Arnhem Land is a key region for understanding the Pleistocene colonisation of Australia, due to the presence of the oldest sites in the continent. Despite this, conventional archaeological survey has not been effective at locating additional pre-Holocene sites in the region due to a complex distribution of geomorphic units caused by sea level rise and coastal aggradation. This research uses geophysical and geomatic techniques to map the subsurface distribution of the geomorphic units in the Red Lily Lagoon region in eastern Arnhem Land. This reveals a complex Pleistocene landscape, which offers the potential to locate additional archaeological sites and so reveal more about the lifeways of the earliest Australians.

ABSTRACT This paper integrates the first rock art directly dated with radiocarbon (14C) in Southeast Asia with the archaeological activity in the area and with stylistically similar rock art in the region. Peñablanca is a hotspot of archaeological research that includes the oldest dates for human remains in the Philippines. The caves in Peñablanca with known rock art were revisited and only 37.6% of the original recorded figures were found; the others are likely lost to agents of deterioration. A sample was collected from an anthropomorph and accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dated to 3570–3460 cal BP. The date corresponds to archaeological activity in the area and provides a more holistic view of the people inhabiting the Peñablanca caves at that time. A systematic review was used to find similar black anthropomorph motifs in Southeast Asia to identify potential connections across the region and provide a possible chronological association.

The intensity values of terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) can be used to reveal painted black rock art behind graffiti and moss. The effect was observed in Gumahon cave in Peñablanca, Philippines where previously unnoticed black pigment was exposed underneath moss, red and white painted graffiti, and etched name graffiti. The application of TLS intensity values for this purpose has not, to our knowledge, been previously reported. The significance of this finding is that archaeologists are provided a new method of detecting obfuscated rock art that can aid interpretation. The method can be applied in similar contexts as black painted rock art is common in limestone caves across Southeast Asia and Micronesia, but also ubiquitous globally.

Rock art dating has been one of the major challenges since its discovery and recognition. The methods have evolved through the last century, beginning with the study of superpositions and style until to the application of numeric methods since the 1990s. The aim of this paper is to evaluate and publish an up-to-date database of all of the numerical dates currently available for Iberian prehistoric rock art sites. For this purpose, the manuscript reviews all the methods applied so far to Iberian rock art discussing the limits, the sampling involved, and the problems affecting the results. After that, we present and discuss the most relevant results related to each cultural graphic tradition (Palaeolithic, Levantine, Schematic and Megalithic rock art) assessing their value and limitations. Finally, we reflect on the future of rock art dating: unfortunately most of the motifs are not dateble in numeric terms, meaning we still have to combine traditional with numerical methods; but also, we need to keep working on the problems affecting these methods to be able to create a more reliable chronological framework of use to address other issues such as group mobility, cultural networks, and reutilisation of symbolic elements, to name a few.

In Chapter 5, Eleanor Harrison-Buck and colleagues describe their use of drones to quickly and economically map roughly 7 km2 of plowed fields at the site of Saturday Creek in the middle Belize River Valley. They argue that Saturday Creek was a central node on the landscape from Preclassic to Colonial times, serving as an important crossroads between east-west and north-south transportation routes. The authors consider the dense settlement around the site core of Saturday Creek to be part of a larger monumental landscape and consider activities taking place in the vacant terrain on the fringes of the peri-urban settlement—what they refer to as the “heterotopia” (borrowing from Foucault). These spaces were separate from the settlement, but integral to its operation and included environments such as the pine ridge that served as an important transportation corridor, vast tracts of wetlands with ditched and drained agricultural fields, and broad floodplains with rich alluvial soils, which were likely places of cacao cultivation. The authors conclude that these “heterotopian” spaces in the monumental landscape are important to consider in settlement studies because they played a vital role in maintaining long-term, dense populations in urban and peri-urban centers like Saturday Creek.

Late prehistoric and early historic communal hunting sites along the southwestern mountainous margins of the Great Basin, United Sates, include timber-built corral-traps estimated to be only a few hundred years old. In most of these, no animal bones or direct evidence for the targeted species were found in the corrals. Our goals were to characterize and reconstruct past use of these sites, and we chose two distinct case studies, Anchorite Pass and Excelsior. We provide high-resolution documentation of the sites and their archaeological components, using nearly 10,000 aerial photographs as the basis for 3D modeling. We specifically address construction characteristics which include the incorporation of living trees and felling juniper timbers by fire. Drawing on limited ethnographic sources and current seasonal routes of local mule deer herds, we suggest the two sites were used for seasonal trapping of such herds. Forest fires and modern construction severely endanger such vulnerable sites.

Shiny grooved rock surfaces found in archaeological sites are common across west Texas and the Southwest (U.S.). In most cases they are cursorily described, with very little in terms of detailed characterization and analysis. Interpretations regarding the meaning of the grooves include fertility rituals and functional use (e.g., bone tool or axe polishing), while the formation of the shiny surface has been attributed to lichen, foot or hand traffic, and hide or plant processing. In the Lower Pecos region (Texas), such remains are common in rockshelters. In several cases, there is only one such surface at a prominent location within the site, commonly associated with bedrock features (mortars, slicks, etc.). We used Structure from Motion (SfM) to document, characterize and analyze more than 700 elongated grooves and incisions concentrated on one shiny surface, at Skiles Shelter. All were mapped, and the larger grooves were also measured and studied using macro-lens and microscope photos. The direction and sequence of engraving were reconstructed, with evidence for most grooves and incisions being earlier than the shiny cover. The incorporation of small pits with the engravings was established. Although organic residues were retrieved from several bedrock features at the site, no distinct chemical signature was identified from the shiny surface. We could not ascertain the origin of the shiny crust, and based on other works and our observations we suggest that hand or foot traffic, hide working and plant fiber processing are the most likely explanations.

Cultural features such as mortars, basins, and slicks on rock outcrops, boulders, and cave floors have been identified in many parts of the world. They clearly evidence the long history of human use of landscape features; at the same time, they are under-investigated and not well incorporated into archaeological interpretation. Indeed, even accurate documentation of such features is rare, if presented at all. Advances in digital techniques offer archaeologists new tools to address the situation. We recently piloted a new methodological protocol for the efficient and precise documentation of cultural landscape features at two sites in San Diego County, California. In this paper, we describe techniques for the creation of a high-resolution model of each site, of specific rock outcrops or boulders within each site, and of individual cultural features by using Structure from Motion photogrammetry. We present examples of various analyses that are possible once the 3D models are constructed, on intra- and inter-site levels. Our use-wear studies of 159 features and of a curated handstone collection provide new insights into past use of shallow and deep features.

ABSTRACTThe accurate and precise collection of three-dimensional (3D) context and provenience data is of critical importance for archaeologists. Traditional square-hole methods are being augmented by new digital techniques to increase the accuracy and precision with which 3D data are collected. Structure from Motion (SfM) photogrammetry is an emerging digital technique that is becoming more widespread for collecting 3D data of archaeological sites and features. We are using handheld digital cameras and ground-based SfM to record accurate and precise 3D context and provenience data at the scale of the excavation unit and profile during rockshelter excavations in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Texas. By combining SfM with traditional excavation methods, we collect 3D data on excavation units, layers, features, and profiles without excavating in grid-bound square units. SfM provides a straightforward and flexible method to excavate based on the stratigraphy and logistical pragmatics, which further aids in assigning precise context and provenience to recovered artifacts and samples. This article describes how ground-based SfM serves as a basic recording tool during excavation and shows that, by applying ground-based SfM methods to excavation, archaeologists can collect more, and more accurate, data than with traditional square-hole methods.

Previous research on agriculture in the American Southwest focuses overwhelmingly on archaeological survey methods to discern surface agricultural features, which, in combination with climatological, geological, and geographical variables, are used to create models about agricultural productivity in the past. However, with few exceptions, the role of floodplain irrigation and floodwater farming in ancestral Pueblo agriculture is generally downplayed in scholarly discourse. Using a variety of methods, including Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), satellite imagery, pedestrian survey, and supervised classification of remotely sensed imagery, we examine this issue through a consideration of how ancestral Ohkay Owingeh (Tewa) people solved the challenges of arid land farming in the lower Rio Chama watershed of New Mexico during the Classic period (A.D. 1350–1598). Based on acreage estimates, our results indicate that runoff and rainwater fields in terrace environments would have been insufficient to supply the nutritional needs of an ancestral Tewa population exceeding 10,000 individuals. Based on these observations, we present a case for the substantial role of subsistence agriculture in the floodplain of the Rio Chama and its associated tributaries.

3D technologies are now widely applied in the study of decorated caves and rockshelters because they provide unique volumetric representations of the art. In the cave of Marsoulas (Haute-Garonne, France), which has engravings and paintings which date to approximately 17,000BP, 3D modeling and other image processing techniques have been combined into an analytical system of documentation that addresses the unique challenges and questions that this site presents to researchers. 3D modeling is used as a new tool for producing easily understandable graphic renderings of the cave walls (essential for interpretation), while also creating a publically accessible reconstruction of the cave art and its environment.

Mapping is a critical aspect of systematic documentation no matter where archaeologists work. From hand-drawn maps of excavation units to maps created with Total Data Stations or LiDAR scanning, today’s archaeologists have a suite of mapping techniques and technologies to choose from when documenting a site. Typically, spectacular sites often receive high resolution mapping, whereas everyday sites rarely do. Recently, however, a revolutionary technology and technique has been created that can produce highly accurate and precise three-dimensional maps and orthophotos of archaeological sites, features, and profiles at a fraction of the cost and time of LiDAR and intensive TDS mapping: Structure from Motion (SfM). SfM is a new digital photography processing technique for capturing highly detailed, three-dimensional (3D) data from almost any surface using digital cameras. This article introduces the various platforms SfM photographs can be collected from (UAV, kites, balloons, poles, and groundbased) and provides examples of different types of data SfM can provide. The Structure from Motion Revolution is unfolding across the globe at a rapid pace, and we encourage archaeologists to take advantage of this new recording method.

While most archaeological measures of population rely on material proxies uncovered through excavation (rooms, hearths, etc.), we identify a technique to estimate population at unexcavated sites (the majority of the archaeological record). Our case study focuses on ancestral Tewa Pueblo villages in northern New Mexico. Uninhabited aerial vehicle (UAV) and instrument mapping enables us to quantify the volume of adobe architectural rubble and to construct a decomposition model that estimates numbers of rooms and roofed over space. The resulting metric is applied at ten Pueblo villages in the region to ‘rebuild’ architecture, and calculate maximum architectural capacity and the maximum extent of population size. While our focus is on population histories for large Classic period (A.D. 1350–1598) pueblos in the American Southwest, the model and method may be applied to a variety of archaeological contexts worldwide and is not limited to building material, site size, or construction technique.

The conversion of the Zeekoe Valley Archaeological Project survey data to a GIS format allows rapid and accurate analysis of this large hunter-gatherer database. During the 16-month survey 13,866 prehistoric Stone Age sites were recorded and plotted on aerial photographs. These site locations and archaeological data can now be analysed in a manner never possible before the conversion. The distribution and abundance of sites spanning over ~700,000 years of occupation demonstrates how human hunting and gathering societies organized themselves spatially on an African landscape. These results show how these different groups positioned themselves in different locations especially in relation to water sources in the semi-desert Karoo. These distributions show flexible patterns of spatial organization through the prehistoric past.