Category: Featured

Gheo-Shih: An Archaic Macroband Camp in the Valley of Oaxaca

Gheo-Shih, an Archaic site in the Valley of Oaxaca, was a 1.5 hectare open-air macroband camp near the Mitla River. It was repeatedly occupied in the summer rainy season during the period (cal.) 7500–4000 BC, possibly by 25–50 people. At other times of the year the local population dispersed in smaller, family-sized groups, occupying microband camps in caves and rockshelters. The available macrofossil and palynological data suggest that between 5000 and 4000 BC, the inhabitants were cultivating maize, squash, gourds, and (possibly) runner beans, while continuing to collect wild plants and hunt deer, rabbit, and mud turtle.

This site report describes the discovery of Gheo-Shih and the subsequent research carried out there: a systematic surface pickup, a series of test pits, targeted excavations, and analysis of the materials recovered.

The Burials of Cerro Azul, Peru

Joyce Marcus directed excavations at the site of Cerro Azul in Peru’s Cañete Valley. In two previous volumes she reported on (1) a fish storage facility and the architecture, ceramics, and brewery in an elite residential compound, and (2) the inner workings of the coastal economic system.
In the course of her fieldwork, Marcus came across areas where Late Intermediate (AD 1000–1470) burials had been disturbed by illegal looting. She decided to salvage as much information from these looted burials as she could. Among her discoveries were that men at Cerro Azul were often buried with fishing nets, slings, and bolas, while women were frequently buried with belt looms, workbaskets, cotton and woolen yarn, barcoded spindles, and needlecases. This third Cerro Azul volume provides an inventory of all the burial data that Marcus was able to salvage.

Archaeological Investigations in a Northern Albanian Province: Results of the Projekti Arkeologjik i Shkodrës (PASH), Volumes 1 and 2

This hardcover, two-volume set is the result of a five-year excavation and survey project in northern Albania and a multi-year collaboration with the University of Tirana. Volume 1 contains reports on the regional survey and test excavations at three settlements and three tumuli. In Volume 2, the authors describe the artifacts, including chipped stone and pottery from the prehistoric to the post-medieval periods, as well as results of faunal, petrographic, chemical, carpological, and strontium isotope analyses.

These two volumes place northern Albania—and the Shkodër Province in particular—at the forefront of archaeological research in the Balkans.

The Evolution of Settlement Systems in the Region of Vohemar, Northeast Madagascar

In four seasons of intensive archaeological survey in the Vohemar region of Madagascar, researchers found evidence of many settlements dating to different periods: a large port site dating to the fourteenth century (the same era as large cemetery nearby); early estuarine villages of the eighth to tenth centuries; and a rock shelter with microlithic tools.

Killarney Bay: The Archaeology of an Early Middle Woodland Aggregation Site in the Northern Great Lakes

The archaeological site at Killarney Bay, on the northeast side of Georgian Bay in Ontario, Canada, has attracted and mystified archaeologists for decades. The quantities of copper artifacts, exotic cherts, and long-distance trade goods all highlight the importance of the site during its time of occupation. Yet researchers have struggled to date the site or assign it to a particular cultural tradition, since the artifacts and mortuary components do not precisely match those of other sites and assemblages in the Upper Great Lakes. The history of archaeological investigation at Killarney Bay stretches across parts of three centuries and involves field schools from universities in two countries (Laurentian University in Canada and the University of Michigan in the United States). This volume pulls together the results from all prior research at the site and represents the first comprehensive report ever published on the excavations and finds at Killarney Bay. 157 color and b&w photographs and maps and 93 tables.

Tribal Pastoralists in Transition: The Baharvand of Luristan, Iran

Frank Hole and Sekandar Amanolahi-Baharvand

AP 100

In the spring of 1973, the Baharvand tribe from the Luristan province of central western Iran prepared to migrate from their winter pastures to their summer camp in the mountains. Seasonal migration in spring and fall had been their way of life for as long as anyone in the camp could remember. They moved their camp and their animals—sheep, goats, horses, donkeys, and chickens—in order to find green pastures and suitable temperatures. That year, one migrating family in the tribe allowed an outsider to make the trip with them.

Prehistoric Copper Mining in Michigan: The Nineteenth-Century Discovery of “Ancient Diggings” in the Keweenaw Peninsula and Isle Royale

John R. Halsey

AP 99

Explorers in the nineteenth century found many pits and tools along rich copper seams in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula–evidence that prehistoric inhabitants mined copper there for thousands of years. John Halsey, former state archaeologist of Michigan, tells the story of those who discovered the ancient mines in this thorough and engaging tale.

Zapotec Monuments and Political History

Joyce Marcus

M 61

Joyce Marcus, curator of Latin American Archaeology at the University of Michigan Museum of Anthropological Archaeology and Robert L. Carneiro Distinguished University Professor of Social Evolution, excavated in Mexico’s Valley of Oaxaca for decades. Here she draws on her own work and that of other scholars to create an encyclopedic, lavishly illustrated work on the origins and use of Zapotec writing.

Cueva Blanca: Social Change in the Archaic of the Valley of Oaxaca

Kent V. Flannery and Frank Hole

M 60

Archaeologists Flannery and Hole excavated a series of Archaic sites in the Valley of Oaxaca, including Cueva Blanca, as part of a project on the prehistory and human ecology of this region of Mexico. This cave yielded artifacts from the Late Pleistocene through the Early Archaic to the Late Archaic.

Coastal Ecosystems and Economic Strategies at Cerro Azul, Peru: The Study of a Late Intermediate Kingdom

Joyce Marcus

M 59

Cerro Azul, a pre-Inca fishing community in the Kingdom of Huarco, Peru, stood at the interface between a rich marine ecosystem and an irrigated coastal plain. Under the direction of its noble families, Cerro Azul dried millions of fish for shipment to inland communities, from which it received agricultural products and dried llama meat.

Caribou Hunting in the Upper Great Lakes: Archaeological, Ethnographic, and Paleoenvironmental Perspectives

Elizabeth Sonnenburg, Ashley K. Lemke, John M. O’Shea

M 57

Bringing together American and Canadian scholars of Great Lakes prehistory to provide a holistic picture of caribou hunters, this volume covers such diverse topics as paleoenvironmental reconstruction, ethnographic surveys of hunting features with Native informants in Canada, and underwater archaeological research, and presents a synthetic model of ancient caribou hunters in the Great Lakes region.

Domestic Life in Prehispanic Capitals: A Study of Specialization, Hierarchy, and Ethnicity

Linda R. Manzanilla, Claude Chapdelaine

M 46

With major differences in size, urban plans, and population density, the capitals of New World states had large heterogeneous societies, sometimes multiethnic and highly specialized, making these cities amazing backdrops for complex interactions.