John F. Cherry

Archaeological Survey in an Artifact-Rich Landscape: A Middle Neolithic Example from Nemea, Greece

Surface studies of a Middle Neolithic site near Nemea have produced pottery, chipped stone, and other finds which can be used to investigate economic and social links with contemporary settlements in the northeast Peloponnesos. Discovery of the site by survey and its subsequent archaeological and geological exploration exemplify the methods developed by the Nemea Valley Archaeological Project to examine terrain in which large quantities of artifacts of many different dates are regularly found to be widely dispersed in the landscape. Examination of the extent and total distribution of Neolithic finds in the Nemea area provides a perspective on changes in settlement within the Neolithic period and in the subsequent Early Bronze Age.

The emergence of the state in the prehistoric Aegean

It is widely accepted that distinctive polities of an institutional complexity sufficient to consider as ‘states’ first appeared in the Aegean area shortly after c. 2000 B.C. Most scholars would also agree that the origins of these palace-centred societies of Minoan Crete cannot be understood without extensive reference to developments taking place within and beyond the Aegean during a long formative period spanning the late fourth and the whole of the third millennia B.C. Yet that is an era so remote that it lies well beyond the reach of even the most enthusiastic adherent of Homer as a source of information about the Bronze Age, beyond any demonstrable relevance of later Greek memory in myth and legend, well before the period to which the Mycenaean Linear B tablets refer – indeed, before the existence of written records of any sort in the region, at least in a form we can read at present. Such a dearth of documentary evidence, even of a very indirect or secondary character, might seem prima facie to damn the investigation of the emergence of the first states on Greek soil as inherently speculative and, to a degree, that is so; but in many respects the same or similar problems have to be faced in studying the later emergence of the Greek city-state. As Snodgrass has reminded us, the ancient Greek political analysts provide a wide range of ostensibly confident statements about the nature and aetiology of many early legal and religious institutions, yet they have scarcely anything to say about the appearance of the political entity of which they themselves claimed citizenship and they throw very little light on the origins of what they were analyzing. Indeed, he claims ‘it is doubtful how far, if at all, contemporary consciousness of the emergence of a “state” existed.’

Still not digging, much

The impulse to keep excavating, set against widespread failures to publish in a timely manner, has created a crisis of confidence for archaeology. This is especially so in Europe and North America, where contract archaeology has witnessed dramatic growth in recent decades, but it is not universally the case. Far from being the defining practice of the discipline, excavation is not the only technique for generating data relevant to archaeological problems and, ideally, should be deployed as one element in multi-stage, multi-scalar fieldwork strategies. In any given situation in different parts of the world, many locally specific factors affect the role and relative importance of excavation. Examples are given from the authors recent fieldwork in Greece, southern Armenia and the eastern Caribbean.

Using Airborne LiDAR Survey to explore Historic-era archaeological landscapes of Montserrat in the Eastern Caribbean

Abstract This article describes what appears to be the first archaeological application of airborne LiDAR survey to historic-era landscapes in the Caribbean archipelago, on the island of Montserrat. LiDAR is proving invaluable in extending the reach of traditional pedestrian survey into less favorable areas, such as those covered by dense neotropical forest and by ashfall from the past two decades of active eruptions by the Soufrière Hills volcano, and to sites in localities that are inaccessible on account of volcanic dangers. Emphasis is placed on two aspects of the research: first, the importance of ongoing, real-time interaction between the LiDAR analyst and the archaeological team in the field; and second, the advantages of exploiting the full potential of the three-dimensional LiDAR point cloud data for purposes of the visualization of archaeological sites and features.

Field Survey and Geochemical Characterization of the Southern Armenian Obsidian Sources

Abstract In comparison with those of the west Mediterranean, the Aegean, and Anatolia, the numerous obsidian sources in the southern Caucasus have begun to receive archaeological attention only recently. The least research has been directed to the southernmost of these sources, in the province of Syunik in southern Armenia. These sources lie close to the border with Azerbaijan, in remote mountainous uplands reaching elevations above 3200 m and under snow for more than half the year. The flows around the volcanic domes at Bazenk, Satanakar, and Sevkar provide abundant, high-quality obsidian which, although geologically well documented, has been neither adequately characterized in terms of geochemical variability, nor assessed archaeologically with regard to its past utilization. Research at the Syunik obsidian sources has been undertaken since 2005 as one part of the Armenian-American Vorotan Project. The purpose of the fieldwork and analyses presented here was to characterize the flows by means of large-scale sampling for Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis; to assess the distribution of the raw material, by both natural and cultural means; and to evaluate source preference and utilization in antiquity. Study has concentrated on the documentation and sampling of the sources, as well as secondary obsidian deposits along the Vorotan River, together with morphological, technological, and metrical analyses of the large obsidian assemblage collected in the course of survey and excavation by the project. Results indicate that the Bazenk and Satanakar sources have more than one geochemically-distinct flow, whereas all of the samples from the various Sevkar flows are indistinguishable. Analysis of artifacts from sites ranging in date from the late 5th to 1st millennium B.C. indicate an overwhelming preference for Sevkar obsidian. Heavy use of cobbles taken from the Vorotan River appears to have affected local lithic reduction strategies in significant ways.

The Linear B Inscribed Stirrup Jars and West Crete

The four authors of this paper have worked in close consultation throughout the project, and present a joint result rather than so many separately initialled sections. Catling has most responsibility for the archaeological matter, Jones for the analytical work, Cherry and Jones for the interpretation of the results of the analyses and Killen for the epigraphic comment. It must be noted that a single series of numbers, 1–108, is used throughout this paper to distinguish the test samples. The significance of these numbers is made clear in the Catalogue and Concordances.

Multi-Period Landscape Survey and Site Risk Assessment on Montserrat, West Indies

ABSTRACT Following a series of devastating and ongoing volcanic eruptions, the archaeological record of Montserrat (West Indies) has been exposed to the dual threats of destructive pyroclastic volcanism, and the construction of new infrastructure and settlements to accommodate those displaced as a result. Yet, with the exception of contributions from a handful of site-based research projects, the scope of prehistoric and historical archaeology of Montserrat remains poorly understood overall, in contrast to many of the other Leeward Islands. In 2010 the Survey and Landscape Archaeology on Montserrat project (SLAM) was established to create an inventory and accompanying risk assessment of archaeological sites and features in the islands non-exclusion zone, an essential resource for Montserrats preservation officials. This is the initial step in an ongoing research program that also provides the basis for a diachronic and integrated temporal approach to archaeological studies of population movements and distribution, land use strategies, and risk management over the course of the islands human occupational history. The present article discusses the projects overall approach and presents some initial results that illustrate the richness and complexity of archaeological resources in the area most subject to the impacts of rapid redevelopment.

Communities and archaeology under the Soufrière Hills Volcano on Montserrat, West Indies

Abstract The volcanically devastated landscape of Montserrat and its social fabric comprise what Maria calls a “traumascape”—a site of tragedy and catastrophe that is also a place of coping and resilience. How Montserratians engage with trauma is evident in how they remember their recent and historical pasts, and in how they are reinventing aspects of their heritage in order to sustain a distinctly Montserratian identity for the future. Such a process of coping presents challenges for conducting archaeology in collaboration with the community. In this article, we describe the experiences of a recently established project on the island (Survey and Landscape Archaeology on Montserrat) and discuss the potential for, and the obstacles involved in, developing longer-term, sustainable forms of collaboration between archaeologists and local Montserratian communities when facing the unusual circumstances of volcanic disaster and hazard.

Patterning and Its Causation in the Pre-Neolithic Colonization of the Mediterranean Islands (Late Pleistocene to Early Holocene)

ABSTRACTIn 1981 one of us (Cherry) first attempted to identify spatial and temporal patterning in the human colonization of the Mediterranean islands. Since the 1980s, slowly accumulating evidence has suggested that the Mediterranean islands were sporadically inhabited by hunter-gatherers during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene. Here we seek to establish whether or not these data exhibit regularity. We suggest that evidence for Upper Palaeolithic to Mesolithic activity, tending to cluster on larger or less remote islands, indicates that while humans were clearly capable of reaching the Mediterranean islands prior to the Neolithic, their general reluctance to do so can be explained in terms of the variable environmental attractiveness of the insular Mediterranean. Tending to be relatively small, dry, and biologically depauperate, the Mediterranean islands were largely inhospitable to mobile groups preferring extensive territories with diverse and robust biotas. Sedentism only became a widely viable ...

Experimental archaeology and the earliest seagoing: the limitations of inference

Abstract Experimental voyaging, of the type made famous by the Kon-Tiki and the Hōkūleʻa, is often considered to provide a means of modelling the performance of ancient seacraft, a relevant variable if we are to understand patterning in prehistoric island colonization and maritime interaction. Recently, in order to bolster claims otherwise dependent on contentious data, some proponents who argue for maritime colonisation as an evolutionarily ancient behaviour have suggested that such experiments provide corroborating evidence for deliberate seagoing by archaic hominins. Here, we examine the epistemological foundation for these claims, and in particular what constitutes the basis for building good analogues in archaeological reasoning and the limitations of inferences drawn from them. We stress the importance of not conflating possibilities with probabilities, and caution against an unwarranted uniformitarianism in making assumptions regarding the cognitive, social, behavioural and technological contexts of archaic and modern humans.