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Chinese tombs oriented by a compass: Evidence from paleomagnetic changes versus the age of tombs
Extant written records indicate that knowledge of an ancient type of compass in China is very old — dating back to before the Han dynasty (206 BC-220...
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Other Kinds of Activity
Sections were chosen for this chapter based on the ‘leftover’ principle. The types of activities described are very different. Some of them are based...
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Rock-magnetic and archeomagnetic survey from some classical settlements at Chapultepec archeological site (western Mesoamerica)
Many archaeological artifacts contain magnetic minerals that may record the direction and strength of the Earth’s magnetic field. The geomagnetic...
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Extensive glaciers in northwest North America during Medieval time
The Medieval Warm Period is an interval of purportedly warm climate during the early part of the past millennium. The duration, areal extent, and...
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Microwear analysis of a bone-handled microblade excavated at Shangzhai site in Bei**g: Evidences from ESEM
The conventional wisdom has been challenged recently that microblades with handles are only tools for hunting and gathering in the Neolithic Age....
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Late Holocene palaeoecology of Lago Verde: evidence of human impact and climate change in the northern limit of the neotropics during the late formative and classic periods
Multiproxy analysis (pollen, diatom, charcoal) on a 6 m core from Lago Verde (Sierra de Los Tuxtlas), shows evidences of environmental changes and...
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Pigments and Colorants
When discussing almost any archaeological artifact, color is an important characteristic. Unfortunately, there is often confusion between what...
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Soft Stones and Other Carvable Materials
Humans have been carving stone since the Paleolithic. Figure 6.1 shows a famous early example. Throughout the Mediterranean world, the carving of...
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Gemstones Seal Stones and Ceremonial Stones
Human beings have been fascinated by brightly colored minerals since prehistoric times. The earliest gemstones probably were found as small, polished...
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Lithic Materials
Archaeologists use the word lithic (from the Greek lithos meaning stone or rock) for materials and artifacts made from rocks or minerals. Geologic...
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Metals and Related Minerals and Ores
Although there are 70 metallic chemical elements, only 8 (gold, copper, lead, iron, silver, tin, arsenic and mercury) were recognized and used in...
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Abrasives Salt Shells and Miscellaneous Geologic Raw Materials
This chapter contains reviews and discussions of geologic raw materials that did not fit conveniently into the systematics of the other chapters.
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Ceramic Raw Materials
This chapter is mostly about pottery. Pottery is only one of the large number of products known as ceramics. Other ceramics are covered briefly....
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Building, Monumental, and Statuary Materials
Materials for construction are many and varied, as are their purposes and products. This chapter includes a survey of the major rocks and other earth...
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Exploitation of Mineral and Rock Raw Materials
Mineral deposits and rock types are unevenly distributed throughout the world and throughout the countries where they occur. To overcome this uneven...
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Pyramids and ceremonial centers in mesoamerica: Were they oriented using a magnetic compass?
Fuson (1969), see also Carlson (1975), claims that Olmécs and Maya knew and used a (lodestone) compass for the orientation of pyramids, ceremonial...
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Micromorphology of a Soil Catena in Yucatán: Pedogenesis and Geomorphological Processes in a Tropical Karst Landscape
Development of the soil mantle in karst geosystems of the tropics is still poorly understood. We studied a typical soil toposequence formed over...
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Climate and cultural history of the Northeastern Yucatan Peninsula, Quintana Roo, Mexico
We inferred the Holocene paleoclimate history of the northeastern Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico, by studying stratigraphic variations in stable isotopes (
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Climate and cultural history in the Americas: An overview
There is abundant historical evidence that climatic extremes in the past have led to significant and sometimes severe societal impacts. The severity...