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The contributions 2014 indicate that research into the study of early agriculture continues to remain a flourishing area of science. We discuss the contribution of the volume's papers and provide a review of how they add to our knowledge about the process to early agriculture, its development and impacts upon the Holocene landscape. The main focus of many of the papers is on the European Neolithic record, with several contributions focussing on research from other regions. Our understanding of the processes happening in Europe is deepening to a level where we have a relatively good understanding of events at a regional level and moving towards understanding at a continental level. This contrasts with other areas of the world where there is still considerable need for intensive primary data collection and where the narrative of agricultural subsistence practices varies considerably. In some regions, existing models of understanding may not be fully adequate and the process of “agriculture” in these areas was likely substantially different to how this occurred in Europe and the Near East. Indeed, it is clear that a more nuanced understanding of how we currently define ‘agriculture’ is necessary. This recognises the diversity of agricultural practises that are evident in different areas of the world, which may be quite removed to what might be recognisable as ‘agriculture’ in places such as Europe. It is evident that the switch from hunter-gatherer subsistence to agro-pastoralism had a huge effect on the Earth system, impacting biodiversity, land cover and the global carbon cycle. Archaeologists have much to contribute towards our knowledge of these impacts and the development of the modern ‘cultural landscape’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper we present an experimental study of bone modifications caused by human chewing during consumption. Traditionally, tooth marks have been attributed to non-human actors. However, ethnoarchaeological as well as previous experimental work has shown that humans can make many modifications during chewing. Our results suggest that the range of damage is as extensive as that most likely to be produced by carnivores. This damage includes furrowing, scooping-out, crenulated and saw-toothed edges, longitudinal cracking, crushing, peeling and tooth marks. In this paper we present a description of the types of damage observed in the experimental sample. Some of this damage shows parallels between the experimental modifications and archaeological assemblages from Pleistocene and Holocene deposits at the Sierra de Atapuerca sites (Burgos, Spain). The repetition of morphologies allowed us to attribute some of the damage to tooth marks made by human chewing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Human body manipulation and secondary burials are widespread funerary practices in many areas of the world. The archaeology of the Pampas and North-Eastern Patagonia, Argentina, is no exception. In this paper, archaeological case studies from the lower basin of the Colorado River during the Final Late Holocene (ca. 1000–250years BP) are presented and discussed. Secondary burials were recovered that indicated an intentional manipulation of bodies. Evidences of cut marks and the coloring of bone surfaces were recorded. The bundles were composed of individuals of both sexes and diverse age categories. The Pampean region and North-Eastern Patagonia witnessed significant hunter–gatherer population dynamics during the last 1000years BP. Climatic, ecologic, demographic, and economic explanations have been proposed as the background to these changes. In this paper, it is argued that accompanying these factors, as part of a broader socio-cultural scenario, were significant social interaction networks and processes of social complementarity between groups. In this context, it is proposed that the complexity observed in relation to the handling of bodies is part of a worldview in which the body was seen as material culture – as a symbol – that played an important role for the community in group identity maintenance in a cultural context undergoing significant organizational changes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract Archaeologists now routinely use summed radiocarbon dates as a measure of past population size, yet few have coupled these measures to theoretical expectations about social organization. To help move the 'dates as data' approach from description to explanation, this paper proposes a new integrative theory and method for quantitative analyses of radiocarbon summed probability distributions (SPDs) in space. We present this new approach to 'SPDs in space' with a case study of 3571 geo-referenced radiocarbon dates from Wyoming, USA. We develop a SPD for the Holocene in Wyoming, then analyze the spatial distribution of the SPD as a function of time using a standard nearest-neighbor statistic. We compare population growth and decline throughout the Holocene with expectations for different Ideal Distribution Models from population ecology that predict the relationship between habitat quality and population density. Results suggest that populations in Wyoming were initially clustered and then became increasingly dispersed through the course of the Holocene. These results suggest that Allee-like benefits to aggregation, rather than ideal free-driven dispersion patterns, explain settlement decisions in response to growing populations. Our approach is a first step in constructing a method and theory for describing relationships between social organization and population growth trends derived from archaeological radiocarbon time-series. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • The refuse from specific activities can be identified in mixed, unstratified assemblages. • Behavioral activities can be sequenced in cumulative palimpsests of sub-surface artefacts. • Palimpsest assemblages can contribute to the construction of high-resolution behavioral sequences. Abstract This paper presents a streamlined method for sequencing individual stone working events in cumulative palimpsests of sub-surface artefacts. The method presented demonstrates that the unit of analysis in un-stratified assemblages can be shifted from the assemblage or depth-divided unit to the event-refuse from specific knapping or discard activities. Crucially, this allows cumulative palimpsest assemblages to contribute to the construction of high-resolution behavioral sequences, a domain currently dominated by stratified sites. The method will be presented through the study of five Holocene hunter-gatherer assemblages excavated from open-air sand-sheet sites at Weereewaa (Lake George), in south-eastern Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper adopts a formal model-testing approach to the Peruvian radiocarbon ( 14 C) record, the site of the first aggregate analysis of this type of archaeological data. Using a large and improved regional dataset of radiometric determinations (n = 1180) from the period 14000–3000 14 C years before present, the study performs a comparative analysis of the demographic trajectories of two sub-regions, the desert coast and Andean highlands. Against the backdrop of theoretical models of population growth, and controlling for taphonomic factors and sampling biases, the study performs global significance and permutation tests on the data. These provide a necessary measure of statistical confidence that have hereto been absent from the discussion of pre-Columbian demography. Contrary to the findings of prior work, this study of radiocarbon data in Peru reveals that regional trends in the data are statistically indistinguishable. Further testing and comparison to climate archives is able to illustrate sustained population growth over the entire Holocene epoch in this region, with only a few notable exceptions at the end of the mid-Holocene (5000 cal BP). The findings of the analysis are viewed in relation to the cultural and technological changes that indigenous societies experienced in the timeframe in question, and some directions for methodological advances are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current global developments have the potential to cause a ‘perfect storm’ at the core of the Anthropocene: the Food-Energy-Water-Nexus. To discuss the ethical consequences of these developments, i.e., insufficient access to the life sustaining nexus resources, the analysis is focused on Rawls' theory of justice and its implementation in Germany with a special focus on the FEW nexus. Rawls stresses in his theory of justice the prominent meaning of institutions for a fair society to meet societal challenges and to meet the challenge of our time: a stable and just society. Hence, the realization of his ideas in Germany is scrutinized and income tax and value added tax are interpreted in the sense of Douglas North and John Rawls as institutions and formal rules of society. This paper focuses on taxes as the most important institutional incentive to organize and structure the political, social and economic cooperation and analyses how these incentives affect selected German households (all households, singles, single man and woman, and couples) with respect to income and FEW expenditures. The relevant income and usage data sample (Einkommens- und Verbrauchsstichprobe (EVS)) for Germany is used for the analysis of the distribution of income types, FEW expenditures and the revenues of income tax and value added tax, i.e., the main instruments to manage the challenges of the FEW nexus. Therefore two distribution measures have been used: the dispersion of income, taxes and FEW expenditures and their skewness. Five household groups were selected for this analysis: All households, all single households, the single women households, the single men households, as well as the households of couples. The EVS data sample allows the analysis of consequences of the current societal conditions on the various households and thus serves to provide a deeper understanding of the differences between singles and couples but also between single women and men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to assess changes in the patterns of marine fish consumption by hunter-fisher-gatherer populations in the context of environmental change. To accomplish this objective, we used two methodological approaches: first, stable isotope analysis in ancient and modern shells of limpets and mussels to explore changes in the isotopic baseline and also in fish skeletal remains recovered from different archaeological sites dated to the Middle and Late Holocene of Tierra del Fuego (Argentina); second, a zooarchaeological quantitative analysis of the fish remains from different archaeological sites in the same area and period. Results confirmed that marine primary productivity in the Atlantic coast of Tierra del Fuego decreased throughout the second half of the Holocene, while the contribution of phytoplankton to the carbon pool fueling the coastal food web decreased simultaneously. The quantitative zooarchaeological analysis and the stable isotope analyses in fish remains suggest that in the Atlantic coast there was a variation in the consumption of fish species from offshore to near shore fish species throughout time, mostly because of the declining occurrence of Argentine hake (Merluccius hubbsi). This could result from changes in the distribution of the latter and the probability of mass stranding. • Marine primary productivity in the Atlantic coast of Tierra del Fuego decreased throughout the Late Holocene. • The diversity of marine resources used by human populations inhabiting this region decreased from the Middle to Late Holocene. • Declining marine primary productivity and sea surface temperature during the Late Holocene likely reduced the offshore fish species availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diverse lagoons and coastal lakes along the east coast of South Africa occupy incised valleys that were flooded during the rise and subsequent stabilisation of relative sea-level during the Holocene. Sedimentary deposits contained within these waterbodies provide an opportunity to investigate complex hydrological and sedimentological processes, and examine sea-level controls governing system geomorphic evolution. In this paper, we combine diatom and sulfur isotope analyses from two sediment cores extracted from the northern sub-basins of Lake St Lucia, a large shallow estuarine lake that is today largely isolated from direct ocean influence behind a Holocene-Pleistocene barrier complex. Analyses allow the reconstruction of hydrological changes associated with the geomorphic development of the system over the mid-to late Holocene. The sedimentary sequences indicate that St Lucia was a shallow, partially enclosed estuary/embayment dominated by strong tidal flows prior to ∼6200 cal. BP. Infilling was initiated when sea-level rise slowed and stabilised around present day levels, resulting in the accumulation of fine-grained sediment behind an emergent proto-barrier. Diatom assemblages, dominated by marine benthic and epiphytic species, reveal a system structured by marine water influx and characterised by marsh and tidal flat habitats until ∼4550 cal. BP. A shift in the biological community at ∼4550 cal. BP is linked to the development of a back-barrier water body that supported a brackish community. Marine planktonics and enrichments in δ 34 S suggest recurrent, large-scale barrier inundation events during this time, coincident with a mid-Holocene sea-level highstand. Periodic marine incursions associated with episodes of enhanced storminess and overwash remained prevalent until ∼1200 cal. BP, when further barrier construction ultimately isolated the northern basins from the ocean. This study provides the first reconstruction of the palaeohydrological environment at Lake St Lucia and highlights the long-term geomorphic controls that have shaped the recent evolution and natural dynamics of the system. Unlike most coastal lake systems, this system is particularly effective as an archive of geomorphological change. Systems driven by back-barrier modifications, such as Lake St Lucia, highlight how geomorphological changes driven by sediment-supply, climate and sea level can be distributed unevenly over several isolated back-barrier basins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hunting groups are closely linked to the environments in which they live, especially in the deserts. This paper explores the relationship between people and desert environments in the long term using key concepts such as resilience, refugia and habitat loss. A thorough paleoenvironmental analysis was conducted to improve our understanding about continuities and discontinuities in the archaeological record of the South Andean highlands. This allowed us to test ideas about the availability of adequate human habitats during the Holocene. Cultural archives such as archaeofauna and lithic technology are employed to illustrate and discuss methodological perspectives for the identification and description of resilient human habitats in arid landscapes in the South Andean Puna. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on previous research at smaller scales, in this paper we assemble paleoecological data and archaeological time-series for deserts located in three latitudinal bands along the South American Arid Diagonal (16°–41°S, ∼1,236,000 km 2 of area). Diverse proxies suggest the existence of arid and extremely arid conditions in large parts of these deserts. Working with a database composed of 914 archaeological dates falling between the first human presence in each region and 3000 years BP, which produce a minimum number of 578 occupational events, we identify a series of patterns at a macro-regional scale: a robust increase in the temporal signal at the beginning of the mid-Holocene (8000–7600 years BP) followed by two troughs (7600–7200, 6800–6400 years BP) during this period. The spatial scope of the data presented provides an opportunity for disentangling processes of spatial re-localization from actual changes in population size. We present a demographic hypothesis at a macro-regional scale, which suggests the existence of mid-Holocene population bottleneck(s). This hypothesis would account not only for the mid-Holocene troughs, but also for the posterior record of an intense and relatively rapid population growth (release) observed in many regions of the arid diagonal. These mid-Holocene events provide the context for independent trajectories of economic intensification based on different sets of resources -marine foods, camelids, and also probably wetland resources-, some of which lead to domestication processes. These cases occur in association with a tendency towards reduced residential mobility in regions that may have acted as refugia during arid periods of the mid-Holocene. The analysis produces testable expectations for future research at different scales and for different research domains, including human DNA and morphometric evidence. We consider that these issues have a fecund comparative potential, since the analysis of the socio-demographic meaning of archaeological discontinuities in different continents shares a similar conceptual structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we address the timing of and mechanisms for the appearance of domestic cattle in the Eastern Fertile Crescent (EFC) region of SW Asia through the analysis of new and previously published species abundance and biometric data from 86 archaeofaunal assemblages. We find that Bos exploitation was a minor component of animal economies in the EFC in the late Pleistocene and early Holocene but increased dramatically in the sixth millennium BC. Moreover, biometric data indicate that small-sized Bos , likely representing domesticates, appear suddenly in the region without any transitional forms in the early to mid sixth millennium BC. This suggests that domestic cattle were imported into the EFC, possibly associated with the spread of the Halaf archaeological culture, several millennia after they first appear in the neighboring northern Levant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Long-term trends in robusticity of lower limb bones in the genus Homo through the Pleistocene until the present have been proposed, which have been interpreted as a consequence of decreasing levels of mobility and activity patterns, changes in lifestyle, and environmental factors. There has also long been evidence that skeletal strength increases over an individual's lifespan. This increase is caused by continuous bone remodeling that optimizes the structure of a bone to resist mechanical loadings and creates a balance between endosteal resorption and subperiosteal apposition. However, none of the previous studies of temporal trends in robusticity has considered both processes and analyzed how individual age-related robusticity might influence higher-level temporal trends. This paper therefore explores temporal trends in robusticity of lower limb long bones within the genus Homo and considers how individual ages-at-death can confound published evolutionary trends, given the fact that some aspects of relative bone strength tend to increase over individual lifespans. Cross-sectional diaphyseal properties of the midshaft and proximal femur and midshaft tibia of Pleistocene and early Holocene individuals, together with data on age-at-death are used to analyze changes in relative bone strength relative to individuals' ages and evolutionary time. The results show increasing bone strength in adulthood until the fourth decade and then a slight decrease, an observation that conforms to previously published results on recent human populations. However, no significant impact of age-at-death on the trends along an evolutionary trajectory has been detected. The evolutionary trends in femoral and tibial relative strength can be described as fluctuating, probably as a consequence of changing mobility patterns, environmentally and technologically influenced behaviors, and demographic processes. The differences between evolutionary trends published in several studies are explained primarily as a result of different ways of standardizing cross-sectional parameters for size, and differences in sample composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the relationships between rock art and the production of social networks among hunter-gatherers from the Late Holocene in central-northern Chile. Despite the low visual integrity of the paintings under study, the use of D-Stretch software allowed us to digitally improve the images, and conduct formal and quantitative analyses at different levels of variability. The comparison between two areas of the region showed two systems of visual communication that structure themselves along divergent principles. Such results point to the existence of two different social network systems due to social complexity processes and the increasing spatial demands of the communities living in the area. The very existence of rock art is interpreted in the light of these historical processes. The results we present help expanding the discussion on rock art and social networks considering the multiscalar nature of the networks as well as by weighing the role of history and environment in such a process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Camelids are among the largest wild and domestic faunas in South America and represent one of the most important taxa to pre-hispanic South America human populations. Stable isotope data from these animals play an important role in improving our understanding of human paleodiet, past human-animal interactions, Holocene environmental change, and modern camelid management. This paper presents δ 13 C and δ 15 N values taken from 91 camelid specimens distributed across western Argentina between 30° and 37° S. These samples come from three desert environments (Andean, Patagonia, and Monte) and include both modern and prehistoric samples. Camelid δ 13 C values range between −20.3‰ and −10.7‰, while δ 15 N values vary between 2‰ and 10.2‰. Mean isotope values differ by environmental context, with significant difference in δ 13 C and δ 15 N between Patagonian and Monte or Andean deserts. Camelid isotope values also vary with latitude, altitude and longitude, though differences in δ 15 N are weak, and these geographic differences are tied to climatic variables such as annual mean temperature, annual precipitation, and season of precipitation. When comparing camelid δ 13 C values from Central-western Argentina with those from Northwest Argentina and Patagonia, we see a latitudinal trend of decreasing δ 13 C values, with the most negative values occurring in southern Patagonia and the most positive values in Northwest Argentina. Variation in camelid stable isotope values and their association with particular environmental contexts shows their value as a geographic marker and possibly as a paleoecological proxy. These results highlight the need to consider the geographic origin of camelid isotope values when using them to reconstruct human diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Philippine archipelago spans over two distinct biogeographic zones, Sundaland and Wallacea. We report in this paper on finds from Ilin Island just off the coast of SW-Mindoro, and El Nido in Northern Palawan. While the island of Palawan is linked to Sundaland, Mindoro and Ilin Island belong to Wallacea, east of Huxley's Line. Ongoing archaeological investigations at Bubog 1 Rockshelter on Ilin Island and Ille Cave & Rockshelter in northern Palawan, delivered obsidian artefacts, found in Terminal Pleistocene and Early Holocene layers. PXRF analysis of the obsidian samples from Mindoro and Palawan shows that they were coming from the same, yet unknown source. They clearly indicate that the two distinct paleogeographical regions were linked to each other, suggesting human interaction and maritime networks as early as ca. 12ka BP. The results of this study contribute substantially to our understanding of the mobility of early islanders during the Terminal Pleistocene and the processes of human island adaptation and enhance our current knowledge of subsistence strategies across the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper emphasises sub-regional variation in the timing and nature of subsistence changes in the New Guinea Highlands at the Pleistocene–Holocene transition. An analysis of the Kiowa lithic assemblage was used to examine the interplay between tool technology, mobility levels, and subsistence strategies by investigating changes in the procurement, manufacture, and use of different raw stone materials in an overall lithic technology. Throughout Kiowa’s occupation local stone was used extensively, and over time people increased their knowledge of the local lithic landscape, using more diverse local raw materials. Since the terminal Pleistocene, people carried reliable polished axes for a variety of activities and made expedient use of locally abundant river pebbles, while smaller nodules were located and carried as mobile toolkits to facilitate longer distance hunting and collecting excursions. In the mid Holocene exotic raw materials were also traded from more distant zones. The abandonment of Kiowa in the late Holocene shows that hunting became less economically important as cultivation developed in the area. Technological changes, in combination with changes in faunal remains are suggestive of increasing activity at Kiowa through the Holocene as the site became specialised for bat hunting, perhaps driven by restricted land use and reduced mobility, reciprocally affected by increasing populations and the intensification of plant food production in the Highlands generally. Despite this, evidence for changes to horticulture around Kiowa itself, in the Chimbu area, is limited to the mid-late Holocene, indicating that the early development of agriculture in the Wahgi may have been relatively localised, and did not necessarily displace existing subsistence strategies elsewhere in the Highlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research on intensification in hunter gatherer strategies from Central West Argentina ca. 2000 years BP states that human demographic packing and overhunting of guanacos ( Lama guanicoe ) may have caused resource depression of this large prey animal. As a result, people broadened their diet to include smaller prey animals. Evidence supporting this conclusion includes an increase in Shannon's Diversity Index and a decrease in the abundance of artiodactyl remains over time in southern Mendoza. However, these studies about change in diet breadth did not consider the importance of spatial scale on analysis of prey choice and diet breadth and used the entire region as a unit of analysis. This is problematic because southern Mendoza has a heterogeneous landscape. In this paper we analyze different faunal abundance indices considering different spatial scales and the representativeness of the zooarchaeological samples. The results of the analyses show distinctive patterns of resource use over time at the macro- and subregional scales. Some of the difference can be explained by environmental differences between subregions and others might relate to differences in sample representativeness between subregions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The archaeological significance of barnacles has been documented in several places around the world, but this remains to be realised for South Africa. In the absence of local ethnographic observations, it was proposed that large barnacles ( Austromegabalanus cylindricus ) were taken to campsites attached to large black mussels ( Choromytilus meridionalis ) as part of scavenged beach-stranded fauna. Basic observations available until recently for South African West Coast shell middens showed that the presence of large shore barnacles is chronologically patterned. Some hints regarding transport decisions were also apparent. This paper examines the variability in large barnacle abundance through time and space using mollusc and crustacean shell samples from eight late Holocene sites situated at different distances from rocky shorelines. Modern knowledge on the ecology of collected species is used to interpret inter-assemblage variability. This study shows that barnacle abundance depends on at least three aspects, namely: the degree of wave exposure from which barnacles and other shellfish were collected, possible shifts in the main season of shellfish collection in the last 1700 years, and field processing before transporting shellfish loads to camps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Iwo Eleru site in Nigeria preserves the only terminal Pleistocene fossil from tropical West Africa. The peoples of this region contributed to significant population movements throughout the continent during the Holocene. As such, characterizing the phenotype of Late Pleistocene West African populations is critical for disentangling the evolutionary signatures of a highly complex African population history and structure. Previous research approached the calvaria's morphology from a paleoanthropological perspective, noting its mosaic of archaic and modern neurocranial features and distinctiveness from Pleistocene fossil taxa and contemporary modern human samples. In this paper, I compare Iwo Eleru with contemporary Late Pleistocene Africans and also consider the specimen's affinities with Holocene populations of the central and western Sahara, Nile Valley, and East Africa. Craniometric data were recorded for 22 neurocranial dimensions and subjected to principal components analysis and Mahalanobis distance estimation. Multidimensional scaling of distances indicated that Iwo Eleru fell outside the observed range of variation of other terminal Pleistocene supra-equatorial African populations, confirming previous results that documented its divergence from Neanderthals, Upper Paleolithic Europeans, and modern Africans. The calvaria was also distinct from Holocene Saharan, Nile Valley, and East African populations, which suggests limited West African input into the Sahara during the African Humid Period. Results presented here bolster previous research that suggested Iwo Eleru's anatomy reflected either admixture with archaic humans or the long-term survival of populations with more archaic neurocranial anatomy until the end of the Pleistocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores variation in maize consumption among human societies in arid environments of central-western Argentina over the last 2500 years. Increasingly positive human d 13 C signatures suggest a high intake of C 4 resources (maize) until ca . A.D. 1400. After this time, the importance of maize in the diet drops and never reaches pre-Hispanic consumption rates, despite the known importance of maize to Inka and other late-prehistoric societies in the region. This decline appears to be related to colder temperatures during the Little Ice Age from the beginning of the 15th to the mid19th centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP) lies at the convergence of the Asian winter and summer monsoons and westerlies, making it an ideal place for studying the effects of climatic change, owing to its fragile ecological environment and unique geographical location. This paper reports on a multi-proxy analysis consisting of magnetic susceptibility, total organic carbon content (TOC), pollen, grain size, and geochemical parameters from the peat deposit in the Gonghe Basin to reconstruct the Holocene millennial-scale climatic variation. The results indicate that the climate tended to be warm and humid since 10.0 cal ka BP, but it deteriorated obviously (cold and dry) in 8.6–7.1 cal ka BP. The regional optimal warm and humid period was from 7.1–3.8 cal ka BP, although there were frequent climatic fluctuations during that time. Thereafter, the climate became cold and dry. 10 millennial-time-scale cold events were recorded, which were coincident with climatic records from deep sediments in the North Atlantic Ocean, ice cores, lakes, peat, and aeolian deposits in the QTP. In addition, we discovered that the southwestern monsoons forced by solar insolation in the Holocene have crucial effects on regional climatic change, and the millennial-scale cold fluctuations are possibly related to the thermohaline circulation (THC). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A number of scholars have proposed models of cultural evolution whereby entities defined by socio-economic variables held at group levels evolve in a branching or cladogenetic process. The Diversification and Decimation model seeks to explain temporally short-lived patterns of cladogenetic diversification and subsequent decline in the range of such cultural variants during the Middle Holocene of North America's Pacific Northwest region. This paper uses cladistic and network techniques to examine core predictions of the model – that cultural entities evolved in a branching process, not significantly impacted by tokogenetic processes; and that the pattern of evolution was as predicted by the model. Outcomes suggest that while major tenets of the model are supported, some aspects require minor refinement. Implications are considered for future studies of this nature. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents new 500 year interval palaeogeographic models for Britain, Ireland and the North West French coast from 11000 cal. BP to present. These models are used to calculate the varying rates of inundation for different geographical zones over the study period. This allows for consideration of the differential impact that Holocene sea-level rise had across space and time, and on past societies. In turn, consideration of the limitations of the models helps to foreground profitable areas for future research. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Radial systems of spoke-like pathways, often termed “hollow ways,” are frequently found surrounding mounded tell sites in northern Mesopotamia and have been explained as the product of a particular set of land use practices involving dry-farming agriculture and intensive ovicaprid pastoralism. Yet while similar subsistence strategies were very common across the Near East throughout much of the Holocene, classic hollow ways have only been previously documented in a small region and articulate almost exclusively with sites of the third millennium BC. This paper presents newly discovered hollow ways in western Syria and southwestern Iran, made possible through analysis of an online database of declassified, Cold War-era CORONA satellite imagery. The association of these previously undocumented ancient roads with archaeological sites dating to the Iron Age, Roman/late Roman and early medieval periods, suggests that the land use practices which produced radial route systems may have been quite widespread. Taking into account the wide geographic and temporal distribution of hollow ways, analysis explores various aspects of the agro-pastoral systems that disparate communities may have shared. Results confirm some aspects existing models of hollow way formation, while offering some refinements in terms of the roles that settlement organization, agricultural land use and pastoral strategies play. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: On the basis of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis of human remains, this paper provides evidence for the retention of hunter–gatherer economies among coastal inhabitants in northern Chile during the late Holocene – at the same time that inland populations were adopting agricultural economies. Coastal diets from the Caleta Vitor region of the Atacama Desert were dominated by marine-based foods, predominantly from upper trophic levels. The focus on reliable marine food resources is interpreted as a risk minimisation strategy in this marginal arid environment. Although these coastal hunter–gatherers adopted other goods and traditions from agricultural populations, their participation in this larger interregional exchange network did not affect their basic subsistence economies. Associated new radiocarbon dates from the site are also discussed. Skeletal remains and artefacts associated with the Caleta Vitor shell middens generally originate from sites with dates ranging from c. 9000–476 BP. However, the human remains that are the subject of this research cover the time period c. 4000–476 BP. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Seasonality estimates based on stable isotope analyses of shellfish remains has been an important thrust of settlement pattern reconstruction, allowing researchers to place people on the landscape at points in space at different times of the year. In exposed coastal settings seasonality reconstructions are typically dependent on annual changes in water temperature. This paper has two goals. First, we continue development of a method for determining shellfish harvest seasonality in estuarine environments where annual salinity changes, not temperature, drive isotopic variation. Second, we contribute to settlement pattern studies by showing how small and large sites can be linked into a single system by examining different site types and shellfish species. Our case study focuses on the Late Prehistoric period of the San Francisco Peninsula, includes a large shellmound (CA-SMA-6) and an ephemeral camp (CA-SFR-171), and examines clam (Macoma spp.) and mussel (Mytilus spp.) harvesting. In this case, data support a fission-fusion settlement pattern, with periods of dispersal during late winter through early summer and aggregation in late summer through early winter. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The marsh deer (Blastocerus dichotomus, Illiger, 1815) is the largest contemporary South American deer, and its habitat includes the floodplains and wetlands of eastern South America. Throughout the Holocene these deer were widely used by indigenous societies, from the southern banks of the Amazon River to the Río de la Plata River, and from the Andean foothills to the Atlantic Ocean. However, despite the enormous ecological and archaeological importance of this ungulate in the region, our knowledge of the isotopic values of their diet is almost nonexistent. This paper is the first systematic approach to the study of the isotopic values of this mammal''s diet, using archaeological and present-day samples from interconnected watersheds of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers in east-central Argentina. The results obtained from 24 measurements indicate an average value of −21.09 ± 1.46‰ in δ13C collagen, with a low coefficient of variation (6.92%). The data indicate a marked preference for consumption of plants with a C3 photosynthetic pathway. Most of the observed variability in the isotopic values corresponds to the period 900–1430 14C years BP, a time range during which the values show higher consumption of C4 plants. This it could be related with a period where temperature and associated humidity increased, synchronous in the area with the Medieval Climate Anomaly. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper presents strong and well dated evidence of the presence of Micropogonias furnieri in areas that are currently out of distribution. This evidence comes from hunter–gatherer archaeological sites along the north Patagonian coast (Argentina). Our results allow us to determine a change in the spatial distribution of M. furnieri during the Holocene, which are possibly linked to biogeographic changes in a set of species at regional level. Finally we discuss the potential for archaeological evidence in the service of spatial and biogeographic studies of different species. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic data indicate that during the mid-to-late Holocene eastern Australia became significantly drier and experienced more intense and more frequent droughts. These changes, driven by the re-emergence and intensification of the ENSO climate phenomena, have been argued to have had considerable impact on Aboriginal societies, although there is uncertainty as to the exact nature, timing and magnitude of this impact. This paper analyses changes in the utilisation of toxic Macrozamia (cycad) seeds at seven archaeological sites in eastern Australia, identifying an extremely close correlation between the intensity of seed use and two proxy ENSO datasets, and a weaker correlation with a third ENSO dataset. Given the ecological attributes and resource potential of these plants, it is argued that these correlations are best explained as an intensified exploitation of a lower-ranked resource in direct response to the increased subsistence risks and lower productivity created by ENSO-driven climatic conditions. It also suggests that by 3000 BP the intensification of the ENSO system was driving changes in human subsistence behaviour on a sufficient scale to have considerable impact on other aspects of the wider cultural systems. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Archaeological evidence shows that populations used to transverse the Sahara Desert throughout the Holocene despite the extreme temperatures and the rough physical terrain. The current paper examines whether the desert inhibited extended gene flow among populations by means of cranial morphology as captured by geometric morphometrics. The examined populations include the Garamantes, a group centered in Southwest Libya and largely controlling trans-Saharan trade, and various Egyptian, Tunisian and Sudanese groups dating to the Middle and Late Holocene. The results showed that most inter-population comparisons were statistically significant and therefore all populations appear more or less distant to each other. The Mahalanobis biodistance measure identified four clusters. The first consists of the Garamantes alone, the second includes the populations from Kerma and Gizeh, the third includes the Badari and Naqada, while the fourth consists of the samples from Algeria, Carthago, Soleb and Alexandria. Moreover, the distance of the Garamantes to their neighbors was significantly high and the population appeared to be an outlier. This is attributed to the location of the Garamantes at the core of the desert, indicating that, despite the archaeological evidence, the Sahara Desert posed important limitations to gene flow between the Garamantes and other North African populations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The paper presents the large set of basketry and other worked fibre artefacts constituting the perishable artefacts assemblage from the Takarkori rock shelter. This site is located in southwestern Libya, central Sahara. Its well-preserved Holocene stratigraphy testifies to human occupations by foraging groups (Late Acacus culture; ca. 9000–7400 uncal years bp; ca. 8300–6100 BCE) and herders (Pastoral cultures; ca. 7400–4500 uncal years bp; ca. 6400–3000 BCE). The basketry collection includes 91 desiccated items. They have been divided into two distinct groups: basketry constructions and basketry elements (b-items: 53 fragments); ropes and other elements in the broad sense (r-items: 38 fragments). Stems were mostly used to make the b-items, while a fairly diversified set of materials was used for ropes and other elements. In a few cases, mixed animal and plant materials were also employed. SEM analyses showed some diagnostic characteristics such as epidermal stomata, phytoliths, hairs and vessels indicating monocotyledons. Many items were identified as Panicoideae, likely of the Setaria and Panicum types. Therefore, the main wild cereals collected for food and transported into the site also seem to have been the main plants used to make basketry. The only wooden item was attributed to Vitex. The majority of the basketry is made using the twined technique. Basketry remains were more common during the Late Acacus occupation of the site, possibly associated with wild cereal processing and storage, reinforcing the idea of a re-organization of food security towards a delayed use of resources. The basketry material could be interpreted as remains of large and open baskets to collect and store seeds. Decreasing availability of wild cereals, changes in resource exploitation and the nomadic mobility pattern may explain why a smaller number of basketry items was found in layers connected to the Pastoral phases of occupation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: This paper incorporates an experimental approach to the study of violence patterns in Northeastern Patagonia (Argentina) during the late Holocene. The underlying hypothesis considers a close association between socio-ecologic alterations during the Medieval Climatic Anomaly (MCA) (ca. 1150–600 years BP; , ) and a probable increase in conflict levels. In order to test this hypothesis, human skulls (n = 986) were analyzed for bone lesions, discriminating late bone lesions, such as those produced by metal tools. The experimental approach used swine (Sus scrofa domestica) skulls, as proxies for human skulls, and incorporated original sabers. From this discriminating analysis, it can be inferred that no significant increase in violence signs were recorded until the first stages of Hispanic-indigenous contact (first half of 17th century). These findings emphasize the need for a revision of the implications of the dynamics of human populations in Northeastern Patagonia during the late Holocene. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• We review the state of research on human-environment interaction in Holocene China. • We demonstrate the benefits of a multidisciplinary, regionally focused approach. • We conclude datasets must be local and specific, and integrate data on multiple scales. • China is large, well-documented, and critical for understanding social-natural systems. This paper reviews recent archaeological research on human-environment interaction in the Holocene, taking continental China as its geographic focus. As China is large, geographically diverse, and exceptionally archaeologically and historically well-documented, research here provides critical insight into the functioning of social-natural systems. Based on a broad review of the field as well as recent advances and discoveries, the authors reflect on research themes including climate change and adaptive systems theory, spatial and temporal scale, anthropogenic environmental change, risk management and resilience, and integration of subdisciplines. These converge on three overarching conclusions. First, datasets relevant to climate change and ancient human-environment interaction must be as local and specific as possible, as the timing of environmental change differs locally, and the human response is highly dependent on local social and technological conditions. Second, the field still needs more robust theoretical frameworks for analyzing complex social-natural systems, and especially for integrating data on multiple scales. Third, for this work to contribute meaningfully to contemporary climate change research, effective communication of research findings to the public and to scientists in other disciplines should be incorporated into publication plans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zooarchaeologists have relied upon various approaches to study the impacts of harvest pressure and environmental change on ungulate populations, such as analysis of prey mortality patterns and morphometrics. Analysis of ancient DNA from ungulate bones and bone fragments from archaeological sites provides an additional means for studying prey population dynamics related to environmental change and human ecology over time. In this paper, we study the population history of the largest game animal in northwest Patagonia, the guanaco (Lama guanicoe). Our study relies on the use of Bayesian Skyline Plots to determine shifts in estimated guanaco population size based on analysis of ancient mitochondrial DNA. Our results indicate that hunting by humans in addition to increases in aridity during the late Holocene led to a decline in the guanaco population in the region, which is in contrast to the harvest and environmental history in other parts of Patagonia (south of our study area). Using a weight of evidence approach that includes proxies of environmental change, human population dynamics, exploitation of guanacos, and estimates of guanaco population size, we argue that the late Holocene shift in guanaco population size was a driving factor in subsistence and settlement change related to resource intensification during the late Holocene in northwest Patagonia. • Demographic reconstruction of guanaco population dynamics during the Holocene. •Estimated population size is based on ancient DNA analysis through Next Generation Sequencing. •There are key changes in guanaco population size during the late Holocene. •Late Holocene guanaco population relates to increased hunting pressure in northwest Patagonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Benthic foraminifera identified from the upper intertidal zone of coastal mangrove and saltmarsh wetlands of south-eastern Australia exhibit spatial zonation that varies with elevation and corresponds to position in the tidal frame. This study describes relationships between benthic foraminiferal assemblages and environmental variables, such as wetland elevation, pore-water salinity, substrate organic matter content and sediment grainsize. Agglutinated taxa dominated higher in the tidal frame, whereas calcareous taxa increased in both relative abundance and diversity lower in the tidal frame. Species composition varied within and between study sites, reflecting local differences in other environmental variables. Three major spatial clusters were identified in the upper intertidal zone from a dataset consisting of 111 contemporary samples: a high-to mid-elevation assemblage consisting of differing abundances of Entzia macrescens and Trochammina inflata ; a mid-elevation assemblage comprised of Arenoparrella mexicana in association with Trochammina inflata and Quinqueloculina seminula ; and mid-to low-elevation assemblage characterised by Cribroelphidium excavatum , Quinqueloculina seminula , Ammobaculites spp. and Miliammina fusca. Multivariate analysis correlated foraminiferal assemblages with environmental variables showing that foraminiferal distribution in the region is constrained primarily by wetland elevation, but also by pore-water salinity. Foraminiferal assemblages derived from cluster analysis correlated with vegetation zones, implying that both foraminifera and vegetation are influenced by elevation and salinity. This paper seeks to demonstrate that the consistency in spatial zonation of assemblages provides greater confidence that contemporary distribution of foraminiferal assemblages can assist with the interpretation of past depositional conditions and palaeo-environmental reconstructions, providing insights into the evolution of coastal wetlands of south-eastern Australia over the Holocene. Foraminifera exhibited vertical zonation corresponding to position in the tidal frame Environmental variables has a significant influence on species composition Foraminiferal assemblages correlate with upper intertidal vegetation zones Contemporary foraminiferal assemblages can be used to reconstruct past environments [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper shows a GIS-based analysis for understanding the mobility system of the mound-builders (cerriteiros) of Patos and Mirim lagoons, located in southern Brazil, during the late Holocene. A geospatial model of mobility and centrality was developed using the least-cost path and network analysis methodologies. The degree of traffic and the settlement centrality allowed the interpretation of movement patterns and the connectivity of people in the coastal aquatic environment. The comparison between the terrestrial and aquatic models of mobility illustrates the permeability of the landscape suggesting the higher efficiency of movement via canoe in some environments as opposed to a purely walking-based model. Considering the GIS modeling and the archaeological and ethnohistorical data, we suggest that settlement and mobility patterns in some parts of the coastal plains were driven by the water-heavy landscape and the settlement positioning acted as mechanism of ordering the landscape. • Both waterways and land travel played a role in the mobility system of the mound builder societies of southern Brazil. • In some regions, canoeing between settlements may have been the preferred means of travel rather than overland. • The central and privileged position of some sites allowed control over the landscape, and facilitated the flow of communication in the socialnetwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]