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The emergence of 'standing stone' monuments within the European Late Prehistoric landscape is considered to be associated with a pivotal human cultural transition from hunting and gathering to agriculture and permanent settlement, being the earliest monuments currently dated by radiocarbon to the 5th millennium BCE. However, many standing stones were first erected, subsequently collapsed, and then re-erected during the following three millennia. The excavation of the site of an apparently in situ statue-menhir at Cruz de Cepos in NE Portugal provided the rare opportunity in Iberian prehistory to apply radiocarbon and luminescence techniques to establish the date of construction. On the basis of the iconography, the standing stone was assigned to a sculptural tradition of north-western and western Iberia, loosely dated to the Early/Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000/1900–1250 BCE). The optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and dosimetry characteristics of quartz extracted from sediment samples taken from locations associated with the socket pit and surrounding backfilling deposits were examined, producing OSL single grain ages at eight locations. Comparison of the OSL and calibrated radiocarbon ages shows very good agreement, with the mid-3rd millennium BCE dates confirming original erection during the Copper Age and not a much later transformation of the monument. These encouraging results indicate that OSL has the potential to provide reliable dating of depositional processes related to the construction process and is suitable for wider application to megalithic monuments of this type. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeological investigations on sandy, well-drained terraces of the Grand River in southwestern Michigan revealed a large number of shallow surface depressions, marking the locations of former cache pits, i.e., subterranean storage features. Our paper documents these pits, one of the largest arrays of cache pits reported for the Upper Great Lakes. Excavations into 29 cache pits revealed that they had been backfilled with generally artifact-poor sands. Prior to backfilling, the cache pits had been burned, leaving behind a black, charcoal-rich, charred horizon at their base, below the fill. This type of intentional burning has not previously been reported. Intentional re-use of cache pits was rare, if it occurred at all. Subsequently, pedogenesis has formed tongue-like soil horizons below the surface depressions. Radiocarbon dates from the cache pits, along with diagnostic artifacts, place the use of these features to the Late Precontact period, particularly the mid- to late 15th century a.d. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Archaeologists investigating Middle Bronze to Early Iron Age periods (1600–900 b.c.) in southern Italy often explore linkages between emerging inequality and foreign trade connections, establishing a coupled trope of "change emerges from external forces" and "waiting for civilization to arrive". Based on excavations at the Recent/Final Bronze and Early Iron Ages (RFBA/IA, 1200–900 b.c.) site of Sant'Aniceto in Calabria, we offer an alternative narrative in which hierarchy and institutionalized inequality held little sway in this community. By employing a building biography approach, we examine the variety of ways people sustain their communities through the creation and value of difference (e.g., age, knowledge, or skill) that characterize daily life, even when political hierarchy is absent. Our research at Sant'Aniceto centers on understanding the locally-grounded experiences and lives of people by approaching social difference through the lens of the materialities of everyday life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of Issues in Ethnology Anthropology is the property of Issues in Ethnology Anthropology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Oneota ceramics are recognized in the Northeastern Plains and lake-forest region of Minnesota. This forms the northwestern boundary of the Oneota phenomenon. Based on limited absolute dates and comparative dating, we place an early Oneota presence around AD 1300 and continuing to around AD 1500 to 1600, with changes mirroring those presumed to have occurred in the Oneota heartlands. The Upper Red River appears to have pure Oneota ceramics. Other sites to the north and west of this locality reveal varying Oneota influence. Oneota stylistic impact is strong in the region and was influential in the emergence of the Northeastern Plains and Sandy Lake ceramic traditions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]