William A Lovis
I am Professor Emeritus in the Department of Anthropology and Curator Emeritus of Anthropology at the MSU Museum, Michigan State University (http://anthropology.msu.edu/author/lovis/), and an Associate with the Lithic Microwear Research Laboratory. I have my BS from New York University (1969) and MA and PhD from Michigan State University (1972, 1973). I am an environmental archaeologist. My specialties are human/environment interactions, particularly hunter gatherer archaeology and ethnography and the forager/farmer transition, applied analytic and scientific methods, forensic archaeology, and public policy. For almost 50 years I have conducted archaeological research in the US Great Lakes, northern England and northern Europe with support from a variety of Federal state and private philanthropic and funding organizations. I have disseminated the results of my research in several books, monographs and guest edited journal issues, as well as journal articles and book chapters in peer reviewed venues (http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9221-7447). I am coauthor on recent articles in Geomorphology, American Antiquity and PlosOne.
During my career I have mentored 28 MA and PhD students, and many talented undergraduates; accomplishments in which I take pride. My forensic activities have involved multiple high level investigations by Federal and State law enforcement agencies. As Curator I managed MSU’s Federal NAGPRA compliance for more than 25 years, and have had primary oversight for multiple national and international repatriations. As a consequence of my policy activities I have provided testimony to both houses of the U.S. Congress on policy issues, and held offices in national, regional, and state professional societies. I have been recognized by the Society for American Archaeology, Midwest Archaeological Conference, US Department of Justice (FBI) and Michigan State Police, and the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa, for which I am grateful.
With colleagues from the earth sciences at MSU, Indiana University, and National Park Service I recently completed field research at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as a continuation of inquiry into coastal and fluvial landform taphonomy, archaeological site preservation, and management, continue collaborative experiments into the Freshwater Reservoir Offset (FRO) with colleagues at the New York State Museum and Queens College, and am involved in ongoing analysis of English Mesolithic data with colleagues from the Lithic Microwear Research Laboratory, Microwear Associates, Leeds, UK.
Phone: 517.355.3485
Address: Department of Anthropology
355 Baker Hall
655 Auditorium Drive
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48825
During my career I have mentored 28 MA and PhD students, and many talented undergraduates; accomplishments in which I take pride. My forensic activities have involved multiple high level investigations by Federal and State law enforcement agencies. As Curator I managed MSU’s Federal NAGPRA compliance for more than 25 years, and have had primary oversight for multiple national and international repatriations. As a consequence of my policy activities I have provided testimony to both houses of the U.S. Congress on policy issues, and held offices in national, regional, and state professional societies. I have been recognized by the Society for American Archaeology, Midwest Archaeological Conference, US Department of Justice (FBI) and Michigan State Police, and the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa, for which I am grateful.
With colleagues from the earth sciences at MSU, Indiana University, and National Park Service I recently completed field research at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore as a continuation of inquiry into coastal and fluvial landform taphonomy, archaeological site preservation, and management, continue collaborative experiments into the Freshwater Reservoir Offset (FRO) with colleagues at the New York State Museum and Queens College, and am involved in ongoing analysis of English Mesolithic data with colleagues from the Lithic Microwear Research Laboratory, Microwear Associates, Leeds, UK.
Phone: 517.355.3485
Address: Department of Anthropology
355 Baker Hall
655 Auditorium Drive
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48825
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linked mostly to high lake stages and periods of increased storminess. Some recent research has also invoked drought as a potential causal mechanism on a site-specific basis. Although more than 250 collective absolute carbon-14 (14C) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages have been acquired in these many studies, a comprehensive statistical assessment of this robust dataset has yet to be conducted
to reconstruct a full chronological reconstruction of dune evolution. This study statistically analyzes the dataset of all known OSL (118) and 14C ages (175) acquired directly from sand dunes. Application of a kernel density estimation (KDE) algorithm function to both datasets revealed the temporal patterns in the ages. Analysis of OSL ages indicates three major periods of dune growth, beginning between ~5.0 and 3.8 ka during the Nipissing high stand and subsequent regression. The second phase occurred between ~3.0 and 2.0 ka during the Algoma high stand and regression.
Finally, the most recent interval of dune growth transpired between ~1.3 and 0.8 ka in the aftermath of a high lake stage at ~1.7 ka and another, shorter peak in lake level at ~1.0 ka. These findings indicate that major pulses of dune building mostly occur during lake regressions. They also correspond to the relatively warmer and drier conditions of the Holocene Climate Optimum, Roman Climate Optimum, and
Medieval Warm Period, respectively, as well as periods of relative drought in the region. These associations indicate that drier conditions may have contributed to dune activation. Plotting of 14C data reveals no single variable, such as stability or burial, explains the timing of the four peaks in the kernel distribution of ages derived from organic remains. Intervals of higher 14C age frequencies occurred between ~4500 and 3800 cal yr BP, ~3500 and 2600 cal yr BP, ~2300 and 1600 cal yr BP, and ~700 and 200 cal yr BP. The peak at ~4200 cal yr BP corresponds with a similar OSL pattern,
indicating that 14C ages derived from weakly developed Entisols during this interval reflects their burial by eolian sand. Peaks in 14C densities within the latter intervals at ~3200, ~1800, and ~400 cal Yr BP align with distinct drops in the OSL distribution. This pattern indicates that 14C ages from these intervals reflect episodes of stability and soil formation subsequent to episodes of dune building. Although this study demonstrates the general patterns of dune growth and stability, local variations in behavior likely occurred.
Michigan State University) the mummified remains of a young Andean girl
interred in a chullpa tomb, reputedly located south of La Paz, Bolivia. She was accompanied by a group of funerary objects, and the documentation indicated that she dated from the 15th century CE and was from the Inca culture. She was repatriated to Bolivia in January 2019. During and following repatriation minimally destructive analyses were undertaken on the funerary objects that had been associated with the interment. The estimated age of 1400-1500 CE was corroborated by a series of AMS ages on maize, leather, and gourd. However, a series of small ~2.5 mm black and red beads gave the appearance of European manufactured glass “seed” beads common in the context of colonial exchange. If the beads were glass, and European in origin, it would question the chronological homogeneity and therefore the integrity of the funerary assemblage since they would likely postdate ca. 1533 CE. Microscopic observations revealed morphological characteristics consistent with fine sedimentary rock, or fine ceramic paste, but could not conclusively eliminate the possibility of weathered and altered vitreous material such as glass. To explore the chemical composition of the beads one of each color – limited by the sensitive nature of the assemblage – was subjected to a series of analyses. SEM-EDS (scanning electron microscopy coupled to X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy), LA-ICP-MS (laser ablation - inductively coupled plasma –mass spectrometry), Raman microspectroscopy, and DART-MS (direct analysis in real time – mass spectrometry) were deployed. Results of the analysis revealed that the beads were fine sedimentary stone or ceramic, and exhibited an organic coating potentially for coloration, or later museum curation. Therefore, glass was eliminated as the material of manufacture. The most parsimonious interpretation of the beads analyzed seems to be Indigenous Inka manufacture, as small, stone beads have been identified in Inka and other pre-Colombian contexts.
The Hipwater Locale is a small Parkhill Phase Middle Paleoindian (ca. 12,200-11,600 cal BP) assemblage from southern lower Michigan, recovered by the property owners and the lead author. Interdisciplinary analysis reveals that the locale is likely a short term but intensive discard location with an assemblage composed of unfinished and broken fluted and unfluted bifaces with almost no associated debitage. There is evidence for a hearth in the form of soil discoloration, fire-cracked rock, color and structural alteration of tool stone, and thermal fractures. Tool stone sources are local Bayport chert as assessed through hand-specimen characteristics and portable x-ray fluorescence analyses. Microwear and protein residue analyses corroborate the use of one tool fragment for use on rabbit/hare or deer/elk. Implications of the several analyses are discussed and synthesized.
discard location with an assemblage composed of unfinished and broken fluted and unfluted bifaces with almost no associated debitage. There is evidence for a hearth in the form of soil discoloration, fire-cracked rock, color and structural alteration of tool stone, and thermal fractures. Tool-stone sources are local Bayport chert as assessed through hand-specimen characteristics and portable X-ray fluorescence analyses. Microwear and protein residue analysescorroborate the use of one tool fragment for use on rabbit/hare or deer/elk. Implications of the several analyses are discussed and synthesized.
ABSTRACT: Drought can affect even humid regions like northeastern North America, which experienced significant, well-documented dry spells in the 1930s, 50s, 60s, and 80s, and proxies tell us that in the years before instrumentally recorded climate, droughts could be even more severe. To get a more complete picture of pre-recorded climate, the spatial coverage of proxybased
climate reconstructions must be extended. This can better put in context past, current, and future climate, and it can lend anthropological and historical insights. With regard to tree rings as climate proxies, however, there is increasing evidence that relationships between tree growth and
climate can be inconsistent over time, in some cases decreasing the utility of tree rings in the representation of climate. We developed a chronology from white cedar Thuja occidentalis tree ring widths for the period 1469−2015 C.E. with which we modeled the relationship between growth and July−September moisture conditions (Palmer Z index). The relationship was consistent across the period of instrumentally recorded climate, 1895−present, and the model explained 27% of
variability. Therefore, we used the model to reconstruct July−September moisture conditions from 1546−2014. We found the most variable century to be the 20th, the least the 18th. The severest decade-scale droughts (≤0.75 SD from mean) occurred in the 1560s, 1600s/10s, 1630s, 1770s/80s, 1840s, and 1910s/20s, the severest pluvials (≥0.75 SD) in the 1610s/20s, 1660s/70s, and the 1970s/80s. The occasional occurrence of severe droughts throughout the reconstruction, increasing
variability in the 20th century, and expected climate change-enhanced late summer drought, portend a future punctuated with severe droughts.
conducted, and relative duration of occupation. Assemblage diversity, task sets assessed by a variety of
criteria including microwear, and evaluation of spatial organization are often among the primary analytic
dimensions employed. Here, we apply analysis of several of these different dimensions, as well as information
from transient and logistic locales at Malham Tarn, Otley, and elsewhere, to the Mesolithic Malham Tarn Site
A in northern England, a spatially extensive and at times intensive occupation. In regional context Tarn Site
A is a ‘persistent place’ on the landscape; a known, provisioned, and regularly visited location in a larger
regional framework. We attribute this to prominent landscape features acting as wayfinding ‘anchor points’
in the hunter-gatherer landscape. Smaller investigated sites appear to have assemblage ‘packages’, often
centred around hearth features, that can inform us about the nature of larger sites. We propose that Tarn
A is taphonomically consistent with palimpsests of episodic small group use, coupled with larger group
residential activity.
This paper does not have a formal abstract. It is posted here because many of the points made by Binford almost a half century ago, and by us almost 30 years ago, still warrant careful consideration by archaeologists practicing in the Michigan community.
The Archaic chronology of Michigan's Saginaw Valley,; by dint of intensive research during the 1960s, is the best known chronological sequence for the lower peninsula and is often employed as representative of the region. It has, however, suffered from problems of inadequate and/or confusing dating, and has been generally incompatible with known sequences from adjacent regions despite attempts at regional cross-correlation. Recent research on Archaic sites in the region, coupled with new radiocarbon dates, suggests that (1) previous chronologies of point types may be partially in error, (2) most known sites date to the end of the Late Archaic period, (3) multiple types ;may characterize certain time periods, and (4)the sequence may be more in line with its regional neighbors than previously realized.
linked mostly to high lake stages and periods of increased storminess. Some recent research has also invoked drought as a potential causal mechanism on a site-specific basis. Although more than 250 collective absolute carbon-14 (14C) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) ages have been acquired in these many studies, a comprehensive statistical assessment of this robust dataset has yet to be conducted
to reconstruct a full chronological reconstruction of dune evolution. This study statistically analyzes the dataset of all known OSL (118) and 14C ages (175) acquired directly from sand dunes. Application of a kernel density estimation (KDE) algorithm function to both datasets revealed the temporal patterns in the ages. Analysis of OSL ages indicates three major periods of dune growth, beginning between ~5.0 and 3.8 ka during the Nipissing high stand and subsequent regression. The second phase occurred between ~3.0 and 2.0 ka during the Algoma high stand and regression.
Finally, the most recent interval of dune growth transpired between ~1.3 and 0.8 ka in the aftermath of a high lake stage at ~1.7 ka and another, shorter peak in lake level at ~1.0 ka. These findings indicate that major pulses of dune building mostly occur during lake regressions. They also correspond to the relatively warmer and drier conditions of the Holocene Climate Optimum, Roman Climate Optimum, and
Medieval Warm Period, respectively, as well as periods of relative drought in the region. These associations indicate that drier conditions may have contributed to dune activation. Plotting of 14C data reveals no single variable, such as stability or burial, explains the timing of the four peaks in the kernel distribution of ages derived from organic remains. Intervals of higher 14C age frequencies occurred between ~4500 and 3800 cal yr BP, ~3500 and 2600 cal yr BP, ~2300 and 1600 cal yr BP, and ~700 and 200 cal yr BP. The peak at ~4200 cal yr BP corresponds with a similar OSL pattern,
indicating that 14C ages derived from weakly developed Entisols during this interval reflects their burial by eolian sand. Peaks in 14C densities within the latter intervals at ~3200, ~1800, and ~400 cal Yr BP align with distinct drops in the OSL distribution. This pattern indicates that 14C ages from these intervals reflect episodes of stability and soil formation subsequent to episodes of dune building. Although this study demonstrates the general patterns of dune growth and stability, local variations in behavior likely occurred.
Michigan State University) the mummified remains of a young Andean girl
interred in a chullpa tomb, reputedly located south of La Paz, Bolivia. She was accompanied by a group of funerary objects, and the documentation indicated that she dated from the 15th century CE and was from the Inca culture. She was repatriated to Bolivia in January 2019. During and following repatriation minimally destructive analyses were undertaken on the funerary objects that had been associated with the interment. The estimated age of 1400-1500 CE was corroborated by a series of AMS ages on maize, leather, and gourd. However, a series of small ~2.5 mm black and red beads gave the appearance of European manufactured glass “seed” beads common in the context of colonial exchange. If the beads were glass, and European in origin, it would question the chronological homogeneity and therefore the integrity of the funerary assemblage since they would likely postdate ca. 1533 CE. Microscopic observations revealed morphological characteristics consistent with fine sedimentary rock, or fine ceramic paste, but could not conclusively eliminate the possibility of weathered and altered vitreous material such as glass. To explore the chemical composition of the beads one of each color – limited by the sensitive nature of the assemblage – was subjected to a series of analyses. SEM-EDS (scanning electron microscopy coupled to X-ray energy dispersive spectroscopy), LA-ICP-MS (laser ablation - inductively coupled plasma –mass spectrometry), Raman microspectroscopy, and DART-MS (direct analysis in real time – mass spectrometry) were deployed. Results of the analysis revealed that the beads were fine sedimentary stone or ceramic, and exhibited an organic coating potentially for coloration, or later museum curation. Therefore, glass was eliminated as the material of manufacture. The most parsimonious interpretation of the beads analyzed seems to be Indigenous Inka manufacture, as small, stone beads have been identified in Inka and other pre-Colombian contexts.
The Hipwater Locale is a small Parkhill Phase Middle Paleoindian (ca. 12,200-11,600 cal BP) assemblage from southern lower Michigan, recovered by the property owners and the lead author. Interdisciplinary analysis reveals that the locale is likely a short term but intensive discard location with an assemblage composed of unfinished and broken fluted and unfluted bifaces with almost no associated debitage. There is evidence for a hearth in the form of soil discoloration, fire-cracked rock, color and structural alteration of tool stone, and thermal fractures. Tool stone sources are local Bayport chert as assessed through hand-specimen characteristics and portable x-ray fluorescence analyses. Microwear and protein residue analyses corroborate the use of one tool fragment for use on rabbit/hare or deer/elk. Implications of the several analyses are discussed and synthesized.
discard location with an assemblage composed of unfinished and broken fluted and unfluted bifaces with almost no associated debitage. There is evidence for a hearth in the form of soil discoloration, fire-cracked rock, color and structural alteration of tool stone, and thermal fractures. Tool-stone sources are local Bayport chert as assessed through hand-specimen characteristics and portable X-ray fluorescence analyses. Microwear and protein residue analysescorroborate the use of one tool fragment for use on rabbit/hare or deer/elk. Implications of the several analyses are discussed and synthesized.
ABSTRACT: Drought can affect even humid regions like northeastern North America, which experienced significant, well-documented dry spells in the 1930s, 50s, 60s, and 80s, and proxies tell us that in the years before instrumentally recorded climate, droughts could be even more severe. To get a more complete picture of pre-recorded climate, the spatial coverage of proxybased
climate reconstructions must be extended. This can better put in context past, current, and future climate, and it can lend anthropological and historical insights. With regard to tree rings as climate proxies, however, there is increasing evidence that relationships between tree growth and
climate can be inconsistent over time, in some cases decreasing the utility of tree rings in the representation of climate. We developed a chronology from white cedar Thuja occidentalis tree ring widths for the period 1469−2015 C.E. with which we modeled the relationship between growth and July−September moisture conditions (Palmer Z index). The relationship was consistent across the period of instrumentally recorded climate, 1895−present, and the model explained 27% of
variability. Therefore, we used the model to reconstruct July−September moisture conditions from 1546−2014. We found the most variable century to be the 20th, the least the 18th. The severest decade-scale droughts (≤0.75 SD from mean) occurred in the 1560s, 1600s/10s, 1630s, 1770s/80s, 1840s, and 1910s/20s, the severest pluvials (≥0.75 SD) in the 1610s/20s, 1660s/70s, and the 1970s/80s. The occasional occurrence of severe droughts throughout the reconstruction, increasing
variability in the 20th century, and expected climate change-enhanced late summer drought, portend a future punctuated with severe droughts.
conducted, and relative duration of occupation. Assemblage diversity, task sets assessed by a variety of
criteria including microwear, and evaluation of spatial organization are often among the primary analytic
dimensions employed. Here, we apply analysis of several of these different dimensions, as well as information
from transient and logistic locales at Malham Tarn, Otley, and elsewhere, to the Mesolithic Malham Tarn Site
A in northern England, a spatially extensive and at times intensive occupation. In regional context Tarn Site
A is a ‘persistent place’ on the landscape; a known, provisioned, and regularly visited location in a larger
regional framework. We attribute this to prominent landscape features acting as wayfinding ‘anchor points’
in the hunter-gatherer landscape. Smaller investigated sites appear to have assemblage ‘packages’, often
centred around hearth features, that can inform us about the nature of larger sites. We propose that Tarn
A is taphonomically consistent with palimpsests of episodic small group use, coupled with larger group
residential activity.
This paper does not have a formal abstract. It is posted here because many of the points made by Binford almost a half century ago, and by us almost 30 years ago, still warrant careful consideration by archaeologists practicing in the Michigan community.
The Archaic chronology of Michigan's Saginaw Valley,; by dint of intensive research during the 1960s, is the best known chronological sequence for the lower peninsula and is often employed as representative of the region. It has, however, suffered from problems of inadequate and/or confusing dating, and has been generally incompatible with known sequences from adjacent regions despite attempts at regional cross-correlation. Recent research on Archaic sites in the region, coupled with new radiocarbon dates, suggests that (1) previous chronologies of point types may be partially in error, (2) most known sites date to the end of the Late Archaic period, (3) multiple types ;may characterize certain time periods, and (4)the sequence may be more in line with its regional neighbors than previously realized.
North America ca. A.D. 1000 was the primary catalyst for the population increases, technological innovations,
and fundamental shifts in social and cultural organization characteristic of Late Woodland,
Mississippian, Upper Mississippian, and Iroquoian societies. However, raw or uncooked maize kernels
alone are known to be a nutritionally inadequate subsistence staple. Nixtamalization, or the alkaline
processing of dried raw maize to produce hominy, yields a more readily digestible and therefore
healthier food resource. Such processing is ubiquitous amongst maize-based societies in the Americas.
The timing of the transition to maize agriculture was also closely associated with the adoption of shelltempered
ceramics. As a result, an hypothesis has been offered by multiple authors that burned and
crushed mollusc shell aplastic may act as an alkaline agent in the nixtamalization process. The research
reported here provides a formal empirical test of this hypothesis. Findings indicate that no substantial
structural or chemical changes to maize kernels result from the leaching of shell tempering alkaline
products from the fabric of a ceramic vessel. Two constraints are noted in this process: the reduction in
adherence of wet paste due to the addition of mussel shell derived calcium oxide (lime) or calcium
hydroxide (slaked lime) as a tempering agent, and the necessity to avoid the decomposition of calcium
carbonate to lime or slaked lime in order for the successful firing of shell-tempered vessels.