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"Roksandic, Mirjana"
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The cultural dynamics of shell-matrix sites
\"The excavation of shell middens and mounds is an important source of information regarding past human diet, settlement, technology, and paleoenvironments. The contributors to this book introduce new ways to study shell-matrix sites, ranging from the geochemical analysis of shellfish to the interpretation of human remains buried within. Drawing upon examples from around the world, this is one of the only books to offer a global perspective on the archaeology of shell-matrix sites; 'A substantial contribution to the literature on the subject and essential reading for archaeologists and others who work on this type of site'--Barbara Voorhies, University of California, Santa Barbara, author of Coastal Collectors in the Holocene : The Chantuto People of Southwest Mexico\"-- Provided by publisher.
Book
Human Occupation of the Central Balkans During the Last Glacial Maximum: Evidence from Serbia
This paper presents archeological data and chronometric dates documenting human presence in Serbia, central Balkans, during MIS 2. We describe findings from excavations at three cave sites and dating results from two additional localities. The evidence suggests that people were present in the area during the second half of the glacial peak between 25 and 19ka calBp. The chronological placement of these sites is complementary to what is known from adjoining regions, indicating that people may have occupied this part of the Balkans when they were not present elsewhere. All three excavated sites appear to represent short-term occupations, with relatively narrow ranges of activities, raising the question of whether they are fully representative of the land use system of foragers during MIS 2.
Journal Article
Not of African Descent: Dental Modification among Indigenous Caribbean People from Canímar Abajo, Cuba
Dental modifications in the Caribbean are considered to be an African practice introduced to the Caribbean archipelago by the influx of enslaved Africans during colonial times. Skeletal remains which exhibited dental modifications are by default considered to be Africans, African descendants, or post-contact indigenous people influenced by an African practice. Individual E-105 from the site of Canímar Abajo (Cuba), with a direct 14C AMS date of 990-800 cal BC, provides the first unequivocal evidence of dental modifications in the Antilles prior to contact with Europeans in AD 1492. Central incisors showing evidence of significant crown reduction (loss of crown volume regardless of its etiology) were examined macroscopically and with a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to determine if the observed alterations were due to deliberate modification or other (unintentional) factors considered: postmortem breakage, violent accidental breakage, non-dietary use of teeth, and wear caused by habitual or repeated actions. The pattern of crown reduction is consistent with deliberate dental modification of the type commonly encountered among African and African descendent communities in post-contact Caribbean archaeological assemblages. Six additional individuals show similar pattern of crown reduction of maxillary incisors with no analogous wear in corresponding mandibular dentition.
Journal Article
Isotopic reconstruction of the weaning process in the archaeological population of Canímar Abajo, Cuba: A Bayesian probability mixing model approach
The general lack of well-preserved juvenile skeletal remains from Caribbean archaeological sites has, in the past, prevented evaluations of juvenile dietary changes. Canímar Abajo (Cuba), with a large number of well-preserved juvenile and adult skeletal remains, provided a unique opportunity to fully assess juvenile paleodiets from an ancient Caribbean population. Ages for the start and the end of weaning and possible food sources used for weaning were inferred by combining the results of two Bayesian probability models that help to reduce some of the uncertainties inherent to bone collagen isotope based paleodiet reconstructions. Bone collagen (31 juveniles, 18 adult females) was used for carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses. The isotope results were assessed using two Bayesian probability models: Weaning Ages Reconstruction with Nitrogen isotopes and Stable Isotope Analyses in R. Breast milk seems to have been the most important protein source until two years of age with some supplementary food such as tropical fruits and root cultigens likely introduced earlier. After two, juvenile diets were likely continuously supplemented by starch rich foods such as root cultigens and legumes. By the age of three, the model results suggest that the weaning process was completed. Additional indications suggest that animal marine/riverine protein and maize, while part of the Canímar Abajo female diets, were likely not used to supplement juvenile diets. The combined use of both models here provided a more complete assessment of the weaning process for an ancient Caribbean population, indicating not only the start and end ages of weaning but also the relative importance of different food sources for different age juveniles.
Journal Article
New Radiometric Ages for the BH-1 Hominin from Balanica (Serbia): Implications for Understanding the Role of the Balkans in Middle Pleistocene Human Evolution
Newly obtained ages, based on electron spin resonance combined with uranium series isotopic analysis, and infrared/post-infrared luminescence dating, provide a minimum age that lies between 397 and 525 ka for the hominin mandible BH-1 from Mala Balanica cave, Serbia. This confirms it as the easternmost hominin specimen in Europe dated to the Middle Pleistocene. Inferences drawn from the morphology of the mandible BH-1 place it outside currently observed variation of European Homo heidelbergensis. The lack of derived Neandertal traits in BH-1 and its contemporary specimens in Southeast Europe, such as Kocabaş, Vasogliano and Ceprano, coupled with Middle Pleistocene synapomorphies, suggests different evolutionary forces acting in the east of the continent where isolation did not play such an important role during glaciations.
Journal Article
Environmental reconstruction of the younger loess sequences of the Petrovaradin Fortress Palaeolithic site (Novi Sad, Serbia)
Three phases of archaeological investigations have been conducted in the area of the City Museum of Novi Sad at the Petrovaradin Fortress. In this study, we summarize the results of geoarchaeological research carried out during the third phase of excavations inside the museum building. The investigated area covered 27 m2. The approximately 0.60 m thick loessic sequence offers a unique opportunity to reconstruct the environmental evolution of this area during the last glacial period. In sectors inside of the City Museum of Novi Sad, artefacts from the Upper Palaeolithic (Gravettian) were discovered. The analysed paleoenvironmental proxies (magnetic, geochemical, and colour proxies) largely indicate similarities with the uppermost three units of previously studied sections and with the Late Pleniglacial loess unit in nearby loess profiles in Petrovaradin and Mišeluk. This chronostratigraphic interpretation, suggesting that the profile most likely formed during the Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 2 and possibly the youngest part of MIS 3, is supported by one radiocarbon date. The identified mollusc assemblages indicate relatively humid and cold environmental conditions in the upper part of the section. These results suggest that the northern slopes of Fruška Gora Mountain played an important environmental role during the Late Pleistocene. Up to 12 different mollusc species per sample were identified, favouring both steppe and forest-like vegetation. This environmental diversity, combined with favourable strategic factors, may have influenced the human occupation in the area.
Journal Article
Correction: New Radiometric Ages for the BH-1 Hominin from Balanica (Serbia): Implications for Understanding the Role of the Balkans in Middle Pleistocene Human Evolution
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
In Table S1, in the last column of the row \"BH-1 Mandible\", the value \"-218\" should be \"-281\" Citation: Rink WJ, Mercier N, Mihailović D, Morley MW, Thompson JW, Roksandic M (2013) Correction: New Radiometric Ages for the BH-1 Hominin from Balanica (Serbia): Implications for Understanding the Role of the Balkans in Middle Pleistocene Human Evolution.
Journal Article
Violence in the Mesolithic
The Mesolithic populations of the Danube’s Iron Gates Gorge (Serbia/Romania) spanned over 1500 years (from before 7000 BC to around 5500 BC) in one of the more favourable foraging environments of Europe. Over most of this period, the dominant economy was foraging, but farming was practiced by communities in the region from around 6500 BC. This research examines individuals from four sites on the Danube (Lepenski Vir, Vlasac, Padina, and Hajdučka Vodenica) whose traumatic lesions can be most plausibly interpreted as resulting from violent interactions. Given the number of individuals buried at these sites (MNI = 418), the episodes of violent interactions were few and without evidence of a specific temporal pattern. They probably represent sporadic episodes of interpersonal conflict that do not support the notion of endemic warfare deemed typical of the Mesolithic, or elevated levels of interpersonal/intertribal conflict at the time of contact with farming communities. The difference in the pattern of violence between the Mesolithic sites on the right bank of the Danube and a coeval site of Schela Cladovei on the left bank is explained in terms of differences in archaeological context, geographic location and possibly specific local histories.
Journal Article