Automated analysis of pottery by QEM-EDS: A case study from Mansiri, Sulawesi

The analysis of raw materials and manufacturing techniques is central to the investigation of pottery assemblages. While various analytical techniques exists, petrography generally remains the go-to method to analyse the fabric of pottery. It combines relatively cheap and simple sample preparation protocol with the ability to yield very detailed information related to provenance and manufacturing technique. Here, we test the utility of performing QEM-EDS on archaeological pottery from the Mansiri site, Sulawesi, to complement petrographic observations. We identify the main non-plastic inclusions as plagioclase, quartz, calcic amphibole, iron oxides and volcanic rock fragments, consistent with the pottery being made locally. Quantitative analysis of inclusion size and direction suggests that the non-plastic inclusions were not manually added, and that in contrast to other Neolithic Sulawesi sites, coiling with beating/paddle and anvil was used to manufacture the pots

Settlement at the Micro-scale: Microstratigraphy and micromorphology of transitional Neolithic settlement sites in Vietnam (5000 cal BP to 2500 cal BP)

On present evidence, the transition from mobile hunter-gatherer societies to Neolithic sedentary agricultural communities occurred approximately 5000 to 3000 years ago in Mainland Southeast Asia (MSEA). Archaeological evidence of this transition principally derives from the excavation of burial contexts. In contrast, settlement contexts are not well researched and are the 'missing factor' (Higham 2017: 369) in MSEA prehistory. The unbalanced nature of archaeological enquiry has important repercussions for hermeneutic traditions in the region. Cemeteries and settlements form through different depositional practices and across different temporalities, and thus encapsulate different aspects of prehistoric lifeways. Research in this thesis applies microstratigraphic investigations of site formation processes to understand the settlement experience and social context of communities during the MSEA Neolithic. A conceptual life history approach to archaeological settlement is integrated with a methodological approach combining geoarchaeology and microarchaeology to reconstruct temporal rhythms of dwelling at three occupation sites spanning the Neolithic transition in Vietnam. The sites investigated are: Thach Lac, a mid-to-late Holocene (c. 5100-4150 cal BP) coastal shell midden; Loc Giang, a mounded Neolithic (c. 3950-3250 cal BP) settlement; and, Lo Gach, a Neolithic (c. 3200-3000 cal BP) and Bronze Age (c. 2800-2500 cal BP) settlement. The principle analytical technique used is archaeological micromorphology, the study of thin sections of archaeological sediments. Supplementary analyses provide compositional information to assist in the interpretation of archaeological deposits; they include Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), Automated Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (QEM-EDS), X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), phytolith concentrations, pH and particle size analysis. For each site, the multiproxy data are used to reconstruct a microstratigraphic sequence of site formation that provides rich insight into the materiality and temporality of social life within each settlement. Thach Lac was occupied by three distinct cultural groups, each with different settlement dynamics, across a millennium of significant environment and cultural changes. At Loc Giang, the construction of lime mortar surfaces and pile dwellings and the development of waste management strategies reflect continuity in social practices over time. At Lo Gach, intensified plant processing activities and structured waste disposal practices were performed recurrently across the life of the settlement. Material depositional patterns at the micro-scale can be linked to the organisation of social and economic activities within settlements, which in turn can be linked to macro-scale 'transitions' of sedentism and agriculture that are often associated with the MSEA Neolithic. Each site tells a unique narrative of occupation, involving specific social practices and use of space. The differing temporal patterns of the material world of the mid-to-late Holocene in MSEA suggest a rich, multivalent past that defies simplistic notions of a single, homogenous Neolithic. Site formation is demonstrated to be a robust tool for understanding the material world of archaeology, as well as a critical lens to interrogate the ways in which pasts are made meaningful. This research offers a fresh, contextual perspective on the lived experience of the Neolithic and negotiates uncharted space between a 'Neolithic of the living' and a 'Neolithic of the dead'

Sediments or soils? Multi-scale geoarchaeological investigations of stratigraphy and early cultivation practices at Kuk Swamp, highlands of Papua New Guinea

Kuk Swamp is a globally significant archaeological site of early agriculture in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Mixed-method and multi-scalar investigations of the stratigraphy and selected feature fills at Kuk were instrumental in determining the character of plant exploitation and agricultural practices there during the early and mid Holocene. In this paper, macro-scale (field recording), meso-scale (X-radiography) and micro-scale (thin section micromorphology) analyses are presented in summary form for a stratigraphic column, as well as for a palaeochannel and palaeosurfaces associated with plant exploitation at c.10,000 cal BP and cultivation at 7000-6400 cal BP. Major and minor stratigraphic units have been characterised, primary and secondary formation processes differentiated, and the anthropic associations of specific stratigraphic units determined, especially in regards to cultivation. The Kuk research highlights several methodological problems with the investigation of early cultivation on allophane-rich soils in tropical environments

Early settlement and subsistence on Tongatapu, Kingdom of Tonga: insights from a 2700-2650 cal BP midden deposit

The first significant Neolithic migration of people into the Pacific was the dispersal of Lapita culture at 3200–2850 cal BP that involved the colonization of previously uninhabited and large island groups. Population expansion was accompanied by the introduction of domesticated plants and animals, but the location and content of Lapita deposits frequently suggests that early subsistence focused on the collection of wild resources. The tension between models that advocate Neolithic migration as sustained by agricultural yields and archaeological data that disclose rapid dispersal and a reliance on indigenous resources is particularly acute in the Kingdom of Tonga. Lapita settlements located on the palaeoshoreline of Tongatapu are associated with extensive shell midden deposits suggesting the establishment of permanent settlements that were located in proximity to marine resources before human predation or a declining sea-level fall led to resource collapse and site abandonment. Analysis of a shell midden sample associated with ancient burials from Talasiu on Tongatapu suggests a small sedentary occupation that lasted a fewgenerations ~2700–2650 cal BP. Site abandonment does not appear to have been caused by a decline in marine yields and identified starch from eight food plants is the first direct evidence for a broad-spectrum mixed economy. While human predation of marine resources was substantial, sea-level fall is likely to have led to the closure of the Fanga 'Uta Lagoon at ~2500 cal BP resulting in the loss of benthic habitats and the reduction of economically important marine taxa that sustained and structured early sedentism

QEMSCAN® analysis of clay-rich stratigraphy associated with early agricultural contexts at Kuk Swamp, Papua New Guinea

Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by Scanning Electron Microscope (QEMSCAN®) provides a diagnostic analytical tool to investigate clay-rich stratigraphy in early agricultural contexts at Kuk Swamp, Papua New Guinea. Previous in situ microstratigraphic analyses at Kuk, comprising thin section description and X-radiography, have been unable to differentiate and characterise clay mineralogy in the archaeological stratigraphy. Although prior X-ray diffraction provided compositional information on clay mineralogy for bulk samples, QEMSCAN® elemental and mineral analyses enable in situ identification and mapping of clay mineral occurrences and relationships. The results of the QEMSCAN® analyses permit reconstruction of the origin and post-depositional transformation of geogenic and biogenic sediments in clay-rich feature fills associated with former plant exploitation and cultivation. QEMSCAN® mineral analyses identify a positive association between smectite-rich contexts and biogenic silica (diatoms and phytoliths) and a negative association between kaolinite-rich contexts and biogenic silica. QEMSCAN® elemental analyses provide valuable information on neoformed minerals, which can be difficult to characterise optically within stratigraphy. These results show the value of QEMSCAN®, especially in combination with thin section micromorphology, to understand the origin and post-depositional formation of clay minerals at archaeological sites in the wet tropics, as well as in other environmental contexts.The research was undertaken by the GRG Collective and funded by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship to Denham (FT150100420

Royal funerals, ritual stones and participatory networks in the maritime Tongan state

Archaic states were unstable entities and centralisation was threatened by fragmentation particularly at the death of semi-divine leaders. Royal funerals were therefore important state events as they engaged a significant proportion of the population in participatory behaviours and networks that linked individuals of different class and group affiliations to the politico-religious system. In the ancient Tongan state (CE 1250–1800), royal funerals involved the placement of exotic volcanic stones (kilikili) on the grave to mark the end of public mourning – a practice still followed by the Tongan royal family. To investigate the antiquity of the patterned ritual practice and the funerary contribution of specialists and non-specialists, we examined the composition of kilikili stones from chiefly tombs of known age. Analysis shows that voyages of 150 km were made to collect funerary stones from volcanic islands in Central Tonga for ~700 years. The development of royal tombs shows an increase in practical and ritual funerary activity that was likely overseen by a royal undertaker clan and participatory networks that spanned and integrated the scattered population of the Tongan maritime state

The archaeology of Maliwawa: 25,000 years of occupation in the Wellington Range, Arnhem Land

The archaeology of Bald Rock 1, Bald Rock 2 and Bald Rock 3 at the sandstone outcrop of Maliwawa has established ∼25,000 years of Indigenous occupation in the Wellington Range, northwestern Arnhem Land. Flaked stone artefacts were found from the beginning of the sequence, with ground-edge axes, pounding and grinding technology and ochre recovered from deposits dating from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the recent contact period. Maliwawa was occupied during the LGM and other major regional environmental changes arising from post-glacial sea level rise and stabilisation along with the climatic variability of the Indonesian Australian Summer Monsoon (IASM) and El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), supporting models that define Arnhem Land as a refugium. Lithic assemblages are represented by a quartz and quartzite flake abundance technological strategy, with an unusual lack of stone points observed, although other typical Arnhem Land Holocene retouched lithics are present. Raw material diversity in the late Holocene, alongside a variety of emergent pan-Arnhem Land rock art styles in the Wellington Range, supports the proposition of increasing exchange between Indigenous groups. These changes in the archaeological record signal the expansion of cultural systems throughout western Arnhem Land, documented historically and archaeologically, at the time of culture contact.Fieldwork and analysis was funded by the Australian Research Council Linkage Project program [LP0882985] with contributions from the Linkage Partners Bushfires Council NT and the Department of Sustainability, Environment Heritage and Water. Daryl Wesley was sup- ported by Australian Research Council fellowship DE170101447‘People, Animals and Ochre’

Site formation processes of outdoor spaces in tropical environments: a micro-geoarchaeological case study from backyard Lo Gach, southern Vietnam

In the tropics, outdoor areas are important arenas of social life and the scene of economic and daily activities. Yet, outdoor areas are not often detected due to destructive post-depositional processes and low archaeological visibility. Here, we use microarchaeology to establish the settlement history and outdoor use of space at Lo Gach in Long An Province, southern Vietnam. The radiocarbon chronology identifies two phases of occupation: an initial presence at 3300–3000 cal. BP and later activity at 2750–2400 cal. BP. Microarchaeological analysis of the stratigraphy reveals complex sequences of organic waste severely transformed by chemical diagenesis. The results indicate that the excavated area at Lo Gach was an outdoor ‘backyard’ containing external surfaces utilised for a range of activities including rice processing, disposal of combustion residues, in situ burning, and recurrent foot traffic. Intensified rice agriculture and the systematic management of organic waste were the main structuring rhythms of social life that were performed at the Lo Gach settlement

Visualising scales of process: Multi-scalar geoarchaeological investigations of microstratigraphy and diagenesis at hominin bearing sites in South African karst

Multi-scalar geoarchaeological investigations were conducted on several samples of sediment (dolomite cave sediments, ferricrete ridge, speleothem, tufa and tufa cave sediments) from four early hominin fossil-bearing sites (Taung Type Site, Haasgat, Drimolen Main Quarry, Elandsfontein) in different South African karst environments. The study was designed to test the value of geoarchaeological techniques for identifying and characterising environments of deposition and diagenetic processes involved in site formation within different mediums and different karst environments. The traditional petrographic method is weighed against two relatively new methodological contributions to site formation and diagenesis: Computed Tomography (CT) and automated Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (QEM-EDS), employing QEMSCAN® technology. An integrated micro-sampling approach is outlined for successful cross-correlation between techniques. The study demonstrates that different analyses vary in their ability to visualise different types of process – primary and secondary. Thin section petrography remains the ‘gold standard’ for analyses conducted at the micro-scale, while QEM-EDS and CT offer exciting potential to perform meso-scale analyses and are best utilised as complementary rather than alternative techniques to petrograph

Ru Diep and the Quynh Van culture of central Vietnam

Excavations in 2015 at the site of Ru Diep in north-central Vietnam (Ha Tinh Province) raise significant questions about the transition into the Neolithic in this region, more than 5000 years ago. The material culture from the site reveals a mixture of both pre-Neolithic (Quynh Van culture) and Neolithic elements, in a shell mound context. The C14 dates for the site suggest that the surviving layers were deposited between outer limits of 3200 and 2900 cal. BC, but Bayesian analysis indicates a likely accumulation in less than 50 years. This date is almost one millennium older than expected for Neolithic-related materials in north-central Vietnam.The research of Peter Bellwood and Philip Piper was funded by ARC Discovery Project Grant No. 140100384