Early footsteps in the Americas
Despite a plethora of archaeological research over the past century, the timing of human migration into the Americas is still far from resolved. In a study of exposed outcrops of Lake Otero in White Sands National Park in New Mexico, Bennett
et al
. reveal numerous human footprints dating to about 23,000 to 21,000 years ago. These finds indicate the presence of humans in North America for approximately two millennia during the Last Glacial Maximum south of the migratory barrier created by the ice sheets to the north. This timing coincided with a Northern Hemispheric abrupt warming event, Dansgaard-Oeschger event 2, which drew down lake levels and allowed humans and megafauna to walk on newly exposed surfaces, creating tracks that became preserved in the geologic record. —AMS
Madsen
et al
. question the reliability of calibrated radiocarbon ages associated with human footprints discovered recently in White Sands National Park, New Mexico, USA. On the basis of the geologic, hydrologic, stratigraphic, and chronologic evidence, we maintain that the ages are robust and conclude that the footprints date to between ~23,000 and 21,000 years ago.
Madsen
et al
. (
1
) question the veracity of calibrated radiocarbon ages used to constrain the antiquity of human trackways discovered recently at White Sands National Park (WHSA) Locality 2, New Mexico, USA (
2
). The ages were derived from seeds of the aquatic plant
Ruppia cirrhosa
, which they suggest may suffer from hard-water (or reservoir) effects, making them too old, potentially by thousands of years. We were well aware of this possibility, investigated it, and presented several lines of evidence that argued against such a problem. Here we respond to each of their four primary points.
The transformations entangled in becoming an urban society are increasingly attracting attention in archaeology, including in the Mediterranean. The place-making entailed in the development of urban settlement represents a fundamental change for a society; it creates over time a new urban mentalité and habitus, such that the urban fabric and place become an active part of social life, and its reproduction. While urbanism does not require the 'state', urban settlements form key venues for social, economic and political change leading to the potential development of sedentary early complex polities. For several areas of the world and in multiple periods, there are increasingly sophisticated studies of urbanisation. To date, Cyprus has received relatively little attention-but, as increasingly recognised, urbanisation was central to the island's rapid change into, and emergence as, a substantial element of the Late Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean world. We consider and critique the case of urbanisation on Late Bronze Age Cyprus and highlight its importance to Cypriot
Previous research on the environment of island and coastal areas has demonstrated 13 that erosion substantially affects coastal archaeological site preservation and can lead to the 14 loss of important information regardingpast trade and maritime activities. These same at risk 15 coastal archaeological loci are central to much current archaeological focus on networks and 16 connectivity. In practical and theoretical terms, this places significant stresses on local 17 governments and archaeologists, who are trying to monitor rapidly deteriorating cultural 18 heritage and rescue information vital to future research. Beyond ad hoc observations, 19rigorous methods to quantifysuch issues have rarely been developed in the archaeology of the 20 Eastern Mediterranean, including the island of Cyprus. In this paper we demonstrate an 21 integrativemethod, which employs historic aerial photographsand laserscanning to 22 illustrate,quantify and monitor coastline change and its impact on cultural heritage since the 23 industrialisation of the south-central coast of the island in the mid-20 th century CE. 24
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