Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (367 page)

 
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Kossinna , Gustaf
(1858–1931)
[Bi].

German linguist and prehistorian well known for his nationalistic views on the use of archaeological research. Born in Tilsit, East Prussia, he attended the universities of Göttingen, Leipzig, Berlin, and Strasbourg. He then became a librarian and worked in the library of the University of Berlin from 1892. During this time he read widely on archaeology and published numerous papers on material culture in relation to German territory. Rather strangely, in 1904, he was appointed Professor of German Prehistory in the University of Berlin. Through much of his work he viewed Germany as the centre for numerous developments which spread outwards from there into the wider world. Such views about the central European archaeological record contributed to the ideological base of Nazism during the 1920s and 1930s.
[Not.: B. Arnold , 1990, The past as propaganda: totalitarian archaeology in Nazi Germany.
Antiquity
, 64, 464–78]

 
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Archaic Stage site spanning the period 7500 bc through to ad 1200 in fourteen distinct cultural horizons represented by over 10.5m of stratigraphy. Excavated under the direction of Stuart Struever and James Brown in the 1970s, the site is important for its contributions to understanding the changing relationships between the occupants and their environment. The earliest levels show periodic visits by Palaeo-Indian groups. In Horizon 11, there was an Archaic settlement dating to about 6500 bc, a seasonal camp with temporary dwellings covering an area of 0.3ha. By Horizon 8,
c.
5600–5000 bc, the settlement had become more substantial and more permanent with timber houses. By Horizon 6,
c.
3900–2800 bc the village had expanded to cover 2ha with perhaps 150 inhabitants. Overall, evidence was recovered for a number of key transitions in subsistence, economy and settlement type: the emergence of sedentism, the development of broadly based subsistence regimes, and the origins of wild-plant cultivation.
[S. Struever and F. Holton , 1979,
Koster: Americans in search of the prehistoric past
. New York: Anchor Press]

 
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A major ceremonial centre situated at 1950m above sea level on the eastern slopes of the central Andes above modern Huanuco. Dating from the late Pre-Ceramic period through to the early Horizon, roughly 3000–1000 bc, the site has four main phases. The earliest (Mito phase) is Pre-Ceramic, but includes the Temple of the Crossed Hands. Square in plan, this temple has a single entrance with a niche on each side facing inwards. Below each niche, modelled in mud plaster, is a pair of crossed human forearms, some of which are larger than the others suggesting perhaps a male/female duality. Around the interior of the temple is a low stone bench; there is a fire-pit in the centre of the floor. The second phase (Waira-Jirca) is associated with ceramics of the Zone Hachure Horizon Style and dates to
c.
1800–1150 bc. The third phase (Kotash) dates to
c.
1000–900 bc. During this time the temple was rebuilt following the demolition of its predecessor. New pottery forms are present, including stirrup-spout vessels. Maize was probably being cultivated at this time. The fourth phase (
CHAVÍN
), is again recognizable by new pottery styles.
[Rep.: S. Izumi and T. Sono , 1963,
Andes 2: excavations at Kotosh, Peru, 1960
. Tokyo: kand o kawa]

 
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An early burial ground close to the Murray River, Victoria, southern Australia, excavated by Alan Thorne from 1968 to 1972. Dating to between 11000 bc and 7000 bc the 40 individual burials represent a range of practices while the skeletal material represents an anatomically robust population that lies outside the extremes of the range of recent Aboriginal populations. Some stone tools consisting of quartz flakes and bipolar cores are typical of the period but shed little light on the origins and associations of the population. On the basis of the finds from Kow Swamp, however, Thorne suggests a dual origin for Australia's Aboriginal population. Overall, the Kow Swamp collection is the largest single late Pleistocene population so far recovered: the remains themselves were returned to the local Aboriginal community for reburial.
[Rep.: A. G. Thorne and P. G. Macumber , 1972, Discoveries of Late Pleistocene man at Kow Swamp, Australia.
Nature
, 238, 316–19; D. J. Mulvaney , 1991, Past regained, future lost: the Kow Swamp Pleistocene burials.
Antiquity
, 65, 12–21]

 
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