Journal of Archaeological Science最新文献

{"title":"Palynology, landscape and land use: retrospect, prospect and research agendas","authors":"Ralph M. Fyfe ,&nbsp;Kevin J. Edwards ,&nbsp;Laura Scoble","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106233","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106233","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper provides a context for the use of anthropogenic palynology in the study of landscape and land use. Retrospective considerations indicate a history to current trends and inform future developments. Recent and prospective studies secure palynology as an essential element in archaeological and related environmental research. It is stressed that palynology is an inherently spatio-temporal discipline that can use concepts such as landscape or habitat heterogeneity as a future framework. This may be possible if recent advances in quantification of local vegetation cover, for example the use of model-based correction approaches within the Landscape Reconstruction Algorithm, are more widely applied. This may necessitate a change in how palynologists approach landscape sampling in order to produce sufficient clusters of sites. Land use is a key focus for the archaeologist, and existing interpretive frameworks remain well-suited to addressing questions of land use, land-use change and land-use intensity. Nevertheless, there is the prospect of improved taxonomic resolution on the horizon through the use of artificial intelligence, DNA and chemical approaches to taxonomic recognition. Equally, integrating pollen datasets into model testing and simulation may become more central to our methodologies. Such innovation will necessitate collaborative working with other disciplines and will ensure that anthropogenic palynology continues to make significant contributions to major research challenges.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106233"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143844700","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Art in red: New dates for paintings in the Cave of Altamira, Santillana del Mar, Spain","authors":"Qingfeng Shao ,&nbsp;Carmen de las Heras ,&nbsp;Alfredo Prada ,&nbsp;Pilar Fatás ,&nbsp;Lucía M. Díaz-González ,&nbsp;Deborah Ordás ,&nbsp;M. Elena Sánchez-Moral ,&nbsp;Rainer Grün ,&nbsp;Sara Garcês ,&nbsp;Hugo Gomes ,&nbsp;Virginia Lattao ,&nbsp;George H. Nash ,&nbsp;Alba Bossoms Mesa ,&nbsp;Pierluigi Rosina ,&nbsp;José Julio García Arranz ,&nbsp;Diego Fernández-Sánchez ,&nbsp;Hugo A. Mira ,&nbsp;Genevieve von Petzinger ,&nbsp;Hipólito Collado Giraldo","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106235","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106235","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;div&gt;&lt;h3&gt;Abstract&lt;/h3&gt;&lt;div&gt;La cueva de Altamira es un enclave declarado Patrimonio Mundial por UNESCO, famoso por sus pinturas y grabados prehistóricos. Aunque el arte rupestre de la cueva de Altamira fue descubierto hace más de 140 años, su evolución cronológica aún no está plenamente definida (Heras, Montes y Lasheras, 2013). Las anteriores dataciones por radiocarbono del pigmento negro de alguna de sus pinturas, sugerían una edad magdaleniense para ellas, mientras que las dataciones por series de uranio de costras carbonatadas indicaban que algunas de las figuras pintadas en rojo pueden atribuirse al periodo Auriñaciense (PIKE et al., 2012; García et al., 2013). Dentro del marco del proyecto internacional FIRST ART, se recogieron nuevas muestras de costras carbonatadas superpuestas a elementos gráficos representados en varios puntos de la cueva de Altamira para su datación mediante el método de series de uranio.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;El objetivo principal de este nuevo estudio fue verificar la validez de las anteriores dataciones obtenidas por series de uranio y obtener nuevos datos que proporcionen información que contribuya a clarificar la secuencia diacrónica del conocido \"Techo de los Policromos\". Tres muestras sedimentarias, analizadas para evaluar la relación de actividad detrítica 230Th/232Th, proporcionaron un valor medio de 0,862 ± 0,127, que se utilizó como valor específico del sitio para las correcciones de las edades proporcionadas por las nuevas muestras datadas por series de uranio. La muestra ALT22-SP1B arrojó una edad mínima de 32.790 ± 4830 años para los signos claviformes, y las muestras ALT20-SP03 y ALT20-SP04 proporcionaron edades mínimas de 22.600 ± 70 años y 32.020 ± 170 años para los caballos pintados en rojo. En general, los nuevos resultados confirman las edades por series de uranio previamente publicadas para el Techo de los Policromos, y sugieren la coexistencia de pinturas rupestres figurativas y simbólicas en la Península Ibérica desde las primeras etapas del Paleolítico superior.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;The Cave of Altamira is a designated World Heritage Site, famous for its prehistoric paintings and engravings. Although the rock art of Cave of Altamira was discovered more than 140 years ago, its chronology has remained unclear (Heras, Montes y Lasheras, 2013). Previous radiocarbon dating of charcoal, which was used as black pigment for the paintings, suggested a Magdalenian age, while U-series dating of overlying carbonate crusts indicated that some of the red-painted figures can be attributed to the Aurignacian period (Pike et al., 2012; García et al., 2013). Within the international project FIRST ART framework, new samples were collected from carbonate crusts superimposed on graphic elements represented at various points of the Cave of Altamira for dating, using Uranium-Thorium (the U-series) dating method.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;The main objective of this new study was to verify the previous U-series ages estimates and to obtain new data that would","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106235"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143844696","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"15 ka old evidence of pressure flaking in the Congo basin, Democratic Republic of Congo","authors":"Isis Mesfin ,&nbsp;Peter R. Coutros ,&nbsp;Igor Matonda ,&nbsp;Jérémie Vosges ,&nbsp;Pierre-Jean Texier ,&nbsp;Maria-Helena Benjamim ,&nbsp;Koen Bostoen","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106219","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106219","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We analyze two technically sophisticated stone points dated between 15,580 and 14,319 cal. BP discovered at the open-air site of Mitshakila, Democratic Republic of Congo, combining diacritic analysis, experimentation, and traditional morphometrics. Diacritical analysis is applied following techno-functional (also called \"morpho-structural\") and productional approaches. An experimental corpus consisting of pieces produced by both a knapper from northeastern Angola in the 1950s and two lithic specialists aims at improving the identification of techniques. Finally, traditional morphometrics is used to compare Mitshakila points with several shaped points from the Late Pleistocene of sub-Saharan Africa including Tshitolian, Lupemban or Still Bay points among others.</div><div>At Mitshakila, we report an early occurrence of the well-mastered use of pressure technique, “scarf-shaped” retouch (also called “ripple-flake” retouch or in French “<em>retouche en écharpe</em>”) and proximo-lateral short shoulders. Its presence at Mitshakila marks an important technical shift during the Final Pleistocene in the Congo Basin.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106219"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143844776","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Seeds of controversy: Ecology, depositional context, and radiocarbon dating of Ruppia cirrhosa at the White Sands trackway","authors":"Dave Rachal ,&nbsp;Robert Dello-Russo","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106232","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106232","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Context and chronology are fundamental in archaeological studies, and without rigorous standards in both fieldwork and analysis, researchers risk drawing faulty conclusions. The role of submerged aquatic plants in radiocarbon dating is a case in point. For example, research at White Sands National Park, New Mexico, has dated fossil human and megafauna trackways using <em>Ruppia cirrhosa</em> (<em>Ruppia</em>) seeds. Some studies, such as Pigati et al. (2024), argue that there are no site formation issues with the <em>Ruppia</em> seed layers used to date the ancient footprints at White Sands Locality-2 (WHSA-2) and that the hard water effect has not impacted their radiocarbon dating. These assertions have significant implications for understanding broader issues like the peopling of the Americas. However, we disagree with these claims, emphasizing the importance of understanding the physical context of the <em>Ruppia</em> seed layers at WHSA-2—whether the plants grew in situ or were transported—and the ecological requirements of <em>Ruppia</em>. These issues remain unresolved. Additionally, the potential impacts of physical mixing and the hard water effect on radiocarbon dates have been largely overlooked. In this paper, we examine both the ecology and depositional context of <em>Ruppia</em> and discuss why the <em>Ruppia</em> seeds at Paleolake Otero still present challenges for radiocarbon dating.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106232"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143839341","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"On the Mousterian origin of bone-tipped hunting weapons in Europe: Evidence from Mezmaiskaya Cave, North Caucasus","authors":"Liubov V. Golovanova ,&nbsp;Vladimir B. Doronichev ,&nbsp;Ekaterina V. Doronicheva ,&nbsp;Galina N. Poplevko ,&nbsp;Naomi E. Cleghorn ,&nbsp;Alexander M. Kulkov ,&nbsp;Nikolai N. Potrakhov ,&nbsp;Viktor B. Bessonov ,&nbsp;Nikolai E. Staroverov","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106223","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106223","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper presents a detailed analysis of a unique pointy bone artefact produced by Neanderthals, which was found in 2003 in a Middle Paleolithic layer dated c. 80–70 ka at Mezmaiskaya Cave in the Caucasus. The definition and interpretation of anthropic traces related to technological modifications and functional use of the bone tool were analyzed using stereoscopic and metallographic microscopes, high-resolution digital microscopy, and microfocus computed tomography. Research of a bitumen residue preserved on the specimen was done using Fourier-transform infrared microscopy and spectroscopy, and crystal-optical microscopy. Based on the totality of analytical and comparative data we interpret the artefact as the tip of a hunting weapon that was likely mounted on a shaft made from wood. Several lines of evidence suggest its short use as a bone-tipped hunting projectile. The results suggest an independent invention of bone-tipped hunting weapons by Neanderthals in Europe long before the arrival of Upper Paleolithic modern humans to the continent, and also show that the production technology of bone-tipped hunting weapons used by Neanderthals was in the nascent level in comparison to those used and introduced to Eurasia by modern humans.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106223"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143826306","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Thermal constraints on Middle Pleistocene hominin brain evolution and cognition","authors":"R.I.M. Dunbar","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106226","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106226","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>High latitude habitats are subject to thermally-driven energetic constraints that make their occupation challenging. This is likely to have had a particularly significant impact on energy-expensive tissue like the brain, especially during periods of lower global temperatures during the Mid-Pleistocene Ice Ages. I analyse data on endocranial volumes for archaic humans (<em>Homo heidelbergensis</em>, <em>H. neanderthalensis</em> and allies) to show (1) that cranial volumes were typically smaller at high latitudes than in the tropics and (2) that they declined during cold phases and increased during warm phases of the Middle Pleistocene Ice Ages. Within this broad pattern, there is a significant uplift in cranial volumes after 400 ka that seems to coincide with widespread presence of hearths at high latitudes, suggesting that hominin populations might have gained at least partial release from this constraint through cultural control over fire. While this might pinpoint the time at which hominins first began to cook on a regular basis, fire offers other important benefits (notably warmth and extending the length of the working day) that might have played an equally important role in buffering populations against thermal stresses. The larger brain sizes that this made possible have implications for social cognitive capacities like mentalising, that in turn have implications for language skills, cultural behaviour and social group size.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106226"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143828244","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"How can we improve statistical training in archaeological science?","authors":"Petra Vaiglova","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106220","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106220","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The aim of this paper is to shine light on fundamental statistical concepts that archaeologists do not talk about enough. I argue that more deliberate discussion of these statistical ‘elephants in the room’ can have a positive impact on improving statistical training and on steering us away from perpetuation of poor research practices.</div><div><em>1) Statistical thinking should come first</em>. This will help us break down some of the stigma around numbers and statistics, and set us up for building analytical frameworks that will provide the most informative answers to our research questions.</div><div><em>2) Descriptive and inferential statistics have different interpretative potential.</em> This will clarify how we can move from using tools that only allow us to talk about our studied samples to using tools that enable us to draw inferences about the underlying populations from which the samples derived.</div><div>3) <em>p values can be extremely variable</em>. This will help spread awareness about the misuses and misconceptions of Null Hypothesis Significance Testing (NHST) and demonstrate the dangers of using significance thresholds to interpret data.</div><div><em>4) Statistical precision is not the same as measurement precision</em>. This will bring attention to the many different types of uncertainties that are built into archaeological datasets (e.g., statistical precision, instrument measurement error, natural variation),.Recognising this is key for drawing reliable inferences from our data.</div><div><em>5) Meta-analyses and forest plots can be useful for synthesising previous research</em>. This will help spread awareness about the benefit of meta-analyses for creating evidence-driven summaries of previous findings.</div><div>The discussion draws on examples from isotope archaeology, bioarchaeology, and organic residue analysis to illustrate how switching from a reliance on significance testing to a reliance on effect sizes can improve methodological rigour and the representativeness of our findings. The paper ends with a discussion of the roles and responsibilities of supervisors for creating an effective learning environment for statistical training. This includes, but is not limited to, acknowledging the problems of NHST and advocating for adherence to Open Science principles. Ultimately, the changes suggested in this paper will help us raise discipline-wide standards for quantitative training and improve both the breadth and the depth of archaeological research.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"179 ","pages":"Article 106220"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143826305","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Millet dominance and rice resilience at the Shang's eastern frontier: Climate, cultural interaction, and agricultural adaptation (1300–1046 BCE)","authors":"Huiyu Xu ,&nbsp;Qiye Peng ,&nbsp;Wenjie Wang ,&nbsp;Yuyao Wu ,&nbsp;Zhaoyang Zhang ,&nbsp;Yingying Wu ,&nbsp;Youpeng Qin ,&nbsp;Zimeng Wang ,&nbsp;Can Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106225","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106225","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Haidai region, renowned for its Neolithic cultural fluorescence (Dawenkou-Longshan traditions), underwent sociopolitical reorganization during the Yueshi period (ca. 1900–1500 BCE). Late Shang (1300–1046 BCE) expansion into Northern Shandong, driven by the Shang polity's control over Laizhou Bay salt resources, catalyzed regional revitalization, yet the agricultural foundations of this transformation remain poorly defined. Through AMS ¹⁴C dating, systematic analysis of carbonized plant remains from the Chengxixincun site, and synthesis of regional archaeobotanical datasets, we reconstruct Late Shang agricultural practices in Northern Shandong. Results of the site reveal a foxtail millet (<em>Setaria italica</em>)-dominated dryland system (93.24 % by count; 92.78 % ubiquity), supplemented by broomcorn millet (<em>Panicum miliaceum</em>, 6.12 %), with wheat (<em>Triticum aestivum</em>), soybean (<em>Glycine max</em>), and rice (<em>Oryza sativa</em>) as marginal crops. Weed and fruit remains attest to complementary wild resource exploitation. Comparative analysis demonstrates that Northern Shandong transitioned from Longshan-era rice-millet systems to intensified millet agriculture during Yueshi-period aridification (impact of the 4.2 ka BP event), later amplifying foxtail millet's dominance under Late Shang climatic amelioration and Central Plains agrotechnical diffusion. Crucially, rice cultivation—though never recovering Longshan-era prominence—persisted regionally (1.40 %), contrasting sharply with its near absence in contemporaneous Central Plains sites (0.03 %). This trajectory underscores the resilience of regional agricultural traditions amid climatic fluctuations and their negotiated adaptation to Shang cultural expansion, as ecological constraints and imperial resource demands shaped divergent agricultural pathways. By bridging archaeobotanical data with climatic and cultural proxies, this study establishes the first empirical model of agricultural adaptation in Shang frontier zones, redefining understandings of subsistence resilience and resource politics in early territorial states.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106225"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143817455","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The emergence, development, and impact of prehistoric agriculture on the Tibetan plateau","authors":"Jishuai Yang ,&nbsp;Yu Gao ,&nbsp;Xiaoyan Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106216","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106216","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Tibetan Plateau, the highest region in the world, presents significant challenges for human survival due to its extreme environment characterized by hypoxia, low temperatures, intense radiation, and limited food resources. The formation and development of agriculture (including crop cultivation and livestock husbandry) on the Tibetan Plateau reflect human adaptation to high-altitude environments. In the past decade, in addition to traditional archaeobotany and zooarchaeology based on morphological studies, analyses of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope, lipid, ancient DNA, and ancient sedimentary DNA have been employed to investigate the history of agricultural development on the Tibetan Plateau, resulting in a series of new findings. Based on comprehensive analyses of flora and fauna remains, along with a database of archaeological radiocarbon dates, we summarize the evolution and impacts of prehistoric agriculture on the Tibetan Plateau as follows. (1) The development of agriculture can be divided into three phases: millet agriculture, mixed millet-barley-wheat agriculture, and barley-wheat agriculture. (2) Crops from the East and the West spread via the “Plateau Road.” (3) The sequential emergence of millet and barley-wheat agriculture triggered two significant waves of human exploitation of the high-elevation regions. This is evidenced by the onset of sedentism in the lower-elevation river valleys (1500–3000 masl) initiated by intensive millet agriculture, followed by the expansion of settlements into higher altitudes (&gt;3000 masl) facilitated by barley-wheat agriculture. Future research directions may focus on several key areas: the adaptation processes of introduced domesticates (including crops and livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, and horses) to high-altitude environments, the local domestication of yak and Chenopodium, and the impacts of introduced crops and domestic animals on both human societies and alpine ecosystems. These investigations could be advanced through increased archaeological work and the application of cutting-edge methods, particularly ancient DNA and ancient sedimentary DNA analyses.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106216"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143785299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modeling maize-based carrying capacities and population pressure in prehispanic central Panama","authors":"C. Adam Berrey","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106208","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106208","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Few realms of archaeological research are as fraught with potential error as the study of prehistoric population pressure. Much of this error stems from the challenges involved in making prehistoric population and carrying capacity estimates, both of which are conceptually complex and entail numerous assumptions and relatively wide error ranges. But overcoming these challenges is well worth the effort, as it allows archaeologists to push beyond traditional lines of inquiry into the diverse range of ways that population pressure can impact human societal development. Leaving aside for the moment the many important issues involved in making prehistoric population estimates (issues that have been addressed elsewhere in the archaeological literature), this paper builds on the conceptual advancements that have been made in the anthropological literature on estimating carrying capacities and puts them to use in the analytical realm. A model is developed for estimating maize-based carrying capacities in prehispanic central Panama, which is then used to assess population pressure among early complex societies. This assessment reveals patterns that run counter to traditional models of population pressure and complex society development and urge further analytical exploration. The model developed here for estimating maize productivity can be adapted and applied to other regions, especially those where data on prehistoric maize productivity (such as prehistoric cob lengths) is limited or non-existent.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106208"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143783543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}