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From 2014 to 2020, we compiled radiocarbon ages from the lower 48 states, creating a database of more than 100,000 archaeological, geological, and paleontological ages that will be freely available to researchers through the Canadian Archaeological Radiocarbon Database. Here, we discuss the process used to compile ages, general characteristics of the database, and lessons learned from this exercise in “big data” compilation.

Analysis of human remains and a copper band found in the center of a Late Archaic (ca. 5000–3000 cal BP) shell ring demonstrate an exchange network between the Great Lakes and the coastal southeast United States. Similarities in mortuary practices suggest that the movement of objects between these two regions was more direct and unmediated than archaeologists previously assumed based on “down-the-line” models of exchange. These findings challenge prevalent notions that view preagricultural Native American communities as relatively isolated from one another and suggest instead that wide social networks spanned much of North America thousands of years before the advent of domestication.

The Central Mountains Archaic began with the arrival of foraging populations in the Intermountain West about 6000 years ago. This migration coincided with the "extremely dramatic" winter-wet event of 4350 cal b.c. and the arrival of piñon pine forests in the central Great Basin. Human foragers likely played a significant role in the rapid spread of piñon across the central and northeastern Great Basin. Logistic hunters exploited local bighorn populations, sometimes serviced by hunting camps (the "man caves" such as Gatecliff Shelter, Triple T Shelter, and several others) and they staged communal pronghorn drives at lower elevations. As climate cooled and became more moist, logistic bighorn hunting gradually shifted downslope, then apparently faded away about 1000 cal b.c. Communal pronghorn driving persisted into the historic era in the central Great Basin. This volume, the first in the Alta Toquima trilogy, describes and analyzes more than 100 alpine hunting features on the Mt. Jefferson tablelands. High-elevation, logistical bighorn hunting virtually disappeared across the central Great Basin with the onset of the Late Holocene Dry Period (about 750-850 cal b.c.), giving way to an alpine residential pattern at Alta Toquima (26NY920) and elsewhere on Mt. Jefferson. Situated at almost exactly 11,000 ft (3352 m) above sea level, Alta Toquima was sited on the south summit of Mt. Jefferson (the third-highest spot in the state of Nevada), where at least 31 residential stone structures were emplaced along this steep, east-facing slope. When first recorded in 1978, Alta Toquima was the highest American Indian village site known in the Northern Hemisphere. This volume discusses the material culture, plant macrofossils, vertebrate fauna, and radiocarbon dating for Alta Toquima. Bayesian analysis of 95 14C dates documents an initial occupation of Alta Toquima at 1370-790 cal b.c., with the sporadic settlements persisting until immediately before European contact. These alpine residences are the most dramatic examples of the intensified provisioning strategies that began in the Central Mountains Archaic about 3000 years ago, broadening the diet breadth to include plant and animal resources previously considered too costly. The oldest summertime residence at Alta Toquima correlates with the onset of Late Holocene Dry Period (LHDP) aridity (~750 cal b.c.), and these houses were episodically occupied only during the driest intervals throughout the next 1500 dramatic years of abrupt climate change. During the intervening wetter stretches, Alta Toquima was abandoned in favor of subalpine basecamps. This sequenced intensification predated the arrival of bow technology in the central Great Basin by more than a millennium. Exactly the opposite sequencing took place a few miles to the north, when Gatecliff Shelter was abandoned during LHDP aridity--precisely when the first summertime settlements appeared at Alta Toquima. This pattern reversed again when lowland habitats became sufficiently well watered to again support summertime patches of seeds and geophytes (~150 cal b.c.-cal a.d. 100). Alta Toquima families responded by abandoning (temporarily) their alpine summertime camps to repurpose former "man caves" like Gatecliff and Triple T shelters into family settlements. The Monitor Valley sequence documents several syncopated lowland-alpine, wet-dry reversals, reflecting an adaptive diversity that spanned more than two millennia. The drought terminating cal a.d. 1150 devastated much of the western Great Basin and American Southwest, but its impact was less severe in central Nevada. Although subalpine sites were again abandoned during the drought buildup that peaked in the mid-12th century, summertime occupation of Alta Toquima became more commonplace, although it increased notably during the ~cal a.d. 1200-1400 aridity and persisted throughout the Little Ice Age.

Five thousand–year history of Native American oyster harvesting practices provides insight into modern oyster reef restoration., The eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) is an important proxy for examining historical trajectories of coastal ecosystems. Measurement of ~40,000 oyster shells from archaeological sites along the Atlantic Coast of the United States provides a long-term record of oyster abundance and size. The data demonstrate increases in oyster size across time and a nonrandom pattern in their distributions across sites. We attribute this variation to processes related to Native American fishing rights and environmental variability. Mean oyster length is correlated with total oyster bed length within foraging radii (5 and 10 km) as mapped in 1889 and 1890. These data demonstrate the stability of oyster reefs despite different population densities and environmental shifts and have implications for oyster reef restoration in an age of global climate change.

The prayerstone hypothesis, grounded in Southern Paiute oral history, holds that selected incised stone artifacts were votive offerings deliberately emplaced where spiritual power (puha) was known to reside, accompanying prayers for personal power and expressing thanks for prayers answered. Proposing significant and long-term linkages between Great Basin incised stones and overarching Shoshonean cosmology, this article explores the prayerstone hypothesis in the context of the 3,500 incised stones documented from the Intermountain West, an assemblage spanning seven states and seven millennia. Employing object itinerary perspectives, it becomes possible to develop ritualized cartographies capable of matching oral Shoshonean traditions with specific geographic indicators. The results demonstrate that many (but not all) such incised stones are consistent with the votive emplacement of prayerstones. Multiple constellations of prayerstone practice operated across the Great Basin for more than 5,000 years and carried forward, without perceptible break, among several (but not all) Numic-speaking populations of the ethnohistoric interval. The diversity and antiquity implied by the prayerstone hypothesis suggest dramatically more complex cultural trajectories than those of Lamb's (1958) widely accepted model of a single, late, and simultaneous Numic spread across the Great Basin.

This study examines internal enamel micro-defects and incremental isotopic data from tooth dentin to reconstruct early life stress and dietary histories of native individuals interred at Mission Santa Catalina de Guale (ca. A.D. 1605–1680), St. Catherines Island, Georgia. Spanish missionization in North America is associated with dietary change and increased indigenous stress. By integrating incremental isotopic data with enamel defect records, malnutrition as a source of stress can be explored. One permanent canine from 14 individuals was analyzed for enamel defects, and, of these subsamples, seven were selected for incremental δ 13C and δ 15N analysis. Results reveal high levels of early life stress, with 93% of individuals exhibiting enamel defects and an average of 4.4 defects/individual. Stress chronologies show that individuals experienced the highest frequency of stress between ages 2.5 and 4.5 years, a period associated with weaning in many traditional societies. Post-weaning δ 15N and δ 13C values indicate a mixed diet of maize and marine foods, with values closer to what would be expected for a diet heavy in maize (9.9‰ and –11.4‰, respectively). In four individuals, δ 15N values decrease on average 2‰ during infancy and early childhood, while δ 13C values slightly increase by 0.7‰. These individuals show enamel defects associated with decreasing δ 15N and increasing δ 13C values, suggesting stress associated with weaning onto a maize-based diet. This study underscores the importance of combining isotopic and paleopathological data to explore sources of non-specific stresses, especially in providing a link between diet and nutritional stress during periods of growth and development. Este estudio examina los microdefectos internos del esmalte y los datos isotopicos incrementales de la dentina para reconstruir el estres de la vida temprana y las historias dieteticas de individuos indigenas enterrados en la Mision Santa Catalina de Guale (entre los anos 1605 y 1680), en St. Catherines Island, Georgia. La misionizacion espanola en America del Norte esta asociada con el cambio en la dieta y el aumento del estres sistemico en poblaciones indigenas. Se puede abordar la desnutricion como fuente de estres sistemico al integrar los datos isotopicos incrementales con los registros de defectos del esmalte. Se analizo un canino permanente de catorce individuos para identificar defectos en el esmalte y se seleccionaron siete submuestras para el analisis incremental de δ 13C y δ 15N. Los resultados revelan altos niveles de estres en la vida temprana ya que un 93% de individuos muestran defectos en el esmalte con un promedio de 4,4 defectos/individuo. Las cronologias de estres muestran que las personas experimentaron la mayor frecuencia de estres entre los 2,5 y 4,5 anos de edad, un periodo asociado con el destete en muchas sociedades tradicionales. Los valores δ 15N y δ 13C posteriores al destete indican una dieta mixta de maiz y alimentos marinos, con valores mas cercanos a lo que se espera de una dieta rica en maiz (9,9 ‰ y –11,4 ‰, respectivamente). En cuatro individuos, los valores de δ 15N disminuyen en promedio 2 ‰ y los valores de δ 13C aumentan gradualmente un promedio de 0,7 ‰ durante la infancia y la ninez temprana. Estos individuos muestran defectos del esmalte asociados con la disminucion de δ 15N y el aumento de los valores de δ 13C, lo que sugiere el estres asociado con el destete y una transicion hacia una dieta basada en maiz. Este estudio subraya la importancia de combinar los datos isotopicos y paleopatologicos para explorar las fuentes del estres sistemico, especialmente al proporcionar un vinculo entre la dieta y el estres nutricional durante los periodos de crecimiento y desarrollo.

Long-distance exchange of copper objects during the Archaic Period (ca. 8000-3000 cal B.P.) is a bellwether of emergent social complexity in the Eastern Woodlands. Originating from the Great Lakes, the Canadian Maritimes, and the Appalachian Mountains, Archaic-age copper is found in significant amounts as far south as Tennessee and in isolated pockets at major trade centers in Louisiana but is absent from most of the southeastern United States. Here we report the discovery of a copper band found with the cremated remains of at least seven individuals buried in the direct center of a Late Archaic shell ring located in coastal Georgia. Late Archaic shell rings are massive circular middens thought to be constructed, in part, during large-scale ritual gatherings and feasting events. The exotic copper and cremated remains are unique in coastal South Carolina and Georgia where Archaic-age cremations are conspicuously absent and no other Archaic copper objects have been reported. Elemental data produced through laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry shows the copper originated from the Great Lakes, effectively extending Archaic copper exchange almost 1,000 km beyond its traditional boundaries. Similarities in mortuary practices and the presence of copper originating from the Great Lakes reveal the presence of long-distance exchange relations spanning vast portions of the eastern United States and suggest an unexpected level of societal complexity at shell ring localities. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that elite actors solidified their positions through ritual gatherings and the long-distance exchange of exotic objects during the Archaic.

Gatecliff Shelter provides a deeply stratified record of human–environment interaction in the Desert West spanning most of the middle and late Holocene. The well-preserved 10 m-deep deposits serve as an important reference sequence for technological and subsistence change in the Great Basin. Archaeological work started at Gatecliff in 1970 and a geochronological framework was established based on 47 uncalibrated radiocarbon ( 14 C) dates obtained from several conventional radiometric laboratories between 1972 and 1982. These radiocarbon dates are not well accommodated within a Bayesian chronological model for these important deposits due to multiple temporal reversals and large analytical errors. This model was discarded in favor of one based on a combination of high-precision AMS 14 C dates of short-lived carbonized plant remains supplemented with existing 14 C dates culled from the original set using a Bayesian chronological model. Summed probabilities of the modeled posterior distributions of these 14 C dates ( N = 24) show episodic use of the shelter as a logistic hunting camp between 6050 and 3315 cal BP, a significant hiatus in occupation between 3315 and 2145 cal BP, and more persistent use by family bands after this time. In the future, this high-precision chronology will provide the foundation for reinterpreting broader patterns of technological and subsistence change in the Intermountain West and evaluating these changes relative to high-resolution climate records.

The year 2013 marked the tercentennial of Fr. Junípero Serra’s birth. That same year, historian Steven Hackel anointed Serra (1713-1784) California’s Founding Father, thereby echoing the glory attached to such American greats as John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefferson. But Hackel also noted that Serra remains “America’s least understood founder,” with a legacy that is today decidedly “divisive … contentious and contested.”

St. Catherines Island (Georgia, USA) was separated from the mainland at about 3000 BC, creating massive estuarine tidal marshes, which aboriginal foragers began exploiting almost immediately. Correlative optimal foraging modeling and four decades of archaeological fieldwork demonstrate how this baseline shellfishing economy evolved and persisted, with some local impacts on estuarine resource patches, but no detectable changes in diet breadth over several millennia. The first St. Catherines islanders were likely tribal-level, egalitarian societies living in economically self-sufficient, virtually sedentary, and politically autonomous villages. They made the earliest pottery in North America. Shortly after AD 800, early Mississippian populations developed into chiefdoms characterized by ranked, inherited social hierarchies, ascribing social status and wealth at birth. This significant shift took place wholly in the context of their long-standing shellfishing economy. In the face of dramatically incr...

494 pages : illustrations (some color), maps (some color) ; 26 cm. Conference sponsored by the American Museum of Natural History and the St. Catherines Island Foundation.

Winkler and colleagues investigate the relationship between social status and well-being among the Guale from St. Catherines Island in Spanish Florida (A.D. 1607–1680). Specifically, they examine stress through dental caries, linear enamel hypoplasias, tooth size, and long bone length. Their analysis of mortuary data identifies postcontact social status variation on the basis of funerary offerings and proximity to the altar, and they integrate ethnohistorical evidence to enrich their interpretations. While Winkler and colleagues do not find any direct relationship between stress markers and mortuary offerings, there were spatial relationships between involving well-being and proximity (or distance) from the altar. While the study of colonialism in Spanish Florida has a long history, this work at St. Catherines Island represents new directions involving the spatial dimensions of mortuary and skeletal data on an intracemetery level. Winkler and colleagues conclude with discussions about their findings within the context of Spanish colonialism in Spanish Florida and the implications for bioarchaeology of colonialism.

David Hurst Thomas explores the controversies over collections of human remains and plundered artefacts.

“I’m haplo D group, which is one of the more ancient . . . . I’m 13,000 years old and you can tell [self-conscious laugh] . . . it’s an honor.” So begins 6 Generations, with Ernestine Ygnacio-De Soto’s voice. Her great-great-great-grandmother was born by the river behind the Santa Barbara Mountains in 1769, the very year that Fr. Junipero Serra founded the first Alta California mission (in San Diego, 220 miles to the south). “I’m not a full-blood Chumash. There are none,” she cautions, “but I think of myself as Chumash, first and foremost, even though I do have Hispanic and English in me, and those are not by my choice.” A self-described “living link,” she remembers her great-uncle, the last pure-blood Chumash. “I am their voice.” Thirty years ago, Ms. De Soto ran into John Johnson, working on his doctoral dissertation in the Mission Santa Barbara archive. When she saw the original mission records, Ms. De Soto found herself confronting a very personal family history. Her mother, recently deceased, was the last native speaker of the Chumash language. “This is just stepping back in time, like a time machine . . . more of a puzzle than a mystery, and all the pieces now fit . . . completely.” Years later, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History (where John Johnson is now a curator) invited Ms. De Soto to become a model for their diorama on early Chumash lifeways, and she agreed. As their relationship prospered, they eventually teamed up to craft a first-person performance called “Voices from the Indian Orchard: Six Generations of Chumash Women Speak.” In 6 Generations, filmmaker Paul Goldsmith captures this gripping narrative on film as it welds together these multiple ways of knowing the past: a friar’s handwritten mission record, 2 centuries of Chumash oral

As anthropologists, archaeologists, and biologists, and as members of the National Academy of Sciences, we were startled to read J. C. Chatters' statement that the cranial morphology of early Native Americans “represented a human ‘wild type,’” whereas more recent Native American cranial morphology reflected a “domesticated” form (“Bones from a watery ‘black hole’ confirm first American origins,” M. Balter, News & Analysis, 16 May, p. [680][1]). We are deeply offended by Chatters' implicit comparison of early Americans to the wild ancestors of today's domesticated animals. We are disheartened to learn that there are those who continue to believe that cranial morphology carries implications of a presumed “wild” state. By so doing, they demean the very people they attempt to understand. [1]: pending:yes

The Executive Committee of the Society for American Archaeology (SAA) determined in 1988 that the primary vehiclefor observing the Columbian Quincentenary would be a three-volume series, ultimately entitled Columbian Consequences. The objective of these volumes is to probe the social, demographic, ecological, ideological, and human repercussions of European-Native American encounters across the Spanish Borderlands. This inquiry is informed by a "cubist "perspective, which attempts to approach the past from multiple directions simultaneously. The ninety-three chapters of Columbian Consequences drew upon a diverse range of disciplines, including archaeology, history, physical anthropology, ethnohistory, cultural anthropology, art history, and geography. The royalties from Columbian Consequences are earmarked for the Native American Scholarship Fund, sponsored by the SAA.