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Coastal Settlements (coastal + settlement)
Selected AbstractsEvidence for a single clay/temper source for the manufacture of Middle and Late Helladic Aeginetan pottery from Asine, GreeceGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 7 2004Michael J. Dorais In an effort to further characterize the Middle and Late Helladic pottery industry on Aegina, we have analyzed amphibole in 23 sherds imported to the coastal settlement of Asine. The sherds derive from vessels of different classes and shapes and range in age from MH I-II to LH IIIB-IIIC Early. All sherds come from vessels that carry manufacturing marks, and their amphiboles have compositions that are incompatible with those of Methana, Poros, and Melos. Twenty of the sherds have amphiboles that are identical in composition and overlap a narrow range of amphibole compositions found in specific lava flows on the northern portion of Aegina. Given that the dacites across Aegina contain amphiboles with a wide range in compositions, we suggest that the narrow range of amphibole compositions in the sherds indicates that they were derived from either a specific clay source on the island, located in a stream system southeast of the prehistoric settlement at Kolonna, or that the potters used a specific temper source along the same stream system. Multiple clay or temper sources would have produced sherds with a broader range of amphibole compositions reflecting the diversity of amphibole compositions found on Aegina. One sherd has amphibole compositions indicative of an additional Aeginetan component that is not found in the other sherds. Two sherds have amphiboles with compositions that do not match any known reference amphiboles for Aegina, Methana, Poros, or Melos. These may have been derived from still unsampled dacites on Aegina or have been manufactured from materials located outside the Saronic Gulf. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Resolving the enigma of early coastal settlement in the Hawaiian Islands: The stratigraphic sequence of the Wainiha Beach Site in Kaua'iGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 2 2004Mike T. Carson Archaeological excavation has documented stratified cultural deposits at the Wainiha Beach Site in Kaua'i (Hawaiian Islands), beginning with the occupation of a residential structure dated around A.D. 1030,1400. After about A.D. 1400, the excavated area contains abundant evidence of widespread repeated temporary activities ending in the post-Contact era (post-A.D. 1778). The presence of an early permanent residence followed by a later period of temporary activities opposes conventional understanding of a trend from temporary to permanent occupation in similar sites in the Hawaiian Islands. The complete stratigraphic sequence is disclosed here, with reference to formation processes and depositional context of eight major strata documented in a controlled excavation 0.95 m deep. Various human activities (such as digging pits, trampling, etc.) and periodic natural high-energy events (such as tsunami) appear to have altered the upper portions of underlying deposits. Large sections of the earliest human occupation layer were obliterated, and successive episodes of short-lived activities created numerous inconsistencies in the stratigraphy. These results have important implications for interpreting the cultural sequence not only at Wainiha but also at other rather enigmatic beach sites in the Hawaiian Islands and elsewhere. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Large earthquakes and the abandonment of prehistoric coastal settlements in 15th century New ZealandGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 6 2003James R. Goff This paper reports on the effects of large earthquakes and related events, such as tsunamis, on prehistoric coastal settlements in New Zealand. It is based on field observations at several well-established archaeological sites around the Cook Strait region and on literature reviews. We identify three broad periods of seismic activity in New Zealand since human occupation of the islands: 13th century, 15th century, and the 1750s to 1850s. The most significant, from a prehistoric human perspective, is the 15th century. Using examples from the Cook Strait region, we suggest that the abandonment of coastal settlements, the movement of people from the coast to inland areas, and a shift in settlement location from sheltered coastal bays to exposed headlands, was due to seismic activity, including tsunamis. We expect similar patterns to have occurred in other parts of New Zealand, and other coastal areas of the world with longer occupation histories. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Lifestyle, occupation, and whole bone morphology of the pre-Hispanic Maya coastal population from Xcambó, Yucatan, MexicoINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 3 2007Isabel S. Wanner Abstract The present bioarchaeological study examines the external diaphyseal geometric properties of humeri, radii, femora and tibiae of the Classic period skeletal population of Xcambó, Yucatan, Mexico. The diaphysial proportions are evaluated using a biomechanical approach together with data from the material context and other osteological information. Our intent is to provide new answers to questions concerning lifestyle, domestic labour division and subsistence strategies of this coastal Maya settlement that was inhabited from the Late and Terminal Preclassic (300 BC,350 AD) to the Postclassic Period (900,1500 AD). Our results provide evidence for a marked sexual division of labour when compared with values from contemporaneous inland populations. The overall male and female loading patterns differ remarkably in terms of form and in bilateral comparison. A high directional asymmetry in the upper limbs is evident among males, a condition related to maritime transportation and trading activities. On the other hand, female upper limbs are characterized by very low side differences. Forces on the arms of women were probably dominated by food processing, in particular the grinding of grains or seeds. In the lower limbs, males show significantly higher anteroposterior bending strengths, which can be explained by greater engagement in transportation tasks and carrying heavy loads. In the course of the Classic period (350,900 AD), diachronic changes affect the male sample only, which suggests a shift of occupational pattern and physical demands. This shift, in turn, reflects Xcambó's changing role as the centre of a densifying settlement area and its place in the trading activities of northern Yucatan. Other topics of discussion relate to general regional trends and local prehispanic subsistence strategies. Our conclusions emphasize the value of geometric long bone analysis in the reconstruction of activity patterns and lifestyles in ancient coastal settlements. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||