Remains
Assembling ancestors: The manipulation of Neolithic and Gallo-Roman skeletal remains at Pommerœul, Belgium
Barbara Veselka et al.
Antiquity, forthcoming
Abstract:
Post-mortem manipulation of human bodies, including the commingling of multiple individuals, is attested throughout the past. More rarely, the bones of different individuals are assembled to create a single ‘individual’ for burial. Rarer still are composite individuals with skeletal elements separated by hundreds or even thousands of years. Here, the authors report an isolated inhumation within a Gallo-Roman-period cremation cemetery at Pommerœul, Belgium. Assumed to be Roman, radiocarbon determinations show the burial is Late Neolithic -- with a Roman-period cranium. Bioarchaeological analyses also reveal the inclusion of multiple Neolithic individuals of various ages and dates. The burial is explained as a composite Neolithic burial that was reworked 2500 years later with the addition of a new cranium and grave goods.
Large-scale medieval urbanism traced by UAV–lidar in highland Central Asia
Michael Frachetti et al.
Nature, forthcoming
Abstract:
Aerial light detection and ranging (lidar) has emerged as a powerful technology for mapping urban archaeological landscapes, especially where dense vegetation obscures site visibility. More recently, uncrewed aerial vehicle/drone lidar scanning has markedly improved the resolution of three-dimensional point clouds, allowing for the detection of slight traces of structural features at centimetres of detail across large archaeological sites, a method particularly useful in areas such as mountains, where rapid deposition and erosion irregularly bury and expose archaeological remains. Here we present the results of uncrewed aerial vehicle–lidar surveys in Central Asia, conducted at two recently discovered archaeological sites in southeastern Uzbekistan: Tashbulak and Tugunbulak. Situated at around 2,000–2,200 m above sea level, these sites illustrate a newly documented geography of large, high-altitude urban centres positioned along the mountainous crossroads of Asia’s medieval Silk Routes (6th–11th century CE (Common Era). Although hidden by centuries of surface processes, our pairing of very-high-resolution surface modelling with semiautomated feature detection produces a detailed plan of monumental fortifications and architecture spanning 120 ha at Tugunbulak, thereby demonstrating one of the largest highland urban constellations in premodern Central Asia. Documentation of extensive urban infrastructure and technological production among medieval communities in Central Asia’s mountains -- a crucial nexus for Silk Road trade networks -- provides a new perspective on the participation of highland populations in the economic, political and social formation of medieval Eurasia.
Hunting with poisoned arrows during the Terminal Pleistocene in Northern Europe? A tip cross-sectional area assessment and list of potential arrow poison ingredients
Felix Riede & Marlize Lombard
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, November 2024
Abstract:
The lithic projectile points of the Late Upper Palaeolithic (∼14.7–11.7 ka BP) in Northern Europe display a marked variation in size and design. The small tanged points characteristic of the latest phase in the sequence can be directly associated with finds of arrow-shafts and bow fragments, benchmarking the presence of archery. In the absence of such organic evidence during the older phases, size differences between tip designs may be used, with reference to ballistic principles, to derive hypotheses about ancient weapon systems. By calculating tip cross-sectional area values for a large sample of shouldered, backed, and tanged points from sites across the Northern Europe, we here explore likely changes in weapon use through time. In this context we specifically investigate the likelihood of the smallest of these tips as having been used with poison to increase hunting success. Our results show that: (i) bow-and-arrow technology most likely was in use already during the earliest phases of human occupation in the region; (ii) later on, different weapon systems equipped with different tip designs were used in parallel; and (iii) the smallest of lithic armatures align well with ethnographically documented poisoned arrows. To assist with future studies in the use of arrow poisons in Europe, we provide a list of potential poison sources, where they are currently distributed in the context of our study area.
The gravity of Paleolithic hunting
Michelle Bebber et al.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, November 2024
Abstract:
Topographic relief potentially played an important role in Stone Age hunting from the Middle Paleolithic onwards. Natural physical features like arroyos and cliffs, among many others, likely served as traps to stop or hinder animal movement. Yet, the presence of elevation and slope variation on a landscape means that hunters also may have been able to use terrain to hunt from on high. Here, we explored via archaeological experiment how an elevated position would have interacted with projectile weaponry via the force of gravity to influence a missile’s functional efficacy. We assessed the velocity and kinetic impact energy of two Paleolithic projectile weapon systems, the thrown javelin and the atlatl (spearthrower) and dart, at ground level and then at three-, six-, and nine-meter launch heights. The experimental results of the javelin supported our predictions. Velocity and kinetic impact energy increased as launch height increased. Unexpectedly, however, atlatl-propelled darts did not conform to our predictions, not only failing to increase dart velocity or kinetic impact energy as launch height increased but also decreasing both variables’ values. These results suggest that Paleolithic hunting with an atlatl in certain contexts likely came with consequential, and previously undocumented, opportunity costs. Our results also have implications for several aspects of archaeological interpretation in Paleolithic and post-Paleolithic contexts.
Sequencing the Southern Iberian Late Neolithic hypogeum cemetery of La Beleña through radiocarbon dating and Bayesian modeling
Jonathan Santana et al.
Radiocarbon, June 2024, Pages 498-517
Abstract:
This study aims to determine the chronological sequence of the collective burials in the hypogea of the prehistoric cemetery of La Beleña (Cabra, Córdoba) through Bayesian analyses of 14C dates obtained from human remains. The data from this site are not only key to grasping the phenomenon of the introduction and spread of hypogea throughout the western Mediterranean, but to gain insight into multi-stage funerary practices during the Late Neolithic/Chalcolithic. The dataset comprises 14C dates of 71 of the 79 individuals placed in five of La Beleña’s six hypogea. The findings suggest: (i) La Beleña is one of the oldest assemblages of hypogea in Iberia, (ii) that this type of collective burial spread rapidly throughout the western Mediterranean area, (iii) that La Beleña is marked by two main phases of funerary activity interspersed by brief burial surges, (iv) funerary intensity at La Beleña increased between cal BC 3400–2900 (2σ), and (v) the cemetery saw a very brief surge of burials potentially related to a catastrophic event. The results of this analysis thus shed light on the little-known chronological sequence of prehistoric hypogea or rock-cut tombs in Iberia, their spread, and their relation to other Late Neolithic collective burials in western Europe.