Rodent consumption by hunter-gatherers in north Patagonian Andean forests (Argentina): Insights from the small vertebrate taphonomic analysis of two late Holocene archaeological sites

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
pp. 390-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Analia Andrade ◽  
Pablo Marcelo Fernández
2020 ◽  
pp. 107-122
Author(s):  
Angélica Viviana Triana Vega ◽  
Santiago Vélez Bedoya ◽  
Sergey Sedov ◽  
Elizabeth Solleiro Rebolledo ◽  
Jaime Díaz

The Bogotá savanna is a very important site for Colombian archeology. At this site, researchers have identified the settlements of hunter-gatherers and agricultural farmers who inhabited the territory from the late Pleistocene to the late Holocene. These archaeological studies have established the ways of life, social dynamics and environmental interactions of these groups. To clarify settlement processes, this article presents a detailed micromorphological and micromorphometric analysis of sediments collected in archeological excavations conducted at the Tequendama and Aguazuque sites in the municipality of Soacha, Cundinamarca. This analysis quantifies the contents of archaeological materials, such as bone and coal, as well as carbonate remains, which are associated with various activities. The results show differences in the abundance of bones and charcoal between settlement levels. Level 7A (dated 6,897-7,001 BP) of the Tequendama site shows the highest density of occupation and activities of all levels analyzed in this study. Furthermore, based on paleoenvironmental interpretation, the presence of secondary carbonates indicates arid conditions in the Bogotá savanna matching the regional climatic records.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 433-450
Author(s):  
Flavia Ottalagano

This study is the first systematic approach to ceramic miniatures from the lowlands of the Paraná River (northeastern Argentina), which have received marginal attention from regional archaeology. This paper presents an analysis of 24 pottery miniatures recovered from archaeological sites generated by complex Late Holocene hunter-gatherers, dating from between 460±50 and 1056±47 years bp. Morphological and decorative data, errors of manufacture, traces of use and the context of the pieces’ deposition are recorded in order to explore aspects of their variability and functionality. The miniatures correspond to bowls, basins, cups and ‘bell’ artefacts, all of which are commonly found in the regional record. The data obtained suggest that at least some of the sample were used in the symbolic sphere, such as burial offerings.


2021 ◽  
pp. 019769312098682
Author(s):  
Todd J Kristensen ◽  
John W Ives ◽  
Kisha Supernant

We synthesize environmental and cultural change following a volcanic eruption at A.D. 846–848 in Subarctic North America to demonstrate how social relationships shaped responses to natural disasters. Ethnohistoric accounts and archaeometric studies reveal differences in human adaptations in the Yukon and Mackenzie river basins that relate to exertions of power over contested resources versus affordances of security to intercept dispersed migrating animals. The ways that pre-contact hunter-gatherers maintained or redressed ecological imbalances influenced respective trajectories of resilience to a major event. Adaptive responses to a volcanic eruption affected the movement of bow and arrow technology and the proliferation of copper use in northwest North America.


2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-308 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Tessone ◽  
A. F. Zangrando ◽  
G. Barrientos ◽  
R. Goñi ◽  
H. Panarello ◽  
...  

1999 ◽  
Vol 51 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry L. Jones ◽  
Douglas J. Kennett

AbstractMussel shells from central California coastal archaeological sites record changes in sea surface temperatures in the past 2000 years. Water temperatures, inferred from oxygen isotopes in the shells, were about 1°C cooler than present and stable between 2000 and 700 yr ago. Between about 700 and 500 yr ago, seasonal variation was greater than present, with extremes above and below historic levels. Water temperatures were 2–3°C cooler than today 500–300 yr ago. The interval of variable sea temperatures 700–500 yr ago partially coincided with an interval of drought throughout central California. A coincident disruption in human settlement along the coast suggests movements of people related to declining water sources. Quantities of fish bone in central coast middens dating to this same period are high relative to other periods, and the remains of northern anchovies, a species sensitive to changing oceanographic conditions, are also abundant. The continued use of local fisheries suggests that changes in settlement and diet were influenced more by drought than by a decrease in marine productivity, as fish provided a staple during an interval of low terrestrial productivity.


The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362110417
Author(s):  
Shelekhova ТS ◽  
Lobanova NV ◽  
Lavrova NB ◽  
Rodionov GN

Bottom sediments from Lake Pervoe Starushechye, on the White Sea shore, near Korabelnaya Bay, Chupa Town, 500 m from an archaeological site, were analyzed. The aim of our studies was to determine the position of the sea shoreline, to correlate archaeological sites relative to it, to date ancient settlements, and to reconstruct the paleoclimatic conditions and habitats of ancient people. Spore and pollen, diatom, and radiocarbon (14C) analyses were done. New evidence for the time of retreat of the seashore, the isolation of Lake Pervoe Starushechye from it and the time of the possible invasion of the area by ancient people was obtained. People were shown to inhabit the area from 3970 ± 120 to 3250 ± 120 14С y.a., when the sea shoreline reached modern levels of 19–22 m. The lake was then a ~8 m deep White Sea bay, in which marine gyttja was deposited. These events are reflected in the stratigraphy of the sequence and supported by the results of diatom and spore and pollen analyses. About 3500 y.a., mean annual temperatures in North Karelia were 2°С and annual precipitation ~50 mm/year higher than modern values. Spruce and pine-spruce forests with aspen and alder patches grew on the shore. A favorable climate and exuberant vegetation attracted people. Therefore, it is at the Atlantic-Subboreal boundary that the archaeological sites located at the above altitudes could arise. The lake separated from the White Sea 3020 ± 90 14С y.a. Freshwater sapropel was deposited in the isolated lake, as indicated by the composition of diatom flora and spore and pollen spectra. The sea shoreline declined to 17–16 m. Light-coniferous pine lichen-green moss forests with light-loving oligotrophic grasses were spreading actively throughout the study area.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 53 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leandro Luna ◽  
Gustavo Flensborg

<p>El objetivo de este trabajo es evaluar la pertinencia de la métrica dental para obtener información sexual en individuos que habitaron el curso inferior del río Colorado durante el Holoceno tardío (ca. 3000-250 años AP), discutir el grado de dimorfismo sexual e identificar las variables cuantitativas de la dentición que permitan discriminar el sexo de nuevos individuos que se incluyan en futuros análisis. Se estudiaron las medidas máximas bucolinguales y mesiodistales del cuello de los dientes correspondientes a 26 individuos adultos. Las variables más dimórficas corresponden al diámetro bucolingual del canino superior y de ambos segundos molares; en estos casos, las diferencias entre los sexos son estadísticamente significativas. Los resultados obtenidos sobre el dimorfismo sexual se ubican en el extremo superior de los valores correspondientes a diferentes poblaciones humanas. Varios individuos que no contaban con información sexual a través de los métodos tradicionales pudieron ser clasificados desde la métrica dental, lo cual da cuenta del importante potencial de las medidas dentales para contribuir a las caracterizaciones paleodemográficas de conjuntos bioarqueológicos, especialmente en contextos perturbados y con escasa integridad esqueletal.</p><p>Palabras clave: métrica dental; determinación sexual; cazadores-recolectores; curso inferior del río Colorado; Holoceno tardío.</p><p>Abstract<br />The aim of this paper is to evaluate the relevance of dental metrics for obtaining sexual information in individuals who inhabited the lower basin of the Colorado River during the Late Holocene (ca. 3000-250 years BP), to discuss the degree of sexual dimorphism and to identify those quantitative variables adequate for sexual determination of new individuals to be included in future studies. The buccolingual and mesiodistal maximum neck diameters of 26 individual adults were studied. The most dimorphic variables correspond to the buccolingual diameter of the upper canine and both second molars; in these cases, sex differences are statistically significant. The results obtained about sexual dimorphism are located at the upper end of the range for different human populations. Several individuals who had no previous sexual information could be classified using these measurements, which accounts for the significant potential of dental metrics in palaeodemographic characterizations, especially in disturbed bioarchaeological samples.</p><p>Keywords: dental metrics; sexual determination; hunter-gatherers; lower basin of the Colorado River; Late Holocene.</p>


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