Welcome back, everybody!  This is Rick Pettigrew.  Thanks for joining us for another weekly batch of top news stories that appeared on Archaeologica!  Send us feedback on The Archaeology Channel Facebook page or post a message on our social networking site, ArchaeoSeek!

Farmers in coastal Peru 2000 years ago apparently built water-control features to take advantage of occasional El Nino floodwaters.  Organizers in Montana and Wyoming are working to get National Historic status for the Bozeman Trail.  Excavators in Pompei have uncovered a Roman fast-food restaurant.  And a new analysis of tree rings documents climatic variations over a long period, including dramatic temperature increases over the past two decades.

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And now, here’s Laura Pettigrew with the Audio News from Archaeologica.  We hope you find this to be a valuable part of your day, and we wish you all the best for 2021!

Welcome to the Audio News from Archaeologica!  I’m Laura Pettigrew, and these are the headlines in archaeological and historical news from December 27th, 2020, through January 2nd, 2021.

A team of researchers working in the northern Peruvian desert region of Pampa de Mocan have found archaeological evidence demonstrating that, 2,000 years ago, ancient farmers built canal systems to divert and collect water during seasonally wet periods brought on by weather cycles now known as El Niño events.  By creating low mounds and using coarse rock filters to collect fertile silt, the farmers found ways to harvest floodwaters and to support their agricultural needs across the cyclical wet and dry seasons of the region.

In sharp contrast to modern-day flood mitigation efforts, these farmers used recurring floodwaters to develop otherwise marginal landscapes, which in turn mitigated some risk from field and crop damage during seasonal flooding.  The use of these longer-term water and storage diversion techniques allowed the farmers to more successfully and safely grow crops across seasons. 

As reported by Scientific American, the new findings are being published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA.

Lead author Ari Caramanica, with Lima’s Universidad del Pacifico, had originally been intrigued by aerial photography taken during the 1940s, which shows distinctive straight lines crisscrossing the otherwise flat, arid landscape.  

Caramanica and colleagues examined field locations, plant remains and discarded agricultural tools to reveal that ancient farmers selectively used the canal systems to augment the fresh water capacity of local rivers during periods of excess rains and subsequent runoff, creating a kind of canal reservoir system for water management.

Jason Nesbitt, an archaeologist at Tulane University who was not involved in the study, added that the ancient residents of the Pampa de Mocan viewed El Niño events as an expected phenomenon to which they adapted over time.  These events were known by the people of the region, and expected in their cycle between dry and wet seasons. 

El Niño events occur in irregular, six to twenty year cycles, making their exact timing unreliable. Even with modern forecasting techniques, they are difficult to accurately predict, and would have been impossible to accurately predict in ancient times. 

The research team believes that the canal system provided enough flexibility not only to survive, but to actually thrive under the constantly changing and often challenging conditions, allowing the farmers to save water during periods of intense rainfall, flooding and run-off to use during dry, arid and drought seasons. 

According to the Helena, Montana, Independent Register, a group of residents along a contested route from Wyoming into Montana established between 1863 and 1868 is organizing efforts to have it designated as a National Historic Trail.  

Known as The Bozeman Trail, its 535 miles runs from Casper, Wyoming to Virginia City, Montana, and acted as a short-cut for travel west where it eventually met the established Oregon Trail. 

However, in order to do so, the Bozeman Trail passed directly through hunting areas prized by native peoples, and interactions between tribes and newly arriving prospectors and soldiers traveling west during this brief period caused serious and sometimes fatal conflict. 

While the trail is named for John Bozeman, who traveled west from Wyoming to search for gold in Montana beginning in 1863, this section is actually part of a larger regional network of traditional migration and trading routes.  Running from north to south, these trails had likely already been used by Plains Indians for thousands of years.

Several incidents of ambushes and slaughter were perpetrated by groups of soldiers, Native peoples and civilian militias, which increased tensions in an already unsteady relationship.   While some attacks were in retaliation for specific prior attacks or raids, others appear unprovoked, and included the killing of unarmed women and children.

As a result of the escalating conflicts, several tribes formed an alliance to rebuff the advance of Euro-Americans throughout the Great Plains in many places such as The Bozeman Trail.  Members of the Arapaho and Cheyenne tribes were joined by Oglala Lakota in their efforts, even as negotiations for a peace treaty were being held nearby at Fort Laramie.

The month of December 1866 marked a particularly grim breaking point in the tumultuous relationship. 

On December 6th, the tribal alliance killed some 80 soldiers from nearby Fort Phil Kearny, after they were chopping wood in Native hunting areas.  This attack caused the trail to effectively close for Euro-American travel, and by 1868 three forts in the region, as well as the trail, were abandoned by the Army. 

This was followed by the Fetterman Fight on December 21, in which no soldiers survived.  It is one of only a few battles in U.S. history in which an entire command was wiped out.   

The news of the loss of the lives of 76 enlisted men, three officers and two civilians shocked the nation, and influenced governmental policies and social attitudes towards Plains Indians for years to come.

The National Historic Trail designation sought for this trail is issued under the oversight of the U.S. Forest Service, and would require congressional inquiry and approval.  Organizers hope to have a presentation for both states’ congressional delegations ready by the spring of 2021.

Supporters of the proposed designation include tribal members and descendants of the area’s residents, who together hope to preserve and protect the history and impacts of The Bozeman Trail.

Ongoing excavations of the ruins at Pompeii have uncovered an ornate thermopolium, or snack bar, with artistic scenes of daily life and remnants of the local cuisine in the ancient Roman city prior to its destruction by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in AD 79.  

Approximately 80 of these commercial enterprises have been located in and around Pompeii.  Residents could choose from a variety of prepared foods and beverages served al fresco from containers atop street-side counters.

This shop, known as the Thermopolium of Regio V, had been partially excavated in 2019, revealing a cistern, fountain and water tower.  The entire storefront has now been fully restored, displaying colorful frescos and physical details about the food and culture of the people who lived here.

The New York Times reported on the more recent excavations, which were led by Teresa Virtuoso, an archaeologist working in collaboration with the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.  

The images show animals that were likely buJanuary 4, 2021tchered and prepared here, such as ducks and a rooster.  Bone fragments later identified as duck were also recovered.

Another large fresco adorns the street-front counter, depicting the mythical nymph, Nereid, riding a sea horse.  Adjacent to it is what is believed to be an illustration of the storefront itself, perhaps used to identify or trademark the shop.

Along with the decorative paintings, several amphorae and larger dolia came to light, some of which contained the remains of food and what is believed to be a wine-based beverage.  Initial analysis showed the food to be some combination of snails, fish and sheep, and further analysis of the contents is planned.

Multiple sets of human remains were also discovered, which appear to have been displaced and relocated by looters centuries ago.  The skeletons of a small dog and a mouse also were found, all victims of the ash and gas that overwhelmed the city.

The archaeological site was closed during most of the past year, but excavations have continued under increased safety protocols.  A documentary film crew has been following the ongoing work here for the past three years, and has recently released footage to international audiences online.

The park’s director, Massimo Ossana, hopes to have the area re-opened to the public in the spring of 2021, when visitors will be able to view the thermopolium along with other recently restored buildings from the height of Pompeii’s lost glory.

Our final story this week comes from Public Radio International and details the work of paleoclimatologist Valarie Trouet, a researcher with the University of Arizona who is investigating how global warming trends today compare with changes in previous eras.

Trouet specializes in dendrochronology, the science of dating trees and objects made of wood through the study and comparison of tree rings.  Trees can store information about the climatic conditions in their annual growth rings, and this field of study is now producing valuable insights for both historical and future climate modeling.

Scientists have been measuring temperature and precipitation on a global scale since the early 1900s, after the start of the Industrial Revolution.  However, this data set is limited to measurements taken after human activity began to make significant environmental impact. 

The analysis of tree rings allows scientists to look much further back in time to document natural climate variability, putting current climate change discussions into a much longer context. 

In general, a tree forms one ring each year, and in an average to good season it would produce vigorous overall growth and a distinct, wide band.  However, in a stressful or particularly dry season, that tree would experience slower growth and show a thinner ring as a result.

It’s possible to extract a small sample of a living tree’s rings without damaging the health of the tree itself by punching in a hollow probe to remove a thin, pencil shaped core.

By using these data as a starting framework scientists can make an estimate of the weather conditions during a precise period of a tree’s lifespan, with wet seasons represented by the wider growth rings in the sample, and drier years by the thinner bands.

It’s also possible to date wooden objects such as building timbers and furniture, provided enough of a ring pattern is visible.  This can be particularly useful to assist in dating the origins of archaeological sites, wooden artifacts and even musical instruments.

By comparing wood samples from known Roman sites in Europe with living trees and historical buildings, Trouet constructed a timeline showing that climate change has impacted human movement and behavior across the planet for at least twenty-five thousand years.

Trouet notes the tree ring patterns she studies show common but troubling signs of unprecedented rising temperatures worldwide over the past two decades, demonstrating the increasing impacts of human activity on the environment, and what it could mean for the larger climate-change discussion.  

That wraps up the news for this week!

For more stories and daily news updates, visit Archaeologica on the World Wide Web at www.archaeologica.org where all the news is history!

I’m Laura Pettigrew and I’ll see you next week!