scholarly journals FEASTING, RITUAL PRACTICES, SOCIAL MEMORY, AND PERSISTENT PLACES: NEW INTERPRETATIONS OF SHELL MOUNDS IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

2017 ◽  
Vol 82 (3) ◽  
pp. 427-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynn H. Gamble

Shell mounds have not been investigated as prominent ritual features in southern California, despite evidence to the contrary. The largest extant shell mound in the region is on Santa Cruz Island, measures 270 by 210 m (44,532 m² in area), is 8 m higher than the terrace it rests on, is covered with 50 house depressions, and dates to 6000–2500 B.P. In the 1920s, three cemeteries were excavated at the top of El Montón; one young woman stood out among the over 200 individuals in that she was buried with 157 stone effigies. Analysis of multiple lines of evidence, including stratigraphic profiles of features, 85 radiocarbon dates, ground penetrating radar, and mortuary data, supports my claim that the mound was a persistent place where early visitors had significant feasts, constructed dwellings, buried their dead, and performed ceremonies where select groups of infants, children, and adults were revered. These mortuary rites conveyed the symbolic power of the place and created a history of events that became part of a mythical and real past that was repeatedly visited, modified, and (re)interpreted as social relationships were reinforced. This study supports the idea that shell mounds are socially constructed landscapes, not just accumulations of refuse.

Heritage ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 1097-1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Capozzoli ◽  
Sabrina Mutino ◽  
Maria Grazia Liseno ◽  
Gregory De Martino

This paper describes the results obtained using an archaeogeophysical-based approach for discovering new Roman structures belonging to the ancient settlement of Forentum, currently identifiable by a well-preserved sanctuary from the third century BC. The investigated area has been affected by invasive anthropic activities that have partially damaged the Roman structures. Extensive geophysical measurements, including detailed ground-penetrating radar investigations supported by magnetometric data, have allowed for the identification of an impressive complex of structures composed of various buildings. Magnetometric and electromagnetic anomalies suggest the existence of an “urban” dimension close to the Gravetta Sanctuary, totally unearthed and unknown until now, organized into regular patterns in a similar way to the most famous site in the vicinity of Bantia, or the famous Apulian archaeological sites of Ordona and Arpi.


2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer E. Perry ◽  
Christopher S. Jazwa

Chert outcrops on eastern Santa Cruz Island were of vital importance to the inhabitants of the Santa Barbara Channel region because of their comparatively limited availablity elsewhere on the California Channel Islands. Temporally diagnostic artifacts and radiocarbon dates from associated shell middens suggest that chert quarries were exploited throughout the Holocene. The importance of these quarries has been well documented in regard to microlith production as part of the shell bead industry during the late Holocene. However, relatively little is known about local chert tool manufacture and exchange in earlier times. Systematic documentation of 26 known chert quarries, and sampling at associated shell middens on eastern Santa Cruz Island has resulted in the identification of significant spatial variability in chert exploitation through time. Whereas chert quarrying during the middle Holocene appears to have been opportunistic and dispersed throughout the landscape, comparable activities during the late Holocene became increasingly circumscribed as microlith production was intensified. These trends in chert procurement are interpreted in the context of temporal changes in subsistence, tool manufacture, and residential mobility on the northern Channel Islands, and have broad implications for spatial and temporal patterning in prehistoric lithic exploitation.


Author(s):  
Mariusz Drzewiecki ◽  
Maciej Kurcz ◽  
Joanna Ciesielska ◽  
Tomasz Michalik ◽  
Ewa Czyżewska-Zalewska ◽  
...  

AbstractRecent research at Soba focuses on the tangible and intangible heritage of the medieval capital of Alwa kingdom, whose remains cover approximately 275 ha. About 222 ha of this area has been built up or transformed into agricultural land in the past 30 years. An ethnographic survey was also carried out in the built-up area to understand how the residents engage with the archaeological heritage and material remains. The undeveloped area of the capital (53 ha) was the focus of interdisciplinary archaeological fieldwork conducted in 2019 and 2020. A large-scale geophysical survey, using a fluxgate gradiometer and ground-penetrating radar, was initiated in the undeveloped area, and excavation trenches were opened to verify distinctive magnetic anomalies. Along with the ethnographic and geophysical data, the study of the pottery, burials, and stratigraphic sequence (supplemented with radiocarbon dates) provides new insights into the spatial organization of the medieval capital.


1934 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 143-144
Author(s):  
H. C. Fall ◽  
A. C. Davis

The “List of the Coleoptera of the Southern California Islands—” published by the senior author in 1897 (Can. Ent. 29, 1897, 233-244) was the result of more or less sporadic collecting upon the Channel Islands by several parties, few of them trained collectors of insects.


2012 ◽  
Vol 117 (G3) ◽  
pp. n/a-n/a ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Kettridge ◽  
Andrew Binley ◽  
Xavier Comas ◽  
Nigel J. Cassidy ◽  
Andy J. Baird ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 123-128
Author(s):  
Anatolii Chernov ◽  
Dariusz Dziubacki ◽  
Martina Cogoni ◽  
Alexandru Bạ̌descu

Abstract. The article presents results of a ground penetrating radar (GPR) investigation carried out in the Church of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Kłodzko, Poland, dating from the 14th to 16th centuries. Due to the 20th century wars, the current state of knowledge about the history of the church is still poor. Under the floor of the Catholic temple, unknown structures might exist. To verify the presence of underground structures such as crypts and tombs, a GPR survey was carried out in chapels and aisles with 500 and 800 MHz GPR shielded antennas. Numerous anomalies were detected. It was concluded that those under the chapels were caused by the presence of crypts beneath the floor.


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