scholarly journals Bothersome burrowers: tracking gopher (Thomomys bottae) time-averaging in a late-Holocene site in California

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Viteri ◽  
Elizabeth Hadly
Keyword(s):  
Small Mammals ◽  
Late Holocene ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Time Averaging ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Pocket Gophers ◽  
Thomomys Bottae ◽  
Sediment Layers ◽  
Shed Light

Understanding the taphonomic biases affecting fossil deposits is necessary in order to extract their true ecological signals. In terrestrial sites, the mixing of fossil material by mammalian bioturbators can substantially increase time-averaging, obscuring or even erasing stratification. In particular, pocket gophers (Thomomys sp.) are known to burrow in Holocene sites and thereby complicate the contextualization of faunal remains. Not only is it unclear if bones have been transported vertically by gophers, but the gophers themselves have the potential to die in their burrows, adding young skeletal remains to older deposits. We establish the degree of bias introduced by gopher remains in a late-Holocene archaeological site in Woodside, California by radiocarbon dating skeletal remains of Thomomys bottae and non-fossorial small mammals from the same stratigraphic units. The ages of T. bottae bones are younger overall, and span a wider range, than the distribution of ages from other small mammals from the same site and sediment layers. This suggests that a significant number of gopher remains have been introduced after the site’s deposition as a consequence of burrowing. These results shed light on a common taphonomic process that affects archaeological and paleontological sites, and may prompt reevaluation of faunal community reconstructions from fossil deposits impacted by gophers and other fossorial mammals.

Subsurface Stone Lines, Stone Zones, Artifact-Manuport Layers, and Biomantles Produced by Bioturbation via Pocket Gophers (Thomomys Bottae)

1989 ◽  
Vol 54 (2) ◽  
pp. 370-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald L. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Laboratory Tests ◽  
Fine Fraction ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Site Formation ◽  
Maximum Diameter ◽  
Field Observations ◽  
Pocket Gophers ◽  
Subsurface Zone ◽  
Thomomys Bottae ◽  
Gravelly Soil

A prominent subsurface zone (layer) of large stones with diameters greater than 6-7 cm occurs in gravelly soil on colluvial aprons in the Lompoc area of California. The soil is mounded and churned by botta pocket gophers (Thomomys bottae). Sedimentological analyses show that the soil within and above the stone zone—and within the gopher mounds—is relatively homogeneous in fine fraction and forms a biomantle. None of the mounds contained stones with long-axis diameters greater than the maximum diameter of gopher burrows, about 6-7 cm. Larger stones gradually subside and form a stone zone. Both field observations and laboratory tests confirm that gopher bioturbation produces stone zones in coarse gravelly soil. This finding, and similar findings in two other recent studies, have important implications for interpreting archaeological site formation, and for interpreting geologic-pedologic processes inasmuch as artifact layers (and nonartifact layers) in some sites entirely may be due to nonanthropic, nongeologic, postdepositional biological agents.

scholarly journals Earliest Evidence of Neolithic Collective Burials from Eastern Iberia: Radiocarbon Dating at the Archaeological Site of Les Llometes (Alicante, Spain)

Radiocarbon ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 679-692 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domingo C Salazar-García ◽  
Oreto García-Puchol ◽  
María Paz de Miguel-Ibáñez ◽  
Sahra Talamo
Keyword(s):  
Social Relationships ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Minimum Number ◽  
Minimum Number Of Individuals ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Number Of Individuals ◽  
Shed Light

AbstractIn the Valencia region of Spain, the dominant use of natural caves for collective burials during the Late Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods has been documented. Collective burials are central to the hypothesis about social relationships in Copper Age societies from Iberia, and key to interpreting kinship-based societies. Les Llometes (Alcoi, Alicante) is one of the biggest collective burial sites existing in eastern Iberia. This article presents the direct14C dates on 25 skeletal remains at the site. The results indicate that the site was used as a burial place from the end of the 5th millennium cal BC until the end of the 4th millennium cal BC, and is a first milestone for future studies that will shed light on the transition towards social structure through the use of a cemetery space. Moreover, this research is one of the few investigations of Late Neolithic collective burials in Iberia that comprises an extensive accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)14C data set of almost all the individuals reported at a single site. This case also serves to highlight the utility of revisiting materials from historic excavations by14C dating all the skeletal remains that define the minimum number of individuals, and therefore ensuring a more complete picture of the prehistoric human record.

Bone Cave: A Severely Disturbed Cave Site in Central Oregon

2005 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 221-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey R. Ferguson ◽  
Craig E. Skinner
Keyword(s):  
Field Research ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Time Span ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Limited Time ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Processing Site ◽  
Disturbed Site

The presence of obsidian artifacts available for hydration and sourcing analysis, a high concentration of well-preserved faunal remains, a limited time span of occupation, and a wealth of obsidian research in the region, make Bone Cave an ideal example of an often ignored class of archaeological site. Although highly disturbed, analysis of the excavation results allowed us to determine that Bone Cave served as a probable pre-Mazama (prior to 6850 B.P.) rabbit processing site during the Early Holocene. The disturbed site of Bone Cave shows that field research is possible even in a region or political environment in which the excavation of intact sites is not.

Paleogeographic conditions of human habitation on the Karelian coast of the White Sea in the Late-Holocene (Chupa Town, Karelia, Russia)

The Holocene ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 095968362110417
Author(s):  
Shelekhova ТS ◽  
Lobanova NV ◽  
Lavrova NB ◽  
Rodionov GN
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
White Sea ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Green Moss ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
The White Sea ◽  
Diatom Flora ◽  
Ancient People ◽  
Human Habitation ◽  
New Evidence

Bottom sediments from Lake Pervoe Starushechye, on the White Sea shore, near Korabelnaya Bay, Chupa Town, 500 m from an archaeological site, were analyzed. The aim of our studies was to determine the position of the sea shoreline, to correlate archaeological sites relative to it, to date ancient settlements, and to reconstruct the paleoclimatic conditions and habitats of ancient people. Spore and pollen, diatom, and radiocarbon (14C) analyses were done. New evidence for the time of retreat of the seashore, the isolation of Lake Pervoe Starushechye from it and the time of the possible invasion of the area by ancient people was obtained. People were shown to inhabit the area from 3970 ± 120 to 3250 ± 120 14С y.a., when the sea shoreline reached modern levels of 19–22 m. The lake was then a ~8 m deep White Sea bay, in which marine gyttja was deposited. These events are reflected in the stratigraphy of the sequence and supported by the results of diatom and spore and pollen analyses. About 3500 y.a., mean annual temperatures in North Karelia were 2°С and annual precipitation ~50 mm/year higher than modern values. Spruce and pine-spruce forests with aspen and alder patches grew on the shore. A favorable climate and exuberant vegetation attracted people. Therefore, it is at the Atlantic-Subboreal boundary that the archaeological sites located at the above altitudes could arise. The lake separated from the White Sea 3020 ± 90 14С y.a. Freshwater sapropel was deposited in the isolated lake, as indicated by the composition of diatom flora and spore and pollen spectra. The sea shoreline declined to 17–16 m. Light-coniferous pine lichen-green moss forests with light-loving oligotrophic grasses were spreading actively throughout the study area.

scholarly journals ESTUDO DA DIAGÊNESE ÓSSEA E EXPERIMENTO DE DATAÇÃO DIRETA DOS SEPULTAMENTOS DO SÍTIO ARQUEOLÓGICO PEDRA DO ALEXANDRE – RN

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 143
Author(s):  
André Luiz Campelo dos Santos ◽  
Henry Socrates Lavalle Sullasi ◽  
Sérgio Francisco Serafim Monteiro da Silva
Keyword(s):  
Epr Spectroscopy ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Diagenetic Processes

Intervenções realizadas no Sítio Arqueológico Pedra do Alexandre resultaram na exumação de vestígios ósseos. No entanto, tentativas de uma datação direta mostraram-se infrutíferas pelas perdas de colágeno provocadas por processos diagenéticos. A partir desta constatação deu-se início à investigação para saber o que ocasionou tais processos ao mesmo tempo em que foi experimentada a datação direta através do uso da espectroscopia de RPE. A partir das análises realiadas é possível concluir que todo o conjunto de vestígios ósseos do referido sítio deve ter sido diageneticamente alterado. A RPE por sua vez mostra-se capaz de datar dentes provenientes dos indivíduos exumados.BONE DIAGENESIS STUDY AND DIRECT DATING EXPERIMENT OF THE BURIALS FROM THE PEDRA DO ALEXANDRE ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE - RNABSTRACTArchaeological interventions in the Pedra do Alexandre Archaeological Site resulted in the exhumation of skeletal remains. However, attempts to direct date the individuals proved fruitless due to the loss of collagen caused by diagenetic processes. From that finding, this research was initiated to know what caused these processes at the same time that was tried the direct dating using EPR spectroscopy. From these sample analyses we conclude that the entire set of skeletal remains of the said site must have been diagenetically altered. The EPR spectroscopy in turn proves to be able to fully date teeth from the exhumed individuals.Keywords: Pedra do Alexandre; Diagenesis; EPR spectroscopy; Archaeometry

Deviant Treatment of the Body as a Mortuary Ritual

2020 ◽  
pp. 347-360
Author(s):  
Takeshi Ishikawa
Keyword(s):  
Prone Position ◽  
Skeletal Remains ◽  
Decay Process ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Posture ◽  
Faunal Remains ◽  
Body Postures ◽  
Mortuary Ritual ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual

This chapter examines the social meaning of deviant mortuary practices from an osteoarchaeological perspective using skeletal remains from the Middle Jomon Period (ca. 3500–2500 cal BC) found at the Kusakari shell mound. The analyses focus on attributes associated with mortuary body treatments: 1) arrangements of remains, 2) body posture and direction, and 3) the location of burials within the cemetery. Although the usual body postures were dorsal during the period, one individual was laid in a prone position with an unusual body direction compared with other burials. The skeletal arrangement also revealed that the individual had been disarticulated early in the postmortem decay process; however, the remains were located within the usual cemetery area. Based on these results and the extraordinary amount of varied faunal remains in the vicinity, the deviant mortuary treatments appeared to arise from a specific social persona rather than an unusual context of death, such as drowning, suicide, warfare, or other cause.

Interpretations of Artifacts and Ecofacts

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grace Turner
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
General Trend ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Cultural Activity ◽  
Faunal Remains

Interpretation of this heavily disturbed archaeological site relied on the excavated material culture. Detailed analysis was done on the ceramics, glass, and faunal remains. These artifacts and ecofacts had the most potential to enhance the level of information known about the site. The manufacturing periods for ceramic types helped develop some chronology for cultural activity within the site. Time-sensitive evidence from bottle glass and faunal remains reinforced the general trend noted for the ceramics. An assessment of pre-Columbian Lucayan material culture was also included.

Paleoecological implications of the first prehistoric record of water vole (Microtus richardsoni) from Washington state, USA

2019 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 381-387
Author(s):  
R. Lee Lyman
Keyword(s):  
Late Holocene ◽  
Sampling Error ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Cascade Range ◽  
Western Montana ◽  
Water Vole ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The North ◽  
Long Distance Transport ◽  
Distance Transport

AbstractRemains of the North American water vole (Microtus richardsoni) have previously been recovered from late Pleistocene and Holocene deposits in southwestern Alberta, western Montana, and north-central Wyoming. All are within the historically documented modern range of the metapopulation occupying the Rocky Mountains; no ancient remains of this large microtine have previously been reported from the metapopulation occupying the Cascade Range. Four lower first molar specimens from the late Holocene Stemilt Creek Village archaeological site in central Washington here identified as water vole are from the eastern slope of the Cascade Range and are extralimital to the metapopulation found in those mountains. There is no taphonomic evidence indicating long-distance transport of the teeth, and modern trapping records suggest the local absence of water voles from the site area today is not a function of sampling error. The precise age of the Stemilt Creek Village water voles is obscure but climate change producing well-documented late Holocene advances of nearby alpine glaciers could have created habitat conditions conducive to the apparent modest shift in the range of the species represented by the remains.

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