Caves and Rockshelters (Other Keyword)

101-125 (188 Records)

The Mountain Exile Hypothesis: How Humans Benefited from African High Altitude Ecosystems in Ethiopia (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Ralf Vogelsang.

Although high-altitude mountain habitats are often regarded as unfavorable for human occupation; on the other hand tropical highlands in Africa are suggested as potential refugia during times of environmental stress. The presentation gives a review of new evidence of human occupation in the tropical highlands of Ethiopia from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene period. A first correlation of the archaeological data with the climate record suggests a complex interplay between humans and their...


Multidisciplinary Investigations of a Late Paleoindian Bison Butchery Event from a Southwest Texas Rockshelter (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Charles Koenig. Christopher Jurgens. J. Kevin Hanselka. Stephen Black. Charles Frederick.

Located in the Northeastern Chihuahuan Desert, Eagle Cave is one of the largest rockshelters in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands. Archaeologists previously excavated Eagle Cave in the 1930s and 1960s; however, no evidence had been recovered indicating Paleoindian occupation of the site. From January 2015 through February 2017, the Ancient Southwest Texas Project of Texas State University re-excavated a 4-meter deep trench through the center of this massive rockshelter in order to document and sample...


Nature and Culture, Fire and Ice: The Caves of El Malpais National Monument (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Jennifer McCrackan. Nick Poister. Charles P. Jackson. Eric Weaver.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Cave surveys and archaeological inventories conducted over the course of six months of over 40 caves at El Malpais National Monument have revealed both ritualistic and utilitarian purposes. Located in northwestern New Mexico, the monument, largely composed of multiple lava fields is within the larger Zuni-Bandera volcanic flow. Hundreds of recorded...


Neanderthal Activities in Caves: Was There a Ritual Dimension? (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Paul Pettitt.

We know that Neanderthals used the mouths of caves for habitation, and on occasion buried their dead in such contexts. The behavioural repertoire was recently extended to include the assembly of a circle of stones deep in a cave in France. But can any evidence be taken to imply specifically 'ritual' behaviour? I build here on ongoing collaborative research on the emergence of art, and on wider Neanderthal activities in caves and their environs to address the question as to whether 'ritual' use...


New Alternatives to Terrestrial Laser Scanning: The Case of Poorly-Lit Features and Sites (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Ted Parsons.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. 3D modeling is an integral part of many archaeology projects. Photo-based 3D modeling using Structure from Motion and Multiview Stereo (SfM/MVS) algorithms is widely used. SfM/MVS requires minimal field gear and can produce very high-quality output: Agisoft’s PhotoScan Professional® is the most popular commercial implementation of SfM/MVS. Adequate...


New Archaeological Data from “Ortvala Cave” (Multilayer Cave Complex from Georgia, South Caucasus) (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Otar Berikashvili.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. “Ortvala Cave” (Double Eye) is located in the southern part of Georgia (South Caucasus), a distance of 98 km from present day Georgian-Armenian border, and represents a multilayer cave complex, combining deposits of Mousterian culture (Lower Paleolithic), as well as the deposits of Chalcholithic, Early Bronze, and medieval periods. Archaeological and...


New Dates for Bonfire Shelter, a Multicomponent Rockshelter in West Texas (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only David Kilby. Marcus Hamilton.

This is an abstract from the "The Big Bend Complex: Landscapes of History" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Bonfire Shelter is a well-known but imperfectly understood multicomponent rockshelter site located in a short tributary canyon of the Rio Grande in West Texas. The site is particularly known for three “bone beds” deposited between about 14,000 and 2,500 BP, two of which appear to represent mass bison kills. Three years of renewed investigation...


A New Excavation In Southeast Turkey: Kece Cave (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Irfan Yaman. Cevdet Merih Erek. Iraz Asli Yaman. Alper Basiran.

Kece Cave is located in Kahramanmaras - Elbistan Province in Turkey. The first excavation was carried out in 2015 and since that year, it has been continued by excavation team that includes different university experts. According to preliminary reports, first excavations were realized on terraces in front of the cave and inside. Preliminary findings have been remarkable. Although during the last season excavation, most amazing findings than before were obtained in the terrace excavation area and...


New Investigations at Bonfire Shelter: A Consideration of Bison Jumps and Their Implications for Paleoindian Social Organization (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only David Kilby. Marcus Hamilton.

Bonfire Shelter (41VV218) is a nationally significant site in the Lower Pecos region of the West Texas borderlands that preserves evidence of what may be the oldest and southernmost "bison jump" in North America. At least two major episodes of bison hunting are evident at Bonfire Shelter, one associated with Paleoindian Plainview and Folsom projectile points, and another associated with Late Archaic Castroville and Montell points. The approximately 12,000-year-old layers comprising Bonebed 2...


New Investigations at Pachamachay and Panaulauca Caves, Junín, Peru (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Emily Milton. Sarah Meinekat. Katherine Moore. Kurt Rademaker.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. We present the results of 2019 excavations at Pachamachay and Panaulauca, two Early Holocene archaeological sites in the high Andes of central Peru. These classic sites, previously excavated in the 1970s and 80s, provide evidence for early and persistent use of the high-elevation (>4000 m above sea level) Andes mountains. We used a low-impact approach to...


New Investigations at Russell Cave, Alabama (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Stephen B. Carmody. Kaitlyn N. Weis. Jennifer Simpson. Sarah C. Sherwood. John Cornelison.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Russell Cave (1Ja181), located in Jackson County, Alabama, contains one of the longest prehistoric occupational sequences known in the southeastern U.S., spanning approximately 9,000 years. Excavations were conducted by the Chattanooga Chapter of the Tennessee Archaeological Society (1953-1955) the Smithsonian Institute in conjunction with the National...


New Investigations of Bone Bed 1, Bonfire Shelter: A High-Resolution Analysis of Late Pleistocene Deposits (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Sean Farrell.

This paper reports the results of new excavations of Late Pleistocene deposits at Bonfire Shelter, a stratified rockshelter in the Lower Pecos Canyonlands of Val Verde County, Texas. Previous excavations identified three bone deposits. Bone Bed 1, the oldest deposit, yielded a single uncalibrated radiocarbon date of 12,460 +/- 490 BP. Investigators in the 1960s and 1980s argued that the patterned distribution of megafaunal elements associated with large limestone cobbles in Bone Bed 1 suggests...


A New Radiocarbon Dated Record of Holocene Weapon Technology from The Trail Creek Cave Site, Seward Peninsula, Alaska (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Jeffrey Rasic.

The Trail Creek Caves site on the Seward Peninsula in western Alaska was excavated by Helge Larsen in 1949-1950, and is among the most important archaeological sites in central Beringia. It contains a lengthy, rich and well-preserved paleoecological and archaeological record dating to the late Pleistocene, and the largest collections of mid-Holocene age organic tools from the region. However, poor chronological and stratigraphic controls have hampered the interpretive value of the site. New...


No Knapping in the Shelter: Lithic Analysis from the Chuchuwayha Rock Shelter, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Megan Harris.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Chuchuwayha Research Project focuses on the past use of the Similkameen Valley in south-central British Columbia. The driving question of this research project is how have the Similkameen people used the landscape of the Similkameen Valley over time. The Chuchuwayha rock shelter provides the best lens to understand the use and occupancy in the...


Not Something to Grind Your Teeth Over: Experimental Mounting of Enamel for Stable Isotopic and Microscopic Analysis (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Emily Milton. Joshua Schwartz.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. While preparing a set of zooarchaeological materials for microscopic and high-resolution stable isotopic studies, we found ourselves gritting our teeth to produce a set of mounts that met the standards for the intended lab analyses. Our target specimens were camelid teeth from the Terminal Pleistocene levels of Cuncaicha, a highland rockshelter in Southern...


Of Monsters and Men: Material Culture, Movement, and Symbolism at Surtshellir, a Western Icelandic Viking Age Ritual Site (2021)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Kevin Smith. Gudmundur Ólafsson.

This is an abstract from the "Social Archaeology in the North and North Atlantic (SANNA 3.0): Investigating the Social Lives of Northern Things" session, at the 86th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Over the course of 850 years, Surtshellir—a massive lava cave in western Iceland’s rugged interior—was variously described as a geological wonder, a shelter for outlaws, an abode of ghosts and spirits, a tourist's dream, a place of torture, the wilderness, an archaeological...


Offerings in the Mogollon Underworld: Big-Eyed Beings and Birds (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Scott Nicolay.

Three Classic Mimbres vessels depict similar ceremonial processions in which individuals carry effigies of animals and/or goggle-eyed beings. The goggle-eyed effigies are versions of a figure common in both Mimbres and Jornada Mogollon rock art that may represent the Mesoamerican rain deity Tlaloc. Similar effigies have been recovered from five cave shrines in southern New Mexico and Arizona: two wooden goggle-eyed figures and one of stone, and two wooden birds. However, modern Pueblo informants...


On the Persistence of Tradition: Caves, Ritual Performance, and Secrecy among Multi-Ethnic Communities in the U.S. Southwest (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Kelsey Hanson.

Discussions of ritual performance in the U.S. Southwest are often restricted to the analysis of architecture in residential settings, leaving the potential role of caves largely absent from regional discourse. As settings that are less accessible to the entire community, caves likely represent important venues for ritual performance whose participation is intended only for a select audience. The aims of this paper are twofold. First, through the reevaluation of select wooden ritual assemblages...


Origins of Parietal Art: Evidence from the Archaeological Record (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Bernie Taylor.

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The interpretation of drawings and engravings rely on our unique ability to internally process visual information and identify recognizable patterns. This same ability processes imaginary patterns, such as animals and faces of people in geological formations, clouds, and stars. The phenomenon of identifying imaginary patterns, referred to as “pareidolia,”...


An Overview of the Mousterian and Final Epigravettian at Arma Veirana (Liguria, Northwestern Italy) (2019)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Jamie Hodgkins. Fabio Negrino. Caley Orr. Julien Riel-Salvatore.

This is an abstract from the "Recent Advances in the Prehistory of Liguria and Neighboring Regions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This paper presents preliminary results of the first four years of archaeological investigation at the cave site of Arma Veirana, located near Erli (Savona), in western Liguria. The site has yielded in situ Middle and Upper Paleolithic deposits containing a variety of artifacts. One of the project’s principal goals to...


Ozark Imagery: Documenting Rock Art in the Arkansas Highlands (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Emily Beahm. Angela Gore.

This is an abstract from the "Interdisciplinary Approaches to Rock Art Documentation, Research, and Analysis" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The first published account of Arkansas rock art appeared in the late nineteenth century when public museums and other institutions relied on private citizens as well as professional scholars to report all manner of scientific facts and discoveries. The Arkansas state site files include reports of rock art...


Paleo-Indian Evidence from Rock Shelters of the Pains Region, Southeastern Brazil: Typology, Technology and Chronology of the Lithic Material and Its Classification in Three Horizons (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Edward Koole.

This presentation describes the archaeological context and the lithic variability for the paleo-indian period of the Pains region, an extensive karst situated in the upper São Francisco river valley, state of Minas Gerais, Southeastern Brazil. It gives an overview of what is known for the region using evidence from four limestone rock shelter sites, with a total area of 28m² excavated, the most important site being the Gruta do Marinheiro cave (20m²), and propose the separation of the lithic...


Paleoindian and Archaic in North Centre and Western Mexico (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Brigitte Faugere.

The Highlands of North Center and Western Mexico were occupied from the lithic period as testify paleo Indian vestiges (Clovis and Agate Basin points) found in several sectors. From the beginning of Holocene, only the excavations of some sites allow to recognize typological characteristics and to know how the archaeological material change through time. In this presentation, I will examine the available data, in particular the cases of the States of Querétaro and Michoacan, to show the...


Paleoindian Cave and Rockshelter Use in the Fort Rock Basin, Oregon (2018)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Sophia Jamaldin.

The Fort Rock Basin’s (FRB) caves and rock shelters hold an important place in the history of Great Basin archaeology. Excavations at Fort Rock Cave by Luther Cressman in the late 1930’s led him to argue for a long-standing presence of humans in the region. The subsequent development of radiocarbon dating confirmed his ideas, providing firm evidence for a considerable human population in the FRB during the Terminal Pleistocene/Early Holocene (TP/EH). Although most caves and rock shelters...


Patterns of Precontact Lava Tube Cave Use at El Malpais National Monument, New Mexico (2023)
DOCUMENT Citation Only Nicholas Poister. Steve Baumann. Andrew Van Cleve. Richard Greene.

This is an abstract from the "The Subterranean in Mesoamerican Cultural Landscapes" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. During the field seasons of 2020 and 2021, the Cultural Resources Branch at El Malpais National Monument undertook an inventory of archaeological sites located within some of the monument’s more than 400 lava tube caves. While scores of caves containing cultural resources have been identified through an ongoing mapping initiative, few...