Last week the journal Nature reported additional data supporting the astonishing idea that a previously unidentified hominid lived among us up until at least 30,000 years ago. The data were recovered from Denisova Cave, in the Altai Mountains of Siberia. The new data include DNA analysis of a finger bone reported earlier, mtDNA analysis on a tooth from a different individual, and a search of modern gene data for descendant remnants.

Exterior view, Denisova Cave
Photo Credit: Bence Viola

You may remember that in March 2010, Svante Pääbo and associates described the initial mtDNA analysis of a small finger bone. The finger bone was from a child, and it dated to approximately 30-45,000 years ago. Most astonishingly, the bone's mtDNA profile did not match either Early Modern Human (EMH--that's our direct ancestor) or Neanderthals, the two hominids that, up until March, we believed were the two dominant hominids on the planet at the time.

The latest information comes from regular DNA (not mitochondrial) and the team has identified that the Denisovans (as scholars have decided to name them) and Neanderthals come from a common lineage. Data suggests that a small percentage of the modern genes of present-day Melanesians show some commonalities to the Denisovans, leading scholars to believe that the Denisovans may have been widespread over Asia.

Further, a tooth found at Denisova in 2000 from a young adult was analyzed, and its mtDNA also reflects the Denisovan pattern. The tooth is a large molar, and it is outside the normal size range for most members of the Homo family, and closest to Australopithecus in size. It is most definitely not a Neanderthal tooth. Scholars believe the young adult was part of the same hominid population as the child.

Morphology of the Denisova Molar. Image courtesy David Reich, Nature

• Denisova Cave
• Possible New Hominid Species Identified

Reich D, Green RE, Kircher M, Krause J, Patterson N, Durand EY, Bence V, Briggs AW, Stenzel U, Johnson PLF et al. 2010. Genetic history of an archaic hominin group from Denisova Cave in Siberia. Nature 468:1053-1060.

Best of the News Stories

• The old man of the mountain, The Economist
• Bone May Reveal a New Human Group, Nicholas Wade in the NYT
• Siberian Fossils Were Neanderthals' Eastern Cousins, DNA Reveals, Carl Zimmer, NYT
• New Type of Ancient Human Found--Descendants Live Today? , Ker Than, National Geographic
• Ancient humans, dubbed 'Denisovans', interbred with us, BBC News
• Chris Stringer: The tip of the iceberg in understanding of human history, The Independent
• The Denisova Genome FAQ, John Hawks

Always on top of things, Archaeology magazine has selected an eclectic group of stories reported this year as their list of top ten discoveries. From Paleolithic Tools on Crete, to pyramids in Peru, to the HMS Investigator, every one of these stories made for compelling news.

Archaeology's Top Ten of 2010

Although American archaeology doesn't have a "Pompeii", where a volcanic calamity preserved ancient ruins in a spectacular way, there are a couple of examples you might not know about. One of them is Ozette.

Ozette Archaeological District. Photo from National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service, Washington, D.C

• Read more about Ozette
• American Northwest Coast Timeline
• Makah Culture and Research Center
• Memories of Ozette (Northwest Coast Archaeology), has some additional photographs of the excavations

This week's Fieldwork in Focus comes from Christopher Fennell at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who is leading excavations at the Edgefield district in South Carolina.

Mitchell 1835 map of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia, with the Edgefield District highlighted by star. Archival map image courtesy Hargrett Library Digital Collections, University of Georgia

Edgefield Historical Significance and Project Background

Storage jar made by "Dave the Potter" Drake, Edgefield, SC, Philadelphia Museum of Art collections
Photo courtesy Christopher Fennell

In the early 1800s, the Edgefield District of South Carolina saw the first innovation and development of alkaline-glazed stoneware pottery in America. How these new ceramic methods were developed in that place and time, and how the techniques of clay choice, temper, and glaze developed over the following century remains a mystery. These potteries employed enslaved and free African-American laborers, and the stoneware forms reflect this African cultural influence on stylistic designs. Edgefield potteries present fascinating research questions about technological innovation and the impacts of African cultural knowledge and racial ideologies on a craft specialization during the historic period in America.

A long-standing debate in anthropological circles has become a recent and white-hot discussion on many science blogs--so hot both the New York Times and Gawker have covered it. Basically, the debate is about whether anthropology--the diverse study of human beings--is a science or a humanity. Archaeology, as it is taught in the Americas, is part of anthropology. Anthropology here is considered a four-part study, including the subfields of sociocultural anthropology, physical (or biological) anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and archaeology.

Buffalo Jump Diorama at the Museum of Natural History. Photo by Kio Stark

So when the American Anthropological Association (AAA) decided on November 20, 2010, to take the word "science" out of its long-range plan statement, they were talking about us, too.

It occurs to me that this debate centers on whether as anthropologists, our focus should be on human culture or on human behavior. Human culture, as I define it, emphasizes the cultural traditions of a particular group, specific kinship relationships, specific religious rituals, what makes a particular group special, and so forth. The study of human behavior, on the other hand, looks at what makes us similar: what physical limitations humans have that create behaviors, how those behaviors evolved, how we create language, what our subsistence choices are and how we deal with them.

On that basis, it's possible that the AAA is drawing a line between sociocultural anthropology and the other three subfields. That's fine: but it would be too bad if scholars saw this as a reason to restrict certain realms of knowledge to help understand human cultures--or human behaviors either one.

Bottom Line

Do I think anthropology is a science? Anthropology is the study of all things human, and as an anthropologist I believe you shouldn't rule out one form of "knowing"--what Stephen Jay Gould calls "non-overlapping magesteria") from our field. As an archaeologist, my responsibility is both to the culture I study and to humanity at large. If being a scientist means I cannot include oral history in my investigations, or I must refuse to consider the cultural sensibilities of a particular group, I'm against it. If, however, not being a scientist means I can't investigate certains kinds of cultural behaviors because they might offend someone, I'm against that too.

Are all anthropologists scientists? No. Are any anthropologists scientists? Absolutely. Does being a "scientist" rule out calling yourself an "anthropologist"? Heck, there are plenty of archaeologists who don't think archaeology is a science: and to prove it, I've assembled the Top Five Reasons Archaeology is Not a Science.

I'm an archaeologist, and an anthropologist, and a scientist. Of course! I study humans: what else can I be?

• Top Five Reasons Archaeology is Not a Science
• Is Archaeology a Science?, register your opinion

Elsewhere

• AAA's Long Range Plan
• Anthropology a Science? Statement Deepens a Rift, Nicholas Wade in the NYT (December 9)
• Anthropology: More a Hobby than a "Science", Gawker
• Anthropology, Science, and Public Understanding *Best collection of links to commentary

Great Zimbabwe is the best known archaeological site dated to the Zimbabwe culture of the late African Iron Age.

Architectural detail, Great Zimbabwe. Photo by Nite_Owl

Nearly 80 acres of masonry buildings and enclosures make up Great Zimbabwe, building which were built beginning in the 12th century AD by Zimbabwe culture people stacking courses of shaped local stone--the buildings are mortarless.

Great Enclosure at Great Zimbabwe
Photo Credit: Christopher T. Snow

The structures at Great Zimbabwe are massive, and the architectural details, including conical towers and embedded designs make it a fascinating place to visit. The history of Great Zimbabwe is also fascinating: Great Zimbabwe has archaeological evidence of connections with the medieval trade port of Kilwa Kisiwani and thus access to trade goods throughout the Near and Far East.

Read More

• Great Zimbabwe
• Great Zimbabwe, from Africa for Visitors
• Kilwa Kisiwani
• African Iron Age
• African Iron Age Sites

The Mesoamerican ball game is oldest known sport played in the Americas: the earliest example we have is at Paso de la Amada, dated to at least 1400 BC.

Mesoamerican Ball Game Mural at the Tepantitla barrio in Teotihuacan. Photo by Madman 2001

Although we don't know the name of the game, we do have an inkling about the varieties of the game, and we have images of ball playing and protective gear worn by the players. We know that the winners gained prestige and honors, and we know that the losers often lost more than their games.

For details about what archaeologists have learned about the deadly and fascinating game of skill and danger, including how the game was played, what the courts were like, who in the community was involved in the sports and where we believe the game originated, read Nicoletta's new article on the Mesoamerican Ball Game.

• Mesoamerican Ball Game
• Paso de la Amada
• Ballcourt at Chichén Itzá

Archaeological and genetic evidence together indicate that all potatoes originated from South America--including sweet potatoes, Idaho potatoes and even these lovely purple Vitelottes.

Vitelotte Potatoes: unpeeled on the left, peeled on the right. Photo by Stephane8888

Potatoes were first domesticated in the Andean highlands of Peru or Bolivia more than 10,000 years ago, and they were introduced to the rest of the world by the Spanish explorers and colonizers. Although not all of today's varieties are as vividly colored as the Vitelotte, all are members of the Solanum family, along with tomatoes, eggplants and chili peppers.

Read More about Potato History and its Solanum Relatives

• Potato History
• Sweet Potato History
• Eggplant History
• Chili Pepper History

The New Philadelphia Archaeological Project (NSF-REU) is a fieldschool in archaeology, geosciences, and laboratory techniques, held at the town site of New Philadelphia, a 19th century multi-racial farming community in central Illinois. Ongoing field investigations at the site are led by Drs. Anna Agbe-Davies, Chris Fennell, and Terry Martin, with assistance by doctoral students Kathryn Fay, Annelise Morris, and Mary Kathryn Rocheford, historian Claire Martin, and geosciences professor Art Bettis. Chris Fennell provides this description of the 2011 field season, to be held May 23 to July 30, 2011.

Aerial view of the 42-acre New Philadelphia town site in 2005, with overlay of the boundaries of the town as platted. Photo courtesy of Dr. Tommy Hailey; overlay by Chris Fennell

New Philadelphia is nationally significant as the first town in the United States that was planned in advance and legally founded by an African American. Ethnic, racial, and commercial influences shaped the life history of the community, which started in 1836 and grew as a multi-racial town in the midst of a Midwest landscape marked by racial tensions. Local residents likely provided "safe house" service for the "Underground railroad" as enslaved African Americans fled northward escaping the oppression of southern plantations. The town's population reached its peak of about 160 people in 29 households after the Civil War. However, racial and corporate politics resulted in the death knell for the town -- regional transportation investors routed a new railroad line to bypass the community. Many of New Philadelphia's merchants and residents moved away and by the early 20th century only a few families remained (Fennell 2010; Shackel 2010; Walker 1983).

Frank McWorter, founder of New Philadelphia, Illinois. Sculpture by Shirley McWorter Moss on display at the Lincoln Presidential Library, Springfield
Photo courtesy of Sandra McWorter and Lincoln Pres. Library

New Philadelphia was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2009 based on its archaeological resources and exceptional historical importance. The Archaeological Conservancy now provides preservation and stewardship for several acres within the town site. Federal legislation is pending for a feasibility study of developing New Philadelphia into a national archaeological and historical park to convey its lessons to a broad public audience. Our research questions confront multiple social dynamics that impacted perspectives in the past and continue to influence the present. This project emphasizes the rewards of analyzing these subjects through interdisciplinary methods and active engagement with the perspectives of a diversity of stakeholders, including members of descendant and local communities.

Fieldschool students work in teams and excavate within town lots or work on excavations related to geoscience analysis of the landscape history of the community. This work will be based on historical research and the results of geophysical and geomorphological surveys, including a new LiDAR aerial laser survey to be completed in early 2011. Participants are trained in how to prepare a site for excavation, excavate according to stratigraphy or arbitrary levels, describe the sediments and soils, collect archaeobotanical samples, perform detailed note taking, collect accurate measurements, create scale drawings, learn field photography, and undertake mapping with a laser total station and a high resolution GPS receiver. Students are also involved in the processing of archaeological and geosciences data. They learn how to identify and catalog artifacts, faunal material, seeds and pollen, soils and sediments, and how to create an associated research catalog and database to be used in analyzing the significance of the evidence we have uncovered.

Anna Agbe-Davies provides visitors with an explanation of the town's history, while Terry Martin and NSF-REU fieldschool students record data in the 2010 season. Photo courtesy Joe Conover

For additional details concerning the fieldschool, consult the 2011 New Philadelphia Fieldschool flyer.

More on New Philadelphia

• 2011 New Philadelphia NSF-REU Fieldschool
• New Philadelphia Archaeology Project
• Time Team America: New Philadelphia

More 2011 Fieldwork in Focus

Archaeology Digs 2011

You won't hear this very often about an archaeological site, but Yaxchilán, located on the banks of the Usumacinta river on the border between Mexico and Guatemala, is one of the loveliest archaeological sites.

Temple of the Mazes at Yaxchilan. Photo by Joe Quick

Founded during the classic Maya period in the 5th century AD, Yaxchilán is only accessible by boat and hidden in a thick jungle. The traveler enters Yaxchilan through a series of tunnels and arrives in a garden-like area with over 130 stone monuments to explore. Carved lintels showing royal Maya life, friezes and niches and strange and amazing labyrinthine architecture makes Yaxchilan truly a gem of a site for visitors.

Read more about Yaxchilan