In eastern North America, Indigenous peoples domesticated several crops that are now extinct. We present experimental data that alters our understanding of the domestication of one of these—goosefoot (Chenopodium berlandieri). Ancient domesticated goosefoot has been recognized on the basis of seed morphology, especially a decrease in the thickness of the seed coat (testa). Nondomesticated goosefoot

This study tests the feasibility of previously established fiber identification methods, including polarized light microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and their suitability for analysis of archaeological cordage from the Paisley Caves in Eastern Oregon. The methods were applied to herbarium reference samples for four key plants: Apocynum (dogbane), Urtica dioica (stinging nettle),

Archaeologists working in eastern North America typically refer to precontact and early postcontact Native American maize-based agriculture as shifting or swidden. Based on a comparison with European agriculture, it is generally posited that the lack of plows, draft animals, and animal manure fertilization resulted in the rapid depletion of soil nitrogen. This required Indigenous farmers to move their

Applying a coastal-geoarchaeological approach, we synthesize stratigraphic, sedimentological, mollusk-zooarchaeological, and radiometric datasets from recent excavations and sediment coring at Harbor Key (8MA15)—a shell-terraformed Native mound complex within Tampa Bay, on the central peninsular Gulf Coast of Florida. We significantly revise the chronological understanding of the site and place it

Archaeology is centrally concerned with the tension between material remains in the present and a reconstructed past. This tension is captured by the concept of a trace, namely a contemporary phenomenon that references the past through some sort of epistemic intervention. Traces are deceptively complex in terms of both their epistemology and their ontology and hence worthy of detailed exploration.

The first analyses of high-fired white wares from a newly discovered Sui to early Tang dynasty workshop site at Yiyongjie, Luoyang, are presented. SEM-EDS indicates that the Luoyang products were less vitrified than those of more famous porcelain making kilns such as Xing and Anyang but the discovery of identical wares in residential areas of the city and burials indicates that they fulfilled the needs

A long-term project to map and catalog all precontact Native American burial mounds in Iowa provides information about the number, location, form, survivorship, and rate of loss of mounds. This analysis reveals previously undocumented mound manifestations, including a large cluster of 200 linear mounds along the central Des Moines River valley. Historical records reveal that at least 7,762 mounds were

Social, political, and economic institutions covary with one another in heterogenous ways across space and time. Social Network Analysis (SNA) offers a set of analytical tools and conceptual frameworks that have allowed for formal comparisons of interactions, affiliations, and relationships in reconstructing historical trajectories of institutional change. Although archaeologists have made full use

Archaeological materials from the Mediterranean world in Southeast Asia are scarce and their social context and cultural implications are rarely considered, while objects in Mediterranean style are often misinterpreted or overlooked. Concomitant to the increasing implementation of laboratory analysis, the range of new evidence, especially coming from recently excavated sites in Thailand and Myanmar

During the Early Agricultural period (2100 BC–AD 50), preceramic farmers in the Sonoran Desert invested considerable labor in canal-irrigated field systems while remaining very residentially mobile. The degree to which they exercised formal systems of land tenure, or organized their communities above the household level, remains contested. This article discusses the spatial and social organization

Pollen clumps associated with the skeleton of the Shanidar 4 Neanderthal were interpreted by the excavator as evidence for a purposeful burial with flowers. This was one of several findings from Shanidar Cave that helped to shape modern perceptions of Neanderthals as sharing empathic characteristics with Middle Palaeolithic Homo sapiens (modern humans). Here the available evidence is reviewed critically

Middle Neolithic Pitted Ware Complex (PWC) groups throughout the Baltic coastal areas of Scandinavia almost exclusively exploited marine resources for their subsistence. However, Pitted Ware communities inhabiting eastern Jutland (Denmark) also heavily relied on domesticated livestock, reflecting their close contacts and interactions with neighboring Funnel Beaker agriculturalists. Whether or not these

Cultural objects composed of composite materials with differing physical properties are often differentially preserved in archaeological records favouring those materials less susceptible to taphonomic processes. Using microscopically observed wear patterns to decipher a model of socioeconomic roles for composite beaded objects, this study examines the rich marine shell bead assemblage excavated from

This article addresses past and present bioarchaeological practices and human remains management in Quebec; it focuses on the challenges of creating a bioarchaeological database during a two-phase project initiated in 2018–2019 by the Kahnawake Mohawk Council. Its goal was to help Indigenous communities engaged in repatriation and rematriation procedures. Key information regarding human remains’ current

The Late Holocene Dry Period (LHDP) was a one-plus millennial megadrought (3100–1800 cal BP) that delivered challenges and windfalls to Indigenous communities of the central Great Basin (United States). New pollen and sedimentation rate studies, combined with existing tree-ring data, submerged stump ages, and lake-level evidence, demonstrate that the LHDP was the driest Great Basin climate within the

Abstract not available

In this contribution to our periodic ‘Archaeological Futures’ series, Lindsay M. Montgomery and Tiffany C. Fryer reflect on the reshaping of archaeological praxis in the Americas through recent developments in collaborative community-engaged research. Over the past 20 years, new theoretical and methodological approaches informed by decolonisation and Black feminism have shifted power dynamics within

Aboriginal people have lived in Australia, continuously, for tens of thousands of years. Over that time, they developed complex knowledge systems that were committed to memory and passed to successive generations through oral tradition. The length of time oral traditions can be passed down while maintaining vitality is a topic of ongoing debate in the social sciences. In recent years, scientists have

Although aircraft-acquired lidar has proven to be a transformative technology for archaeology in forested regions around the world, drone-acquired lidar systems that could potentially offer higher-resolution imagery at much lower cost remain difficult to deploy in field settings, while the data they produce are prone to large errors and are challenging to process. This paper presents results of a study

These two handsome volumes stem from the landmark exhibition ‘Idolos: Miradas Milenarias/Ídolos: Olhares Milenares’ (Idols: Millenary Gazes), which assembled an impressive collection of figurines and decorated artefacts from Neolithic and Copper Age Iberia. A total of 270 archaeological artefacts from 27 museums (plus one private collector) were displayed together for the first time, with the aim of

The analysis of 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios in human and nonhuman tooth enamel is used worldwide for archaeological and forensic purposes to establish if an individual is likely to have grown up in the area from which their remains were excavated. The English Peak District has produced an unusually high proportion of archaeological humans who, based on Sr isotope ratios, appear to have come from elsewhere

Published in World Archaeology (Vol. 54, No. 4, 2022)

Zooarchaeological research has begun to expose the long and complex history of the pig in the southern Levant. In this paper, we present the first large-scale synthesis of biometrical data from pigs and wild boar in the southern Levant from sites dating from the Paleolithic through the Islamic period. We show broad morphological change over this multi-millennium period. We find the first evidence of

A search for artefacts made of meteoritic iron has been performed in archaeological collections in the greater area of the Lake of Biel, Switzerland. A single object made of meteoritic iron has been identified, an arrowhead with a mass of 2.9 g found in the 19th Century in the late Bronze Age (900–800 BCE) lake dwelling of Mörigen, Switzerland. The meteoritic origin is definitely proven by combining

Published in World Archaeology (Vol. 54, No. 4, 2022)

Evidence of fire is one of the most important features for identifying and characterizing destruction events. Analysis of microscopic remains of fire has developed exceedingly in recent years, enabling archaeologists to examine new questions relating to the intensity of destruction events and to the circumstances of the creation of destruction layers. One of the most crucial events in the history of

Ceramic technology makes an abrupt appearance in the New World Arctic at circa 2800 cal BP. While there is general consensus that the ultimate source of these Alaskan pottery traditions lay in continental NE Asia, the motivations for the adoption of pottery in Alaska have remained unclear. Through organic residue analysis we investigated the function of Norton pottery in Southwest Alaska, and the extent

Dogs have cohabited with humans since the Upper Paleolithic and their lifestyle and diet during late prehistory probably already depended on the role they played in past societies. Here, we used a combination of stable isotope analyses and three-dimensional geometric morphometrics to test for differences in, and associations between, diet and mandibular morphology based on 150 dogs of three sites of

Handaxes have a uniquely prominent role in the history of Palaeolithic archaeology, and their early study provides crucial information concerning the epistemology of the field. We have little conclusive evidence, however, of their investigation or societal value prior to the mid seventeenth century. Here we investigate the shape, colour and potential flake scarring on a handaxe-like stone object seen

Experimental studies demonstrated that charring affects stable isotope values of plant remains. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the impact of charring to reliably interpret δ13C and δ15N values in archaeobotanical remains before using this approach to reconstruct past water management, paleoclimatic changes, and infer paleodietary patterns. Research so far has focused mostly on C3 plants while

Woodlands are especially important spaces for city fuel provisioning. During Roman times urban centres carried out numerous activities with frequent wood-energy requirements, and as a result, they potentially impacted the composition of the surrounding forests. Considering this premise, this study discusses the wood fuel economy and the configuration of the landscape around the Roman colony of Barcino

The preservation of soft tissue in the archaeological record is a rare phenomenon, especially in temperate contexts. Despite this, brain material is sometimes preserved in temperate climates, even in the absence of other soft tissue survival. However, little has been published on such finds. Archaeologists understandably have minimal experience in handling soft tissue, which may lead to brain material