NEW RADIOCARBON DATES FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES IN PARTS OF IGBOLAND, SOUTHEASTERN NIGERIA

Radiocarbon ◽  
2022 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Kenechukwu Chidiogo Daniel ◽  
Anselm Maduabuchi Ibeanu ◽  
Jacinta Uchenna Ikegwu ◽  
Emuobosa Akpo Orijemie
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Human Settlement ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Southeastern Nigeria ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Iron Smelting ◽  
Subsistence Patterns ◽  
Early Human

ABSTRACT This paper presents new results of radiocarbon (14C) ages from archaeological sites in northern Igboland. The study was designed to shed more light on early human occupation and activities in the study area based on sediments from cave and iron-smelting sites. The approach consisted of ethnographic, archaeological, palynological, and slag analyses; these were complemented with 14C dates. The technology adopted as well as the paleoenvironmental conditions that prevailed during the period of human settlement in both sites was revealed. These data, complemented by 14C dates, highlight the human behavioral and subsistence patterns within the region and are comparable to those from similar sites in southeastern Nigeria.

scholarly journals A wiggle-match date for Polynesian settlement of New Zealand

Antiquity ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (295) ◽  
pp. 116-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan G. Hogg ◽  
Thomas F. G. Higham ◽  
David J. Lowe ◽  
Jonathan G. Palmer ◽  
Paula J. Reimer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Southern Hemisphere ◽  
Calibration Curve ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Human Settlement ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Forest Clearance

Dating initial colonisation and environmental impacts by Polynesians in New Zealand is controversial. A key horizon is provided by the Kaharoa Tephra, deposited from an eruption of Mt Tarawera, because just underneath this layer are the first signs of forest clearance which imply human settlement. The authors used a log of celery pine from within Kaharoa deposits to derive a new precise date for the eruption via “wiggle-matching” – matching the radiocarbon dates of a sequence of samples from the log with the Southern Hemisphere calibration curve. The date obtained was 1314 ± 12 AD (2σ error), and the first environmental impacts and human occupation are argued to have occurred in the previous 50 years, i.e. in the late 13th – early 14th centuries AD. This date is contemporary with earliest settlement dates determined from archaeological sites in the New Zealand archipelago.

scholarly journals A ocupação humana antiga (11-7 mil anos atrás) do Planalto Meridional Brasileiro: caracterização geomorfológica, geológica, paleoambiental e tecnológica de sítios arqueológicos relacionados a três distintas indústrias líticas

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 2553
Author(s):  
Pedro Michelutti Cheliz ◽  
João Carlos Moreno de Sousa ◽  
Gabriela Sartori Mingatos ◽  
Mercedes Okumura ◽  
Astolfo Gomes de Mello Araujo
Keyword(s):  
Significant Variation ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Human Settlement ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Natural Landscapes ◽  
Lithic Artifacts ◽  
The Relationship

Com o objetivo de ponderar conexões entre quadros naturais e a ocupação humana pré-colonial, caracterizou-se os artefatos e a contextualização geomorfológica e ambiental de quatro sítios líticos vinculados a antigos registros de grupos caçadores-coletores do sul e sudeste do Brasil, associados a três distintas indústrias líticas. Elencou-se associação dos sítios com terrenos de baixos declives e altimetrias em seus respectivos contextos (terrenos mais estáveis para fixação humana), adjacentes a córregos e próximos de faixas do terreno que registram maiores inclinações e desníveis verticais, mais propensas a apresentarem afloramentos rochosos (fontes potenciais de matérias-primas para a confecção de ferramentas lascadas). Elencou-se fontes de matérias-primas nos entornos de cada sítio e as matérias-primas associadas aos artefatos, e ponderou-se a correlação entre os dois conjuntos de dados. Analisou-se a relação dos padrões tecnológicos de artefatos líticos com a caracterização petrográfica das matérias-primas, verificando-se quais silcretes semelhantes foram usadas para produção de artefatos distintos. Ainda, verificou-se que alguns dos produtos líticos de um dos sítios analisados mostram padrões tecnológicos semelhantes, mesmo quando obtidos a partir de silcretes distintos. Caracterizou-se ausência de variação significativa dos atributos tecnológicos dos artefatos registrados em diferentes posicionamentos verticais nos perfis das unidades de escavação nas quais foram registrados, mesmo quando mostram-se associados a registros paleoambientais distintos (alternâncias entre climas mais secos que os atuais e condições caracterizadas por incrementos de umidade no intervalo de 11 a 7 mil anos atrás).Palavras chave: sítios arqueológicos líticos; Holoceno Inicial, paleoclimas, ameríndios, geoarqueologia The ancient human occupation (11-7 thousand years ago) of the Southern Brazilian Plateau: geomorphological, geological, paleoenvironmental and technological characterization of archaeological sites related to three distinct lithic industries A B S T R A C T In order to discuss connections between the natural landscapes and pre-colonial human occupation, were characterized the artifacts and the geomorphological and environmental contextualization of four lithic sites linked to ancient records of hunter-gatherer groups from the south and southeast of Brazil, associated with three distinct lithic industries. The association of sites with low slopes and altimetry in their respective contexts (more stable terrains for human settlement), adjacent to rivers and close to terrains that register greater inclinations and vertical unevenness, more likely to present rocky outcrops (potential sources of raw materials for making chipped tools) was listed. Were characterized sources of raw materials in the surroundings of each site, the raw materials associated with the artifacts, and the correlation between the two data sets was considered. The relationship between the technological standards of lithic artifacts and the petrographic characterization of the raw materials was analyzed, verifying which similar raw materials were used to produce different artifacts. Also, it was found that some of the lithic products from one of the analyzed sites show similar technological patterns, even when obtained from different raw materials. There was a lack of significant variation in the technological attributes of the artifacts recorded in different vertical positions in the profiles of the excavation units in which they were recorded, even when they are associated with different paleoenvironmental records (alternations between drier climates than current and others characterized by increments in the moisture between 11 to 7 thousand years ago).Keywords: lithic archaeological sites; Initial Holocene, paleoclimates, amerindians, geoarchaeology 

Middle Terrace Deposits of the Tagus River in Alpiarça, Portugal, in Relation to Early Human Occupation

2000 ◽  
Vol 54 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paolo Mozzi ◽  
Maria Teresa Azevedo ◽  
Elizabeth Nunes ◽  
Luis Raposo
Keyword(s):  
Flood Plain ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Tagus River ◽  
The Us ◽  
Bottom To Top ◽  
Channel Deposits ◽  
The Village ◽  
Early Human

The stratigraphy and sedimentology of the Q3 middle terrace alluvial sequence in the lower Tagus river valley, Portugal, were studied near the village of Alpiarça, approximately 40 km upstream from the estuarine area. Two main stratigraphic units were recognized, separated by an important uncomformity. The Lower Gravels unit (LG) consists of intercalations of medium to coarse gravel deposits, mainly quartzitic, with coarse sandy matrix, organized in tabular bodies. The overlying Upper Sands unit (US) consists of tabular sandy channel deposits and overbank fines, the latter containing well-developed paleosols and backswamp deposits, showing a general aggrading trend, apparently with varying rates; available data indicate that deposition of the US took place under temperate climatic conditions. Within US deposits are several paleolithic archaeological sites, the lower ones in the alluvial stratigraphy being Middle Acheulian, whereas those embedded in overlying deposits are, from bottom to top, Upper Acheulian and Micoquian. Some of these sites have been recently excavated. The quartzite artifacts were apparently abandoned by early humans on the flood plain surface during deposition of the US unit and were subjected to limited reworking during their incorporation in the alluvium. TL/OSL dating of sandy-silty sediments, though imprecise, support archaeological evidence pointing to an age of 150,000 to 70,000 yr B.P. for the US unit.

A late pleistocene human presence at Huaca Prieta, Peru, and early Pacific Coastal adaptations

2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 418-423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom D. Dillehay ◽  
Duccio Bonavia ◽  
Steve L. Goodbred ◽  
Mario Pino ◽  
Victor Vásquez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Coastal Environments ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Northern Peru ◽  
Coastal Adaptations ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Early Human

Archaeological excavations in deep pre-mound levels at Huaca Prieta in northern Peru have yielded new evidence of late Pleistocene cultural deposits that shed insights into the early human occupation of the Pacific coast of South America. Radiocarbon dates place this occupation between ~ 14,200 and 13,300 cal yr BP. The cultural evidence shares certain basic technological and subsistence traits, including maritime resources and simple flake tools, with previously discovered late Pleistocene sites along the Pacific coast of Peru and Chile. The results help to expand our knowledge of early maritime societies and human adaption to changing coastal environments.

Changes in the hydrodynamic intensity of Bosten Lake and its impact on early human settlement in the northeastern Tarim Basin, eastern Arid Central Asia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Haichao Xie
Keyword(s):  
Water Supply ◽  
Central Asia ◽  
Tarim Basin ◽  
Early Summer ◽  
Human Settlement ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Bosten Lake ◽  
Arid Central Asia ◽  
Temperature And Precipitation ◽  
Early Human

<p>The climate of eastern arid central Asia (ACA) is extremely dry and early human settlement and civilization in the region were dependent upon a potentially unstable water supply. Thus, knowledge of the history of hydrological fluctuations is essential for understanding the relationship between humans and the environment in the region. Here we present a record of variation in lake hydrodynamic intensity based on the grain size of suspended lacustrine silt isolated from the sediments of Bosten Lake, which feeds a river flowing to the northeastern Tarim Basin. The results show that lake hydrodynamic intensity was very weak, and/or that the lake dried-out completely, during the early Holocene (12.0–8.2 ka). Then it increased with two distinct centennial-millennial-scale intervals of weak intensity occurring during 4.7–3.5 ka and 1.2–0.5 ka. Notably, increases in lake hydrodynamic intensity occurred some 2.2 kyr prior to an increase in local precipitation and effective moisture. We speculate that this was a consequence of relatively high early summer temperatures during 8.2–6.0 ka that resulted in an increased water supply from melting snow and ice in mountainous areas of the catchment. Thus, we conclude that changes in the hydrodynamic intensity of Bosten Lake during the Holocene were affected by changes in both temperature and precipitation. The variations in the hydrodynamic intensity of Bosten Lake since the middle Holocene also influenced water availability for the human population that occupied the downstream area of the northeastern Tarim Basin. A persistent increase in hydrodynamic intensity during 2123–1450 B.C. may have been responsible for human occupation of the region that contains the noted archaeological sites of Xiaohe and Gumugou Cemetery. In addition, a drastic decrease in hydrodynamic intensity at around 400 A.D. likely caused the emigration of the inhabitants of Loulan.</p>

scholarly journals Reconstruction of local environments of ancient population in a changeable river valley landscape (The Middle Vychegda River, Northern Russia)

2011 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 128-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Karmanov ◽  
Natalia Zaretskaya ◽  
Andrey Panin ◽  
Alexey Chernov
Keyword(s):  
Hydrological Regime ◽  
River Valley ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Oxbow Lakes ◽  
Lateral Migration ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Environmental Preferences ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Local Environments ◽  
Northern Russia

Abstract In river valleys, both human occupation and subsequent preservation of archaeological sites are affected by active landscape transformation caused by river lateral migration, incision/aggradation cycles and changes of river hydrological regime. In the middle Vychegda River valley (Northern Russia), there are numerous traces of human presence since the Mesolithic. We exploit multi-disciplinary archaeological, geomorphological and geochronological approach to elucidate the environmental preferences of settlements positioning during different epochs of the Holocene. High resolution space image supplemented with data on alluvial stratigraphy derived from bank exposures and hand cores, as well as 51 radiocarbon dates were used to make the geomorphic map showing ages of floodplain/terrace segments and palaeochannels. Using this map together with sediment facial interpretation, position of archaeological sites was analysed in the context of local geomorphic and hydrologic situation. The majority of archaeological sites and modern settlements are found on terraces at river banks or at oxbow lakes which were well connected to the river. Few exceptions from this rule may be explained by seasonal character of dwelling functioning, ritual burial practice or specialization of settlements. Geomorphic situation was used as a background for planning further prospection of different-age archaeological objects.

scholarly journals Humans, water, and the colonization of Australia

2016 ◽  
Vol 113 (41) ◽  
pp. 11477-11482 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael I. Bird ◽  
Damien O’Grady ◽  
Sean Ulm
Keyword(s):  
Landscape Connectivity ◽  
Water Bodies ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Spatially Explicit ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Australian Water ◽  
Continental Scale ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Continental Interior ◽  
Early Human

The Pleistocene global dispersal of modern humans required the transit of arid and semiarid regions where the distribution of potable water provided a primary constraint on dispersal pathways. Here, we provide a spatially explicit continental-scale assessment of the opportunities for Pleistocene human occupation of Australia, the driest inhabited continent on Earth. We establish the location and connectedness of persistent water in the landscape using the Australian Water Observations from Space dataset combined with the distribution of small permanent water bodies (springs, gnammas, native wells, waterholes, and rockholes). Results demonstrate a high degree of directed landscape connectivity during wet periods and a high density of permanent water points widely but unevenly distributed across the continental interior. A connected network representing the least-cost distance between water bodies and graded according to terrain cost shows that 84% of archaeological sites >30,000 y old are within 20 km of modern permanent water. We further show that multiple, well-watered routes into the semiarid and arid continental interior were available throughout the period of early human occupation. Depletion of high-ranked resources over time in these paleohydrological corridors potentially drove a wave of dispersal farther along well-watered routes to patches with higher foraging returns.

scholarly journals Population Dynamics and Human Strategies in Northwestern Patagonia

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 ◽  
pp. 2-21
Author(s):  
Gustavo Neme ◽  
Marcelo Zárate ◽  
María de la Paz Pompei ◽  
Fernando Franchetti ◽  
Adolfo Gil ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Probability Distributions ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Human Populations ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Stratigraphic Sequence ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Middle Holocene

In this paper we evaluate the role of human strategies in the Andean Piedmont from northern Patagonia across the Holocene. Specifically, we present the analysis of the Early Holocene-Late Holocene archaeological record of Salamanca cave (Mendoza-Argentina). We identified technological changes that occurred during the Late Holocene and the implications of a human occupation hiatus in the Middle Holocene. We follow a multiproxy approach by the analysis of radiocarbon dates, archaeofaunal remains, ceramic, lithics and XRF obsidian sourcing. We also discuss a detailed stratigraphic sequence by geomorphological descriptions, the construction of a radiocarbon sequence model and summed probability distributions, compared with other archaeological sites in the region. We conclude that after the Middle Holocene archaeological hiatus, human populations grew while guanaco populations dropped. The imbalance between demography and resources boosted the incorporation of new technologies such as ceramics and the bow and arrow, allowing people to exploit lower-ranked resources.

scholarly journals Fishing during the early human occupations of the Atacama Desert coast: what if we standardize the data?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sandra Rebolledo ◽  
Philippe Béarez ◽  
Débora Zurro
Keyword(s):  
Regional Analysis ◽  
Atacama Desert ◽  
Coastal Communities ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Common Component ◽  
Exploratory Approach ◽  
Data Heterogeneity ◽  
Terminal Pleistocene ◽  
Methodological Approaches ◽  
Early Human

Abstract The Atacama Desert coast (18–30° S) presents one of the earliest chronologies in the South America region, whose first occupations date from ~ 13,000 cal BP. Since that time, coastal and marine resources have been a common component at sites along the littoral zone. Fish species have been particularly important, as have the fishing technologies developed and used by the coastal communities. However, even though several archaeological sites have been studied, there is no systematic macro-regional analysis of early fisheries along the Atacama Desert coast. Furthermore, differences in theoretical and methodological approaches, as well as research objectives, hinder comparisons between ichthyoarchaeological assemblages. Here, we present a comparative analysis of the Atacama Desert fish data obtained from publications and gray literature from ten archaeological sites dating from the Terminal Pleistocene to the Early Holocene. Through the standardization of contextual and ichthyoarchaeological information, we compared data using NISP, MNI, and weight to calculate fish density, richness, and ubiquity, in order to identify similarities and differences between assemblages. This exploratory approach aims to contribute to studies of fish consumption in the area, as well as proposing new methodological questions and solutions regarding data heterogeneity in archaeozoology.

Paleoenvironmental analysis of wet meadow in the Deseado Massif: Implications for the Holocene occupation of Argentinian Patagonia

The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362110259
Author(s):  
Bruno Mosquera ◽  
María V Mancini
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Semiarid Region ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Wet Meadow ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Sedimentation Environment ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
Paleoenvironmental Analysis ◽  
Deseado Massif

Paleoenvironmental data from wet-meadow environments in the arid-semiarid region of Patagonia are still incipient and the paleoenvironmental records came from pollen sequences of caves and rockshelters. The main reasons to study wetland records are their undisturbed (by humans) sedimentologic continuity, in contrast to deposits in rock shelters and caves; and their regional presentation of environmental changes that can be compared to archeological data. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the past hydrological dynamic of a wet-meadow from Deseado Massif and its relationship with the human occupation. For this purpose, we present the results of the sediment and pollen analysis of Mallín La Primavera wet-meadow that provide a sequence starting in the mid-Holocene. The results indicate a lower water table in the mallín prior to 6900 cal yr BP. Sediment analysis indicates low energy sedimentation environment with flood events and very low energy streams. Human occupational data show chronological discontinuities in mid-Holocene in several regions of Patagonia and the southern cone. In the studied region, two chronological hiatuses (7828–6434 cal yr BP and 3005–2710 cal yr BP) where recognized that appear to correlate with shrub steppes, indicating dry conditions. These conditions may explain the lack of archeological radiocarbon dates in the area during this period. The integration of sediment and pollen results from the Deseado Massif indicates dry and windy conditions for the middle Holocene. The lack of archeological radiocarbon dates would have been influenced by the loss of moisture in water sources such as springs and their associated wet meadows ( mallines).

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