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. 2022 Oct 26;17(10):e0276014.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276014. eCollection 2022.

The Monongahela tradition in "real time": Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates

John P Hart  1 , Bernard K Means  2
Affiliations

The Monongahela tradition in "real time": Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates

John P Hart et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

Despite advances in techniques, methods, and theory, northeastern North American archaeologists continue to use early to mid-twentieth century culture historical taxa as units of analysis and narrative. There is a distinct need to move away from this archaeological practice to enable fuller understandings of past human lives. One tool that enables such a move is Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates, which provides a means of constructing continuous chronologies. A large dataset of radiocarbon dates for late prehistoric (ca AD 900/1000-1650) sites in the lower upper Ohio River basin in southwestern Pennsylvania and adjacent portions of Maryland, Ohio, and West Virginia is used here as an example. The results allow a preliminary assessment of how the settlement plans of contemporaneous villages varied considerably, reflecting decisions of the village occupants how to structure built environments to meet their needs.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Fig 1
Fig 1. Locations of sites with radiocarbon dates used in the Bayesian modeling.
This map was produced in ArcGIS v 10.6 at the New York State Museum in Albany by compiling GIS shapefiles obtained from publicly available sources including Statistics Canada, the United States Census, and the United States Geological Survey.
Fig 2
Fig 2
Modeled date ranges for Monongahela tradition sites in the order listed in Table 5: Start Boundaries (a) normal distribution interval constraint and (b) log normal interval constraint; Date estimates (c) normal distribution and (d) log normal distribution. Dark shading is 68.3% hpd, light shading is 94.5% hpd, and white dots are the mean. Green shading = sites assigned to the Early Monongahela period, red = early Middle Monongahela, blue = Middle Monongahela, purple = late Middle Monongahela, and yellow = Late Monongahela.
Fig 3
Fig 3. Site acreage by median of the Date estimate.
Fig 4
Fig 4
Site plans showing house and palisade outlines as inferred from postmold patterns for village sites discussed in the text: (a) Gnagey No. 3 (shaded structures represent the original site plan), (b) Fort Hill, (c) Peck No. 1, (e) Reckner, (f) Consol (shading represents roadway), (g) Peck No. 2, (f) Throckmorton. Overlapping house patterns represent rebuilding episodes rather than synchronically occupied structures.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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