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In the last two decades, the Bronze Age chronology of the Great Urals was revolutionized by the first large-scale radiocarbon dating programs. Since then, the chronology of the Bronze Age in this area has been under discussion. In this paper, we present 23 new AMS dates from Late Bronze Age sites in the steppe and forest steppe areas of the southern Trans-Urals and northwestern Kazakhstan. This includes the first successful dating of cremated bone samples from this area. Bayesian modeling was conducted to date the Late Bronze Age into three chronological phases. The considerable number of outliers suggests previously undetected biases in the material. In addition, we found differences between the Bayesian models of the steppe and forest steppe areas that are not reflected in the archaeological record. This study emphasizes the value of Bayesian modeling for the prehistoric chronology of the Great Urals but also highlights its issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the urban landscape of Angamuco, located in the Purépecha (Tarascan) imperial heartland in western Mexico. Angamuco was occupied between the Late Preclassic through Late Postclassic periods (250–1530 a.d.) and included an occupation with monumental architecture and artifacts that can be linked to the Purépecha Empire. This paper provides an occupation model for Angamuco using radiocarbon determinations and artifact associations. Excavation and survey data show: 1) urbanization at Angamuco should be viewed as a diachronic process that must be contextualized with contemporaneous sociopolitical and environmental changes and 2) imperial integration at Angamuco is most visible in the incorporation of imperial material packages, including distinctive architecture and symbols, that were used in public ritual activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines chronological methods for reoccupied archaeological sites with surface arrangements of stone features in the alpine tundra. It is challenging to interpret feature dates in the tundra due to sample scarcity and poor context. I use a case study from a communal hunting site in the Rocky Mountains of North America to argue that archaeologists should use multiple dating methods to disentangle complex site formation histories. The High Grade (5BL148) game drive is located in Colorado's Southern Rocky Mountains and includes 30 stone walls, 52 hunting blind pits, and a short line of cairns. Dating results suggest occupations from 4650 b.c.–a.d. 1850, based on artifact typologies, radiocarbon dates on charcoal and bone collagen, and lichenometric dates on stone walls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new high-resolution excavation sequence of a house at the 1st millennium a.d. site of Unguja Ukuu, Zanzibar, with implications for a new and detailed understanding of the period between the 7th and 9th centuries a.d. on the East African coast. This is an important period associated with a broad and distinctive cultural tradition, often seen as a pre- or proto-urban phase. Household excavations at Unguja Ukuu revealed two occupation phases, spanning less than 40 years each. The results here thus present an unprecedented temporal resolution on the site, at the scale of human experience. Excavation and microstratigraphic analyses of multiple floor layers reveal decadal change in occupation at this house. Positioning this house into the broader settlement sequence, we argue for episodic settlement at the site of Unguja Ukuu and draw out detail on how we can explore change at this generational scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present our investigations on the Emerald Avenue, a potential Mississippian period (a.d. 1050–1400) roadway in southwestern Illinois. It is hypothesized that this road connected the pre-Columbian city of Cahokia to the Emerald Acropolis, a shrine complex 24 km to the east. To confirm the presence of the Emerald Avenue and document its physical characteristics and chronology, we performed an electrical resistivity tomography survey, magnetometer survey, and excavations on portions of the Avenue near the Acropolis. These investigations revealed that the Avenue is an early 19th century road that was used by early Euro-American settlers in the area. We present evidence that suggests that this historic road was actually a reused pre-Columbian route, possibly the Mississippian period Emerald Avenue. The presence of a Mississippian period road connecting the Emerald Acropolis to other important places throughout the region indicates that religious journeys were conducted throughout Cahokia's history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents new information from funerary contexts in the lower Ica Valley, on the south coast of Peru, spanning two millennia from the end of the Early Horizon to the Late Intermediate Period. Although severely looted, these sites can still yield valuable information. We discuss their architecture and material culture in the context of radiocarbon dates. Among other findings, these cast new light on the poorly understood transition from the Middle Horizon to the Late Intermediate Period, for which a paucity of archaeological data from ca. A.D. 1000-1250 has long been taken as evidence of an environmentally- or socially-induced demographic collapse. Yet the data we present here suggest that the basins of the lower Ica Valley were likely occupied continuously over this period, and that the echoes of Wari influence here may have lasted longer than previously thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The later Holocene spread of pastoralism throughout eastern Africa profoundly changed socio-economic and natural landscapes. During the Pastoral Neolithic (ca. 5000-1200 B.P.), herders spread through southern Kenya and northern Tanzania—areas previously occupied only by hunter-gatherers—eventually developing the specialized forms of pastoralism that remain vital in this region today. Research on ancient pastoralism has been primarily restricted to rockshelters and special purpose sites. This paper presents results of surveys and excavations at Luxmanda, an open-air habitation site located farther south in Tanzania, and occupied many centuries earlier, than previously expected based upon prior models for the spread of herding. Technological and subsistence patterns demonstrate ties to northerly sites, suggesting that Luxmanda formed part of a network of early herders. The site is thus unlikely to stand alone, and further surveys are recommended to better understand the spread of herding into the region, and ultimately to southern Africa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

La Quemada (A. C. 500-900) is a key site for understanding the processes involved in fluctuations of the northern frontier of Mesoamerica. Archaeologists have constructed scenarios about its founders and political relationships in the absence of adequate information about dating. This paper summarizes the historical and theoretical issues that hinge on the dating of La Quemada, reports the stratigraphic contexts of 39 radiocarbon samples obtained in recent excavation, and provides quantitative and qualitative evaluation of the available chronometric data from the site and its satellites. These data allow the testing of growth models at several scales. La Quemada's growth occurred during the Epiclassic period, which was one of decline in the core area of central Mexico. This chronological information clarifies the challenge to archaeologists who might wish to explain the pattern of a growing periphery and declining core, and it also underscores the need for more data from satellite sites to understand the organization and development of the local system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El Paraíso, occupying 58 hectares in the Chillón Valley, is one of the largest early architectural complexes in Peru. The Proyecto Bajo Valle del Chillón has concentrated its recent efforts at this site, attempting to elucidate its chronology, social role, and economic base. This paper presents the major results of studies of architecture and chronology from our first season of excavations at El Paraíso. Our research has revealed a fairly short occupation of the site at a relatively late time during the end of the Preceramic Period. Studies of architecture suggest that a range of activities was carried out at El Paraíso. Some details of these activities as well as data concerning construction techniques at the site have been identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]