The Interpretative Possibilities of Microwear Studies
Author: Bo Gräslund
Publisher:
Published: 1990
Total Pages: 188
ISBN-13:
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Lithic Analysis
Author: George H. Odell
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Published: 2012-12-06
Total Pages: 271
ISBN-13: 1441990097
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThis practical volume does not intend to replace a mentor, but acts as a readily accessible guide to the basic tools of lithic analysis. The book was awarded the 2005 SAA Award for Excellence in Archaeological Analysis. Some focuses of the manual include: history of stone tool research; procurement, manufacture and function; assemblage variability. It is an incomparable source for academic archaeologists, cultural resource and heritage management archaeologists, government heritage agencies, and upper-level undergraduate and graduate students of archaeology focused on the prehistoric period.
Situational Identities Along the Raiding Frontier of Colonial New Mexico
Author: Jun U. Sunseri
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Published: 2018-02-01
Total Pages: 239
ISBN-13: 0803296398
DOWNLOAD EBOOKSituational Identities along the Raiding Frontier of Colonial New Mexico examines pluralistic communities that navigated between colonial and indigenous practices to negotiate strategic alliances with both sides of generations-old conflicts. The rich history of the southwestern community of Casitas Viejas straddles multiple cultures and identities and is representative of multiple settlements in the region of northern New Mexico that served as a “buffer,” protecting the larger towns of New Spain from Apache, Navajo, Ute, and Comanche raiders. These genízaro settlements of Indo-Hispano settlers used shrewd cross-cultural skills to survive. Researching the dynamics of these communities has long been difficult, due in large part to the lack of material records. In this innovative case study, Jun U. Sunseri examines persistent cultural practices among families who lived at Casitas Viejas and explores the complex identities of the region’s communities. Applying theoretical and methodological approaches, Sunseri adds oral histories, performative traditions of contemporary inhabitants, culinary practices, and local culture to traditional archaeology to shed light on the historical identities of these communities that bridged two worlds.
Mesolithic Settlement in the North Sea Basin
Author: Clive Waddington
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Published: 2007-12-20
Total Pages: 426
ISBN-13: 1782974601
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe archaeological remains at Howick consist of a Mesolithic hut site and an Early Bronze Age cist cemetery located on a modern cliff edge overlooking a small estuary. This volume is devoted solely to the reporting and interpretation of the Mesolithic remains. Three huts had been constructed on the Howick site, all on the same footprint, with no evidence to indicate a gap between these occupations, and the remains inside the hut were all consistent with its use as a habitation site. The lithic material from Howick is the most accurately dated assemblage from any British Mesolithic site and is a classic example of a narrow-blade industry. Typically for Britain these sites date from around 7500 cal BC but the Howick dates indicate an earlier start for this type of industry. The chipped stone assemblage from Howick is all made from locally occurring beach pebble flint which fits into the wider pattern of localised raw material acquisition by groups elsewhere in North-East England. A wide variety of tool types were found within the hut reflecting the diverse activities that appear to have taken place there. With such a wide range of resources on offer on a year-round basis, the site is interpreted as a base camp settlement that was used by the same group and their descendants over a period of several generations lasting for somewhere in the region of 200 years. The size of the hut indicates its use by a family-sized group. The Howick excavations have forced a rethink of the scale and nature of Mesolithic settlement in North-East England, as well as the relationship between this and other regions around the North Sea Basin. It is hoped that this work will help encourage further research into the Mesolithic of the region and its interactions with adjacent areas of upland, other North Sea Basin communities, as well as groups occupying the lands further north and south.
Gender and Hide Production
Author: Lisa Frink
Publisher: Rowman Altamira
Published: 2006
Total Pages: 300
ISBN-13: 9780759108516
DOWNLOAD EBOOKHide production is one of the oldest crafts known to humans. Yet this is the first volume to critically explore the gendered nature of this universal activity amongst hunters-gatherers for its meaning in craft production, status, identity and cultural change. Using ethnoarchaeological and archaeological examples from North America and Africa, the authors provide new insights of the gendered nature of human behavior.
Objects
Author: Chris Caple
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2006-08-21
Total Pages: 338
ISBN-13: 1134403097
DOWNLOAD EBOOKAn invaluable field textbook, Objects examines detailed case studies to provide a brilliantly clear and comprehensible guide to the different methods and approaches (cultural, forensic, and technical) which can and have been used to study ancient artefacts. From the Bayeux Tapestry to small medieval brass pins, medieval wooden doors to Saxon jewellery, Chris Caple’s integral text deals with a full range of materials and clearly and simply explains key scientific techniques, technology, anthropological jargon and historical approaches. Key demonstrations include: how information from objects builds into a picture of the ancient society that made and used it the commonly used scientific techniques for object analysis how and why object typologies work how cultural and economic factors as well as the material properties influences what objects are made of how simple observation of an object can build its biography. Revealing answers to crucial questions – such as: Can DNA be obtained from objects? Why do people x-ray ancient artefacts? Can you determine the source of metal objects from their trace elements? – Objects is an absolutely essential text for students of archaeology, museum studies, and conservation.
Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Study of Stone Age Weaponry
Author: Radu Iovita
Publisher: Springer
Published: 2016-05-28
Total Pages: 306
ISBN-13: 9401776024
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe objective of this volume is to showcase the contemporary state of research on recognizing and evaluating the performance of stone age weapons from a variety of viewpoints, including investigating their cognitive and evolutionary significance. New archaeological finds and experimental studies have helped to bring this subject back to the forefront of human origins research. In the last few years, investigations have expanded beyond examining the tools themselves to include studies of damage caused by projectile weapons on animal and hominin bones and skeletal asymmetries in ancient hominin populations. Only recently has there been a growing interest in controlled and replicative experiments. Through this book readers will be updated in the state of knowledge through a multidisciplinary scientific reconstruction of prehistoric weapon use and its implications. Contributions from expert authors are organized into three themed parts: recognizing weapon use (experimental and archaeological studies of impact traces), performance of weapon systems (factors influencing penetration depth etc.), and behavioral and evolutionary ramifications (cognitive and ecological effects of using different weapons).
From Quarry to Cornfield
Author: Charles Cobb
Publisher: University of Alabama Press
Published: 2000
Total Pages: 276
ISBN-13: 0817310509
DOWNLOAD EBOOKFrom Quarry to Cornfield provides an innovative model for examining the technology of hoe production and its contribution to the agriculture of Mississippian communities. Lithic specialist Charles Cobb examines the political economy in Mississippian communities through a case study of raw material procurement and hoe production and usage at the Mill Creek site on Dillow Ridge in southwest Illinois. Cobb outlines the day-to-day activities in a Mississippian chiefdom village that flourished from about A.D. 1250 to 1500. In so doing, he provides a fascinating window into the specialized tasks of a variety of "day laborers" whose contribution to the community rested on their production of stone hoes necessary in the task of feeding the village. Overlooked in most previous studies, the skills and creativity of the makers of the hoes used in village farming provide a basis for broader analysis of the technology of hoe use in Mississippian times. Although Cobb's work focuses on Mill Creek, his findings at this site are representative of the agricultural practices of Mississippian communities throughout the eastern United States. The theoretical underpinnings of Cobb's study make a clear case for a reexamination of the accepted definition of chiefdom, the mobilization of surplus labor, and issues of power, history, and agency in Mississippian times. In a well-crafted piece of writing, Cobb distinguishes himself as one of the leaders in the study of lithic technology. From Quarry to Cornfield will find a well-deserved place in the ongoing discussions of power and production in the Mississippian political economy.
A Neolithic and Bronze Age Landscape in Northamptonshire
Author: Jan Harding
Publisher: English Heritage
Published: 2013-01-15
Total Pages: 340
ISBN-13: 1848021747
DOWNLOAD EBOOKThe Raunds Area Project investigated more than 20 Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in the Nene Valley. From c 5000 BC to the early 1st millennium cal BC a succession of ritual mounds and burial mounds were built as settlement along the valley sides increased and woodland was cleared. Starting as a regular stopping-place for flint knapping and domestic tasks, first the Long Mound, and then Long Barrow, the north part of the Turf Mound and the Avenue were built in the 5th millennium BC. With the addition of the Long Enclosure, the Causewayed Ring Ditch, and the Southern Enclosure, there was a chain of five or six diverse monuments stretched along the river bank by c 3000 cal BC. Later, a timber platform, the Riverside Structure, was built and the focus of ceremonial activity shifted to the Cotton 'Henge', two concentric ditches on the occupied valley side. From c 2200 cal BC monument building accelerated and included the Segmented Ditch Circle and at least 20 round barrows, almost all containing burials, at first inhumations, then cremations down to c 1000 cal BC, by which time two overlapping systems of paddocks and droveways had been laid out. Finally, the terrace began to be settled when these had gone out of use, in the early 1st millennium cal BC.
Perishable Material Culture in Prehistory
Author: Linda M. Hurcombe
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2014-04-24
Total Pages: 347
ISBN-13: 1317814541
DOWNLOAD EBOOKPerishable Material Culture in Prehistory provides new approaches and integrates a broad range of data to address a neglected topic, organic material in the prehistoric record. Providing news ideas and connections and suggesting revisionist ways of thinking about broad themes in the past, this book demonstrates the efficacy of an holistic approach by using examples and cases studies. No other book covers such a broad range of organic materials from a social and object biography perspective, or concentrates so fully on approaches to the missing components of prehistoric material culture. This book will be an essential addition for those people wishing to understand better the nature and importance of organic materials as the ’missing majority’ of prehistoric material culture.
