Inorganic raw materials economy and provenance of chipped industry in some stone age sites of northern and central Italy

An opportunistic and local choice of raw materials is typically attested in the Lower and Middle Paleolithic industries throughout Italy. The quality of the raw material usually affected the flaking technology and quality of the products. In the Upper Paleolithic and the Mesolithic, raw material procurement strategies were more complex. Flint was exploited both locally, in areas where abundant outcrops of raw materials were available (such as the Lessini mountains), and in distant localities, after which it was transported or exchanged over medium/long distances. Different routes of exchange were thus followed in the various periods; good reconstruction of these routes have been provided by a study of the Garfagnana sites in Northern Tuscany, and the Mesolithic deposit of Mondeval de Sora (Dolomites). An interesting example of a Late Upper Paleolithic flint quarry and workshop were found in Abruzzo, in the San Bartolomeo shelter. The extended trade of obsidian from Lipari, Palmarola and Sardinia to the Italian Peninsula is attested in the Neolithic, with some differences concerning the age and different areas.     

原料产地对中国东北和韩国旧石器时代晚期黑曜岩石器工业的影响

本文以原料产地距离衰减效应为视角,根据目前中国东北地区和韩国旧石器时代晚期黑曜岩石制品的发现情况以及黑曜岩产源地研究成果,结合狩猎采集人群社交网络模型、民族学、考古学资料,对以长白山为核心的黑曜岩源产地对中韩两地的辐射影响作出了直接供应区（天池火山口为圆心辐射半径150~200 km）和接触区（距离天池火山口200 km以上）的划分。在此基础上对比研究两地的黑曜岩石制品,发现由于距离源头产地较远,韩国黑曜岩石制品的数量以及类型丰度均低于中国东北地区。而又由于原料的长距离损耗以及对于原料更加经济的开发利用,导致韩国典型遗址中黑曜岩细石核与完整石片的体积更小,原料缩减更甚。     

Skeletal evidence for Inca warfare from the Cuzco region of Peru

This article addresses the bioarchaeological evidence for Inca warfare through an analysis of 454 adult skeletons from 11 sites in the Inca capital region of Cuzco, Peru. These 11 sites span almost 1000 years (AD 600-1532), which allows for a comparison of the evidence for warfare before the Inca came to power (Middle Horizon AD 600-1000), during the time of Inca ascendency in the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000-1400), and after the Inca came to power and expanded throughout the Cuzco region and beyond (Inca Imperial Period, AD 1400-1532). The results indicate that 100 of 454 adults (22.0%) showed evidence of cranial trauma. Of these, 23 individuals had major cranial injuries suggestive of warfare, consisting of large, complete, and/or perimortem fractures. There was scant evidence for major injuries during the Middle Horizon (2.8%, 1/36) and Late Intermediate Period (2.5%, 5/199), suggesting that warfare was not prevalent in the Cuzco region before and during the Inca rise to power. Only in the Inca Imperial Period was there a significant rise in major injuries suggestive of warfare (7.8%, 17/219). Despite the significant increase in Inca times, the evidence for major cranial injuries was only sporadically distributed at Cuzco periphery sites and was entirely absent at Cuzco core sites. These findings suggest that while the Inca used warfare as a mechanism for expansion in the Cuzco region, it was only one part of a complex expansion strategy that included economic, political, and ideological means to gain and maintain control.     

L’utilisation de l’obsidienne au Paléolithique supérieur dans le nord-ouest de la Roumanie

Obsidian artefacts are numerous in the Upper Paleolithic sites of Northwest Romania. The use of obsidian begins during the Aurignacian and continues during the Gravettian, All the stages of the lithic reduction sequence are present. The obsidian tools are numerous in some sites. Non-destructive chemical analysis by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was performed on 232 obsidian artefacts from five sites: Buşag, Remetea Şomoş I, Călineşti I, Boineşti and Turulung. The results show that Early/Middle Upper Paleolithic people in northwest Romania acquired their obsidian, directly or indirectly, from sources on the western flank of the Carpathians, up to 170 km away.     

晚更新世东北亚现代人迁移与交流范围的初步研究

民族考古学曾运用相似性概念对许多地区狩猎采集者的行为进行了研究,相关的民族考古学资料为研究旧石器时代晚期现代人的迁移性提供了可能。随着东北亚地区出土黑曜岩遗物遗址的增加,相应的黑曜岩产地分析研究也日益增多,目前有关长白山黑曜岩产地研究的资料已显著累积。本文参考了现今狩猎采集者的民族学资料,以产自长白山的黑曜岩遗物及分布于特定区域的有柄尖刃器为研究对象,发现晚更新世时期(MIS 2)东北亚现代人拥有广大的直接或间接活动范围。对现代人迁移性的研究不仅为区域石器制作技术的对比分析提供了便利,也为了解古人类的生存环境及适应策略提供了重要资料。     

Sourcing obsidian from Tell Aswad and Qdeir 1 (Syria) by SEM-EDS and EDXRF: Methodological implications

While obsidian sourcing has long represented a powerful means of reconstructing past socio-economic interaction, the use of destructive techniques restricted most studies to analysing only a few artefacts per site. Non-destructive methods allow the characterization of much more material, thus providing more robust data upon which to base our archaeological interpretations. Here we report on one such study using EDXRF and SEM-EDS to analyse assemblages from Tell Aswad and Qdeir 1, two Syrian Neolithic sites. The study demonstrates for the first time that SEM-EDS can play an important role in discriminating Bingöl A and Nemrut Dağ sources, while the rapidity of EDXRF permits the analysis of a more statistically valid number of artefacts, providing a better impression of the assemblage. It enabled us to chart diachronic patterns in raw material procurement at Tell Aswad and detailed raw materials not recorded in a previous smaller-scale analysis of obsidian from Qdeir 1.     

The character and use of the Soros Hill Obsidian source,Antiparos (Greece)

This article details the geological and elemental character of the obsidian from the Soros Hill source on the Cycladic island of Antiparos, Greece. EDXRF was used to analyse 40 geological geo-referenced samples. The products are clearly chemically discriminated from those of the other Aegean sources, and those from the Carpathians and central Anatolia. While the obsidian is of excellent tool-making quality, the small size of its nodules seems to have made it a less attractive raw material, attested at only a handful of prehistoric sites in the central Cyclades.     

石料力学性能分析在旧石器考古学研究中的应用

石料是石器制作过程中的重要因素,石料本身的力学性能不仅与古人类的原料利用方式密切相关,还会影响到石器打制方法、器物组合、甚至石器工业面貌。长期以来,旧石器考古学界对于石料力学性能的判断多基于简单的岩石矿物硬度和结构特征,实际上岩石的力学性能涵盖的内容远远超过其硬度和结构的范畴。本文使用力学研究的方法,通过对石料的单轴抗压强度测试,了解不同原料的力学性能,并将其与遗址出土石制品进行比较研究,尝试探讨岩石本身力学性能与石制品面貌之间的关系。     

Issues of affinity: Exploring population structure in the middle and regional developments periods of San Pedro de Atacama,Chile

The Middle Period (AD 400–1000) in northern Chile's Atacama oases is characterized by an increase in social complexity and regional interaction, much of which was organized around the power and impact of the Tiwanaku polity. Despite the strong cultural influence of Tiwanaku and numerous other groups evident in interactions with Atacameños, the role of immigration into the oases during this period is unclear. While archaeological and bioarchaeological research in the region has shown no evidence that clearly indicates large groups of foreign immigrants, the contemporary increase in interregional exchange networks connecting the oases to other parts of the Andes suggests residential mobility and the possibility that movement of people both into and out of the oases accompanied these foreign influences. Here, we analyze biodistance through cranial non‐metric traits in a skeletal sample from prehistoric San Pedro de Atacama to elucidate the extent of foreign influence in the oases and discuss its implications. We analyzed 715 individuals from the Middle Period (AD 400–1000) and later Regional Developments Period (AD 1000–1450), and found greater phenotypic differences between Middle Period cemeteries than among cemeteries in the subsequent period. We argue that this greater diversity extends beyond the relationship between the oases and the renowned Tiwanaku polity and reflects the role of the oases and its different ayllus as a node and way station for the Middle Period's myriad interregional networks. Am J Phys Anthropol 152:370–382, 2013. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Evidence of Botanical Diversity and Species Continuity from Chancay Sites in The Huaura Valley,Peru<Superscript>1</Superscript>

Evidence Of Botanical Diversity and Species Continuity from Chancay Sites in The Huaura Valley, Peru. This study reports on new botanical evidence from the north-central coast of Peru. The material dates to the Late Intermediate Period (approximately CE 1100–1435) and is from archaeological excavation at the sites of Rontoy, Quipico, and Chambara located in the Huaura Valley. All three sites belong to what has been defined as the Chancay culture. The diversity of species present is consistent with the plants utilized in the region beginning in the Preceramic Period. Data also show differential distribution of plant taxa by site that cannot be explained by ecological zone or site location.     

中国旧石器原料开发策略的研究进展

石料开发与获取是石器生产操作链的重要环节,也是史前人地关系研究的重要内容,能够反映史前人类的资源开发策略、环境认知与适应能力、移动模式和交流贸易网络等。相比于旧大陆西侧,东亚地区的燧石和黑曜岩等优质石料产地相对稀缺,中国许多旧石器考古遗址的石器原料主要来自遗址周边质量欠佳的脉石英、石英岩和一般燧石等,而相关的旧石器时代石料开发策略系统研究也相对较少。本文对中国目前已开展的旧石器时代石料开发策略研究进行系统梳理分析和总结发现,从旧石器时代早期到晚期末段,中国境内史前人类的石料开发策略存在明显的时空变化,主要体现在石料类型组成、产地选取和开发方式三个方面,可能主要受到史前人类流动性变化、石器技术演变和环境变化等因素的共同影响。综合而言,开展旧石器时代遗址的石料开发策略研究,对于理解中国境内史前人类的行为模式和交流迁徙等有重要意义。     

Obsidian consumption at Qdeir 1, a Final Pre-Pottery Neolithic site in Syria: An integrated characterisation study

This paper details an integrated characterisation study of a substantial assemblage of obsidian artefacts (n = 519) from the Syrian Neolithic site of Qdeir 1 (El Kowm oasis). The results of the chemical characterisation (using ED-XRF and SEM–EDS) have been coupled with the typo-technological data. Such an approach has allowed us (i) to identify four raw materials in the assemblage, namely Bingöl A and Bingöl B from eastern Anatolia, plus Göllü Da? and Nenezi Da? from central Anatolia, (ii) to specifically source the distinctive green peralkaline obsidian to Bingöl A (rather than ‘Bingöl A and/or Nemrut Da?’), (iii) to observe that these four raw materials were consumed in a nigh-identical manner, probably worked locally by specialist craftspeople to produce fine pressure flaked blades, and (iv) to hypothesise that the people of Qdeir 1 may have played a key redistributive role in the circulation of obsidian tools, likely supplying the neighbouring village of El Kowm.     

Daugherty Cave,Wyoming

Abstract

Daugherty Cave is a double component site in the Big Horn Basin of northern Wyoming. The earlier level is representative of a widespread Late Middle Prehistoric Period occupation. The surface material is believed to represent the Late Prehistoric Period, Crow Indian occupation of the area. The site produced considerable amounts of perishable material.     

Trophy‐taking and dismemberment as warfare strategies in prehistoric central California

We document evidence for trophy‐taking and dismemberment with a new bioarchaeological database featuring 13,453 individuals from prehistoric central California sites. Our study reveals 76 individuals with perimortem removal of body parts consistent with trophy‐taking or dismemberment; nine of these individuals display multiple types of trophy‐taking and dismemberment for a total of 87 cases. Cases span almost 5,000 years, from the Early Period (3000–500 BC) to the Late Period (AD 900–1700). Collectively, these individuals share traits that distinguish them from the rest of the population: a high frequency of young adult males, an increased frequency of associated trauma, and a tendency towards multiple burials and haphazard burial positions. Eight examples of human bone artifacts were also found that appear related to trophy‐taking. These characteristics suggest that trophy‐taking and dismemberment were an important part of the warfare practices of central Californian tribes. Temporally, the two practices soared in the Early/Middle Transition Period (500–200 BC), which may have reflected a more complex sociopolitical system that encouraged the use of trophies for status acquisition, as well as the migration of outside groups that resulted in intensified conflict. Overall, trophy‐taking and dismemberment appear to have been the product of the social geography of prehistoric central California, where culturally differentiated tribes lived in close proximity to their enemies. Am J Phys Anthropol, 2010. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Classic Maya State, Urbanism, and Exchange: Chipped Stone Evidence of the Copán Valley and Its Hinterland

In this article I use quantitative data from 91,916 pieces of chipped stone artifacts from the Copán Valley and its hinterland in Honduras to understand better the nature and role of exchange in the development of a Classic Maya state-level society. The results of this study suggest that intraregional exchange was more crucial for state development than was longdistance exchange. The management of procurement and exchange of utilitarian commodities, such as Ixtepeque obsidian blade cores, along with other factors, played a significant role in the development of the Copán state. In contrast to other major Maya lowland states, the Copán state directly obtained obsidian blade cores from nearby sources, distributed them to local leaders at Copán, and exported them to local rulers in neighboring regions. In this sense, the Classic Copán state maintained a centralized and integrated political and economic organization based on far more than kinship, ideology, and ritual, [exchange, complex society, urbanism, Classic Maya state]     

Chert and obsidian procurement of three Corsican sites during the 6th and 5th millenniums BC

Provenance studies of Corsican siliceous raw materials used during, the Neolithic focused mainly on obsidian. They showed an almost systematic use of Monte Arci sources (Sardinia). Chert studies have long been dodged, whereas the multiplicity of potential origins, in Sardinia and in continental areas, may provide complementary spatial information about diffusion patterns and interaction phenomenon in the Middle Tyrrhenian during the Neolithic. We studied obsidian and chert industries of three Corsican sites: Renaghju (Early Neolithic), Monte Revincu and Vasculacciu (both Middle Neolithic). In order to assign a provenance, 2241 chert archaeological samples were characterized by petrographic approaches and 100 obsidian artefacts were submitted to geochemical analyses. Each site provides a specific trend regarding relative abundances of raw materials, provenance and consumption patterns. Considered in the wider perspective of the Neolithic Corsican context, results reveal procurement variations from a chronological as well as a geographical point of view. Those variations may echo economic and social evolutions undergone in Neolithic societies of the Tyrrhenian area.     

A History of Research on Warfare in Anthropology

In this brief history of warfare research, I identify four major periods: Foundation Period, Classical Period, Golden Age, and Recent Period. The myth of the peaceful savage arose in the Classical Period rather than in the later periods, as argued by Lawrence Keeley. The myth has its origins in an early evolutionary approach as well as in cultural relativism. It continues to play a major role in warfare research with some anthropologists arguing for the peaceable nature of man, while others argue that man has engaged in warfare from the beginning of prehistory, [ war, theories of warfare, history of warfare research, myth of peaceful savage ]     

The Late Prehistoric Human Ecology of Birch Creek Valley,Northeastern Oklahoma

Abstract

A multi-disciplinary study of the archaeological sites in Birch Creek Valley examined the valley’s paleoenvironment, prehistoric economy, and demography. The study indicates that during the Plains Village Period (ca. A.D. 800-1,500) the local environment was stable and similar to that of the area today with the valley being occupied during the late summer through winter by dispersed groups containing from 10 to 15 people. The Late Prehistoric occupants of the valley apparently relied on a broad-spectrum foraging economy and did not engage in horticulture.     

朝鲜半岛旧石器时代晚期的有柄尖刃器

有柄尖刃器是朝鲜半岛旧石器时代晚期代表性狩猎工具,1964年在公州石壮里遗址中首次发现。原料多选择硅质页岩或与之相似的石料,多见于25,000-15,000 BP之间。之后随着石镞等复合工具的出现,有柄尖刃器逐渐被取代。本文观察和研究的305件有柄尖刃器来自朝鲜半岛33个遗址,通过分析其形态属性及工业类型,揭示有柄尖刃器的制作技法,探讨其与相邻地区的关系。在中国旧石器时代遗存中虽然也有关于有柄尖刃器的零星报道,但鲜有确凿者,望本文能为中国的相关研究提供有价值的参考资料。     

Consumption‐based Material Flow Accounting

In 2007, imports accounted for approximately 34% of the material input (domestic extraction and imports) into the Austrian economy and almost 60% of the GDP stemmed from exports. Upstream material inputs into the production of traded goods, however, are not yet included in the standard framework of material flow accounting (MFA). We have reviewed different approaches accounting for these upstream material inputs, or raw material equivalents (RME), positioning them in a wider debate about consumption‐based perspectives in environmental accounting. For the period 1995–2007, we calculated annual RME of Austria's trade and consumption applying a hybrid approach. For exports and competitive imports, we used an environmentally extended input‐output model of the Austrian economy, based on annual supply and use tables and MFA data. For noncompetitive imports, coefficients for upstream material inputs were extracted from life cycle inventories. The RME of Austria's imports and exports were approximately three times larger than the trade flows themselves. In 2007, Austria's raw material consumption was 30 million tonnes or 15% higher than its domestic material consumption. We discuss the material composition of these flows and their temporal dynamics. Our results demonstrate the need for a consumption‐based perspective in MFA to provide robust indicators for dematerialization and resource efficiency analysis of open economies.