatra in the regional context. However, there are some points that need attention or improvement revision, namely: 1. References: the author needs to update the bibliographycal references by citing the current publications regarding Neolithic of Indonesia and SEAsia in general. Since the third millennium quite a lot of new insights about past human migration in the scope of the Indonesia-East Asia. The missing actual references deviate the interpretation or statements, and on the other hand the obtained field data are forced to be applied in the old opinion. See for instance: Austronesian neolithic sites are claimed > 4000 BP in the western regions (Aceh), while the oldest date so far is ca. 4000 BP in Sulawesi, the first Austronesian arrival in Indonesian island from Taiwan-Philippines. 2. Understanding the regional Neolithic: It should be noted, at least there are two routes of neolithic migration to Indonesia. The one was by the Austro-asiatic speaking people from mainland Southeast Asia, and the other one was from Taiwan by the Austronesian-speaking people. The first one which is more plausible related to the sites studied is not mentioned by the author. In fact, viewing the old date of Takengon neolithic sites studied and the presence of the cultural markers of mainland Neolithic, the sites studied are probably related to that migration.
    [Show full text]
  • New Interdisciplinary Research on a Neolithic Freshwater Shell Midden in Northern Latvia
    Rinnukalns revived { new interdisciplinary research on a Neolithic freshwater shell midden in northern Latvia Harald Luebke∗1, Valdis Berzins2, Ute Brinker1, Marcis Kalnins3, John Meadows1,4, Kenneth Ritchie1, Ulrich Schm¨olcke1, and Ilga Zagorska2 1Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology (ZBSA) { Schlossinsel 1 24837 Schleswig, Allemagne 2Institute of Latvian History at the University of Latvia (LVI) { Kalpaka bulv¯aris4, R¯ıgaLV-1050, Lettonie 3Department of History and Archaeology, University of Latvia { Aspazijas blvd. 5, Riga LV-1050, Lettonie 4Leibniz-Labor f¨urAltersbestimmung und Isotopenforschung { Max-Eyth-Strasse 11-13 ; 24118 Kiel, Allemagne R´esum´e Rinnukalns, in northern Latvia, is unique in the context of Baltic Sea region prehistory. Discovered and first investigated by Count C. G. Sievers in the 1870s, it is the only well- stratified Stone Age shell midden in the East Baltic and one of the rare sites consisting of freshwater mussel species. The artefacts recovered in the first excavations include ceramics, bone tools and some art objects. Human burials were also found stratified within and under the shell midden. Consequently Sievers considered these human remains the first Stone Age graves found in the Eastern Baltic. However, this interpretation was heavily critiqued, and the age of the presumed Stone Age graves remained in dispute. After a break of almost 70 years, new research on this important site started as a close cooperation between the Institute of Latvian History, Latvia, and the Centre for Baltic and Scandinavian Archaeology, Germany. In 2011, a geophysical survey allowed us to lay out small trenches; a short excavation proved the survival of intact midden deposits, despite ex- tensive excavations during the 19th and early-mid 20th century.
    [Show full text]
  • An Archaeological Overview of the South Carolina Woodland Period
    AN ARCHAEOlOG~CAl OVERVIEW OF THE SOUTH CAROL~NA WOODLAND PERIOD: ~1r'S THIE SAME OLD RIDDLE RESEARCH CONTRIBUTION 4 © 2001 by Chicora Foundation, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or transcribed in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without prior permission of Chicora · Foundation, Inc. except for brief quotations used in reviews. Full credit must be given to the authors, publisher, and project sponsor. AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL OVERVIEW OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA WOODLAND PERIOD: IT'S THE SAME OLD RIDDLE Michael Trinkley Chicora Research Contribution 4 Chicora FoWldation, Inc. P.O. Box 8664 Columbia, South Carolina November 1984 ~ ' I I ·,.· When the Southeastern Archaeological Conference was last held in Columbia, during October 1970, Charles Fairbanks presented a paper entitled, "What do we know now that we did not know in 1938.?" · He charitably remarked that "South Carolina for long was more interested in ancestors than in artifacts and not too much is readily available," and went on to note that "local chronologies are available for every southern state, with the possible exception of South Carolina" although "publication is surely just a matter of a comparatively brief span" (Fairbanks 1971:41-42). Fairbanks ended his talk with a redefinition of archaeological aims and one point of specific importance to my discussions. He remarked that "the complex relationship of coastal to inland or piedmont phases, which often share many specific traits such as pottery styles, but often seem to differ in ecological orientation, remains to be defined" (Fairbanks 1971:44).
    [Show full text]