A Middle Archaic Archaeological Site on the West Coast of Mexico

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbar Voorhies ◽  
Douglas J. Kennett ◽  
John G. Jones ◽  
Thomas A. Wake
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Tropical Rainforest ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Human Adaptation ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
Middle Archaic ◽  
Disturbance Vegetation ◽  
Permanent Residency ◽  
Faunal Studies ◽  
Early Human

The Cerro de las Conchas shell mound, located on Mexico's south Pacific coast, was formed between 7,500 and 6,000/5,500 years ago, during the Middle Archaic period. Few Mesoamerican coastal sites are as early or have been studied so intensively. Limited diversity in the artifact assemblage and faunal origins, the presence of bedded strata, and the absence of features associated with permanent residency indicate that the site was used intermittently as a processing station for aquatic foods. Seasonality studies on clam shells suggest that this occurred year round. The site likely was situated initially adjacent to a brackish water lagoon near a tropical rainforest because faunal studies indicate a strong focus on lagoonal taxa, whereas a forested environment is indicated by phytoliths. Toward the end of the Middle Archaic, however, an increase in faunal and artifact richness, an emphasis on fauna with a tolerance for marine conditions, and phytolith evidence for more disturbance vegetation compared to earlier times, may be due to marine transgression. Later, pottery-using agricultural peoples used the site for farming and possibly residency. This example of early human adaptation to a coastal environment of Mesoamerica permits a corrective to previous research that is weighted heavily in favor of upland settings.

scholarly journals Cazadores recolectores tempranos, supervivencia de fauna del pleistoceno (equus sp. y glyptodon sp.) y tecnologia lítica durante el holoceno temprano en la frontera Uruguay-Brasil

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 20-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rafael Suárez ◽  
Guaciara M. Santos
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Mass Spectrometry ◽  
South America ◽  
Accelerator Mass Spectrometry ◽  
Lithic Technology ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Human Adaptation ◽  
14C Age ◽  
Lithic Artifacts ◽  
In The Beginning

On this paper we show records of Pleistocene fauna from the archaeological site of PayPaso 1, located near of the Quarai River. On this site we recovered two extinct species, Equus sp. (ancient horse) e Glyptodon sp. (giant armadillo), direct associated with lithic artifacts. Our results indicate that these extinct mammals lived in the beginning of the Holocene (9,600 – 9,100 years 14C BP), based on nine 14C age results obtained by AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) measurements. In this work, these results are compared with others in South America. Human adaptation, lithic technology, Pleistocene fauna extinction and climate change at the transition between Pleistocene-Holocene are also discussed.

The Early Postclassic Aztatlán Colonization of the Pacific Coast of Jalisco

2020 ◽  
pp. 131-156
Author(s):  
Joseph B. Mountjoy ◽  
Fabio Germán Cupul-Magaña ◽  
Rafael García de Quevedo-Machain ◽  
Martha Lorenza López Mestas Camberos
Keyword(s):  
Pacific Coast ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Postclassic Period ◽  
Subsistence Strategies ◽  
Specialized Production ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
West Mexico ◽  
Early Postclassic ◽  
Northern Pacific

The focus of this chapter is a recently discovered archaeological site, Arroyo Piedras Azules, located on the northern Pacific coast of Jalisco, Mexico. Excavated materials provide considerable information about the colonization of this area by Aztatlán groups in the Early Postclassic period, as well as the nature of the expansion of the Aztatlán phenomenon in West Mexico. Based on the data thus far obtained from the site, the authors offer five significant conclusions regarding the development and the spread of the Aztatlán archaeological culture in West Mexico, concerning the timing of development, subsistence strategies of Pacific coastal groups, the nature of Aztatlán expansion, specialized production, and links between the Arroyo Piedras Azules site to the Mixteca-Puebla area.

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.

scholarly journals The Late Paleoindian Occupation of the Western Ouachita Mountains of Southeast Oklahoma: The Archaeology of Component V at the Quince Site (34AT134)

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy K. Perttula
Keyword(s):  
Great Plains ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Ouachita Mountains ◽  
Projectile Point ◽  
Bureau Of Reclamation ◽  
Projectile Points ◽  
Chipped Stone ◽  
Middle Archaic ◽  
Late Paleoindian

The Quince site (34AT134) is a well-preserved and relatively deeply stratified Ouachita Mountains archaeological site in Atoka County in southeastern Oklahoma. The site’s archaeological deposits are buried in Late Pleistocene and Holocene alluvial terrace deposits of McGee Creek, a tributary to Muddy Boggy Creek, itself a southern-flowing tributary to the Red River, that cuts through the western edge of the mountains. Excavated in 1982 and 1983 prior to the creation of McGee Creek Reservoir by the Bureau of Reclamation, the 3.0 m deep archaeological deposits at the Quince site contained a record of prehistoric occupations spanning most of the Holocene period (from ca. 10,500 B.P to 1000 radiocarbon years B.P., or ca. 12,590 to 927 calibrated years B.P.) Woodland (Component I), Late Archaic (Components II and III), and Middle Archaic (Component IV) period occupational deposits are present in good stratigraphic order within the upper 1 m of McGee Creek alluvium. There are also a series of buried Late Paleoindian occupations (in what is defined as Component V) with features and chipped stone lithic tools recovered in situ that are recognized beginning from about 1.10 m to 3.0 m in depth below the surface. In this article, I discuss the archaeological evidence for use of the Western Ouachita Mountains by Late Paleoindian foragers as seen principally from the micro-scale; that is, from the perspective of this one well-preserved and stratified Late Paleoindian site. Paleoindian occupations with good stratigraphic context are apparently quite rare in the Ouachita Mountains and along the edge of the Southeastern woodlands and the Great Plains in the eastern and eastcentral part of the state of Oklahoma. Much of the archaeological research dealing with Late Paleoindian peoples in this region has dealt primarily with the description and classification of isolated temporally diagnostic projectile points (and the kinds of lithic raw materials employed in projectile point manufacture) found on the surface or in mixed and relatively shallow stratigraphic contexts. The Quince site Late Paleoindian archaeological deposits provide direct and compelling evidence for the long-term and recurrent use of the western Ouachita Mountains by hunter-gatherer groups.

scholarly journals Variability in an early hominin percussive tradition: the Acheulean versus cultural variation in modern chimpanzee artefacts

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1682) ◽  
pp. 20140358 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. A. J. Gowlett
Keyword(s):  
Discriminant Analysis ◽  
Material Culture ◽  
Direct Access ◽  
Cultural Variation ◽  
Strong Focus ◽  
Measurement And Analysis ◽  
Early Hominin ◽  
A Site ◽  
Access To Food ◽  
Early Human

Percussion makes a vital link between the activities of early human ancestors and other animals in tool-use and tool-making. Far more of the early human actions are preserved as archaeology, since the percussion was largely used for making hard tools of stone, rather than for direct access to food. Both primate tools and early hominin tools, however, offer a means to exploring variability in material culture, a strong focus of interest in recent primate studies. This paper charts such variability in the Acheulean, the longest-lasting tool tradition, extant form about 1.7 to about 0.1 Ma, and well known for its characteristic handaxes. The paper concentrates on the African record, although the Acheulean was also known in Europe and Asia. It uses principal components and discriminant analysis to examine the measurements from 66 assemblages (whole toolkits), and from 18 sets of handaxes. Its review of evidence confirms that there is deep-seated pattern in the variation, with variability within a site complex often matching or exceeding that between sites far distant in space and time. Current techniques of study allow comparisons of handaxes far more easily than for other components, stressing a need to develop common practice in measurement and analysis. The data suggest, however, that a higher proportion of traits recurs widely in Acheulean toolkits than in the chimpanzee record.

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