Revising the Chronology of Stanovoye 4 in the Upper Volga Region (Western Russia)

This paper examines the Stanovoye 4 site-chronology, which was developed through several radiocarbon dating efforts throughout the last two decades. Today, the dates indicate longterm cultural traditions at the site, lasting over 3000 years. The goal of this paper is to understand the site chronology holistically, which is done through a critical review of all available dates and sample characteristics. Additionally, the choice of sample materials, dating methods and preservation practices will be discussed. Furthermore, the dating of PVA-consolidated samples is discussed from an archaeological standpoint.

Ancient DNA, lipid biomarkers and palaeoecological evidence reveals construction and life on early medieval lake settlements

Direct evidence of ancient human occupation is typically established through archaeological excavation. Excavations are costly and destructive, and practically impossible in some lake and wetland environments. We present here an alternative approach, providing direct evidence from lake sediments using DNA metabarcoding, steroid lipid biomarkers (bile acids) and from traditional environmental analyses. Applied to an early Medieval Celtic settlement in Ireland (a crannog) this approach provides a site chronology and direct evidence of human occupation, crops, animal farming and on-site slaughtering. This is the first independently-dated, continuous molecular archive of human activity from an archeological site, demonstrating a link between animal husbandry, food resources, island use. These sites are under threat but are impossible to preserve in-situ so this approach can be used, with or without excavation, to produce a robust and full site chronology and provide direct evidence of occupation, the use of plants and animals, and activities such as butchery.

The recent contribution of scientific techniques to the study of Nokalakevi in Samegrelo, Georgia

The site of Nokalakevi, in western Georgia, has seen significant excavation since 1973, including, since 2001, a collaborative Anglo-Georgian project. However, the interpretation of the site has largely rested on architectural analysis of standing remains and the relative dating of deposits based on the study of ceramics. Since 2013, the Anglo-Georgian Expedition to Nokalakevi has collected a diverse dataset derived from multiple scientific techniques including optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of ceramics, radiocarbon dating, δ13C and δ15N analysis and 87Sr/86Sr analysis. The full results of these analyses are reported here for the first time along with implications for the interpretation of the archaeology, which include greater detail in the site chronology but also indicators of diet and migration.

June–July Temperature Reconstruction of Kashmir Valley from Tree Rings of Himalayan Pindrow Fir

The Himalaya is one of the major mountain ecosystems that is most likely to be impacted by climate change. The main drawback in understanding climate change in the remote Himalayan ecosystems is the lack of long-term instrumental climate records. Reconstructing past climates from tree-rings offers a useful proxy for adding data to the instrumental climate records. In this study, climatically sensitive tree-rings of Himalayan fir (Abies pindrow) were used for reconstruction of mean June–July temperatures of Kashmir valley. Total ring-width chronology was built from 60 tree-ring cores growing near the higher altitudinal limits of the species. The radial growth showed a strong positive response to growing season temperature. The strong response of site chronology to mean June–July temperatures was used for reconstruction purposes. Mean June–July temperatures of Kashmir valley were reconstructed since 1773 from residual site chronology. Though the reconstruction did not show any strong long-term trend, on a centennial-scale, 20th-century summers were the warmest with a mean annual summer temperature of 22.99 °C. Seven of the warmest years and five of the warmest decades were seen in the 20th century. The reconstruction for 1773–2012 showed 23 extreme hot summers above the hot threshold of a 23.47 °C mean temperature and 19 extreme cold years below the cold threshold of a 22.46 °C mean summer temperature. The cold years in the reconstruction did not coincide with known volcanic eruptions. This reconstruction will help in providing a better understanding of regional climate change.

TREE-RING-RADIOCARBON DATING AT A LATE CONTACT PERIOD KITKAHAHKI PAWNEE SITE ON THE CENTRAL GREAT PLAINS, USA

ABSTRACT This study obtained calendar dates by radiocarbon accelerator mass spectrometry (14C AMS) dating sequential tree-rings of wooden support posts from the buried remains of traditional Kitkahahki Pawnee earthlodges preserved at an archaeological site on the Central Great Plains, USA. The tree-ring segments from the site were dendrochronologically analyzed prior to this study, but the cross-matched site chronology could not be definitively cross-dated and was thus “floating” in time. Our study represents the first floating tree-ring chronology from the Great Plains to be anchored in time by means of independent radiocarbon analysis. Three specimens were analyzed and dated to 1724–1774 CE (82.0% probability), 1774–1794 CE (95.4% probability), and 1800–1820 CE (95.4% probability). These dates correspond to the hypothetical timing of Kitkahahki ethnogensis, the main phase of village growth in the area, and a later reoccupation during a turbulent period in regional history. The results of this study conform to a scenario in which chaotic social conditions correspond to an increase in residential mobility between the core of Pawnee territory and a southern frontier in the Republican River valley.

GUA MABITCE: DATA BARU SITUS HOABINH DI SUMATRA BAGIAN UTARA

Gua Mabitce: New Evidence of Hoabinh Site in Northern Sumatra. Gua Mabitce Cave is one of the caves that have the potential for archaeological research on the western coast of Aceh. The surface archaeological data of Sumatralith and the shell layers indicated this location possibly occupied in the past. How occupation and cultural characteristics are found at this site? What questions can be answered by conducting excavations to collect the underground archaeological data? The excavation data are analyzed and interpreted to describe the occupation in Gua Mabitce Cave. Although the dating of this site chronology cannot be obtained because the samples have not been analyzed, the results of the analysis of stone artifacts showed the cultural character of Hoabinh with stone tools artifacts, Sumatralith and flakes as its main equipment. The use of direct percussion is a very dominant technique for making stone tools. The cultural and residential characteristics of the Mabitce Cave are similar to other pre-neolithic sites in northern Sumatra, such as open sites on the east coast of northern Sumatra and cave/rock-shelter sites in the Bukit Barisan Mountains in the Aceh and North Sumatra regions. Abstrak. Gua Mabitce merupakan salah satu gua di Pesisir Barat Aceh yang memiliki potensi untuk diteliti secara arkeologis. Temuan kapak batu sumatralit dan fitur lapisan cangkang kerang di permukaan lantainya memberikan gambaran awal kemungkinan adanya hunian pada masa lalu. Bagaimana hunian dan karakter budaya yang ditemukan di lokasi ini? Jawaban pertanyaan itu perlu dilakukan ekskavasi di Gua Mabitce untuk memperoleh data arkeologi di bawah permukaan. Data artefak, ekofak, fitur, dan sebarannya dianalisis dan diinterpretasikan untuk menemukan gambaran kronologi dan penghunian di Gua Mabitce. Walaupun kronologi waktu situs belum dapat diperoleh karena sampel pertanggalan belum dapat dianalisis, hasil analisis artefak batu menunjukkan karakter budaya Hoabinh dengan artefak batu, sumatralith, dan serpih batu sebagai peralatan utamanya. Penggunaan kerakal yang dipangkas pada satu sisi sangat dominan ditemukan. Karakter budaya dan hunian di Gua Mabitce memiliki kesamaan dengan situs-situs pre-Neolitik lainnya di Sumatra bagian utara, seperti situs terbuka di pesisir timur Sumatra bagian utara dan situs gua/ceruk di Pegunungan Bukit Barisan di wilayah Aceh dan Sumatra Utara.

Tree ring growth as a response of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) from Rudnik Forest District to climatic factors

The aim of the study was to evaluate the sensitivity of silver fir (Abies alba Mill.) from the Rudnik Forest District on the selected meteorological elements and to develop a chronology of local tree-ring width and the annual sensitivity. Based on the analysis, the site chronology of silver fir was developed and the strength of the relationship between the climate components and the width of annual rings was calculated. In addition, we examined the degree of homogeneity of short-term incremental response, rated the representativeness of the chronology and climate signal strength. Having analysed the indicator years, namely 1932–2013, we concluded that the growth of firs was positively influenced mainly by air temperature in winter, and to a lesser extent, by precipitation in spring and summer. The main factors that limit its growth are cold winters, cool and low rainfall summers, and rainy springs.

Chronology of a Fortified Mississippian Village in the Central Illinois River Valley

ABSTRACTGeophysical survey and excavations from 2010–2016 at Lawrenz Gun Club (11CS4), a late pre-Columbian village located in the central Illinois River valley in Illinois, identified 10 mounds, a central plaza, and dozens of structures enclosed within a stout 10 hectare bastioned palisade. Nineteen radiocarbon (14C) measurements were taken from single entities of wood charcoal, short-lived plants, and animal bones. A site chronology has been constructed using a Bayesian approach that considers the stratigraphic contexts and feature formation processes. The village was host to hundreds of years of continuous human activity during the Mississippi Period. Mississippian activity at the site is estimated to have begun incal AD 990–1165 (95% probability), ended incal AD 1295–1450 (95% probability), and lasted150–420 yr (95% probability)in the primary Bayesian model with similar results obtained in two alternative models. The palisade is estimated to have been constructed incal AD 1150–1230 (95% probability)and was continuously repaired and rebuilt for15–125 yr (95% probability), probably for40–85 yr (68% probability). Comparison to other studies demonstrates that the bastioned palisade at Lawrenz was one of the earliest constructed in the midcontinental United States.

Archaeological Investigations at 40DV7

The Middle Cumberland Archaeological Project is a multi-institution research effort launched in 2010 that includes archaeologists with Florida State University, the Tennessee Division of Archaeology, and Middle Tennessee State University, working together to identify and assess Archaic shell-bearing sites in the western Middle Cumberland River Valley of Tennessee. In 2012, the project investigated the substantial Archaic shell-bearing deposits at archaeological site 40DV7, located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, Tennessee. This interdisciplinary project gathered basic site-level data regarding the horizontal and vertical extent of cultural deposits, radiocarbon assays to determine site chronology, bulk and column samples for flotation and water-screening to aid in zooarchaeological analysis and paleoethnobotanical analysis, and geomorphological samples of the immediate environment. The results of the 2012 excavations, combined with earlier data collected by the senior authors, provide significant new data about the occupation history and freshwater shellfish composition of this site. In addition, radiocarbon data presented in this chapter reveal that 40DV7 manifests the longest continuous Archaic shell-bearing occupation yet identified in the region, spanning the period ca. 6500–4500 cal BP.

The Paradoxical Collection in the Cabinets: Establishing a Site Chronology of SDSU-0897, 5MN191, from Paradox Valley, Colorado

Site 5MN191, also referred to as the Paradox 1 site, was excavated in a 1970’s field school located in Montrose County, Colorado and run by San Diego State University, then California State University, San Diego. The head of the field school, Dr. Larry Leach, theorized that the site was associated with the Fremont cultural group, and a large portion of the artifacts were taken back to SDSU for further study. After a thesis was completed in 1972, the artifacts were stored in the Collections Management Program, where they resided until a flood in the late 1970s damaged a large portion of the Collections Management facility. The flood destroyed most, if not all, of the field notes and associated documents for the Paradox 1 site, washing away much of the provenience information. This study aimed to do two things: First, it sought to rehabilitate and describe the collection. Second, it attempted to create a cultural chronology of the site using an analysis of the projectile points and ceramic fragments.