Beyond Chronology, Using Bayesian Inference to Evaluate Hypotheses in Archaeology

Otárola‐Castillo, Erik; Torquato, Melissa G.; Wolfhagen, Jesse; Hill, M. E.; Buck, Caitlin E.

doi:10.1017/aap.2022.10

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 58 publications

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“…Adicionalmente, se han realizado siete dataciones radiocarbónicas por AMS, que han permitido asignar un rango cronológico a las ocupaciones del sitio. Las mismas han sido procesadas en Oxcal 4.4, calibradas en función de la curva para el hemisferio sur ShCal20 (Tabla 1; Bronk Ramsey 2020; Hogg et al 2020) y luego asociadas a eventos constructivos mediante modelización bayesiana utilizando el mismo software y curva de calibración (Figura 5;Greco 2012;Marsh 2017;Otárola-Castillo et al 2022). En relación con este punto, solo se ha considerado el análisis de los materiales provenientes de unidades estratigráficas datadas, a fin de generar una asociación fidedigna entre cronología y materialidad.…”

Section: Métodosunclassified

Ensamblajes, Temporalidades Múltiples Y Tradiciones Prácticas Prehispánicas. El Registro Arqueológico De El Sunchal (Anfama, Tucumán, Argentina)

Franco,

Montegú,

Moyano

et al. 2023

Chungará (Arica)

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El presente trabajo caracteriza las prácticas materiales como resultado del complejo interjuego entre ensamblajes, tiempo y entorno en el sitio arqueológico El Sunchal (Anfama, Tucumán). A estos fines, se presentan los resultados de distintas líneas de indagación incluyendo caracterizaciones arquitectónicas y análisis estratigráficos, radiocarbónicos, cerámicos y líticos. Los mismos han dado cuenta de múltiples eventos de ocupación que permiten abordar la recurrencia en el uso del espacio en diversos procesos sociotemporales que inician hacia ca. 2000 AP y se extienden hasta momentos tardíos de la historia prehispánica hacia ca. 550 AP. La asincronía en la secuencia ocupacional habilita a indagar la dinámica de las tradiciones técnicas arquitectónicas, cerámicas y líticas en clave temporal, evaluando las continuidades y cambios que presentan a lo largo del tiempo, y sus implicancias en relación con la memoria social de los grupos que habitaron allí. El conjunto de los resultados obtenidos permite plantear la presencia de un proceso de territorialización relativamente intenso entre ca. 2000 y 1500 AP, seguido de pulsos de intensidad más leves en momentos posteriores.Palabras claves: Noroeste argentino, historia prehispánica, modo de vida aldeano, ensamblajes materiales, procesos de territorialización.This paper characterizes material practices as a result of the complex interplay between assemblages, time, and environment at the archaeological site of El Sunchal (Anfama, Tucumán). To this end, we present the results of different lines of research, including architectural characterizations together with stratigraphic, radiocarbon, ceramic, and lithic analyses. These have revealed multiple occupation events that allow us to address the recurrence in the use of space of different socio-temporal processes that began around ca. 2000 BP and extended to late pre-Hispanic times around ca. 550 BP. The asynchrony in the occupational sequence enables us to investigate the dynamics of the architectural, ceramic, and lithic technical traditions, evaluating the continuities and changes over time, and their implications in relation to the social memory of the groups that lived there. The results obtained as a whole suggest a relatively intense process of territorialization that occurred between ca. 2000 and 1500 BP, followed by milder pulses of intensity at later times.

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Section: Métodosunclassified

Ensamblajes, Temporalidades Múltiples Y Tradiciones Prácticas Prehispánicas. El Registro Arqueológico De El Sunchal (Anfama, Tucumán, Argentina)

Franco,

Montegú,

Moyano

et al. 2023

Chungará (Arica)

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Past, Present, and Future of Complex Systems Theory in Archaeology

Davis

2023

J Archaeol Res

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A New Approach to the Quantitative Analysis of Bone Surface Modifications: the Bowser Road Mastodon and Implications for the Data to Understand Human-Megafauna Interactions in North America

Otárola‐Castillo

Torquato²,

Keevil³

et al. 2022

J Archaeol Method Theory

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Toward the end of the Pleistocene, the world experienced a mass extinction of megafauna. In North America these included its proboscideans—the mammoths and mastodons. Researchers in conservation biology, paleontology, and archaeology have debated the role played by human predation in these extinctions. They point to traces of human butchery, such as cut marks and other bone surface modifications (BSM), as evidence of human-animal interactions—including predation and scavenging, between early Americans and proboscideans. However, others have challenged the validity of the butchery evidence observed on several proboscidean assemblages, largely due to questions of qualitative determination of the agent responsible for creating BSM. This study employs a statistical technique that relies on three-dimensional (3D) imaging data and 3D geometric morphometrics to determine the origin of the BSM observed on the skeletal remains of the Bowser Road mastodon (BR mastodon), excavated in Middletown, New York. These techniques have been shown to have high accuracy in identifying and distinguishing among different types of BSM. To better characterize the BSM on the BR mastodon, we compared them quantitatively to experimental BSM resulting from a stone tool chopping experiment using “Arnold,” the force-calibrated chopper. This study suggests that BSM on the BR mastodon are not consistent with the BSM generated by the experimental chopper. Future controlled experiments will compare other types of BSM to those on BR. This research contributes to continued efforts to decrease the uncertainty surrounding human-megafauna associations at the level of the archaeological site and faunal assemblage—specifically that of the BR mastodon assemblage. Consequently, we also contribute to the dialogue surrounding the character of the human-animal interactions between early Americans and Late Pleistocene megafauna, and the role of human foraging behavior in the latter’s extinction.

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Beyond Chronology, Using Bayesian Inference to Evaluate Hypotheses in Archaeology

Cited by 6 publications

References 58 publications

Ensamblajes, Temporalidades Múltiples Y Tradiciones Prácticas Prehispánicas. El Registro Arqueológico De El Sunchal (Anfama, Tucumán, Argentina)

Ensamblajes, Temporalidades Múltiples Y Tradiciones Prácticas Prehispánicas. El Registro Arqueológico De El Sunchal (Anfama, Tucumán, Argentina)

Past, Present, and Future of Complex Systems Theory in Archaeology

A New Approach to the Quantitative Analysis of Bone Surface Modifications: the Bowser Road Mastodon and Implications for the Data to Understand Human-Megafauna Interactions in North America

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