Hostname: page-component-76d6cb85b7-mgxrv Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-07-17T03:50:59.865Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Third Dimension in Site Structure: An Experiment in Trampling and Vertical Dispersal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Diane P. Gifford-Gonzalez ,
David B. Damrosch ,
Debra R. Damrosch ,
John Pryor  and
Robert L. Thunen
Diane P. Gifford-Gonzalez
Affiliation:
Board of Studies in Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064
David B. Damrosch
Affiliation:
Board of Studies in Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064
Debra R. Damrosch
Affiliation:
Board of Studies in Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064
John Pryor
Affiliation:
Board of Studies in Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064
Robert L. Thunen
Affiliation:
Board of Studies in Anthropology, University of California, Santa Cruz, CA 95064
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Two measured and weighed assemblages of lithic debitage were subjected to human treadage, one set on a compact sandy silt (“loam”) substrate, the other on unconsolidated sand. The assemblages were excavated, plotted in three dimensions, and documented for damage. Downward migration of pieces at the loam site was minimal: fracture of small pieces was the dominant damage pattern. Most sand site pieces migrated to 3-8 cm depth; vertical distribution of pieces approximated a normal curve, and edge-damage to larger pieces was the dominant damage pattern. Vertical distribution of artifacts at the sand site approximated a pattern observed in two other trampling experiments and a number of archaeological occurrences. Factors influencing these distributions are discussed.

Information

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 50 , Issue 4 , October 1985 , pp. 803 - 818
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

References Cited

Barton, N. E., and Bergman, C. A. 1982 Hunters at Hengistbury: Some Evidence from Experimental Archaeology. World Archaeology 14: 237–248.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bunn, H., Harris, J. W. K., Isaac, G., Kaufulu, Z., Kroll, E., Schick, K., Toth, N., and Behrensmeyer, A. K. 1980 Fxjj50: An Early Pleistocene Site in Northern Kenya. World Archaeology 12: 109–136.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Butzer, K. 1982 Archaeology as Human Ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cahen, D. 1976 Nouvelles Fouilles a la Pointe de la Gombe (Ex-pointe de Kalina), Kinshasa, Zaire. L' Anthropologie 80: 573–602.Google Scholar
Cahen, D., and Moeyersons, J. 1977 Subsurface Movements of Stone Artefacts and Their Implications for the Prehistory of Central Africa. Nature 266: 812–815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cahen, D., Keeley, L. H., and Van Noten, F. L. 1979 Stone Tools, Tool Kits, and Human Behavior in Prehistory. Current Anthropology 20: 661–683.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Compton, R. R. 1962 Manual of Field Geology. John Wiley and Sons, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Courtin, J., and Villa, P. 1982 Une Experience de Pietinement. Bulletin de la Societe Prehistorique Francaise 79: 117–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gif Ford, D. P., and Behrensmeyer, A. K. 1977 Observed Formation and Burial of a Recent Human Occupation Site in Kenya. Quaternary Research 8: 245–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harris, E. C. 1979 Principles of Archaeological Stratigraphy. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Limbrey, S. 1975 Soil Science and Archaeology. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Moeyersons, J. 1978 The Behaviour of Stones and Stone Implements, Buried in Consolidating and Creeping Kalahari Sands. Earth Surface Processes 3: 115–128.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rolfsen, P. 1980 Disturbance of Archaeological Layers by Processes in the Soil. Norwegian Archaeological Review 13: 110–118.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rowlett, R. M., and Robbins, M. C. 1982 Estimating Original Assemblage Content to Adjust for Post-depositional Vertical Artifact Movement. World Archaeology 14: 73–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schiffer, M. B. 1977 Toward a Unified Theory of the Cultural Past. In Research Strategies in Historical Archaeology, edited by South, Stanley, pp. 13–40. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Schiffer, M. B. 1982 Toward the Identification of Formation Processes. American Antiquity 48: 675–706.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siirianen, A. 1977 Rockshelters and Vertical Movement. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 43: 349–353.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stockton, E. D. 1973 Shaw's Creek Shelter: Human Displacement of Artefacts and its Significance. Mankind 9: 112–117.Google Scholar
Tringham, R., Cooper, G., Odell, G., Voytek, B., and Whitman, A. 1974 Experimentation in the Formation of Edge Damage: A New Approach to Lithic Analysis. Journal of Field Archaeology 1: 171–196.Google Scholar
Van Noten, F. 1978 Les Chasseurs de Meer. Dissertationes Archaeologicae Gandenses 18. DeTempel, Bruges.Google Scholar
Villa, P. 1982 Conjoinable Pieces and Site Formation Processes. American Antiquity 47: 276–290.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Villa, P., and Courtin, J. 1983 The Interpretation of Stratified Sites: A View from Underground. Journal of Archaeological Science 10: 267–281.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, W. R., and Johnson, D. L. 1978 A Survey of Disturbance Processes in Archaeological Site Formation. In Advances in Archaeological Method and Theory, vol. 1, edited by Schiffer, M. B., pp. 315–381. Academic Press, New York.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yellen, J. E. 1977 Cultural Patterning in Faunal Remains: Evidence from the !Kung Bushmen. In Experimental Archaeology, edited by Ingersoll, D., Yellen, J. E., and Donald, W. Mac, pp. 271–331. Columbia University Press, New York.Google Scholar