This research employs a sample of archaeological sites from three ecological zones to investigate the mobility strategies of hunter-gatherer groups in Late Archaic southwestern Idaho. The sample sites are organized into site types based on an independent evaluation of site components and existing site records. Ceramic assemblages at each site were analyzed to quantify the investment in ceramic technology, as a proxy for mobility. These measures were then compared to expectations generated from three proposed mobility patterns for hunter-gatherer groups in southwestern Idaho. Some of the predictions were met and these data allude to an archaeological record with a multitude of settlement patterns that may have changed over the course of seasons, years, and even decades.

The Jot-em-Down Shelter (15McY348) was excavated by U.S. Forest Service archaeologists in 1986. The present study concentrated on the lithic assemblage, with a particular focus on the chipped stone debitage. The Jot-em-Down Shelter lithic assemblage was compared to assemblages recovered from four nearby sites, open sites 15McY570 and 15McY616, and rockshelter sites 15McY403 and 15McY409; and rockshelter sites located in and near the Red River Gorge, Cold Oak Shelter (15LE50) and Rock Bridge Shelter (15WO75). This study determined that Jot-em-Down Shelter was a multicomponent site utilized by mobile groups of people from the Early Archaic through Mississippi periods. Use of the site intensified around the Late Archaic and Early Woodland periods. Prehistoric peoples who occupied the shelter had contact with other groups from the surrounding area, hunted nearby, and processed hides.

No description available.

Sediment samples were collected from 3 rock shelter sites and one natural pond on the Upper Cumberland Plateau. Samples were processed to quantitatively and qualitatively evaluate pollen and charcoal abundance as well as other palaeobotanicals. The analysis was to determine when prehistoric Native Americans began controlled burns to enhance resources acquisition. Samples were also analyzed for the presence of pollen to determine vegetation changes that may accompany the use of controlled burns and to determine the onset of horticulture. The Upper Cumberland Plateau is often considered a marginal area used only seasonally by Native Americans; however, management practices may have been highly refined to maximize resources acquisition. Results show evidence of overt land management and usage of the area by Native Americans over several thousand years. Remains indicate reliance upon nut producing trees. This reliance led to land management practices designed to maximize availability of said resources.

The study of the characteristics of the Late Archaic Period societies on the North-Central Coast probably is one of the most important areas of archaeological research in the last ten years. This paper evaluates the quality of the current archaeological data. A review of the reported information reveals a need to establish a more precise characterization of the architectural designs and construction processes that shaped the conspicuous public buildings of this period. Also revealed is the need to refine the occupational sequences of the Late Archaic architectural complexes of the North-Central Coast, which is necessary for a better understanding of the processual characteristics of their cultural development. As a beginning point, data recovered from excavations in the site of Cerro Lampay, a small architectural compound of the Fortaleza Valley, are studied. Information from Cerro Lampay is compared with published data from other sites, including Áspero, Chupacigarro, Caral, Caballete, and Porvenir. / La naturaleza de las sociedades del Periodo Arcaico Tardío en la costa norcentral ha sido, probablemente, uno de los temas más recurrentes en los últimos 10 años. Para contribuir a esta discusión, se hace necesaria una evaluación de la calidad de la base empírica existente hasta el día de hoy en el registro arqueológico. Una revisión de los datos documentados revela la necesidad de establecer con mayor precisión las características del diseño arquitectónico y el proceso constructivo de los conspicuos edificios públicos de este periodo. Además, muestra que es necesario el afinamiento de las secuencias ocupacionales de los distintos complejos arquitectónicos del Periodo Arcaico Tardío en la costa norcentral como requisito para entender las características procesales del desarrollo cultural que allí se dio. Esta revisión parte de los datos recuperados en las excavaciones en Cerro Lampay, un pequeño conjunto arquitectónico del valle de Fortaleza. Esta información es comparada con la de otros sitios, como Áspero, Chupacigarro, Caral, Caballete y Porvenir.

Site 38CH1693 is a coastal site located in Charleston County, South Carolina. Thom’s Creek ceramics place the site in the Late Archaic/Early Woodland Period and radiocarbon dating corroborates this, placing the features present between 3650 and 3950 BP. Faunal analysis was undertaken to assess seasonality in order to understand the occupations that occurred at the site. Faunal seasonality, botanical seasonality, and sedentariness indicators are used to determine the sedentariness of the site. The presence of certain marine fish species is one of the most important seasonality indicators used. It is determined from the available evidence that at least one short-duration, year-round occupation is represented by the materials recovered at 38CH1693. Site 38CH1693 does not fit into the current Late Archaic settlement pattern models for the coast, calling for a reevaluation of these settlement pattern models and the sedentary sites within them.

No description available.

Archaeological research performed at the Sechín Bajo site have yielded new data related to the origins of Andean civilization. Archaeological excavation and geophysical methods carried out to date have revealed a long history of the construction of monumental architecture that lasted about 2000 years. Three buildings have been studied so far, the oldest of which is associated with a circular sunken court; the other two reveal modifications and changes in architectural design. The "Second Building" is characterized by graffiti on an outside wall; the graffitti has a design motif reminescent of a complex mythological being that corresponds to the early Formative period. This is the first time this motif has been found in an architectural context. These new data from the principal nucleus of monumental sites in the Sechín River Valley provide the opportunity to discuss the rise of construction activities related to monumentality in the valley and to other sites of the Archaic and Formative periods in the Andes. / Los trabajos de investigación realizados por los autores en el sitio de Sechín Bajo han proporcionado nuevos datos relacionados con los orígenes de la civilización en los Andes centrales. Las prospecciones con métodos geofísicos y excavaciones arqueológicas realizadas hasta la fecha han puesto al descubierto evidencias arquitectónicas de carácter monumental, y una larga historia constructiva de, aproximadamente, 2000 años. De los tres edificios definidos hasta el momento, el más antiguo está asociado a una plaza circular hundida, mientras que los otros dos presentan remodelaciones y cambios en sus diseños arquitectónicos. El denominado Segundo Edificio presenta grafitis en uno de sus muros exteriores, y destaca un motivo que representa a un ser mitológico complejo correspondiente al Periodo Formativo Temprano, registrado por primera vez en un contexto arquitectónico. Estos nuevos datos documentados en el núcleo principal de los grandes complejos de la cuenca del río Sechín brindan la oportunidad para discutir sobre los inicios de las actividades constructivas de carácter monumental en el valle de Sechín y su relación con otros sitios de los periodos Arcaico Tardío y Formativo del área andina.

Burial Ritual of a Room in the Residential Area "A" at Caral-SupeInformation obtained from a special closed context, a kind of box or little room, built as part of a final entombment of Room 6 located at an excavated module in residential zone A at Caral is presented. The contents reveal cultural and social expressions during the Late Archaic Period related with subsistence, production as well as the prevailing ideology. This context gives an approximated idea of the economic and social activities of this society and how religion influenced in this level of historic-social development in Peru. / Se incluye la información obtenida de un contexto cerrado especial, una especie de cajón o recinto pequeño, construido como parte del enterramiento final del recinto n° 6 de uno de los módulos excavados en el sector residencial A de Caral. El contenido revela las expresiones culturales de la sociedad de Supe durante el Arcaico Tardío en cuanto a recursos alimentarios, la manufactura de objetos y la ideología predominante en la época. A través de el se puede tener un cuadro bastante aproximado de las actividades económicas y sociales de la población, así como del rol que la religión tuvo en este nivel de formacion histórico-social del Perú.

Excavations at the site of Cerro Lampay allow evaluation of the role of ritual activities, such as feasting, in the organization of construction during the late Archaic Period. Excavations have provided a detailed documentation of building procedures that ended in the entombment of architectural compounds. Particularly important is that there was not a single, large-scale construction event, but several small-scale events that were accompanied by processing and consumption activities. This pattern strongly suggests a permanent reinforcement of ties and commitments between groups through feasting, which was as a required activity in order to complete the construction of public works. This scenario supports the idea of emerging leadership capable of mobilizing labor for the construction requirements. Nevertheless, the reliance on feasting as ritual practices, and the small scale of these events, suggests a limited power capacity and a weakly formalized authority, which needed to be constantly reinforced through the inferred ritual practices. / Las excavaciones realizadas en el sitio de Cerro Lampay, ubicado en el valle de Fortaleza, costa norcentral del Perú, permiten evaluar el rol de actividades, como los festines, en la organización de labores constructivas dentro del contexto del Periodo Arcaico Tardío. Estas excavaciones permitieron obtener un registro detallado de un proceso constructivo que concluyó con el "enterramiento" de los conjuntos arquitectónicos. Algo notorio es que la construcción no se dio en un solo evento, sino a lo largo de varios de pequeña escala antecedidos por actividades de procesamiento y consumo de alimentos. Este patrón de comportamiento sugiere que las actividades de consumo eran requeridas para la conducción de la construcción, probablemente como un mecanismo de refuerzo de compromisos establecidos entre el anfitrión del acto de consumo y quienes realizarían la construcción. Este escenario plantea la existencia de liderazgos emergentes, capaces de movilizar mano de obra para construcción. Sin embargo, el recurso de convocatoria a "festines" como prácticas ritualizadas y la pequeña escala de dichos eventos sugieren una capacidad de poder y convocatoria limitada y una autoridad no formalizada que requerirían de un reforzamiento constante por medio de las prácticas inferidas.