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Archaeology: Theories, Methods, and Practice
... Wurm's 'Cabinet of Curiosities ', 1655', . Bahn (1996. ...
... Sir Mortimer Wheeler, 1890. Renfrew & Bahn (1996. Guernsey's Parliament, The States of Deliberation. GMAG Collection. Figure 30 The growing industry in Guernsey. GMAG Collection. ...
... Many autodidacts and polymaths of the Victorian era were utterly remarkable scholars (Bahn, 1996, xn) ...
p>Frederick Corbin Lukis, lived in Guernsey in the Channel Islands from 1788-1871. This study is an assessment of his archaeological archive, the majority of which is now held in the collections of Guernsey Museum and Galleries. Evidence is presented to make the case that he should be remembered as a remarkable archaeologist, worthy of recognition alongside the central characters omnipresent in many histories of archaeology.
The introduction outlines the research design and is followed by a review of the history of antiquarianism and the development of archaeology as a discipline, with particular reference to the nineteenth century. The various genres of the writing of histories of archaeology are also considered, including broad narratives, the development of the earliest archaeological institutions and local societies, and biographies of many of well known archaeologists who made significant contributions to the burgeoning discipline in the nineteenth century. A description of Guernsey is then drawn, and a biography of Lukis’ life is presented, against the social background in which he grew up and lived, in nineteenth-century Guernsey society. Most importantly, his work as an archaeologist is examined and evaluated, and through his network of contacts, both home and abroad, his intellectual milieu is established. It soon becomes apparent that F.C. Lukis is an important player in the transition period between the early nineteenth-century ‘barrow diggers’ such as Colt Hoare and the more scientific methodology and fieldwork of Pitt-Rovers at the end of the nineteenth century.
Finally, the legacy that Lukis left his successors and its importance to the study of archaeology in general, but in particular to Guernsey and the other Channel Islands, is discussed. The fieldwork legacy, the museum collections and Lukis’ influence on the development of practical and intellectual archaeological epistemologies is considered, and an assessment made of the work which Lukis carried out. This work, although carried out without the scientific basis that modern day studies would involve, still forms the basis for any serious study of Guernsey’s prehistoric past.</p
... The non-reproducible nature of archaeological excavations-combined with a growing awareness of the importance of depositional context and artefact provenience-has over time driven archaeologists to adopt gradually more advanced documentation strategies [2][3][4][5]. While many of these strategies involve the combined recording of the visual, spatial, physical and contextual aspects of a site at various stages of excavation, no formal or universally acknowledged documentation procedure in field archaeology has been adopted beyond that of loosely defined best-practice guidelines [1,6]. ...
Over the last 30 years, high-resolution site documentation has rapidly developed, with analogue drawings and film photography being replaced with high-precision digital recordings. Today, most archaeological field data sets are produced using digital tools that store spatial and visual information in various digital formats directly, i.e., born-digital. A fully digital workflow makes the process of combining, comparing, and integrating field datasets quicker, easier, and potentially more analytically powerful. However, at sites where both analogue and born-digital data sets have been produced, additional procedural digitization steps are required before full data interoperability is achieved. In cases where the archaeological sites have a long excavation history, multiple generations of analogue and digital site documentation techniques have often been used, making it particularly challenging to physically reconstruct an excavated site based on its archival material. The Middle Stone Age site of Blombos Cave, South Africa, is a prime example of this type of challenging situation. This site features a more than 3-meter-deep and well-preserved archaeological sequence dated to between 300 and 100 000 years ago. Since it was initially excavated in 1991, multiple archaeological campaigns have been carried out (>15), and the excavations are still ongoing. The field documentation from Blombos Cave has, over the years, produced varied but rich datasets that have never been integrated into a single, coherent, and accessible archive. In this paper we evaluate the changes in excavation protocol at Blombos Cave over time, and we use this knowledge to digitally integrate and map the various stages of excavation within a three-dimensional framework using digital photogrammetry and archival photographs. The archaeological and analytical value of this approach is exemplified through multiple case studies, in which we demonstrate how and why the merging of old and new archaeological field data can lead to new results, specifically by offering more complete mapping and more accurate and analytically dynamic visualisations. The research history at Blombos Cave is not unique or site-specific. Our approach would be applicable to a wide variety of sites and contexts where long-running excavations have produced a mix of analogue and digital field data.
... Other prominent figures included David L. Clarke [5], Colin Renfrew [6], and Michael Schiffer [7]. For a general overview of the proponents and fundamental principles of the New Archaeology, see the works of Renfrew, Bahn [8]; Guidi [9], and Giannichedda [10]. ...
Archaeological settings are intrinsically dynamic, undergoing transformations over time that significantly impact the archaeological record. These changes result from both deliberate human interventions and natural degradation processes. Post-depositional phenomena often distort our understanding of ancient contexts, complicating the identification of the original arrangement and hindering the interpretation of archaeological findings. This issue is particularly pronounced in funerary contexts, such as burials, which are susceptible to various natural and human-induced alterations. This study shows the potential of analysing funerary contexts within a processual framework and reconstructing them in a dynamic 3D environment. By employing metrically and morphologically accurate 3D reconstructions, it becomes possible to simulate, isolate, and analyze post-depositional phenomena. The precision of 3D simulation increases significantly when considering factors such as gravity. The goal of this study is to assess changes resulting from transformative phenomena, with a specific focus on creating a sequential representation that elucidates the burial's transformation processes, spanning from deposition to excavation phases.
... In particular, the analysis of the presence and frequency of similar ceramic types and samples allowed for estimating a date for the artefacts. The archaeological studies supported the interpretation of data and the reconstruction of the paleo-landscape by an integrated methodology that included the historical-topographical analysis of the area (Dall'Aglio, 2000; Renfrew and Bahn, 2016;Ferrari, 2017;Zingaro and Mastronuzzi, 2017;Zingaro et al., 2021). ...
In response to the accidental exhumation of three ancient trees by farmers, we conducted a multidisciplinary study based on the stratigraphic analysis of boreholes, carbon-14 dating, aerial photo interpretation, and analysis of palaeobotanical and archaeological evidences. We reconstructed the formation and evolution during Roman times of a first “continuous” and then “discontinuous” deltaic strandplain at the mouth of the Carapelle Stream in the Tavoliere di Puglia Plain—the second-largest plain in Italy. Ttwo main phases can be recognised in the evolution of the Carapelle deltaic strandplain: 1) a first phase, lasted until ca. the birth of Christ, was characterised by a regular and continuous construction of sand ridges one leaning against the other; 2) a second phase, lasted more or less from the birth of Christ to the termination of the construction of the deltaic strandplain, was characterised by the discontinuous construction of sand ridges/coastal barriers with the isolation of lagoons/ponds, and by evidences of alluvial events. The most probable climatic–environmental scenario to have formed the Roman-period deltaic strandplain implied that: 1) the first phase was triggered by a higher total amount of precipitations, but with less extreme alluvial events; 2) the second phase was triggered by a total amount of precipitation lower than the previous period, but with higher occurrence of extreme alluvial events and/or by extreme alluvial events separated by longer period of low precipitations. This second phase was enhanced by the opening of vegetation. The passage between the first and second phase of the Carapelle deltaic strandplain coincides with the passage from overall negative NAO index to an overall positive NAO index.
... Mas as escavações em Ur tiveram início muito antes de Leonard Woolley, ou seja, na fase especulativa da arqueologia quando esta ainda não se tinha instituído como ciência. Ou seja, quando ainda não se valorizavam a importância do contexto do achado arqueológico para a sua interpretação, e o cuidado meticuloso a ter na realização da escavação e recolha de dados (Renfrew & Bahn 2020). Uma vez reduzidas ou eliminadas as hostilidades, estes locais têm a potencialidade de: gerar importantes receitas para a economia provenientes do turismo internacional; envolver historiadores , arqueólogos e os outros cientistas iraquianos em projetos de investigação; servir como polo de reunificação de nações dilaceradas pelo sectarismo religioso (Taylor 2011); e, finalmente, contribuir para a preservação de um património que é, de facto, uma importante herança pertencente a toda a humanidade. ...
Pretende-se com este ensaio fazer uma breve reflexão sobre Ur - antiga cidade da Mesopotâmia e atualmente Tall al-Muqayyar ou Tell el-Muqayyar, localizada no sul do Iraque -, mais concretamente sobre as escavações arqueológicas aí realizadas desde o século XIX e os respetivos espólios exumados.O núcleo antigo, que constitui o objeto de análise deste trabalho, está situado no topo de uma colina que se eleva cerca de 20 metros acima do território circundante. O facto de se encontrar abrangida pela área de influência da base aérea Norte-Americana de Talil (fig.1), tem contribuído para manter este arqueossítio a salvo dos saques que nos últimos vinte anos têm assolado os locais históricos do Iraque(Hammer 2019; Stone et al. 2021).Ur foi uma importante cidade da Mesopotâmia durante cerca de 3000 anos, desde o período Obeid até ao período Aqueménida (c.3800-500 a.C.). Atualmente distante do rio Eufrates, na antiguidade seria servida por canais provenientes deste importante rio (fig. 2), não havendo certezas quanto às causas naturais, que terão provocado tão acentuado desvio da linha de água (Glassman 2019).Considerada durante muito tempo como uma cidade de dimensão modesta, em área, comparativamente com outras cidades mesopotâmias suas contemporâneas, investigações recentes indicam que não seria necessariamente assim. Como tal, Ur poderá estar entre as maiores cidades da Mesopotâmia do período compreendido entre o terceiro e o primeiro milénio a.C. (Hammer 2019).Assim, apresentar-se-á um resumo das escavações aí realizadas até à atualidade, assim comode outras contribuições científicas que permitiram, paulatinamente, aumentar o nosso conhecimento sobre esta cidade. Também se fará um breve resumo de futuras pesquisas propostas pelos atuais investigadores
... La decisión acerca del lugar donde excavar se tomó sobre la base de las características del recinto y su vinculación espacial con la habitación de molienda. La excavación se realizó por niveles artificiales de 5 cm, con registro tridimensional de los materiales recuperados y control de los cambios sedimentarios (Renfrew y Bahn, 2000). ...
El casco histórico del pueblo de Payogasta (Cachi, provincia de Salta), ubicado en las proximidades de la margen derecha del río Calchaquí, fue el centro de las actividades sociales y económicas durante los siglos XIX y XX, antes de la construcción de la ruta nacional Nº 40. Se trata de un conjunto de construcciones, con variable grado de conservación, caracterizadas por una típica arquitectura colonial y postcolonial, entre los cuales se encuentra un molino hidráulico y una vieja casona, ubicada enfrente. Nuestras investigaciones en el área, iniciadas en el año 2017, estuvieron centradas originalmente en el molino, atendiendo a sus aspectos cronológicos y funcionales. No obstante, la posibilidad de que esta casona tuviera algún grado de articulación, por su cercanía y similitudes arquitectónicas, hizo que las pesquisas también incluyeran este edificio. En virtud de esto, en este trabajo presentamos los primeros datos procedentes de la excavación de la casona y su correlación con las excavaciones realizadas en el Molino Harinero de Payogasta. Los primeros resultados permiten confirmar que ambos fueron contemporáneos, si bien la casona habría sido propiedad de sectores sociales vinculados a la propiedad de la tierra, en tanto los dueños del molino estaban más bien relacionados al sector comercial del pueblo, que brindaba el servicio de la molienda. Con esto no se descarta que en momentos previos ambos hayan sido parte de la misma Hacienda, a juzgar por los antecedentes que hay para la región.
... Adanya konteks kultural yang signifikan, melalui kondisi matriks, provenance, dan asosiasi, menjadikan data ekofak sebagai penunjang non-artefak yang signifikan terhadap interpretasi perilaku manusia pada masa lalu. Selain itu, penggunaan data ekofak juga melengkapi rekonstruksi kondisi lingkungan dan sosial pada masa budaya tertentu (Renfrew & Bahn, 2016). Mengacu pada potensinya yang signifikan, kajian terhadap adaptasi lingkungan oleh penghuni Gua Arca di Pulau Kangean akan dilakukan dengan analisis temuan ekofak dan residu mikrobotani. ...
Tulisan ini membahas tentang eksplorasi dan pemanfaatan sumber daya alam oleh penghuni gua. Data yang digunakan dalam tulisan ini adalah hasil ekskavasi situs Gua Arca di Pulau Kangean, Sumenep, Jawa Timur. Metode yang digunakan deskriptif dengan analisis ekofak dan analisis residu mikrobotani pada artefak. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan adanya pola adaptasi dari penghuni pulau ini, dengan melakukan eksplorasi maksimal terhadap sumber daya alam di darat dan laut. Pada periode awal hunian sekitar 6000 BP, terjadi pemanfaatan sumber daya darat yang cukup dominan berupa binatang dengan habitat hutan terbuka, yaitu Cervidae, Bovidae, Macaca sp., dan binatang kecil seperti Cercopithecidae, Rodentia dan Varanidae. Pada periode setelahnya, sekitar 900 BP, terjadi perubahan pemanfaatan sumber daya alam. Pemanfaatan sumber daya laut menjadi lebih dominan, yang sebagian besar diperoleh dari lingkungan perairan mangrove dan daerah pasang surut. Tumbuhan yang dimanfaatkan antara lain pisang liar, padi liar, kelapa, umbi, dan penggunaan intensif tanaman Zingiberacea.
... Adanya konteks kultural yang signifikan, melalui kondisi matriks, provenance, dan asosiasi, menjadikan data ekofak sebagai penunjang non-artefak yang signifikan terhadap interpretasi perilaku manusia pada masa lalu. Selain itu, penggunaan data ekofak juga melengkapi rekonstruksi kondisi lingkungan dan sosial pada masa budaya tertentu (Renfrew & Bahn, 2016). Mengacu pada potensinya yang signifikan, kajian terhadap adaptasi lingkungan oleh penghuni Gua Arca di Pulau Kangean akan dilakukan dengan analisis temuan ekofak dan residu mikrobotani. ...
Keywords: Cave-dwelling; subsistence; residue; microbotany; paleo-environment This paper discusses the exploration and utilization of natural resources by a cave-dwelling community. Data was obtained from the excavation at Gua Arca site in Kangean Island, Sumenep, East Java. The results from ecofact analysis and micro-botanical residue analysis on artifacts show the adaptation pattern of the inhabitants of this island by optimizing the exploration of terrestrial and marine resources. During the early occupancy period of c. 6000 BP, there was a fairly dominant use of terrestrial resources, indicated by open forest animal remains, such as Cervidae, Bovidae, Macaca sp., as well as small animals, such as Cercopithecidae, Rodentia, and Varanidae. In the later period of c. 900 BP, the exploitation of natural resources shifted to marine resources, which mainly from the mangrove forest and intertidal zones. Plant utilization was indicated by the presence of wild bananas, wild rice, coconuts, tubers, and the intensive use of Zingiberaceae plants.
ABSTRAK Kata Kunci: Hunian gua; subsistensi; residu; mikrobotani; lingkungan purba Tulisan ini membahas tentang eksplorasi dan pemanfaatan sumber daya alam oleh penghuni gua. Data yang digunakan dalam tulisan ini adalah hasil ekskavasi situs Gua Arca di Pulau Kangean, Sumenep, Jawa Timur. Metode yang digunakan deskriptif dengan analisis ekofak dan analisis residu mikrobotani pada artefak. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan adanya pola adaptasi dari penghuni pulau ini, dengan melakukan eksplorasi maksimal terhadap sumber daya alam di darat dan laut. Pada periode awal hunian sekitar 6000 BP, terjadi pemanfaatan sumber daya darat yang cukup dominan berupa binatang dengan habitat hutan terbuka, yaitu Cervidae, Bovidae, Macaca sp., dan binatang kecil seperti Cercopithecidae, Rodentia dan Varanidae. Pada periode setelahnya, sekitar 900 BP, terjadi perubahan pemanfaatan sumber daya alam. Pemanfaatan sumber daya laut menjadi lebih dominan, yang sebagian besar diperoleh dari lingkungan perairan mangrove dan daerah pasang surut. Tumbuhan yang dimanfaatkan antara lain pisang liar, padi liar, kelapa, umbi, dan penggunaan intensif tanaman Zingiberacea.
... For many features of objects, it is known how to map them to a certain time span, and even within this time span, frequency differences are known, resulting in probabilistic information. The mathematical procedure to develop such mappings, known as "seriation" was developed by Sir William Flinders Petri as early as the end of the 19th century (Renfrew and Bahn 2019), and today many such chronologies are available. ...
In some applications, only a coarsened version of a categorical outcome variable can be observed. Parametric inference based on the maximum likelihood approach is feasible in principle, but it cannot be covered computationally by standard software tools. In this article, we present two commands facilitating maximum likelihood estimation in this situation for a wide range of parametric models for categorical outcomes—in the cases both of a nominal and an ordinal scale. In particular, the case of probabilistic information about the possible values of the outcome variable is also covered. Two examples motivating this scenario are presented and analyzed.
... Identifikasi Nilai Penting Kawasan dan Rekomendasi4.1 Nilai Penting Kawasan Das Hovorit Cekungan KapuasSebelum membahas lebih jauh mengenai rekomendasi hasil penelitian ini, terdapat dua konsep yang harus kita pahami bersama, yaitu konsep 1) tinggalan arkeologi dan 2) cagar budaya. Tinggalan arkeologi dapat dimaknai sebagai sisa kebudayaan materi manusia masa lalu yang bertahan hingga masa kini, dapat berupa artefak, ekofak, dan fitur(Renfrew & Bahn, 2008). Sementara menurutUndang-Undang No. 11 Tahun 2010 tentang Cagar Budaya, cagar budaya merupakan warisan kebendaan berupa benda, bangunan, struktur, situs, dan kawasan yang perlu dilestarikan keberadaannya karena memiliki nilai penting bagi sejarah, ilmu pengetahuan, pendidikan, agama dan/atau kebudayaan melalui proses penetapan.Dari dua definisi tersebut, terdapat dua hal yang harus dipenuhi oleh suatu objek untuk dapat ditetapkan sebagai cagar budaya, yaitu memiliki nilai penting ata u arti khusus bagi sejarah, ilmu pengetahuan, pendidikan, agama, dan/atau kebudayaan untuk suatu kelompok masyarakat serta melalui proses penetapan sesuai amanah undang-undang.Dalam penelitian ini, melalui studi pustaka terhadap penelitian -penelitian terdahulu dan diskusi kelompok terpumpun (DKT) yang diadakan pada tanggal 14 bulan Agustus 2020, kami berusaha mengidentifikasi nilai penting dari kawasan das Hovorit Cekungan Kapuas Hulu.a. ...
We created a predictive model of potentials archaeological caves exists at the river flow area of Hovorit, Kapuas Hulu, West Borneo. The goal is to make a prediction of occupational area that we will explore in the next year field research.
... Scatters of fragmented pottery found on the surface are considered as archaeological proxies, evidence of past human activity, and indicators for sub-surface archaeological features [1,2]. As a non-destructive method, intensive surface survey has been widely adopted by archaeologists since the 1960s to record potsherds, lithics, and architectural features [3][4][5][6]. ...
Mapping surface ceramics through systematic pedestrian archaeological survey is considered a consistent method to recover the cultural biography of sites within a micro-region. Archaeologists nowadays conduct surface survey equipped with navigation devices counting, documenting, and collecting surface archaeological potsherds within a set of plotted grids. Recent advancements in unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and image processing analysis can be utilised to support such surface archaeological investigations. In this study, we have implemented two different artificial intelligence image processing methods over two areas of interest near the present-day village of Kophinou in Cyprus, in the Xeros River valley. We have applied a random forest classifier through the Google Earth Engine big data cloud platform and a Single Shot Detector neural network in the ArcGIS Pro environment. For the first case study, the detection was based on red–green–blue (RGB) high-resolution orthophotos. In contrast, a multispectral camera covering both the visible and the near-infrared parts of the spectrum was used in the second area of investigation. The overall results indicate that such an approach can be used in the future as part of ongoing archaeological pedestrian surveys to detect scattered potsherds in areas of archaeological interest, even if pottery shares a very high spectral similarity with the surface.
... The main objective of archaeology is to reconstruct the lifeways of the people responsible for the archaeological remains (Renfrew and Bahn 1991), and to synthesize the knowledge of human material remains from the past in the context of time and space, in order to recreate the history of man in its true cultural and physical environment (Krishna, et al' 1967). ...
Pottery production has been recognized as one of the ancient Tiv practices that have survived to this day. Therefore, whenever remains of pottery objects are identified at an archaeological site within the Tivland, they usually contain tangible information regarding the group that made and used them. This research is an ethnoarchaeological investigation of pottery tradition in Usambe community. The researcher uses ethnographic information on pottery production and usage in the area to infer about the cultural formation process, growth and advancement of the Tiv people that made and used clay wares found in fragments on the hills of Usambe. The results, however, align with the position of various scholars of Tiv tradition that the hills located in the present Usambe community are among the hills inhabited by the Tiv people during their exodus into the Benue Valley of Nigeria.
Keywords: Ethnoarchaeology, Pottery making, Tivland, Usambe community.
If we view the actual impact of Chinese archaeology matter-of-factly rather than with a preconceived goal, we are more likely to arrive at a more realistic understanding of the position of Chinese archaeology and to better understand the meaning and direction of its development.
Sítios arqueológicos e históricos, em uso ou abandonados, com componentes funerários são, normalmente, locais de muita vida, de muitas ações, de muitas intervenções e/ou de muitas visitas, retornos e usos. Quanto mais tempo são usados, mais transformações no contexto são esperadas. Partir desta afirmação e entender o que ela significa é importante para qualquer pessoa buscando entender sociedades passadas (ou presentes), sejam elas arqueólogas, historiadoras ou mesmo familiares de um recém-falecido, que querem compreender o espaço no qual deixaram um parente. De maneira mais enfática e acadêmica, a arqueologia há muito tempo se preocupa com a formação dos contextos onde são encontrados os vestígios materiais de diferentes ocupações do passado. Entretanto, é principalmente a partir dos trabalhos de Lewis Binford (1978) e Michael Schieffer (1995) que esta discussão ganhará novas proporções. Novas perguntas começaram a ser formuladas buscando compreender e diferenciar ações e gestos intencionais de processos naturais/tafonômicos pós-deposicionais. Ou seja, nenhum contexto permanece estático e imóvel, todos os locais um dia ocupados e usados passaram e/ou passarão por alterações, sejam elas relacionadas a transformações naturais, sociais ou ambas.
This paper is built upon our earlier papers on the symbiotic approach to sociocultural change, and extends them meaningfully in new directions. This is done by proposing different types of tools and techniques that can be used in identifying cultural bottlenecks, and can therefore be used to usher in, or bring about a faster pace of sociocultural change. We therefore, aptly and appropriately begin this paper by carrying out a brief overview of our earlier papers on sociocultural change, and by briefly laying down their various concepts and postulates. Subsequently, and resultantly, various tools and techniques for identifying and overcoming cultural bottlenecks are also proposed. These include an alignment with a cultural taxonomy, a comparative method to compare cultures, a high low analysis of values, a root cause analysis of cultural performance, analysis of cultural orientations, an evaluation of cultural performance by laying down metric and measurements and analyzing the pace of sociocultural change, etc. We also briefly discuss ethnographic techniques that can be used to evaluate cultures, including long-term ethnography and the ethnography of enculturation. Likewise, social science research methods, and components of research design are reviewed, besides some other approaches to identifying and analyzing cultural bottlenecks. We hope and anticipate that this paper will become a useful cog in the machine to bring about faster sociocultural change, and will become an intrinsic part of our globalization of science movement as well. 2
Este relatório de pesquisa visa o resgate, catalogação e documentação dos artefatos do acervo arqueológico do Laboratório de Geografia Física Aplicada e Análise Ambiental da Universidade Estadual do Norte do Paraná, campus de Cornélio Procópio - UENP/CCP. No primeiro momento, a pesquisa se divide em identificar e catalogar os principais artefatos de interesse arqueológico para posterior exposição no futuro Museu de Geociências do curso de Geografia. Foram identificados e catalogados 64 (sessenta e quatro) artefatos de interesse arqueológico. Mesmo se tratando de uma grande quantidade de informações, o processo de registro do material identificado, especialmente a catalogação e documentação, permitem fazer novas análises e possíveis correlações com outros materiais. A manutenção dos artefatos arqueológicos e a criação do Museu de Geociências do curso de Geografia da Universidade Estadual do Norte do Paraná possibilitarão o intercâmbio com outras instituições do gênero, contribuindo para o enriquecimento dos materiais e conhecimentos existentes sobre o assunto.
The Eurasian Iron Age Scythians, in all their regional iterations, are known for their lavish burials found in various kinds of tumuli. These tumuli, of varying sizes, are located throughout the Eurasian steppe. Based, at least partially, on the amounts and types of grave goods found within these mounds, the Scythians are usually modeled as militant, patriarchal mobile pastoralists, with rigid social structures. Yet, such interpretations are also due to accounts of Scythian lifeways provided by “classical” societies from the Greeks to the Persians, who saw the Scythians largely as barbarians, much like their neighbors to the north of the Greeks, the “Celts”. Despite recent interrogations of the barbarian trope, and the opportunity to dissect the classic formula of large mounds = elevated status, I contend that many studies on Scythian mortuary practices remain monolithic and under-theorized, especially by Western scholars. Drawing upon different conceptual and methodological frameworks, I present alternative, multi-scalar understandings of Scythian mortuary landscapes. Utilizing a spacetime-oriented, dialogical approach supplemented with geographic information systems, I interrogate how and why various meanings and experiences may have intersected in these protean Scythian landscapes of the dead, rather than reducing them to monolithic symbolic proxies of ideological status.
Archaeology is known as the science of the human past, based on remains left by humans. These remains include the remains of human and animal bones, food remains, and any material that humans have transformed with their work or made a tool from. Archaeologists have focused their studies on past societies and their changes over a long period. In the 1930s and at the beginning of new archaeology, attention to the role of interdisciplinary sciences in archaeology became stronger. Archaeobotany, which is also known as ethnobotany, is the study of plant evidence in ancient sites. Archaeologists are solely focused on the past environment of humans. The study of the interaction between humans and plants using plant remains left over from the past is what this field focuses on. Archaeobotanists can restore the climate, Know the livelihood, rebuild trade routes and investigate the process and strategy of animal domestication and feed by studying plant remains. The following article introduces both disciplines and their functions. It describes the function of archaeobotany, the materials studied, the history of its origin, and its impact on archaeological results.
Scholars of the past frame the ‘origins’ or evolution of inequality, usually using archaeological or anthropological evidence as a basis for their arguments, as an intentional, inevitable, important step towards the development of states, implicitly framed as the pinnacle of human political and economic achievement. Anarchist archaeologies reject the idea of hierarchy as a positive or inevitable evolutionary outcome underlying the path to civilization. We argue instead for a radical reorientation towards archaeologies of equality. We propose a prefigurative archaeology that celebrates the myriad ways that human beings have actively undermined and resisted hierarchical social arrangements. We aim to reorient archaeology's focus towards societies that purposefully prevented or constrained the emergence of inequality. To demonstrate the potential of archaeologies of equality we present case examples from Oceania, Britain, West Asia and the American Southwest. Highlighting the accomplishments of societies of equals in the past demonstrates the contingency and problematic nature of present forms of inequality. It allows us to explore a different set of pasts and thus enact different presents as we imagine different futures.
In this study, the calcaneus and talus bones of 20 male and female adult Simmental and Angus cattle were used. The age and sex of these animals were recorded before slaughter, and carcass weights were taken after slaughter. Calcaneus and talus morphometric measurements were used to obtain multipliers that allow the estimation of the carcass weight. These multipliers were found to be mean values of 3.346 and 4.642, respectively. Thus, multipliers were obtained that can be used in the evaluation of chronological differences in archaeological cattle size and consequently carcass weight. LSM (Least Square Means) analysis of calcaneus and talus GL values revealed the effect of sex but not of breed. Proportional factors were obtained for calcaneus and talus pairings and associated bone size (GL) estimates.
Ferricrete deposits are one of the most important geomorphological and geological features of eastern India. Different
archaeological sites of eastern India have shown that the Acheulian artifacts are most commonly associated with ferricrete
deposits and other varieties of ferruginous sediments. The present study is an attempt to study the ferricretised Acheulian
artifact-bearing context of eastern India from a geoarchaeological perspective. In this study, implement-bearing ferricrete
formation and other ferruginous formations of three Acheulian-site-complexes of Orissa, Jharkhand, and West Bengal are
taken as case studies. Geomorphological and lithological features of ferricrete formations of these site complexes are studied,
and context and taphonomic attributes of the recovered Acheulian artifacts are also noted. Then, the data generated from the
field and laboratory observations are compared and combined with available geological literature on the ferricrete of India.
Results of the present study show that over time the Acheulian artifact-bearing ferricrete of eastern India went through a
continuous and complex process of erosion, deposition, and redeposition due to fluvial activities and continuous changes
in the landscape. As a result of this, it is hard to find undisturbed Acheulian sites over the ferricrete-covered landscape of
eastern India. Within ferricrete deposits and ferruginous sediments, Acheulian artifacts are found in the Primary Transposed
Context, in the Secondary Context, or in the Combined Situation. It is hoped that in-depth, studies of the site-formation
process and application of modern geochemical analytical methods can unfold newer evidence regarding the context and the
development of the Acheulian tradition in the ferricrete-covered landscapes of eastern India.
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Alok and Emanghabe are two ancient village sites located in two (2) of the twelve (12) villages that make up the Nnam clan of Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. The sites possess a peculiar feature, “monolith” not found in large quantity on most archaeological sites. Though there were other cultural materials discovered alongside the monoliths, this research placed emphasis on the monoliths. The aim was to attempt a reconstruction of the history around the monoliths on the two site and to accomplish this, the objectives were to document the oral history around the monoliths and the about the people on these sites, to carry out an archaeological survey to document the cultural materials on the sites and to conduct comparative studies on the two sites in order to determine possible relationships. Methods employed were archival studies in order to get the already existing information, oral tradition which provided valuable information on the monoliths and about the people, archaeological survey helped in identifying the cultural materials and maps were produced showing the spatial distributions of the cultural materials on the two sites and then interpretations were made from classification and analysis. The findings include fifty-one (51) monoliths which are characteristically engraved with human features (eyes, nose, mouth, ears, arms, spirals, rings, tattoo marks, among others), potsherds, grindstone, iron slag, iron gongs and memorial stones. This research at Alok and Emanghabe significantly stands as a supplementary research to the already existing knowledge on the monoliths. It has not only shown us the link between the sites, it has also given us more insight on the history of the people, the traditions and beliefs attached to the monoliths and other cultural materials. This consequently increases the cultural value of this unique cultural heritage and contributes to the archaeology of the Cross River Area.
Alok and Emanghabe are two ancient village sites located in two (2) of the twelve (12) villages that make up the Nnam clan of Ikom Local Government Area of Cross River State, Nigeria. The sites possess a peculiar feature, “monolith” not found in large quantity on most archaeological sites. Though there were other cultural materials discovered alongside the monoliths, this research placed emphasis on the monoliths. The aim was to attempt a reconstruction of the history around the monoliths on the two site and to accomplish this, the objectives were to document the oral history around the monoliths and the about the people on these sites, to carry out an archaeological survey to document the cultural materials on the sites and to conduct comparative studies on the two sites in order to determine possible relationships. Methods employed were archival studies in order to get the already existing information, oral tradition which provided valuable information on the monoliths and about the people, archaeological survey helped in identifying the cultural materials and maps were produced showing the spatial distributions of the cultural materials on the two sites and then interpretations were made from classification and analysis. The findings include fifty-one (51) monoliths which are characteristically engraved with human features (eyes, nose, mouth, ears, arms, spirals, rings, tattoo marks, among others), potsherds, grindstone, iron slag, iron gongs and memorial stones. This research at Alok and Emanghabe significantly stands as a supplementary research to the already existing knowledge on the monoliths. It has not only shown us the link between the sites, it has also given us more insight on the history of the people, the traditions and beliefs attached to the monoliths and other cultural materials. This consequently increases the cultural value of this unique cultural heritage and contributes to the archaeology of the Cross River Area.
يُعرَف مصطلح الفخار على إنّه من صناعة الإنسان من خلال الماء، والطين والنار. مكوناته صلصال مضاف له معادن لاسيما معدن الحديد الذي يعطي لونًا للطينة عند الشي فيتحول إلى طين مشوي. هناك ثلاث تقنيات لتصنيع الفخار: التشكيل اليدوي modelage، الدولاب tournage و القالب moulage.
يعدّ الخزف مصدرًا أساسيًا للتأريخ في علم الآثار، نتيجة التّطور السّريع في التّصنيع والأشكال، وتواجده في كلّ مكان. هو شاهد على الماضي، والهدف من دراسته هو الإجابة عن أسئلة تاريخيّة متنوعة مثل تطور شبكات التّبادل، عادات الحياة المنزليّة والتّحولات والابتكارات في الحرف اليدويّة. على مدى السّنوات الأربعين الماضية، تزايد عدد التنقيبات الأثرية المستندة على دراسة تسلسل الطبقات في المناطق الحضريّة، وقد ساهم الفخار في دراسة التّنوع الثّقافيّ لمجتمعات الإنسان القديم، وتحديد النّشاطات اليوميّة القائمة آنذاك، كما تأريخ الطبقات وإبراز العلاقات السياسيّة والاقتصاديّة والتّبادل التّجاري (Kramer, 1985. 78). إنّ الأواني الفخاريّة تساعد في التعرّف بسلوك الإنسان في المجتمع. فتقنية التّصنيع والزّخارف المنفذة على الأواني أظهرت العلاقات بين المجموعات البشريّة المختلفة، وتطورت كذلك مع ظهور الدّراسات المخبريّة والاثنواركيولوجيّة. فالأواني الفخاريّة لها دورة حياة تبدأ من مرحلة جمع المادة الخام إلى مرحلة الإنتاج النهائي، ثم مرحلة العثور عليها في الطبقات الآثرية. وفي كلّ مرحلة من هذه المراحل هنالك العديد من العوامل التي تؤثر في الإنتاج متمثلة في جوانب بيئيّة وأخرى ثقافيّة متنوعة.
هناك طرق عديدة لدراسة نفس الفخار، تختلف باختلاف من يدرسها. فمؤرخ الفن يهتم أولاً بجماليات الأشكال والزّخرفة، وعالم الآثار يهتم بالتّصنيف للبحث عن الأصول (مكان الاكتشاف ، مكان الإنتاج والتّسلسل الزّمني) ، أمّا التّقني فهو يركز على تكوين العجينة ، تقنيات الشيّ وغيرها...
Entendendo a arqueologia como a mais interdisciplinar das ciências, esta associada a consolidação de um recente arcabouço teórico e de métodos próprios ajunto a necessidade incondicional de associar os conceitos propostos à prática, o presente artigo tem como proposta tecer uma breve discussão sobre o conceito de arqueologia da paisagem e seus desdobramentos no que diz respeito a história do pensamento arqueológico. Por meio de uma correlação e descrição arqueográfica entre as diferentes escolas, conceitos e seus principais autores, apresentaremos um panorama geral do uso dos conceitos das paisagens no âmbito da interpretação dos contextos de interação entre humanos, meio ambiente e materialidade, assim como sua problemática e alcance no escopo de atuação da arqueologia brasileira.
Boundaries at different scales or in different cultural contexts vary in permeability, fuzziness, and continuity. The contribution of methods from the Geographical Information Systems (GIS) toolbox used in archaeology for the understanding of boundaries is explored in a case study based on known boundaries that are located in a hilly region east of Cologne, Germany. The known political and religious boundaries date back to the 16th and early 17th century. Furthermore, a linguistic boundary traversing the study area is well-known. A classification of the reliability of the political boundaries is presented based on evidence from different sources including archaeological sites. A traditional GIS method for delimiting territories is Voronoi polygon generation, also known as Thiessen polygons. A variant uses least-cost distances, accounting for costs of movement. A site catchment of a settlement consists of all locations that can be reached by expending a given cost limit. Both the initial Voronoi computations as well as the site catchments failed to reconstruct a significant proportion of the known past boundaries. Therefore, the association of the known boundaries with rivers, ridges, and modern parish boundaries was tested and found significant. In contrast, poor soils and voids identified by least-cost Kernel Density Estimation (LC-KDE) of 16th century settlement locations are no preferred locations of past boundaries. Boundaries of Voronoi polygons based on modified cost models taking the association of past boundaries with ridges, rivers, and modern boundaries into account reconstructed about 27 % of the confirmed past political boundaries successfully. The association of the linguistic boundary with the features mentioned above is insignificant. Diagnostic place names are the traits forming the basis of Voronoi diagrams and LC-KDE applied in archaeological studies for reconstructing boundaries. Considering the uneven distribution and fairly low number of traits, the results of these two approaches are satisfactory.
During research at Umm el-Jimal, northern Jordan, on the history of the community’s relationship to the ancient site, an intriguing question keeps surfacing: How can the recently ‘arrived/settled’ community legitimize its relationship with antiquities which are not an essential component of their own historical experience? This question is somewhat different from the issue of estrangement of the living present from the archaeological past, about which some of us have written in the tradition of Edward Said’s orientalist critique. The author expects the answers to the above question to redirect our approach from the more negatively critical, ‘Why “they” were excluded’, to a more positively assertive, ‘Why they should be included’. One of the key theses of the chapter is that an essential way of making this right of inclusion meaningful to the modern community is the coupling of the archaeological heritage – pre-Islamic and Islamic – to the deep Islamic literary and artistic heritage in Jordanian education.KeywordsActivist archaeologyCommunity archaeologyIslamic archaeologyDescent heritageRemote heritageIslamic heritageLiterary heritageSite narrativeMultivocalityUmm el-Jimal
Syria has been marked by the birth and interaction of civilizations that changed the course of human history. With its cultural wealth and close links to neighboring peoples, Syria played an important part in the development of ancient Near Eastern civilizations, where fundamental knowledge and skills in writing, agriculture, and metallurgy were established. Religions, philosophies, the language of trade, systems of urban development, of diplomatic exchange – all these germinated within this geographical area. Today, Syria has more than 10,000 archaeological sites, scattered across the country’s cities, towns and villages, both inhabited and uninhabited areas. Tragically, the rich heritage of Syria has been seriously damaged by the armed conflict that begun in 2011. Today, open fighting is not yet fully over in the northwestern Idlib region, but over the last 9 years, shelling, looting and demolition have decimated archaeological sites and museum collections. Heritage destruction has been widely accounted for and disseminated as a consequence of war, but there are other, indirect reasons for its loss and damage, related to its pre-conflict management. This chapter provides a critique of these indirect reasons, examining a tranche of inadequacies and failings in pre-conflict heritage management frameworks and processes, before exploring the situation contemporaneous with the conflict. An examination of the relationship between local communities in Syria and the country’s heritage resources is presented in both parts, and provides an opportunity for crucial future engagement.KeywordsArchaeological heritagePre-conflictDuring conflictManagementLocal communitiesParticipationComparisonDGAMDestructionProtection
The chapter focuses on an interdisciplinary understanding of the role of hunting for different actors: the state, hunting enterprises, local communities and indigenous peoples. It provides a short overview of studies of hunting and their specifics in Siberia, examines the history of the state management of hunting in Siberia. Based on example of Tofalaria, it illustrates how during the XX–XXI centuries the hunting industry experienced growth and decline as a result of increasing and decreasing amount of investments in hunting as an industry. Another example, mobility of Evenkis, is used to show the extraction of resources as a wide diversity of movements and human existence in continually changing environment. The wide variety of contexts and perspectives allows to conclude that hunting is far more than merely subsistence practice or an industry. The studies of hunting are instrumental for understanding of human–environment relations that are currently undergoing rapid change due to climate, infrastructure, technology and societal transformations.KeywordsHuntingInformal land useLocal and indigenous knowledgeResourcesInfrastructure
Scientific and popular science notes of the first researchers of Siberia contain descriptions of not only natural processes and phenomena, but also the material and spiritual aspects of human activity. After a long break in Russian geography, which for a long time showed a tendency to oppose the artificial (cultural) and the natural, attempts are being made to integrate the geographical representations of natural science and humanitarian disciplines. The territory of Siberia is an excellent proving ground for retrospective and prospective reflection and application of geographical thought. The first aim of this chapter is the submission of the current state of knowledge concerning the conceptualization of Siberian space within the landscape paradigm. The second aim is to consider the main highlights of the Siberian environment in the context of perception by local and external people. So, when dividing Siberia into regions that differ in peculiarities of human interaction with the original natural landscape, it was concluded that, along with the physiographic regionalization, it is advisable to take into account the basin organization of the territory. River valleys often play a crucial role in the development of the territory, and basin boundaries, especially in the mountains, are often difficult-to-overcome barriers. Cryosophy, a system of ideas about the cold world and its role in the genesis and evolution of material–energy interactions in the origin and maintenance of life, about the development based on the created system of knowledge about the universe and the formation of the guidelines for multidisciplinary research of living and inert matter of the universe, was formed on the material of Siberia, the main part of which is located in the cryolithozone. In contrast to traditional judgments about Siberia as a periphery (a remote, hard-to-reach, wild, rich in resources, but impoverished region), ideas about the centricity of Siberia are being developed, where this region is regarded as a zone of common interests, a significant part of the Ecumene. Thanks to Siberia, Russia is a great Eurasian power.KeywordsSiberiaNorth AsiaLandscapeCryosophyAdaptationGeographical picture of the worldGeocultural spaceGeocultural borderGeoconceptFrontierPeripheryMoscow-centricityTheoretical geographyPhysiographic regionalization
Continuing our theme of the importance of major religions, we focus on the significance of Jewish beliefs and practices as shapers of death management practices. As the oldest of the major religions of the world, Judaism has had a significant influence in its own right as a major religion but also served as the basis for the emergence of Christianity. Judaism has experienced massive persecution, including the Holocaust. In spite of all the attempts to destroy Judaism, it has persisted. We focus mainly on Israel, but of course, Judaism’s sway stretches much further than that and serves as a major set of influences on various aspects of life, including how death has an impact on life.KeywordsDiscourseHolocaustMonotheismChosen peopleHebrew BibleTorahWestern WallJewish Death management practicesSociopolitical contextAnti-SemitismPower relationships
In the midst of ardent calls for decolonizing and building a more anti-racist archaeology, whiteness has gone largely unacknowledged in the history of disciplinary thought and practice. As a point of departure, this article asks: why are there so many White archaeologists? In addressing this question, I suggest that the development of early archaeological method and thought was deeply affected by White supremacy. In presenting the two case studies of Montroville Dickson and Flinders Petrie, I suggest that a radical new history of archaeology is needed if we are to build a more equitable, anti-racist field in the future. Central to this process to recognizing the role that whiteness has played and continues to play in archaeological practice and pedagogy.
p>Innovatively, this thesis unlocks the potential of archaeological ceramics as a tool to interpret both economy and society, in south-western al-Andalus during the Almohad period (AD 1147-1248). Methodologies employed incorporate fabric and empirical analyses of pottery vessels within a theoretical framework, to develop a nuanced understanding of the context studied.
In order to investigate society, and economy, in Almohad al Andalus, research first questioned how pottery was produced, distributed and consumed. A cross-section of ceramic types were quantified and analysed from five diverse urban settlements: Seville, Códoba, Jerez de la Frontera, Écija (all in Spain) and Mértola (Portugal). Results of analyses indicated that in this context, vessel style was largely pervasive with similar types made and used in many different locations. However, it also demonstrated that a small number of vessels, including not only decorated but also undecorated types, were traded over long distances. This distribution provides scientific evidence that a range of ceramics can be used to further our understanding of patterns of trade and exchange in Almohad al-Andalus.
The improved understanding of production, distribution and consumption of ceramics gained through analyses here, also led to a ground-breaking interpretation of Almohad society in al-Andalus. These interpretations of society draw upon theoretical concepts which acknowledge that people in the past mediated their social relationships through the material culture that they made and used. Work here has revealed the complexity of Almohad society, indicating that although it included elements of homogeneity, there were also clear differences between the urban populations studied.</p
Caves with the Upper Paleolithic wall paintings are known in the Southern Urals — Kapova (Shulgan-Tash) and Ignatievskaya (Yamazy-Tash). They represent the largest karst cavities in their areas with lots of figurative and non-figurative motifs. In many respects, the Urals’ decorated caves are similar to those in Western Europe: in terms of the structural organization of space, pictorial assemblages and their context. The Western European caves are often referred to as “deep sanctuaries”. Within the framework of this article, the authors address to the works of foreign experts, who have been developing this subject for more than a dozen years, in order to identify the criteria for such an interpretation. Due to the kinship of the Ice Age cave art from the Atlantic to the Urals, the interpretations of Western European art are also applicable to the Ural cave sites. Archaeological, phenomenological and mythological criteria stand out as the most important ones. Archaeological criteria were formulated by C. Renfrew: focusing attention; the border zone between this and other worlds; the presence of a deity; participation and offering. Phenomenological criteria are relied on a person’s sensory experience which is based on the main sense organs — sight, hearing, smell, touch. It is they which provide the caves with indicators of hierophony, constructing, according to M. Eliade, a collective sacred space. Of all the characteristics of myth in relation to the Paleolithic art, M. Groenen considers the presence of composite anthropomorphic creatures, composite animals and surreal, fantastic animals. Comparing unreal and hybrid creatures from the regions of Franco-Cantabria and the Urals shows their close similarity. Together with the considered archaeological criteria and criteria of the sensory experience of an ancient man in relation to the underground cavity, we can assert that the Ural decorated caves of the Upper Paleolithic are sanctuaries of the Ice Age, preserving fragments of the mythology of that distant time.
Hazor was the largest Bronze Age site in the southern Levant, established as an urban centre with many temples. This study explores how Hazor's elites used religion as an ideological tool to promote their legitimacy, to reinforce social hierarchy, and to maintain control over the populace. Accordingly, a methodology employing the spatial analysis of temple assemblages will be used to show that the use patterns of many of Hazor's temples diverge from other contemporary temples in the region. These anomalies, it is argued, resulted from Hazor's elites actively controlling and manipulating the performance of ritual throughout the site. Hazor's elites also made use of highly recognizable forms of cultic space so as to engage the non‐elite sectors of society while altering the manner in which those spaces were used and who had access to them. This religious innovation at Hazor was directly related to an elite ideology that strived to maintain control over non‐elites, while also aiming to integrate the various socially stratified groups into a community joined together in a sacred landscape.
The present text is the interpretation of an Archaeological landscape: the natural region of the Upper Paiva (Portugal) and was developed within the project “Upper Paiva – societies and strategies of settlement from prehistoric times to the middle ages”, coordinated by Domingos J. Cruz. It means to contribute, through a regional scale study, to develop the scientific knowledge of continuity/rupture that occurred in the area between Douro and Vouga rivers, throughout the Romanization period and early Middle Ages. By sketching the evolution of settlement a few question arose and some hypothetical explanations were set forth.
By means of extensive methods an inventory of over one hundred sites was made, this was the base for the interpretative analysis.
The Upper Paiva region, an upland complex, is not rich in resources and probably for that reason has been looked at as a marginal area during historical times. The ancient landscape was certainly ruled by ancestral rural rhythms and certainly pastoral, due to the favourable conditions that the region offers. In more troubled periods –like Late Antiquity and during boundary conflicts between Christians and Muslims– it was a place population fled to in search for security.
Its peripheral character mustn’t, however, deceive us. This area was crossed by communication axis of roman and medieval periods through natural corridors that are outlined from the north to the south and from the west to the east. These routes allowed a regional and trans-regional circulation, in part proved by archaeological data.
The romanization introduced a level of complexity not known to the indigenous communities, integrating them into a quite different society (universe): the Roman Empire. The proximity of water and roads seams to have influenced the localization of disperse settlement, whose territory includes some fertile lands and other less fertile and at a higher altitude, suggesting herding, agriculture and some foraging were used in complement.
The Early Middle Ages are still quite unknown, but the gathered data allows us to think there was a certain tendency to cluster settlement and reoccupation of old hilltop settlements due to the troubled times. Herding was certainly the major economical activity, and agriculture was less important due to the soils inferior quality.
From the eighth century on, christians marked the landscape with their rock carved graves, placed close to settlement area, in places that stand out and frequentely close to paths. These graves are found isolated or in groups forming small cemeteries, showing a dispersed settlement seeking water and fertile lands.
This marginal area is not going to be appealing to the Islamic conquerors, though the importance of this territory seams to grow when the frontier between the Christian and Islamic worlds builds up next to the Douro margins. During that period Alto Paiva is probably an interesting place for those who seek refuge. Rudimentary defences are built by the population for moments of distress, some of these fortifications emerge close to the villages in high, easily tenable places.
This study revealed a more humanized area than it was expected for such a barren territory that the writer Aquilino Ribeiro named “Terras do Demo” (“devil’s land”, because of the hard living conditions that people had to deal with) and poses a series of questions about the peopling of this region along the centuries, namely the more obscure period of Early Middle Ages.
The last decades of archaeological work in Portugal showed an increase in the research of post-medieval contexts and an innate development of approaches related to the contacts from the overseas expansion and the
process of globalisation. However, theoretical concepts such as given by cognitive archaeology express the lack of archaeological evidence for altered states of consciousness in the early modern period that only recently have started its chaîne operátoire. Thus, the present approach seeks to continue the debate on the altered state of consciousness concept within Archaeology redefining methodological support and to suggest how this area can be applied on early modern archaeological sites and assemblages from Portugal, but susceptible to application in other geographical regions.
Human activity are always carried out in the context of the geographical environment. On the one hand, the geographical context causes changes in human culture and action, and on the other hand, human beings make changes in the natural environment with their culture and technology in order to adapt and overcome environmental constraints. In fact, over time, human beings, by increasing their knowledge of the environment, try to establish their settlements in the places that environmental conditions are suitable and increase the productivity of its landscape. The study of the location of ancient settlements in the natural landscape leads to the discovery of environmental potentials and the way of life systems of their inhabitants. Due to the limitations and potentials of the region's ecology, we will see different spatial types of sites in the landscape. The main question of the research is about the relationship and role of environmental factors in the location of settlements pattern of Parthian sites in Khousf County in the eastern margin of Lut desert. This research have been done by descriptive-analytical method and for data analysis and distribution pattern, GIS and SPSS software have been used with correlation and cluster analysis methods. The results show that due to the lack of permanent water resources in the region, access to sustainable water resources (Qanat) has been the most important factor in the formation of settlements in this period. After water sources, slope and soil type are other important factors in the formation of Parthian sites. Therefore, cluster analysis showed that two patterns, including a relatively large local center and a number of small villages around it, can be identified.
Age disparities between charcoal samples and their context are a well-known problem in archaeological chronometry, and even small offsets could affect the accuracy of high-precision wiggle-matched dates. In many cases of taphonomic or anthropogenic loss of the outermost rings, sapwood-based methods for estimating cutting dates are not always applicable, especially with charcoal. In these instances, wiggle-matched terminus post quem (TPQ) dates are often reconciled with subjective or ad hoc approaches. This study examines the distribution of age disparities caused by ring loss and other factors in a large dendroarchaeological dataset. Probability density functions describing the random distribution of age disparities are then fit to the empirical distributions. These functions are tested on an actual wiggle-matched non-cutting date from the literature to evaluate accuracy in a single case. Simulations are then presented to demonstrate how an age offset function can be applied in OxCal outlier models to yield accurate dating in archaeological sequences with short intervals between dated episodes, even if all samples are non-cutting dates.
The purpose of this study is to present the current status of research into human remains excavated from archaeological sites in South Korea following its liberation from Japanese colonial rule, and to examine the improvements potentially needed to conduct adequate archaeological research on human remains in South Korea in the near future. Human remains, as archaeological data, can provide various types of information, such as the biological characteristics of past groups of people. They also provide direct data that can shed light on many aspects of cultural evolution, and discussions regarding how to properly use data from human remains excavated from archaeological sites in Korea are still in their preliminary stages. Continued developments in science and technology are expected to reveal more information than can currently be obtained from ancient human skeletal remains. To gather information on the cultures of ancient people, which is the ultimate goal of archaeology, there has to be a shared understanding that ancient human skeletal remains must be treated ethically before being viewed simply as potential sources of archaeological data. Further, to increase the value of the collected data, there is a need for a higher degree of interdisciplinary research through mutual collaboration with multiple archaeologists as well as other experts in the fields of anthropology, genetics, and biochemistry.
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