Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory最新文献

{"title":"Evaluating the Relationship Between Surface, Subsurface, and Stratigraphic Assemblages","authors":"Stephen A. Collins-Elliott","doi":"10.1007/s10816-026-09815-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-026-09815-y","url":null,"abstract":"The ability to compare finds assemblages quantitatively underlies many problems in archaeology, such as whether surface or subsurface assemblages reflect one another in landscape archaeology, or whether two or more sets of contexts saw the same distributional patterns of artifact use and deposition. This paper advances a statistically informed approach that relies on the Cressie-Read power-divergence statistic, which generalizes Pearson’s chi-squared and <italic>G</italic> tests. This approach also advocates for a focus on effect size. By basing the evaluation of what are “homogenous” distributions of artifacts on a partition of pairs of contexts within a project, measures of the similarity of assemblages are attained for both count and presence/absence data, whose robustness can be assessed with a leave-one-out resampling routine. Rather than using arbitrary benchmarks for what constitutes “large” or “small” effect sizes, the magnitude of similarity for related assemblages is expressed directly via comparison with unrelated assemblages.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148693294","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Exploring the Inherent Affordability for Movement in Past Landscapes","authors":"César Parcero-Oubiña, Andrea Solana-Muñoz","doi":"10.1007/s10816-026-09813-0","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-026-09813-0","url":null,"abstract":"The aim of this paper is to demonstrate a method for exploring the conditions inherent to mobility within a landscape, as a means of broadening our understanding of the role of human movement in archaeology. Specifically, it is based on the application of a tool, Omniscape, developed in the field of ecology, which to date has barely been utilised in archaeology. As we shall attempt to demonstrate, it holds great potential to overcome some of the common limitations in the digital modelling of mobility in archaeology. After briefly reviewing these limitations, we outline the operating principles of Omniscape and illustrate the type of results it produces using three ideal control surfaces. Finally, an archaeological case study regarding the distribution of burial mounds in an area of NW Iberia is presented, to illustrate possible ways of utilising the results for tackling specific archaeological questions.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"36 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148587200","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Inferring Behavioural Landscape Systems in Palaeolithic Archaeology: Unsupervised Spatial Learning as a Framework for Formal Inductive Inference","authors":"Sushant Begade","doi":"10.1007/s10816-026-09812-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-026-09812-1","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148539316","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Holistic Framework for Paleolithic Projectile Studies: Insights from Swabian Gravettian Fléchettes","authors":"Elena T. Moos, Flavia Venditti, Nicholas J. Conard","doi":"10.1007/s10816-026-09809-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-026-09809-w","url":null,"abstract":"Projectile technology and long-range weapons represent a major innovation in human evolution, shaping subsistence strategies, complex behavior, and advanced planning skills. Given the fast decay of organic remains, the Upper Paleolithic record is dominated by lithic implements, which are often classified as projectiles based primarily on morphological characteristics. However, such typological classifications frequently overlook macro- and microfractures that signal actual projectile use and may vary between different weapon systems. Here, we present the results of a detailed technological and functional analysis of 54 <jats:italic>fléchettes</jats:italic> from the Gravettian layers of the cave sites Hohle Fels, Brillenhöhle, and Geißenklösterle. Using a holistic approach including multiple analytical approaches spanning from lithic technology, traceology, projectile experiments, and statistics allowed a more comprehensive and robust analysis of possible wear patterns linked to projectile use. The technological analysis focused on the production sequence and morphological variability of the <jats:italic>fléchettes</jats:italic> , while use-wear analysis was employed to identify macro- and micro traces indicative of projectile use. The observed traces were tested against a reference assemblage of experimentally replicated <jats:italic>fléchettes</jats:italic> knapped from Jurassic chert and radiolarite, the two primary lithic materials used in the Swabian Gravettian. The experiments tested different propulsion modes, including spear-throwing and bow-and-arrow propulsion, as well as the influence of raw material variability on the formation of macro traces. The results reveal a high overlap of use-wear traces between Ach Valley <jats:italic>fléchettes</jats:italic> and <jats:italic>fléchettes</jats:italic> used in experimental spear-throwing while clustering with TCSA values of ethnographic arrowheads. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that <jats:italic>fléchettes</jats:italic> were likely adapted for projectile use in a long-range weapon system, complementing other Gravettian point types in a modular projectile design that reflects the versatile technological and subsistence organization in the Swabian Gravettian.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"37 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148409047","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Protocol to Identify the Wear Traces on Osseous Points Used for Fishing","authors":"Grzegorz Osipowicz, Justyna Orłowska, Łukasz Skowroński, Grażyna Balcerowska-Czerniak, Mieczysław Cieszko, Zbigniew Szczepański, Giedre Piličiauskienė, Gytis Piličiauskas, Ilga Zagorska","doi":"10.1007/s10816-026-09816-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-026-09816-x","url":null,"abstract":"The ability to distinguish osseous points used for hunting in aquatic and terrestrial environments is key to understanding the economies of hunter–gatherer societies (and beyond) and the typological diversity of such tools observed worldwide. In this article, we present an analytical protocol for wear analysis that enables the identification and correct interpretation of microwear traces generated on osseous points as a result of fishing. A starting point of our studies, which were conducted using optical and confocal microscopy, as well as microcomputed tomography (microCT), was the analysis of 72 experimental osseous points, which were used 1208 times in hunting experiments, where the targets were 110 kg of fish of various species and the bodies of terrestrial animals such as red or roe deer. We constructed a classification of wear traces formed on osseous points after fishing based on the results of an analysis of 169 wear observation areas on the barbed points used in such experiments. This classification significantly diverges from previous findings on wear patterns typical of projectile points, where impact fractures play a crucial role. Moreover, it demonstrates that in the case of fishing, other, previously undistinguished categories of microtraces, such as compression traces, osteon structure highlighting, specific polish, and several types of perpendicular linear traces, are of primary importance. We then tested the analytical protocol developed based on this analysis by analyzing 35 prehistoric osseous points from 11 sites located in Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia. These studies fully confirmed its effectiveness.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148612797","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bone Surface Mapping: A New Method for Recording Detailed Human Bone Surface Variation","authors":"Sarah E. Paris, Robert A. Foley","doi":"10.1007/s10816-026-09811-2","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-026-09811-2","url":null,"abstract":"Surface changes on bone can be indicative of a range of different processes affecting an individual, from palaeopathology and taphonomy to cultural modification. Mapping these changes is essential to understanding bioarchaeological context and compare the changes across an individual and between them. This paper presents a new method for mapping surface features on bone (<italic>e.g.</italic> erosion/abrasion, surface cuts and scratches, pathologies, modifications). It is an accessible and quantifiable alternative to photogrammetry or three-dimensional scanning. It breaks each bone down into a number of two-dimensional geometric faces that can be utilised in statistical analyses. The number of faces differs depending on the skeletal development of the individual. The recording method allows faces to be grouped by anatomical plane, bone type, side, and region of the body. These selective groupings facilitate flexible categories for hypothesis testing. The technique was developed to enable a detailed recording of taphonomic staining on human skeletal remains from Khok Phanom Di, Thailand. While the technique was developed for recording bone surface staining, it could also be used to map other variations on bone surfaces, such as in palaeopathological, forensic, or taphonomic contexts.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"16 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148589099","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Analogy Versus Behavioral Ecology in the Study of Human Evolution","authors":"Douglas Bird, Rebecca Bliege Bird, Kristen Hawkes, Karen Lupo, Eugène Morin, James F. O’Connell, John D. Speth, Bruce Winterhalder","doi":"10.1007/s10816-026-09807-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-026-09807-y","url":null,"abstract":"In a recent critique published in this journal (Ben-Dor, M. &amp; R. Barkai, 2026, Paleolithic dietary flexibility? Methodological considerations in analogy-based reconstructions of Paleolithic energetic returns, <italic>Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory</italic> 33, article 47, pp. 1–27), the authors characterize behavioral ecology approaches to the study of foraging efficiency as being fundamentally constrained by their reliance on conventional analogy-based reasoning. This characterization, however, misrepresents the aims and theoretical and methodological foundations of these approaches. Rather than relying on simple analogies, behavioral ecology models evaluate how interactions among variables such as prey behavior, encounter rates and contexts, seasonal variation in the macronutrient composition of game tissues, technology, pursuit success rates, opportunity costs, and other ecological and economic factors influence foraging efficiency across diverse habitats and among a wide range of societies. By explicitly identifying and testing the mechanisms that generate variation in economic returns, these approaches provide a rigorous and theory-driven alternative to conventional analogy-based interpretations. We also identify several problems with Ben-Dor and Barkai’s claim that proboscideans constituted high-ranked prey during the Lower and Middle Pleistocene. These include a selective use of relevant data, assumptions that lack sufficient empirical support, methodological shortcomings in the treatment and interpretation of the available evidence, and reliance on inadequately controlled archaeological datasets. Given these limitations, we find little support for their claim that proboscideans represented a frequent and easily acquired prey resource during the Pleistocene.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"451 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148589072","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Uncorrelated Inequalities: A Multiproxy Measure for Household Archaeology","authors":"Scott R. Hutson","doi":"10.1007/s10816-026-09810-3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-026-09810-3","url":null,"abstract":"Inequality has received increased attention in the social sciences since the 1990s, in part because of the harm it causes and because massive inequality is avoidable. Bolstered by the Gini coefficient, a quantitative measure of unevenness in a distribution that enhances comparative studies across time and space, archaeologists have expanded the study of inequality in recent years. Many of these investigations use multiple variables to assess inequality. A challenge of such multi-proxy studies is that simply averaging Gini coefficients for multiple variables can over-represent inequality in societies where variables for inequality are not correlated. This paper provides an experimental measure—the Domain Sensitivity Gini (DSG)—and applies it to a sample of Maya archaeological case studies with extensive domestic excavations. The DSG helps disambiguate societies where wealth variables are aligned from societies where such variables are not aligned. In cases where variables do not align, different forms of wealth are not strongly correlated: a household that is poor in one domain might be wealthy in other domains. The DSG also suggests that inequality is lower than estimates based on averaged variables. This finding is valuable when set within a broader comparative context because it shows that high inequality seen today is not natural and that ancient case studies are relevant.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148587232","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Acheulean Large Cutting Tool Assemblage from Rodafnidia, Lesvos: A 3D Morpho-technological Cross-regional Comparative Analysis","authors":"Gadi Herzlinger, Nena Galanidou","doi":"10.1007/s10816-026-09804-1","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-026-09804-1","url":null,"abstract":"The Acheulean, a key Lower Palaeolithic technocomplex characterised by iconic large cutting tools (LCTs), is one of the most extensively studied phenomena in prehistoric archaeology. Yet its vast chrono-spatial distribution, together with the persistent tension between technological homogeneity and variability, has hindered the construction of robust cultural phylogenetic scenarios for its evolution and dispersal. One way to address this challenge is to develop regional- and continental-scale syntheses of industrial traits based on standardised analytical protocols. Such protocols can help overcome differences in site context, artifact recovery, chronology and publication standards that reflect diverse geographic, chronological and academic traditions. In tune with this we integrate technological and computational archaeological analyses under open science principles to conduct a comparative study of Acheulean variability and cultural phylogeny at the Eurasian crossroads of the Aegean and the southern Levant. Our point of departure is Rodafnidia, a Middle Pleistocene locality on the island of Lesvos, Greece, where excavations have revealed stratified Acheulean knapped stone tool assemblages. We present a comprehensive morpho-technological analysis of an LCT assemblage composed of handaxes and cleavers from Rodafnidia. The analysis evaluates contextual integrity and examines the relationship between technological procedures and morphological features across well-provenanced stratified artifacts and surface finds. Given the scarcity of Acheulean assemblages in the Balkan Peninsula and western Anatolia, we compare the Rodafnidia material with five handaxe assemblages from ‘Ubeidiya, Gesher Benot Ya’aqov (GBY), Ma’ayan Barukh, Holon, and Nahal Hesi, as well as with nine cleaver assemblages from GBY. Together, these reference assemblages span different chrono-cultural stages of the Levantine Acheulean. The results reveal a high degree of homogeneity within the Rodafnidia assemblage, indicating consistent technological preferences and recurrent morphological outcomes. At the same time, the morpho-technological configuration identified at Rodafnidia differs from any pattern recognised among the studied Levantine assemblages. Our research protocol underscores the value of integrated comparative morpho-technological analyses for investigating the complex evolutionary and cultural dynamics of Acheulean hominin populations. More broadly, our findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of Middle Pleistocene Acheulean variability and cultural phylogeny in this part of the Mediterranean, while demonstrating a scalable approach that can be applied across the Acheulean world.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"149 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148409025","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Thermal Alterations of Knapped Stone Tools on a Micro-scale: A Use-Wear and Experimental Archaeology Approach","authors":"Anđa Petrović, Daniele Moscone, Cristina Lemorini","doi":"10.1007/s10816-026-09800-5","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10816-026-09800-5","url":null,"abstract":"The rationale for this research arose from use-wear observations conducted on knapped stone artifacts recovered from domestic contexts at Late Mesolithic and Early Neolithic sites in the Iron Gates (Serbia) region of southeastern Europe. Several artifacts from Building 32 at Lepenski Vir exhibited signs of thermal alteration, including color change, cracking, pitting, surface porosity, and a glossy appearance—features commonly associated with exposure to fire. Given the presence of artifacts displaying varying degrees of heat damage, an experimental approach was deemed necessary to systematically identify and characterize the effects of thermal treatment. The present study, relying on interdisciplinarity, pursues two interrelated objectives: first, to document the sequential stages and diagnostic expressions of heat-induced alteration on experimentally produced flint and quartz implements; and second, to assess how thermal exposure affects the formation, preservation, and visibility of micro-use-wear traces on both experimental and archaeological specimens. The study offers new insights into the differential responses of raw materials to thermal stress, showing that distinct heating conditions, including a laboratory furnace and a full-scale replica of a prehistoric oven, result in variable preservation and modification of use-related traces. By integrating experimental archaeology, heat treatment, and high-resolution functional analysis, this study develops a comparative methodological framework for the identification and interpretation of thermally induced alterations on knapped stone artifacts, contributing a reproducible reference standard for methodological and taphonomic research in use-wear analysis.","PeriodicalId":47725,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory","volume":"70 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-06-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148286282","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}