Climate change, sea surface temperature change, El Niño periodicity, and biological baselines for... more Climate change, sea surface temperature change, El Niño periodicity, and biological baselines for maritime resources are critical issues in the modern world. These have been characterized and studied using a number of proxies, but rarely have archaeological data been used to address them. Archaeological data in the form of preserved fish, sea mammal, and sea bird remains are abundant and often well preserved in coastal shell midden sites around the world. Can the analysis of these remains provide an independent and unbiased measure of shifting biomass, climate change, and El Niño frequency though the Holocene period?http://repository.uwyo.edu/cgs_fac_2016/1012/thumbnail.jp
Abstract This study addresses ceramic variability and use within the 14-hectare community of Yana... more Abstract This study addresses ceramic variability and use within the 14-hectare community of Yanaorco located on the continental divide in the Cajamarca region of Northern Peru. This Late Intermediate Period village was strategically positioned above the Gavilán Pass connecting the upper Jequetepeque Valley to the Cajamarca Basin. A high degree of variability is present in both excavated and surface ceramic collections from public and domestic zones at the site. Increased variation among the fineware assemblages from Yanaorco and Cajamarca as a whole during the Late Intermediate Period may relate to demographic or settlement shifts and changing exchange patterns during this post-Wari collapse period.Este estudio examina la variabilidad cerámica y el uso de ésta dentro de la comunidad de Yanaorco, asentada sobre 14 hectáreas en la división continental de la región Cajamarca en el norte del Perú. Este asentamiento del Periodo Intermedio Tardío estuvo ubicado estratégicamente en el Paso de Gavilán, que conecta el valle alto de Jequetepeque con la cuenca de Cajamarca. Un alto nivel de variabilidad se presenta en las recolecciones de superficie y de excavación de áreas domésticas y públicas en el sitio. El incremento en la variación del repertorio de cerámica fina de Yanaorco y Cajamarca durante el Intermedio Tardío puede estar relacionado a cambios demográficos o de asentamiento, y a cambios en los patrones de intercambio durante este periodo de colapso posterior a Wari.
ABSTRACT Three texts reviewed here address the linkages between religion and mountainous landscap... more ABSTRACT Three texts reviewed here address the linkages between religion and mountainous landscapes in the Maya and Inca realms. Bassie-Sweet provides a thorough analysis of the Maya mythologies of creation and situates its players and concepts within the real world. Besom thoughtfully tackles the place of mountains and child sacrifice within the Andes with a focus on the late prehispanic Inca. Reinhard and Constanza offer a detailed and richly illustrated case study of state-sponsored child sacrifice on a mountaintop in the south of the Inca Empire. Taken together, these somewhat disparate books produce several fascinating parallels in the sacred geographies of mountains and the offerings made to them.
Except for the addition of modern material remains, the archaeological record is a finite resourc... more Except for the addition of modern material remains, the archaeological record is a finite resource, which means that, at some point in the future, there will be nothing left to find. In this paper, we model trends in archaeological discovery based on the growth of the field and the probability of site discovery. We compare this model to seven diverse datasets of archaeological discovery trends: (1) all sites from the state of Wyoming, USA; (2) high-altitude archaeological sites from the state of Colorado, USA; (3) mostly complete Neandertal crania; (4) monumental sites of the Maya Classic period; (5) proboscidean kill/scavenge sites globally; (6) Upper Paleolithic sites from Europe; and (7) a compilation of shipwreck discoveries. We forecast discovery trends over the current century. We show that, for all datasets, rates of discovery are in decline, and some segments of the record are near depletion.
Ortiz and co-authors assemble diverse lines of evidence, namely biodistance data, mortuary patter... more Ortiz and co-authors assemble diverse lines of evidence, namely biodistance data, mortuary patterns, ethnobotanical and zooarchaeological data, dress, and adornment from Magdalena de Cao during the Colonial period. They seek to understand the construction, manipulation, and negotiation of identity at this reducción and, although their sample is small, they find that the people from Magdalena were biometrically and morphologically most similar to Spanish comparative samples, rather than pre-Hispanic samples from the Central Andes. They contrast these observations with archaeological data and argue for evidence of material and cultural hybridity as well as the continuity of local beliefs and practices.
Climate change, sea surface temperature change, El Niño periodicity, and biological baselines for... more Climate change, sea surface temperature change, El Niño periodicity, and biological baselines for maritime resources are critical issues in the modern world. These have been characterized and studied using a number of proxies, but rarely have archaeological data been used to address them. Archaeological data in the form of preserved fish, sea mammal, and sea bird remains are abundant and often well preserved in coastal shell midden sites around the world. Can the analysis of these remains provide an independent and unbiased measure of shifting biomass, climate change, and El Niño frequency though the Holocene period?http://repository.uwyo.edu/cgs_fac_2016/1012/thumbnail.jp
Abstract This study addresses ceramic variability and use within the 14-hectare community of Yana... more Abstract This study addresses ceramic variability and use within the 14-hectare community of Yanaorco located on the continental divide in the Cajamarca region of Northern Peru. This Late Intermediate Period village was strategically positioned above the Gavilán Pass connecting the upper Jequetepeque Valley to the Cajamarca Basin. A high degree of variability is present in both excavated and surface ceramic collections from public and domestic zones at the site. Increased variation among the fineware assemblages from Yanaorco and Cajamarca as a whole during the Late Intermediate Period may relate to demographic or settlement shifts and changing exchange patterns during this post-Wari collapse period.Este estudio examina la variabilidad cerámica y el uso de ésta dentro de la comunidad de Yanaorco, asentada sobre 14 hectáreas en la división continental de la región Cajamarca en el norte del Perú. Este asentamiento del Periodo Intermedio Tardío estuvo ubicado estratégicamente en el Paso de Gavilán, que conecta el valle alto de Jequetepeque con la cuenca de Cajamarca. Un alto nivel de variabilidad se presenta en las recolecciones de superficie y de excavación de áreas domésticas y públicas en el sitio. El incremento en la variación del repertorio de cerámica fina de Yanaorco y Cajamarca durante el Intermedio Tardío puede estar relacionado a cambios demográficos o de asentamiento, y a cambios en los patrones de intercambio durante este periodo de colapso posterior a Wari.
ABSTRACT Three texts reviewed here address the linkages between religion and mountainous landscap... more ABSTRACT Three texts reviewed here address the linkages between religion and mountainous landscapes in the Maya and Inca realms. Bassie-Sweet provides a thorough analysis of the Maya mythologies of creation and situates its players and concepts within the real world. Besom thoughtfully tackles the place of mountains and child sacrifice within the Andes with a focus on the late prehispanic Inca. Reinhard and Constanza offer a detailed and richly illustrated case study of state-sponsored child sacrifice on a mountaintop in the south of the Inca Empire. Taken together, these somewhat disparate books produce several fascinating parallels in the sacred geographies of mountains and the offerings made to them.
Except for the addition of modern material remains, the archaeological record is a finite resourc... more Except for the addition of modern material remains, the archaeological record is a finite resource, which means that, at some point in the future, there will be nothing left to find. In this paper, we model trends in archaeological discovery based on the growth of the field and the probability of site discovery. We compare this model to seven diverse datasets of archaeological discovery trends: (1) all sites from the state of Wyoming, USA; (2) high-altitude archaeological sites from the state of Colorado, USA; (3) mostly complete Neandertal crania; (4) monumental sites of the Maya Classic period; (5) proboscidean kill/scavenge sites globally; (6) Upper Paleolithic sites from Europe; and (7) a compilation of shipwreck discoveries. We forecast discovery trends over the current century. We show that, for all datasets, rates of discovery are in decline, and some segments of the record are near depletion.
Ortiz and co-authors assemble diverse lines of evidence, namely biodistance data, mortuary patter... more Ortiz and co-authors assemble diverse lines of evidence, namely biodistance data, mortuary patterns, ethnobotanical and zooarchaeological data, dress, and adornment from Magdalena de Cao during the Colonial period. They seek to understand the construction, manipulation, and negotiation of identity at this reducción and, although their sample is small, they find that the people from Magdalena were biometrically and morphologically most similar to Spanish comparative samples, rather than pre-Hispanic samples from the Central Andes. They contrast these observations with archaeological data and argue for evidence of material and cultural hybridity as well as the continuity of local beliefs and practices.
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