All posts; Tags Include "Archaeology"
- September 29, 2016
- 11:36 AM
- 182 views
No Population Continuity Between Pre Toba Eruption And Extant Humans In India
by Suvrat Kher in Rapid Uplift
Stone tools and fossils suggest that an early wave of Homo sapiens may have migrated into India as early as 100K years ago. Did these migrants leave a genetic trace in present day Indians.. ... Read more »
Mallick, S., Li, H., Lipson, M., Mathieson, I., Gymrek, M., Racimo, F., Zhao, M., Chennagiri, N., Nordenfelt, S., Tandon, A.... (2016) The Simons Genome Diversity Project: 300 genomes from 142 diverse populations. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature18964
Groucutt, H., Petraglia, M., Bailey, G., Scerri, E., Parton, A., Clark-Balzan, L., Jennings, R., Lewis, L., Blinkhorn, J., Drake, N.... (2015) Rethinking the dispersal of out of Africa . Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews, 24(4), 149-164. DOI: 10.1002/evan.21455
- August 1, 2016
- 12:50 AM
- 303 views
Dating the Macaws
by teofilo in Gambler's House
One of the most exciting recent developments in the study of Chaco Canyon is the increasing use of scientific analysis of artifacts and other material remains to test and challenge previous theories based more narrowly on traditional archaeology. This includes the use of radiocarbon dating, which is widely used as a basis for developing chronologies […]... Read more »
Watson, A., Plog, S., Culleton, B., Gilman, P., LeBlanc, S., Whiteley, P., Claramunt, S., & Kennett, D. (2015) Early procurement of scarlet macaws and the emergence of social complexity in Chaco Canyon, NM. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 112(27), 8238-8243. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1509825112
- June 20, 2016
- 11:50 PM
- 281 views
The “Sun” Temple
by teofilo in Gambler's House
Today is the summer solstice, on which I like to do posts about archaeoastronomy. Today I’d like to discuss a well-known site, Sun Temple at Mesa Verde, which as its name suggests has long been associated with astronomical observations. As we’ll see, however, it appears that some of the early interpretations of the site’s architecture […]... Read more »
Reyman JE. (1977) Solstice Misalignment at Sun Temple: Correcting Fewkes. The Kiva, 281-284. info:/
- December 22, 2015
- 02:06 AM
- 645 views
Watching the Sun
by teofilo in Gambler's House
Today is the winter solstice, and the seventh anniversary of this blog. I’ve traditionally posted about archaeoastronomy on these anniversaries, so I’m going to briefly interrupt my series on Crucible of Pueblos to discuss an interesting article on the evidence for astronomical observations at Chaco Canyon. There turns out to be some overlap, actually, which […]... Read more »
Munro AM, & Malville JM. (2010) Calendrical Stations in Chaco Canyon. Archaeoastronomy, 91-106. info:/
- June 21, 2015
- 09:49 PM
- 643 views
Hohokam Astronomy
by teofilo in Gambler's House
Today is the summer solstice, so I figured I would take a break from my (slowly) ongoing series of posts on the Pueblo I period in the northern Southwest to take a look at evidence for ancient astronomical knowledge in a different part of the Southwest. This is in part an outgrowth of my recent […]... Read more »
Bostwick TW. (2010) Exploring the Frontiers of Hohokam Astronomy: Tracking Seasons and Orienting Ritual Space in the Sonoran Desert. Archaeoastronomy, 166-189. info:/
- January 31, 2015
- 11:37 PM
- 687 views
Drones!
by teofilo in Gambler's House
Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), popularly known as “drones,” have become increasingly common in recent years as the technology behind them has developed. Some uses are controversial, such as military applications and uses that might violate privacy expectations or be dangerous to other aircraft, but other uses are more benign and can potentially open up new […]... Read more »
Casana, J., Kantner, J., Wiewel, A., & Cothren, J. (2014) Archaeological aerial thermography: a case study at the Chaco-era Blue J community, New Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science, 207-219. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2014.02.015
- December 22, 2014
- 01:11 AM
- 715 views
Orientation and Identity
by teofilo in Gambler's House
Today is the winter solstice, which means it’s also the sixth anniversary of this blog. On these anniversaries I like to write about archaeoastronomy, which is a very interesting topic and an important one for understanding Chaco and Southwestern prehistory in general. Last year I wrote about some research indicating that in the Rio Grande valley, […]... Read more »
Malville JM, & Munro AM. (2010) Cultural Identity, Continuity, and Astronomy in Chaco Canyon. Archaeoastronomy, 62-81. info:/
- December 1, 2014
- 02:37 AM
- 783 views
The Evidence from DNA in the Southwest
by teofilo in Gambler's House
Having introduced the basics of archaeological use of DNA evidence, and discussed some other applications of DNA studies in archaeology, let’s take a look at the data relevant to the Southwest specifically. For modern populations in North America overall, there are some broad trends that have been identified in mitochondrial haplogroup distribution by region, as […]... Read more »
Carlyle SW, Parr RL, Hayes MG, & O'Rourke DH. (2000) Context of maternal lineages in the Greater Southwest. American journal of physical anthropology, 113(1), 85-101. PMID: 10954622
Kaestle FA, & Smith DG. (2001) Ancient mitochondrial DNA evidence for prehistoric population movement: the Numic expansion. American journal of physical anthropology, 115(1), 1-12. PMID: 11309745
Lorenz JG, & Smith DG. (1996) Distribution of four founding mtDNA haplogroups among Native North Americans. American journal of physical anthropology, 101(3), 307-23. PMID: 8922178
Smith DG, Malhi RS, Eshleman J, Lorenz JG, & Kaestle FA. (1999) Distribution of mtDNA haplogroup X among Native North Americans. American journal of physical anthropology, 110(3), 271-84. PMID: 10516561
Snow, M., Durand, K., & Smith, D. (2010) Ancestral Puebloan mtDNA in context of the greater southwest. Journal of Archaeological Science, 37(7), 1635-1645. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2010.01.024
- September 30, 2014
- 05:23 AM
- 729 views
The Evidence from DNA
by teofilo in Gambler's House
To wrap up my series on tracing the connections between ancient Pueblo sites like Chaco Canyon and the modern Pueblos, I’d like to discuss a type of evidence I haven’t discussed much but that people often ask about: DNA evidence. This is the most direct way to tie one population to another, at least in theory, […]... Read more »
Mulligan, C. (2006) Anthropological Applications of Ancient DNA: Problems and Prospects. American Antiquity, 71(2), 365. DOI: 10.2307/40035909
Raghavan, M., DeGiorgio, M., Albrechtsen, A., Moltke, I., Skoglund, P., Korneliussen, T., Gronnow, B., Appelt, M., Gullov, H., Friesen, T.... (2014) The genetic prehistory of the New World Arctic. Science, 345(6200), 1255832-1255832. DOI: 10.1126/science.1255832
- September 4, 2014
- 02:20 PM
- 994 views
Pop Culture Osteology: Once Upon a Time #2
by JB in Bone Broke
Intrepid. Swashbuckling. Fearless. All adjectives that describe my tenacious approach to dissertation data collection. Oh wait, no, I’m wrong again. These are all adjectives that describe the rapscallion Captain Hook and imperturbable Emma Swan on ABC’s fairy-tale soap opera Once Upon a Time.... Read more »
Dyke, G.J., R.L.Nudds and C.A.Walker. (2007) The Pliocene Phoebastria ('Diomedea') anglica: Lydekker's English fossil albatross. Ibis, 626-631. info:/
- August 1, 2014
- 01:18 AM
- 895 views
The Evidence from Skull Measurements
by teofilo in Gambler's House
So far in this series of posts on “tracing the connections” between ancient Pueblo sites like Chaco Canyon and modern Pueblos, I’ve discussed evidence from linguistics and folklore, but of course if the issue is determining which modern groups are physically descended from which ancient ones it’s hard to beat evidence from actual physical remains. […]... Read more »
Schillaci, M., & Stojanowski, C. (2002) A Reassessment of Matrilocality in Chacoan Culture. American Antiquity, 67(2), 343. DOI: 10.2307/2694571
- June 21, 2014
- 07:00 AM
- 789 views
The Rise of the Skywatchers
by teofilo in Gambler's House
Today is the summer solstice, on which I typically make posts about archaeoastronomy, so I’m going to take a break from my very gradual series of posts on tracing the connections between ancient and modern Pueblos to speculate a bit about the role of astronomy at Chaco. Briefly, what I’m proposing is that the rise of […]... Read more »
Janusek, J. (2006) The changing ‘nature’ of Tiwanaku religion and the rise of an Andean state. World Archaeology, 38(3), 469-492. DOI: 10.1080/00438240600813541
- June 1, 2014
- 02:09 AM
- 1,037 views
The Evidence from Oral Traditions
by teofilo in Gambler's House
Given the obvious continuity in material culture between ancient and modern Pueblos, one potential source of information on the connections between prehistory and history in the region is the traditions of the modern Pueblos themselves. The florescence of Chaco was about 1000 years ago, so the events since then that led to the modern distribution […]... Read more »
Pradt, G. (1902) Shakok and Miochin: Origin of Summer and Winter. The Journal of American Folklore, 15(57), 88. DOI: 10.2307/533476
- May 28, 2014
- 08:30 AM
- 1,776 views
What was the Role of Cats in Anglo Saxon England?
by CAPB in Companion Animal Psychology Blog
Fascinating new research investigates what the archaeological record tells us about people and cats in Anglo Saxon times. Was the human-feline relationship very different from today?Photo: aleksandr hunta / ShutterstockNew research by Kristopher Poole (University of Nottingham) investigates the role of cats in Anglo Saxon England. The period from AD 410 until the Norman invasion of 1066 was a time of great change. The Roman Empire had lost its control and many people immigrated to England, parti........ Read more »
Poole, K. (2014) The Contextual Cat: Human–Animal Relations and Social Meaning in Anglo-Saxon England. Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory. DOI: 10.1007/s10816-014-9208-9
- April 29, 2014
- 01:08 AM
- 1,071 views
The Evidence from Linguistic Contact
by teofilo in Gambler's House
As I mentioned in the last post, I don’t think the linguistic relationships among the modern Pueblo languages shed much light on the details of the relationships between ancient and modern Pueblo groups. However, that’s not to say that linguistics is totally useless in addressing this issue. There’s another type of linguistic evidence which has […]... Read more »
Dockstader, F. (1955) Spanish Loanwords in Hopi; A Preliminary Checklist. International Journal of American Linguistics, 21(2), 157. DOI: 10.1086/464324
Hill, J. (2008) Northern Uto‐Aztecan and Kiowa‐Tanoan: Evidence of Contact between the Proto‐Languages?. International Journal of American Linguistics, 74(2), 155-188. DOI: 10.1086/587703
Shaul, D., & Hill, J. (1998) Tepimans, Yumans, and Other Hohokam. American Antiquity, 63(3), 375. DOI: 10.2307/2694626
- April 14, 2014
- 04:00 AM
- 1,364 views
Sacrificial and Common Graves Alike Reveal Diversity in Ancient City of Cahokia
by Blake de Pastino in Western Digs
Whether they died from natural causes or as sacrificial offerings, the residents of America’s largest prehistoric city were surprisingly diverse, with at least a third of the population having come from communities up to hundreds of kilometers away, according to new research of the settlement’s ancient graves.... Read more »
Slater, P., Hedman, K., & Emerson, T. (2014) Immigrants at the Mississippian polity of Cahokia: strontium isotope evidence for population movement. Journal of Archaeological Science, 117-127. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2014.01.022
- March 31, 2014
- 04:00 AM
- 1,308 views
‘Hidden Architecture’ of 1,000-Year-Old Village Discovered in New Mexico
by Blake de Pastino in Western Digs
An Ancestral Puebloan settlement appears to be giving up some of its secrets, and changing the perspectives of archaeologists, as new technology allows them to see under the desert floor.... Read more »
Casana, J., Kantner, J., Wiewel, A., & Cothren, J. (2014) Archaeological aerial thermography: a case study at the Chaco-era Blue J community, New Mexico. Journal of Archaeological Science, 207-219. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2014.02.015
- March 6, 2014
- 04:00 AM
- 1,194 views
Mesa Verde’s ‘Mummy Lake’ Was Built to Hold Rituals, Not Water, Study Says
by Blake de Pastino in Western Digs
A grand, sandstone-walled pit in Mesa Verde National Park has for decades been seen as an achievement of prehistoric hydrology, part of a system of cisterns and canals used by Ancestral Puebloans to harvest rainwater on the arid plateau as much as 1,100 years ago.
... Read more »
Benson, L., Griffin, E., Stein, J., Friedman, R., & Andrae, S. (2014) Mummy Lake: an unroofed ceremonial structure within a large-scale ritual landscape. Journal of Archaeological Science, 164-179. DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2014.01.021
- February 25, 2014
- 06:00 AM
- 1,260 views
History of Ancient Los Angeles Was Driven by Its Wetlands, 8,000-Year Survey Finds
by Blake de Pastino in Western Digs
It may be hard to visualize if you’ve been through drought-stricken southern California lately, but much of what’s now Los Angeles was once a teeming wetland. And a new landmark survey going back 8,000 years has found that human settlement in the region has ebbed and flowed with the levels of the sea and the waters of the Los Angeles River.... Read more »
Richard Ciolek-Torello, Jeffrey A. Homburg, Seetha N. Reddy, John G. Douglass, & Donn R. Grenda. (2013) Living in the Ballona Wetlands of the Southern California Coast: Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction and Human Settlement. Journal of Wetland Archaeology. DOI: 10.1179/1473297113Z.0000000001
- February 12, 2014
- 12:30 PM
- 1,147 views
Genome of America’s Only Clovis Skeleton Reveals Origins of Native Americans
by Blake de Pastino in Western Digs
The remains of a one-year-old boy who died 12,600 years ago in what’s now Montana are giving up exceptional information about the place his people held in American history, and the origins of Native Americans on both continents of the New World.... Read more »
Morten Rasmussen et al. (2014) The genome of a Late Pleistocene human from a Clovis burial site in western Montana. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature13025
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