Notes on the Mollusca from Site 41DT59, Cooper Lake, Delta County, Texas

This paper focuses on the information about the mollusca from site 41DT59. The author takes the information from Dr. Fullington, the noted malacologist, and illustrates how the archeologist can take the information and apply it to site analysis. This information derived from the analysis mainly supports what the authors have concluded about site 41DT59, but does discuss material not covered in the original text. The analysis is divided into two sections. The information derived from the gastropods is discussed first, and the information derived from the mussels second

The American-European dialogue in the study of the Upper Paleolithic : some reflections on international collaboration in honor of Jesus Altuna

Arqueologos norteamericanos se han implicado en la investigación del Paleolitico superior europeo desde los trabajos de G.G. McCurdy entre las dos guerras mundiales, pero especialmente desde las excavaciones de Hallam Movius en la Colombiere y l'Abri Pataud en los años 1950, con una clara aceleración en las últimas décadas. Han surgido desafíos intelectuales al paradigma cultural-histórico dominante en los estudios del Paleolítico superior europeo, especialmente con la aparición de la arqueologia procesual en los EE.UU (y de la prehistoria económica en Inglaterra). Aunque todavía pueden existir elementos de la verdad en el argumento de que hay diferencias trasatlanticas en cuanto a la definición operacional del concepto de "cultura" y en la pretendida capacidad de los prehistoriadores paleolíticos de identificar grupos étnicos reales, hay convergencias crecientes (Y algunas pre-existentes) sobre cuestiones de la "teoría a nivel intermedio" de la metodología, e incluso de la difinición de los problemas aptos para la investigación. Un simposio organizado por el autor en el Congreso de la UISPP en Lieja intentó esclarecer las áreas de convergencia y de divergencia entre los investigadores norteamericanos y europeos y evaluar las contribuciones -positivas y negativas- de los primeros, a fin de continuar un debate trasatlántico fructífero

Ceramic Beads from the Cloud Hammond Site (41SM244), Smith County, Texas

During investigations at the Cloud Hammond site (41SM244) during the 1960s, J. A. Walters recovered Caddo ceramics, two clay beads, Perdiz arrow points, and two Gary dart points. The site is located in northern Smith County, Texas, about 400 m east of the Middle Caddo period Jamestown Mound site (41SM54). Of the artifacts reported to have been recovered from the site, only one clay bead was available for study. No record survives of the extent of investigations at the Cloud Hammond site or if any cultural features such as burials were found during the 1960s work

Los recursos leñosos y los grupos cazadores-recolectores patagónicos: metodologías de análisis aplicadas en los sitios Cerro Casa de Piedra 7 y Cerro Pintado (Argentina)

El registro de vegetales leñosos es abundante en los conjuntos arqueológicos patagónicos atribuídos a grupos cazadores-recolectores. El objetivo del presente artículo es dar a conocer dos de las distintas metodologías de análisis utilizadas en los diversos estudios arqueobotánicos realizados hasta el momento en la Patagonia argentina: i) determinación de la estacionalidad a partir del análisis de la corteza y ii) análisis dendro-antracológico. La primera de ellas aplicada en el sitio Cerro Casa de Piedra 7 (prov. de Santa Cruz) y la segunda en el sitio Cerro Pintado (prov. Chubut). Las metodologías de análisis utilizadas ofrecen resultados satisfactorios en cada uno de los sitios arqueológicos estudiados, brindando valiosa información sobre las modalidades de adquisición y uso del material leñoso por parte de los cazadores-recolectores patagónicos.The record of woody plants is abundant in the Patagonian archaeological sites attributed to hunter-gatherer groups. The aim of this paper is to show two different methodologies of analysis used in archaeobotanical studies carried out in the Argentinean Patagonia: i) the determination of the seasonality from the analysis of the bark and ii) the dendro-anthracological analysis. The first one, has been applied in the archaeological site Cerro Casa de Piedra 7 (province of Santa Cruz) and the second one, in Cerro Pintado (province of Chubut). The methodologies of analysis that have been used, offer satisfactory results in both sites. They afford valuable information about the modalities of acquisition and the use of the woody material by the Patagonian hunter-gatherers.Fil: Caruso, Laura Lihue. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentin

Lapa do Picareiro, un asentamiento de caza magdaleniense en la Estremadura portuguesa

Lapa do Picareiro es un yacimiento situado en la Estremadura portuguesa, en la Serra d’Aire. Los estudios zooarqueológicos llevados a cabo nos hablan de un lugar especializado de caza y procesado de distintas especies animales durante el magdaleniense y el epipaleolítico. Por su parte, los análisis líticos confirman la presencia de un utillaje en el que destacan las laminillas de dorso empleadas como proyectiles y las lascas y láminas destinadas al corte de carne y al tratamiento de la piel.Lapa do Picareiro is a cave site located in Serra d’Aire, Portuguese Estremadura. Zooarchaeological studies suggest that the cave was a specialized site for hunting and processing animals during the Magdalenian and the Epipaleolithic. Lithic analyses seem to confirm this idea with the presence of backed bladelets used as projectile points and flakes with evidence of cutting meat and hide processing

Genomic signatures of adaptive introgression from European mouflon into domestic sheep

Mouflon (Ovis aries musimon) became extinct from mainland Europe after the Neolithic, but remnant populations from the Mediterranean islands of Corsica and Sardinia have been used for reintroductions across Europe since the 19th-century. Mouflon x sheep hybrids are larger-bodied than mouflon, potentially showing increased male reproductive success, but little is known about genomic levels of admixture, or about the adaptive significance of introgression between resident mouflon and local sheep breeds. Here we analysed Ovine medium-density SNP array genotypes of 92 mouflon from six geographic regions, along with data from 330 individuals of 16 domestic sheep breeds. We found lower levels of genetic diversity in mouflon than in domestic sheep, consistent with past bottlenecks in mouflon. Introgression signals were bidirectional and affected most mouflon and sheep populations, being strongest in one Sardinian mouflon population. Developing and using a novel approach to identify chromosomal regions with consistent introgression signals, we infer adaptive introgression from mouflon to domestic sheep related to immunity mechanisms, but not in the opposite direction. Further, we infer that Soay and Sarda sheep carry introgressed mouflon alleles involved in bitter taste perception and/or innate immunity. Our results illustrate the potential for adaptive introgression even among recently diverged populations

Micro-evolutionary diversification among Indian Ocean parrots: temporal and spatial changes in phylogenetic diversity as a consequence of extinction and invasion

Almost 90% of global bird extinctions have occurred on islands. The loss of endemic spe- cies from island systems can dramatically alter evolutionary trajectories of insular species biodiversity, resulting in a loss of evolutionary diversity important for species adaptation to changing environments. The Western Indian Ocean islands have been the scene of evolution for a large number of endemic parrots. Since their discovery in the 16th cen- tury, many of these parrots have become extinct or have declined in numbers. Alongside the extinction of species, a number of the Indian Ocean islands have experienced coloni- zation by highly invasive parrots, such as the Ring-necked Parakeet Psittacula krameri. Such extinctions and invasions can, on an evolutionary timescale, drive changes in spe- cies composition, genetic diversity and turnover in phylogenetic diversity, all of which can have important impacts on species potential for adaptation to changing environmen- tal and climatic conditions. Using mtDNA cytochrome b data, we resolve the taxonomic placement of three extinct Indian Ocean parrots: the Rodrigues Psittacula exsul, Sey- chelles Psittacula wardi and Reunion Parakeets Psittacula eques. This case study quantifies how the extinction of these species has resulted in lost historical endemic phylogenetic diversity and reduced levels of species richness, and illustrates how it is being replaced by non-endemic invasive forms such as the Ring-necked Parakeet. Finally, we use our phylogenetic framework to identify and recommend a number of phylogenetically appro- priate ecological replacements for the extinct parrots. Such replacements may be intro- duced once invasive forms have been cleared, to rejuvenate ecosystem function and restore lost phylogenetic diversity