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1. Transformative Impacts of Sea-Level Rise, Storm Surge, and Wetland Migration on Intertidal Native Shell-Bearing Sites in Florida’s Largest Open-Water Estuary, Tampa Bay, Florida, USA

   https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-024-01329-8  

   Rogers, Jaime A. ; Jackson, Kendal ( February 2024 , Estuaries and Coasts)

   Although shell middens and mounds often occupy the same intertidal spaces as coastal wetlands, biophysical interactions between these cultural features and wetlands are under-investigated. To this end, our geoarchaeological and zooarchaeological research at three coastal archaeological sites within the Tampa Bay Estuary, USA, sought to understand the interactions between shell-bearing sites, sea-level rise, storms, and migrating wetland habitats. Percussion core transects document the accretion of mangrove peat atop intact shell midden, illustrating the ability of mangrove forests to encroach shell midden and preserve cultural material below. Landward wetland deposits are thicker and muddier than those along the seaward margin of the sites, suggesting that shell-bearing sites attenuate wave energy much like other shoreline stabilization structures. Differences in sedimentology, stratigraphy, and invertebrate species compositions highlight the variability in storm impacts between sites. Storm-driven depositional events are identified by medium-to-fine sand beds with high densities of fragmented shell and small intertidal zone snails. Geospatial analyses indicate that wetland encroachment is already occurring at 247 archaeological sites within the Tampa Bay Estuary. Approximately 100 additional archaeological sites currently located in upland habitats may provide topographic relief for migrating coastal wetlands in the future. We contend that shell middens and mounds constructed by Indigenous peoples are important components within estuarine mosaics, as they have been for millennia. We advocate for further collaboration between archaeologists and estuary managers and the inclusion of descendant communities to co-manage the future of their past. 

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2. Erosion of coastal archaeological sites on Santa Rosa Island, California

   Christopher S. Jazwa Kerri N. Johnson ( October 2018 , Western North American naturalist)

   The damage and loss of coastal archaeological sites from shoreline transgression and other near-coastal processes is common around the world. It negatively impacts our ability to address important research questions including those about the colonization of the New World, which likely occurred along the Pacific Coast. Differences in geomorphic context, annual weather patterns, topography, vegetation, bedrock, and land-use history lead to distinct localized patterns of erosion even within small geographic regions. We assessed near-coastal erosion on Santa Rosa Island, California, by monitoring annual change at 16 controlled points on 11 archaeological sites from 2013 to 2017 and by comparing it to the local geomorphic context and annual weather patterns. Overall, erosion through this period was greatest on the northwest coast of the island, which is directly in the path of prevailing winds and most winter storms, and least on the more protected west and south coasts. The 2016–2017 winter was the rainiest and had the most annual erosion in general; however, erosion at sites along gulley walls was lowest that year. By monitoring annual erosion and weather and associating them with variations in erosional processes, we can better understand threats to valuable cultural resources and take appropriate steps for mitigating their losses and the loss of archaeological data. 

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3. Sourcing Obsidian from Late Neolithic Sites on the Great Hungarian Plain: Preliminary p-XRF Compositional Results and the Socio-Cultural Implications

   https://doi.org/10.24916/iansa.2019.2.1  

   Riebe, Danielle J. ( November 2019 , Interdisciplinaria Archaeologica)

   Significant archaeological research has been conducted on chipped stone tools recovered from prehistoric sites throughout Eastern Europe and the Balkans. The limited number of obsidian geological sources throughout the region, combined with the relatively homogeneous nature of obsidian and the increased use of new techniques for conducting compositional analysis in the field, has facilitated in accurately sourcing obsidian artifacts from sites in the region. This article presents the compositional results of 203 obsidian artifacts recovered from seven Late Neolithic (5,000 – 4,500 BCE) sites from the Great Hungarian Plain. Compositional results of the archaeological specimens obtained with a Bruker portable X-ray fluorescence device (p-XRF) were compared with obsidian geological compositional data to determine artifact provenience. By sourcing the obsidian chipped stone tools, it is possible to reconstruct prehistoric patterns of exploitation/exchange and to note how these patterns vary throughout the Plain. The results illustrate that a majority of the studied artifacts originated from the Carpathian 1 source, however, a limited number of samples came from the Carpathian 2E and Carpathian 2T sources. Based on this preliminary study, the variation in geological source exploitation may be linked to socio-cultural practices that differentiated the Tisza and Herpály archaeological units during the Late Neolithic. 

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4. High‐resolution airborne Light Detection and Ranging data, ethics and archaeology: Considerations from the northeastern United States

   https://doi.org/10.1002/arp.1836  

   Johnson, Katharine M. ; Ives, Timothy H. ; Ouimet, William B. ; Sportman, Sarah P. ( July 2021 , Archaeological Prospection)

   Publicly available Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) datasets have become widely accessible in the northeastern United States and beyond in the past 10 years. The increase in dataset availability and accessibility coupled with a number of publications detailing the types of cultural features that can be identified has made it necessary to explore and discuss positive impacts and risks to cultural features on this landscape. Access to detailed, documented locations of archaeological resources at state or federal agencies in the United States is typically limited to those with certain credentials, yet many locations of features and sites, both documented and undocumented, are now available to anyone who can access these datasets and effectively interpret them. This presents a challenge for cultural resource management professionals and the field of archaeology; for while LiDAR datasets have had many positive impacts, it is not yet obvious what the unintended impacts of feature exposure might be. Risks to sites are worth considering in the northeastern United States, where (1) region‐wide LiDAR data are publicly available and accessible, (2) many cultural features are widely accessible and not well monitored and (3) case studies have been published that provide guidance on how to identify specific types of cultural landscape features using LiDAR data. We discuss the nuances of those topics here, provide examples of how the datasets have impacted archaeology in the northeastern United States and explore possible mitigation strategies to maintain data accessibility while also protecting important cultural features in this region.

    

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5. Preceramic Cultural History in Southern Belize and its Environmental Context.

   Prufer, Keith M ( August 2018 , Research reports in Belizean archaeology)

   This paper presents the environmental context for Early Holocene cultural developments in southern Belize and describes three archaeological sites that are producing evidence of human activities starting at the end of the last ice age and continuing until the advent of agriculture. It is well known that humans colonized Central America by at least 10,500 BC, and likely earlier (Chatters et al. 2014; Kennett et al. 2017). Central America formed a bottleneck for humans migrating from North to South America, and given its diverse geology, climate, and tropical resources it is not surprising that people successfully exploited this region throughout the Holocene. We focus this discussion primarily on the context for early humans in southern Belize, but also draw broadly on well-documented archaeological accounts from elsewhere in the region. 

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