An Archaeological Assessment of Pre-Columbian Fauna in the Roanoke River Basin

Research Report No. 21, Research Laboratories of Archaeology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Reports in this series discuss the findings of archaeological excavations and research projects undertaken by the RLA between 1984 and present

Thirsty for Justice: A People's Blueprint for California Water

The report's first chapter analyzes the origins of environmental discrimination in California water policy. After an overview of how low income communities and communities of color have been historically left out of California water management, we analyze political, economic and social trends that produce the current exclusionary system and emerging policies and technologies that could further harm low-income communities and communities of color.In the second chapter, we provide an overview of what we term "water governance": who controls water supply and quality and what agencies are responsible for ensuring that people have enough clean water. We explain the current system of water governance, examine changing patterns in control over water, and provide examples of communities that face profound barriers to participating in water decisions. We conclude by discussing barriers within water regulatory entities that prevent community voices from entering into water decision-making.In the third chapter, we provide a picture of water-related environmental injustices that low-income communities and communities of color face on a daily basis. These communities' lack of access to safe, affordable drinking water and healthy watersheds exemplifies the health burdens many communities bear as a result of California's water policies.Our report concludes with policy recommendations for how to remedy some of the most pressing water concerns low-income communities and communities of color face, in order to guarantee the basic right to safe and affordable water

Archaeological Central American maize genomes suggest ancient gene flow from South America

Maize (Zea mays ssp. mays) domestication began in southwestern Mexico ∼9,000 calendar years before present (cal. BP) and humans dispersed this important grain to South America by at least 7,000 cal. BP as a partial domesticate. South America served as a secondary improvement center where the domestication syndrome became fixed and new lineages emerged in parallel with similar processes in Mesoamerica. Later, Indigenous cultivators carried a second major wave of maize southward from Mesoamerica, but it has been unclear until now whether the deeply divergent maize lineages underwent any subsequent gene flow between these regions. Here we report ancient maize genomes (2,300–1,900 cal. BP) from El Gigante rock shelter, Honduras, that are closely related to ancient and modern maize from South America. Our findings suggest that the second wave of maize brought into South America hybridized with long-established landraces from the first wave, and that some of the resulting newly admixed lineages were then reintroduced to Central America. Direct radiocarbon dates and cob morphological data from the rock shelter suggest that more productive maize varieties developed between 4,300 and 2,500 cal. BP. We hypothesize that the influx of maize from South America into Central America may have been an important source of genetic diversity as maize was becoming a staple grain in Central and Mesoamerica

Environmental reconstruction and wood use at late Chalcolithic Çamlıbel Tarlası, Turkey

Çamlıbel Tarlası is a short-lived, mid 4th millennium BCE Chalcolithic archaeological site in northern central Anatolia, modern Turkey, with evidence for both intensive metallurgy and permanent occupation. Analysis of a wood charcoal assemblage from the site, totaling 2815 charcoal fragments, is the first from this period and region. Anthracological analysis indicates that the primary fuel wood used was deciduous oak, which comprised nearly 90% of identifiable fragments. We find little evidence of differences in wood species used for different functions or over time; however, a significant trend towards the increased use of large-diameter branch or trunk wood over time is noted both for oak and other minor taxa. We reconstruct a dense oak-dominated woodland in the vicinity of the site at the time of first use, with increased forest clearance over time, due to either diminished fuel availability or agricultural expansion, or a combination of the two. An intensification in metallurgical activity in later periods of occupation may have increased demand specifically for large-diameter wood.Accepted manuscrip

FARMING AND CATASTROPHE AT LA JOYA: A CONSIDERATION OF AGRICULTURAL INTENSIFICATION AND RISK IN THE FORMATIVE SIERRA DE LOS TUXTLAS (Agricultura y catástrofe en La Joya: un examen de la intensificación agrícola y riesgo en el período Formativo de la Sierra de los Tuxtlas)

This paper examines the process of agricultural intensification as it occurred during the Formative period (1400 BC-AD 300) along the southern Gulf Coast of Mexico. Over the course of two millennia, rural villagers living in the Olmec hinterland of the Sierra de los Tuxtlas invested more time and labor into farming activities as they became increasingly sedentary and dealt with episodic volcanic eruptions and ash fall. This period of time witnessed the development of a regional political hierarchy in the Tuxtlas, which also had consequences for village-level subsistence. In examining agricultural intensification in the context of volcanic catastrophe and political development, I analyze archaeological plant and animal data from the site of La Joya, a farming village located in southern Veracruz, Mexico spanning the Formative period. The subsistence data indicate that maize intensification was a long, incremental process that began in the Middle Formative period, hundreds of years before political development and the establishment of a regional center. At the close of the Late Formative period, after the region's political consolidation, a severe volcanic eruption blanketed the region with ash, leading to significant, if temporary, environmental circumscription. La Joya villagers responded to this catastrophe by intensifying maize production on infields and expanding their hunting and fishing territories to exploit a wider range of animal prey. ESPAÑOL: Este estudio examina el proceso de sedentarización, intensificación agrícola y desarrollo de una jerarquía política regional durante el período Formativo (1400 a. C.-300 d. C.) a lo largo de la costa meridional del Golfo de México, en la zona olmeca de la Sierra de los Tuxtlas. Los resultados obtenidos analizando los datos de animales y plantas provenientes del sitio de La Joya, un pueblo agrícola ubicado en el sur de Veracruz (México) que abarca todo el Formativo, indican que la intensificación del maíz fue un proceso largo y gradual que se inició en la fase media de esta etapa, cientos de años antes del establecimiento de un centro regional. A finales del Formativo Tardío, después de su consolidación política, una severa erupción volcánica cubrió con ceniza la región. Los aldeanos de La Joya respondieron a esta catástrofe incrementando la producción de maíz en las inmediaciones y ampliando sus territorios de caza y pesca para explotar una gama más amplia de animales

Maize adoption and intensification in the central Illinois River valley: An analysis of archaeobotanical data from the Late Woodland to Early Mississippian periods (A.D. 600-1200)

We consider the causes and timing of maize (Zea mays) intensification in the central Illinois River valley and argue that an understanding of changes in maize production requires a consideration of changes occurring in the entire plant subsistence system. To this end, we explore trends in the collection and production of plant foods from the Late Woodland (A.D. 600-1100) to Early Mississippian periods (A.D. 1100-1200). The plant data reveal a stepwise decrease in nut collection during the Late Woodland period, and again during the transition to the Early Mississippian period. This pattern is accompanied by statistical increases in maize abundance, indicating an intensification of maize production around A.D. 1100. We consider these patterns in light of similar maize increases occurring throughout the Eastern Woodlands and evaluate several possible interpretations related to population pressure, climate change, competitive generosity, and cultural emulation, the latter which appears to have been inspired by prolonged contact between local populations and Mississippian groups in the greater Cahokia area

Paleoethnobotany and Ancient Alcohol Production: A Mini-Review

The production and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the past is an important consideration when addressing issues involving ancient food. However, successfully demonstrating that alcoholic beverages were produced in prehistoric contexts is problematic.  As a result, archaeobotanists have developed a multi-scalar approach, incorporating multiple lines of evidence, to argue for the production of fermented beverages in the past.</p

Maize adoption and intensification in the central Illinois River valley: An analysis of archaeobotanical data from the Late Woodland to Early Mississippian periods (A.D. 600-1200)

We consider the causes and timing of maize (Zea mays) intensification in the central Illinois River valley and argue that an understanding of changes in maize production requires a consideration of changes occurring in the entire plant subsistence system. To this end, we explore trends in the collection and production of plant foods from the Late Woodland (A.D. 600-1100) to Early Mississippian periods (A.D. 1100-1200). The plant data reveal a stepwise decrease in nut collection during the Late Woodland period, and again during the transition to the Early Mississippian period. This pattern is accompanied by statistical increases in maize abundance, indicating an intensification of maize production around A.D. 1100. We consider these patterns in light of similar maize increases occurring throughout the Eastern Woodlands and evaluate several possible interpretations related to population pressure, climate change, competitive generosity, and cultural emulation, the latter which appears to have been inspired by prolonged contact between local populations and Mississippian groups in the greater Cahokia area

Is it agriculture yet? Intensified maize-use at 1000cal BC in the Soconusco and Mesoamerica

The development of food production in Mesoamerica was a complex and protracted process. We argue that while maize had been cultivated for many millennia, this cereal grain assumed a markedly more important role in the political economy of the Soconusco (and elsewhere in Mexico, Guatemala and Belize) only after 1000. cal BC. Macrobotanical data from the long-occupied village of Cuauhtémoc document low-level maize production from 1900 to 1400. cal BC with a significant increase during the final centuries of the site's occupation after 1000. cal BC. Botanical evidence of increased maize consumption at this time occurred with evidence for changing groundstone use, intensified exploitation of dog and deer as well as iconography linking maize with rulership. This was also when monumental architecture was first built to mark a regional hierarchy of political centers. Changes evident in the Soconusco at 1000. cal BC parallel transformations in both highland and lowland regions of Mesoamerica when ceramic-using villagers expanded into new environments, farther away from the permanent water sources favored by Late Archaic and Early Formative peoples. We interpret the changes evident at 1000. cal BC in terms of both proximate historical factors as well as ultimate adaptive causes to produce a fuller understanding of changing Mesoamerican food production practices