Archaeological Site Formation Processes

Lo que el viento no se llevo. Analisis de sitios de superficie en la estepa fueguina

by Fernando Santiago

Fernando Santiago y Jimena Oria

Space and Time in the Architecture of Prehistoric Enclosures. The Iberian Peninsula as a case study.

by Victor Jimenez Jaimez

Authors: José E. Márquez-Romero & Víctor Jiménez-Jáimez

Published in: Souvatzi, E. & Hadji, A. (in press): Space and Time in Mediterranean Prehistory. Routledge: London.

Language: English.

A Prehistoric enclosure (whether it be a henge, a ditched, a walled or a palisade enclosure) is the monumentalization... more A Prehistoric enclosure (whether it be a henge, a ditched, a walled or a palisade enclosure) is the monumentalization of an open space. Starting with the question of a design or plan in enclosure building, we shall review construction techniques, internal spatial organization, landscape integration and chronology of several generations of Neolithic and Copper age Iberian enclosures. We will also discuss temporality and how it relates to variability in European enclosures layout and depositional practices, making use of analytical categories first introduced by F. Braudel and P. Bourdieu, and concluding that design decisions existed but they were not the sole result of individual or collective agency.

A Neolithic treasure chest

by Rengert Elburg

Elburg, R.: A Neolithic treasure chest. The European Archaeologist 33, Summer 2010, 4-6.

Der bandkeramische Brunnen von Altscherbitz – Eine Kurzbiografie.

by Rengert Elburg

Elburg, R.: Der bandkeramische Brunnen von Altscherbitz – Eine Kurzbiografie. In: R. Smolnik (Hrsg.) Ausgrabungen in Sachsen 2, Arbeits- und Forschungsberichte zur sächsischen Bodendenkmalpflege Beiheft 21, (Dresden 2010) 31-34.

Determining the Genesis and Cultural Significance of Deep Soil Features at Southeastern Connecticut’s Preston Plains Site

by Timothy Ives

Ph.D. dissertation, University of Connecticut (2010)

Archaeologists excavating Archaic and Woodland Period sites on sandy, unconsolidated soils in the Northeastern U.S.... more Archaeologists excavating Archaic and Woodland Period sites on sandy, unconsolidated soils in the Northeastern U.S. have identified deep soil features (hereafter DSFs) that are challenging to interpret.  Though hundreds of these basin-shaped features have been recorded, archaeologists do not agree as to whether or not they are anthropogenic.  Competing hypotheses have suggested that DSFs constitute the remnants of semi-subterranean pit houses, or, alternately, soil disturbances generated by naturally occurring tree throws.  This dissertation presents a case study of a DSF complex at southeastern Connecticut’s Preston Plains Site.  Its analytical design combines scholarship, empirically-based data assessments, and hypothesis testing to holistically inform an interpretation of the genesis and cultural significance of DSFs here.  Its results discount the pit house hypothesis while supporting the tree throw hypothesis according to multiple lines of evidence.  A simple and flexible model is proposed to explain how tree throws are modified through time to express the variety of forms and stratigraphies observed in DSFs.  Furthermore, it is determined that the pit-and-mound microtopographies afforded by ancient tree throws at Preston Plains were targeted by small groups of Late Archaic Period (ca. 5000-3000 BP) foragers as elements of short-term residential sites.  While archaeologists have already determined that Mesolithic and early Neolithic Europeans utilized such topographies as site elements, this study provides the most detailed set of supporting evidence of such behavior to date.

Tree Throws and Site Selection: Late Archaic Period Occupation at the Preston Plains Site in Southeastern Connecticut.

by Timothy Ives

forthcoming publication in Northeast Anthropology, Vol.77 (2009)

Several Archaic and Woodland period sites in the New England and the Middle Atlantic contain deep soil features (DSFs)... more Several Archaic and Woodland period sites in the New England and the Middle Atlantic contain deep soil features (DSFs) that have become objects of a pit house versus tree throw debate. Contributing to this debate, a case study of a DSF complex at southeastern Connecticut’s Preston Plains Site argues that tree throws generated such features, and proposes how long-term processes transform tree throw disturbances into the varied expressions DSFs exhibit.  Most important, local Late Archaic Period (ca. 5-3000 B.P.) foragers appear to have centered some of their short-term residential sites on tree throw hollows.  In view of similar patterns from Mesolithic and early Neolithic European sites, these findings highlight what is likely an under-recognized and globally relevant aspect of human behavior in forested landscapes.

Hovers, E., Kimbel, W.H., Rak, Y., 2000. Amud 7 - still, a burial: response to Gargett. Journal of Human Evolution 39, 253-260.

by Erella Hovers

Gibbs, M. 2003 The Archaeology of Crisis: Shipwreck Survivor Camps in Australasia. Historical Archaeology: J. of the American Society for Historical Archaeology, 37(1):128-145.

by Martin Gibbs

Shipwreck survivor camps are a neglected terrestrial component
of maritime archaeology, usually being... more Shipwreck survivor camps are a neglected terrestrial component
of maritime archaeology, usually being investigated
purely as an adjunct to work on the associated wreck site.
Most studies have considered these sites as individual and
unique, molded by the particulars of the historic events that
created them. However, by considering the history, anthropology,
and archaeology of a series of Australasian survivor
incidents and sites, this paper highlights common elements
and themes, which allow examination of these sites within
a comparative framework. These include the development of
authority structures, social organization, salvage and subsistence
strategies, material culture, short- and long-term rescue
strategies, and the possible influences of crisis-related stress
upon the decisions made by individuals and groups. Survivor
camp studies are linked into the wider concerns of maritime
archaeology and anthropology by placing them within the
context of wreck formation models.

Gibbs, M. 2006 Cultural site formation processes in Maritime Archaeology: Disaster response, salvage and Muckelroy 30 years on. International J. of Nautical Archaeology 35(1): 4-19.

by Martin Gibbs

Thirty years after Muckelroy’s seminal 1976 paper on shipwreck site formation, research on the cultural processes... more Thirty years after Muckelroy’s seminal 1976 paper on shipwreck site formation, research on the cultural processes which
contribute to the creation and modification of shipwrecks remains limited. It is proposed that by adopting a process-oriented
framework, we can integrate and synthesize the documentary, oral and archaeological evidence of human response to shipwreck into a structure which parallels the physical progress of the disaster. Possible cultural responses to shipwreck are considered, from pre-voyage planning through to post-impact salvage, including physical correlations potentially visible in the archaeological
record.

Gibbs M. & E. McPhee 2004 The Raine Island Entrance: Wreck Traps and the Search for a Safe Route through the Great Barrier Reef. The Great Circle – J. of Aust. Maritime History 26(2):24-54.

by Martin Gibbs

Gibbs, M. 2003 The Archaeology of Crisis: Shipwreck Survivor Camps in Australasia. Historical Archaeology: J. of the American Society for Historical Archaeology, 37(1):128-145.

by Martin Gibbs

Shipwreck survivor camps are a neglected terrestrial component
of maritime archaeology, usually being... more Shipwreck survivor camps are a neglected terrestrial component
of maritime archaeology, usually being investigated
purely as an adjunct to work on the associated wreck site.
Most studies have considered these sites as individual and
unique, molded by the particulars of the historic events that
created them. However, by considering the history, anthropology,
and archaeology of a series of Australasian survivor
incidents and sites, this paper highlights common elements
and themes, which allow examination of these sites within
a comparative framework. These include the development of
authority structures, social organization, salvage and subsistence
strategies, material culture, short- and long-term rescue
strategies, and the possible influences of crisis-related stress
upon the decisions made by individuals and groups. Survivor
camp studies are linked into the wider concerns of maritime
archaeology and anthropology by placing them within the
context of wreck formation models.

Gibbs, M. 2002 Behavioral models of crisis response as a tool for archaeological interpretation – A case study of the 1629 wreck of the V.O.C. Ship Batavia on the Houtman Abrolhos Islands, Western Australia. Pp.66-86 in J. Grattan and R. Torrence (Eds) Natural Disasters, Catastrophism and Cultural Change. One World Archaeology Series: Routledge: New York.

by Martin Gibbs

Afromontane foragers of the Late Pleistocene: Site formation, chronology and occupational pulsing at Melikane Rockshelter, Lesotho

by Mike Morley

Quaternary International (in press), 2012

Brian A. Stewart, Genevieve I. Dewar, Mike W. Morley, Robyn H. Inglis, Mark Wheeler, Zenobia Jacobs, Richard G. Roberts

This paper provides a preliminary chronostratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental framework for the Late Pleistocene... more This paper provides a preliminary chronostratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental framework for the Late Pleistocene archaeological sequence at Melikane Rockshelter in mountainous eastern Lesotho. Renewed excavations at Melikane form part of a larger project investigating marginal landscape use by Late Pleistocene foragers in southern Africa. Geoarchaeological work undertaken at the site supports in-field observations that Melikane experienced regular, often intensive, input of groundwater via fissures in the shelter’s rear wall. This strong hydrogeological connection resulted in episodic disturbances of the sedimentary sequence, exacerbated by other processes such as bioturbation. Despite this taphonomic complexity, a robust chronology for Melikane has been developed, based on tightly cross-correlated accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) 14C with acid-base-wet oxidation stepped combustion (ABOx-SC) pretreatment and single-grain optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. The results show that human occupation of Melikane was strongly pulsed, with episodes of Late Pleistocene occupation at c.80, c.60, c.50, c.46-38 and c.24 ka. At least three additional occupational pulses occurred in the Holocene at c.9 ka, c.3 ka and in the second millennium AD, but these are dealt with only briefly in this paper. Implications of the Late Pleistocene pulsing for the colonisation of high elevations by early modern humans in Africa ahead of dispersals into challenging landscapes beyond the continent are discussed.

Drowned landscape: the occupation of the Western part of the Frisian-Drentian Plateau, 4400 BC-AD 500

by Harry Fokkens

Drowned landscape is the published version of my Doctoral thesis. I defended it in 1991 in a Dutch version.... more Drowned landscape is the published version of my Doctoral thesis. I defended it in 1991 in a Dutch version. Translation was undertaken and financed by the Rijksdienst voor het Oudheidkundig Bodemonderzoek (now RCE) and took much too long.
The thesis covers the occupation history of Friesland since 4400 BC. Since this region was at some point completely drowned under marine sediments and peat bogs, there were a few interesting research problems. One was: how representative are the data that we now have? I solved this question with a time comsuming analysis of formation processes. This was done in the eigthies when we had no GIS yet. Another questions that needed to be answered before an analysis of the data could start was: how did the physical landscape develop. This was solved by reconstructing the palaeography in 7 different maps. This took a lot of effort, invested especially at the start of the project in the eraly eighties.
Finally I analysed the patterns that the data seemed to show. Most fun for me to write were chapter 7, where I discssed culture processes as I saw them at the time, and chapter 9, where I tried to discuss several models that previously had been used to explain the patterning of the data.

The iceman as a burial.

by Marina Gallinaro

Co-authored with A. Vanzetti, M. Vidale, D.W. Frayer & L. Bondioli. Published in Antiquity 084, 2010, pp. 681–692

Ritual and Rubbish In the Iron Age of Wessex A Study on the Formation of a Specific Archaeological Record

by JD Hill

El ciclo formativo del registro arqueológico. Una alternativa a la dicotomía deposicional-posdeposicional.

by Victor Jimenez Jaimez

Author: Víctor Jiménez Jáimez.

Published in: Zephyrus, vol. LXII (2008): 125-137.

Language: Spanish.

The interest of Iberian archaeologists in the formation of the archaeological record decreased noticeably after the... more The interest of Iberian archaeologists in the formation of the archaeological record decreased noticeably after the work of L. Binford lost much of its influence and the New Archaeology fell into decline. However, reflection on formation processes of the archaeological record has continued up to the present day, and in fact it has become increasingly important. Latest trends in this field have stressed the application of what we will call the formative cycle of the archaeological record, a conceptual scheme widely used in many works about formation of the archaeological record, particularly by the advocates of M. Schiffer's Behavioral Archaeology.
Thus, their latest proposals do not use the notions of depositional and post-depositional. Instead, they assume, with slight differences depending on the author, a biographical framework which places formation processes of the record in one of these three phases: 1) occupation/use; 2) abandonment; 3) post-abandonment. In this scheme, the denounce of what is called Pompeii Premise is a crucial key. Unfortunately, despite its usefulness, this conceptual framework is still ignored by Iberian archaeologists. In the present article, we shall define the concept, show some of its implications, point out its limited impact in the Iberian academic environment and, lastly, we will mention the criticism which it has received from Post-Processual Archaeologies. Finally, we will assert its usefulness in archaeological practice, tough the suggestions made by critics like Hodder and Moore must be seriously taken into account. As an example of the interpretative possibilities that a theoretical framework like the one described above opens up, in the last part of the text we will make a brief description of what currently is one of the trendiest notions in formation processes theory: ritual abandonment processes.

La "Premisa Pompeya" y las "cabañas semisubterráneas" del sur de la Península Ibérica (IV-III milenio A.C.)

by Victor Jimenez Jaimez

Author: Víctor Jiménez Jáimez.

Published in: Mainake, No. 29 (2007): 475-492.

Language: Spanish.

The Pompeii Premise is one of the worst theoretical and methodological mistakes ever made in Archaeology as a science,... more The Pompeii Premise is one of the worst theoretical and methodological mistakes ever made in Archaeology as a science, as surveys on formation processes of the archaeological record have pointed out. In this work we disagree with its usual presence in the archaeology of Iberian Peninsula, particularly in the study of Neolithic and Copper Age ditched enclosures, which we will use as a case study.

Fabrique d'amas de débitage: données expérimentales

by Vincent Mourre

Bertran, P., Bordes, J.-G., Barré, A., Lenoble, A. et Mourre, V. (2006) - « Fabrique d'amas de débitage : données expérimentales », Bulletin de la Société Préhistorique Française, t. 103, n° 1, pp. 33-47.

Surveying in Ruins: An Evaluation of Post-abandonment Formation Processes in Moussai, Crete (Greece)

by Konstantinos (Costas) Papadopoulos

In preparation

A deserted Cretan village provided the grounds to study the post-abandonment formation processes that transform... more A deserted Cretan village provided the grounds to study the post-abandonment formation processes that transform settlements into archaeological sites. The long abandonment period, as well as the continuous human presence and intervention in the post-abandonment period of individual buildings and the whole site, resulted in an evidence rich environment, ideal for tracing the formation processes in the different stages of ruination. This paper highlights the interrelation of cultural and natural processes and the impuissance to distinguish their course towards the formation of depositions.