We report the first identifications of species and element used to produce Paleolithic bone needl... more We report the first identifications of species and element used to produce Paleolithic bone needles. Archaeologists have used the tailored, fur-fringed garments of high latitude foragers as modern analogs for the clothes of Paleolithic foragers, arguing that the appearance of bone needles and fur bearer remains in archaeological sites c. 40,000 BP is indirect evidence for the advent of tailored garments at this time. These garments partially enabled modern human dispersal to northern latitudes and eventually enabled colonization of the Americas ca. 14,500 BP. Despite the importance of bone needles to explaining global modern human dispersal, archaeologists have never identified the materials used to produce them, thus limiting understanding of this important cultural innovation. We use Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) and Micro-CT scanning to establish that bone needles at the ca. 12,900 BP La Prele site (Wyoming, USA) were produced from the bones of canids, felids, and hares. We propose that these bones were used by the Early Paleoindian foragers at La Prele because they were scaled correctly for bone needle production and readily available within the campsite, having remained affixed to pelts sewn into complex garments. Combined with a review of comparable evidence from other North American Paleoindian sites, our results suggest that North American Early Paleoindians had direct access to furbearing predators, likely from trapping, and represent some of the most detailed evidence yet discovered for Paleoindian garments.
The study of hunter-gatherer settlements in prehistory has been limited by the often ephemeral na... more The study of hunter-gatherer settlements in prehistory has been limited by the often ephemeral nature of these sites. The structures identified at Barger Gulch Locality B, an alpine Folsom campsite, are among the oldest ever found in the western hemisphere. While poor preservation conditions produced a highly fragmented faunal site assemblage, even unidentifiable bone fragments reveal interesting patterns of hunter-gatherer life. In this study, we examine patterns of burning, distribution, and fragmentation to identify heterogeneous animal processing activities taking place across the site. Spatial analyses of the site's faunal assemblage reaffirm interpretations made using the site's lithic assemblage regarding the location of structures and the seasonality of the site. These analyses reveal spatial patterns of animal processing and hint at ways in which structures were partitioned for different tasks. These results demonstrate that even poorly preserved faunal assemblages can provide valuable insights into human behavior.
Clovis projectile points are found in association with mammoths and other proboscideans at multip... more Clovis projectile points are found in association with mammoths and other proboscideans at multiple sites from across much of North America. The conventional, and arguably parsimonious, explanation for this association is that Clovis points were weapons used to hunt the animals with which they were found. Recently, Eren et al. (2021) argued that experimental data coupled with estimations of mammoth anatomy indicate that Clovis points would not have been effective for proboscidean hunting and were more likely used as cutting tools for scavenging carcasses. We find a number of weaknesses in their argument, including their estimations of mammoth anatomy, the validity of their experimental design, and their assumptions regarding Clovis hunting behavior. We evaluate their argument in light of ethnographic, experimental, and archaeological data and conclude that each of these datasets strongly supports the interpretation of Clovis points as weapons designed for use in hunting large animals, including proboscideans.
Among foragers, Gargett and Hayden (1991) and Whitelaw (1983, 1991) quantify the influence of kin... more Among foragers, Gargett and Hayden (1991) and Whitelaw (1983, 1991) quantify the influence of kinship over house spacing, but a similar analysis of nomadic pastoralists has not been explored. This paper provides an empirical test of whether demographic and kinship factors correlate with the spacing of camps and individual households. The West Taiga Dukha reindeer herders of northern Mongolia is a useful case study to examine these nonenvironmental factors given the relative ubiquity of quality grazing land and ample water found within the alpine valley used in the summer. To examine both intracamp and intercamp spacing, we collected household locations Individuals and camps spatially organize themselves relative to others often to address environmental and social factors, yet what factors play a more significant role than others in camp structure is less clear. Ethnoarchaeology has attempted to isolate the social and environmental factors that influence camp structure among foragers (e.g.,
An enduring problem in North American archaeology concerns the nature of the transition between t... more An enduring problem in North American archaeology concerns the nature of the transition between the Clovis and Folsom Paleoindian complexes in the West. Traditional models indicate a temporal hiatus between the two complexes implying that Folsom was a population replacement for Clovis. Alternatively, if Folsom was an innovation that occurred within Clovis populations and subsequently spread, we would expect to see a temporal overlap. Here, we test these hypotheses using high-quality radiocarbon dates and Bayesian statistics to infer the temporal boundaries of the complexes. We show that the Folsom complex initially appears between 12,900 and 12,740 cal BP, whereas Clovis disappears between 12,720 and12,490 cal BP. Therefore, Folsom may have appeared about 200 years before Clovis disappeared, and so the two complexes likely co-occurred in the West for nearly eight generations. This finding suggests that Folsom was a successful adaptive innovation that diffused through the western Clo...
A key issue distinguishing prominent evolutionary models of human life history is whether prolong... more A key issue distinguishing prominent evolutionary models of human life history is whether prolonged childhood evolved to facilitate learning in a skill- and strength-intensive foraging niche requiring high levels of cooperation. Considering the diversity of environments humans inhabit, children’s activities should also reflect local social and ecological opportunities and constraints. To better understand our species’ developmental plasticity, the present paper compiled a time allocation dataset for children and adolescents from twelve hunter-gatherer and mixed-subsistence forager societies (n=690; 3-18 years; 52% girls). We investigated how environmental factors, local ecological risk, and men and women’s relative energetic contributions were associated with cross-cultural variation in child and adolescent time allocation to childcare, food production, domestic work, and play. Annual precipitation, annual mean temperature, and net primary productivity were not strongly associated w...
Archaeologists commonly encounter the occupation surfaces of ephemeral prehistoric houses. Within... more Archaeologists commonly encounter the occupation surfaces of ephemeral prehistoric houses. Within those spaces, artifacts can exhibit considerable spatial structure raising the question of what that structure can tell us about human behavior. We explore a simple site-formation model in which household occupancy, defined here as the average number of individuals who simultaneously occupy a house, positively predicts artifact dispersion. We confront the model with ethnographic observations on the use of space in 19 houses inhabited by Dukha reindeer herders of the Mongolian Taiga. The analysis shows that average occupancy predicts dispersion in the use of household space but that systemic noise, sampling error, and event mixing are likely to overwhelm the behavioral signal. Other factors may therefore be equally or more important in driving the spatial dispersion of household artifacts. The study further suggests an analytical framework for exploring relationships between behavior and archaeological structure using ethnoarchaeological data.
Red ocher (hematite) is a ferrous iron oxide mineral commonly used by Paleoindians in a variety o... more Red ocher (hematite) is a ferrous iron oxide mineral commonly used by Paleoindians in a variety of contexts, but its significance in mobile toolkits is not well understood. Here we demonstrate the importance of ocher to Paleoindians by determining the distance they were willing to carry it. The La Prele Mammoth site (48CO1401) is an approximately 13,000-year-old mammoth processing site with an associated campsite that contains scattered ocher nodules and a prominent ocher stain. The geochemical signature of La Prele ocher was established and compared to four natural ocher sources in Wyoming using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Ocher from La Prele was sourced to the Powars II ocher quarry approximately 100 km away. Paleoindians were willing to carry ocher for long distances, suggesting that red ocher was an important constituent of the Clovis mobile toolkit, while supporting the notion that Clovis maintained large territories. This geochemical analytical technique has potential for establishing geologic sources of ocher from other regions and time periods.
Except for the addition of modern material remains, the archaeological record is a finite resourc... more Except for the addition of modern material remains, the archaeological record is a finite resource, which means that, at some point in the future, there will be nothing left to find. In this paper, we model trends in archaeological discovery based on the growth of the field and the probability of site discovery. We compare this model to seven diverse datasets of archaeological discovery trends: (1) all sites from the state of Wyoming, USA; (2) high-altitude archaeological sites from the state of Colorado, USA; (3) mostly complete Neandertal crania; (4) monumental sites of the Maya Classic period; (5) proboscidean kill/scavenge sites globally; (6) Upper Paleolithic sites from Europe; and (7) a compilation of shipwreck discoveries. We forecast discovery trends over the current century. We show that, for all datasets, rates of discovery are in decline, and some segments of the record are near depletion.
When archeologists discuss mobility, we are most often referring to a phenomenon that operates on... more When archeologists discuss mobility, we are most often referring to a phenomenon that operates on the scale of kilometers, but much of human mobility, at least if measured in terms of frequency of movement, occurs at much smaller scales, ranging from centimeters to tens of meters. Here we refer to the movements we make within the confines of our homes or places of employment. With respect to nomadic peoples, movements at this scale would include movements within campsites. Understanding mobility at small scales is important to archeology because small-scale mobility decisions are a critical factor affecting spatial patterning observed in archeological sites. In this paper, we examine the factors affecting small-scale mobility decisions in a Mongolian reindeer herder summer camp and the implications of those decisions with regard to archeological spatial patterning.
We report the first identifications of species and element used to produce Paleolithic bone needl... more We report the first identifications of species and element used to produce Paleolithic bone needles. Archaeologists have used the tailored, fur-fringed garments of high latitude foragers as modern analogs for the clothes of Paleolithic foragers, arguing that the appearance of bone needles and fur bearer remains in archaeological sites c. 40,000 BP is indirect evidence for the advent of tailored garments at this time. These garments partially enabled modern human dispersal to northern latitudes and eventually enabled colonization of the Americas ca. 14,500 BP. Despite the importance of bone needles to explaining global modern human dispersal, archaeologists have never identified the materials used to produce them, thus limiting understanding of this important cultural innovation. We use Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS) and Micro-CT scanning to establish that bone needles at the ca. 12,900 BP La Prele site (Wyoming, USA) were produced from the bones of canids, felids, and hares. We propose that these bones were used by the Early Paleoindian foragers at La Prele because they were scaled correctly for bone needle production and readily available within the campsite, having remained affixed to pelts sewn into complex garments. Combined with a review of comparable evidence from other North American Paleoindian sites, our results suggest that North American Early Paleoindians had direct access to furbearing predators, likely from trapping, and represent some of the most detailed evidence yet discovered for Paleoindian garments.
The study of hunter-gatherer settlements in prehistory has been limited by the often ephemeral na... more The study of hunter-gatherer settlements in prehistory has been limited by the often ephemeral nature of these sites. The structures identified at Barger Gulch Locality B, an alpine Folsom campsite, are among the oldest ever found in the western hemisphere. While poor preservation conditions produced a highly fragmented faunal site assemblage, even unidentifiable bone fragments reveal interesting patterns of hunter-gatherer life. In this study, we examine patterns of burning, distribution, and fragmentation to identify heterogeneous animal processing activities taking place across the site. Spatial analyses of the site's faunal assemblage reaffirm interpretations made using the site's lithic assemblage regarding the location of structures and the seasonality of the site. These analyses reveal spatial patterns of animal processing and hint at ways in which structures were partitioned for different tasks. These results demonstrate that even poorly preserved faunal assemblages can provide valuable insights into human behavior.
Clovis projectile points are found in association with mammoths and other proboscideans at multip... more Clovis projectile points are found in association with mammoths and other proboscideans at multiple sites from across much of North America. The conventional, and arguably parsimonious, explanation for this association is that Clovis points were weapons used to hunt the animals with which they were found. Recently, Eren et al. (2021) argued that experimental data coupled with estimations of mammoth anatomy indicate that Clovis points would not have been effective for proboscidean hunting and were more likely used as cutting tools for scavenging carcasses. We find a number of weaknesses in their argument, including their estimations of mammoth anatomy, the validity of their experimental design, and their assumptions regarding Clovis hunting behavior. We evaluate their argument in light of ethnographic, experimental, and archaeological data and conclude that each of these datasets strongly supports the interpretation of Clovis points as weapons designed for use in hunting large animals, including proboscideans.
Among foragers, Gargett and Hayden (1991) and Whitelaw (1983, 1991) quantify the influence of kin... more Among foragers, Gargett and Hayden (1991) and Whitelaw (1983, 1991) quantify the influence of kinship over house spacing, but a similar analysis of nomadic pastoralists has not been explored. This paper provides an empirical test of whether demographic and kinship factors correlate with the spacing of camps and individual households. The West Taiga Dukha reindeer herders of northern Mongolia is a useful case study to examine these nonenvironmental factors given the relative ubiquity of quality grazing land and ample water found within the alpine valley used in the summer. To examine both intracamp and intercamp spacing, we collected household locations Individuals and camps spatially organize themselves relative to others often to address environmental and social factors, yet what factors play a more significant role than others in camp structure is less clear. Ethnoarchaeology has attempted to isolate the social and environmental factors that influence camp structure among foragers (e.g.,
An enduring problem in North American archaeology concerns the nature of the transition between t... more An enduring problem in North American archaeology concerns the nature of the transition between the Clovis and Folsom Paleoindian complexes in the West. Traditional models indicate a temporal hiatus between the two complexes implying that Folsom was a population replacement for Clovis. Alternatively, if Folsom was an innovation that occurred within Clovis populations and subsequently spread, we would expect to see a temporal overlap. Here, we test these hypotheses using high-quality radiocarbon dates and Bayesian statistics to infer the temporal boundaries of the complexes. We show that the Folsom complex initially appears between 12,900 and 12,740 cal BP, whereas Clovis disappears between 12,720 and12,490 cal BP. Therefore, Folsom may have appeared about 200 years before Clovis disappeared, and so the two complexes likely co-occurred in the West for nearly eight generations. This finding suggests that Folsom was a successful adaptive innovation that diffused through the western Clo...
A key issue distinguishing prominent evolutionary models of human life history is whether prolong... more A key issue distinguishing prominent evolutionary models of human life history is whether prolonged childhood evolved to facilitate learning in a skill- and strength-intensive foraging niche requiring high levels of cooperation. Considering the diversity of environments humans inhabit, children’s activities should also reflect local social and ecological opportunities and constraints. To better understand our species’ developmental plasticity, the present paper compiled a time allocation dataset for children and adolescents from twelve hunter-gatherer and mixed-subsistence forager societies (n=690; 3-18 years; 52% girls). We investigated how environmental factors, local ecological risk, and men and women’s relative energetic contributions were associated with cross-cultural variation in child and adolescent time allocation to childcare, food production, domestic work, and play. Annual precipitation, annual mean temperature, and net primary productivity were not strongly associated w...
Archaeologists commonly encounter the occupation surfaces of ephemeral prehistoric houses. Within... more Archaeologists commonly encounter the occupation surfaces of ephemeral prehistoric houses. Within those spaces, artifacts can exhibit considerable spatial structure raising the question of what that structure can tell us about human behavior. We explore a simple site-formation model in which household occupancy, defined here as the average number of individuals who simultaneously occupy a house, positively predicts artifact dispersion. We confront the model with ethnographic observations on the use of space in 19 houses inhabited by Dukha reindeer herders of the Mongolian Taiga. The analysis shows that average occupancy predicts dispersion in the use of household space but that systemic noise, sampling error, and event mixing are likely to overwhelm the behavioral signal. Other factors may therefore be equally or more important in driving the spatial dispersion of household artifacts. The study further suggests an analytical framework for exploring relationships between behavior and archaeological structure using ethnoarchaeological data.
Red ocher (hematite) is a ferrous iron oxide mineral commonly used by Paleoindians in a variety o... more Red ocher (hematite) is a ferrous iron oxide mineral commonly used by Paleoindians in a variety of contexts, but its significance in mobile toolkits is not well understood. Here we demonstrate the importance of ocher to Paleoindians by determining the distance they were willing to carry it. The La Prele Mammoth site (48CO1401) is an approximately 13,000-year-old mammoth processing site with an associated campsite that contains scattered ocher nodules and a prominent ocher stain. The geochemical signature of La Prele ocher was established and compared to four natural ocher sources in Wyoming using inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES). Ocher from La Prele was sourced to the Powars II ocher quarry approximately 100 km away. Paleoindians were willing to carry ocher for long distances, suggesting that red ocher was an important constituent of the Clovis mobile toolkit, while supporting the notion that Clovis maintained large territories. This geochemical analytical technique has potential for establishing geologic sources of ocher from other regions and time periods.
Except for the addition of modern material remains, the archaeological record is a finite resourc... more Except for the addition of modern material remains, the archaeological record is a finite resource, which means that, at some point in the future, there will be nothing left to find. In this paper, we model trends in archaeological discovery based on the growth of the field and the probability of site discovery. We compare this model to seven diverse datasets of archaeological discovery trends: (1) all sites from the state of Wyoming, USA; (2) high-altitude archaeological sites from the state of Colorado, USA; (3) mostly complete Neandertal crania; (4) monumental sites of the Maya Classic period; (5) proboscidean kill/scavenge sites globally; (6) Upper Paleolithic sites from Europe; and (7) a compilation of shipwreck discoveries. We forecast discovery trends over the current century. We show that, for all datasets, rates of discovery are in decline, and some segments of the record are near depletion.
When archeologists discuss mobility, we are most often referring to a phenomenon that operates on... more When archeologists discuss mobility, we are most often referring to a phenomenon that operates on the scale of kilometers, but much of human mobility, at least if measured in terms of frequency of movement, occurs at much smaller scales, ranging from centimeters to tens of meters. Here we refer to the movements we make within the confines of our homes or places of employment. With respect to nomadic peoples, movements at this scale would include movements within campsites. Understanding mobility at small scales is important to archeology because small-scale mobility decisions are a critical factor affecting spatial patterning observed in archeological sites. In this paper, we examine the factors affecting small-scale mobility decisions in a Mongolian reindeer herder summer camp and the implications of those decisions with regard to archeological spatial patterning.
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Papers by Todd Surovell