Archaeology: What's Hot Now: The Mixtec Culture of Souther

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The Mixtec Culture of Souther Oct 8th 2011, 10:02 The Mixtecs are an indigenous group of Mexico. In pre-Hispanic times, they lived in the western region of the state of Oaxaca and part of the states of Puebla and Guerrero and they were one of the most important groups of Mesoamerica. During the Postclassic period (AD 800-1521), they were famous for their mastery in artworks such as metalworking, jewelry, and decorated vessels. Information about Mixtec history comes from archaeology, Spanish accounts during the Conquest period and Pre-Columbian codices (screen folding book) with heroic narratives about Mixtec kings and nobles. The Mixtec Region The region where this culture first developed is called the Mixteca. It is characterized by high mountains and narrow valleys with small streams. Three zones form the Mixtec region: Mixteca Alta (High Mixteca) with an elevation ranging between 2500 and 2000 meters. Mixteca Baja (Low Mixteca), between 1700 and 1500 m. Mixteca de la Costa (Mixtec Coast) along the Pacific coast. This rugged geography didn't allow for easy communication. This is probably the reason for the great differentiation of dialects within the Mixtec culture. It has been estimated that at least a dozen different Mixtec languages exist. Agriculture, which was practiced by the Mixtec peoples at least as early as 1500 B.C., was also affected by this difficult topography. The best lands were limited to the narrow valleys on the highlands and few areas on the coast. Archaeological sites like Etlatongo and Jucuita, in the Mixteca Alta, are some examples of early settled life in the region. In later periods, the three sub-regions (Mixteca Alta, Mixteca Baja and Mixteca de la Costa) were producing and exchanging different products. Cocoa, cotton, salt and other imported items including exotic animals came from the coast, while maize, beans, chiles, as well as metals and precious stones came from the mountainous regions. Mixtec Society In pre-Columbian times, the Mixtec region was densely populated. It has been estimated that in 1522 when the Spanish conquistador, Pedro de Alvaradoâ€"a soldier of Hernan Cortésâ€"traveled among the Mixteca the population was over a million. This highly populated area was politically organized in independent polities or kingdoms each one ruled by a powerful king. The king was the supreme governor and leader of the army, and was helped by officials and counselors in collecting tributes and services from the people. The majority of the population, however, was composed of farmers, artisans, merchants, serfs and slaves. Mixtec artisans were famous for their mastery as smiths, potters, gold-workers and precious-stones cutters. Mixtec Political Organization Mixtec society was organized in kingdoms or city-states ruled by a powerful king who collected tributes and services from the people with the help of officers, administrators who were part of the nobility. This political system reached its height during the Early Postclassic period (AD 800-1200). These kingdoms were interconnected among each other through alliances, marriages and were often involved in wars. Two of the most powerful kingdoms of this period were Tututepec, on the coast and Tilantongo in the Mixteca Alta. The most famous Mixtec king was Lord Eight Deer "Jaguar Claw", ruler of Tilantongo, whose heroic actions are part history, part legend. According to Mixtec history, in the 11th century he managed to bring together the kingdoms of Tilantongo and Tututepec under his power. The events that led to the unification of the Mixteca region under Lord Eight Deer "Jaguar Claw" are recorded in two of the most famous Mixtec codices: the Codex Bodley, and the Codex Zouche-Nuttall. Mixtec Codices A codex (plural codices) is a pre-Columbian screen-fold book usually written on bark paper or deer skin. The majority of the few Pre-Columbian codices that survived the Spanish conquest comes from the Mixtec region. Some famous codices from this region are: The Codex Bodley, the Zouche-Nuttall, and the Codex Vindobonensis (Codex Vienna). The first two are historical in content, whereas the last one records Mixtec beliefs about the origin of the universe, their gods, and mythology. Mixtec Sites and Capitals Early Mixtec centers were small villages located close to productive lands. The construction during the Classic Period (300-600 CE) of sites like Yucuñudahui, Cerro de Las Minas and Monte Negro on defensible positions on high hills has been explained by some archaeologists as a period of conflict among these centers. During the Postclassic, the most powerful kingdoms of the Mixteca region were Tututepec on the coast and Tilantongo in the Mixteca Alta. In the 11th century these kingdoms were unified in a powerful regional alliance by Lord Eight Deer Jaguar Claw. Around the 12th century, the Mixtec expanded their power to the Valley of Oaxaca, a region historically occupied by Zapotec people. In 1932, the Mexican archaeologist Alfonso Caso discovered in the site of Monte Albánâ€"the ancient capital of the Zapotecsâ€"a tomb of Mixtec nobles dating to the 14th-15th century. This famous tomb (Tomb 7) contained an amazing offering of gold and silver jewelry, elaborately decorated vessels, corals, skulls with turquoise decorations and carved jaguar bones. This offering is an example of the skillfulness of Mixtec artisans. At the end of the pre-Hispanic period the Mixtec region was conquered by the Aztecs. The region became part of the Aztec empire and the Mixtecs had to pay tribute to the Aztec emperor with gold and metal works, precious stones, and the turquoise decorations for which they were so famous. Centuries later, some of these artworks were found by archaeologists digging in the Great Temple of Tenochtitlan, the capital of the Aztecs. Sources Joyce, AA 2010, Mixtecs, Zapotecs and Chatinos: Ancient peoples of Southern Mexico. Wiley Blackwell. Manzanilla, Linda and L Lopez Lujan, eds. 2000, História Antigua de México. Porrua, Mexico City.

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Archaeology of the Iliad

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Archaeology of the Iliad Oct 8th 2011, 10:02 The archaeological correlate for the societies who were participating in the Trojan War in the Iliad and the Odyssey is the Helladic or Mycenaean culture. What archaeologists think of as Mycenaean culture grew out of the Minoan cultures on the Greek mainland between 1600 and 1700 BC, and spread to the Aegean islands by 1400 BC. Capitals of the Mycenaean culture included Mycenae, Pylos, Tiryns, Knossos, Gla, Menelaion, Thebes, and Orchomenos. The archaeological evidence of these cities paints a vivid picture of the towns and societies mythologized by the poet Homer. Defenses and Wealth Mycenaean culture consisted of fortified city centers and surrounding farm settlements. There is some debate about how much power the main capital of Mycenae had over the other urban centers (and indeed, whether it was the "main" capital), but whether it ruled over or merely had a trading partnership with Pylos, Knossos and the other cities, the material cultureâ€"â€"the stuff that archaeologists pay attention toâ€"â€"was essentially the same. By the late Bronze Age of around 1400 BC, the city centers were palaces or, more properly, citadels. Lavishly frescoed structures and gold grave goods argue for a strictly stratified society, with much of the wealth of the society in the hands of an elite few, consisting of a warrior caste, priests and priestesses, and a group of administrative officials, headed by a king. At several of the Mycenaean sites, archaeologists have found clay tablets inscribed with Linear B, a written language developed from a Minoan form. The tablets are primarily accounting tools, and their information includes rations provided to workers, reports on the local industries including perfume and bronze, and the support required for defense. And that defense was necessary is certain: The fortification walls were enormous, 8 m (24 ft) high and 5 m (15 ft) thick, built of huge, unworked limestone boulders which were roughly fitted together and chinked with smaller chunks of limestone. Other public architecture projects included roads and dams. Crops and Industry Crops grown by Mycenaean farmers included wheat, barley, lentils, olives, bitter vetch, and grapes; and pigs, goats, sheep, and cattle were herded. Central storage for the subsistence goods was provided within the walls of the city centers, including specialized storage rooms for grain, oil and wine. It is apparent that hunting was a pastime for some of the Mycenaeans, but it seems to have been primarily an activity for building prestige, not obtaining food. Pottery vessels were of regular shape and size, which suggests mass production; everyday jewelry was of blue faience, shell, clay, or stone.

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Seriation

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Seriation Oct 8th 2011, 10:02 Next, we break apart the bars, and align them so that all of the same colored bars are positioned vertically next to the others. Horizontally, the bars still represent the percentages of musical recording types in each of the junkyards. What this step does is create a visual representation of the qualities of the artifacts, and their co-occurrence at different junkyards. Notice that this figure does not mention what kind of artifacts we're looking at, it just groups similarities. The beauty of the seriation system is that you don't necessarily have to know the dates of the artifacts at all, although it helps to know which is earliest. You derive the relative dates of the artifacts--and the junkyards -- based on the relative frequencies of artifacts within and between sites. What the early practitioners of seriation did was use colored strips of paper to represent the percentages of artifact types; this figure is an approximation of the descriptive analytical technique called seriation. Sources and Further Information Timing is Everything: A Short Course in Archaeological Dating Techniques Sampling in Archaeology Stratigraphy See the bibliography for a list of sources and further reading.

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Archaeology: The Real Mound Builders

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The Real Mound Builders Oct 7th 2011, 08:26 One of the joys of my childhood growing up in Illinois was my parents taking us to Mississippian mound sites and letting us hang out at the museums. Often the museums would have dioramas of various activities that were supposed to have occurred at the sites; one that I remember specifically was of the process of building the mound itself. Monks Mound at Cahokia, Illinois. Photo by Steve Moses Up until recently, certainly in the 1960s when I was a kid, archaeologists believed that most mound construction was completed by carrying basketloads of soil to be placed in a heap. There was evidence of this: within some mounds you can actually see the outlines of soil heaps. Mound scholars often calculated the labor it would take to build a mound, based on an estimated number of basketloads. However, a recent study of mound construction using geophysical techniques and reported by Sarah Sherwood and Tristram Kidder in an article called "The DaVincis of Dirt" shows us how building an earthwork required a far more complex process, both architecturally and ritually. More Information Mounds, which describes some of the detail from Sherwood and Kidder. Moundbuilder Myth, which is a 19th century European-American mythology about who built the North American mounds Sherwood SC, and Kidder TR. 2011. The DaVincis of dirt: Geoarchaeological perspectives on Native American mound building in the Mississippi River basin. Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 30(1):69-87.

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: From Hunting to Farming

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From Hunting to Farming Oct 7th 2011, 10:02 About 6,000 BC, the inhabitants of Europe were Mesolithic hunter-gatherer-fishers, who lived in huts that looked more or less like the reconstructed building illustrated in the photograph. Archaeologists trace the European Mesolithic between the last glacial maximum (ca 10,000 BP) to the beginning of the Neolithic period (ca. 5,000 BP), after farming communities were established. Mesolithic hunter-gatherers excelled at marine animal exploitation, building fish weirs for efficiency, and they hunted a wide range of animals, including wild pig. They were also fond of shellfishâ€"many of the European Mesolithic sites contain enormous shell middens, trash heaps left over from decades of shellfish harvesting. The house illustrated in the photograph is a reconstructed Mesolithic structure from Archeon, a living history/experimental archaeology park in the Netherlands. Sources and Further Information Bramanti, B., et al. 2009 Genetic Discontinuity Between Local Hunter-Gatherers and Central Europe’s First Farmers. Science Express 3 September 2009 Haak, Wolfgang, et al. 2005 Ancient DNA from the First European Farmers in 7500-Year-Old Neolithic Sites. Science 310:1016-1018. Transition from Hunting to Farming in Europe, summary of Bramanti et al. 2009 European Mesolithic Ertebølle-Ellerbeck culture Domestication of the Pig Fish Weirs Shell Middens

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Qin Dynasty

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Qin Dynasty Oct 7th 2011, 10:02 Definition: The Qin Dynasty [221-206 BC], while only fifteen years in duration and only including three emperors, was one of the most important and influential of periods in Chinese history. The first emperor Qin (Qin Shi Huangdi) united the "Warring Tribes," creating the rudimentary elements of a united China. Other achievements of the Qin dynasty include strengthening the Great Wall, and standardizing currency and language. The army of terra cotta soldiers also dates to the Qin dynasty; they were found in the emperor Qin Shi Huangdi's tomb. The harshness of the Qin regime led to its downfall the year after Shihuangdi's death. Source Xiaoneng Yang. 2004. Early Imperial China, in Chinese Archaeology in the Twentieth Century: New Perspectives on China's Past. Yale University Press, New Haven. This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst. Alternate Spellings: Ch'in Examples: Xianyang (capital city)

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Cactus Hill (USA)

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Cactus Hill (USA) Oct 7th 2011, 10:02 Definition: Cactus Hill is a buried multicomponent site on the coastal plain of the Nottaway River in Sussex County, Virginia. The site has Archaic and Clovis occupations, but most importantly, below the Clovis and separated by sterile sand, is an apparent Pre-Clovis occupation. Radiocarbon dates on wood from the preclovis level range between 15,070±70 and 18,250±80 RCYBP, calibrated to ca. 18,200-22,000 years ago. Luminescence dates taken on feldspar and quartzite grains in the various levels of the site agree, almost entirely, with the radiocarbon assays. The luminescence dates suggest that the site stratigraphy is primarily intact and has been little affected by movement of artifacts down through the sterile sand; but some doubt must remain. With the continuing discovery of additional preclovis sites in North and South America, however, these issues seem less compelling. Excavations by Joseph McAvoy indicate the preclovis level has a stone tool assemblage with heavy percentages of quartzite blades, and pentangular (five-sided) projectile points. Data on the artifacts has yet to be published. Sources This glossary entry is part of the Guide to Populating America and Preclovis Culture, not to mention the Dictionary of Archaeology. Feathers, James K., Edward J. Rhodes, Sébastien Huot, and J. M. McAvoy 2006 Luminescence dating of sand deposits related to late Pleistocene human occupation at the Cactus Hill Site, Virginia, USA. Quaternary Geochronology 1(3):167-187. Wagner, Daniel P. and Joseph M. McAvoy 2004 Pedoarchaeology of Cactus Hill, a sandy Paleoindian site in southeastern Virginia, U.S.A. Geoarchaeology 19 (4):297-322.

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Chavín Culture

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Chavín Culture Oct 7th 2011, 10:02 Definition: The Chavín culture is the name of a cultural group in Peru, now thought to have been primarily a religious cult, dated from about 400-200 BC. The culture apparently began in the Andes highlands and then spread outward throughout the country. Chavín culture has very distinctive art styles, particularly in effigy pots, many of which were in feline shapes. Chavín was first recognized by Ernest Middendorf in the 1890s; Julio C. Tello and John Rowe also conducted important research at the Chavín sites such as Chavín de Huántar and Huaca de los Reyes. Chavin Sites: Chavín de Huántar and Huaca de los Reyes. Sources Lathrap, Donald W.1973 Gifts of the cayman: some thoughts on the subsistence basis of Chavin. In Variation in anthropology: essays in honor of John C.McGregor. Donald W. Lathrap and J. Douglas, eds. Pp. 91-105. Urbana: Illinois Archaeological Survey. Lathrap, Donald W.1977 Our father the cayman, our mother the gourd: Spinden revisited or a unitary model for the emergence. In Origins of agriculture. C. A. Reed, ed. Pp. 713-752. The Hague: Mouton. Lathrap, Donald W.1971 The tropical forest and cultural context in Chavin. In Dumbarton Oaks Conference on Chavin. E. P. Benson, ed. Pp. 73-100. Washington D.C.: Dumbarton Oaks. Miller, George R. and Burger, Richard L. Our father the cayman, our dinner the llama: Animal utilization at Chavin de Huantar, Peru. American Antiquity 60(3), 421-458. 95. Stahl, Peter W. 1999 Structural density of domesticated South American camelid skeletal elements and the archaeological investigation of prehistoric Andean Ch'arki. Journal of Archaeological Science 261347-1368. This glossary entry is part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Any mistakes are the responsibility of Kris Hirst. Examples: Chavín de Huántar, Huaca de los Reyes, Pampa de las Llamas-Moxeke, Garagay, Cardal (all in Peru)

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Hofstaðir (Iceland)

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Hofstaðir (Iceland) Oct 6th 2011, 10:03 Hofstaðir is the name of a Viking settlement located in northeastern Iceland, where archaeological and oral history reports a pagan temple was located. Recent excavations suggest instead that Hofstaðir was primarily a chief's settlement, with a large hall used for ritual feasting and events. Radiocarbon dates on animal bone range between 1030-1170 RCYBP. The Viking Age site of Hofstaðir included a large hall-like building, several adjacent pit house dwellings, a church (built ca 1100) and a boundary wall enclosing a 4.5 acre home field, where hay was grown and dairy cattle were kept over the winter. The hall is the largest Norse longhouse yet excavated in Iceland. Artifacts recovered from Hofstaðir include several silver, copper, and bone pins, combs and dress items; spindlewhorls, loomweights, and whetstones, and 23 knives. Hofstaðir was founded about AD 950 and continues to be occupied today. During the Viking Age, the town had a fairly robust number of people occupying the site during the spring and summer and fewer people living there during the rest of the year. Animals represented by bones at Hofstaðir include domestic cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and horses; fish, shellfish, birds, and limited numbers of seal, whale and arctic fox. Bones of a domestic cat were discovered within one of the house ruins. Ritual and Hofstaðir The site's largest building is a hall, typical for Viking sites, except that it is twice as long as an average Viking hallâ€"38 meters long, with a separate room at one end identified as a shrine. A huge cooking pit is located in the southern end. The association of the site of Hofstaðir as a pagan temple or a large feasting hall with a shrine, comes from the recovery of at least 23 individual cattle skulls, located in three distinct deposits. Cutmarks on the skulls and neck vertebrae suggest that the cows were killed and beheaded while still standing; weathering of the bone suggests that the skulls were displayed outside for a number of months or years after the soft tissue had decayed away. Ritual at Hofstaðir The cattle skulls are in three clusters, an area on the west exterior side containing 8 skulls; 14 skulls inside a room adjoining to the great hall (the 'shrine'), and one single skull located next to the main entry way. All of the skulls were found within wall and roof collapse areas, suggesting that they had been suspended from the roof rafters. Radiocarbon dates on five of the skulls the bone suggest that the animals died between 50-100 years apart, with the latest dated about AD 1000. Excavators Lucas and McGovern believe that Hofstaðir ended abruptly in the mid-11th century, about the same time a church was built 140 meters away. Archaeology and Hofstaðir Hofstaðir was excavated by Daniel Bruun in 1908; by Olaf Olsen in the mid-1960s, and by Gavin Lucas and Thomas McGovern in the early 21st century. Sources This glossary entry is a part of the Guide to the Viking Age and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology. Adderley, W. P., Ian A. Simpson, and Orri Vésteinsson 2008 Local-Scale Adaptations: A Modeled Assessment of Soil, Landscape, Microclimatic, and Management Factors in Norse Home-Field Productivities. Geoarchaeology 23(4):500â€"527. Lawson, Ian T., et al. 2007 Environmental impacts of the Norse settlement: palaeoenvironmental data from Mývatnssveit, northern Iceland. Boreas 36:1-19. Lucas, Gavin, ed. 2003. Hofstaðir 2002: Interim Report. Fornleifastofnun Íslands, Reykjavík. Free pdf download. Lucas, Gavin and Thomas McGovern 2007 Bloody Slaughter: Ritual Decapitation and Display At the Viking Settlement of Hofstaðir, Iceland. European Journal of Archaeology 10(1):7-30. McGovern, Thomas H., Sophia Perdikaris, Arni Einarsson, and Jane Sidell 2006 Coastal connections, local fishing, and sustainable egg harvesting: patterns of Viking Age inland wild resource use in Myvatn district, Northern Iceland. Environmental Archaeology 11(2):187-205.

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Arrowhead

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Arrowhead Oct 6th 2011, 10:03 Definition: An arrowhead is the word used by archaeologists and enthusiasts alike to describe the artifact originally fastened to the end of an arrow shaft, whether made of stone, bone, metal or other material. Found as part of an archaeological site assemblage, in isolation on farm fields and in private collections and museums all over the world, an arrowhead is probably the best known artifact of the pastâ€"and a bit misunderstood. The term "arrowhead" is used by collectors and the general public to describe the tip of any projectile such as a spear or a dart point; but in archaeological science, an arrowhead only refers to the tip of an arrow that was shot by a bow. As a result, some archaeologists prefer to use the term 'arrowpoint' to be more explicit. The general term used by archaeologists for roughly triangular and pointy stone, bone or metal objects attached to any kind of a shaft is 'projectile point'. Sources and More Information See the Top Myths and Facts about Arrowheads for more information about what scientists have discovered and what they have so far failed to communicate to the public about arrowheads. This glossary entry is part of the Guide to Stone Tools and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Also Known As: bird point (in error; arrowheads can easily kill a deer)

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Yana RHS

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Yana RHS Oct 6th 2011, 10:03 The Yana Rhinoceros Horn Site (Yana RHS) is located on the Yana river in the Arctic Circle of northeastern Siberia (70 degrees north). At ca. 28,000 years old, Yana RHS is the oldest known human occupation within the Arctic Circle to date; the next oldest widely accepted site discovered so far is Berelekh, at 13,000-14,000 years ago. Yana RHS was discovered eroding from a high Pleistocene terrace with a Holocene overwash. The cultural materials were recovered both as deposits in the cut bank walls and as beach deposits in the modern floodplain. Eroding from the cutbank (and examined with a trench) was a cultural layer of artifacts and animal bones (mammoth, bison, and horse), radiocarbon dated to 27,300 +/- 270 RCYBP. More dates on the cut bank walls above the site support a stacked alluvial deposit beginning about 22,000 RCYBP, with a Holocene overwash dated between 6,000 and 3,000 years ago. Yana RHS Artifact Assemblage Bones on the floodplain (and thus in secondary context) have been direct-dated between 25,800 and 27,600 RCYBP. They include a partly burnt piece of mammoth ivory, Pleistocene lion and brown bear bones, and horse bones with butchering and/or cooking marks. One rhinoceros horn and two mammoth ivory atlatl foreshafts were also recovered from the beach deposits. The rhinoceros horn foreshaft was direct-dated using AMS at 28,250 +/- 170 RCYBP. Stone artifacts from Yana RHS include core tools, bifacially-flaked pebbles, choppers, side and angle-scrapers, end scrapers, and a hammerstone. Raw material for these tools is local flinty slate and granite and non-local quartz. Red ochre, bone fragments, and additional flakes were recovered from the excavations. Bone tools (mostly from secondary contexts) include the beveled foreshafts, and a possible punch or awl made from a wolf metatarsal. Bones found in situ included mammoth, horse, reindeer, wooly rhinoceros, and Pleistocene hare. Bone Bed at Yana RHS In 2008, ivory miners dug immediately next to the Yana RHS excavations and uncovered a mass of some 1,000 mammoth bones accompanied by human-made stone artifacts. These represent a minimum of 26 individual mammoths, as well as a few horse, bison, bear, rhinoceros and deer bones. The bones appear to have been sorted, and radiocarbon dates on the bone indicate that it was deposited at the same time as the Yana RHS occupation. The Significance of Yana RHS Yana RHS is the oldest site east of the Verkhoyansk Range in Siberia, by far, and thus it represents evidence of the possible ancestors of the colonists of the American continents. Before it was discovered, it was believed that the harsh climate of the early Last Glacial Maximum (ca 30,000-19,000 years BP) prevented people from crossing into Beringia and thus to the Americas. If the dates hold up, Yana RHS is an important piece of the American colonization puzzle. Yana RHS was discovered in 1993 by Mikhail Dashtzeren and excavated by a team from the Zhokhov-Yana Project led by V.V. Pitulko. Sources This glossary entry is a part of the guide to American colonization , and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Basilyan AE, Anisimov MA, Nikolskiy PA, and Pitulko VV. 2011. Wooly mammoth mass accumulation next to the Paleolithic Yana RHS site, Arctic Siberia: its geology, age, and relation to past human activity. Journal of Archaeological Science 38(9):2461-2474. Pitulko VV, Nikolsky PA, Girya EY, Basilyan AE, Tumskoy VE, Koulakov SA, Astakhov SN, Pavlova EY, and Anisimov MA. 2004. The Yana RHS Site: Humans in the Arctic Before the Last Glacial Maximum. Science 303(5654):52-56. Tamm E, Kivisild T, Reidla M, Metspalu M, Smith DG, Mulligan CJ, Bravi CM, Rickards O, Martinez-Labarga C, Khusnutdinova EK et al. 2007. Beringian Standstill and Spread of Native American Founders. PLoS ONE 2(9):e829.

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Actun Tunichil Muknal, or ATM Cave, Belize

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Actun Tunichil Muknal, or ATM Cave, Belize Oct 6th 2011, 10:03 Actun Tunichil Muknal, or ATM Cave, is an archaeological cave located in the Roaring Creek Valley in the Cayo District of Belize. It is approximately 5 km long and contains a perennial stream that runs through it. Several areas of remains of ancient ritual activity including a ledge with two stelae and a large chamber full of intact human remains and whole pots are found throughout. The name translates to "Cave of the Stone Sepulcher" and was given in reference to the number of deceased found within. ATM cave is now a national park co-managed by the Institute of Archaeology and Belize Audubon Society, and is one of the major tourist attractions in the country drawing hundreds of tourists everyday. History of Exploration Canadian geologist Thomas Miller first reported this cave in 1989. It quickly drew the attention of National Geographic, which produced a documentary on it in 1992 titled, "Journey Through the Underworld". Belizean archaeologist and now Commissioner of Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology in Belize, Jaime Awe guided the National Geographic team through the cave. The following year, Awe and his Western Belize Regional Cave Project (WBRCP) began full-scale archaeological investigations in the cave that ran as a research program and archaeological field school through 2000. The cave was opened up full time for tourism soon after. Archaeological Findings The use of this cave spans the Classic Period, roughly between AD 250-900. The earliest artifacts occur near the entrance of the cave, while the later material occurs deeper within. The archaeologists believe that the Maya felt a need to perform their rituals deeper in the cave because it was more sacred and possibly closer to the rain god, Chaak. These rituals were necessary because at the end of the Classic period the rain patterns had changed causing a long-term drought in this area of the Maya lowlands. There are two main areas of ritual significance in the cave. The first is a ledge located above the stream that contains two slate stelae, one carved in the shape of an obsidian blade, and the other of a stingray spine. The stelae are propped up with cave formations and broken pottery, a few obsidian blades, and another carved piece of slate are scattered throughout the area. These objects suggest that the Maya were performing bloodletting rituals at this location. The second area of significance in the cave is the "Main Chamber" located approximately 1 km from the entrance. The remains of 14 individuals were recorded there, including a young adult female that the cave has since grown over, except for one spot on her head. Nearly half of the individuals left here were children with some head trauma, suggesting that they were sacrificed. Thoughout Mesoamerica, children were commonly sacrificed to the rain gods in the Post Classic and Colonial periods. Other artifacts found within this chamber include ocarinas, manos and metates, as well as large jars and pots, all of which suggest agricultural rituals were performed here. Read more about the importance of caves in ancient Mesoamerica Bibliography and Further Reading This glossary entry is a part of the guide to Mesoamerica , and the Dictionary of Archaeology. Awe, Jaime J., 2006, Maya Cities and Sacred Caves: A Guide to the Maya Sites of Belize. Cubola Productions, Benque Viejo del Carmen, Belize. Awe, Jamie J., Cameron Griffith, and Sherry Gibbs, 2005, Cave Stelae and Megalithic Monuments in Western Belize. In In the Maw of the Earth Monster, edited by James E. Brady, and Keith M. Prufer, pp. 223-248. University of Texas Press, Austin. Miller, Thomas E., 1989, Tunichil Muknal. The Canadian Caver 21. Moyes, Holley, 2001, The Cave as a Cosmogram: The Use of GIS in and Intrastie Spatial Analysis of the Main Chamber of Actun Tunichil Muknal, A Maya Ceremonial Cave in Western Belize. Unpublished Master's Thesis, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL. Moyes, Holley, 2002, The Use of GIS in the Spatial Analysis of an Archaeological Cave Site. Journal of Cave and Karst Studies, 64:9-16. Moyes, Holley, 2005, Cluster Concentrations, Boundary Markers, and Ritual Pathways: A GIS Analysis of Artifact Cluster Patterns at Actun Tunichil Muknal, Belize. In In the Maw of the Earth Monster: Mesoamerican Ritual Cave Use, edited by James E. Brady and Keith M. Prufer, University of Texas Press, Austin, pp. 269-300.

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Shipwrecks

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Shipwrecks Oct 6th 2011, 10:03 There are without a doubt thousands of shipwrecks underwater and on dry land; most of them are discovered by accident, although some have been deliberately sought. Here are some of the ancient shipwrecks that have been subjected to careful archaeological study. 1. Belitung Shipwreck Adhi Rachdian The Belitung Shipwreck is a 9th century shipwreck discovered in 1998 by a sea-cucumber diver. The wreck originated in Arabia or India, and lies in the South China Sea north of Belitung Island, Tanjung Pandan, Indonesia, approximately 17 meters below the current water line. 2. Iulia Felix The Iulia Felix (also spelled Julia Felix) is the name of a Roman corbita that was wrecked in the Adriatic Sea six miles off the coast of the town of Grado during the last part of the 2nd century or first half of the 3rd century AD.  3. LaBelle Shipwreck The La Belle was one of the exploration ships of the French explorer La Salle, wrecked in Matagordo Bay, Texas in the 17th century. In this Articulations archaeological chat from 2001, excavator Barto Arnold discusses the La Belle, as well as the Denbigh, Port Royal, and Padre Islands shipwrecks. 4. Oranjemund Shipwreck The Oranjemund Shipwreck was discovered on the Atlantic coast of Namibia by diamond miners. It turned out to be a 17th century Portuguese nau, wrecked in a storm on its India Route. 5. Quedah Merchant The Quedah Merchant was an Armenian-owned ship with multinational backers,captured by the notorious Captain Kidd and scuttled off Catalina Island in the Caribbean. The Quedah Merchant was featured in National Geographic's Expedition Week. 6. Uluburun Martin Bahmann Uluburun is the name of a Late Bronze Age ship, wrecked in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Turkey near Kas in the 14th century BC, six miles from the coast and 50 meters below the water's surface. Recent archaeological research suggests that this ship originated from the Canaanite town of Ugarit.

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Archaeology: Pushing Back Pottery's Invention

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Pushing Back Pottery's Invention Oct 5th 2011, 08:28 This may not be news to everyone, but it's news to me: there is a cave site in Hunan province, China, containing potsherds dated to 15,000-18,000 years ago. Incipient Jomon Pot (10,000-8,000 BC), Tokyo National Museum, Japan. Photo by PRH Up until fairly recently, the earliest recorded pottery was from incipient Jomon period Japan: the Jomon hunter-gatherers (whose name means something like "cord-marked") made and used pottery at their earliest sites ca 12,000 years ago. Scholars had long believed that there would be earlier pottery found on the mainland, and they found it at Yuchanyan Cave south of the Yangtze River. Although likely decorated with cord-impressions, pots weren't glamorous: the potsherds are coarse-pasted, dark brown and shaped like a flower pot with a pointed bottom, something like this later pot in the photo, there researchers found it. What this does is push pottery making back into the Upper Paleolithic period in China. Some rice grains and rice opal phytoliths were also recovered from Yuchanyan Cave, leading some researchers to begin to look for evidence of early rice cultivation. The association of grain cultivation with pots is sometimes related to the production of alcoholic beverages: but more of that later. Read more about Yuchanyan Cave Inventing Pottery Rice Domestication

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: The Master Plan

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The Master Plan Oct 5th 2011, 10:02 Heather Pringle. 2006. The Master Plan: Himmler's Scholars and the Holocaust. Hyperion Books, New York. ISBN 0-7868-6886-4. 325 pages of text, 138 pages of notes, bibliography, index and acknowledgements. Himmler's Scholars Heather Pringle’s new book, The Master Plan: Himmler’s Scholars and the Holocaust, describes the role archaeologistsâ€"and the study of archaeologyâ€"played in the ideas and the execution of the Third Reich’s Final Solution. Heinrich Himmler, a member of Adolf Hitler’s inner circle and the man for whom the term ‘murderous bastard’ isn’t nearly strong enough, was an archaeology fan. It was Himmler’s research institute, Das Ahnenerbe ('something inherited from the forefathers') that researched, planned and executed some of the worst atrocities of the Holocaust. The Ahnenerbe employed 137 scholars, including archaeologists, anthropologists, ethnologists, and classicists, as well as medical doctors, geologists, and botanists; and 82 support workers, including librarians, filmmakers, photographers, artists, lab technicians and secretaries. Their goal was to find evidence of the glorious deeds of Germany’s ancestorsâ€"the fictional Aryanâ€"using scientific methods, and to communicate that information to the public, by means of magazine articles, books, museum shows and scientific conferences. Ahnenerbe: Destroyers of Culture Himmler believed, as did Hitler, that there were only three kinds of people in the world and ever had been. There were the founders of culture, the bearers of culture and the destroyers of culture. The founders of every civilization, according to this insidious cockamamie notion, were the Aryans, some blonde blue-eyed beautiful god-like people who lived in an icy climate. Himmler obtained scholars and others to work at the well-financed Ahnenerbe research institute through a terrifying blend of ambition and fear. Simply put, if you were a German archaeologist who wanted to advance at all during the 1930s, you had to be at the Ahnenerbe, conducting research into Aryan history and prehistory. Many scholars could not resist. Many went, happy and excited to be part of such a cutting-edge research institute. The Jewish Skeleton Collection Of course, I was aware that archaeologists had been involved in building the mythology of the Third Reich, from a 1990 article in Archaeology magazine by Bettina Arnold (not to mention the Indiana Jones movies). But this is a horrifying book. These scholars did not spend the war simply conducting idle research. At first the mission was to find evidence that the Aryans built such civilizations as far flung as Sumer and Tiwanaku, conducting archaeological excavations and looting the museums of central Europe; but as that didn’t pan out, they began a hysterical search for physical tests of Aryan-ness in people. What characteristics were Aryan? How could you (scientifically of course) sort out who was Aryan and who was not? And most importantly, what were the defining characteristics of the anti-Aryan, the Jewish race? When science failed them again and againâ€"a large percentage of Jewish people in Germany were blonde, after allâ€"in desperation the scholars of the Ahnenerbe attempted to create a Jewish Skeleton Collection by hand-selecting 86 of the healthier men and women interned in Auschwitz, killing them and macerating their bodies. Slouching Back into Science At the end of the war, most of the Ahnenerbe scholars disappeared into the scientific community, after brief periods of internment or as a result of lies, bribery or blackmail. Several archaeologists, like Herbert Jankuhn, Peter Paulsen, and Edward Tratz began well-regarded scholarly careers after the war, living well into their 80s and 90s and being eulogized as important German scholars. Pringle spent four years on this project, even interviewing one of the last surviving scholars from Ahnenerbe, Bruno Beger, who assisted in the selection of the specimens for the Jewish Skeleton Collection. Personally, I don’t know how she did it. I found it almost unbearable to read the book and write this review and I feel horrifically changed by it. The book is extremely well-researched, with over 130 pages of notes, bibliographic references and index. Ultimately, the Master Plan highlights one truly unspeakable evil of the Third Reichâ€"not the lunatics running the asylum, but the scholars and artists who supported and worked for its success.

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Archaeology: What's Hot Now: Upper Paleolithic

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Upper Paleolithic Oct 5th 2011, 10:02 The Upper Paleolithic (ca 40,000-10,000 years BP) was a period of great transition in the world. The Neanderthals in Europe became edged out and disappeared by 33,000 years ago, and modern humans began to have the world to themselves. While the notion of a "creative explosion" has given way to a recognition of a long history of the development of human behaviors long before we humans left Africa, there is no doubt that things really got cooking during the UP. Timeline of the Upper Paleolithic In Europe, it is traditional to split the Upper Paleolithic into five overlapping and somewhat regional variants, based on differences between stone and bone tool assemblages. Chatelperronian (36,000-34,000 BP) Aurignacian (35,000-29,000 BP) Gravettian/Upper Perigordian (29,000-22,000) Solutrean (22,000-18,000 BP) Magdalenian (17,000-11,000 BP) Tools of the Upper Paleolithic Stone tools of the Upper Paleolithic were primarily blade-based technology. Blades are stone pieces that are twice as long as they are wide, and generally have parallel sides. They were used to create an astonishing range of formal tools, tools created to specific, wide-spread patterns with specific purposes. In addition, bone, antler, shell and wood were used to a great degree for both artistic and working tool types, including the first eyed needles presumably for making clothing about 21,000 years ago. Art of the Upper Paleolithic The UP is perhaps best known for the cave art, wall paintings and engravings of animals and abstractions at caves such as Altamira, Lascaux and Coa. Another development during the UP is mobiliary art (basically, mobiliary art is that which can be carried), including the famous Venus figurines and sculpted batons of antler and bone carved with representations of animals. Upper Paleolithic Lifestyles People living during the Upper Paleolithic lived in houses, some built of mammoth bone, but most huts with semi-subterranean (dugout) floors, hearths and windbreaks. Hunting became specialized, and sophisticated planning is shown by the culling of animals, selective choices by season, and selective butchery: the first hunter-gatherer economy. Occasional mass animal killings suggest that in some places and at some times, food storage was practiced. Some evidence (different site types and the so-called schlep effect) suggest that small groups of people went on hunting trips and returned with meat to the base camps. The first domesticated animal appears during the Upper Paleolithic: the dog, companion to us humans for over 15,000 years. Colonization during the UP Humans colonized Australia and the Americas by the end of the Upper Paleolithic, and moved into hitherto unexploited regions such as deserts and tundras. The End of the Upper Paleolithic The end of the UP came about because of climate change: global warming, which affected humanity's ability to fend for itself. Archaeologists have called that period of adjustment the Azilian. Upper Paleolithic Sites See Upper Paleolithic Sites in Europe Israel: Qafzeh Cave, Ohalo II Australia: Lake Mungo, Devil's Lair, Willandra Lakes Japan: Sunagawa Georgia: Dzudzuana Cave Americas Daisy Cave, Monte Verde Sources See specific sites and issues for additional references. Cunliffe, Barry. 1998. Prehistoric Europe: An Illustrated History. Oxford University Press, Oxford. Fagan, Brian (editor). 1996 The Oxford Companion to Archaeology, Brian Fagan. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

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