Frequency seriation played a key role in the formation of archaeology as a discipline due to its ability to generate chronologies. Interest in its utility for exploring issues of contemporary interest beyond chronology, however, has been limited. This limitation is partly due to a lack of quantitative algorithms that can be used to build deterministic seriation solutions. When the number of assemblages becomes greater than just a handful, the resources required for evaluation of possible permutations easily outstrips available computing capacity. On the other hand, probabilistic approaches to creating seriations offer a computationally manageable alternative but rely upon a compressed description of the data to order assemblages. This compression removes the ability to use all of the features of our data to fit to the seriation model, obscuring violations of the model, and thus lessens our ability to understand the degree to which the resulting order is chronological, spatial, or a mixture. Recently, frequency seriation has been reconceived as a general method for studying the structure of cultural transmission through time and across space. The use of an evolution-based framework renews the potential for seriation but also calls for a computationally feasible algorithm that is capable of producing solutions under varying configurations, without manual trial and error fitting. Here, we introduce the Iterative Deterministic Seriation Solution (IDSS) for constructing frequency seriations, an algorithm that dramatically constrains the search for potential valid orders of assemblages. Our initial implementation of IDSS does not solve all the problems of seriation, but begins to moves towards a resolution of a long-standing problem in archaeology while opening up new avenues of research into the study of cultural relatedness. We demonstrate the utility of IDSS using late prehistoric decorated ceramics from the Mississippi River Valley. The results compare favorably to previous analyses but add new details into the structure of cultural transmission of these late prehistoric populations.

Explanations for beveled blade edges on projectile points have been debated in North America archaeology since the first, systematic description of lithic assemblages in the nineteenth century. Debate has centered around two opposing perspectives. One views beveled edges as features of projectile points that cause them to spin during flight. The other views beveling as a product of edge resharpening that is done unifacially to conserve scarce resources. Here we use a fluid-dynamics model to simulate the effect beveling has on projectiles. Expectations derived from this modeling are evaluated using wind-tunnel experiments. Our findings indicate that beveling produces in-flight rotation that serves as a means of increasing accuracy in relatively low-velocity flight paths.

Groundstone plummets of magnetite or hematite are commonly found artifacts of the Late Archaic period in Louisiana. While often assumed to have functioned as weights for fishnets or as thrown objects used to catch waterfowl, relatively little empirical evidence has been generated to explain their form and features relative to hypothesized performance in prehistoric behavior. To address this deficiency, we provide a morphometric analysis of the variability in plummet shape as a means for studying the performance constraints inherent to their use. Based on our analyses, we find that plummet form is well explained as a component of weighted looms, supporting the early use weaving technology in the Late Archaic of Eastern North America.

We explore bone microstructure for taxonomic identification of archaeological bones too fragmentary to permit secure identification on morphological grounds. Backscattered electron (BSE) imaging is used to observe bone tissue types and the arrangement of vascular canals, and to facilitate quantification of osteonal canal dimensions. Examination of known examples of relevant taxa (humans [n=8], pigs [n=4] and dogs [n=4]) shows significant differences among them. When the results of this examination are applied to a blind test of modern and archaeological specimens (humans [n=8], pigs [n=2]), 100% of specimens are identified correctly. The approach is applied to 13 morphologically unidentifiable fragments from Hawai’i and Fiji to evaluate its potential for identifying bone tools and to increase the number of samples available for dietary analysis. Potential applications of the approach for other contexts are discussed.

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Our ability to order chronologically the archaeological record has long been linked to our capacity to generate explanations. Evolutionary explanations make even greater demands on chronological data requirements than most other approaches. Single date characterizations of deposits are wholly inadequate. Rather, we require distributions of dates that can be used to estimate duration and rates of assemblage formation. In addition, the events dated must have direct archaeological relevance such as artifact manufacture or deposition. In a study of the evolution of social complexity in the late prehistoric record of the central Mississippi River valley, luminescence dates of sherds that have been assigned to a single culture historical type provide a means of determining the chronological character of assemblages derived from large village deposits. In this way, the temporal data requirements for evolutionary accounts can be met reliably.

Previous articleNext article No AccessBook ReviewsRediscovering Darwin: Evolutionary Theory and Archeological Explanation. C. Michael Barton , Geoffrey A. Clark R. C. DunnellR. C. Dunnell Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Journal of Anthropological Research Volume 55, Number 2Summer, 19993 JAR Distinguished Lectures Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/jar.55.2.3631215 Views: 3Total views on this site Copyright 1999 The University of New MexicoPDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

The concept of waste as an explanation for cultural elaboration was presented as an effort to demonstrate the power of evolutionary theory in archaeology. The notion itself, however, was originally conceived while teaching the prehistory of eastern North America. I review the historical roots of the idea and relate the waste notion to “competing” hypotheses appearing under the rubric of evolutionary theory.

The “good and gray” (Williams 1963:297) cultures of the Late Woodland period in the Eastern Woodlands are so named because they lack the elaboration of the preceding Middle Woodland. Traditional attempts to explain this loss of elaboration as a consequence of social breakdown or climatic change fail empirically or are untestable and do not account for the variety of trajectories observed. The “waste” hypothesis both accounts for this kind of variation and is testable. Here we describe the critical variation in different areas of the Ohio Valley and outline a brief explanation, relying on simple variables drawn from evolutionary theory.

Dans cet article, les auteurs passent en revue la liaison entre les notions d'interaction, les mesures de similarite homologue, l'espace et le temps, comme prelude a la demonstration de l'emploi de traits neutres dans la cartographie des modeles d'interaction dans les decouvertes archeologiques. Parce que les donnees des prospections de la vallee inferieure du Mississippi constituent la base historique de l'ensemble des unites culturelles en usage dans cette region et parce que ces donnees ont ete recoltees avec l'intention d'etudier la similarite homologue, les auteurs ont analyse de nouveau les donnees de Phillips, Ford et Griffin, issues des regions de Saint-Francis et Memphis. Ils utilisent une methode modifiee de seriation afin d'examiner les effets de l'espace sur la structure de la similarite homologue. Les resultats montrent la possibilite de comprendre l'histoire des interactions grâce a cette methode et permet de creer des unites d'interaction sociale au niveau du groupe

Previous articleNext article No AccessPredicting Similarity in Material Culture among New Guinea Villages from Propinquity and Language: A Log-linear Approach [and Comments and Reply]John M. Roberts Jr., Carmella C. Moore, A. Kimball Romney, Guido Barbujani, Peter Bellwood, Robert C. Dunnell, R. C. Green, Patrick V. Kirch, Joyce Marcus, Kent V. Flannery, John Terrell, and Robert L. WelschJohn M. Roberts Jr. Search for more articles by this author , Carmella C. Moore Search for more articles by this author , A. Kimball Romney Search for more articles by this author , Guido Barbujani Search for more articles by this author , Peter Bellwood Search for more articles by this author , Robert C. Dunnell Search for more articles by this author , R. C. Green Search for more articles by this author , Patrick V. Kirch Search for more articles by this author , Joyce Marcus Search for more articles by this author , Kent V. Flannery Search for more articles by this author , John Terrell Search for more articles by this author , and Robert L. Welsch Search for more articles by this author PDFPDF PLUS Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail SectionsMoreDetailsFiguresReferencesCited by Current Anthropology Volume 36, Number 5Dec., 1995 Sponsored by the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1086/204431 Views: 4Total views on this site Citations: 21Citations are reported from Crossref Copyright 1995 The Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological ResearchPDF download Crossref reports the following articles citing this article:Char Sample, Jennifer Cowley, Jonathan Z. Bakdash Cyber + Culture, (Jan 2019): 1–16.https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-7909-0.ch001Noreen von Cramon-Taubadel, Stephen J. Lycett Assessing the relative impact of historical divergence and inter-group transmission on cultural patterns: a method from evolutionary ecology, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 373, no.17431743 (Feb 2018): 20170054.https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2017.0054Char Sample, Jennifer Cowley, Steve Hutchinson, Jonathan Bakdash Culture + Cyber: Exploring the Relationship, (Jun 2017): 185–196.https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60585-2_18Char Sample, Jennifer Cowley, Jonathan Z. Bakdash Cyber + Culture, (Jan 2018): 64–79.https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-4053-3.ch004Stephen J. Lycett Cultural patterns within and outside of the post-contact Great Plains as revealed by parfleche characteristics: Implications for areal arrangements in artifactual data, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 48 (Dec 2017): 87–101.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaa.2017.07.003Warebi Gabriel Brisibe Base Camp Architecture, SAGE Open 6, no.11 (Jan 2016): 215824401663694.https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244016636942Andrew Fyfe, Jill Bolton Relationships between String Bag Craft Distributions, Language and Geographical Distance in the Upper Sepik and Border Mountains of Papua New Guinea, Australian Geographer 46, no.22 (Apr 2015): 235–253.https://doi.org/10.1080/00049182.2015.1020594Peter Bellwood Cultural Evolution: Phylogeny versus Reticulation, (Jan 2015): 394–400.https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-097086-8.81039-9Andrew Fyfe, Jill Bolton An Analysis of Arrow and String Bag Craft Variability in the Upper Sepik and Central New Guinea, Oceania 81, no.33 (Jan 2013): 259–279.https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1834-4461.2011.tb00107.xJohn Edward Terrell Chapter 2: Language, Ethnicity, and Historic Material Culture on the Sepik Coast, Fieldiana Anthropology 42 (May 2011): 5–19.https://doi.org/10.3158/0071-4739-42.1.5Stephen J. Lycett, Mark Collard, William C. McGrew Cladistic analyses of behavioural variation in wild Pan troglodytes: exploring the chimpanzee culture hypothesis, Journal of Human Evolution 57, no.44 (Oct 2009): 337–349.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhevol.2009.05.015Andrew Fyfe Exploring Spatial Relationships between Material Culture and Language in the Upper Sepik and Central New Guinea, Oceania 79, no.22 (Jan 2013): 121–161.https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1834-4461.2009.tb00055.xJamshid J. Tehrani, Mark Collard On the relationship between interindividual cultural transmission and population-level cultural diversity: a case study of weaving in Iranian tribal populations, Evolution and Human Behavior 30, no.44 (Jul 2009): 286–300.e2.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2009.03.002Barry Craig, Gilbert Lewis, William E. Mitchell War Shields of the Torricelli Mountains, West Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea, Oceania 78, no.33 (Jan 2013): 241–259.https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1834-4461.2008.tb00040.xMark Collard, Stephen J. Shennan, Jamshid J. Tehrani Branching, blending, and the evolution of cultural similarities and differences among human populations, Evolution and Human Behavior 27, no.33 (May 2006): 169–184.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2005.07.003Jamshid Tehrani, Mark Collard Investigating cultural evolution through biological phylogenetic analyses of Turkmen textiles, Journal of Anthropological Archaeology 21, no.44 (Dec 2002): 443–463.https://doi.org/10.1016/S0278-4165(02)00002-8Monique Borgerhoff Mulder Using phylogenetically based comparative methods in anthropology: More questions than answers, Evolutionary Anthropology: Issues, News, and Reviews 10, no.33 (Jun 2001): 99–111.https://doi.org/10.1002/evan.1020P. Bellwood Cultural Evolution: Phylogeny versus Reticulation, (Jan 2001): 3052–3057.https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043076-7/03102-8D. Andrew Merriwether, Jonathan S. Friedlaender, Jose Mediavilla, Charles Mgone, Fred Gentz, Robert E. Ferrell Mitochondrial DNA variation is an indicator of Austronesian influence in Island Melanesia, American Journal of Physical Anthropology 110, no.33 (Nov 1999): 243–270.https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1096-8644(199911)110:3<243::AID-AJPA1>3.0.CO;2-MGeoff Emberling Ethnicity in complex societies: Archaeological perspectives, Journal of Archaeological Research 5, no.44 (Dec 1997): 295–344.https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02229256Peter Bellwood Phylogeny vs reticulation in prehistory, Antiquity 70, no.270270 (Jan 2015): 881–890.https://doi.org/10.1017/S0003598X00084131

Cook, Noble David and W. George Lovell, eds. Secret Judgments of God: Old World Disease in Colonial Spanish America. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1992. xxiii + 285 pp. including references and index. $29.95 cloth. Verano, John W. and Douglas H. Ubelaker, eds. Disease and Demography in the Americas. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1992. x + 294 pp. including references and index. $62.00 cloth.

Electron spin resonance (ESR) of the E' centre in quartz provides a semiquantitative method not only for determining whether cherts and other siliceous rocks have been heated but also allowing for a rough estimation of the temperature. This method, unlike others currently available, is potentially nondestructive. Here ESR is used to investigate the Late Prehistoric trade in hoes in the eastern United States. In spite of a wealth of chert resources, the vast majority of hoes are manufactured from two sources and traded as finished products. It is argued that the trade is effectively explained by the functional requirements of the implements. Hoes must be able to withstand abusive wear. Tough rock that approximates the tabular form of the finished product, thereby minimizing manufacturing costs, constrains production locales. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that while heat-treatment is not used in hoe manufacture because it would make the stone brittle, it is employed in consumer recycling of broken hoes for less demanding tasks where heat-treatment enhances manufacture without impairing performance.