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<p> This is a dissertation about technology in both the past and present. In terms of the past, it is a study of ancient Maya lithic production practices at the site of San Bartolo, Guatemala. During the Preclassic (600 B.C.&ndash;A.D. 300) the inhabitants of San Bartolo developed a method for producing oval bifaces (i.e., celts) that was fairly unique within the Lowlands. It involved the collection of large quantities of unmodified nodular chert which were deposited in numerous small piles both within and along the <i>bajo</i> margins. Data resulting from typological and aggregate analyses of 36,497 pieces of lithic debitage were used in conjunction with a variety of other data sets to construct a <i>cha&icirc;ne op&eacute;ratoire</i> for Preclassic oval biface production at San Bartolo. This data in and of itself is significant, as few detailed lithic studies have been published for sites in the Pet&eacute;n. Comparative data sets from Colha are employed to demonstrate that Preclassic flintknappers at the two sites approached oval biface production in significantly different ways. Perhaps more importantly this study demonstrates that the differential production strategies were the result of technological choice rather than environmental or material constraints. This leads to the other focus of this study&mdash;technology in the present. A significant portion of this dissertation is concerned with documenting the historical development of the social field of archaeological technology studies. I explore the issue of whether or not dominant themes within archaeological technology studies represent a form of ideological presentism, and the validity of privileging formalist economic models in the study of ancient Maya technological practice.</p>

<p> Stone artifacts represent the most enduring record of human behavioral evolution currently known. Stone artifact form is a key feature to understanding the abilities of human ancestors. Over the past decade, digital reconstructions of artifacts made possible by advanced computer technology have greatly expanded our ability to quantify key features of human behavior. Increased standardization of analysis has also improved global comparisons of artifact morphology through time. </p><p> Recently, lithic studies have begun to be based on measurements of 3D models instead of on the original artifacts. Despite the enthusiasm for these new techniques, little research has been conducted on the differences between digital reconstructions and actual artifacts. The objective of this project is to quantify the advantages and disadvantages of photogrammetry and laser scanning 3D modeling technology. </p><p> Here, we capture 3D models of experimentally produced stone artifacts using two techniques: multiple image photogrammetry and 3D laser scanning. The accuracy of these two types of digital modeling is tested through comparisons with standard digital caliper measurements. The artifacts were made in two materials: basalt and obsidian, selected because they represent different degrees of surface reflectance. </p><p> Pairwise comparisons between the two techniques also demonstrate significant differences for some measures. In particular, modeling technique and material chosen can have an impact on model accuracy: obsidian is slightly more accurately modeled by photogrammetry and basalt is slightly more accurately modeled by laser scanning, however both methods are imperfect. This calls into question some recent studies that have used 3D models. Here, we review the strengths of the different methodologies and provide recommendations for future use of 3D modeling in archaeology.</p>

<p> This dissertation offers a reformulation of social organization in eastern Sonora from the thirteenth to sixteenth centuries based on survey and excavation data collected in the Moctezuma Valley, Sonora, Mexico. Prior researchers, utilizing Spanish exploration era documents, argued for the presence of territorial polities that controlled large sections of river valleys with an elite class supported by the management of long distance trade. Previous archaeological research demonstrated hierarchy in settlement patterns, but differed in interpretations regarding the methods of <i>"elite"</i> ascendance. This dissertation addresses questions of both the scale of political organization and its likely underpinnings. Multiple data sets including artifact style boundaries, settlement pattern analysis, and consideration of ecological parameters demonstrate political organization rarely reached beyond local sections of river valleys. This suggests dozens of locally autonomous settlement communities were present in an area previously argued to contain less than ten political units. </p><p> Additionally, application of a diverse set of provenance techniques facilitated testing previous hypothesis regarding exchange in the region. The character of regional exchange systems appears to be mostly through down-the-line acquisition, likely orchestrated by aspirant leaders at the level of local settlement communities. These interactions rarely reached beyond near neighbors and excluded some immediately adjacent settlement communities. In contrast, the exchange of mundane ceramics crossed these same boundaries, indicating different segments of society forged incongruous social networks. </p><p> In summary, these data suggest the region would be a very poor conduit for long distance exchange, most aspirant leaders had only limited access to social valuables, and that the social landscape was sufficiently volatile that most households sought exterior ties as a means of risk reduction. Local warfare in conjunction with demographic and ecological factors are argued to play the predominant roles in generating the political landscape of eastern Sonora. Overall, small scales of political consolidation and minimal hierarchical control characterized the broader region.</p>

<p> This dissertation seeks to explain the settlement of Conchal from a landscape perspective and to ascertain the symbolic identity of the various shell mounds located there. The hypothesis is that the increasing sizes of the mounds are associated with burials and fluctuate due to increases in population. The physical changes of the landscape, as well as the change in the meaning of those changes that occurred over time are analyzed. A succinct, definitive interpretation of landscape and archaeology is complicated because there continues to be ongoing debate (Tilley 1997; Bender 2001; Knapp and Ashmore 2003; Smith 2003) which will be addressed below. The material culture, as well as the material patterns encountered during excavations illustrate the creation of meaning within the Conchal tradition. The analysis of the artifacts and features of the landscape reveal the importance of Conchal to the pre-Columbian inhabitants. The excavations at Conchal are part of a larger Permitted project, Proyecto La Flor. Conchal is a first step in this on-going long-term project and provides the baseline information for future archaeological research in this area. </p><p> The transformation of the natural environment and the creation of Conchal's constructed landscape is the focus of this dissertation. The assumption is that this location was recognized as a special area with diverse and abundant natural resources. The vast amount of data from the Americas supports this assumption (Willey 1966). Neither surveys of resource procurement nor excavation to discover mounds have been undertaken for the Nicaraguan Pacific coast. The analysis below focuses on the changing meaning the population gave to Conchal which is unique to this area. The mounds increase in number and size as the population grew and diversified during the Sapo&aacute; period (AD 800-1350), supporting the theoretical position that the landscape was created. The mounds are thus transformed into meaningful structures and become a place to process harvests, to bury the dead and to mark the inhabitants' territory; in other words Conchal became a tangible space that held a symbolic sense of identity that persisted through time. </p><p> These mounds grew in size once the inhabitants realized what their actions had created. These people then gave the mounds meaning and continued to throw away debris from their daily life to increase the size of the mounds. The early settlers of Conchal began to inter the dead in the mounds. When the mounds became too difficult to navigate (e.g. too tall to add debris), the inhabitants of Conchal created another mound. The creation of multiple mounds perpetuated the claim to the land and the meaning that these burials gave to Conchal, as well as building on tradition. </p><p> The analysis of the data from Conchal is influenced by an understanding of landscape theory as discussed below (Crumley and Marquardt 1987); this analysis strongly suggests a fortunate confluence of resources with geography. This is supported by the human remains, the molluscs, the different types of ceramics and stone tools found during the excavations of the mounds at Conchal. At the heart of this study is an interest in how people lived their daily lives and how the analysis of these artifacts and ecofacts might reveal their daily life. It is assumed that Conchal was continuously occupied by the same group. This is reified by the continuation of the artistic traditions in the ceramic styles combined with no evidence of another population. Also, there is no break in stratigraphy. Proximity to their ancestors through the burials located near their daily activities may have added more importance. The mounds illustrate their claim on the land and the ceramics and tools show that the landscape of Conchal became a settlement as illustrated by the artifacts and their context. </p><p> During the transition from the Bagaces to the Sapo&aacute; period, Conchal started out as a small population of individuals who harvested shells. The type of stone tools found throughout Conchal illustrates a pattern of daily activity. The artifacts and their density and distribution over time support this assumption. Curiously there were no complete vessels encountered at Conchal. The different types of burials during the latter part of the settlement, the transition from Sapo&aacute; to Ometepe period, indicate that there was a difference in status among the occupants. </p><p> Over the next few hundred years, the inhabitants of Conchal began to conduct more complex tasks and exhibit a division of labor. The lithics, ceramics and spatial context exhibited by the burials, is positive evidence for this division of labor. By the latter time period of the settlement at Conchal, there was a difference in status, which is demonstrated by more elaborate vessels that were used by higher status individuals for eating and drinking as well as the different burial practices. </p><p> Conchal, its landscape, and the people that inhabited it, aid in the understanding of the prehistoric inhabitants along the coast of lower Central America. To date, no other prehistoric site with shell mounds has been excavated in Pacific Nicaragua. There are other sites that are at least superficially similar to Conchal; one is approximately seven kilometers to the south in the present-day town called Ostional. It is believed that subsequent investigations of Ostional and similar places will contribute to a clearer picture of the activities that occurred in lower Central America.</p>

<p> Social and economic factors were involved in intensified sheep rearing that occurred in southeastern Poland during the middle late Neolithic, 3800-3700 BC. Sheep data from three settlement sites, Bronocice, Zawar&iquest;a, and Nied&iquest;wied&iquest;, were used to document the importation and crossbreeding of animals within this region over this span of time. Portable x-ray fluorescence (XRF) was used to measure elemental strontium concentrations in sheep dental enamel. Distinct patterning was documented for each site and phase of occupation. The earliest phases showed little variation in strontium concentrations whereas beginning with Phase 3 (3650 BC) great variation was apparent. Based on these data it was possible to distinguish local from non-local sheep. At Bronocice a major change in sheep rearing occurred. Large scale sheep importation began around 3650 BC which lasted through the end of the settlement in 2700 BC. On the other hand, small settlements like Zawar&iquest;a, and Nied&iquest;wied&iquest; continued to raise sheep in the region, occasionally acquiring new stock from the sheep market at Bronocice. It does not appear that sheep were raised at Bronocice. Instead it is more likely that Bronocice was interested in the wool and thread produced by small herders for weaving. </p><p> Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) was sequenced from sheep at the three sites dating to the period 3650-3100 BC (Phases 3 and 4) at the three sites. That study revealed that close genetic relationships existed among sheep from the three settlements. The sheep from the outlying villages of Zawar&iquest;a and Nied&iquest;wied&iquest; were more closely related to sheep from Bronocice than sheep at Bronocice were to each other. It is evident that sheep from outlying villages were descended from sheep imported to Bronocice. Six lineages were identified, two of which were found in sheep from Phases 3 and 4. Individuals from `Family 1' were found only at Bronocice while those from Family 2 were present at all sites indicating that two common sources of sheep were exploited over a few hundred years. </p><p> This long term pattern confirms the existence of important social relationships between some groups and elites at Bronocice with outside communities, probably located in southeastern Europe. These data served as proxies for examining social relationships within and between settlements in the region as well as to investigate economic behaviors involving trade and exchange of sheep. Multiple levels of socioeconomic activities were revealed based on the XRF data revolving around the importation of sheep to Bronocice, the redistribution of sheep to smaller settlements, the staging of annual sheep market in late spring and the likely production of textiles for export. It is probably that people from the three communities shared social ties which extended beyond a shared cultural identity and included family and business partnerships. An annual cycle is proposed involving four distinct social categories: elites at Bronocice responsible for managing the annual sheep market, long distance traders importing sheep once a year, local sheep herders who acquired new stock from the traders and who harvested and spun wool for exchange, and weavers who required raw materials for making cloth. It is possible that weavers, whose cloth production depended on access to wool and thread, controlled or were involved with the importation and redistribution sheep to local herders and that they in turn exchanged wool and or thread. At Bronocice it is likely that control over sheep imports was managed by a small number of individuals, most likely elites. Evidence of a social hierarchy is evidenced by a large animal enclosure, fortification ditches and palisades, the construction of which reveals control over labor. The nature of trading relationships is unknown but may have been based on ancient ties dating to the early part of the Neolithic. Sheep intensification coincided not only with the growth of Bronocice in size, population, and appearance of specialists within the community, but also with an increase in fiber and textile production artifacts, most likely due to the start of wool production. At Bronocice, incipient wool production was suggested not only by signs of intensified sheep rearing but also by the recovery of large quantities of loom weights, spools and spindle whorls from houses, the numbers of which increased dating to different phases. The percentage of households within the settlement involved in fiber and textile production grew over time. Sheep intensification therefore appears to be strongly linked to the development of a wool industry. The identification of mobility patterns and sheep genetic relatedness afforded the opportunity to investigate animal husbandry practices, specifically breeding and the exchange of livestock, as well as to consider possible forms of social interaction between communities. Last, the scale and regularity at which sheep were imported to Bronocice over a period of 900 years suggest that a simple model of reciprocal trade between elites does not work for the later Neolithic. Instead, a more complex system is proposed in which sheep were an important trade commodity. They were imported on a regular schedule and in large numbers by specialized pastoralists. The data suggest they were imported during the late spring on an annual basis into Bronocice which strongly suggests the existence of a market system controlled by elites involving the acquisition of new sheep. Furthermore, it appears that sheep were redistributed sheep to outside settlements who managed the herds and that these communities were the primary suppliers of wool and spun fibers to weavers at Bronocice. There had to have existed codependent relationships between weaving households and local sheep herders which may have involved redistribution of sheep in exchange for wool products.</p>

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