Papers by Kevan Edinborough
Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory, 2019
Neolithic stone axeheads from Britain provide an unusually rich, well-provenanced set of evidence... more Neolithic stone axeheads from Britain provide an unusually rich, well-provenanced set of evidence with which to consider patterns of prehistoric production and exchange. It is no surprise then that these objects have often been subject to spatial analysis in terms of the relationship between particular stone source areas and the distribution of axeheads made from those stones. At stake in such analysis are important interpretative issues to do with how we view the role of material value, supply, exchange, and demand in prehistoric societies. This paper returns to some of these well-established debates in the light of accumulating British Neolithic evidence and via the greater analytical power and flexibility afforded by recent computational methods. Our analyses make a case that spatial distributions of prehistoric axeheads cannot be explained merely as the result of uneven resource availability in the landscape, but instead reflect the active favouring of particular sources over known alternatives. Above and beyond these patterns, we also demonstrate that more populated parts of Early Neolithic Britain were an increased pull factor affecting the longer-range distribution of these objects.
Radiocarbon, 2020
New radiocarbon (14C) dates suggest a simultaneous appearance of two technologically and geograph... more New radiocarbon (14C) dates suggest a simultaneous appearance of two technologically and geographically distinct axe production practices in Neolithic Britain; igneous open-air quarries in Great Langdale, Cumbria, and from flint mines in southern England at ~4000–3700 cal BC. In light of the recent evidence that farming was introduced at this time by large-scale immigration from northwest Europe, and that expansion within Britain was extremely rapid, we argue that this synchronicity supports this speed of colonization and reflects a knowledge of complex extraction processes and associated exchange networks already possessed by the immigrant groups; long-range connections developed as colonization rapidly expanded. Although we can model the start of these new extraction activities, it remains difficult to estimate how long significant production activity lasted at these key sites given the nature of the record from which samples could be obtained.
Journal of Analytical Atomic Spectrometry, 2020
Life-history parameters such as pregnancies, skeletal trauma, and renal disease have previously b... more Life-history parameters such as pregnancies, skeletal trauma, and renal disease have previously been identified from hypomineralised growth layers (incremental lines) of acellular extrinsic fibre cementum (AEFC) using optical microscopy. We show that the precise periodicity of these growth layers remains poorly understood, so life history parameters for putative cementum deposition periodicity cannot be rigorously calculated. In an attempt to better understand the underlying formation processes, our study investigates whether or not mineralisation of AEFC incremental lines clearly indicate life history parameters in an ideal sample, using light microscopy, electron microscopy, and Time-of-Flight Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometry (ToF-SIMS). Based on our results we reject the possibility of accurate estimation of the distribution of mineralisation of tooth cementum using light and scanning electron microscopy alone. On the other hand, we detect an apparent drop in calcium in the AEFC of a patient
with six documented full-term pregnancies, using ToF SIMS. We conclude that although ToF-SIMS analysis holds great promise for increasing our knowledge of cementum composition, far more caution is required by researchers linking observed lines in this tissue to underlying causal life history mechanisms and explanations.
Supply and demand in prehistory? Economics of Neolithic mining in northwest Europe
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2019
The extent to which non-agricultural production in prehistory had cost-benefit motivations has lo... more The extent to which non-agricultural production in prehistory had cost-benefit motivations has long been a subject of discussion. This paper addresses the topic by looking at the evidence for Neolithic quarrying and mining in Britain and continental northwest Europe and asks whether changing production through time was influenced by changing demand. Radiocarbon dating of mine and quarry sites is used to define periods of use. These are then correlated with a likely first-order source of demand, the size of the regional populations around the mines, inferred from a radiocarbon-based population proxy. There are significant differences between the population and mine-date distributions. Analysis of pollen data using the REVEALS method to reconstruct changing regional land cover patterns shows that in Britain activity at the mines and quarries is strongly correlated with evidence for forest clearance by incoming Neolithic populations, suggesting that mine and quarry production were a response to the demand that this created. The evidence for such a correlation between mining and clearance in continental northwest Europe is much weaker. Here the start of large-scale mining may be a response to the arrival by long-distance exchange of high-quality prestige jade axes from a source in the Italian Alps.
Assessing continuity in the ancestral territory of the Tsleil-Waututh-Coast Salish, southwest British Columbia, Canada
Journal of Anthropological Archaeology, 2018
Archaeological interpretations of continuity and abandonment can have significant implications for... more Archaeological interpretations of continuity and abandonment can have significant implications for descendant communities. Such interpretations are contingent on the social and spatial scale of analysis. We assess the evidence for continuity among the Coast Salish at four of social-spatial scales using a suite of radiocarbon dates
derived from Tsleil-Wat (Burrard Inlet and Indian Arm) and the Fraser Valley (∼3500–250 cal BP). We define continuity as the ability to pass on place-based knowledge inter-generationally – conservatively a span of
60 years. For each social-spatial scale, we evaluate whether we have the minimum number of radiocarbon dates required to assess continuity. We also utilize demographic modeling of the radiocarbon dates to evaluate whether there are significant gaps in the data that would indicate discontinuities in occupation. Overlapping
radiocarbon dates suggest continuity at various social-spatial scales, but our ability to detect long-term continuity increases with sample size and size of the social-spatial unit. The modeling did not reveal gaps in occupation, but low statistical power limits our ability to make conclusive interpretations. These analyses highlight
both the importance of choosing appropriate scales of analysis and the potential limitations of archaeological data sets for evaluating continuity at culturally meaningful scales in the past.
Journal of Vegetation Science, 2018
We investigated the changing role of climate, forest fires and human population size in the broad... more We investigated the changing role of climate, forest fires and human population size in the broad-scale compositional changes in Holocene vegetation dynamics before and after the onset of farming in Sweden (at 6,000 cal yr BP) and in Finland (at 4,000 cal yr BP). Southern and central Sweden, SW and SE Finland. Holocene regional plant abundances were reconstructed using the REVEALS model on selected fossil pollen records from lakes. The relative importance of climate, fires and human population size on changes in vegetation composition was assessed using variation partitioning. Past climate variable was derived from the LOVECLIM climate model. Fire variable was reconstructed from sedimentary charcoal records. Estimated trend in human population size was based on the temporal distribution of archaeological radiocarbon dates. Climate explains the highest proportion of variation in vegetation composition during the whole study period in Sweden (10,000–4,000 cal yr BP) and in Finland (10,000–1,000 cal yr BP), and during the pre-agricultural period. In general, fires explain a relatively low proportion of variation. Human population size has significant effect on vegetation dynamics after the onset of farming and explains the highest variation in vegetation in S Sweden and SW Finland. Mesolithic hunter-gatherer populations did not significantly affect vegetation composition in Fennoscandia, and climate was the main driver of changes at that time. Agricultural communities, however, had greater effect on vegetation dynamics, and the role of human population size became a more important factor during the late Holocene. Our results demonstrate that climate can be considered the main driver of long-term vegetation dynamics in Fennoscandia. However, in some regions the influence of human population size on Holocene vegetation changes exceeded that of climate and has a longevity dating to the early Neolithic.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Science USA, 2017
We extend an established simulation-based method to test for significant short-duration (1–2 cent... more We extend an established simulation-based method to test for significant short-duration (1–2 centuries) demographic events known from one documented historical and one oral historical context. Case study 1 extrapolates population data from the Western historical tradition using historically derived demographic data from the catastrophic European Black Death/bubonic plague (Yersinia pestis). We find a corresponding statistically significant drop in absolute population using an extended version of a previously published simulation method. Case study 2 uses this refined simulation method to test for a settlement gap identified in oral historical records of descendant Tsimshian First Nations communities from the Prince Rupert Harbour region of the Pacific Northwest region of British Columbia, Canada. Using a regional database of n = 523 radiocarbon dates, we find a significant drop in relative population using the extended simulation-based method consistent with Tsimshian oral records. We conclude that our technical refinement extends the utility of radiocarbon simulation methods and can provide a rigorous test of demographic predictions derived from a range of historical sources.
Prince Rupert Harbour (PRH), on the north Pacific Coast of British Columbia, contains at least 15... more Prince Rupert Harbour (PRH), on the north Pacific Coast of British Columbia, contains at least 157 shell middens, of which 66 are known villages, in an area of approximately 180 km2. These sites span the last 9500 yr and in some cases are immense, exceeding 20,000 m2 surface area and several meters in depth. Recent archaeological research in PRH has become increasingly reliant on radiocarbon dates from marine shell for developing chronologies. However, this is problematic as the local marine reservoir effect (MRE) remains poorly understood in the region. To account for the MRE and to better date the Harbour’s sites, we propose a ΔR of 273±38 for the PRH area, based on our work at the site of Kitandach (GbTo-34), a massive shell midden-village centrally located within the Harbour. We followed the multiple paired sample approach for samples from specific contexts and ensured contemporaneity within the groups of marine and terrestrial materials by statistically assessing for outliers using the χ2 test. Taking together, the results for this and previous studies, it appears the MRE was fairly constant over the past 5000 yr.
The florescence of large, regional radiocarbon data sets allows archaeologists to examine fine-sc... more The florescence of large, regional radiocarbon data sets allows archaeologists to examine fine-scale, local changes in demography and settlement that are not tied to regional culture historical frameworks. We compile 599 radiocarbon dates from 95 archaeological sites in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia and use two complimentary approaches to explore how populations are distributed over time and across the region. First, we apply a summed probability distribution model to the dataset; this model indicates that populations generally increased over the Holocene with a significant rise 800–600 years ago. We then divide our data into 250-year periods and classify each site based on the number of houses, as a large settlement, small settlement, or camp for every period. We observe that the relative numbers of these site types fluctuate through time, and hypothesize that the larger fluctuations indicate changing patterns of social aggregation and dispersal, and settlement abandonment and reoccupation. Through time we see an increase in the number of sites overall, but with considerable variation in the relative number of site types. We see an underlying stability in settlement organization indicative of long-term cultural continuity and place-based identities linked to both specific sites and general locations within the region.
We highlight mathematical properties of radiocarbon ages which regularly cause age distortion in ... more We highlight mathematical properties of radiocarbon ages which regularly cause age distortion in archaeological studies. Examples are the artificial clustering of 14C-ages on the 14C-scale, the lock/in of calibrated 14C-ages to certain values on the calendric time-scale, the curious fact that numeric ‘probability’ values assigned to the multiple calendric scale intervals do not add up to 100% (contra the axioms of classical probability theory), as well as the invalidity of the Central Value Theorem. In this paper we focus on the cause of the (well-known) shape distortion of summed calibrated probability distributions (SPDs) due to the occurrence of (highly visible) vertical spikes and prongs and spikes). Although not widely recognised, due to the same non-commutative properties of 14C-ages, there also exists a strong horizontal distortion that effects both the shape of SPDs, as well as all sequencing results, but this mode of age distortion is typically much less visible.
In book: Neolithic Diversities, Edition: Series in 8o, No. 65. Lund 2015., Chapter: An ABC of Neolithic Arrowheads, Publisher: Acta Archaeologica Lundensia, Editors: Kristian Brink, Susan Hydén, Kristina Jennbert, Lars Larsson & Deborah Olausson, pp.213-223, 2015
If archaeology is to take a leading role in the social sciences, new theoretical and methodologic... more If archaeology is to take a leading role in the social sciences, new theoretical and methodological advances emerging from the natural sciences cannot be ignored. This requires considerable retooling for archaeology as a discipline at a population scale of analysis. Such an approach is not easy to carry through, especially owing to historically contingent regional traditions; however, the knowledge gained by directly addressing these problems head-on is well worth the effort. This paper shows how population level processes driving cultural evolution can be better understood if mathematical and computational methods, often with a strong element of simulation, are applied to archaeological datasets. We use computational methods to study patterns and process of temporal variation in the frequency of cultural variants. More specifically, we will explore how lineages of lithic technologies are transmitted over time using a well-analysed and chronologically fine-grained assemblage of Central European Neolithic armatures from the French Jura. We look for sharp cultural transitions in the frequency of armature types by trying to detect significant mismatches between predictions dictated by an unbiased transmission model and observed empirical data. A simple armature classification scheme based on morphology is introduced. The results have considerable implications for analysing and understanding cultural transmission pathways not only for Neolithic armatures, but also for the evolution of lithic technology more generally in different spatiotemporal contexts.
Documenta Praehistorica, 2011
In this paper we explore the meaning of the word probability, not in general terms, but restricte... more In this paper we explore the meaning of the word probability, not in general terms, but restricted to the field of radiocarbon dating, where it has the meaning of 'dating probability assigned to calibrated 14 C-ages'. The intention of our study is to improve our understanding of certain properties of radiocarbon dates, which -although mathematically abstract -are fundamental both for the construction of age models in prehistoric archaeology, as well as for an adequate interpretation of their reliability.
Proceedings of the …, Jan 1, 2008
Following its initial arrival in SE Europe 8,500 years ago agriculture spread throughout the cont... more Following its initial arrival in SE Europe 8,500 years ago agriculture spread throughout the continent, changing food production and consumption patterns and increasing population densities. Here we show that, in contrast to the steady population growth usually assumed, the introduction of agriculture into Europe was followed by a boom-and-bust pattern in the density of regional populations. We demonstrate that summed calibrated radiocarbon date distributions and simulation can be used to test the significance of these demographic booms and busts in the context of uncertainty in the radiocarbon date calibration curve and archaeological sampling. We report these results for Central and Northwest Europe between 8,000 and 4,000 cal. BP and investigate the relationship between these patterns and climate. However, we find no evidence to support a relationship. Our results thus suggest that the demographic patterns may have arisen from endogenous causes, although this remains speculative.
The data-set described here comprises cranial pathology data and cranial age assessment for 113 i... more The data-set described here comprises cranial pathology data and cranial age assessment for 113 individuals
from four Mesolithic-Neolithic sites in the Danube Gorges, Serbia. Calibrated radiocarbon dates by
archaeological site were included where available. The data were collected after anthropological analysis
of this collection. This dataset is available from UCL Discovery in .csv format. The reuse potential of
these data is great for paleoepidemiology studies, and for associated time-series analyses in this region
and beyond. Furthermore, these data can be used for comparative studies of cranial pathology and aging
profiles in other Mesolithic-Neolithic collections.
138 A pseudo-biomisation approach to anthropogenic land cover change
Antiquity, Dec 2014
Archaeologists have long sought appropriate ways to describe the duration and floruit of archaeol... more Archaeologists have long sought appropriate ways to describe the duration and floruit of archaeological cultures in statistical terms. Thus far, chronological reasoning has been largely reliant on typological sequences. Using summed probability distributions, the authors here compare radiocarbon dates for a series of European Neolithic cultures with their generally accepted ‘standard’ date ranges and with the greater precision afforded by dendrochronology, where that is available. The resulting analysis gives a new and more accurate description of the duration and intensity of European Neolithic cultures.
Quantum theory of radiocarbon calibration
The calibration of radiocarbon measurements is based on a number of mathematical assumptions that... more The calibration of radiocarbon measurements is based on a number of mathematical assumptions that are rarely considered by users of the various available calibration programs. As 14C ages take on mathematical properties best known from quantum physics, a quantum theoretical approach provides a useful basis to evaluate the reliability of processes of calibration and Bayesian modelling of radiocarbon datasets. We undertake such an evaluation here through a consideration of the mathematics of calibration, the normalization process, and through an archaeological case study. We demonstrate that the normalization function deemed necessary for 14C histogram shape-correction is identical to the default prior widely used in Bayesian calibration. We highlight flaws in default Bayesian calibration algorithms which may affect archaeological studies that are overly reliant on high calibration precision, especially when based on relatively small (N<100) sample sizes. The observed differences between algorithms have consequences for radiocarbon models that claim sub-generational (~25–30 calendar years) precision.
This paper presents the results of excavations conducted in Sept. 2013 in Seocka pećina, in
the n... more This paper presents the results of excavations conducted in Sept. 2013 in Seocka pećina, in
the near vicinity of the Skadar Lake. A Mesolithic level, dated by radiocarbon to the late 9th – early 8th
millennium cal. BC was discovered, in addition to several finds belonging to the Bronze Age. Although
spatially limited, these results are important as they provide a first glimpse of the Mesolithic settlement
pattern and associated activities in this under-investigated part of Montenegro.
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Papers by Kevan Edinborough
with six documented full-term pregnancies, using ToF SIMS. We conclude that although ToF-SIMS analysis holds great promise for increasing our knowledge of cementum composition, far more caution is required by researchers linking observed lines in this tissue to underlying causal life history mechanisms and explanations.
derived from Tsleil-Wat (Burrard Inlet and Indian Arm) and the Fraser Valley (∼3500–250 cal BP). We define continuity as the ability to pass on place-based knowledge inter-generationally – conservatively a span of
60 years. For each social-spatial scale, we evaluate whether we have the minimum number of radiocarbon dates required to assess continuity. We also utilize demographic modeling of the radiocarbon dates to evaluate whether there are significant gaps in the data that would indicate discontinuities in occupation. Overlapping
radiocarbon dates suggest continuity at various social-spatial scales, but our ability to detect long-term continuity increases with sample size and size of the social-spatial unit. The modeling did not reveal gaps in occupation, but low statistical power limits our ability to make conclusive interpretations. These analyses highlight
both the importance of choosing appropriate scales of analysis and the potential limitations of archaeological data sets for evaluating continuity at culturally meaningful scales in the past.
from four Mesolithic-Neolithic sites in the Danube Gorges, Serbia. Calibrated radiocarbon dates by
archaeological site were included where available. The data were collected after anthropological analysis
of this collection. This dataset is available from UCL Discovery in .csv format. The reuse potential of
these data is great for paleoepidemiology studies, and for associated time-series analyses in this region
and beyond. Furthermore, these data can be used for comparative studies of cranial pathology and aging
profiles in other Mesolithic-Neolithic collections.
the near vicinity of the Skadar Lake. A Mesolithic level, dated by radiocarbon to the late 9th – early 8th
millennium cal. BC was discovered, in addition to several finds belonging to the Bronze Age. Although
spatially limited, these results are important as they provide a first glimpse of the Mesolithic settlement
pattern and associated activities in this under-investigated part of Montenegro.