-
Re-approaching Celts: Origins, Society, and Social Change Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2021-03-24 Rachel Pope
This work re-approaches the origins of “the Celts” by detailing the character of their society and the nature of social change in Europe across 700–300 BC. A new approach integrates regional burial archaeology with contemporary classical texts to further refine our social understanding of the European Iron Age. Those known to us as “Celts” were matrifocal Early Iron Age groups in central Gaul who engaged
-
The Iconography of Connectivity Between the Hohokam World and Its Southern Neighbors Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2021-03-10 Aaron M. Wright
Archaeologists have long compared the Hohokam world of the North American Southwest to contemporary traditions in Mesoamerica and West Mexico. A degree of cultural connectivity between the Southwest and Mesoamerica is evident in similarities in public architecture, ceramic technology and design, ritual paraphernalia, and subsistence, among other qualities. Researchers commonly frame this connectivity
-
Correction to: Mobility and Social Change: Understanding the European Neolithic Period after the Archaeogenetic Revolution Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2021-01-28 Martin Furholt
In the original publication it was erroneously stated that the Y-chromosome haplogroup Q1a2 was found in Yamnaya burials, and that R1a was found in Majkop graves. The respective haplogroups were not found in either set of interments.
-
The Urbanization of Northern Italy: Contextualizing Early Settlement Nucleation in the Po Valley Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2021-01-13 Lorenzo Zamboni
Recent excavations and theoretical advances have revealed evidence of an early and perhaps independent nucleation and centralization process in the region south of the Alps, a phenomenon that has been undervalued in previous studies. In this paper I present a broad overview and attempt to reassess the role of the Cisalpine regions as crossroads of trade and cultural transfer between the Mediterranean
-
Prehistoric Mongolian Archaeology in the Early 21st Century: Developments in the Steppe and Beyond Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2021-01-07 Joshua Wright
There has been a great increase in archaeological research in Mongolia since 2000. Increasingly precise chronologies, regional studies, and the growth of development-driven archaeology are transforming our knowledge of this key region of northeastern Asia. This review summarizes recent work and provides a narrative of the prehistoric and medieval cultural sequences as presently understood. I focus
-
Archaeological Approaches to Agricultural Economies Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2021-01-07 John M. Marston
While agricultural origins have been recently revised in light of new genetic and archaeological evidence, parallel synthesis of subsequent developments in agricultural economies has lagged. This review summarizes recent advances in archaeological theory and method that contribute to an enhanced understanding of agricultural economies. Such advances address topics of persistent interest, including
-
Moving Forward: A Bioarchaeology of Mobility and Migration Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2021-01-04 Lesley A. Gregoricka
Growing interest in bioarchaeology and its ability to address complex questions tied to social and biological identities in the past has led to the development of nuanced methods for evaluating mobility and migration using human skeletal remains. Improving our ability to identify both short- and long-term migration through observations of body modification, analyses of biological distance, and applications
-
Mobility and Social Change: Understanding the European Neolithic Period after the Archaeogenetic Revolution Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2021-01-04 Martin Furholt
This paper discusses and synthesizes the consequences of the archaeogenetic revolution to our understanding of mobility and social change during the Neolithic period in Europe (6500–2000 BC). In spite of major obstacles to a productive integration of archaeological and anthropological knowledge with ancient DNA data, larger changes in the European gene pool are detected and taken as indications for
-
From Categories to Connections in the Archaeology of Eastern North America Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2021-01-04 Jacob Holland-Lulewicz
A renewed adoption of relational perspectives by archaeologists working in eastern North America has created an opportunity to move beyond categorical approaches, those reliant on the top-down implementation of essentialist models or “types.” Instead, emerging approaches, concerned with highlighting the agential power of relationships between individuals, communities, and institutions, and, more generally
-
Killing the Priest-King: Addressing Egalitarianism in the Indus Civilization Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2020-09-16 Adam S. Green
The cities of the Indus civilization were expansive and planned with large-scale architecture and sophisticated Bronze Age technologies. Despite these hallmarks of social complexity, the Indus lacks clear evidence for elaborate tombs, individual-aggrandizing monuments, large temples, and palaces. Its first excavators suggested that the Indus civilization was far more egalitarian than other early complex
-
Pleistocene Water Crossings and Adaptive Flexibility Within the Homo Genus Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2020-09-14 Dylan Gaffney
Pleistocene water crossings, long thought to be an innovation of Homo sapiens, may extend beyond our species to encompass Middle and Early Pleistocene Homo. However, it remains unclear how water crossings differed among hominin populations, the extent to which Homo sapiens are uniquely flexible in these adaptive behaviors, and how the tempo and scale of water crossings played out in different regions
-
Rethinking Middle Bronze Age Communities on Cyprus: “Egalitarian” and Isolated or Complex and Interconnected? Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2020-09-14 Jennifer M. Webb, A. Bernard Knapp
Current views of Cyprus during the Middle Bronze Age (or Middle Cypriot period) depict an island largely isolated from the wider eastern Mediterranean world and comprised largely if not exclusively of “egalitarian,” agropastoral communities. In this respect, its economy stands at odds with those of polities in other, nearby regions such as the Levant, or Crete in the Aegean. The publication of new
-
In Search of Middle Preclassic Lowland Maya Ideologies Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2020-03-24 Prudence M. Rice
Little is known about Middle Preclassic/Formative lowland Maya belief systems or ideologies, compared to later periods, but with increasing research at Middle Preclassic sites and recognition of their nascent complexity, this topic merits investigation. Belief systems are investigated through perspectives on materialization (of ideological concepts); on order, legitimacy, and wealth; and on cooperation
-
The Southern Cities: Urban Archaeology in Pacific Guatemala and Eastern Soconusco, Mexico Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2020-03-07 Oswaldo Chinchilla Mazariegos
Recent research is shedding light on the long and precocious urban tradition of the Pacific coastal rim of southeastern Mesoamerica, from eastern Soconusco, Mexico, to Escuintla, Guatemala. The available data provide a basis to discuss variations in urban shape and functions, and to a lesser extent, urban life and meaning at Formative and Classic cities, plus brief mention of Late Postclassic cities
-
The Pre-Columbian Peopling and Population Dispersals of South America Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2020-03-03 Richard C. Sutter
This paper summarizes the current archaeological, physiographic, demographic, molecular, and bioarchaeological understanding of the initial peopling and subsequent population dynamics of South America. Well-dated sites point to a colonization by relatively few broad-spectrum foragers from northeastern Asia between ~13,000 and 12,000 cal BC via the Panamanian Peninsula. By ~11,500–11,000 cal BC, a number
-
The History and Future of Migrationist Explanations in the Archaeology of the Eastern Woodlands with a Synthetic Model of Woodland Period Migrations on the Gulf Coast Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2020-01-03 Thomas J. Pluckhahn, Neill J. Wallis, Victor D. Thompson
Migration was embraced as a general phenomenon by cultural historical archaeologists in the Eastern Woodlands, subsequently rejected by processualists, and recently invoked again with greater frequency due to advances in both method and theory. However, challenges remain in regard to establishing temporal correlations between source and host regions and identifying the specific mechanisms of migration
-
From the Neolithic to the Bronze Age in Central Italy: Settlement, Burial, and Social Change at the Dawn of Metal Production Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2019-12-20 Andrea Dolfini
The Late Neolithic and Copper Age were a time of change in most of Europe. Technological innovations including animal traction, the wheel, and plow agriculture transformed the prehistoric economy. The discovery of copper metallurgy expanded the spectrum of socially significant materials and realigned exchange networks away from Neolithic “greenstone,” obsidian, and Spondylus shells. New funerary practices
-
Early Urbanism in Northern Mesopotamia Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2019-08-31 Augusta McMahon
Cities generate challenges as well as confer advantages on their inhabitants. Recent excavations and surveys in northern Mesopotamia have revealed extensive settlements with diverse populations, institutions, extended hinterlands, and mass production by the early fourth millennium BC, comparable to well-known evidence for cities in their traditional homeland of southern Iraq. However, early northern
-
Archaeology for Sustainable Agriculture Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2019-08-29 Chelsea Fisher
How will archaeology contribute to agricultural sustainability? To address that question, this overview reflects on the diverse and complementary ways that archaeology has advanced our understanding of sustainable agriculture. Here, I assess recent archaeological research through the lens of the five principles of sustainable agriculture used by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
-
The Inertia of Old Ideas: A Historical Overview of Theoretical and Methodological Challenges in the Study of Classic Maya Political Organization Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2019-07-09 Jerald D. Ek
While it is tempting to assume that empirical advancements inexorably lead to incremental improvement in our understanding of the past, the impact of ideas—even empirically untenable positions—often impede disciplinary progress. This paper examines the intellectual history of changing views of Classic Maya political organization, from the formulation of the “traditional synthesis” to contemporary debates
-
Commodity Chains in Archaeological Research: Cotton Cloth in the Aztec Economy Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2019-06-18 John K. Millhauser, Lisa Overholtzer
This paper applies the interdisciplinary approaches of commodity chain, commodity circuit, and commodity network analyses—common in sociology, anthropology, and geography—to cotton cloth in the Aztec economy to demonstrate how these techniques can enrich archaeological understandings of ancient economies. Commodity chain analysis draws attention to social and economic dependencies that link people
-
New Perspectives on the Political Economy of Great Zimbabwe Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2019-06-10 Shadreck Chirikure
This review draws from old and new archaeological data and takes interpretive flavor from indigenous African concepts to demonstrate that, within a context of local and external interfaces, Great Zimbabwe’s political economy was a mosaic rooted more in a mix of seasonally specific, household-based, compositional strategies of production and circulation and less in the redistribution of archaeologically
-
New Research on the “Kings of Metal”: Systems of Social Distinction in the Copper Age of Southeastern Europe Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2019-04-09 Florian Klimscha
This paper discusses the degree of social complexity in southeastern Europe in the fifth millennium BC and presents previously unreported evidence from the tell societies of the Lower Danube. Based on the analysis of stone, flint, and copper axes of various types from Pietrele in southern Romania, I argue that social distinction, as deduced from the Varna cemetery, also can be identified in contemporary
-
The Political Agency of Royal Women: A Comparative Analysis of Eight Premodern States According to Societal Rules and Roles Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2019-03-20 Paula L. W. Sabloff
Comparative analysis of women rulers and main wives of kings in eight premodern states around the globe reveals similar patterns of political agency, or the opportunity and ability to take political action. Queen rulers, regents, and main wives substituting for their husbands in their absence made policy, but they had somewhat less political agency than male rulers. Main wives’ political agency took
-
Advances in City-State Research, with an Example from Mesoamerica Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2019-03-16 Stephen A. Kowalewski
The last 20 years have seen advances in the understanding of city-states, especially in ancient Greece, where textual information fuels new theories about institutions and the ancient economy. Archaeological research makes significant contributions with data comparable across multiple city-states on settlement patterns, urban and rural development, political and ritual activities, and other materializations
-
The Innovation and Adoption of Iron in the Ancient Near East Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2019-02-21 Nathaniel L. Erb-Satullo
This review synthesizes field research, textual analysis, and archaeometric data to evaluate different explanations for the spread of iron in the ancient Near East. Current evidence supports an Anatolian origin for extractive iron metallurgy on a limited scale sometime in the early 2nd millennium BC. However, the first major expansion of iron, both in Anatolia and across the wider Near East, occurred
-
Extracting Insights from Prehistoric Andean Metallurgy: Political Organization, Interregional Connections, and Ritual Meanings Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2019-02-07 Colleen Zori
Metal production in the prehistoric Andes entailed an array of political, economic, and ritual relationships that are increasingly the focus of archaeological investigation. One theme directing recent research is the link between metallurgy and political organization, including the origins of metal production, its relationship to sociopolitical complexity, and how shifts in the organization of metal
-
Finding a Place for Networks in Archaeology Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2019-02-04 Matthew A. Peeples
Formal network analyses have a long history in archaeology but have recently seen a rapid florescence. Network models drawing on approaches from graph theory, social network analysis, and complexity science have been used to address a broad array of questions about the relationships among network structure, positions, and the attributes and outcomes for individuals and larger groups at a range of social
-
A History of Cacao in West Mexico: Implications for Mesoamerica and U.S. Southwest Connections Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2018-09-10 Michael D. Mathiowetz
Cacao economies in far western Mexico developed between AD 850/900 and 1350+ along with the adoption of a political–religious complex centered on the solar deity Xochipilli as the Aztatlán culture became integrated into expanding political, economic, and information networks of highland and southern Mesoamerica. The Xochipilli complex significantly transformed societies in the Aztatlán core zone of
-
Evaluating Social Complexity and Inequality in the Balkans Between 6500 and 4200 BC Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2018-09-04 Marko Porčić
The subject of this paper is the social structure and sociocultural evolution of Balkan Neolithic and Eneolithic societies between 6500 and 4200 BC. I draw on archaeological evidence from three major regions of the Balkans related to demography, settlement, economy, warfare, and differences in status and wealth between individuals and groups to evaluate the degree and kind of social complexity and
-
The Rise of Pastoralism in the Ancient Near East Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2018-09-03 Benjamin S. Arbuckle, Emily L. Hammer
In this paper, we present a history of pastoralism in the ancient Near East from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age. We describe the accretional development of pastoral technologies over eight millennia, including the productive breeding of domestic sheep, goats, and cattle in the early Neolithic and the subsequent domestication of animals used primarily for labor—donkeys, horses, and finally camels—as
-
The Provenance, Use, and Circulation of Metals in the European Bronze Age: The State of Debate Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2018-07-02 Miljana Radivojević, Benjamin W. Roberts, Ernst Pernicka, Zofia Stos-Gale, Marcos Martinón-Torres, Thilo Rehren, Peter Bray, Dirk Brandherm, Johan Ling, Jianjun Mei, Helle Vandkilde, Kristian Kristiansen, Stephen J. Shennan, Cyprian Broodbank
Bronze is the defining metal of the European Bronze Age and has been at the center of archaeological and science-based research for well over a century. Archaeometallurgical studies have largely focused on determining the geological origin of the constituent metals, copper and tin, and their movement from producer to consumer sites. More recently, the effects of recycling, both temporal and spatial
-
From Community to State: The Development of the Aksumite Polity (Northern Ethiopia and Eritrea), c. 400 BC–AD 800 Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2018-06-16 Rodolfo Fattovich
The so-called Kingdom of Aksum in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea was the dominant African polity along the southern Red Sea in the first millennium AD. The polity emerged in central Tigray (northern Ethiopia) in the late first millennium BC, incorporated eastern Tigray and central Eritrea in the mid-first millennium AD, and eventually declined in the late first millennium AD. The adoption of Christianity
-
Early Platforms, Early Plazas: Exploring the Precursors to Mississippian Mound-and-Plaza Centers Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2018-06-13 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
-
Correction to: Urbanization in Iron Age Europe: Trajectories, Patterns, and Social Dynamics Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2018-03-02 Manuel Fernández-Götz
The original version of this article unfortunately contained an error. The copyright for Fig. 12 was incorrectly published in the article. Due to the copyright disagreement, the author would like to replace the incorrect Fig. 12 and its caption, with a new Fig. 12. Also, the author would like to correct the caption with a relevant credit line. The corrected Fig. 12 and caption are given below. Figure 12
-
“Every Tradesman Must Also Be a Merchant”: Behavioral Ecology and Household-Level Production for Barter and Trade in Premodern Economies Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2018-02-28 Kathryn Demps, Bruce Winterhalder
While archaeologists now have demonstrated that barter and trade of material commodities began in prehistory, theoretical efforts to explain these findings are just beginning. We adapt the central place foraging model from behavioral ecology and the missing-market model from development economics to investigate conditions favoring the origins of household-level production for barter and trade in premodern
-
Studying Figurines Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2018-02-28 Joyce Marcus
Earlier generations of Mesoamerican scholars created figurine types and chronologies, laying the foundation for today’s archaeologists who have been linking figurines to household archaeology, gender studies, performance, materiality, embodiment, animism, political economy, agency, and identity. Scholars are establishing a figurine’s life history from clay procurement to manufacture, manipulation,
-
Early Complex Society on the North and Central Peruvian Coast: New Archaeological Discoveries and New Insights Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2017-11-27 Thomas Pozorski, Shelia Pozorski
Archaeological data from the north and central Peruvian coast are presented here as a means to explore key themes relating to social complexity, including complex society and its origins, newly resolved chronological issues, the relationship between iconography and society, and the definition of a new culture. Focusing on an early time span, from ca. 3000 to 200 cal BC, we identify key questions about
-
NEARCHOS. Networked Archaeological Open Science: Advances in Archaeology Through Field Analytics and Scientific Community Sharing Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2017-11-13 Nicolò Marchetti, Ivana Angelini, Gilberto Artioli, Giacomo Benati, Gabriele Bitelli, Antonio Curci, Gustavo Marfia, Marco Roccetti
The full release and circulation of excavation results often takes decades, thus slowing down progress in archaeology to a degree not in keeping with other scientific fields. The nonconformity of released data for digital processing also requires vast and costly data input and adaptation. Archaeology should face the cognitive challenges posed by digital environments, changing in scope and rhythm. We
-
“Elephants for Want of Towns”: Archaeological Perspectives on West African Cities and Their Hinterlands Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2017-11-10 J. Cameron Monroe
Sub-Saharan Africa has long been seen as lacking the potential for autochthonous urban development, and Near Eastern and European contact provided ready explanations for the emergence of precolonial cities across the continent. In the past few decades, the pace of archaeological work on African cities has accelerated, and archaeologists have increasingly deployed a functional model of the city, in
-
Archaeology and Inka Origins Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2017-10-17 R. Alan Covey
The recent proliferation of Andean archaeological research presents new interpretive opportunities for reconstructing different aspects of Inka origins. Early colonial historiography reveals that “Inka origins” refers to multiple aspects of the past, including the first appearance of Andean people, Inca ancestors, and the imperial title. The intellectual history of Inka archaeology demonstrates the
-
Archaeological Studies of Cooking and Food Preparation Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2017-10-06 Sarah R. Graff
Foodways have been a component of archaeological research for decades. However, cooking and food preparation, as specific acts that could reveal social information about life beyond the kitchen, only became a focus of archaeological inquiry more recently. A review of the literature on cooking and food preparation reveals a shift from previous studies on subsistence strategies, consumption, and feasting
-
Urbanization in Iron Age Europe: Trajectories, Patterns, and Social Dynamics Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2017-08-17 Manuel Fernández-Götz
The development of the first urban centers is one of the most fundamental phenomena in the history of temperate Europe. New research demonstrates that the earliest cities developed north of the Alps between the sixth and fifth centuries BC as a consequence of processes of demographic growth, hierarchization, and centralization that have their roots in the immediately preceding period. However, this
-
Astronomy, Architecture, and Landscape in Prehispanic Mesoamerica Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2017-08-09 Ivan Šprajc
This article synthesizes recent advances in the study of astronomy and worldview in architectural and urban planning in Mesoamerica. Throughout most of this cultural area, the practice of orienting civic and ceremonial buildings followed similar principles, although regional and time-dependent variations are present. Analysis of alignment data has revealed the existence of distinct and widespread orientation
-
New Research on the Late Prehistoric Coastal Polities of Northern Peru Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2017-08-05 Melissa A. Vogel
Previously, the Chimú empire was thought to have dominated the north coast of Peru during the Late Intermediate period, virtually to the exclusion of other polities. However, new research on sites from this period has not only changed perspectives on the Chimú, but also shed light on two other important coastal polities: the Lambayeque/Sicán and the Casma, providing insights with the potential to reshape
-
Ancient Biological Invasions and Island Ecosystems: Tracking Translocations of Wild Plants and Animals Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2017-06-30 Courtney A. Hofman, Torben C. Rick
Biological invasions are one of the great threats to Earth’s ecosystems and biodiversity in the Anthropocene. However, species introductions and invasions extend deep into the human past, with the translocation of both wild and domestic species around the world. Here, we review the human translocation of wild plants and animals to the world’s islands. We focus on establishing criteria used to differentiate
-
Different Trajectories in State Formation in Greater Mesopotamia: A View from Arslantepe (Turkey) Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2017-06-28 Marcella Frangipane
Long-term excavations at Arslantepe, Malatya (Turkey), have revealed the development, in the fourth millennium BC, of a precocious palatial system with a monumental building complex, sophisticated bureaucracy, and a strong centralization of economic and political power in a nonurban site. This paper reconsiders, in comparative terms, the main features and organization of the earliest states in Greater
-
Foodways Archaeology: A Decade of Research from the Southeastern United States Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2017-02-15 Tanya M. Peres
Interest in the study of foodways through an archaeological lens, particularly in the American Southeast, is evident in the abundance of literature on this topic over the past decade. Foodways as a concept includes all of the activities, rules, and meanings that surround the production, harvesting, processing, cooking, serving, and consumption of food. We study foodways and components of foodways archaeologically
-
Northwest Mexico: The Prehistory of Sonora, Chihuahua, and Neighboring Areas Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2017-02-10 Matthew Pailes
This article surveys research in Northwest Mexico (Sonora and Chihuahua), with an emphasis on the Early Agricultural period to the Late Prehistoric period. Middle range societies that are diverse in scale and organization characterize this region. Significant advancements in our understanding of these societies have been made in recent years, but substantial challenges remain in building interpretative
-
Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction from Faunal Remains: Ecological Basics and Analytical Assumptions Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2017-02-10 R. Lee Lyman
Paleozoologists have long used taxa represented by ancient faunal remains to reconstruct paleoenvironments. Those ancient environments were the selective contexts in which hominin biological and cultural evolution took place. Knowing about those particularistic selective environments and how organisms responded to them is increasingly seen as critically important to identifying both how biota will
-
Caracol, Belize, and Changing Perceptions of Ancient Maya Society Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2016-12-30 Diane Z. Chase, Arlen F. Chase
Archaeological research at Caracol, an ancient Maya site that was rediscovered in 1937, has become a major resource in the interpretation and understanding of the ancient Maya. Caracol, in west-central Belize, is situated in a subtropical region once characterized as being unsuitable for the development or maintenance of complex societies, yet it is one of the largest, if not the largest Classic period
-
Emergent Complexity, Changing Landscapes, and Spheres of Interaction in Southeastern South America During the Middle and Late Holocene Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2016-12-30 José Iriarte, Paulo DeBlasis, Jonas Gregorio De Souza, Rafael Corteletti
Newly created academic programs at Brazilian universities have provided the impetus for new archaeological projects in southeastern South America during the last two decades. The new data are changing our views on emergent social complexity, natural and human-induced transformation of the landscape, and transcontinental expansions and cultural interactions across the Río de la Plata basin during the
-
Bioarchaeology and the Skeletons of the Pre-Columbian Maya Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2016-10-19 Andrew K. Scherer
This review explores the past two decades of research on ancient Maya skeletons. The focus is on how this work has contributed to our understanding of health, diet, social change, inequality, migration and mobility, war, violence, and ritual practice, with special attention given to recent methodological developments and debates in the bioarchaeology of the Maya. This review essay highlights the most
-
Trade and Power in Ancient Egypt: Middle Egypt in the Late Third/Early Second Millennium BC Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2016-10-18 Juan Carlos Moreno García
Middle Egypt provides a unique insight into the organization of power, politics, economy, and culture at the turn of the third millennium BC. The apparently easy integration of this region into the reunified monarchy of king Mentuhotep II (2055–2004 BC) was possible because the interests and the local lineages of potentates were preserved. Trade and access and/or control of international exchange networks
-
Political Economies of Predynastic Egypt and the Formation of the Early State Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2016-08-31 Kathryn A. Bard
Considered one of the world’s earliest examples of a pristine state, the ancient Egyptian state arose by ca. 3000 BC. State formation in Egypt became a focus of much research in the 1970s and 1980s, as investigations of the Predynastic period in Egypt, when complex society arose there, began to uncover new evidence of the indigenous roots of this phenomenon. More recently, archaeological investigations
-
Local and “Global” Perspectives on the Middle Woodland Southeast Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2016-08-03 Alice P. Wright
During the Middle Woodland period, from 200 BC to AD 600, southeastern societies erected monuments, interacted widely, and produced some of the most striking material culture of the pre-Columbian era, but these developments are often overshadowed by the contemporaneous florescence of Hopewell culture in Ohio. I argue that the demonstrable material links between the Middle Woodland Southeast and Midwest
-
Assembling the Iron Age Levant: The Archaeology of Communities, Polities, and Imperial Peripheries Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2016-03-05 Benjamin W. Porter
Archaeological research on the Iron Age (1200–500 BC) Levant, a narrow strip of land bounded by the Mediterranean Sea and the Arabian Desert, has been balkanized into smaller culture historical zones structured by modern national borders and disciplinary schools. One consequence of this division has been an inability to articulate broader research themes that span the wider region. This article reviews
-
The Egyptian Predynastic and State Formation Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2016-03-01 Alice Stevenson
When the archaeology of Predynastic Egypt was last appraised in this journal, Savage (2001a, p. 101) expressed optimism that “a consensus appears to be developing that stresses the gradual development of complex society in Egypt.” The picture today is less clear, with new data and alternative theoretical frameworks challenging received wisdom over the pace, direction, and nature of complex social change
-
Household Archaeology in Polynesia: Historical Context and New Directions Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2016-02-23 Jennifer G. Kahn
This review highlights archaeological investigations of precontact and historic house sites in Polynesia, a region noted for its diversity of chiefdoms in terms of scale and elaboration. Anthropological and historical perceptions of the Polynesian household have shifted over time, influencing the ways in which the household has been defined in archaeology. Early research emphasized houses as a unit
-
Household Craft Production in the Prehispanic Urban Setting of Mayapán, Yucatan, Mexico Journal of Archaeological Research (IF 2.842) Pub Date : 2016-02-02 Marilyn A. Masson, Timothy S. Hare, Carlos Peraza Lope, Bárbara C. Escamilla Ojeda, Elizabeth H. Paris, Betsy Kohut, Bradley W. Russell, Wilberth Cruz Alvarado
The complexity of the organization of craft production mirrors multiple aspects of the larger political economies of premodern states. At the late Maya urban center of Mayapán, variation in the social contexts of crafting within a single settlement defies simple classificatory models that once held sway in the literature of nonWestern state societies. Most surplus crafters were independent and affluent
Contents have been reproduced by permission of the publishers.