Earth ovens are a culinary tradition used by people worldwide, and oven morphological variation reflects technological choices relating to foods and social settings. This paper presents experimental data from 12 earth ovens evaluating the technological requirements for cooking Agave lechuguilla-a common oven-cooked food among foraging peoples in North America's Chihuahuan Desert-and subsequently reconsiders lechuguilla return rates in the cultural context of foraging societies. Based on these experiments, lechuguilla can be cooked using variably sized heating elements fired with a minimum of 100 kg of fuel. Return rate modeling suggests that lechuguilla ovens provide variable return rates (300-3000 kcal/hr) and could provide a substantial caloric yield (ca. 20,000 kcal), potentially supporting aggregations or feasting. This study highlights the need for more actualistic pit cooking experiments evaluating oven technology, foods, and return rates to recontextualize subsistence and social behaviors associated with earth ovens and hunter-gatherers.
This study analyzes 92 Contact and Proto-Colonial period sites (a.d. 1536-1700), documented between 2011 and 2013 in the Petatl & aacute;n region of northern Sinaloa, to evaluate how Indigenous communities reorganized under 16th and 17th century a.d. Spanish colonization. Ethnohistorical accounts indicate that Spanish and Jesuit administration meant a complex reorganization process for Indigenous populations, one that was actively negotiated and contested by communities resettling marginal landscapes. Monte Carlo spatial modeling and rank-size correlation analysis show that post-Contact settlement patterns were multi-causally driven, prioritizing both subsistence and security within a decentralized organizational structure. This configuration reflects a resilience-based strategy through which Indigenous communities absorbed and contested colonial pressures. The widespread presence of San Miguel ceramics, characterized by organic temper, provides a chronological and technological marker linking these settlement patterns to early missionization contexts.
Discontinuous stratigraphy is often treated as an excavation and dating problem, especially in long-occupied coastal settlements where construction fills, refuse deposits, water-laid sediments, and reworked surfaces repeatedly overlap. This article argues that such deposits can instead reveal human action when read as outcomes of linked formation processes. Focusing on the Daxie site on China's eastern coast, this article develops a systemic approach that connects layer description with construction, maintenance, dumping, infilling, sealing, and reuse. Two case studies are examined: the construction, expansion, and integration of Qianshanyang-period salt-production platforms, dated to ca. 4400-4100 b.p., and a Song-Yuan waste disposal sequence in which an inherited depression was transformed through retaining walls, repeated dumping, post-depositional sorting and silting, and final leveling. Together, these sequences show complex stratigraphy as a material record of labor, spatial regulation, production, settlement management, coastal exchange, and long-term land use change.
This article presents an integrated historical ecological investigation of the abandoned Medieval village of Mercadal in southern Aragon, Spain. Combining non-invasive archaeogeophysical survey (magnetometry and ground-penetrating radar), targeted excavation, shovel testing, radiocarbon dating, and analytical cartography, we examine spatial organization, geomorphic context, and occupational chronology of the site. Bayesian modeling indicates a bimodal occupation ca. a.d. 800-1500, spanning Islamic and Christian regimes, with ceramics ranging from Iberian and Proto-Historic to Medieval and Modern. Geophysical survey reveals dense domestic structures, including combustion features and subsurface architecture, while excavation confirms stratified surfaces, burials, and construction episodes linked to the Ermita San Miguel. Medieval documentary evidence situates Mercadal within the Comunidad de aldeas of Daroca, a collective property regime. Situated in the karstic Ebro Basin, Mercadal reflects strategic engagement with water, terrain, and agricultural land, while its occupational trajectory illustrates demographic, environmental, and governance dynamics shaping durable socio-ecological systems.
At the time the Inka state flourished in western South America, several hundred varieties of potatoes were cultivated, some of which were bitter and needed to be processed to be edible. The processing strategy employed was freeze-drying, and the product is called chu & ntilde;o. Early colonial period documents inform us that the freeze-dried potatoes were safely stored for extended periods of time in state-controlled warehouses. Given that potatoes spoil quickly, chu & ntilde;o production was a savvy strategy not only to prevent the loss of important food but also to create large volumes of food reserves that were used to support imperial projects. Currently, chu & ntilde;o is still produced and is a sustainable way to prevent food waste. Recent archaeological excavation carried out at the Inka provincial center of Tambo Viejo, Peru, resulted in the discovery of chu & ntilde;o and demonstrates that this product was widely distributed across the Inka realm, including the Pacific coast.
This article presents a comprehensive analysis of the origins and early development of earthen construction techniques in the northern Levant, based on archaeological evidence from Tell Qaramel. The study integrates stratigraphic, chronological, and technological data to reconstruct the diachronic transformation of cob, pis & eacute;, and wattle and daub techniques during the Proto-Neolithic and Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) periods. The results demonstrate that the earliest experiments with earthen materials began in the early 11th millennium b.c., alongside the establishment of permanent settlements. Over nearly two millennia of continuous occupation, successive modifications-such as the introduction of stone and lime reinforcement-reflect a process of gradual improvement and innovation. Comparison with contemporary sites in the middle Euphrates Basin, such as Mureybet, Jerf el-Ahmar, and Dja'de, reveals a polycentric and environmentally determined development of construction technologies. The findings highlight the role of experimentation, adaptation, and social organization in the technological transformations that accompanied the broader process of Neolithization in the ancient Near East.
Adolph Bandelier is recognized as one of the most important figures in the history of American archaeology. His explorations in Peru and Bolivia were pioneers in the Andes. However, his brief visit to Arica, in northern Chile, in a.d. 1894 remains a complete mystery. This article examines the Bandelier collection from Arica and Caleta Vitor, deposited almost 130 years ago in the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Drawing on the collection and the associated archive, it seeks to outline its biography, define its composition, identify its components, and characterize its material nature. The results will show that, despite its orphaned status, the Bandelier collection in fact had a significant impact on the subsequent history of archaeology in northern Chile, a legacy that is not unique to Bandelier but also to a wide range of agencies, such as local huaqueros and collectors, museums, sponsors, and intermediaries; in short, a whole collecting network.
The treatment of the dead body is a highly social phenomenon, rooted in cultural conventions. Choices in mortuary rites include inhumation, cremation, and excarnation, along with secondary manipulation before or after burial. In the Carpathian Basin between 1600 and 700 b.c., people employed diverse choices in peri- and post-mortem treatment of human remains. Beginning by defining local cremation conventions, including fragmentation of the body, we next present new data to reconstruct excarnation and inhumation practices. These display similar patterns of peri- and post-mortem manipulation in both cemetery and settlement contexts, demonstrating intersections between rites. Engagement with human bones in Late Bronze and Early Iron Age contexts is shown to have been ubiquitous and encompass varying states of integrity, revealing distinct practices surrounding their use or reuse. This shows that human remains, as material culture, played myriad roles in social discourses, ranging from place-making to ancestor reverence to domination of others.
Zooarchaeology offers powerful tools for investigating past biodiversity, foodways, and exchange. Yet, zooarchaeological methods are still more often emphasized during post-excavation analysis than during earlier phases of planning field research, limiting their full analytical potential. Greater care and caution require shifting emphasis away from efficiency and rapid dissemination of zooarchaeological datasets through the growing use of biomolecular studies often embedded in capitalistic logics of speed and productivity. We argue for more deliberate and reflective zooarchaeological best practice. Zooarchaeology is well suited to balancing analytical efficiency with care-oriented approaches that emphasize ethical engagement with faunal materials and attentiveness to human and other-than-human relationships. We examine the distribution of faunal remains at Cocahuischo, a Late Nasca period (a.d. 450-650) residential site in southern Peru, to highlight the social significance of guinea pigs and demonstrate how integrating zooarchaeological perspectives throughout the research process significantly changes fieldwork strategies and deepens archaeological interpretation.
Archaeological investigation at G & uuml;vercinkayas & imath; and K & ouml;& scedil;k H & ouml;y & uuml;k during the 1990s and early 2000s revealed extensive data illuminating the evolution of economic and socio-political organization in Middle Chalcolithic communities in Central Anatolia and at the foothills of the North-Central Taurus Mountains. Both settlements display evidence of early craft specialization, standardized ceramic production, and significant changes in the subsistence economy signaling a shift toward greater social stratification and role delineation. To better understand this shift and its potential drivers, the authors have recently conducted pedestrian surveys in the North-Central Taurus highlands. These efforts have gathered important data regarding Middle Chalcolithic settlement patterns, including systematic expansion into highland regions, increasingly specialized economic patterns, and the potential development of more hierarchical socio-political organization. Current results suggest that Middle Chalcolithic trends in socio-political and economic complexity observed at G & uuml;vercinkayas & imath; and K & ouml;& scedil;k H & ouml;y & uuml;k extended over much of western Cappadocia in a more organized manner than previously considered.
Khirigsuurs are Late Bronze Age monuments found across Mongolia. Although mostly interpreted as mortuary structures, there is broad agreement that khirigsuurs also served as settings for communal rituals and seasonal gatherings. A key feature is the selective deposition of horse remains, mainly skulls, neck vertebrae, and hooves, while meaty axial and long bones are absent. This study investigates whether large-scale butchering and feasting took place at or near khirigsuurs through soil phosphate analysis and shovel testing at two sites in Z & uuml;& uuml;nkhangai, Mongolia. Results show no significant phosphate enrichment or bone concentrations, suggesting that intensive butchering did not occur at these sites. Archaeological, ethnographic, and historical sources suggest that butchering occurred off-site, with portions of the animals brought to khirigsuurs for ceremonial use. This practice, common in pastoralist societies, likely accounts for the absence of large bones at the monuments. Further research into off-site butchering and discard locations is needed to better understand the ritual practices and animal treatment associated with khirigsuurs.
Located in the Macal River Valley of Belize, Stela Cave was an important ceremonial space for the ancient Maya in the Classic period (ca. a.d. 250-900). Surface collection and excavations in the cave produced an assemblage of chipped stone artifacts mostly consisting of debitage with relatively few finished tools. Microscopic usewear analysis revealed that most of the chipped stone artifacts were likely used for domestic and subsistence activities outside the cave before being brought into the cave for deposition. However, others may have been used within the cave itself for religious rituals, such as sacrifice, bloodletting, and ritual crafting. Both used and unused chipped stone tools and debitage were left in the cave as gifts or sacra to ancestors and supernatural entities by the ancient Maya. Similar patterns of chipped stone tool production and use have been observed in other caves and rockshelters throughout the Maya lowlands.
The Soviet Air Forces played a crucial role in determining the course of battle on the Eastern Front during World War II by providing close-air support to the Red Army's ground operations. This study utilizes a combination of Airborne Laser Scanning data, wartime aerial photo interpretation, and historical analysis to define the archaeological footprint of Soviet tactical field airstrips. It also traces their spatial organization and chronological development during two major late-war Soviet offensives in Poland. Focusing on this hitherto unexplored type of archaeological site, this study offers a fresh perspective on the material and geographic dimensions of 20th century a.d. aerial combat, which is highly distinct from the "crater-scapes" associated with large-scale aerial bombardment or the more permanent remains of aerial defense infrastructure documented elsewhere in Europe.
Subsurface excavations, paleoenvironmental sampling, and Bayesian modeling clarify upland field development in Kula, Maui. We report 26 radiocarbon determinations from 13 agricultural and two ritual feature complexes associated with swale terraces, enclosure walls, and water channels. We model five architectural phases: Preconstruction, Primary Construction, Secondary Modification, Enclosure Works, and Post-European Reuse. Preconstruction land use begins at least in the late 13th-15th centuries a.d., followed by terrace expansion, mainly from the 14th-17th centuries a.d., and later rebuilding on aggraded swales. Enclosure Works appear chiefly in the late 17th-early 19th centuries a.d. and likely supported plot subdivision and pig management. Paleoecological and faunal records indicate persistent open shrubland, trees concentrated along field margins, more warm-season grasses, and increased fire use and crop processing without forest recovery. Terraces and channels redistributed stormwater and soil moisture in a dry upland setting without perennial streams, creating a district-scale productive system linked to ritual authority and wider dryland and wetland economies.
The article demonstrates that the visual and technological variability of ancient pottery is not merely a classificatory challenge but an expression of material agency that actively shaped patterns of production, circulation, and consumption in antiquity, as well as modern archaeological interpretation. The study of Late Hellenistic Ephesian fine wares recovered on Delos shows that vessels' appearance resulted from interaction between pottery's practices, material properties, and technological processes. Interdisciplinary research combining macroscopic and typological examinations with refiring tests, thin section petrography, and elemental analysis (WD-XRF) reveals that vessels displaying different colors, textures, and surface treatments belong to a single production group likely originating from the area of Ephesos. This variability helps explain the frequent misattribution of Ephesian fine wares on Delos and beyond. By refining macroscopic and technological characterization of this pottery, the study contributes to understanding ceramic supply to Delos and highlights the island's role as a Roman-controlled commercial hub connecting Asia Minor with the wider Mediterranean during the Late Hellenistic period.
Archaeological sites are increasingly threatened by human activities and natural processes, causing irreversible heritage loss. Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) photogrammetry has advanced documentation and monitoring, yet many applications lack accuracy assessment or rely on a single data source. This study applies high-resolution, multi-temporal UAV-photogrammetry to nine archaeological sites in the Barranca Valleys, Peru-the first case study of this scale in the region. Surveys were scheduled to capture geomorphic responses to the forecasted 2023-2024 mega El Ni & ntilde;o, while also documenting pressures such as urbanization, agricultural expansion, and looting. By combining orthomosaics, digital elevation models, image cross-correlation, and horizontal displacement analysis-supported by explicit accuracy evaluation-this research provides a robust framework for assessing site degradation and highlights the added value of multi-source approaches for long-term monitoring.
