Ash, bone, and memories are all that remains after cremation. Yet for societies and communities, ... more Ash, bone, and memories are all that remains after cremation. Yet for societies and communities, the act of cremation after death is highly symbolic, rich with complex meaning, touching on what it means to be human. In the process of transforming the dead, the family, the community, and society as a whole create and partake in cultural symbolism. Cremation is a key area of archaeological research, but its complexity has been underappreciated and undertheorized. Transformation by Fire offers a fresh assessment of archaeological research on this widespread social practice.
Editors Ian Kuijt, Colin P. Quinn, and Gabriel Cooney’s volume examines cremation by documenting the material signatures of cremation events and processes, as well as its transformative impact on social relations and concepts of the body. Indeed, examining why and how people chose to cremate their dead serves as an important means of understanding how people in the past dealt with death, the body, and the social world.
The contributors develop new perspectives on cremation as important mortuary practices and social transformations. Varying attitudes and beliefs on cremation and other forms of burial within the same cultural paradigm help us understand what constitutes the body and what occurs during its fiery transformation. In addition, they explore issues and interpretive perspectives in the archaeological study of cremation within and between different cultural contexts.
The global and comparative perspectives on cremation render the book a unique contribution to the literature of anthropological and mortuary archaeology.
“The compilation is a seriously considered assessment of the many issues confronting archaeology on the subject of cremation. The chapters and the brief commentary on some of them interspersed through the book provide a wonderful assessment of where we stand.”—James A. Brown, Northwestern University
“Transformation by Fire is different from other books on mortuary archaeology in its emphases on the series of events involved in cremation, the impacts of transformations through cremation on social relations and concepts of personhood, and the potential parallels between burning and burying bodies, structures, and material items.”—Christopher B. Rodning, Tulane University
The Late Woodland (ca. AD 800–1500) was a time of socioeconomic and environmental change in the A... more The Late Woodland (ca. AD 800–1500) was a time of socioeconomic and environmental change in the Appalachian Summit. Changing climatic conditions and the introduction of maize agriculture made permanent settlement in these high-elevation mountain landscapes possible for the first time. We adopt a settlement ecology approach to examine how Late Woodland communities situated themselves in the landscape. Drawing upon geospatial analyses of legacy datasets, we document how Late Woodland communities prioritized access to different socioeconomic resources in the New River Headwaters region of northwest North Carolina. The New River Headwaters was an important source of natural resources, including mica and copper, as well as an important corridor for the movement of people and resources throughout Eastern North America. Our analyses demonstrate that Late Woodland communities balanced access to arable land, copper sources, and long-distance trade routes when situating their settlements. Larger sites had access to more land suited for maize agriculture than smaller sites. The largest sites in the region were also well-positioned with nearby access to copper sources and trade routes along the New River. Regional approaches to Late Woodland occupation in the Appalachian Summit reveal the dynamic relationship between humans and the environment in mountain landscapes.
The Coțofeni culture is part of an extensive cultural phenomenon that extended across the Carpath... more The Coțofeni culture is part of an extensive cultural phenomenon that extended across the Carpathian Basin, Transylvania, and surrounded regions during the 4th and early 3rd millennium BC. This cultural phenomenon is marked by distinctive ceramics, metal objects, and agropastoral lifeways. A recent influx of research and radiocarbon dating have made it possible to reconstruct the absolute chronology of the Coțofeni culture in Romania, including its start and end dates and internal development, for the first time. In this study, we present 26 radiocarbon dates, Bayesian models, and a discussion of relevant material culture from 11 sites in Romania: Ariceştii – Rahtivani, Băile Herculane, Dubova, Hăpria, Gligoreşti, Ostrovu Corbului, Peţelca, Poiana Ampoiului, Râmeţ – Gugu, Silvaşu de Jos, and Turdaş - Siteş. Based on the available radiocarbon data, we place the start of the Coțofeni culture during the Late Copper Age (Eneolithic), approximately 3500/3400 BC. The earliest phase (Coțofeni I) lasted approximately from 3500/3400 BC to 3300/3200. With fewer dates and a shorter span, the second phase (Coțofeni II) is more difficult to situate, but available data suggest it is between 3300/3250 to 3200/3150 BC. The third and final phase (Coțofeni III) spanned from approximately 3200/3150 to 2900/2800 BC. The dates demonstrate that there is a significant temporal overlap – up to two centuries in length – between the Coțofeni culture and Yamnaya migrant communities from the Eurasian Steppe in the early 3rd millennium BC. Dates from sites with burial mounds covering Coțofeni settlement, such as at Râmeţ - Gugu (approximately 2900), demonstrate the timing and close connection between Coțofeni communities and the emergence of burial tumuli in Transylvania.
This article presents the results of multi-scalar investigations into the Later Bronze Age (LBA; ... more This article presents the results of multi-scalar investigations into the Later Bronze Age (LBA; 1500-600 BC) landscape of Inishark in County Galway, Ireland. The European LBA along the Atlantic coast was characterized by the development of long-distance maritime exchange systems that transformed environmentally marginal seascapes into a corridor of human interaction and movement of goods and people. Archaeological survey, test excavation, and radiocarbon analysis documented the LBA occupation on Inishark. The communities living on Inishark and other small islands on the western Irish coast were on the periphery of both the European continent and of the elite spheres of influence at hillforts in Ireland; yet they were connected to the Atlantic maritime exchange routes. A focus on small coastal islands contributes to a better understanding of LBA socioeconomic systems and the development of social complexity in Bronze Age societies.
In this introduction to the thematic issue Living and Dying in Mountain Landscapes, we develop an... more In this introduction to the thematic issue Living and Dying in Mountain Landscapes, we develop an analytical framework for the bioarchaeology and mortuary archaeology of highland landscapes. We highlight new theoretical , methodological, and comparative contributions to the anthropological study of upland spaces. Theoretical contributions include examining identity, connectivity, and adaptation from an explicitly biocultural perspective. By bridging the biological anthropological focus on the somatic with an archaeological focus on the long term, bioarchaeology allows for the development of an embodied understanding of "marginal" highland environments, investigating how such landscapes shape and are shaped by human action over time. Recent advances in bioarchaeological methods, including isotopic analyses of mobility and diet and ancient DNA studies of kinship and relatedness, are combined with traditional osteological examinations of age, sex, ancestry, and disease to reconstruct the lifeways of mountain communities. These methodological advances take advantage of the topographical, geological, and ecological diversity of mountain landscapes. Finally, a comparative bioarchaeology of upland and lowland communities across space and time provides a deeper understanding of highland adaptations and identities. The papers share a number of unifying themes, including the impact of mountain landscapes on channeling resource control, creating or mediating diverse identities, and the importance of interdisciplinary investigations for developing an understanding of the relationship between people and place. As this issue demonstrates, the study of human remains must be situated within a holistic bioarchae-ological approach to life and death in order to understand the dynamic relationships between people and the highland environments they occupy.
The Apuseni Mountains of southwestern Transylvania (Romania) are home to the richest gold and cop... more The Apuseni Mountains of southwestern Transylvania (Romania) are home to the richest gold and copper deposits in Europe, key resources that fueled the development of social complexity during the Bronze Age (ca. 2700-800 B.C.E.). This landscape encompasses a significant amount of topographic and ecological diversity , with upland landscapes incorporating major mineral deposits, forests, pastures, and salt springs, and low-land agropastoral landscapes abutting the major interregional Mureș River corridor. Local Early Bronze Age (ca. 2700-2000 B.C.E.) communities typically buried their dead in stone-covered tumuli in the uplands, though there are also examples of burial in lowland settlements. The relationship between upland and lowland mortuary contexts is an enduring question within the regional archaeological record. In this paper we present a case study that compares individuals from two sites: the lowland settlement of Alba Iulia-Pârâul Iovului and the upland cemetery of Meteș-La Meteșel. We ask whether there were differences between the uplands and the low-lands in terms of mortuary practices and eligibility for burial, or differences in the lived experience of pathology or trauma. Our results show that there are few significant differences between the two samples. Adults and subadults, as well as males and females, are represented at both sites, and levels of skeletal pathology are low, while dental insults are more frequent. We conclude by outlining a strategy for developing a regional bioarchae-ology that will incorporate multiple lines of archaeological and bioarchaeological evidence and enhance our understanding of the biocultural dynamics of the region.
Where people bury their dead is a critical part of mortuary rituals. This paper examines the rela... more Where people bury their dead is a critical part of mortuary rituals. This paper examines the relationship between the placement of the dead within a landscape and the social roles of the dead in the lives of the living. We examine the distribution of mortuary sites in southwest Transylvania during the Early and Middle Bronze Age (2700-1500 BCE), a period of significant socioeconomic transformation. We document a shift in the locations of cemeteries that is linked to the changing roles of the dead within society. During the Early Bronze Age, people placed their dead in highly visible tomb cemeteries in upland landscapes with access to metal and highland pasture. We argue that the living used mortuary practices to contest access to resources. During the Middle Bronze Age, however, people were primarily cremated and buried in flat urn cemeteries in similar contexts as settlements. We argue that this transition signifies changing institutions of metal procurement as well as a shift in the roles of the dead in the lives of the living. The analysis of cemetery placement has significant potential for revealing the organization and evolution of how bodies are used for political purposes in a broad range of geographic and chronological contexts.
Southwest Transylvania was an important source of metal and other natural resources for Bronze Ag... more Southwest Transylvania was an important source of metal and other natural resources for Bronze Age Europe, helping to facilitate the development of increasingly hierarchical societies. The absence of a radiocarbon-based chronology for Transylvania, however, has impeded understanding of the region's role within broader socioeconomic networks. Here, the presentation of the first radiocarbon chronology for the Wietenberg Culture in southwest Transylvania allows the authors to highlight the importance of interregional exchange and reliable access to metal for Bronze Age European societies, and emphasise that resource-procurement zones follow unique trajectories of socioeconomic organisation.
The study offers the present state of research regarding the Cugir-Band cultural group, which is ... more The study offers the present state of research regarding the Cugir-Band cultural group, which is characteristic for the Late Bronze Age in the central and South-Western parts of Transylvania. Fourteen sites have been identified so far, including one cremation cemetery. The three radiocarbon dates from Miceşti, Teiuş and Turdaş point towards the 12th century calBC. Thus, it mainly follows the Noua culture in the central and south-western regions and it might be contemporary with the very beginning of the Gáva culture, as the two dates from Alba Iulia and Teleac seem to indicate. A clear Cugir-Band heritage can be detected in the Gáva-style ceramics otherwise.
As archaeologists expand the accessibility of legacy data, they have an opportunity to use these ... more As archaeologists expand the accessibility of legacy data, they have an opportunity to use these datasets to design future research. We argue that legacy data can be a critical resource to help predict characteristics of sites and socioeconomic systems. In this article, we present a combined geographic information system (GIS) and network analysis methodology that turns site location data into testable hypotheses about site characteristics and the organization of regional settlement systems. We demonstrate the utility of this approach with a case study: Bronze Age (2700-1100 BC) settlement patterns in the mining region of Hunedoara in southwest Transylvania, Romania. We leverage unsystematically collected site location information in legacy datasets to develop testable predictions about sites, regional networks, and socioeconomic systems that can be evaluated through future systematic surveys and large-scale excavations. Such testable hypotheses can inform archaeological research design by providing a quantitative basis for determining where to focus research efforts and can also help secure funding and fieldwork permits. The method developed here can be applied in diverse archaeological contexts to reinvigorate legacy data as part of future archaeological research design.
Hafting is an important part of lithic technology that can increase our understanding of socioeco... more Hafting is an important part of lithic technology that can increase our understanding of socioeconomic behavior in the past. In this article, we develop a holistic approach to studying hafting by using the concept of curation within a broader assessment of lithic technological organization in early villages. Early villages were loci of socioeconomic transformation as part of the shift from mobile foraging to more sedentary cultivation lifeways. We suggest that an examination of hafting can provide new insights into how early villagers negotiated technological requirements, economic decision making, and social interactions in these novel contexts. As a case study, we develop a curation index and apply it to an archaeological context of hafted and unhafted pointed tools from the early Neolithic village of Dhra', Jordan. This curation index allows for a discussion of the technological, economic, and social dimensions of hafting strategies at Dhra'. The presence of multiple hafting traditions within early Neolithic villages of Southwest Asia is evidence of persistent social segmentation despite food storage and ritual practices that emphasized communal integration. Through the lens of lithic technological organization, we demonstrate that hafting and curation patterns can increase our understanding of technological, economic, and social strategies in early villages.
Hafting is an important part of lithic technology that can increase our understanding of socioeco... more Hafting is an important part of lithic technology that can increase our understanding of socioeconomic behavior in the past. In this article, we develop a holistic approach to studying hafting by using the concept of curation within a broader assessment of lithic technological organization in early villages. Early villages were loci of socioeconomic transformation as part of the shift from mobile foraging to more sedentary cultivation lifeways. We suggest that an examination of hafting can provide new insights into how early villagers negotiated technological requirements, economic decision making, and social interactions in these novel contexts. As a case study, we develop a curation index and apply it to an archaeological context of hafted and unhafted pointed tools from the early Neolithic village of Dhra', Jordan. This curation index allows for a discussion of the technological, economic, and social dimensions of hafting strategies at Dhra'. The presence of multiple hafting traditions within early Neolithic villages of Southwest Asia is evidence of persistent social segmentation despite food storage and ritual practices that emphasized communal integration. Through the lens of lithic technological organization, we demonstrate that hafting and curation patterns can increase our understanding of technological, economic, and social strategies in early villages. El enmangue es una parte importante de la tecnología lítica que puede aumentar nuestra comprensión del comportamiento socioeconómico en el pasado. En este trabajo, desarrollamos un enfoque holístico para el estudio de la utilización del concepto de curación dentro de una evaluación más amplia de la organización tecnológica lítica en las aldeas primitivas. Las aldeas tempranas fueron lugares de transformación socioeconómica como parte del cambio de alimentación móvil a formas de vida de cultivos más sedentarios. Sugerimos que la examinación de los acontecimientos del enmangue puede proporcionar nuevos conocimientos sobre cómo los aldeanos negociaron los requisitos para la tecnología, la toma de decisiones económicas y las interacciones sociales en estos nuevos contextos. Como estudio de caso, desarrollamos un índice de curación y lo aplicamos a un contexto arqueológico de las herramientas puntiagudas y sin puntillas de la antigua aldea neolítica de Dhra', Jordania. Este índice de curación permite una discusión de las dimensiones tecnológicas, económicas y sociales de las estrategias de desarrollo en Dhra'. La presencia de múltiples tradiciones de hospedaje en las aldeas neolíticas tempranas del sudoeste de Asia es evidencia de una persistente segmentación social a pesar del almacenamiento de alimentos y las prácticas rituales que enfatizan la integración comunitaria. A través de la lente de la organización tecnológica lítica, demostramos que los patrones de cuidado y curación pueden proporcionar una mejor comprensión de las estrategias tecnológicas, económicas y sociales en las aldeas primitivas.
This article presents the results of multi-scalar investigations into the Later Bronze Age (LBA; ... more This article presents the results of multi-scalar investigations into the Later Bronze Age (LBA; 1500– 600 BC) landscape of Inishark in County Galway, Ireland. The European LBA along the Atlantic coast was characterized by the development of long-distance maritime exchange systems that transformed environmentally marginal seascapes into a corridor of human interaction and movement of goods and people. Archaeological survey, test excavation, and radiocarbon analysis documented the LBA occupation on Inishark. The communities living on Inishark and other small islands on the western Irish coast were on the periphery of both the European continent and of the elite spheres of influence at hillforts in Ireland; yet they were connected to the Atlantic maritime exchange routes. A focus on small coastal islands contributes to a better understanding of LBA socioeconomic systems and the development of social complexity in Bronze Age societies.
The Bronze Age was a period of significant socioeconomic transformation that gave rise to the fir... more The Bronze Age was a period of significant socioeconomic transformation that gave rise to the first complex regional polities with institutionalized inequality in Europe. Communities in southwest Transylvania, a major source of gold, copper, and salt, played a critical role in this transformation. This article examines how socioeconomic changes affected how people situated settlements in resource procurement zones during the Early and Middle Bronze Age (2700–1500 cal. BCE). Taking advantage of the heterogeneous distribution of natural resources across the landscape, a GIS catchment analysis of the orientation of settlements toward particular constellations of resources is presented. Our results show increased preference for access to high quality agricultural land and access to interregional trade through the Mureș River corridor over the course of the Bronze Age. Despite the increased importance of metal within Bronze Age economies, there is no evidence that Transylvanian communities placed their settlements to maximize their ability to contest or secure access to the metal ore sources in the Apuseni Mountains. The organization of settlement systems in the Bronze Age demonstrates that Transylvanian communities prioritized socioeconomic institutions beyond metal procurement. This study demonstrates that tracing how humans situate themselves in variable landscapes can provide new insights into the conditions and mechanisms of social change.
Ash, bone, and memories are all that remains after cremation. Yet for societies and communities, ... more Ash, bone, and memories are all that remains after cremation. Yet for societies and communities, the act of cremation after death is highly symbolic, rich with complex meaning, touching on what it means to be human. In the process of transforming the dead, the family, the community, and society as a whole create and partake in cultural symbolism. Cremation is a key area of archaeological research, but its complexity has been underappreciated and undertheorized. Transformation by Fire offers a fresh assessment of archaeological research on this widespread social practice.
Editors Ian Kuijt, Colin P. Quinn, and Gabriel Cooney’s volume examines cremation by documenting the material signatures of cremation events and processes, as well as its transformative impact on social relations and concepts of the body. Indeed, examining why and how people chose to cremate their dead serves as an important means of understanding how people in the past dealt with death, the body, and the social world.
The contributors develop new perspectives on cremation as important mortuary practices and social transformations. Varying attitudes and beliefs on cremation and other forms of burial within the same cultural paradigm help us understand what constitutes the body and what occurs during its fiery transformation. In addition, they explore issues and interpretive perspectives in the archaeological study of cremation within and between different cultural contexts.
The global and comparative perspectives on cremation render the book a unique contribution to the literature of anthropological and mortuary archaeology.
“The compilation is a seriously considered assessment of the many issues confronting archaeology on the subject of cremation. The chapters and the brief commentary on some of them interspersed through the book provide a wonderful assessment of where we stand.”—James A. Brown, Northwestern University
“Transformation by Fire is different from other books on mortuary archaeology in its emphases on the series of events involved in cremation, the impacts of transformations through cremation on social relations and concepts of personhood, and the potential parallels between burning and burying bodies, structures, and material items.”—Christopher B. Rodning, Tulane University
The Late Woodland (ca. AD 800–1500) was a time of socioeconomic and environmental change in the A... more The Late Woodland (ca. AD 800–1500) was a time of socioeconomic and environmental change in the Appalachian Summit. Changing climatic conditions and the introduction of maize agriculture made permanent settlement in these high-elevation mountain landscapes possible for the first time. We adopt a settlement ecology approach to examine how Late Woodland communities situated themselves in the landscape. Drawing upon geospatial analyses of legacy datasets, we document how Late Woodland communities prioritized access to different socioeconomic resources in the New River Headwaters region of northwest North Carolina. The New River Headwaters was an important source of natural resources, including mica and copper, as well as an important corridor for the movement of people and resources throughout Eastern North America. Our analyses demonstrate that Late Woodland communities balanced access to arable land, copper sources, and long-distance trade routes when situating their settlements. Larger sites had access to more land suited for maize agriculture than smaller sites. The largest sites in the region were also well-positioned with nearby access to copper sources and trade routes along the New River. Regional approaches to Late Woodland occupation in the Appalachian Summit reveal the dynamic relationship between humans and the environment in mountain landscapes.
The Coțofeni culture is part of an extensive cultural phenomenon that extended across the Carpath... more The Coțofeni culture is part of an extensive cultural phenomenon that extended across the Carpathian Basin, Transylvania, and surrounded regions during the 4th and early 3rd millennium BC. This cultural phenomenon is marked by distinctive ceramics, metal objects, and agropastoral lifeways. A recent influx of research and radiocarbon dating have made it possible to reconstruct the absolute chronology of the Coțofeni culture in Romania, including its start and end dates and internal development, for the first time. In this study, we present 26 radiocarbon dates, Bayesian models, and a discussion of relevant material culture from 11 sites in Romania: Ariceştii – Rahtivani, Băile Herculane, Dubova, Hăpria, Gligoreşti, Ostrovu Corbului, Peţelca, Poiana Ampoiului, Râmeţ – Gugu, Silvaşu de Jos, and Turdaş - Siteş. Based on the available radiocarbon data, we place the start of the Coțofeni culture during the Late Copper Age (Eneolithic), approximately 3500/3400 BC. The earliest phase (Coțofeni I) lasted approximately from 3500/3400 BC to 3300/3200. With fewer dates and a shorter span, the second phase (Coțofeni II) is more difficult to situate, but available data suggest it is between 3300/3250 to 3200/3150 BC. The third and final phase (Coțofeni III) spanned from approximately 3200/3150 to 2900/2800 BC. The dates demonstrate that there is a significant temporal overlap – up to two centuries in length – between the Coțofeni culture and Yamnaya migrant communities from the Eurasian Steppe in the early 3rd millennium BC. Dates from sites with burial mounds covering Coțofeni settlement, such as at Râmeţ - Gugu (approximately 2900), demonstrate the timing and close connection between Coțofeni communities and the emergence of burial tumuli in Transylvania.
This article presents the results of multi-scalar investigations into the Later Bronze Age (LBA; ... more This article presents the results of multi-scalar investigations into the Later Bronze Age (LBA; 1500-600 BC) landscape of Inishark in County Galway, Ireland. The European LBA along the Atlantic coast was characterized by the development of long-distance maritime exchange systems that transformed environmentally marginal seascapes into a corridor of human interaction and movement of goods and people. Archaeological survey, test excavation, and radiocarbon analysis documented the LBA occupation on Inishark. The communities living on Inishark and other small islands on the western Irish coast were on the periphery of both the European continent and of the elite spheres of influence at hillforts in Ireland; yet they were connected to the Atlantic maritime exchange routes. A focus on small coastal islands contributes to a better understanding of LBA socioeconomic systems and the development of social complexity in Bronze Age societies.
In this introduction to the thematic issue Living and Dying in Mountain Landscapes, we develop an... more In this introduction to the thematic issue Living and Dying in Mountain Landscapes, we develop an analytical framework for the bioarchaeology and mortuary archaeology of highland landscapes. We highlight new theoretical , methodological, and comparative contributions to the anthropological study of upland spaces. Theoretical contributions include examining identity, connectivity, and adaptation from an explicitly biocultural perspective. By bridging the biological anthropological focus on the somatic with an archaeological focus on the long term, bioarchaeology allows for the development of an embodied understanding of "marginal" highland environments, investigating how such landscapes shape and are shaped by human action over time. Recent advances in bioarchaeological methods, including isotopic analyses of mobility and diet and ancient DNA studies of kinship and relatedness, are combined with traditional osteological examinations of age, sex, ancestry, and disease to reconstruct the lifeways of mountain communities. These methodological advances take advantage of the topographical, geological, and ecological diversity of mountain landscapes. Finally, a comparative bioarchaeology of upland and lowland communities across space and time provides a deeper understanding of highland adaptations and identities. The papers share a number of unifying themes, including the impact of mountain landscapes on channeling resource control, creating or mediating diverse identities, and the importance of interdisciplinary investigations for developing an understanding of the relationship between people and place. As this issue demonstrates, the study of human remains must be situated within a holistic bioarchae-ological approach to life and death in order to understand the dynamic relationships between people and the highland environments they occupy.
The Apuseni Mountains of southwestern Transylvania (Romania) are home to the richest gold and cop... more The Apuseni Mountains of southwestern Transylvania (Romania) are home to the richest gold and copper deposits in Europe, key resources that fueled the development of social complexity during the Bronze Age (ca. 2700-800 B.C.E.). This landscape encompasses a significant amount of topographic and ecological diversity , with upland landscapes incorporating major mineral deposits, forests, pastures, and salt springs, and low-land agropastoral landscapes abutting the major interregional Mureș River corridor. Local Early Bronze Age (ca. 2700-2000 B.C.E.) communities typically buried their dead in stone-covered tumuli in the uplands, though there are also examples of burial in lowland settlements. The relationship between upland and lowland mortuary contexts is an enduring question within the regional archaeological record. In this paper we present a case study that compares individuals from two sites: the lowland settlement of Alba Iulia-Pârâul Iovului and the upland cemetery of Meteș-La Meteșel. We ask whether there were differences between the uplands and the low-lands in terms of mortuary practices and eligibility for burial, or differences in the lived experience of pathology or trauma. Our results show that there are few significant differences between the two samples. Adults and subadults, as well as males and females, are represented at both sites, and levels of skeletal pathology are low, while dental insults are more frequent. We conclude by outlining a strategy for developing a regional bioarchae-ology that will incorporate multiple lines of archaeological and bioarchaeological evidence and enhance our understanding of the biocultural dynamics of the region.
Where people bury their dead is a critical part of mortuary rituals. This paper examines the rela... more Where people bury their dead is a critical part of mortuary rituals. This paper examines the relationship between the placement of the dead within a landscape and the social roles of the dead in the lives of the living. We examine the distribution of mortuary sites in southwest Transylvania during the Early and Middle Bronze Age (2700-1500 BCE), a period of significant socioeconomic transformation. We document a shift in the locations of cemeteries that is linked to the changing roles of the dead within society. During the Early Bronze Age, people placed their dead in highly visible tomb cemeteries in upland landscapes with access to metal and highland pasture. We argue that the living used mortuary practices to contest access to resources. During the Middle Bronze Age, however, people were primarily cremated and buried in flat urn cemeteries in similar contexts as settlements. We argue that this transition signifies changing institutions of metal procurement as well as a shift in the roles of the dead in the lives of the living. The analysis of cemetery placement has significant potential for revealing the organization and evolution of how bodies are used for political purposes in a broad range of geographic and chronological contexts.
Southwest Transylvania was an important source of metal and other natural resources for Bronze Ag... more Southwest Transylvania was an important source of metal and other natural resources for Bronze Age Europe, helping to facilitate the development of increasingly hierarchical societies. The absence of a radiocarbon-based chronology for Transylvania, however, has impeded understanding of the region's role within broader socioeconomic networks. Here, the presentation of the first radiocarbon chronology for the Wietenberg Culture in southwest Transylvania allows the authors to highlight the importance of interregional exchange and reliable access to metal for Bronze Age European societies, and emphasise that resource-procurement zones follow unique trajectories of socioeconomic organisation.
The study offers the present state of research regarding the Cugir-Band cultural group, which is ... more The study offers the present state of research regarding the Cugir-Band cultural group, which is characteristic for the Late Bronze Age in the central and South-Western parts of Transylvania. Fourteen sites have been identified so far, including one cremation cemetery. The three radiocarbon dates from Miceşti, Teiuş and Turdaş point towards the 12th century calBC. Thus, it mainly follows the Noua culture in the central and south-western regions and it might be contemporary with the very beginning of the Gáva culture, as the two dates from Alba Iulia and Teleac seem to indicate. A clear Cugir-Band heritage can be detected in the Gáva-style ceramics otherwise.
As archaeologists expand the accessibility of legacy data, they have an opportunity to use these ... more As archaeologists expand the accessibility of legacy data, they have an opportunity to use these datasets to design future research. We argue that legacy data can be a critical resource to help predict characteristics of sites and socioeconomic systems. In this article, we present a combined geographic information system (GIS) and network analysis methodology that turns site location data into testable hypotheses about site characteristics and the organization of regional settlement systems. We demonstrate the utility of this approach with a case study: Bronze Age (2700-1100 BC) settlement patterns in the mining region of Hunedoara in southwest Transylvania, Romania. We leverage unsystematically collected site location information in legacy datasets to develop testable predictions about sites, regional networks, and socioeconomic systems that can be evaluated through future systematic surveys and large-scale excavations. Such testable hypotheses can inform archaeological research design by providing a quantitative basis for determining where to focus research efforts and can also help secure funding and fieldwork permits. The method developed here can be applied in diverse archaeological contexts to reinvigorate legacy data as part of future archaeological research design.
Hafting is an important part of lithic technology that can increase our understanding of socioeco... more Hafting is an important part of lithic technology that can increase our understanding of socioeconomic behavior in the past. In this article, we develop a holistic approach to studying hafting by using the concept of curation within a broader assessment of lithic technological organization in early villages. Early villages were loci of socioeconomic transformation as part of the shift from mobile foraging to more sedentary cultivation lifeways. We suggest that an examination of hafting can provide new insights into how early villagers negotiated technological requirements, economic decision making, and social interactions in these novel contexts. As a case study, we develop a curation index and apply it to an archaeological context of hafted and unhafted pointed tools from the early Neolithic village of Dhra', Jordan. This curation index allows for a discussion of the technological, economic, and social dimensions of hafting strategies at Dhra'. The presence of multiple hafting traditions within early Neolithic villages of Southwest Asia is evidence of persistent social segmentation despite food storage and ritual practices that emphasized communal integration. Through the lens of lithic technological organization, we demonstrate that hafting and curation patterns can increase our understanding of technological, economic, and social strategies in early villages.
Hafting is an important part of lithic technology that can increase our understanding of socioeco... more Hafting is an important part of lithic technology that can increase our understanding of socioeconomic behavior in the past. In this article, we develop a holistic approach to studying hafting by using the concept of curation within a broader assessment of lithic technological organization in early villages. Early villages were loci of socioeconomic transformation as part of the shift from mobile foraging to more sedentary cultivation lifeways. We suggest that an examination of hafting can provide new insights into how early villagers negotiated technological requirements, economic decision making, and social interactions in these novel contexts. As a case study, we develop a curation index and apply it to an archaeological context of hafted and unhafted pointed tools from the early Neolithic village of Dhra', Jordan. This curation index allows for a discussion of the technological, economic, and social dimensions of hafting strategies at Dhra'. The presence of multiple hafting traditions within early Neolithic villages of Southwest Asia is evidence of persistent social segmentation despite food storage and ritual practices that emphasized communal integration. Through the lens of lithic technological organization, we demonstrate that hafting and curation patterns can increase our understanding of technological, economic, and social strategies in early villages. El enmangue es una parte importante de la tecnología lítica que puede aumentar nuestra comprensión del comportamiento socioeconómico en el pasado. En este trabajo, desarrollamos un enfoque holístico para el estudio de la utilización del concepto de curación dentro de una evaluación más amplia de la organización tecnológica lítica en las aldeas primitivas. Las aldeas tempranas fueron lugares de transformación socioeconómica como parte del cambio de alimentación móvil a formas de vida de cultivos más sedentarios. Sugerimos que la examinación de los acontecimientos del enmangue puede proporcionar nuevos conocimientos sobre cómo los aldeanos negociaron los requisitos para la tecnología, la toma de decisiones económicas y las interacciones sociales en estos nuevos contextos. Como estudio de caso, desarrollamos un índice de curación y lo aplicamos a un contexto arqueológico de las herramientas puntiagudas y sin puntillas de la antigua aldea neolítica de Dhra', Jordania. Este índice de curación permite una discusión de las dimensiones tecnológicas, económicas y sociales de las estrategias de desarrollo en Dhra'. La presencia de múltiples tradiciones de hospedaje en las aldeas neolíticas tempranas del sudoeste de Asia es evidencia de una persistente segmentación social a pesar del almacenamiento de alimentos y las prácticas rituales que enfatizan la integración comunitaria. A través de la lente de la organización tecnológica lítica, demostramos que los patrones de cuidado y curación pueden proporcionar una mejor comprensión de las estrategias tecnológicas, económicas y sociales en las aldeas primitivas.
This article presents the results of multi-scalar investigations into the Later Bronze Age (LBA; ... more This article presents the results of multi-scalar investigations into the Later Bronze Age (LBA; 1500– 600 BC) landscape of Inishark in County Galway, Ireland. The European LBA along the Atlantic coast was characterized by the development of long-distance maritime exchange systems that transformed environmentally marginal seascapes into a corridor of human interaction and movement of goods and people. Archaeological survey, test excavation, and radiocarbon analysis documented the LBA occupation on Inishark. The communities living on Inishark and other small islands on the western Irish coast were on the periphery of both the European continent and of the elite spheres of influence at hillforts in Ireland; yet they were connected to the Atlantic maritime exchange routes. A focus on small coastal islands contributes to a better understanding of LBA socioeconomic systems and the development of social complexity in Bronze Age societies.
The Bronze Age was a period of significant socioeconomic transformation that gave rise to the fir... more The Bronze Age was a period of significant socioeconomic transformation that gave rise to the first complex regional polities with institutionalized inequality in Europe. Communities in southwest Transylvania, a major source of gold, copper, and salt, played a critical role in this transformation. This article examines how socioeconomic changes affected how people situated settlements in resource procurement zones during the Early and Middle Bronze Age (2700–1500 cal. BCE). Taking advantage of the heterogeneous distribution of natural resources across the landscape, a GIS catchment analysis of the orientation of settlements toward particular constellations of resources is presented. Our results show increased preference for access to high quality agricultural land and access to interregional trade through the Mureș River corridor over the course of the Bronze Age. Despite the increased importance of metal within Bronze Age economies, there is no evidence that Transylvanian communities placed their settlements to maximize their ability to contest or secure access to the metal ore sources in the Apuseni Mountains. The organization of settlement systems in the Bronze Age demonstrates that Transylvanian communities prioritized socioeconomic institutions beyond metal procurement. This study demonstrates that tracing how humans situate themselves in variable landscapes can provide new insights into the conditions and mechanisms of social change.
Research on the emergence of institutionalized inequality has traditionally maintained an analyti... more Research on the emergence of institutionalized inequality has traditionally maintained an analytical divide between lived institutions that affect daily life and performed institutions materialized in mortuary contexts. Here, we argue that convergence or divergence between lived and performed contexts reveals key aspects of past social organization. When combined, mortuary archaeology and bioarchaeology provide a methodological framework well suited to evaluate the coherence or dissonance of such institutions. Three case studies from prehistoric Europe highlight how new insights gained by studying tension between institutions, identities and experiences across social dimensions can transform our understanding of the development of institutionalized inequality.
Brief introduction to the New River Archaeological Project, set to begin fieldwork in May 2019, f... more Brief introduction to the New River Archaeological Project, set to begin fieldwork in May 2019, for a public/interdisciplinary audience.
Copper and gold resources from Southwestern Transylvania played a critical role in the emergence ... more Copper and gold resources from Southwestern Transylvania played a critical role in the emergence of inequality in European Late Prehistory. Communities in this metal-rich landscape, however, remain poorly understood. Though the highly visible tombs in the Apuseni Mountains where these communities buried some of their dead have been known to local archaeologists for decades, very little is known about the backdrop of health and disease in the region. Here, we present one of the first bioarchaeological analyses of skeletal and dental health for the Apuseni Early Bronze Age, focusing on a sample of human remains that incorporates individuals of both sexes and a range of ages, from very young children to older adults. Our results show relatively low levels of skeletal pathology, with age-related insults such as osteoarthritis predominating. In contrast, dental insults were more common and included caries, calculus, alveolar resorption, and abscesses. We present several case-studies of older individuals affected with particularly severe combinations of dental insults, and discuss the dietary and behavioral implications of handling such pathologies, at both the level of the individual and the community.
Workshop and Book Series https://academics.hamilton.edu/winslow-series-in-archaeology/ This works... more Workshop and Book Series https://academics.hamilton.edu/winslow-series-in-archaeology/ This workshop and book series highlights innovative archaeological approaches to persistent questions of the past. Archaeologists have an opportunity, even a responsibility, to address big topics such as political change, food security, climate change, economic inequality, personal identity, institutionalized racism, and societal collapse and resiliency. By employing long-term perspectives rooted in empirical approaches to the material record, archaeologists can provide unique insights into a broad range of topics of central importance to the human experience and the development of human societies. Developing transformative knowledge on these issues often requires critical reflection to redefine terms and concepts that may be limiting our understanding of the past. This series is designed to foster transformative research on major issues in understanding our past. This is achieved through an approach that emphasizes repeated, in-depth conversations by senior and junior scholars on persistent questions in archaeology. Each book project will be part of the Hamilton College Winslow Lectureship Series in Archaeology, which will be held virtually in the Spring 2021. The multi-day workshop structure, where scholars are focused exclusively on the issue at hand, will provide greater potential for the researchers to produce transformative works in the form of peer-reviewed edited volumes. Projects in the Winslow Lectureship Series will be published as part of a book series with Routledge Press. The Editorial Board of Persistent Questions of the Past welcomes applications for the next Winslow Series in Archaeology workshop to be held virtually in Spring 2021. We invite proposals of topics that take a new, globally-comparative look at major issues in archaeology. The Editorial Board seeks proposals of projects that promote diversity in all forms. Transformative ideas require intellectual diversity and the diversity of people from different backgrounds. The global case studies allow for across intellectual traditions with a combination of junior and senior scholars, as we see intersection of research experience and innovative ideas are more likely to produce transformative ideas on big issues in archaeology. The series editors would expect that each volume will be edited jointly by a junior scholar up-and-coming in the field as well as a senior scholar who has the name recognition as an expert in the proposed topic.
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Books by Colin Quinn
Editors Ian Kuijt, Colin P. Quinn, and Gabriel Cooney’s volume examines cremation by documenting the material signatures of cremation events and processes, as well as its transformative impact on social relations and concepts of the body. Indeed, examining why and how people chose to cremate their dead serves as an important means of understanding how people in the past dealt with death, the body, and the social world.
The contributors develop new perspectives on cremation as important mortuary practices and social transformations. Varying attitudes and beliefs on cremation and other forms of burial within the same cultural paradigm help us understand what constitutes the body and what occurs during its fiery transformation. In addition, they explore issues and interpretive perspectives in the archaeological study of cremation within and between different cultural contexts.
The global and comparative perspectives on cremation render the book a unique contribution to the literature of anthropological and mortuary archaeology.
“The compilation is a seriously considered assessment of the many issues confronting archaeology on the subject of cremation. The chapters and the brief commentary on some of them interspersed through the book provide a wonderful assessment of where we stand.”—James A. Brown, Northwestern University
“Transformation by Fire is different from other books on mortuary archaeology in its emphases on the series of events involved in cremation, the impacts of transformations through cremation on social relations and concepts of personhood, and the potential parallels between burning and burying bodies, structures, and material items.”—Christopher B. Rodning, Tulane University
Papers by Colin Quinn
resources in the New River Headwaters region of northwest North Carolina. The New River Headwaters was an important source of natural resources, including mica and copper, as well as an important corridor for the movement of people and resources throughout Eastern North America. Our analyses demonstrate that Late Woodland communities balanced access to arable land, copper sources, and long-distance trade routes when situating their settlements. Larger sites had access to more land suited for maize agriculture than smaller sites. The largest sites in the region were also well-positioned with nearby access to copper sources and trade routes along the New River. Regional approaches to Late Woodland occupation in the Appalachian Summit reveal the dynamic relationship between humans and the environment in mountain landscapes.
Editors Ian Kuijt, Colin P. Quinn, and Gabriel Cooney’s volume examines cremation by documenting the material signatures of cremation events and processes, as well as its transformative impact on social relations and concepts of the body. Indeed, examining why and how people chose to cremate their dead serves as an important means of understanding how people in the past dealt with death, the body, and the social world.
The contributors develop new perspectives on cremation as important mortuary practices and social transformations. Varying attitudes and beliefs on cremation and other forms of burial within the same cultural paradigm help us understand what constitutes the body and what occurs during its fiery transformation. In addition, they explore issues and interpretive perspectives in the archaeological study of cremation within and between different cultural contexts.
The global and comparative perspectives on cremation render the book a unique contribution to the literature of anthropological and mortuary archaeology.
“The compilation is a seriously considered assessment of the many issues confronting archaeology on the subject of cremation. The chapters and the brief commentary on some of them interspersed through the book provide a wonderful assessment of where we stand.”—James A. Brown, Northwestern University
“Transformation by Fire is different from other books on mortuary archaeology in its emphases on the series of events involved in cremation, the impacts of transformations through cremation on social relations and concepts of personhood, and the potential parallels between burning and burying bodies, structures, and material items.”—Christopher B. Rodning, Tulane University
resources in the New River Headwaters region of northwest North Carolina. The New River Headwaters was an important source of natural resources, including mica and copper, as well as an important corridor for the movement of people and resources throughout Eastern North America. Our analyses demonstrate that Late Woodland communities balanced access to arable land, copper sources, and long-distance trade routes when situating their settlements. Larger sites had access to more land suited for maize agriculture than smaller sites. The largest sites in the region were also well-positioned with nearby access to copper sources and trade routes along the New River. Regional approaches to Late Woodland occupation in the Appalachian Summit reveal the dynamic relationship between humans and the environment in mountain landscapes.