Article
Anthropology
Daniel Loponte, Barbara Mazza
Summary: The study analyzed breastfeeding and weaning practices among pre-Columbian complex hunter-gatherers from the lower Parana River basin in South America. Results showed exclusive breastfeeding continued until around 2 years of age and weaning likely extended to 4 years. Supplementary foods included C-3 plants, animal fats, and C-4 carbohydrates. Male adults had a higher protein intake compared to females, hinting at a possible sexual division in food procurement.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Steven T. Goldstein, Ceri Shipton, Jennifer M. Miller, Emmanuel Ndiema, Nicole Boivin, Michael Petraglia
Summary: This study examines the relationship between environmental change and the organization of stone tool technology at the Panga ya Saidi Cave site in eastern Kenya, and compares it with other high-resolution records from nearby areas. The results show that the lithic technologies used in lake basins and coastal zones reflect more stable land-use strategies, while the coastal forest area remains consistent throughout the study period. These findings are important for understanding the adaptations of hunter-gatherers and food producers in eastern Africa and for studying long-term human-environment dynamics.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Brandon T. Ritchison, Victor D. Thompson, Isabelle Lulewicz, Bryan Tucker, John A. Turck
Summary: The Georgia Coast is home to some of the largest Late Archaic sites in North America, with shell rings being the most famous. However, climate shifts resulted in decreased shellfish productivity, leading to the abandonment of shell ring sites. Despite limitations in research focus, the terminal Late Archaic period showed resilience in small-scale societies as communities adapted to shifting resource bases.
QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Biology
Manjusha Chintalapati, Nick Patterson, Priya Moorjani
Summary: Recent studies have shown that admixture has been pervasive throughout human history. In order to infer the timing of admixture, researchers developed the DATES method, which leverages ancestry covariance patterns in a single individual's genome. By analyzing 1100 ancient genomes from Europe and west Asia, the researchers reconstructed the chronology of ancestral population formation and the spread of Neolithic farming and Steppe pastoralist-related ancestry in Europe. The findings provide new insights into the origins and spread of farming and Indo-European languages.
Article
Geography, Physical
Michael R. Waters, Joshua L. Keene, Elton R. Prewitt, Mark E. Everett, Tyler Laughlin, Thomas W. Stafford
Summary: Hall's Cave in Texas contains a sediment record dating from the Last Glacial Maximum through the Holocene, showing correlations with environmental and climatic shifts over the past 20,000 years. The sediments preserve well-documented paleontological and paleoecological records, as well as an archaeological record from approximately 10,500 years ago to the Historic period. Human use of the cave was episodic and linked to environmental factors, with evidence of increasing use throughout the Holocene.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Dylan Gaffney, Glenn R. Summerhayes, Sindy Luu, James Menzies, Kristina Douglass, Megan Spitzer, Susan Bulmer
Summary: Moving into montane rainforests was a unique behavioral innovation developed by Pleistocene Homo sapiens as they expanded out of Africa and through Southeast Asia and Sahul for the first time. Zooarchaeological evidence from Yuku and Kiowa in the New Guinea Highlands sheds light on past hunting practices, processes of cave deposition, and local paleoenvironment, revealing variability in hunting practices during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene. The integration of zooarchaeological data from the wider Highlands zone contributes to a model of generalist-specialist hunting dynamics and enhances understanding of tropical foraging during the Late Pleistocene and Holocene.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Aron Mazel
Summary: The uKhahlamba-Drakensberg mountains have been inhabited by humans for over 25,000 years, with a focus on the last 3,000 years. Initially settled by hunter-gatherers, there may have been pastoralist and agricultural settlements later on. Archaeological research has primarily concentrated on rock shelter sites in the northern region, revealing diverse diets and rich material culture of the inhabitants, particularly the hunter-gatherers. Discussions include the potential year-round occupation of the mountains by hunter-gatherers and the presence of pastoralists around 2,000 years ago, possibly engaging in feasting practices.
QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Mikael Fauvelle, Andrew D. Somerville
Summary: By analyzing stable isotope values, this study reveals significant changes in the dietary patterns of maritime hunter-gatherers in southern California in response to increasing social complexity. With growing population size, economic development, and village aggregation during the Middle and Late Holocene, there is a clear trend of high trophic marine foods becoming more important relative to low trophic level food.
QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
(2021)
Article
Geography, Physical
Gustavo Flensborg, Augusto Tessone, Alejandro Serna, Gustavo Martinez
Summary: This study explores human mobility in the lower course of the Colorado River in Argentina during the Middle and Late Holocene using stable oxygen isotopes analysis. The results suggest differences in mobility between the Middle and Late Holocene but do not provide precise geographical directions.
QUATERNARY INTERNATIONAL
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Hannah M. Palmer, Veronica Padilla Vriesman, Roxanne M. W. Banker, Jessica R. Bean
Summary: Shells of marine invertebrates can serve as records of oceanographic and atmospheric change. Oxygen and carbon isotope analyses of marine calcifiers can provide seasonal records of environmental conditions. This study compiled a database of previously published oxygen and carbon isotope data from archaeological, archival, and modern marine mollusks. The database can be used to investigate changes in nearshore sea surface conditions and compared with offshore data from marine sediment cores.
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Carey J. Garland, Victor D. Thompson, Matthew C. Sanger, Karen Y. Smith, Fred T. Andrus, Nathan R. Lawres, Katharine G. Napora, Carol E. Colaninno, J. Matthew Compton, Sharyn Jones, Carla S. Hadden, Alexander Cherkinsky, Thomas Maddox, Yi-Ting Deng, Isabelle H. Lulewicz, Lindsey Parsons
Summary: This study combines Bayesian chronological modeling with mollusk shell geochemistry and oyster paleobiology to understand the environmental changes associated with the emergence and abandonment of circular shell ring villages. The findings show that environmental fluctuations influenced the occupation and abandonment of the shell rings.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Erica Corradini, Daniel Gross, Tina Wunderlich, Harald Luebke, Dennis Wilken, Ercan Erkul, Ulrich Schmoelcke, Wolfgang Rabbel
Summary: The shift to the early Holocene in northern Europe influenced the activities and occupation of hunter-gatherers. The study of the ancient lake Duvensee and the use of ground radar mapping and excavations allowed for the reconstruction of the paleoenvironment and the identification of potential dwelling sites. The research also discovered previously unknown islands.
Article
Geography, Physical
Annette Hahn, Frank H. Neumann, Charlotte Miller, Jemma Finch, Tarryn Frankland, Hayley C. Cawthra, Enno Schefuss, Matthias Zabel
Summary: Mpondoland on the South African east coast is influenced by temperate and tropical circulation and climate systems, with sediment records indicating regional climatic change and anthropogenic influence over the past 5500 years. The study uses various data sources to infer paleoclimatic shifts and reconstruct past human activity, providing evidence of human impacts and increased erosion as early as -1500 years ago. Downcore proxy analysis suggests that particularly humid conditions persisted from -900 to -300 cal yr BP, encompassing both the Medieval Climate Anomaly and the Little Ice Age.
QUATERNARY SCIENCE REVIEWS
(2021)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Andres D. Izeta, Roxana Cattaneo, Andres Robledo, Mai Takigami, Minoru Yoneda, Fuyuki Tokanai, Kazuhiro Kato, Hiroyuki Matsuzaki
Summary: The Ongamira Valley in Argentina has a long occupational history, with recent C-14 dating providing new insights into hunter-gather society practices and chronological precision to various activities.
Article
Biology
Isabell Schmidt, Johanna Hilpert, Inga Kretschmer, Robin Peters, Manuel Broich, Sara Schiesberg, Oliver Vogels, Karl Peter Wendt, Andreas Zimmermann, Andreas Maier
Summary: This paper introduces a geostatistical approach for estimating prehistoric population size and density, discusses theoretical assumptions and transfer-functions at different spatial scale levels, compares farming and foraging societies, and presents a diachronic series of estimates covering roughly 40 kyr of European prehistory.
PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES
(2021)