I. Ward, Maïa Ponsonnet, L. Miceli, Emilie Dotte-Sarout, Jason Rustandi
Abstract We present an interdisciplinary collaboration whereby linguistic data are explored with the aim of gaining new insights on archaeological features to enrich investigations of the past. Archaeology on its own relies on a very discontinuous record and here we argue that a fuller use of linguistic resources can offer more nuanced insights of the cultural context, and thus a more comprehensive reconstruction of both archaeological histories in general and archaeological features specifically. Languages, as complex human artefacts, often develop vocabularies that reflect speakers’ need to communicate about everyday objects and actions. Therefore, it makes sense to turn to lexicographic and semantic data as sources of additional clues about various aspects of the past. To date, this kind of collaboration has either focused on aspects of culture that leave little trace in the archaeological record or on aspects of material culture that informs wider histories of migrations and contacts. Collaboration has also, more often than not, had the goal of answering linguistic rather than archaeological questions. The novel approach we propose here is a focus on a domain which does leave a substantial trace in the archaeological record and that falls in the realm of mundane aspects of the universal human experience – i.e. domestic fire use – with the aim of gaining a more nuanced and culturally grounded understanding of archaeological features and their investigation. This article is a demonstration in principle for the potential of this approach, illustrated here with a pilot study of combustion features on the Australian continent. Having collected fire-related words in a sample of dictionaries of Australian Indigenous languages, we explain how and why the information they encapsulate can support archaeological studies.
{"title":"How Linguistic Data Can Inform Archaeological Investigations: An Australian Pilot Study Around Combustion Features","authors":"I. Ward, Maïa Ponsonnet, L. Miceli, Emilie Dotte-Sarout, Jason Rustandi","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0312","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0312","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract We present an interdisciplinary collaboration whereby linguistic data are explored with the aim of gaining new insights on archaeological features to enrich investigations of the past. Archaeology on its own relies on a very discontinuous record and here we argue that a fuller use of linguistic resources can offer more nuanced insights of the cultural context, and thus a more comprehensive reconstruction of both archaeological histories in general and archaeological features specifically. Languages, as complex human artefacts, often develop vocabularies that reflect speakers’ need to communicate about everyday objects and actions. Therefore, it makes sense to turn to lexicographic and semantic data as sources of additional clues about various aspects of the past. To date, this kind of collaboration has either focused on aspects of culture that leave little trace in the archaeological record or on aspects of material culture that informs wider histories of migrations and contacts. Collaboration has also, more often than not, had the goal of answering linguistic rather than archaeological questions. The novel approach we propose here is a focus on a domain which does leave a substantial trace in the archaeological record and that falls in the realm of mundane aspects of the universal human experience – i.e. domestic fire use – with the aim of gaining a more nuanced and culturally grounded understanding of archaeological features and their investigation. This article is a demonstration in principle for the potential of this approach, illustrated here with a pilot study of combustion features on the Australian continent. Having collected fire-related words in a sample of dictionaries of Australian Indigenous languages, we explain how and why the information they encapsulate can support archaeological studies.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46219321","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract In Chinese mortuary research, too much reliance on traditional qualitative typological analysis renders quantitative attributes of mortuary practice data ignored. Examining the Taosi cemetery one of the famous cemeteries of Neolithic China (2300–1900 BC), this study discusses the advantages and disadvantages of typology and digital methods. Extant qualitative research has classified the Taosi burials into six vertical categories, representing a pyramidal social hierarchy. However, this approach solely relied on the labor expenditure principle, whose outcome was highly subjective and difficult to verify. This study applies a multivariant analysis. Factor analysis is used to investigate the correlations within the mortuary data. The statistical factor scores quantify the differences between the combination of burial objects in different tombs and allow clarification by cluster analysis to investigate their different social meanings. The results reveal two-axial divisions in the Taosi cemetery: vertical stratification based on hierarchy and horizontal differentiation based on social categories/identities. Compared with the simplistic typological description, such a quantitative method reveals the characteristics of each category more clearly, clarifies the classification criteria, and extracts more detailed information about the society and its mortuary practices.
{"title":"Quantifying Patterns in Mortuary Practices: An Application of Factor Analysis and Cluster Analysis to Data From the Taosi Site, China","authors":"Yang Bai","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0268","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0268","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In Chinese mortuary research, too much reliance on traditional qualitative typological analysis renders quantitative attributes of mortuary practice data ignored. Examining the Taosi cemetery one of the famous cemeteries of Neolithic China (2300–1900 BC), this study discusses the advantages and disadvantages of typology and digital methods. Extant qualitative research has classified the Taosi burials into six vertical categories, representing a pyramidal social hierarchy. However, this approach solely relied on the labor expenditure principle, whose outcome was highly subjective and difficult to verify. This study applies a multivariant analysis. Factor analysis is used to investigate the correlations within the mortuary data. The statistical factor scores quantify the differences between the combination of burial objects in different tombs and allow clarification by cluster analysis to investigate their different social meanings. The results reveal two-axial divisions in the Taosi cemetery: vertical stratification based on hierarchy and horizontal differentiation based on social categories/identities. Compared with the simplistic typological description, such a quantitative method reveals the characteristics of each category more clearly, clarifies the classification criteria, and extracts more detailed information about the society and its mortuary practices.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"8 1","pages":"1231 - 1248"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44113390","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Squitieri, S. Amicone, Ada Dinckal, M. Altaweel, S. Gur-Arieh, Jens Rohde, J. Herr, S. Pietsch, Christopher Miller
Abstract Pyrotechnology has always been a core topic in the archaeological debate concerning phases of deep cultural transformations, such as the Chalcolithic period in the Near East (c. 6000–3500 BC). However, previous studies on pyrotechnological installations, such as pottery kilns, pertaining to this period, have often been mainly descriptive, with a limited use of archaeometric investigations. This work presents a multi-method investigation of a Chalcolithic kiln recently discovered in the Bora Plain (part of the larger Peshdar Plain, in Iraqi Kurdistan), which combines stratigraphic analysis, pyrotechnological, micromorphological, and micro-remains analyses. Since this kiln represents the first Chalcolithic architectural feature excavated in the Bora Plain, this work offers precious insights into the pyrotechnology of the period, which is still relatively poorly understood, through the reconstruction of the kiln’s use and abandonment processes. The analytical outputs can be used to compare with other Near East kilns from the Chalcolithic and later periods.
{"title":"A Multi-Method Study of a Chalcolithic Kiln in the Bora Plain (Iraqi Kurdistan): The Evidence From Excavation, Micromorphological and Pyrotechnological Analyses","authors":"A. Squitieri, S. Amicone, Ada Dinckal, M. Altaweel, S. Gur-Arieh, Jens Rohde, J. Herr, S. Pietsch, Christopher Miller","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0265","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0265","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Pyrotechnology has always been a core topic in the archaeological debate concerning phases of deep cultural transformations, such as the Chalcolithic period in the Near East (c. 6000–3500 BC). However, previous studies on pyrotechnological installations, such as pottery kilns, pertaining to this period, have often been mainly descriptive, with a limited use of archaeometric investigations. This work presents a multi-method investigation of a Chalcolithic kiln recently discovered in the Bora Plain (part of the larger Peshdar Plain, in Iraqi Kurdistan), which combines stratigraphic analysis, pyrotechnological, micromorphological, and micro-remains analyses. Since this kiln represents the first Chalcolithic architectural feature excavated in the Bora Plain, this work offers precious insights into the pyrotechnology of the period, which is still relatively poorly understood, through the reconstruction of the kiln’s use and abandonment processes. The analytical outputs can be used to compare with other Near East kilns from the Chalcolithic and later periods.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"8 1","pages":"853 - 872"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46785567","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Present-day global warming has great consequences, both for individuals and on a larger scale for society as a whole. However, environmental changes also affected everyday life in the past. The purpose of this article is to apply perspectives developed in studies of how contemporary societies adapt to shore-level changes and to use this insight in a study of the way Mesolithic populations handled a situation of large land uplift. More specifically, the author discusses four common adaptation strategies devised to cope with changing sea level, both on a site level and on a regional scale – to accommodate, relocate, protect, or not respond to the changing environment. In the Oslo Fjord in Norway, the shorelines moved from approximately 200–40 m above the present-day sea level in the period 9300–3900 cal BC, caused by the strong post-glacial rebound. Along the shores lived populations that based much of their life on the local marine resources. Building on information from the large habitation area Havsjødalen and a statistical analysis of 529 critically selected sites in the region, the author concludes that single sites were systematically accommodated or relocated when the distance to the shores receded. However, sea level changes caused more dramatic regional landscape transformation and a less bountiful environment c. 5000 cal BC, with a period of maladaptation and a subsequent population collapse as a result. Like modern societies facing human-caused climate changes, the Mesolithic population had difficulties in handling the need for large-scale shifts in their society.
摘要当今全球变暖对个人和整个社会都产生了巨大影响。然而，环境变化也影响了过去的日常生活。本文的目的是应用研究当代社会如何适应海岸线变化的观点，并将这一见解用于研究中石器时代人口处理大规模土地隆起情况的方式。更具体地说，作者讨论了为应对海平面变化而设计的四种常见适应策略，包括在现场和区域范围内 – 适应、迁移、保护或不应对不断变化的环境。在挪威的奥斯陆峡湾，海岸线从大约200–40 9300年至3900年期间，比现在的海平面高出m cal BC，由强烈的冰川后反弹引起。沿岸生活着许多以当地海洋资源为生的种群。根据Havsjødalen大型居住区的信息，以及对该地区529个关键选址的统计分析，作者得出结论，当距离海岸的距离消退时，单个选址被系统地容纳或重新安置。然而，海平面的变化导致了更剧烈的区域景观变化和不那么丰富的环境 公元前卡尔，经历了一段适应不良时期，随后人口崩溃。与面临人为气候变化的现代社会一样，中石器时代的人口很难应对社会大规模转变的需要。
{"title":"A Matter of Scale: Responses to Landscape Changes in the Oslo Fjord, Norway, in the Mesolithic","authors":"Axel Mjærum","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0225","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0225","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Present-day global warming has great consequences, both for individuals and on a larger scale for society as a whole. However, environmental changes also affected everyday life in the past. The purpose of this article is to apply perspectives developed in studies of how contemporary societies adapt to shore-level changes and to use this insight in a study of the way Mesolithic populations handled a situation of large land uplift. More specifically, the author discusses four common adaptation strategies devised to cope with changing sea level, both on a site level and on a regional scale – to accommodate, relocate, protect, or not respond to the changing environment. In the Oslo Fjord in Norway, the shorelines moved from approximately 200–40 m above the present-day sea level in the period 9300–3900 cal BC, caused by the strong post-glacial rebound. Along the shores lived populations that based much of their life on the local marine resources. Building on information from the large habitation area Havsjødalen and a statistical analysis of 529 critically selected sites in the region, the author concludes that single sites were systematically accommodated or relocated when the distance to the shores receded. However, sea level changes caused more dramatic regional landscape transformation and a less bountiful environment c. 5000 cal BC, with a period of maladaptation and a subsequent population collapse as a result. Like modern societies facing human-caused climate changes, the Mesolithic population had difficulties in handling the need for large-scale shifts in their society.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"8 1","pages":"62 - 84"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49437247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The term “pigmy flint” was coined in 1895 and frequently used to describe small flint implements, many of them microliths, in British and Irish archaeology during the earliest decades of the 20th century. It was briefly adopted in France over a decade later to describe the same tools, translated as “silex pygmée”, the simultaneous emergence of the French term “microlithique” saw the latter become more widely used, however. The Anglicised “microlith” was not commonly incorporated into British archaeological terminology until the mid-1920s. The international interplay in nomenclature and the changing nature of the terminology that was used to describe such “very small implements of flint” are mirrored by the different attitudes of early archaeologists to these tools. They were dismissed by some and marvelled at by others. Moreover, the definitions that surround these terms are embedded within the problematised acceptance of the “Mesolithic” as a distinct chronological entity. The recognition of morphologically similar “pigmies” across the world sparked questions of migration, function, and chronology – in its broadest culture-historical sense – thus shaping the way in which this microlithic technology and its association with the Mesolithic came to be understood by early archaeologists in Western Europe.
{"title":"A Little Mystery, Mythology, and Romance: How the “Pigmy Flint” Got Its Name","authors":"S. Piper","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0100","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0100","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The term “pigmy flint” was coined in 1895 and frequently used to describe small flint implements, many of them microliths, in British and Irish archaeology during the earliest decades of the 20th century. It was briefly adopted in France over a decade later to describe the same tools, translated as “silex pygmée”, the simultaneous emergence of the French term “microlithique” saw the latter become more widely used, however. The Anglicised “microlith” was not commonly incorporated into British archaeological terminology until the mid-1920s. The international interplay in nomenclature and the changing nature of the terminology that was used to describe such “very small implements of flint” are mirrored by the different attitudes of early archaeologists to these tools. They were dismissed by some and marvelled at by others. Moreover, the definitions that surround these terms are embedded within the problematised acceptance of the “Mesolithic” as a distinct chronological entity. The recognition of morphologically similar “pigmies” across the world sparked questions of migration, function, and chronology – in its broadest culture-historical sense – thus shaping the way in which this microlithic technology and its association with the Mesolithic came to be understood by early archaeologists in Western Europe.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"8 1","pages":"145 - 158"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49464296","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Dmytro Kiosak, N. Kotova, S. Radchenko, Annick de Capitani, E. Gobet, Sergei Makhortykh, E. Nielsen, S. Szidat, W. Tinner, Oleh Tuboltsev, V. Dzhos
Abstract The layer B is one of the lower layers of the long stratigraphic sequence of the Kamyana Mohyla 1 site. The layer B received eight new AMS radiocarbon dates that clarified its chronology: 7950–7300 calibrated years BC. They are in a reasonable correspondence with the dates for lower and upper layers. The lithic assemblage belongs to Kukrek cultural aspect. It is characterized by pencil-like conical cores, Kukrek inserts, Kukrek burins and Dęby burins, nongeometric microliths (oblique points). The assemblage finds close parallels in the sites of Kukrek, Ihren VIII, Melnychna Krucha SU4 and Domchi-Kaia. They can be united into Kukrek sensu stricto cultural unit. The overlying layer C yielded somewhat different complex that finds parallels in the materials of the so-called “Kukrek cultural tradition.” Due to clear stratigraphic position of these units in the Kamyana Mohyla 1 sequence, we are able to differentiate Kukrek sensu stricto and “Kukrek cultural tradition” and suggest their respective chronological positions.
{"title":"Chipped Stone Assemblage of the Layer B of the Kamyana Mohyla 1 Site (South-Eastern Ukraine) and the Issue of Kukrek in the North Meotic Steppe Region","authors":"Dmytro Kiosak, N. Kotova, S. Radchenko, Annick de Capitani, E. Gobet, Sergei Makhortykh, E. Nielsen, S. Szidat, W. Tinner, Oleh Tuboltsev, V. Dzhos","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0226","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0226","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The layer B is one of the lower layers of the long stratigraphic sequence of the Kamyana Mohyla 1 site. The layer B received eight new AMS radiocarbon dates that clarified its chronology: 7950–7300 calibrated years BC. They are in a reasonable correspondence with the dates for lower and upper layers. The lithic assemblage belongs to Kukrek cultural aspect. It is characterized by pencil-like conical cores, Kukrek inserts, Kukrek burins and Dęby burins, nongeometric microliths (oblique points). The assemblage finds close parallels in the sites of Kukrek, Ihren VIII, Melnychna Krucha SU4 and Domchi-Kaia. They can be united into Kukrek sensu stricto cultural unit. The overlying layer C yielded somewhat different complex that finds parallels in the materials of the so-called “Kukrek cultural tradition.” Due to clear stratigraphic position of these units in the Kamyana Mohyla 1 sequence, we are able to differentiate Kukrek sensu stricto and “Kukrek cultural tradition” and suggest their respective chronological positions.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"8 1","pages":"85 - 113"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43185037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract The unique rock art complex of Kamyana Mohyla in South-Eastern Ukraine is known due to its numerous cave art engraved elements and settlements, which show how important is this site in the general picture of European prehistory as regards the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age periods of the region. However, the assemblages from this site include also a collection of portable rock art artifacts called “churingas.” Important elements of this assemblage are thought to belong to the Mesolithic. These specimens illustrate different aspects of the artist’s worldview and are capable of revealing a lot of additional data on the technological and cultural aspects of their creation. However, their study is complicate because of a very abstract imaging, lack of systematic approach to the artifact classification and absence of a well-defined stratigraphic context from which they have been recovered. Likely, current state of archaeological record and modern technologies introduces the new opportunity to rediscover, reconsider and reshape this collection.
{"title":"Rediscovered Mesolithic Rock Art Collection from Kamyana Mohyla Complex in Eastern Ukraine","authors":"S. Radchenko","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0230","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0230","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract The unique rock art complex of Kamyana Mohyla in South-Eastern Ukraine is known due to its numerous cave art engraved elements and settlements, which show how important is this site in the general picture of European prehistory as regards the Mesolithic, Neolithic and Bronze Age periods of the region. However, the assemblages from this site include also a collection of portable rock art artifacts called “churingas.” Important elements of this assemblage are thought to belong to the Mesolithic. These specimens illustrate different aspects of the artist’s worldview and are capable of revealing a lot of additional data on the technological and cultural aspects of their creation. However, their study is complicate because of a very abstract imaging, lack of systematic approach to the artifact classification and absence of a well-defined stratigraphic context from which they have been recovered. Likely, current state of archaeological record and modern technologies introduces the new opportunity to rediscover, reconsider and reshape this collection.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"8 1","pages":"114 - 131"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44830168","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract In archaeological hunter-gatherer research, animals are primarily seen as food. Alternatively, they are proposed to serve as symbols and devices for social structuring of human societies. A growing body of literature in humanities and social sciences now looks into the role of animals as social and sentient co-beings. It is becoming increasingly clear that the roles of animals as other-than-food providers are severely overlooked in Mesolithic research. This article considers hide as a vital resource in northern hunter-gatherer societies. Hide processing and manufacture in ethnographic records from the circumpolar region and experimental investigations are presented, followed by an analytical review of archaeological data from mid-Holocene coastal habitation sites in Norway. The results show that hide work was a central activity, and that various stages of hide processing may have taken place at different sites. It is suggested that hide procurement and processing would have required close planning and scheduling. Based on ethnographic accounts it is suggested that the different processing stages, combining raw materials and animal qualities into man-made objects, are articulations of human-animal social entanglements. Identifying practices related to hide processing in the archaeological record and viewing them as expressions of human-animal relationships, can contribute to fuller insight into Stone Age hunter-gatherer societies.
{"title":"Hunting for Hide. Investigating an Other-Than-Food Relationship Between Stone Age Hunters and Wild Animals in Northern Europe","authors":"Marianne Skandfer","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0260","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0260","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract In archaeological hunter-gatherer research, animals are primarily seen as food. Alternatively, they are proposed to serve as symbols and devices for social structuring of human societies. A growing body of literature in humanities and social sciences now looks into the role of animals as social and sentient co-beings. It is becoming increasingly clear that the roles of animals as other-than-food providers are severely overlooked in Mesolithic research. This article considers hide as a vital resource in northern hunter-gatherer societies. Hide processing and manufacture in ethnographic records from the circumpolar region and experimental investigations are presented, followed by an analytical review of archaeological data from mid-Holocene coastal habitation sites in Norway. The results show that hide work was a central activity, and that various stages of hide processing may have taken place at different sites. It is suggested that hide procurement and processing would have required close planning and scheduling. Based on ethnographic accounts it is suggested that the different processing stages, combining raw materials and animal qualities into man-made objects, are articulations of human-animal social entanglements. Identifying practices related to hide processing in the archaeological record and viewing them as expressions of human-animal relationships, can contribute to fuller insight into Stone Age hunter-gatherer societies.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"8 1","pages":"819 - 852"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47080471","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Abstract Human skeletal remains are routinely used to examine cultural and biological aspects of past populations. Yet, archaeological specimens are frequently fragmented/incomplete and so excluded from analyses. This leads to decreased sample sizes and to potentially biased results. Digital methods are now frequently used to restore/estimate the original morphology of fragmented/incomplete specimens. Such methods include 3D digitisation and Geometric Morphometrics (GM). The latter is also a solidly established method now to examine morphology. In this study, we use GM-based methods to estimate the original morphology of incomplete Mesolithic and Chalcolithic mandibles originating from present Portugal and perform ensuing morphological analyses. Because mandibular morphology is known to relate to population history and diet, we hypothesised the two samples would differ. Thirty-seven specimens (12 complete and 25 incomplete) were CT-scanned and landmarked. Originally complete specimens were used as reference to estimate the location of absent anatomical landmarks in incomplete specimens. As predicted, our results show shape differences between the two samples which are likely due to the compounded effect of contrasting population histories and diets.
{"title":"Mesolithic and Chalcolithic Mandibular Morphology: Using Geometric Morphometrics to Reconstruct Incomplete Specimens and Analyse Morphology","authors":"R. Godinho, C. Umbelino, C. Gonçalves","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0247","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0247","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Human skeletal remains are routinely used to examine cultural and biological aspects of past populations. Yet, archaeological specimens are frequently fragmented/incomplete and so excluded from analyses. This leads to decreased sample sizes and to potentially biased results. Digital methods are now frequently used to restore/estimate the original morphology of fragmented/incomplete specimens. Such methods include 3D digitisation and Geometric Morphometrics (GM). The latter is also a solidly established method now to examine morphology. In this study, we use GM-based methods to estimate the original morphology of incomplete Mesolithic and Chalcolithic mandibles originating from present Portugal and perform ensuing morphological analyses. Because mandibular morphology is known to relate to population history and diet, we hypothesised the two samples would differ. Thirty-seven specimens (12 complete and 25 incomplete) were CT-scanned and landmarked. Originally complete specimens were used as reference to estimate the location of absent anatomical landmarks in incomplete specimens. As predicted, our results show shape differences between the two samples which are likely due to the compounded effect of contrasting population histories and diets.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"8 1","pages":"536 - 549"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43330302","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A. Abdrabou, M. Abdallah, G. M. Sultan, M. Mostafa, Hind Bayoumi, Ramy Magdy, Mohamed A. Abd El Kader, N. M. Hamza, D. Mamdouh, H. M. Elsayed, E. Abbas, Hussein M. Kamal
Abstract To the best of our knowledge, such a detailed study on polychrome wooden shawabtis of King Tutankhamun (18th Dynasty in ancient Egypt) has not been reported in the literature, so the purpose of our study is to noninvasively identify the polychrome layers and previously applied materials for a number of wooden shawabtis that belong to King Tutankhamun through a protocol based on imaging techniques integrated with single-spot spectroscopic techniques. In the first step, imaging techniques (visible, ultraviolet induced visible luminescence, ultraviolet reflected, visible-induced infrared luminescence, infrared reflected, and infrared false color) and optical microscopy were applied to gather information and provide evidence on the distribution of original and previously applied materials on the polychrome surfaces. In the second step of our work, we analyzed the selected areas with single-spot analyses (handheld X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and visible reflectance spectroscopy) and X-ray diffraction analysis. The materials of the previous restoration interventions were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The application of a protocol based on imaging techniques integrated with data obtained from single-spot spectroscopic techniques allowed the characterization of a remarkable number of polychrome layers and some previous restoration materials and mapping of their distribution on the original surface, which provides not only essential data for the follow-up treatment and conservation works but also offers important information for the study of polychrome wooden shawabtis of other periods in ancient Egypt.
{"title":"Tutankhamun’s Polychrome Wooden Shawabtis: Preliminary Investigation for Pigments and Gilding Characterization and Indirect Dating of Previous Restorations by the Combined Use of Imaging and Spectroscopic Techniques","authors":"A. Abdrabou, M. Abdallah, G. M. Sultan, M. Mostafa, Hind Bayoumi, Ramy Magdy, Mohamed A. Abd El Kader, N. M. Hamza, D. Mamdouh, H. M. Elsayed, E. Abbas, Hussein M. Kamal","doi":"10.1515/opar-2022-0223","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1515/opar-2022-0223","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract To the best of our knowledge, such a detailed study on polychrome wooden shawabtis of King Tutankhamun (18th Dynasty in ancient Egypt) has not been reported in the literature, so the purpose of our study is to noninvasively identify the polychrome layers and previously applied materials for a number of wooden shawabtis that belong to King Tutankhamun through a protocol based on imaging techniques integrated with single-spot spectroscopic techniques. In the first step, imaging techniques (visible, ultraviolet induced visible luminescence, ultraviolet reflected, visible-induced infrared luminescence, infrared reflected, and infrared false color) and optical microscopy were applied to gather information and provide evidence on the distribution of original and previously applied materials on the polychrome surfaces. In the second step of our work, we analyzed the selected areas with single-spot analyses (handheld X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy and visible reflectance spectroscopy) and X-ray diffraction analysis. The materials of the previous restoration interventions were studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The application of a protocol based on imaging techniques integrated with data obtained from single-spot spectroscopic techniques allowed the characterization of a remarkable number of polychrome layers and some previous restoration materials and mapping of their distribution on the original surface, which provides not only essential data for the follow-up treatment and conservation works but also offers important information for the study of polychrome wooden shawabtis of other periods in ancient Egypt.","PeriodicalId":19532,"journal":{"name":"Open Archaeology","volume":"8 1","pages":"30 - 54"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43437853","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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