Spring 2025 Anthropology Courses

Registration opens Monday, October 21, 2024

Anthropology 3701
Lithic Technology

Dr. Daniel Adler

[email protected]
Mondays, 12:20–2:50 pm, Beach Hall 304G
Lab class, limited enrollment

Anthropology 5517
Hunter-Gatherers Past & Present

Dr. Daniel Adler

[email protected]
Wednesdays, 1:25–3:55 pm, Beach Hall 304G
Open to undergraduates with permission from instructor

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Trade & Exchange

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Trade & Exchange

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 Why are Trade & Exchange Important?
• Pragmatic: Many traded materials survive in the
archaeological record

• Trade in the larger framework of social

interactions

• Movement of prestige & staple goods as keys to

social complexity & organization

• Trade as catalyst for social change

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 Trade & Exchange

“Globalization” in the ancient Mediterranean

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Trade: Means of Transport

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Trade: the Nature of the Commodity
Wealth or Luxury Goods vs. Staples or Bulk Goods

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 Documenting Trade and Exchange
• Stylistic Assessment

• Characterization Studies
– Microscopic Analysis
– Trace-Element Analysis
– Isotopic Analysis

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 Trade & Exchange
• Four Modes of Exchange
1. Reciprocity: the exchange of goods between
known participants, involving simple barter and
face-to-face exchanges.
• Occurs in all societies, but bands use it
exclusively.

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 Trade & Exchange
• 2. Down-the-line exchange: a system of
interlocking reciprocal networks allows goods to
travel long distances. The further from the source,
the less of a good there is.
– How valuable is a pink ball worth here vs. here?

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 Trade & Exchange
• 3. Market economy: establishment of a centralized
location for exchange of goods

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 Trade & Exchange
• 4. Redistribution: the accumulation & dispersal of
goods through a centralized agency, individual, or
institution.

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 Ancient “Drug Trade”
Cyprus: opium producer for the
eastern Mediterranean by 1100 BC

Important to consider social &

economic impact of trade

ANTH 3420
Archaeology of
Psychoactive Substances
Dr. Chris Ball

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 Trade Plants

• Important trade
goods
• Olive oil
• Wine
• Flax
• Cereals
• Textiles

• Extent of trade is
difficult to detect

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 Turkey Mesopotamia

Syria Iran
Iraq

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Obsidian sources & find spots in the Neolithic

east

west

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“Down the Line” Trade in
Obsidian in the Neolithic

% obsidian
Distance from source

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Trade & Exchange: Armenia 325,000 & 40,000 yrs

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 pXRF Analysis at Nor Geghi 1
N=316
93.7%
0.3%
This scatterplot of Rb
(Rubidium), Sr (Strontium),
and Zr (zirconium)
3.2%
concentrations establishes 2.8%
the four volcanic sources of
obsidian represented at
NG1: Gutansar, Pokr
Arteni, Hatis, and Pokr
Sevkar

Frahm et al. 2014, Journal of Archaeological Science.

D.S. Adler, et al., 2014 Science.

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 CLASS GUT HAT ART SEV TOTAL %

Core 14 2 1 0 17 5.4

Tool 30 1 4 0 35 11.1

Flake 192 6 4 0 202 63.9

Shatter 2 0 0 0 2 0.6

8km <2.5cm 58 0 1 1 60 19.0

70km Sevan Total 296 9 10 1 316 100

12km % 93.7 2.8 3.2 0.3 100

120km

5cm

Frahm et al. 2014, Journal of Archaeological Science.

D.S. Adler, et al., 2014 Science.

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 Lusakert Cave
Middle Palaeolithic
~60–40ka
LKT GUT HAT ART TSA GEG SEV TOTAL

Total 1293 59 16 26 7 0 1401

70km 8km
% 92.3 4.2 1.1 1.85 0.5 0 100

Sevan NG1 GUT HAT ART TSA GEG SEV TOTAL

12km
Total 296 9 10 0 0 1 316

% 93.7 2.8 3.2 0 0 0.3 100

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 SITE GUT HAT ART SYU GEG TSA KAR TOTAL

NG1 296 9 10 1 0 0 0 316

% 93.7 2.8 3.2 0.3 0 0 0 100
Kalavan-1 3 10 0 1 4 0 0 18
% 16.7 55.6 0 5.6 22.2 0 0 100
Apnagyugh-8 10 1 3 0 1 4 1 20

% 50.0 5.0 15.0 0 5.0 20.0 5.0 100

TOTAL 309 20 13 2 5 4 1 354

Kars
% 87.3 5.6 3.7 0.6 1.4 1.1 0.3 100

Sevan Nor Geghi-1:

Late Acheulian,
>325-440 ka 40Ar/39Ar.

Lusakert Cave:
Late Middle Palaeolithic,
~60–40 ka

Kalavan-1: Epigravettian,
~14-13.5 ka 14C BP.
Apnagyugh-8:
50 Km Mesolithic/proto-
Neolithic, ~10.9-5.2 ka
14
C BP.
C. Montoya, et al., 2013, Journal of Human Evolution.
C. Chataigner, et al., 2013, Archaeometry.
D.S. Adler, et al., 2014 Science.

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Chlorite Trade in the Bronze Age
(3rd millennium BC)

Jiroft

Tepe
Yahya

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Jiroft: Chlorite Artifacts

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Chlorite Vessels:
Carved in Iran in
“Mesopotamian” Style

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Trade with the Indus Valley in the Bronze Age
(3rd millennium BC)

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 Royal Tombs of Ur:
Carnelian & Lapis from
Afghanistan

Queen Pu-Abi

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The Uluburun Shipwreck near Kash, Turkey
Late Bronze Age (ca. 1316 BC)

Location of the
Wreck

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Hull of the Uluburun

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350 Copper Oxide Ingots
(60 lbs each)

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The Plan of the Uluburun

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Glass & Other Beads from the Uluburun

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Ebony and Hippopotamus Tusks;
Glass Ingots, colored with Cobalt

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Canaanean and Mycenean Swords

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 1 ton of jars containing
olives, beads, resin

Canaanite Amphora containing terebinth

resin from pistachio

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Jewelry and Scarabs

Scarab with name of Nefertiti

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Mesopotamian
Cylinder
Seals

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Mediterranean Map

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 2021
The stranded Ever
Given mega-container
ship in the Suez Canal
held up ~$9.6bn of
goods each day, or
$400m/hour in trade
along the vital waterway
between east & west

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21st Century Supply Chain Blues

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 The International Longshoremen’s Association
Roughly 45,000 dock workers walked off the job at 36 ports for 3 days in
early October 2024 when their contract expired

At the time it was estimated the U.S. economy could lose between $3.8
billion to $4.5 billion for each day the ports remained closed

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 Midterm Exam
Wednesday, October 16
9:00 am – 5:00 pm

Exam Format:
50 multiple choice (2 points each)
100 total points

The exam will be administered on our HuskyCT website!

Do not come to this classroom on the 16th

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