Paleoindians buried Spirit Cave Man in a Nevada cave, and archaeologists excavated these remains in 1940. Radiocarbon testing in 1996 dated the burial and associated grave goods as older than 10,700 years. Living just 10 miles from Spirit Cave, the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe filed a NAGPRA claim in 1997 requesting the repatriation of the Spirit Cave ancestor they call “The Storyteller.” This claim ignited a 20-year legal dispute that led the Fallon Paiute-Shoshone Tribe to make the gut-wrenching decision to permit DNA testing. This article documents a 10,000-year genetic continuity firmly linking Paleoindians at Spirit Cave to the Lovelock culture and that strongly suggests continuities to modern Paiutes living there today with no population replacement. We explore the associated radiocarbon record of these dynamics to understand the syncopated population movements that responded to shifting resource distributions. Resilience theory provides an operational way to understand this extraordinary continuity through key concepts, including tipping points, early warning signals, sunk-cost effects, and loss-of-resilience hypotheses. The Spirit Cave case also underscores the moribund concepts and assumptions underlying a century of Great Basin anthropological study that misread this long-term episode of Indigenous resilience and survivance.

Although land loss is among the most profound impacts that settler colonialism had for Indigenous societies across North America, archaeologists rarely study one of the principal colonial mechanisms of land dispossession: allotment. This process forever altered the course of North American history, breaking up collectively held Indigenous lands into lots “owned” by individuals and families while further stressing local Indigenous subsistence patterns, social relations, political organization, and more. Archaeology's long-term, material, and sometimes collaborative vantage stands to offer insights on this process and how it played out for Indigenous peoples in different times and places. As its case study, this article considers the allotment of Mohegan lands in southeastern Connecticut (USA). An archaeology of Mohegan allotment speaks to more than land loss and cultural change. It provides evidence of an enduring and long-term Indigenous presence on the land; of the challenges faced and overcome by Mohegan peoples living through, and with, settler colonialism; and of the nuances of Indigenous-colonial archaeological records. This study also shows the importance of Indigenous and collaborative archaeologies for shedding new light on these challenging but important archaeological traces.

Domestic cats have lived alongside human communities for thousands of years, hunting rats, mice, and other pests and serving as pets and a source of pelts and meat. Cats have received limited archaeological attention because their independence limits direct insight into human societies. An adult and juvenile cat recovered from the Emanuel Point wreck 2 (EP2) reflect what are, most likely, the earliest cats in what is now the United States. Zooarchaeological analyses of these and other archaeological cats in the Americas demonstrate that cats ranged substantially in size: some were comparable to modern house cats, and others were much smaller. Isotopic analyses of the adult cat from EP2 provides insight into early shipboard cat behavior and their diet, which appears to have focused on consumption of fish and possibly domestic meat. Cats accompanied sailors on ships where they were relied on to hunt rats and mice that were infesting ships’ holds. Interestingly, based on these isotopic results, the adult cat from EP2 does not seem to have relied heavily on rats as a source of food. These pests were unintentionally introduced to the New World, and cats would have followed, hunting both native and invasive pests.

Since the emergence of the Thule culture (AD 1200), dog sledding has been perceived as a central means of transportation in traditional Inuit life in the Arctic. However, there is an absence of research concerning Inuit dog-sled technology and the tradition of the craft. This study investigates the Inuit dog-sled technocomplex using enskilment methodologiesby employing experimental and ethno-archaeological observations to explore the relationship between knowledge and technical practice. It involves the reconstruction of a historical West Greenlandic dog sled, shedding light on carpentry techniques and construction processes. This method emphasizes the interaction between humans, technology, and time, providing essential practical data for future archaeological and historical research, particularly for comprehending fragmented archaeological remains. By focusing on process rather than end product, this research provides insight into understanding Inuit dog sled technology and the complexity of the practice. The connection between artifacts and materially situated practice is demonstrated through the reconstruction of a dog sled, which illustrates the value of physicality in enskilment. It highlights how experimental archaeology can improve our insights into the historical and prehistoric Arctic societies’ technologies, economies, and practices.

Chichilticale is a long-sought-after location on the Coronado expedition route in southeastern Arizona. It is referred to numerous times in documents, and various expedition members stayed there, making it potentially one of the most discoverable of the Coronado expedition camp sites. Nonetheless, it remained lost until recently when data from a variety of sources provided a basis to establish hypotheses that were then tested and retested until Chichilticale was located. This site, 1 km long, has hundreds of Spanish period artifacts related to the 1539–1540 two-month winter encampment established during Melchior Díaz's reconnaissance north to check on Fray Marcos de Niza's report. Crossbow bolt heads, copper lace aglets, caret- or gable-headed nails, copper bells, and many other artifacts and features provide a surprisingly rich archaeological record of this place and of an unexpected and unrecorded battle that changes history for the Sobaipuri O'odham.

The past decade saw the proliferation of projects that use 3D and related technologies to engage with Indigenous heritage through museum collections and cultural heritage site digitization projects involving the documentation and sometimes physical replication of objects and landscapes; some of these projects involved Indigenous origin communities. Although 3D technologies have become more widespread and accessible, ethical considerations in practice lag behind. The “Ethical Considerations in Three-Dimensional Digitization of Indigenous Heritage” project unites researchers, members of Indigenous communities, and 3D heritage specialists to develop a set of best practices for the responsible conduct of research (RCR). These practices promote ethical cultures in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, recognizing Indigenous heritage 3D modeling as a critical part of the broader conversation around decolonization and core methodologies. This article proposes incorporating best practices developed from the RCR findings for 3D digitization projects of Indigenous cultural heritage. We suggest utilizing Collective benefit, Authority to control, Responsibility, and Ethics (CARE) principles, Indigenous Data Sovereignty, and a co-production of knowledge (CPK) framework.

Circular shell rings along the South Atlantic coast of the United States are vestiges of the earliest sedentary villages in North America, dating to 4500–3000 BP. However, little is known about when Indigenous communities began constructing these shell-ring villages. This article presents data from the Hokfv-Mocvse Shell Ring on Ossabaw Island, Georgia. Although shell rings are often associated with the earliest ceramics in North America, no ceramics were encountered in our excavations at Hokfv-Mocvse, and the only materials recovered were projectile points similar to points found over 300 km inland. Bayesian modeling of radiocarbon dates indicates that the ring was occupied between 5090 and 4735 cal BP (95% confidence), making it the earliest dated shell ring in the region. Additionally, shell geochemistry and oyster paleobiology data suggest that inhabitants were living at the ring year-round and had established institutions at that time to manage oyster fisheries sustainably. Hokfv-Mocvse therefore provides evidence for Indigenous people settling in year-round villages and adapting to coastal environments in the region centuries before the adoption of pottery. The establishment of villages marks a visible archaeological shift toward settling down and occupying island ecosystems on a more permanent basis and in larger numbers than ever before in the region.

Archaeologists have relied on the presence of European material on Indigenous New England sites as the main indicator that a site was occupied during the sixteenth or early seventeenth centuries—a span often characterized as the Contact period. The AD 1480–1630 span is particularly difficult to sequence because it lies on a radiocarbon calibration plateau. Here we report on a program of AMS dating from an Indigenous site on Great Island on Cape Cod in Massachusetts that highlights evidence of widespread activity during the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries—absent European material culture. Furthermore, the archaeological evidence indicates that a previously excavated colonial tavern in the same area on Great Island was the last in a long-term occupation in which “European contact” was not a defining event. Instead, the evidence points to a continuous Indigenous presence extending from the Middle Woodland period. Later colonial period activities, including those associated with European material, were mapped onto a long-standing Indigenous task-scape.

Several decades ago, the National Park Service's Chaco Project revealed evidence for widespread ornament manufacture at small sites (small houses) in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico, as well as possible workshop-scale production at two of these locations. Given that consumption of finished jewelry items is clearly concentrated at large sites (great houses), it was suggested that lapidary production was part of a larger corporate political strategy, in which goods produced in surrounding small houses were used to sustain communal events related to construction activities and ritual performances at great houses. This article addresses a critical gap in this narrative—ornament production at great houses. Using Pueblo Bonito as a case study, I present the results of a systematic analysis of lapidary tools from the site and characterize the nature of on-site ornament manufacture. I find evidence that significant jewelry-making was occurring at Pueblo Bonito, at least on par with previously documented small-house jewelry workshops, and that a portion of this was embedded within elite households. These results require us to reconsider the role of ornament production in Chacoan political economy.

In this article we present the results of two geophysical surveys conducted at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. The goal was to reveal neighborhood settlement patterns at two locales located on the periphery of “Downtown” Cahokia—the densely populated administrative core—and to further understand the type and chronological affiliation of these settlements. We compared structure length and width ratios from Rattlesnake West and the Rouch Mound Group with datasets from the Cahokia and East St. Louis precincts as a proxy for chronological affiliation to understand changes to neighborhood density over time. Using noninvasive techniques to illuminate population density and neighborhood configurations, we gained a more detailed understanding of how Cahokia's communities and neighborhoods chose to adopt the building style and infrastructure of Cahokia's Downtown Precinct.

Social power establishes and legitimizes actions for individuals within a society who accept the structures that create that power. Differences in power can develop without strict hierarchies, however. Here, we explore the power differences among groups living in the Mimbres Mogollon region of southwestern New Mexico using bioarchaeological data and a case study from the Harris site, a Late Pithouse period village occupied circa AD 550–1000. Aspects of mortuary practices and supporting archaeological data offer nuanced interpretations of individuals with situational power linked to social practices that both solidified and maintained power by particular households. The power differences documented here are not based on coercion; instead, they are tied to cooperation and engagement with the community. For small-scale communities such as Harris, situational power is interpreted for individuals with access to prime agricultural land and/or ritual, or by association with certain land-holding lineages. This system is consistent with a heterarchical structure that embraced flexibility in the use of power.

The concept of projectile point series was first developed in California and the Great Basin in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1981, applying the Monitor Valley projectile point key, Thomas (1981) assigned chronological ranges to five projectile point series for the Great Basin, the Gatecliff Series, the Humboldt Series, the Elko Series, the Rosegate Series, and the Desert Series, which were based on the Berkeley projectile point naming conventions. Each of these series, which are still in use today, include different morphological point forms that—although sharing the same primary designator—do not share the same temporal spans or geographic distributions. Morphologically different projectile points do not share a priori temporal, geographic, or cultural associations simply by virtue of sharing a series label. The use of the series concept and chronology in projectile point analyses in the West should be discontinued and replaced with analyses of morphological forms, geographic distributions, and temporal spans of individual point types.

Migration played a significant role in shaping the Native populations of the southwest United States and northwest Mexico. Large-scale migrations into and across the region were underlain by small-scale (intraregional) population shifts affected by environmental fluctuations (declines and improvements) and social phenomena such as aggregation and the spread of sociopolitical spheres of influence within the region. We compare projectile point types, mortuary patterns, and biodistance information from Early Agricultural period (2100 BC–AD 50) sites to identify subtle differences in population composition associated with the arrival and spread of maize across the region. Small-scale migrations occurring around the foundation of farming communities in the Sonoran Desert may have established the basis of broad regional connectivity, shared historical ties, and subsequent migration patterns and practices. Rooted in early farming traditions and a shared language family, we argue that farmers expanded north and east from the borderlands, then eventually returned to ancestral homelands when environmental and incursive pressures pushed them back south.

Bioarchaeologists commonly record porous cranial lesions (PCLs). They have varied etiologies but are frequently associated with nutritional anemia without a differential diagnosis. This article provides a literature review, evaluates diet in the US Southwest over time, and identifies issues with associating PCLs with poor diet in this region. Generally, diet was adequate across time and space. Although maize was a dietary staple, other food items such as rabbits and amaranth provided complementary micronutrients. PCLs exhibit varied morphologies, which generally correspond with age: those characterized by fine, scattered porosity are associated with younger ages at death. Variation in PCL morphology indicates different and sometimes unrelated etiologies. Nutritional anemia is an insufficient explanation for PCL frequency in the Southwest, partly because the diet was adequate across time.

Chipped stone tools termed perforators and gravers are characterized by projections. Although the implied function of these tool types differs, there are no guidelines for classifying perforators and gravers based on their morphology. Consequently, researchers classify these tools differently, which precludes meaningful comparisons of the frequencies of these types between assemblages. A use-wear study confirmed the hypothesis that specimens with a thin projection and a sharp distal angle often had perforation use wear. Specimens with graver use wear were characterized by a range of projection perimeters and distal angles. We recommend that specimens with a projection perimeter of 20 mm or less and a distal angle of 40 degrees or less be classified as perforators and those with greater dimensions as gravers. This will achieve a consistent classification system for perforators and gravers, although it must be recognized that these type names may not be indicative of the function of individual specimens.

Iroquoian groups inhabiting the St. Lawrence Valley in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries AD practiced agriculture and supplemented their diet with fish and a variety of wild plants and terrestrial animals. Important gaps remain in our knowledge of Iroquoian foodways, including how pottery was integrated to culinary practices and the relative importance of maize in clay-pot cooking. Lipid analyses carried out on 32 potsherds from the Dawson site (Montreal, Canada) demonstrate that pottery from this village site was used to prepare a range of foodstuffs—primarily freshwater fish and maize, but possibly also other animals and plants. The importance of aquatic resources is demonstrated by the presence of a range of molecular compounds identified as biomarkers for aquatic products, whereas the presence of maize could only be detected through isotopic analysis. Bayesian modeling suggests that maize is present in all samples and is the dominant product in at least 40% of the potsherds analyzed. This combination of analytical techniques, applied for the first time to Iroquoian pottery, provides a glimpse into Iroquoian foodways and suggests that sagamité was part of the culinary traditions at the Dawson site.

There is no consensus on who built the numerous stone structures that dot the archaeological landscape in the northeastern United States. Professional archaeologists traditionally have attributed them to colonial farmers, but increasing numbers of archaeologists have joined many nonprofessional groups and Native Americans in arguing for Indigenous origins. Better understanding of these structures can be obtained by determining how old they are. This article reviews nearly 60 luminescence ages, on both sediments and rocks, that have been obtained in recent years. Many of the derived ages fall in the sixteenth century, between initial European contact and substantial colonial settlement. A few ages are significantly older, suggesting that this technology has a deeper origin. The results warrant more research into these structures and rethinking their significance.

The morphological characteristics of starch granules preserved on ancient ground stone tools can reveal which plant species were processed and consumed and even infer tool function. Bedrock metates are commonly associated with the processing of localized seasonal resources, providing potential evidence for past human lifeways, including foods collected and processed, social gatherings, settlement patterns, land investment, and territorial behavior. In contrast to ground stone artifacts preserved in a buried context that have been studied extensively, limited starch research has been conducted on the potential for environmental contamination of open-air bedrock mortars and metates exposed to natural erosional elements. This project examines the residue samples of bedrock metates from three archaeological sites in southern Oregon in the United States to compare the starch yields of extraneous material cleaned from the grinding surface to those extracted from interstitial matrices deeper within the bedrock. Significantly greater number of starch granules were recovered from deep within the cracks and crevices than from the surface. Our study suggests that environmental contamination can be managed if separate surface and control samples are collected and analyzed in conjunction with the interstitial samples. Examining the potential for environmental contamination on exposed grinding surfaces is crucial for confidence in starch granule results and improving our understanding of human dietary behavior.