David Rhode

Measurement of Archaeological Diversity and the Sample-Size Effect

Assemblage diversity is an important part of the structure of the archaeological record, but measuring this parameter often is difficult ifsamples of assemblages differ in size. Two methods, here called the sampling approach and regression approach, currently are used to assess the sample-size effect. The approaches differ in method and in results. The sampling approach is better suited to analysis of assemblage diversity among samples when the underlying population structure is well known, while the regression approach is more useful for examination of the sample-size effect when the underlying population structure is known poorly.

Yaks, yak Dung, and prehistoric human habitation of the Tibetan Plateau

This paper explores the importance of yak dung as a source of fuel for early human inhabitants of the Tibetan Plateau. The wild and domestic yak is introduced, followed by a discussion of yak dung production, collection, and energetic return. Yak dung is compared with other products such as milk, pack energy, and meat, demonstrating its high energetic value while emphasizing that various yak products serve different, complementary, and nonfungible purposes. Following this review of yak dung energetics, issues related to the early peopling of the Tibetan Plateau become the paper’s focus. Availability of yak dung as a fuel was a potentially critical factor for colonization of the high Plateau, where other fuel sources are largely lacking. The patchy distribution of dung on the landscape may have required the development of various strategies for ensuring an adequate supply during foragers’ travels in the high Plateau. Meeting fuel needs may have led to the integration of the wild yak into human settlement systems and may have contributed to behaviors that resulted in the yak’s domestication.

Antiquity of early Holocene small-seed consumption and processing at Danger Cave

When did people start to eat small seeds, and what drove them to it? New investigations and dating at the Danger Cave in the American Great Basin show that seeds (pickleweed seeds) did not become part of the staple diet until after 8700 b.p. It was at this time that animal and plant resources had begun to seriously diminish in a shrinking wetland.

Early Holocene pinyon (Pinus monophylla) in the northeastern Great Basin

Fine-grained excavation and analysis of a stratigraphic column from Danger Cave, northeastern Great Basin, suggests prehistoric hunter-gatherers were collecting and using singleleaf pinyon (Pinus monophylla) near the site for at least the last 7500 yr. Human use of the cave began after the retreat of Lake Bonneville from the Gilbert level, shortly before 10,000 yr B.P. In stratum 9, culturally deposited pine nut hulls appear in the sequence by about 7900 yr B.P. and are continuously present thereafter. A hull fragment in stratum 10 is directly dated to 7410 ± 120 yr B.P. These dates are at least 2000 yr earlier than expected by extrapolation to macrofossil records from the east-central and central Great Basin, and necessitate some revision of current biogeographical models of late Quaternary pinyon migration.

Coprolites from Hidden Cave, revisited: evidence for site occupation history, diet and sex of occupants

Analysis of paleofeces from Hidden Cave, western Nevada provides new evidence for occupation history, diet and dietary change, and occupation of the cave by women. Dating of the coprolites shows two main periods of occupation, from 3800 to 3400 BP and 1900 to 1500 BP. Faunal and floral macrofossils, coupled with pollen analysis, show a dependence on wetland food resources, augmented with small seeds from dryland plants. Fecal steroid analysis indicates that the occupants of the cave were probably women. These results shed insights on prehistoric settlement patterns in the Carson Desert at times prior to major residential occupation of the Stillwater Marsh.

Archaeology Augments Tibet's Genetic History

T. S. Simonson et al. (“Genetic evidence for high-altitude adaptation in Tibet,” Reports, 2 July, p. [72][1]) and especially X. Yi et al. (“Sequencing of 50 human exomes reveals adaptation to high altitude,” Reports, 2 July, p. [75][2]) estimate that the genetic divergence of Tibetan

Dry Creek Revisited: New Excavations, Radiocarbon Dates, and Site Formation Inform on the Peopling of Eastern Beringia

The multicomponent Dry Creek site, located in the Nenana Valley, central Alaska, is arguably one of the most important archaeological sites in Beringia. Original work in the 1970s identified two separate cultural layers, called Components 1 and 2, thought to date to the terminal Pleistocene and suggesting that the site was visited by Upper Paleolithic huntergatherers between about 13,000 and 12,000 calendar years before present (cal B.P.). The oldest of these became the typeassemblage for the Nenana complex. Recently, some have questioned the geoarchaeological integrity of the sites early deposits, suggesting that the separated cultural layers resulted from natural postdepositional disturbances. In 2011, we revisited Dry Creek to independently assess the sites age and formation. Here we present our findings and reaffirm original interpretations of clear separation of two terminal Pleistocene cultural occupations. For the first time, we report direct radiocarbon dates on cultural features associated with both occupation zones, one dating to 13,485-13,305 and the other to 11,060-10,590 cal B.P.

Luminescence dating of protohistoric pottery from the Great Basin

Luminescence analyses of several protohistoric brownware ceramics from the Great Basin have produced dates ranging from the 15th to 19th centuries. These begin to add detail to the chronology of these ceramics, which up until now has been poorly known despite their potential importance for understanding Numic population movement in the area. Use of the “slide method” for determining equivalent dose has circumvented problems due to nonlinearity in the relationship between dose and luminescence and has provided much higher precision than traditional methods of dating. Disequilibrium detected in the U-series radioisotope decay chain and some contribution to the dose from nuclear fallout products have created some uncertainty in the dose rate, but less than the overall analytical error.

Wood Charcoal From Archaeological Sites in the Qinghai Lake Basin, Western China: Implications For Human Resource Use and Anthropogenic Environmental Change

The archaeological record of the Qinghai Lake Basin, northeast Tibetan Plateau, western China, contains charcoal-based evidence of significant changes in the distribution of local shrub land and woodland through the last 12,500 14C yr BP. These vegetation trends correspond with regional changes in hunter-gatherer settlement and patterns of Holocene climate change. This charcoal-based record is useful to address current issues concerning the timing of anthropogenic vs. climatic factors in the development of grazing lands in the northeast Tibetan Plateau.