Hunters, Fishers and Gatherers' Archaeology

Alternative Adaptive Regimes for Integrating Foraging and Farming Activities

by Jacob Freeman

There are two distinct forager-farmer adaptive regimes
evidenced in the ethnographic record: an ancillary and... more There are two distinct forager-farmer adaptive regimes
evidenced in the ethnographic record: an ancillary and surplus cultivation
regime. Societies characterized by these different regimes define different
systems for allocating time to the production of domesticated plants.
Cross-cultural patterns support the proposition that two socioecological
conditions are logically necessary in order for an ancillary cultivation
regime to develop and persist within a population of foragers. Wild
resources must be sufficiently available, and farmers who produce a surplus
of crops must be available to exchange with, live with or raid to
redistribute crops after an episode of crop loss. The cross-cultural
presence of two empirically distinct regimes for integrating foraging and
farming is a useful frame of reference for evaluating how prehistoric
foragers first integrated foraging and farming activities in archaeological
contexts of secondary crop acquisition. A preliminary examination indicates
that the ethnographic patterns are most consistent with the interpretation
that the earliest farmers to inhabit the American Southwest produced at
least a minimal surplus of domesticated plants. It is postulated that the
adoption of a surplus cultivation regime by a population creates the
adaptive opportunity for ancillary cultivation to develop and persist on a
landscape.

La pesca durant l'edat mitjana a través de les fonts literàries catalanes

by Frederic Aparisi Romero

Fishing in the middle ages is a subject that has interested the Spanish historiography recently. However, a paper... more Fishing in the middle ages is a subject that has interested the Spanish historiography recently. However, a paper about the sources and the work lines that the historianshave to study it has not done yet. This paper is an attempt to revise the sources of Catalan literature produced during the 13th and 15th Centuries trying to concrete the considerations about the fish and fishing in the Crown of Aragon in this period.

Kinship based demographic simulation of societal processes

by Dwight Read

Published in Journal of Artificial Societies and Social Simulation vol. 1, no. 1, <http://jasss.soc.surrey.ac.uk/1/1/1.html&gt;

The social boundaries of small scale human societies are defined through culturally defined kin relations that... more The social boundaries of small scale human societies are defined through culturally defined kin relations that transcend the specifics of the genealogical relationships produced through procreation. Kinship knowledge is culturally defined, distributed knowledge that provides structure for the persons produced through demographic processes. However, the interplay between the demographic system and the cultural system has been difficult to model. Genealogical data are static and do not show how the vagaries of demographic processes affect implementation of a culturally defined, conceptual system. Demographic simulations can provide the dynamic dimension, but usually lack information on how the changing demographic makeup of a population affects application of culturally defined rules relating to marriage, reproduction, residence and the like. This paper presents results obtained from implementation of a multi-agent, demographically driven, simulation of a hunting and gathering group in which each agent is imbued with cultural knowledge that affects decisions to be made about marriage, reproduction and place of residence. The goal is to assess the implications of demographic processes, ego-centered decision making, and culturally determined structures (kin relations, social groupings and the like) for the resulting social system. Questions addressed in the simulation are based on ethnographic observations and it is shown that the simulation provides an effective means to assess the validity of hypotheses about the ethnographic observations.

2012 - En Vignes, une halte de chasse tardiglaciaire à Marsan dans le Gers (France)

by Marc Jarry

LELOUVIER L.-A., BOSC-ZANARDO B., BRUXELLES L., CHALARD P., JARRY M. – En Vignes, une halte de chasse tardiglaciaire à Marsan dans le Gers (France), 2012, 109, n°1, p. 105-199.

Rescue excavation in advance of road construction uncovered a small open air site with a well preserved and well dated... more Rescue excavation in advance of road construction uncovered a small open air site with a well preserved and well dated lithic industry. On the slope of a small valley, the site is characterized by a lithic industry which, although small in quantity (one hundred artefacts), provides good-quality technological information, enabling issues such as subsistence strategy,mobility and territories to be addressed. Typo-technological analysis revealed a production of rectilinear bladelets obtained from the edges of blade blanks, which were perhaps themselves produced on the site, as well commonly occurring tools. In spite of considerable fragmentation, it was possible to reconstruct part of the manufacturing process of backed-bladelets used for hunting activities. Thus the status of the site is reflected by this particular technical activity, involving the production of hunting weapons (the manufacture and replacement of projectile points) during short stays on the site. The identification of this specialized activity, related to acquisition
of specific raw materials, provides a basis for discussing notions of circulation of people and equipment over apparently vast territories. The occupation can be attributed to the Late Glacial, on the grounds of the finds and one radiocarbon date. This bladelet manufacture is evidence for longlasting production of equipment linked to hunting. As is frequently the case for this kind of use, the standardization of products and their low diversity
results in frequently occurring types that continue to be made until the end of the Pleistocene, and perhaps even later. This site is one of the few examples in the Gers region with evidence for occupation or reoccupation of a territory and provides new information for this period.

Los roedores en la localidad arqueológica La Guillerma y los sitios San Ramón 7 y Río Luján. La Zaranda de Ideas. Revista de Jóvenes Investigadores en Arqueología 3:21-39. Buenos Aires.

by Paula Escosteguy

Escosteguy, P. y M. Vigna. 2010. Experimentación en el procesamiento de Myocastor coypus. En: Mamül Mapu: pasado y presente desde la arqueología pampeana, editado por M. Berón, L. Luna, M. Bonomo, C. Montalvo, C. Aranda y M. Carrera Aizpitarte, Tomo I: 293-307. Editorial Libros del Espinillo. Ayacucho.

by Paula Escosteguy

Escosteguy, P. y M. Salemme. 2012. Butchery evidence on rodent bones from archaeological sites in the Pampean Region (Argentina). En: Proceedings of the General Session of the 11th ICAZ International Conference (Paris, 23-28 August 2010), editado por C. Lefèvre, pp. 227-236. British Archaeological Reports at Archaeopress. Archaeopress. Oxford.

by Paula Escosteguy

The aim of this contribution is to document and interpret the butchery evidence on rodent bones from several sites of... more The aim of this contribution is to document and interpret the butchery evidence on rodent bones from several sites of two areas of the Pampean Region (Argentina), that were inhabited by hunter-gatherer-fishers during the Late Holocene. Two assemblages come from the La Guillerma archaeological locality -Río Salado Depression, Buenos Aires province- and the other two are from the Cañada Honda archaeological locality and Río Luján site, in the Río Paraná basin, northern Buenos Aires province.
Different species of rodents were recorded in these sites: Holochilus brasiliensis, Reithrodon auritus, Ctenomys sp., Cavia
aperea, Myocastor coypus, Lagostomus maximus and Hydrochaeris hydrochaeris. Size differences among these species
are a very important issue: some of them are small (less than 1kg), others are middle-small sized (around 5-10kg) and the biggest rodent can reach a weight of 50kg.
Cutmarks, fracture patterns and burning features have been registered. M. coypus bones -the most frequent taxa in the studied archaeological sites- present evidence of skinning, filleting and disarticulation, as well as fractures, meaning that this species would have been the most exploited rodent. Other taxa that show butchery evidence are L. maximus and H. hydrochaeris; however, the evidence from these species is scarce compared with those recognized in M. coypus bones.

Mesolithic shellfish exploitation in SW Italy: seasonal evidence from the oxygen isotopic composition of Osilinus turbinatus shells

by Andre Carlo Colonese

Pescadores de la tradición cultural Englefield. Datos preliminares en la zona del Estrecho de Magallanes y mar de Otway XII Region de Magallanes, Chile

by Jimena Torres Elgueta

Jimena TORRES Y Jimena RUZ.
en MAGALLANIA (Chile), 2011. Vol. 39(2):165-176

ABSTRACT

The first canoe occupations, 6000 yr bP in the Strait of Magellan and Otway sea, count with... more ABSTRACT

The first canoe occupations, 6000 yr bP in the Strait of Magellan and Otway sea, count with important information on the hunting of marine mammals and their importance in the canoe way of life (Legoupil 1997, San Román 2010, San Román 2011). Similarly, but to a lesser extent, consumption and use of birds (Lefèvre 1997). Nevertheless, so far nothing is known about the exploitation and consumption of fish in this particular area and period. In order to meet this lifestyle aspect and exploitation of resources from more remote coast environments and marine depths, the results of an ictioarchaeological study of ancient archaeological remains from Punta Santa Ana 1 site, recovered by Omar Ortiz-Troncoso (1975, 1979) and attributed to cultural tradition Englefield, are presented. Also, to compare occupations in the same period, assuming the mobility of these groups and their use of various microenvironments of inland seas, evidence of fish found in a test pit at Pizzulic 2 site, located on the Englefield Island, is considered.

Results show a clear focus on Salilota australis (brótula) fishing, species that lives in seabed environments in subtidal areas but prefers greater depths. PSA-1 shows a more diversifed pattern of exploitation that Pizzulic-2. The presence of Rajiform elements (rays) in both sites, especially in Punta Santa Ana 1, is highlighted. These remains have not appeared in contemporary or later contexts.

KEY WORDS: Strait of Magellan, Otway Sea, fishing modalities, Englefield cultural tradition, Salilota australis, Rajiform.

¿REDES O LÍNEAS DE PESCA? EL PROBLEMA DE LA ASIGNACIÓN MORFOFUNCIONAL DE LOS PESOS LÍTICOS Y SUS IMPLICANCIAS EN LAS TÁCTICAS DE PESCA DE LOS GRUPOS DEL EXTREMO AUSTRAL DE SUDAMÉRICA *¿NET OR LINE SINKERS? THE PROBLEM OF MORPHO-FUNCTIONAL DISCRIMINATION OF LITHIC SINKERS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR UNDERSTANDINGS OF FISHING TECHNIQUES IN GROUPS OF THE FAR SOUTH OF SOUTH AMERICA

by Jimena Torres Elgueta

JIMENA TORRES. 2007. MAGALLANIA, (Chile), Vol. 35(1):53-70

In this paper we attempt to assess and expand the information that can be drawn from the systematic analysis of... more In this paper we attempt to assess and expand the information that can be drawn from the systematic analysis of artefacts with a reduced degree of formatization, such as the case of lithic sinkers. In Fuego-Patagonia these artifacts
are found in both early and late maritime contexts and have generally been classified as sinkers for line fishing on the basis of morpho-functional and ethnographic criteria. At the same time, the use of fishing nets is reported among ethnographic terrestrial hunter-gatherers but no mention exists for the use of net sinkers. Ascertaining whether archaeological specimens were used as net or line sinkers is made difficult by a lack of preservation of cordage and the fact that similar artifacts in other regions have been interpreted both as net sinkers and as artifacts unrelated to fishing activities. In this article we attempt to evaluate if differences can be established between both uses and, in this way, approach their role in the subsistence activities of maritime and terrestrial hunter-gatherers.

KEY WORDS: Fishing Technology, lithic sinker, net fish, line fish, Fuegians, Tierra del Fuego.

EXCAVACIÓN EN ÁREA EN YACIMIENTOS DE CAZADORES RECOLECTORES: Una propuesta metodológica

by Jimena Torres Elgueta

2004. Werkén NÚMERO 05. César Méndez, Jimena Torres, Patricio López, Francisca Fernández y Gabriel Rojas

La arqueología nacional posee una innegable herencia de la escuela Histórico Cultural, cuestión que se traduce en... more La arqueología nacional posee una innegable herencia de la escuela Histórico Cultural, cuestión que se traduce en métodos de intervención de sitios que priorizan la colección de artefactos y su relación estratigráfica. Este proceder científico contempla la excavación de unidades restringidas que potencian la verticalidad de los depósitos, y con ello, la comparación entre las ocupaciones. Dicha forma de operar si bien permite evaluar cambios y continuidades al interior del registro (muestras similares), poco puede aportar al conocimiento de las relaciones espaciales propias de la actividad humana. Estas relaciones establecen modos de hacer gestos-que le son propios a una cultura, tan propios como las características de una punta de proyectil o una vasija. En este sentido, si deseamos analizar las características intrínsecas de los productos de la actividad humana total, deberemos atender al comportamiento de los individuos en el espacio, preguntándonos respecto a los vestigios, no por sí mismos, sino en tanto su disposición espacial; ya que su organización refleja una sucesión de gestos que reflejan la vida del hombre (Lavallée 1990).

LITHIC WEIGHTS, FISHES AND CETACEAN REMAINS ON PUNTA CATALINA 3 SETTLEMENT (2.300 YEARS BP) *PESAS, PECES Y RESTOS DE CETÁCEOS EN EL CAMPAMENTO DE PUNTA CATALINA 3 (2.300 AÑOS AP).

by Jimena Torres Elgueta

MAURICIO MASSONE Y JIMENA TORRES. 2004. MAGALLANIA, (Chile), Vol. 32:143-161 143.

Analysis of Punta Catalina 3 site, on coastal northeastern Tierra del Fuego, is herein presented. The archaeological... more Analysis of Punta Catalina 3 site, on coastal northeastern Tierra del Fuego, is herein presented. The archaeological context yields lithic weights, remains of fi sh and cetaceans, and other cultural evidences. Remains are attributed to a selk’nam, or preselk’nam, settlement. Excavations on an extense shell midden allowed to recover information related to fi shing practices which dated to 2.300 BP. Activities which took place on the coast, are of special interest for the better understanding of the significance of marine resources, among insular indigenous peoples, with an economic emphasis towards terrestrial game hunting.

KEY WORDS: Tierra del Fuego, archaeology, coastal site, fishing, cetacean.

Hacia una zooarqueología de los recursos ictiológicos en Tierra del Fuego: Un caso de estudio en contextos arqueológicos Selk`nam de bahía Inútil

by Jimena Torres Elgueta

Jimena Torres. 2005. Actas del XVI Congreso Nacional de Arqueología Chilena. Pag: 567-576. Editorial Escaparate. Tomé. 

In order to develop an thorougth approach into selk`nam`s coastal lifeway, an assay of fishing practices and... more In order to develop an thorougth approach into selk`nam`s coastal lifeway, an assay of fishing practices and settlement seasonality, from an ictioarchaeological view, is proposed. In such manner, information provided by ictiological population structure, may be applied in several issues, nevertheless, not free of difficulties in application and explanatory ranges. Concretely, the study was based on ictiological remains of three coastal contexts of Bahía Inútil. At first, a determination of criteria to distinguish natural and cultural contexts was conducted. Then, fishing conducts and seasonality of the occupations, were evaluated.

Key words: selk`nam, ictioarchaeology, fishing strategies, seasonality, taphonomy.     

THE ROLE OF FISHING IN THE INTENSIFICATION OF COASTAL OCCUPATIONS DURING THE MID TO LATE HOLOCENE (CONCEPCIÓN BAY, BÍO BÍO REGION, CHILE)

by Jimena Torres Elgueta

JIMENA TORRES, CLAUDIA SILVA Y MARCELA LUCERO. 2007. MAGALLANIA, (Chile),. Vol. 35(1):71-93.

We present results from the excavation and analysis of archaeological remains from the Playa Negra 9 site (PN-9),... more We present results from the excavation and analysis of archaeological remains from the Playa Negra 9 site (PN-9), located in Concepción Bay, Chilean region of Bío-Bío. Our studies provide important information about mid to late Holocene littoral occupations, demonstrating an emphasis on the exploitation and consumption of littoral and maritime resources, and suggesting that fishing may have had played a key role in enabling intensive occupations of these environments. In this connection, the diversity of activities represented, the structure of the zooarchaeological assemblage (especially the overall importance of fish remains), evidence of specialised fishing techniques, and similarities to other sites such as Bellavista 1 (Seguel 1969), identify a specialised adaptation to coastal environments that is also signalled by quotidian and ritual practices.

KEY WORDS: Middle Holocene, Fishing techniques, intensification, ictioarchaeology, Concepción Bay.

LA PESCA ENTRE LOS CAZADORES RECOLECTORES TERRESTRES DE LA ISLA GRANDE DE TIERRA DEL FUEGO, DESDE LA PREHISTORIA A TIEMPOS ETNOGRÁFICOS *FISHING AMONG TERRESTRIAL HUNTER GATHERERS OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO MAIN ISLAND, FROM PREHISTORY TO ETHNOGRAPHIC TIMES

by Jimena Torres Elgueta

JIMENA TORRES E. 2009. MAGALLANIA, (Chile), Vol. 37(2):109-138.

This paper examines the development of fishing strategies by terrestrial hunter-gatherers in northern Tierra del Fuego... more This paper examines the development of fishing strategies by terrestrial hunter-gatherers in northern Tierra del Fuego between 5000 BP and recent times. To do so, archaeological data (technology and fish bones) and ethnographic sources related to fishing practice are assessed. Analysis of this evidence reveals different moments in which the importance of fishing increases as well as some variability in the modes of exploitation. The study also detects the presence of specialized fishing camps dated to around 2300 BP and later times, their position coherent with other marine and terrestrial resources. The paper discusses the presence of fishing corrals in the northern coast of Tierra del Fuego and highlights the permanence and diffusion of technological traditions through time and space in the broad area comprised by the northern and southern archipelagos.

KEY WORD: fishing strategies, Tierra del Fuego, ictioarchaeology, fishing technology, ethnography.

Big Fish Hunting: interpretation of stone clubs from Lepenski Vir

by Ivana Zivaljevic

Published in N. Vasić (ed.) Harmony of Nature and Spirituality in Stone (Proceedings of the 2nd International Conference in Kragujevac, Serbia, March 15-16, 2012), Stone Studio Association: Belgrade: 195-206.

In this paper, I discuss a specific type of stone tool found at Lepenski Vir: clubs or mallets - which may have been... more In this paper, I discuss a specific type of stone tool found at Lepenski Vir: clubs or mallets - which may have been used in fishing as stunners. The significance of large fish species (especially beluga sturgeon) in the diet, settlement patterns and cosmogony of the inhabitants of the Mesolithic-Neolithic settlement of Lepenski Vir (c. 6200-5900. cal. BC) is amply manifested in the archaeological record, namely by significant quantities of sturgeon bones, the famous ‘fishlike’ sandstone sculptures and isotopic dietary signatures of humans buried at the site. Ironically, there is less evidence to suggest how exactly these great animals were caught. The massive and often ornamented stone clubs were initially interpreted as ‘magic’ and ‘ritual’ devices; however, it should be noted that the ‘ritual’ and ‘profane’ uses of an object need not exclude one another. The aim of this paper is to present the material and stylistic properties of these tools, look into and interpret their contextual provenience, and offer an understanding of them not as passive objects, but as powerful agents in dramatic encounters with the big fish.

Shell Mounds of the Middle St. Johns Basin, Northeast Florida

by Asa Randall

Sassaman, Kenneth E. and Asa R. Randall (2012) Shell Mounds of the Middle St. Johns Basin, Northeast Florida. In Early New World Monumentality, edited by Richard L. Burger and Robert M. Rosenswig, pp. 53-72. University Press of Florida, Gainesville.

La inhumación humana en conchero de J3 (Hondarribia, Gipuzkoa)

by Alvaro Arrizabalaga

IRIARTE, M. J.; ARRIZABALAGA, A.; ETXEBERRIA, F.; HERRASTI, L. (2005) “La inhumación humana en conchero de J3 (Hondarribia, Gipuzkoa)”, en Arias, P.; Ontañón, R.; García-Moncó, C. (eds.) IIIer Congreso Peninsular de Neolítico, 607-613, Universidad de Cantabria, Santander.

A new perspective on Late Holocene social interaction in Northwest Alaska: results of a preliminary ceramic sourcing study

by Shelby Anderson

What's in a hearth? Seeds and fruits from the Neolithic fishing and fowling camp at Bergschenhoek, The Netherlands, in a wider context

by Welmoed Out

2012, Vegetation History and Archaeobotany 21 (3), 201-214

This paper presents new results from the Early Neolithic Dutch wetland site of Bergschenhoek (ca. 4200 cal b.c.,... more This paper presents new results from the Early Neolithic Dutch wetland site of Bergschenhoek (ca. 4200 cal b.c., Swifterbant Culture), which are compared with finds from similar features and sites. The data indicate the presence of predominantly eutrophic, nutrient-rich reed and forb vegetation and suggest the preparation of meals consisting of fish and fruits. The finds from the hearth, dominated by uncarbonised remains of wetland taxa, form a remarkable part of the find assemblage. Therefore, the discussion concerns assemblages, deposition processes and interpretations of uncarbonised and carbonised finds from hearths at comparable, contemporary sites. The wide variation of macroremains assemblages of hearths indicates that plant deposition in hearths is understood only partly and remains a topic for further research.