Archaeology 100-D200

Ancient Peoples and Places

Archaeology and the Study of Prehistory…

Week 6: THE NEOLITHIC: NEAR EAST, THE AMERICAS AND THE WORLD. INCREASING SOCIAL COMPLEXITY

WITH DOMESTICATION

February 20th & 22nd 2012

Dr. Alvaro HiguerasSimon Fraser University, Spring 2012

Agenda of Week 6

The Middle East and the Neolithic

Early agriculture in other parts of the world

Political structures and increasing complexity in human organization.

Those 15 points for Session 4 & 5

A. Population of the Americas.

B. The Magdalenian on the way to the

Mesolithic.

C. "Sampling” and “sampling”.

D. The sequence of political evolution.

E. Differences between Chiefdom and State?

F. "Qualitative" aspects of the political forms.

G. What are empires for?

H. The most variable stage in the evolution…?

I. Redistribution and its evolution.

J. Decline, small vs. large scale societies.

K. The Mesolithic and the environment.

L. What is there to love about the

Magdalenian?

M. Megafauna and the evidence.

N. Symbiosis of humans and animals towards

domestication.

O. The most important factor in the formation

and consolidation of state-level societies?

ChiefdomsRedistribution… in “simple” chiefdoms

Other mechanisms in more “complex” ones… without R > Accumulation (then “gifts”)

Concentration of power and goods, used of them

in “strategic” ways

Chiefdom as a non-existent or short stage in some areas…

Or archaeologists have not been able to document it in the archaeological record of

some regions

State> Cooperation and good teamwork, as a cluster

of chiefdoms…

> Sustainable resources, dense population, and (further) evolution of a hierarchy

> Physical environment where it controls the activities aspect of social organization such as

farming, irrigation, buildings…

> Resolution of Conflict/competition in densely populated societies is the factor, as the state is

thereon needed for conflict resolution and management of the land.

The center of it all: The Fertile Crescent

It is an area of Mediterranean climate characterized by dry summers and winter rains with enough precipitation to support vegetation ranging from woodlands to open park woodland

South and east of the Fertile Crescent, the open park woodlands give way to steppes and true deserts

It environment today is much drier that at the onset of the domestication process

Historical context for the development of agriculture

> Spatial continuity & formation of mounds

Çatalhöyük

Jericho

Kebaran and Geometric Kebaran

These sites identified by characteristic stone tools — bladelets

Most sites are remains of small camps made by highly mobile hunter-gatherers

Burials at these sites are rare No evidence of plant or animal domestication

during this period Plant remains recovered include wild grasses,

fruits, nuts, and animals

The Natufian

Sedentary hunter-gatherers foraging for food such as emmer wheat, barley and almonds, and hunting gazelle, deer, cattle, horse, and wild boar.

For at least part of the year, Natufian people lived in communities, some quite large, of semi-subterranean houses.

These semi-circular one room structures were excavated partly into the soil and built of stone, wood and perhaps brush roofs.

They located their settlements at the boundaries between coastal plains and hill country, to maximize their access to a wide variety of food.

They buried their dead in cemeteries, with grave goods including stone bowls and dentalium shell.

The largest Natufian communities (called ‘base camps’) found to date include Jericho, Ain Mallaha, and Wadi Hammeh 27.

Smaller, short-range dry season foraging camps may have been part of the settlement pattern, although evidence for them is scarce.

The Natufian tools

Characteristic stone tool is the lunate, a crescent-shaped bladelet served as hunting tools or as parts of tools made of multiple small pieces Michael Chazan

Natufian settlements

People began the transition to village life during this period

Structures are ovals or open semicircles Structures consist of undressed stones piled to

form walls up to 1 metre high Structure floors covered with refuse—including

stone tools and animal bones The stone walls are thought to have supported

superstructures made of wood and brush Not clear what function structures served

Natufian burials

Burials are commonly found on Natufian sites

In some cases, the skull has been removed prior to burial

Some Natufian burials include shell necklaces and head coverings

Natufian subsistence

Natufians practised a broad-spectrum subsistence strategy

They exploited a wide range of wild plants Most plant species do not show any evidence

of having been domesticated Hunting focused on a single species, gazelle No herd animals were domesticated Burials indicate that dogs were part of human

society and being domesticated

The Early Neolithic

Early Neolithic is divided into two major periods:

Pre-Pottery Neolithic A–Dates between 12,000-10,800 years ago–Corresponds to end of the Younger DryasThe Big Freeze, was a geologically brief (1300 ± 70 years) cold climate period

between approximately 12800

Pre-Pottery Neolithic B–Dates between 10,800-8,500 years ago–Corresponds to a period of improved climate

The Early Neolithic technology

A shift away from tools made on bladelets This period’s toolkit is made on

blades with an emphasis on arrowheads

Toolkit includes sickles, ground stone axes, and adzes

Grinding stones for processing grains found in extremely large quantities

Pre-Pottery B sites exhibit highly developed use of plaster

Pre-pottery A Neolithic

Settlement size increased during this period First evidence of communal structures appears

Most impressive of these structures is Jericho tower—9 m high, made of undressed stone and mud brick, attached to the inside of a massive wall

Houses continue to be circular, but settlements larger than Natufian ones

Pre-pottery B Neolithic

Round houses give way to rectangular ones Settlement size increases significantly Rectangular houses allow sites to be more

densely packed than previously Villages often show high degree of planning No sense that the regular layout of the sites

reflects presence of centralized authority

Early Neolithic RitualMany ritual objects were hidden—in pits, under

floors, in caves—their functions are unknown Most striking hidden objects are plastered skulls

Human skulls on which plaster faces have been molded

Plaster figures have been found in pits A cache of ritual objects were found in a cave

includes a cap, a bag, beads, bone tools, arrowheads, a painted stone mask, and a human skull with a net pattern on the cranium

Chinchorro burial, Northern Chile

Plastered Skull, Jericho

Early Neolithic Domestication

Earliest evidence of plant domestication is seen in contexts from the Pre-Pottery A

Farming developed during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period

A wide range of domesticated crops is found including–Cereals—emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, barley–Pulses—lentils, peas–Legumes—bitter vetch, chick peas

The Late Neolithic

Characterized by the development of pottery manufacture

Stone tools, expedient tools, made on local materials with minimal energy investment

Characterized by a limited number of large sites and small dispersed hamlets

Large sites are not densely packed

Symbolic artifacts tend to be stylized animal figurines

Late Neolithic subsistence

Importance of hunting continuously declines throughout period

Evidence for animal domestication includes changes in the shape of goat horns

Despite symbolic emphasis on bulls, main source of meat was domestic goat

People still relied on the full range of plants domesticated in the Early Neolithic

Tabaqat el-BumaDirected by University of Toronto archaeology professor Ted Banning Part of the Wadi Ziqlab Project;

survey of this area of Northern Jordan

Late Neolithic site Characterized by a number of

dwellings that make up a small community

Banning suggests that these small, dispersed communities may have replaced the larger nucleated villages of the Early Neolithic

The “cereals used at the Natufian site of Mureybet... may not have been growing locally [but]... may have been imported or introduced from farther north... Transport of raw materials across considerable distances is well known in the Near East, adding weight to the argument that cereals were also transported” (Willcox 2005, 539).

We need not imagine this to be the result of an institutionalized market in cereal futures (Bernstein 1996) in order to ask whether microeconomic tools will help us to understand how differential valuation in zones of production and consumption, balanced against the transaction costs associated with such movements of goods, rights, and/or consumers, will further analysis and explanation.

Willcox’s : The distribution, natural habitats and availability of wild cereals in relation to their domestication in the Near East: multiple events, multiple centres

(pattern shown as well at a world scale… plants micro adapted to initial environmental features)

The proximity of a perennial water source was the main priority when choosing a settlement location, not the proximity of wild cereal stands. Settlement sites are all situated near a river, spring or lake... Due to the patchy distribution of the two wild wheat species, many sites were situated at some distance from the wild stands.

The change from gathering to cultivation was a gradual process. Hillman suggests that it had already started on a small scale in the Natufian, and a knowledge of planting may go back even farther – Mesolithic broad spectrum experiences –

During the initial stages early farmers may have been obliged to frequently replenish their seed stocks from wild stands, which would slow the domestication process. It is not until the end of the 9th millennium BC that we see the appearance of well established farmers with fully-fledged agriculture which produced conditions favourable for the selection of domestic traits

Microeconomic models for framing the question of agricultural origins in terms of risk, discounting, economies of scale, and transaction costs.

Rather than a functional approach: productive environment or inequality function to facilitate this transformation?

Causal approach: climate change, population growth, or feasting.

Behavioral ecology economic concepts are applicable whatever the mode of production

Politics and Borders in Archaeology

• Politics and archaeology frequently intersect in the Middle East

• Archaeology has been an important tool for change in places such as Israel, Palestine, Jordan, and Syria

• However, Steven Rosen has shown that national borders have had a major influence on the reconstruction of the prehistory of the region

• Problem:–Modern borders affect the limits of where

archaeologists work or visit– Israeli and Syrian archaeologists are unable

to cross borders and visit each other’s countries for intellectual exchange

• Results: –Lack of communication and fragmentation of

the archaeological record–Distorts our view of the past

Progress:> Signing of a peace agreement between Israel

and Jordan has eased travel between these two countries

> Outbreaks of violence keeps travel to a minimum> But ease in travel has improved understanding of

the connections between Israel and Jordan in prehistory

> Emphasis on understanding local archaeological developments from a global perspective is a useful counterbalance to tendencies to use archaeology to promote nationalist agendas

Domesticates in Europe

Origins of domesticated plants and animals can be traced to the Middle East, the “wave”…

No evidence of indigenous domestication of plants or animals

Unresolved questions about domestication in Europe include:

> Did populations of farmers sweep across Europe bringing new crops and new lifeways with them

> Did Mesolithic hunter-gatherers adopt domesticated plants and animals to forge a new way of life?

Sheep and goat, as well as some cereals (emmer wheat and einkorn) and pulses (lentil, pea, chick pea, and bitter vetch) had no wild ancestors in Europe during the Holocene.

A Feast of Diversity

Domestication in Africa

There are 3 major regions where plants were indigenously domesticated in Africa:1. Northeast Africa—tef, finger millet, and coffee2. Central Africa—pearl millet, sorghum3. West Africa—African rice

• Domesticated plants introduced from the Middle East include wheat, barley, lentils

• Domesticated animals introduced from the Middle East were sheep and goats

• Considerable debate surrounds the origin of domesticated cattle in Africa

The Sahara desert

Today the Sahara desert is the most dominant feature of the North African landscape

The current desert environment developed in the Sahara only within the last 4000-5000 years

Between 14,000 and 4500 years ago there was considerably more rainfall in the Sahara

Extensive human occupation of the region was possible before it became a desert

Hunter-gatherers villages

Small villages of hunter-gatherers existed across northern Africa during the period of increased rainfall in the Sahara

Such sites resemble Natufian sites in the Middle East in several ways: Their size, the nature of the structures on them,

the exploitation of a wide range of resources, the use of grinding stones

African also differ from Natufian sites in significant ways: Pottery and large numbers of storage pits are

commonly found on African sites—not in Natufian period

African pastoralists

Domesticated animals were introduced before domesticated plants in much of North Africa

Cattle, sheep, and goats appear to have been incorporated into mobile hunter-gatherer societies

Mobile societies with economies focused on maintaining herds of domesticated animals are called pastoral societies

Agriculture in New Guinea

Today, agricultural societies of New Guinea emphasize the centrality of pigs and sweet potatoes for subsistence and for developing a social hierarchy–The exchange of pigs is an essential element of

political power–Sweet potatoes are an important part of the

diet of pigs; therefore, mean political power Surprisingly, both sweet potatoes and pigs were

introduced to New Guinea fairly recently—they were domesticated elsewhere

New Guinea domesticates

Genetic research indicates that a wide number of plants were indigenously domesticated in New Guinea

These crops include yams, bananas, taro, and possibly sugarcane

None of these crops are cereals—no seed crops

Traditional agricultural processes in New Guinea involve transplanting suckers, cuttings, or shoots

The Andes environment

Andes are the second highest mountain chain in the world

The Andean highlands are divided into four zones based on altitude above sea level:

1. Quechua zone: 2300-3500 m, where corn grows well

2. Suni zone: 3500-4000 m, where crops indigenous to the Andes are grown

3. Puna zone: 4000-4800 m, open grassland for grazing alpacas and llamas

4. Cordillera zone: above 4800 m, not used for agriculture

Andean domestication Domesticated beans

from Guitarrero Cave have been directly dated to 4300 BP.

Quinoa seeds have been found in layers 5700-4500 years old at Panaulauca Cave

The earliest evidence for domesticated potatoes dates to 4000-3000 BP. Probably not the earliest domesticate

potatoes because they were found along the coast, not where wild potatoes grow

Andean domestication Llamas and alpacas

(camelids) were domesticated beginning10,000-5000 years ago

Llama as pack animal25 kg at most

Vicuña and Guanaco are still wild camelids

The other domesticated Andean animal is the guinea pig, when domesticated unknown, but perhaps after camelids

Preagricultural coastal villages

By 8000 BP small settled villages developed along the Peruvian coast–Houses were built of reeds and grasses

over a wooden structure–About 10 families lived in a village at any

given time–Burial data indicates that there were not

higher status individuals

The Cotton Preceramic

Prevalence of cotton seeds and absence of pottery on its sites

These sites are often quite large and contain evidence of monumental architecture The flat-topped pyramid, Huaca de los Idolos,

dates to 5500-4500 BP., the earliest known monumental architecture in the New World

The bulk of the Cotton Preceramic diet consisted of fish and shellfish Populations obtained gourds, squash, chili pepper,

beans, and jicima from wild plants The dominant crop species was cotton, also in the

wild, used for making textiles and nets

Caral, World heritage site, 2009

Preagricultural coastal villages

Inhabitants of these villages were hunter-gatherers who relied heavily on the rich coastal marine resources–A wide range of wild plant resources

including seeds, fruits, and tubers were exploited

–Cultivated gourds were domesticated; beans and squash may have been cultivated, but they were not significant parts of the diet

Pacific currents & society

Humboldt Current: brings cool waters up from the south along the Andean coast–Responsible for the wealth of marine

resources that allowed villages to thrive without agriculture

El Niño: a severe reversal of the Humboldt Current; occurs every 25-40 years–When major El Niños occur, there is a

massive decline in fish and shellfish populations on the coast

Pacific currents & society

–Also causes torrential rains that cause massive flooding and mud slides

Some argue that El Niños have only happened for about 6000 years–The onset of the Cotton Preceramic and

El Niño seem to correlate–Perhaps climactic uncertainty played a

role in the development of large centres with some reliance on agriculture

Domestication in East Asia

Rice was domesticated along the Yangtze and Huai River Valleys, China by 9000 BP.

Millet was domesticated in the Yellow River Valley, China by the Peiligang culture, c. 8000 BP.

Dogs, pigs, and water buffalo were domesticated in southern China

Pigs and, possibly, chickens were domesticated in northern China

Pottery vessels from Banpo Village site, China.

Development of Chinese farming societies

Yangshou culture developed out of the Peiligang culture of the Yellow River

Yangshou villages consisted of both round semisubterranean houses and rectangular houses built on the surface

Wild plants and animals were exploited Millet was fully domesticated as were dogs and pigs Pottery vessels were made in many forms with

elaborate painted decorations

Mesoamerica and North America

Mesoamerican domestication

Squash (Curcurbita pepo) was the earliest plant domesticated in Mesoamerica–Earliest squash seeds dated to 10,000-8300

BP.–Ancestor of squashes eaten today including

pumpkins, acorn squash, zucchini, spaghetti squash, etc.

Maize was domesticated from teosinte, a wild grass found in the highlands of Mexico–Earliest maize dated to 6250 and 5500 BP.

Mesoamerican domestication

Beans were domesticated independently in Mesoamerica and in the Andes–Earliest date for a Mexican bean is 2500

BP.– It is very likely that beans were

domesticated earlier, at the same time as maize

Maize in SW North AmericaMaize and squash agriculture spread to northern

Mexico and the southwestern U.S. about 3400 BP. in the Southwestern Late Archaic Period

Initial impact of maize and squash varied across the region

In some areas there was increased sedentism In other areas, agriculture did not substantially

alter the lives of the Late Archaic hunter-gatherers

The Formative period

The introduction of pottery into the American Southwest marks the beginning of the Formative period

The introduction of pottery overlaps with the introduction of beans

Sites with pit houses are common in this period Formative sites range in size from 1-2 houses to

as many as 25-35—one village site has 60 houses

Regional variation in the impact of maize continues into the Formative

Optimal foraging model

Assumes that humans act on the basis of rational self-interest to maximize efficiency in collecting and processing resources

Archaeologists use this theory to explain the variation in adaptation to the introduction of maize agriculture

According to optimal foraging theory, diversity exists in the uptake of maize agriculture as the result of rational decisions about the productiveness of the landscape and the returns from maize agriculture

Eastern North American domesticatesLate Archaic peoples of eastern North America

independently domesticated a variety of plants– Including sunflower, marsh elder, chenopod,

and squash Late Archaic peoples also narrowed their

subsistence base—especially in areas with rich supplies of shellfish–Shell middens

The impact of domesticates on subsistence in the Late Archaic was minimal–Hunting and gathering continued to be the

basis of Late Archaic subsistence

Adena

Adena culture corresponds to the Early Woodland period of Eastern North America

The Adena culture is found in the Ohio River Valley

During the Adena period increasingly large burial mounds were constructed accompanied by increasingly elaborate burial practices

The Great Serpent Mound, Ohio.

The Hopewell

In the Ohio River Valley, the Middle Woodland period corresponds to the Hopewell—a culture that built complex earthworks and had elaborate burial rituals–Some Hopewell mounds were built over

structures –Massive earthworks were created in a

number of forms including circles, squares, and octagons

–Some mounds were created over a variety of types of burials, other mounds had intrusive burials in them

The Hopewell

The Hopewell exchange network moved exotic goods across huge distances–Quantities of expertly crafted objects

made from exotic materials in burials indicate the status of elites

Hopewell settlementAccording to the vacant centre pattern model,

Hopewell earthworks served as the symbolic and ceremonial core of a community that lived across a wide area

Evidence indicates that some earthworks were occupied

Assessing the nature of Hopewell settlements is difficult because of–The widespread modern destruction of the

earthworks and their massive scale–The low archaeological visibility of Hopewell

habitation sites because of alluvial soil buildup

Hopewell bird claw.

Woodland subsistence

Early & Middle Woodland subsistence was based heavily on the cultivation of indigenously domesticated plants

The earliest dates for maize in eastern North America are between 2000-1800 BP.

Maize is rare in the Early/Middle Woodland and did not play a major role in the diet

Throughout the Woodland period, hunting and gathering continued to be key elements of subsistence along with the cultivation of local domesticates

Maize Agriculture in Eastern North America By the beginning of the Late Woodland, maize is found as

far north as Ontario Maize was cultivated throughout much of eastern North

America by 1700 BP., however Isotope analysis of skeletal remains indicates that maize did

not play a major role in the diet until about 1000 years ago

Turkeys appear to have been domesticated during the Formative period

Turkey domestication in the Southwest and in Mesoamerica were separate events

Domestication: Bruce Smith’s model

A coevolutionary model for the indigenous domestication of plants in eastern North America

Smith states that climate change led to increased permanence of human settlements

The shift to more permanent settlements led to gradual ecological changes that resulted in the emergence of domesticated plants over a period of several thousand years

Domestication: Smith’s model, in 5 major stages

1. Garbage heaps around long-term human occupations provided an excellent ecological niche for weedy plants. In these contexts, seeds that sprouted and grew quickly had an advantage

2. People tolerated edible plants and removed unwanted plants

3. People began to encourage and systematically harvest useful plants while weeding out useless ones

4. Seeds of the best useful plants were deliberately planted every year

5. Plants that were clearly morphologically domesticated emerged

Domestication: Prentice’s model

Guy Prentice proposed that the domestication of plants might have been the result of intentional actions by individuals

Prentice argues that the introduction of domesticated squash into eastern North America was carried out by male shamans who would have used the gourds as rattles or ritual containers

Princess Point Complex

Found in southern Ontario; dates to 650–900 A.D. Consisted of Algonkian-speaking hunter-gatherers Important to the debate about whether maize exploitation

(agriculture) moved into the area via migration from the south during this time, or whether it was adopted by local groups

Pottery is believed to have started 900 A.D.; however, University of Toronto at Mississauga archaeologists David Smith and Gary Crawford have found evidence for both pottery and a degree of sedentism as early as 540 A.D. in the PPC– Suggests perhaps both local adoption of agriculture and migration

Gender Bias and domestication

Watson and Kennedy link the seeming invisibility of people in the origins of agriculture to gender bias–“men are strong, dominant protectors who

hunt animals; women are weaker, passive, hampered by their reproductive responsibilities, and hence, consigned to plant gathering” (Watson and Kennedy 1991:256)

Smith’s domestication model is an example of the “passive” form of bias—agriculture just happened unconsciously

Gender Bias and domestication

Prentice’s domestication model is active but, tellingly, the agent is explicitly male

Watson and Kennedy propose a model for the adoption of maize in eastern North America that emphasizes the active role of female gardeners

They propose that women, who already had extensive experience growing indigenous cultigens, actively experimented with the Midwestern 12-row maize to develop a variety that was better suited to their region

Gender Bias and domestication

–The result was the development and spread of eastern 8-row maize

In this model, the adoption of maize in eastern North America was an achievement of the active intervention of women

Summing up the evidence

• In eastern North America, hunter-gatherer groups had domesticated a number of plant species long before the introduction of maize agriculture

• Regional variability continued into the Formative period–Archaeologists try to explain the pattern in

terms of optimal foraging theory

• Early and Middle Woodland Adena and Hopewell cultures

• Massive earthworks constructed • Evidence for specialized craft manufacture • Long-distance trade in high status items

• Nature of settlement systems remains poorly understood

• Introduction of maize at the end of the Middle Woodland period had little impact of the diet