Pub Date : 2025-12-18DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105544
Teresa P. Raczek
Hundreds of sites across northwest India have published mentions of Ahar white painted black and red ware, a pottery type that is often used as a proxy for the Ahar Culture (c. 3000–1700 BCE). Together, these sites comprise a “potscape,” a setting of shared pottery use that transcended geographic and social boundaries. About 65 of these sites have been excavated and 22 sites have produced 283 radiocarbon dates. However, a review of published site reports shows that less than half of these radiocarbon samples were collected from the same context as the pottery and even fewer meet the standards of chronometric hygiene. This paper systematically reviews the dates from these sites to assess the contemporaneity of Ahar white painted black and red ware across three regions: Southeastern Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh. It reviews the radiocarbon samples for completeness of publication data, intact nature of contexts, and other factors. The most relevant 74 dates are used to re-assess and refine the accepted chronology for Ahar white painted black and red ware. The results suggest that the chronology of this pottery type varies regionally and that the potscape changed over time.
{"title":"Seeing black and red: Refining chronologies of a complicated pottery type","authors":"Teresa P. Raczek","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105544","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105544","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Hundreds of sites across northwest India have published mentions of Ahar white painted black and red ware, a pottery type that is often used as a proxy for the Ahar Culture (c. 3000–1700 BCE). Together, these sites comprise a “potscape,” a setting of shared pottery use that transcended geographic and social boundaries. About 65 of these sites have been excavated and 22 sites have produced 283 radiocarbon dates. However, a review of published site reports shows that less than half of these radiocarbon samples were collected from the same context as the pottery and even fewer meet the standards of chronometric hygiene. This paper systematically reviews the dates from these sites to assess the contemporaneity of Ahar white painted black and red ware across three regions: Southeastern Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Madhya Pradesh. It reviews the radiocarbon samples for completeness of publication data, intact nature of contexts, and other factors. The most relevant 74 dates are used to re-assess and refine the accepted chronology for Ahar white painted black and red ware. The results suggest that the chronology of this pottery type varies regionally and that the potscape changed over time.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 105544"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145796680","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-17DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105523
Jérôme Robitaille , Lisa-Elen Meyering , Paul Pettitt , Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser , Olaf Jöris , Robert Kentridge , Markus Hausmann
In the context of Palaeolithic archaeology, identifying traits of individual creators of prehistoric art remains a formidable challenge. This study introduces innovative traceological methods employed to analyze engraved stone plaquettes from the 15,800-year-old Late Upper Palaeolithic site of Gönnersdorf, Germany. Utilizing advanced techniques such as confocal microscopy, alongside manual and robotic experimentation, we investigate the hand preferences of individual engravers. Preliminary results reveal discernible patterns in tool positioning and tool angle variations, providing insights into engravers’ lateralities. By integrating experimental findings with archaeological data, this study enhances our understanding of prehistoric engraving practices and contributes to the growing research on lateralized cognitive and motor processes in prehistoric art creation.
{"title":"Tracing individuality and hand preference in Upper Palaeolithic engraving: experimental and traceological insights","authors":"Jérôme Robitaille , Lisa-Elen Meyering , Paul Pettitt , Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser , Olaf Jöris , Robert Kentridge , Markus Hausmann","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105523","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105523","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the context of Palaeolithic archaeology, identifying traits of individual creators of prehistoric art remains a formidable challenge. This study introduces innovative traceological methods employed to analyze engraved stone plaquettes from the 15,800-year-old Late Upper Palaeolithic site of Gönnersdorf, Germany. Utilizing advanced techniques such as confocal microscopy, alongside manual and robotic experimentation, we investigate the hand preferences of individual engravers. Preliminary results reveal discernible patterns in tool positioning and tool angle variations, providing insights into engravers’ lateralities. By integrating experimental findings with archaeological data, this study enhances our understanding of prehistoric engraving practices and contributes to the growing research on lateralized cognitive and motor processes in prehistoric art creation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 105523"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145796862","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-16DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105549
Nilay Çetin Demir
This study evaluates the initial findings concerning the chipped stone industry unearthed during the post-2021 excavations at Domuztepe Höyük, located in the Türkiye’s Eastern Mediterranean region. The chipped stone artifacts recovered from various architectural units have been analyzed through a chaîne opératoire approach. The research specifically addresses first assessment of raw material preferences, production strategies, tool types, and initial spatial observations. These assessments provide an opportunity to reconsider the traditions of chipped stone production and use at Domuztepe during the Neolithic period and contribute to the existing knowledge on this subject. This study constitutes a preliminary assessment intended to establish a basis for future research aiming to define Domuztepe’s position within the Türkiye’s Eastern Mediterranean through its chipped stone assemblage and to enable interregional comparisons. For this reason, the scope of the present study has been limited to the chipped stone assemblage from Domuztepe.
本研究评估了2021年后在位于 rkiye的东地中海地区的Domuztepe Höyük进行的挖掘中发现的有关碎石业的初步发现。通过cha ne opsamatoire方法分析了从各种建筑单元中恢复的破碎的石头文物。该研究特别针对原材料偏好、生产策略、工具类型和初始空间观察的首次评估。这些评估提供了一个机会来重新考虑新石器时期多穆兹特佩的碎石生产和使用传统，并对这一主题的现有知识做出贡献。这项研究是一项初步评估，旨在为未来的研究奠定基础，旨在通过其碎石组合确定Domuztepe在 rkiye的东地中海地区的位置，并进行区域间比较。因此，本研究的范围仅限于多穆兹特佩的碎块石组合。
{"title":"The Late Neolithic chipped stone industry from the new excavations at Domuztepe: preliminary observations","authors":"Nilay Çetin Demir","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105549","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105549","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study evaluates the initial findings concerning the chipped stone industry unearthed during the post-2021 excavations at Domuztepe Höyük, located in the Türkiye’s Eastern Mediterranean region. The chipped stone artifacts recovered from various architectural units have been analyzed through a chaîne opératoire approach. The research specifically addresses first assessment of raw material preferences, production strategies, tool types, and initial spatial observations. These assessments provide an opportunity to reconsider the traditions of chipped stone production and use at Domuztepe during the Neolithic period and contribute to the existing knowledge on this subject. This study constitutes a preliminary assessment intended to establish a basis for future research aiming to define Domuztepe’s position within the Türkiye’s Eastern Mediterranean through its chipped stone assemblage and to enable interregional comparisons. For this reason, the scope of the present study has been limited to the chipped stone assemblage from Domuztepe.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 105549"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145796864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-16DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105536
Tara Steimer-Herbet , Meryl Defours Rivoira , Sahar al Khasawneh , Marie Besse
The architectural and ritual biography of dolmen ST_30 in the Rjile necropolis (Kufr Yuba, Jordan) provides new chronological and cultural insights into Levantine megalithism. A multidisciplinary investigation – combining building techniques with chaîne opératoire analysis, excavation data, human osteological evidence and scientific dating – reveals at least four distinct phases of use. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of sediments indicates that the dolmen was initially constructed and used during the Early Bronze Age (EBA) IB/II and III-IV periods, while a series of calibrated radiocarbon determinations from human remains points to three subsequent episodes of reuse between 3100 BCE and 800 BCE. The limited but significant human assemblage, associated artefacts, and architectural modifications suggest that ST_30 functioned either as a continuous memorial space or, more plausibly, as a funerary monument periodically reactivated over more than a millennium. These results refine the chronological framework for dolmen construction and use in the western Irbid region and highlight the complexity of their cultural biographies.
Rjile墓地（Kufr Yuba，约旦）ST_30墓室的建筑和仪式传记为黎凡特巨石时代提供了新的时间和文化见解。一项多学科调查——将建筑技术与cha ne opacimatoire分析、挖掘数据、人类骨骼学证据和科学年代测定相结合——揭示了至少四个不同的使用阶段。沉积物的光激发发光（OSL）年代测定表明，这些墓石最初是在早期青铜时代（EBA） IB/II和III-IV时期建造和使用的，而一系列校准的人类遗骸放射性碳测定表明，在公元前3100年至公元前800年之间，有三次重复使用。有限但重要的人类组合、相关的人工制品和建筑修改表明，ST_30要么作为一个连续的纪念空间，要么更有可能作为一个葬礼纪念碑，在一千多年的时间里定期重新激活。这些结果完善了西部伊尔比德地区石棺建造和使用的时间框架，并突出了其文化传记的复杂性。
{"title":"Biography of a Levantine dolmen during the Early Bronze Age: construction, reuse and memory at Rjile (Kufr Yuba, North Jordan)","authors":"Tara Steimer-Herbet , Meryl Defours Rivoira , Sahar al Khasawneh , Marie Besse","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105536","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105536","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The architectural and ritual biography of dolmen ST_30 in the Rjile necropolis (Kufr Yuba, Jordan) provides new chronological and cultural insights into Levantine megalithism. A multidisciplinary investigation – combining building techniques with <em>chaîne opératoire</em> analysis, excavation data, human osteological evidence and scientific dating – reveals at least four distinct phases of use. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of sediments indicates that the dolmen was initially constructed and used during the Early Bronze Age (EBA) IB/II and III-IV periods, while a series of calibrated radiocarbon determinations from human remains points to three subsequent episodes of reuse between 3100 BCE and 800 BCE. The limited but significant human assemblage, associated artefacts, and architectural modifications suggest that ST_30 functioned either as a continuous memorial space or, more plausibly, as a funerary monument periodically reactivated over more than a millennium. These results refine the chronological framework for dolmen construction and use in the western Irbid region and highlight the complexity of their cultural biographies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 105536"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145796865","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In the last years, knowledge about husbandry during Roman times in the northeast of Iberian Peninsula has increased significantly thanks to an increasing number of archaeozoological studies applied to Roman villae. Nonetheless, these studies have hardly focused their attention on the usually scarce remains of wild animals that appear in these sites. In this sense, the archaeological fieldwork carried out in Pla de Palol villa (Platja d’Aro, NE Iberian Peninsula) during the years 1998–99 retrieved a relatively outstanding amount of deer remains. The study of such an assemblage can help to better understand the capture and management of wild fauna in these kinds of rural settlements.
The results indicate that hunting activity primarily targeted adult red deer stags, which served as a source of multiple raw materials, including skin, tendon, meat, bone, and antler. The carcasses were butchered in the villa, where antler processing also took place. Although the presence of wild boar is more difficult to trace, morphometric analysis points out that they were also a significant targeted species. Specifically, only male individuals have been identified. Other less important prey species included leporids and ursids.
In general terms, hunting was a subsidiary practice when compared to the volume of products that husbandry supplied. On the contrary, hunting activity displayed a ludic character that provided the villa owners (or their villici) with preeminent status.
{"title":"Wild fauna exploitation and management in a Roman villa: New insights from Pla de Palol (NE Iberian Peninsula)","authors":"Isaac Rufí , Arnau Brosa-Planella , Clàudia Tura-Poch , Neus Coromina , Josep Burch","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105551","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105551","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><em>In the last years, knowledge about husbandry during Roman times in the northeast of Iberian Peninsula has increased significantly thanks to an increasing number of archaeozoological studies applied to Roman</em> villae<em>. Nonetheless, these studies have hardly focused their attention on the usually scarce remains of wild animals that appear in these sites. In this sense, the archaeological fieldwork carried out in Pla de Palol villa (Platja d’Aro, NE Iberian Peninsula) during the years 1998</em>–<em>99 retrieved a relatively outstanding amount of deer remains. The study of such an assemblage can help to better understand the capture and management of wild fauna in these kinds of rural settlements.</em></div><div><em>The results indicate that hunting activity primarily targeted adult red deer stags, which served as a source of multiple raw materials, including skin, tendon, meat, bone, and antler. The carcasses were butchered in the villa, where antler processing also took place. Although the presence of wild boar is more difficult to trace, morphometric analysis points out that they were also a significant targeted species. Specifically, only male individuals have been identified. Other less important prey species included leporids and ursids.</em></div><div><em>In general terms, hunting was a subsidiary practice when compared to the volume of products that husbandry supplied. On the contrary, hunting activity displayed a ludic character that provided the villa owners (or their</em> villici<em>) with preeminent status.</em></div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 105551"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145796866","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-13DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105546
Jing-Wen Xu , Feng Gao , Jillian Huntley , Shi-Xia Yang , Ke-Liang Zhao , Xin-Ying Zhou , Fa-Xiang Huan , Yu-Xiu Zhang , Qi-Jun Ruan , Lin-Shan He , Kai-Wei Qiu , Michael Petraglia , Xiao-Qiang Li
The gathering and use of ochre is a common behavior documented among Late Pleistocene human populations across the globe. Yet ochre use in the Paleolithic archaeological record of China remains poorly understood. Here we report on 36 pieces of ochre and 21 lithic artifacts with ochre residues from the archaeological deposits in Fodongdi Cave, Yunnan Province. These ochre finds, recovered from a succession of well-dated stratigraphic layers, offer an opportunity to discuss ochre use during the terminal Pleistocene in southwest China between 18,400 and 14,000 cal BP. We characterized the ochre assemblage using a combination of optical microscopy, thin section analysis, portable X-ray fluorescence, laser-induced breakdown and Raman spectrographic techniques, alongside scanning electron microscopy (with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy). Results indicate at least three petrographic and chemically distinct groups of locally available ochre were used (presumably as red pigments). The ochre assemblage contains 27 pieces with clear anthropogenic modification including microstriations within grooves, parallel striations with polish, as well as smoothed areas with microstriations and luster. Use-wear traces and ochre residues on processing tools indicates that ochre was ground on grindstones and rubbed on soft materials, with quartzite pebbles used to process ochre before the pebbles were themselves flaked (used for tool stone). The Fodongdi Cave study provides novel information for southern China, suggesting the selection of local ochre sources, their processing directly onto grindstones and by rubbing against soft surfaces such as hide or human skin at the site, and the collection and use of different proportions of (local) ochres during the terminal Pleistocene.
收集和使用赭石是全球晚更新世人类中记载的一种常见行为。然而，在中国旧石器时代的考古记录中，赭石的使用仍然知之甚少。本文报道了在云南佛洞地考古沉积物中发现的36件赭石和21件带有赭石残留物的石器制品。这些赭石发现是在一系列年代确定的地层中发现的，为讨论中国西南部更新世末期（18400 - 14000 cal BP）的赭石使用提供了机会。我们利用光学显微镜、薄片分析、便携式x射线荧光、激光诱导击穿和拉曼光谱技术以及扫描电子显微镜（带有能量色散x射线光谱）对赭石组合进行了表征。结果表明，至少有三种岩石学和化学性质不同的当地可用赭石被使用（可能是作为红色颜料）。赭石组合包含27件具有明显人为修饰的作品，包括沟槽内的微条纹，抛光的平行条纹，以及带有微条纹和光泽的光滑区域。加工工具上的使用磨损痕迹和赭石残留物表明，赭石是在磨石上研磨并在柔软的材料上摩擦的，在鹅卵石被剥落（用于工具石）之前，石英岩鹅卵石被用来加工赭石。佛洞地洞穴的研究为中国南方提供了新的信息，表明当地赭石来源的选择，直接在磨石上加工，在遗址上摩擦柔软的表面，如皮革或人体皮肤，以及在更新世晚期收集和使用不同比例的（当地）赭石。
{"title":"Terminal Pleistocene ochre use at Fodongdi Cave, southwestern China","authors":"Jing-Wen Xu , Feng Gao , Jillian Huntley , Shi-Xia Yang , Ke-Liang Zhao , Xin-Ying Zhou , Fa-Xiang Huan , Yu-Xiu Zhang , Qi-Jun Ruan , Lin-Shan He , Kai-Wei Qiu , Michael Petraglia , Xiao-Qiang Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105546","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105546","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The gathering and use of ochre is a common behavior documented among Late Pleistocene human populations across the globe. Yet ochre use in the Paleolithic archaeological record of China remains poorly understood. Here we report on 36 pieces of ochre and 21 lithic artifacts with ochre residues from the archaeological deposits in Fodongdi Cave, Yunnan Province. These ochre finds, recovered from a succession of well-dated stratigraphic layers, offer an opportunity to discuss ochre use during the terminal Pleistocene in southwest China between 18,400 and 14,000 cal BP. We characterized the ochre assemblage using a combination of optical microscopy, thin section analysis, portable X-ray fluorescence, laser-induced breakdown and Raman spectrographic techniques, alongside scanning electron microscopy (with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy). Results indicate at least three petrographic and chemically distinct groups of locally available ochre were used (presumably as red pigments). The ochre assemblage contains 27 pieces with clear anthropogenic modification including microstriations within grooves, parallel striations with polish, as well as smoothed areas with microstriations and luster. Use-wear traces and ochre residues on processing tools indicates that ochre was ground on grindstones and rubbed on soft materials, with quartzite pebbles used to process ochre before the pebbles were themselves flaked (used for tool stone). The Fodongdi Cave study provides novel information for southern China, suggesting the selection of local ochre sources, their processing directly onto grindstones and by rubbing against soft surfaces such as hide or human skin at the site, and the collection and use of different proportions of (local) ochres during the terminal Pleistocene.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 105546"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145747736","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-13DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105552
Jordi Nadal , Tània Bacardit , Philip Banks , Alexandre Tarragó , Josep Medina , Lluís Lloveras
The monastery of Avinganya (Seròs, Lleida, north-eastern Iberia) was founded at the beginning of the 13th century (1201) and was occupied by the Trinitarian Order. Initially it operated as a male community although it subsequently became a nunnery (1251), reverting to being a friary (1529) until its final demise and abandonment in 1835. In addition, in its early stages, it was a burial space for some important figures of the Catalan-Aragonese nobility, and a place of hospitality for pilgrims throughout its history.
The study of the faunal remains, which has focused on the second phase of the friary (16th- early 19th centuries), has enabled us to observe a variety of events that can be related to the use of the different spaces of the monastery during the course of its history. Moreover, the results of this analysis reveal differences in the management of food resources of animal origin with respect to other previously studied monastic houses in Catalonia, especially those located in urban or peri-urban contexts. In the case of Avinganya, the low proportion of food of marine origin is apparent, together with a greater anatomical diversity among domestic fauna, especially caprines, as well as a certain importance of hunting. This is understood to be a consequence of food production being of a fundamentally local nature, with animal carcass processing being carried out entirely on site or nearby.
{"title":"Nostra Senyora dels Àngels d’Avinganya (Seròs, NE Iberia). Zooarchaeology studies in a rural monastery (16th-19th centuries)","authors":"Jordi Nadal , Tània Bacardit , Philip Banks , Alexandre Tarragó , Josep Medina , Lluís Lloveras","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105552","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105552","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The monastery of Avinganya (Seròs, Lleida, north-eastern Iberia) was founded at the beginning of the 13th century (1201) and was occupied by the Trinitarian Order. Initially it operated as a male community although it subsequently became a nunnery (1251), reverting to being a friary (1529) until its final demise and abandonment in 1835. In addition, in its early stages, it was a burial space for some important figures of the Catalan-Aragonese nobility, and a place of hospitality for pilgrims throughout its history.</div><div>The study of the faunal remains, which has focused on the second phase of the friary (16th- early 19th centuries), has enabled us to observe a variety of events that can be related to the use of the different spaces of the monastery during the course of its history. Moreover, the results of this analysis reveal differences in the management of food resources of animal origin with respect to other previously studied monastic houses in Catalonia, especially those located in urban or <em>peri</em>-urban contexts. In the case of Avinganya, the low proportion of food of marine origin is apparent, together with a greater anatomical diversity among domestic fauna, especially caprines, as well as a certain importance of hunting. This is understood to be a consequence of food production being of a fundamentally local nature, with animal carcass processing being carried out entirely on site or nearby.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 105552"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145796863","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-13DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105545
Ellery Frahm , Chunag Amartuvshin , Kellina Brennan , Aubrey Chambers , Michael Corolla , Mallory Cox , Zining Deng , Hassan Elzawy , Matthew Fiore , Tia B. Graham , Corey Herrmann , William Honeychurch , Shuzheng Jiang , Lia Kalinkos , Hannah Kronengold , Tsz Mei Li , Jeannine Mullan , Alexandra Northrup , Yuqing Ren , Huiwen Ru , Lingyi Zeng
In 2016, during systematic pedestrian surveys around Delgerkhaan Uul highlands in southeastern Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, archaeologists with the Dornod Mongol Survey encountered, among > 9000 medieval ceramic sherds, two blue-green glazed sherds at two artifact surface scatters that reflect small seasonal camps of the local nomadic people. Based on appearance, these two sherds were provisionally identified as Early Islamic glazeware, dating to the Abbasid (ca. 750–1258 CE) dynasty, given that their associated sherds were typical of the medieval Kitan-Liao and Mongol Empires (ca. 10th–14th centuries CE). Their small sizes, however, precluded traditional diagnostic methods, so the geographic origins had to be tested by scientific means. Our approach focused on technological aspects of the glazes, not sourcing sensu stricto, using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS) and portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF). The composition of the glazes, specifically the presence of key fluxing agents, is consistent with Persian, including Abbasid, technologies. Our comparative analysis with hundreds of Persian and Chinese ceramics, spanning several centuries, emphasizes the distinctive characteristics of their glazes, supporting their origins in the Middle East. Given the associated medieval Kitan-Liao and Mongol sherds, we contend that the two blue-green glazed sherds also date to this period, consistent with the appearance of exotic materials and novel trade goods at other sites throughout the region. This result suggests that rare ceramic artifacts, like Persian glazeware, reached – at least occasionally – even the remote nomadic communities along the Gobi Desert’s edges, attesting to a web of interactions and exchanges that spanned vast regions of Asia. Such an outcome also highlights the project’s objectives of exploring the intertwined growth of political communities and long-distance trade within the region.
{"title":"Occurrences of Persian glazeware in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia","authors":"Ellery Frahm , Chunag Amartuvshin , Kellina Brennan , Aubrey Chambers , Michael Corolla , Mallory Cox , Zining Deng , Hassan Elzawy , Matthew Fiore , Tia B. Graham , Corey Herrmann , William Honeychurch , Shuzheng Jiang , Lia Kalinkos , Hannah Kronengold , Tsz Mei Li , Jeannine Mullan , Alexandra Northrup , Yuqing Ren , Huiwen Ru , Lingyi Zeng","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105545","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105545","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In 2016, during systematic pedestrian surveys around Delgerkhaan Uul highlands in southeastern Mongolia’s Gobi Desert, archaeologists with the Dornod Mongol Survey encountered, among > 9000 medieval ceramic sherds, two blue-green glazed sherds at two artifact surface scatters that reflect small seasonal camps of the local nomadic people. Based on appearance, these two sherds were provisionally identified as Early Islamic glazeware, dating to the Abbasid (ca. 750–1258 CE) dynasty, given that their associated sherds were typical of the medieval Kitan-Liao and Mongol Empires (ca. 10th–14th centuries CE). Their small sizes, however, precluded traditional diagnostic methods, so the geographic origins had to be tested by scientific means. Our approach focused on technological aspects of the glazes, not sourcing <em>sensu stricto</em>, using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS) and portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF). The composition of the glazes, specifically the presence of key fluxing agents, is consistent with Persian, including Abbasid, technologies. Our comparative analysis with hundreds of Persian and Chinese ceramics, spanning several centuries, emphasizes the distinctive characteristics of their glazes, supporting their origins in the Middle East. Given the associated medieval Kitan-Liao and Mongol sherds, we contend that the two blue-green glazed sherds also date to this period, consistent with the appearance of exotic materials and novel trade goods at other sites throughout the region. This result suggests that rare ceramic artifacts, like Persian glazeware, reached – at least occasionally – even the remote nomadic communities along the Gobi Desert’s edges, attesting to a web of interactions and exchanges that spanned vast regions of Asia. Such an outcome also highlights the project’s objectives of exploring the intertwined growth of political communities and long-distance trade within the region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 105545"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145747743","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-12DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105535
Anastasiia Kurgaeva , Sergey Lev , Michael Zech , Bruno Glaser , Sergey Sedov , Eileen Eckmeier
This study investigates the archaeological and geoarchaeological properties of a cultural layer at the Upper Paleolithic site of Zaraysk. We examine the human impact on soil properties within several functional areas using a multiproxy approach including physical, geochemical, and biogeochemical methods. The percentage of organic carbon most likely added by various human activities was estimated by applying a new approach using n-alkane contents and ratios. The results show that human activities led to distinct geoarchaeological signals and that most of the organic carbon in all functional areas is of anthropogenic origin. The flintknapping waste disposal pit contained animal and plant remains, accounting for 54% of the total organic carbon. In the bone-fueled hearth the highest proportion of “anthropogenically”-derived organic carbon (87%) was found. It was associated with fragmented bones, a small amount of wood for ignition, and organic residues from cooking. The floor of the “earth-dwelling” contained a high proportion of “anthropogenically”-derived organic carbon (78%), despite a low content in total organic carbon, and might have been covered by a layer out of animal skins and grass bedding. The surface of the cultural layer was largely a human-made deposit, which included geogenic material excavated from pits and charred material cleaned out from hearths. These findings advocate for the further use of biogeochemical methods at archaeological sites, including Paleolithic contexts, and demonstrate that soil memory – reflected also in soil organic matter – preserves a valuable record of human-environment interaction.
{"title":"Archaeological and geoarchaeological properties of functional areas at the Upper Paleolithic site of Zaraysk, East European plain","authors":"Anastasiia Kurgaeva , Sergey Lev , Michael Zech , Bruno Glaser , Sergey Sedov , Eileen Eckmeier","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105535","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105535","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the archaeological and geoarchaeological properties of a cultural layer at the Upper Paleolithic site of Zaraysk. We examine the human impact on soil properties within several functional areas using a multiproxy approach including physical, geochemical, and biogeochemical methods. The percentage of organic carbon most likely added by various human activities was estimated by applying a new approach using <em>n</em>-alkane contents and ratios. The results show that human activities led to distinct geoarchaeological signals and that most of the organic carbon in all functional areas is of anthropogenic origin. The flintknapping waste disposal pit contained animal and plant remains, accounting for 54% of the total organic carbon. In the bone-fueled hearth the highest proportion of “anthropogenically”-derived organic carbon (87%) was found. It was associated with fragmented bones, a small amount of wood for ignition, and organic residues from cooking. The floor of the “earth-dwelling” contained a high proportion of “anthropogenically”-derived organic carbon (78%), despite a low content in total organic carbon, and might have been covered by a layer out of animal skins and grass bedding. The surface of the cultural layer was largely a human-made deposit, which included geogenic material excavated from pits and charred material cleaned out from hearths. These findings advocate for the further use of biogeochemical methods at archaeological sites, including Paleolithic contexts, and demonstrate that soil memory – reflected also in soil organic matter – preserves a valuable record of human-environment interaction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 105535"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145747726","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-12-11DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105532
Leonardo García Sanjuán , Raquel Montero Artús , Lucy Shaw Evangelista , Anna Waterman , Katharina Rebay-Salisbury , Fabian Kanz , Steven Emslie , Vanessa Villalba-Mouco , José Antonio Lozano Rodríguez , Wolfgang Haak , Leopoldo D. Pena , Marta Cintas-Peña
Until recently, the study of Iberian Copper Age society was severely hampered by the limited availability of anthropological and demographic data. This was largely caused by the fact that the main reference sites for this period offered limited collections of human bone. With the turn of the 21st century this situation has gradually changed. In this paper we present a multi-disciplinary approach to a well-dated and well-contextualised collection of 126 individuals, retrieved from the Valencina Copper Age megasite (Sevilla, Spain). A host of methods are applied , including standard bioarchaeology, amelogenin peptides, stable strontium isotopes, aDNA and total mercury. The results offer the first methodologically complex view of Iberian Early Copper Age society, including themes such as burial rites, sex and age demographics, pathologies, mobility, biological kinship, ancestry and lifestyles. This reveals a fluid and diverse society based of a high degree of mobility and far-reaching connectivity, with limited social hierarchization and a striking prevalence of female leaders. This evidence suggests that further highresolution multi-method approaches need to be taken in order to understand early complex societies world-wide, as observations based on the ethnographic record may not provide entirely valid epistemological frameworks.
{"title":"From bone chemistry to human demography: Uncovering copper age society at Valencina (c. 2900–2650 BC)","authors":"Leonardo García Sanjuán , Raquel Montero Artús , Lucy Shaw Evangelista , Anna Waterman , Katharina Rebay-Salisbury , Fabian Kanz , Steven Emslie , Vanessa Villalba-Mouco , José Antonio Lozano Rodríguez , Wolfgang Haak , Leopoldo D. Pena , Marta Cintas-Peña","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105532","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105532","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Until recently, the study of Iberian Copper Age society was severely hampered by the limited availability of anthropological and demographic data. This was largely caused by the fact that the main reference sites for this period offered limited collections of human bone. With the turn of the 21st century this situation has gradually changed. In this paper we present a multi-disciplinary approach to a well-dated and well-contextualised collection of 126 individuals, retrieved from the Valencina Copper Age megasite (Sevilla, Spain). A host of methods are applied , including standard bioarchaeology, amelogenin peptides, stable strontium isotopes, aDNA and total mercury. The results offer the first methodologically complex view of Iberian Early Copper Age society, including themes such as burial rites, sex and age demographics, pathologies, mobility, biological kinship, ancestry and lifestyles. This reveals a fluid and diverse society based of a high degree of mobility and far-reaching connectivity, with limited social hierarchization and a striking prevalence of female leaders. This evidence suggests that further highresolution multi-method approaches need to be taken in order to understand early complex societies world-wide, as observations based on the ethnographic record may not provide entirely valid epistemological frameworks.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"69 ","pages":"Article 105532"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145747742","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"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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