Pub Date : 2025-01-31DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2025.106156
Małgorzata Kot , Jerzy Tyszkiewicz , Michał Leloch , Natalia Gryczewska , Sebastian Miller
We aimed to experimentally test the credibility of the diacritic analysis, which is one of the methods used to study lithic knapping technology. A series of blind tests conducted by lithic experts and students on experimentally knapped artefacts were used to estimate the reliability and validity of the method. The estimated average error rate was 21%, although it was smaller among the experts in the method (15%) and higher (25%) for the beginners. Further analyses indicated that the errors were not made randomly but concentrated in challenging spots. We additionally tested several factors that might influence the difficulty of identifying the scar chronology and, therefore, suggested a set of actions that can prevent errors when determining the relative chronology of scars on lithic artefacts.
{"title":"Reliability and validity in determining the relative chronology between neighbouring scars on flint artefacts","authors":"Małgorzata Kot , Jerzy Tyszkiewicz , Michał Leloch , Natalia Gryczewska , Sebastian Miller","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106156","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106156","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We aimed to experimentally test the credibility of the diacritic analysis, which is one of the methods used to study lithic knapping technology. A series of blind tests conducted by lithic experts and students on experimentally knapped artefacts were used to estimate the reliability and validity of the method. The estimated average error rate was 21%, although it was smaller among the experts in the method (15%) and higher (25%) for the beginners. Further analyses indicated that the errors were not made randomly but concentrated in challenging spots. We additionally tested several factors that might influence the difficulty of identifying the scar chronology and, therefore, suggested a set of actions that can prevent errors when determining the relative chronology of scars on lithic artefacts.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"175 ","pages":"Article 106156"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143077759","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-15DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2024.106150
Laure Dayet , María Lorenzo Martínez , Katja Douze , Matar Ndiaye , Chantal Tribolo , Michel Rasse , Laurent Lespez , François-Xavier Le Bourdonnec , Viola C. Schmid , Sarah Davidoux , Brice Lebrun , Benoît Chevrier , Charlotte Pruvost , Eric Huysecom
Despite new impetus for Late Pleistocene research in West Africa, little is known about the range of Middle Stone Age behaviours in this region. Yet, the multiplicity of Middle Stone Age lithic technologies testifies to significant behavioural and demographic dynamics, marked by innovation and adaptability. Here, we present the first in-depth analysis of ochre remains in West Africa. New data from Toumboura III site, eastern Senegal, dated between 40 ± 3 and 30 ± 3 ka, point towards the use of ochre pieces as part of an occasional and specialized ochre crushing activity, probably dedicated to the production of powders, as well as the use of ochre sticks. Ochre pieces were studied at both macro and microscopic levels and while some of this iron-rich material likely accumulated in the deposits without anthropogenic intervention, another significant set of ochre pieces was found that was likely processed in situ. The impact scars on the pieces are not as striking as grinding traces for evidencing human exploitation. Nonetheless, they cannot be explained by natural phenomena. These remains could represent the earliest known evidence of ochre exploitation in Senegal. They potentially open new perspectives on symbolic behaviours in the Middle Stone Age of West Africa. They show that the full range of human behaviours in this region is yet far from being captured.
{"title":"Evidence for discrete ochre exploitation 35,000 years ago in West Africa","authors":"Laure Dayet , María Lorenzo Martínez , Katja Douze , Matar Ndiaye , Chantal Tribolo , Michel Rasse , Laurent Lespez , François-Xavier Le Bourdonnec , Viola C. Schmid , Sarah Davidoux , Brice Lebrun , Benoît Chevrier , Charlotte Pruvost , Eric Huysecom","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106150","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106150","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite new impetus for Late Pleistocene research in West Africa, little is known about the range of Middle Stone Age behaviours in this region. Yet, the multiplicity of Middle Stone Age lithic technologies testifies to significant behavioural and demographic dynamics, marked by innovation and adaptability. Here, we present the first in-depth analysis of ochre remains in West Africa. New data from Toumboura III site, eastern Senegal, dated between 40 ± 3 and 30 ± 3 ka, point towards the use of ochre pieces as part of an occasional and specialized ochre crushing activity, probably dedicated to the production of powders, as well as the use of ochre sticks. Ochre pieces were studied at both macro and microscopic levels and while some of this iron-rich material likely accumulated in the deposits without anthropogenic intervention, another significant set of ochre pieces was found that was likely processed <em>in situ</em>. The impact scars on the pieces are not as striking as grinding traces for evidencing human exploitation. Nonetheless, they cannot be explained by natural phenomena. These remains could represent the earliest known evidence of ochre exploitation in Senegal. They potentially open new perspectives on symbolic behaviours in the Middle Stone Age of West Africa. They show that the full range of human behaviours in this region is yet far from being captured.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"175 ","pages":"Article 106150"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142990169","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-15DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2024.106147
Juliette Waterman , Stuart Black , Naomi Sykes , William F. Mills , Sean Doherty , Hannah Britton , Riley Smallman , Alison Sheridan , Andrew C. Kitchener , Mark D.E. Fellowes
Birds of prey (‘raptors’) often consume anthropogenic foods and can be closely associated with human settlements. In medieval Britain, birds of prey were commensal animals, especially in towns where biological waste was abundant. However, the antiquity of this relationship has not been well explored. In this study, we used stable isotopes of carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) in bone collagen to investigate the dietary niches of red kites Milvus milvus, common buzzards Buteo buteo and white-tailed eagles Haliaeetus albicilla of Chalcolithic or Early Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and medieval periods from archaeological sites across southern and midland England and in Orkney (Scotland). Stable isotope values of raptor bones recovered from Iron Age Danebury, Roman Winchester, and medieval Oxford were consistent with the exploitation of livestock waste from food produced for human inhabitants. Combining all samples, bone collagen δ13C values were significantly less negative and δ15N values significantly higher in red kites and common buzzards from archaeological sites across Iron Age, Roman and medieval England than those of modern birds (dating from the late 20th and 21st centuries), and both species showed greater variability among individuals. The diets of historic birds may include prey from higher trophic levels and reflect a more generalist strategy. These data are consistent with the consumption of larger quantities of anthropogenic food waste including carrion from scavengers and slaughtered and farmed livestock animals, which is reduced in volume in today's landscapes. Archaeological raptors may also have exploited a wider range of scavenged or hunted prey in the absence of rabbits Oryctolagus cuniculus, a key prey item for modern-day raptors.
{"title":"Tracking 4000 years of raptor diets through isotope analysis reveals urban scavenging with implications for conservation","authors":"Juliette Waterman , Stuart Black , Naomi Sykes , William F. Mills , Sean Doherty , Hannah Britton , Riley Smallman , Alison Sheridan , Andrew C. Kitchener , Mark D.E. Fellowes","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106147","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106147","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Birds of prey (‘raptors’) often consume anthropogenic foods and can be closely associated with human settlements. In medieval Britain, birds of prey were commensal animals, especially in towns where biological waste was abundant. However, the antiquity of this relationship has not been well explored. In this study, we used stable isotopes of carbon (<em>δ</em><sup>13</sup>C) and nitrogen (<em>δ</em><sup>15</sup>N) in bone collagen to investigate the dietary niches of red kites <em>Milvus milvus</em>, common buzzards <em>Buteo buteo</em> and white-tailed eagles <em>Haliaeetus albicilla</em> of Chalcolithic or Early Bronze Age, Iron Age, Roman and medieval periods from archaeological sites across southern and midland England and in Orkney (Scotland). Stable isotope values of raptor bones recovered from Iron Age Danebury, Roman Winchester, and medieval Oxford were consistent with the exploitation of livestock waste from food produced for human inhabitants. Combining all samples, bone collagen <em>δ</em><sup>13</sup>C values were significantly less negative and <em>δ</em><sup>15</sup>N values significantly higher in red kites and common buzzards from archaeological sites across Iron Age, Roman and medieval England than those of modern birds (dating from the late 20th and 21st centuries), and both species showed greater variability among individuals. The diets of historic birds may include prey from higher trophic levels and reflect a more generalist strategy. These data are consistent with the consumption of larger quantities of anthropogenic food waste including carrion from scavengers and slaughtered and farmed livestock animals, which is reduced in volume in today's landscapes. Archaeological raptors may also have exploited a wider range of scavenged or hunted prey in the absence of rabbits <em>Oryctolagus cuniculus</em>, a key prey item for modern-day raptors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"175 ","pages":"Article 106147"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142990173","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2024.106106
Jasmine Vieri , Enrico R. Crema , María Alicia Uribe Villegas , Juanita Sáenz Samper , Marcos Martinón-Torres
Chemical analyses of archaeological artefacts are often used for provenance studies and for assessing whether specific performance characteristics were targeted by craftspeople in the past. Traditionally, the answers to these questions were sought by identifying compositional averages and by studying their correlations with either the geochemical signatures of candidate raw material sources or the corresponding physical or chemical properties of the studied materials. However useful, this approach only exploits part of the potential information locked inside the chemical compositions of archaeological artefacts. We argue that different levels of compositional dispersion observed within and across archaeological assemblages, and in particular changes in them as a function of behaviourally meaningful factors (such as the size, function, or recovery location of the objects), are sources of information in themselves. To gain probabilistic insights into both types of variability (averages and dispersions) simultaneously, we introduce variable dispersion beta regression models for the archaeological sciences. In doing so, we show how adopting the beta distribution provides a significantly improved alternative to previous solutions to modelling compositional data within the field — namely, those involving simple linear regression on log-transformed data. These approaches often result in numerically impossible predictions, whilst beta regression restricts the model predictions between the upper and lower compositional bounds, accounts for the inherently inconsistent variances of compositional data, and explicitly permits the modelling of compositional dispersions as a function of covariates. Finally, we expand upon this toolset by showing how using a hierarchical model specification within the framework accounts for both local variation and more widely shared practices of material processing and procurement concurrently, and alleviates issues to do with sampling uncertainty. We demonstrate the proposed approach with a study of Muisca gold procurement practices (AD 600–1600) in the Eastern Highlands of Colombia, based on a dataset of 243 elemental analyses. The results allow us to argue for intra-regional movements of fresh geological gold imported from a variety of distant sources. We suggest these movements could result from contributions of gold by people converging into the same location for festivities. The approaches taken to modelling compositional data are readily applicable to other sub-disciplines of the archaeological sciences, such as compositional studies of ceramics and glass, or modelling the variability of diets in isotopic studies (see Supplementary Material S0 for an extended summary in Spanish).
{"title":"Beyond baselines of performance: Beta regression models of compositional variability in craft production studies","authors":"Jasmine Vieri , Enrico R. Crema , María Alicia Uribe Villegas , Juanita Sáenz Samper , Marcos Martinón-Torres","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106106","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106106","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Chemical analyses of archaeological artefacts are often used for provenance studies and for assessing whether specific performance characteristics were targeted by craftspeople in the past. Traditionally, the answers to these questions were sought by identifying compositional averages and by studying their correlations with either the geochemical signatures of candidate raw material sources or the corresponding physical or chemical properties of the studied materials. However useful, this approach only exploits part of the potential information locked inside the chemical compositions of archaeological artefacts. We argue that different levels of compositional dispersion observed within and across archaeological assemblages, and in particular changes in them as a function of behaviourally meaningful factors (such as the size, function, or recovery location of the objects), are sources of information in themselves. To gain probabilistic insights into both types of variability (averages and dispersions) simultaneously, we introduce variable dispersion beta regression models for the archaeological sciences. In doing so, we show how adopting the beta distribution provides a significantly improved alternative to previous solutions to modelling compositional data within the field — namely, those involving simple linear regression on log-transformed data. These approaches often result in numerically impossible predictions, whilst beta regression restricts the model predictions between the upper and lower compositional bounds, accounts for the inherently inconsistent variances of compositional data, and explicitly permits the modelling of compositional dispersions as a function of covariates. Finally, we expand upon this toolset by showing how using a hierarchical model specification within the framework accounts for both local variation and more widely shared practices of material processing and procurement concurrently, and alleviates issues to do with sampling uncertainty. We demonstrate the proposed approach with a study of Muisca gold procurement practices (AD 600–1600) in the Eastern Highlands of Colombia, based on a dataset of 243 elemental analyses. The results allow us to argue for intra-regional movements of fresh geological gold imported from a variety of distant sources. We suggest these movements could result from contributions of gold by people converging into the same location for festivities. The approaches taken to modelling compositional data are readily applicable to other sub-disciplines of the archaeological sciences, such as compositional studies of ceramics and glass, or modelling the variability of diets in isotopic studies (see Supplementary Material S0 for an extended summary in Spanish).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"173 ","pages":"Article 106106"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142825120","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2024.106120
Pedro Henríquez-Valido , Jonathan Santana , Aarón Morquecho-Izquier , Amelia Rodríguez-Rodríguez , Jean-Bernard Huchet
The Canary Islands were first settled by North African groups in the first millennium CE and, after a few centuries of interconnections with the mainland and between islands, remained isolated until the late medieval European expansion into the Atlantic. El Hierro is a small island located in the westernmost part of the archipelago that was inhabited by the bimbapes from the 2nd century CE until the 15th century European conquest. The archaeological records, including marine food processing sites and cave burials, illustrate their adaptation to the environment: the dependence on marine resources for its economy owing the island's isolation and the scarcity of arable land and the use of the natural landscape to dispose of deads. La Lajura Cave, a collective burial site used from the 6th to 11th centuries CE, revealed significant anthropological and entomological findings. The archaeoentomological analysis of the sediment samples revealed 5816 insect remains, primarily Diptera and Coleoptera, with relatively small numbers of Hymenoptera, Heteroptera, Lepidoptera, and Arachnida. These findings shed light on decomposition processes and funerary practices as well as the distribution of the cadaveric entomofauna present in the western limit of the Palearctic region before the modern era. This study highlights the role of insects in cadaveric decomposition and their ecological behaviors, offering valuable insights into the funerary practices of Bimbape society in a unique ecological context.
{"title":"Insects in the far West: Burial practices on El Hierro Island (Canary Islands, Spain; ca. 6th-11th centuries) reconstructed via funerary archaeoentomology","authors":"Pedro Henríquez-Valido , Jonathan Santana , Aarón Morquecho-Izquier , Amelia Rodríguez-Rodríguez , Jean-Bernard Huchet","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106120","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106120","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Canary Islands were first settled by North African groups in the first millennium CE and, after a few centuries of interconnections with the mainland and between islands, remained isolated until the late medieval European expansion into the Atlantic. El Hierro is a small island located in the westernmost part of the archipelago that was inhabited by the <em>bimbapes</em> from the 2nd century CE until the 15th century European conquest. The archaeological records, including marine food processing sites and cave burials, illustrate their adaptation to the environment: the dependence on marine resources for its economy owing the island's isolation and the scarcity of arable land and the use of the natural landscape to dispose of deads. La Lajura Cave, a collective burial site used from the 6th to 11th centuries CE, revealed significant anthropological and entomological findings. The archaeoentomological analysis of the sediment samples revealed 5816 insect remains, primarily Diptera and Coleoptera, with relatively small numbers of Hymenoptera, Heteroptera, Lepidoptera, and Arachnida. These findings shed light on decomposition processes and funerary practices as well as the distribution of the cadaveric entomofauna present in the western limit of the Palearctic region before the modern era. This study highlights the role of insects in cadaveric decomposition and their ecological behaviors, offering valuable insights into the funerary practices of <em>Bimbape</em> society in a unique ecological context.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"173 ","pages":"Article 106120"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142790076","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-01-01DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2024.106129
Nicole Leoni Sherwood, Tim Forssman
The manufacturing of ostrich eggshell (OES) beads during Africa's Middle and Later Stone Age followed two production strategies referred to as pathways. Both include the selection of OES blanks, which may or may not be heated, followed by first perforating the fragment before trimming the edges (pathway 1) or by trimming the fragment before perforation (pathway 2), and both conclude with rounding and polishing. Commonly, each pathway is present in an assemblage, although typically pathway 1 beads are more frequent. What is not clear are the reasons that both production strategies exist, if one pathway presents more advantages than the other or if there are social or other reasons for following one strategy over the other. In this study we experimentally create OES beads using these two pathways to determine if one pathway has benefits over the other. We also test if heat treatment has either advantageous or disadvantageous influences on OES bead creation. We look at OES bead technology found at Little Muck Shelter, where both pathways are present, to determine if our experimental findings are reflected in the archaeology. The results show that there are many ways to manufacture OES beads and that both pathways 1 and 2, as well as heat treatment of shell, has advantages and disadvantages. Neither pathway offered a faster manufacturing method for bulk production, but pathway 2 did yield a vaguely higher success rate. Heat treatment of shell did aid the process in making the drilling and trimming of beads slightly faster but was less often used at LMS. The use of different pathways as well as the sporadic use of heat-treated OES by occupants at LMS depended on many complex technological and social factors.
{"title":"Assessing ostrich eggshell bead production at Little Muck Shelter: Experimental production to test efficiency and success rates of pathways 1 and 2","authors":"Nicole Leoni Sherwood, Tim Forssman","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106129","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106129","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The manufacturing of ostrich eggshell (OES) beads during Africa's Middle and Later Stone Age followed two production strategies referred to as pathways. Both include the selection of OES blanks, which may or may not be heated, followed by first perforating the fragment before trimming the edges (pathway 1) or by trimming the fragment before perforation (pathway 2), and both conclude with rounding and polishing. Commonly, each pathway is present in an assemblage, although typically pathway 1 beads are more frequent. What is not clear are the reasons that both production strategies exist, if one pathway presents more advantages than the other or if there are social or other reasons for following one strategy over the other. In this study we experimentally create OES beads using these two pathways to determine if one pathway has benefits over the other. We also test if heat treatment has either advantageous or disadvantageous influences on OES bead creation. We look at OES bead technology found at Little Muck Shelter, where both pathways are present, to determine if our experimental findings are reflected in the archaeology. The results show that there are many ways to manufacture OES beads and that both pathways 1 and 2, as well as heat treatment of shell, has advantages and disadvantages. Neither pathway offered a faster manufacturing method for bulk production, but pathway 2 did yield a vaguely higher success rate. Heat treatment of shell did aid the process in making the drilling and trimming of beads slightly faster but was less often used at LMS. The use of different pathways as well as the sporadic use of heat-treated OES by occupants at LMS depended on many complex technological and social factors.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"173 ","pages":"Article 106129"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142790074","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-12-30DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2024.106143
Julia Mayo Torné , Carlos Mayo-Torné , Delvis Hernández , Antonio Zamora , Eric Gutiérrez , Jorge Ceballos , Juan Antonio Jaén , Medín Denvers , Emiliano Melgar Tísoc
The study aims to identify the origin of mosaic stone tesserae mirrors discovered in El Caño, an archaeological site located in the Isthmus of Panamá within the archaeological tradition of Gran Coclé (750–1100 c.e.). The research objectives include (i) typological classification of the mirrors from El Caño by measuring the degree of similarity using the Jaccard coefficient, (ii) characterization of the materials used to make their stone bases, involving analyses such as optical microscopy, thin sections (petrography), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD); and (iii) identification of the tools used in their manufacture, through observations of marks using optical microscope and electron microscopy (SEM and Back Scattered Electron Detector [BSE]). The results indicate that (i) the mirrors found in El Caño are typologically similar to Maya mirrors from the Late Classic and Postclassic periods, (ii) the rocks used to manufacture the mirror bases are quartzose sandstone not observed in the geological formations in the Isthmus, and (iii) the tools used for shaping were limestone abrasives, consistent with the abrasives used by the Maya for shaping the stone bases of their mirrors. Considering these results, it is inferred that the artisans who manufactured the mirrors found in El Caño were Maya.
{"title":"Pyrite tesserae mosaics from El Caño (750–1100 CE), Panamá: Evidence of interactions between the Coclé and Maya regions","authors":"Julia Mayo Torné , Carlos Mayo-Torné , Delvis Hernández , Antonio Zamora , Eric Gutiérrez , Jorge Ceballos , Juan Antonio Jaén , Medín Denvers , Emiliano Melgar Tísoc","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106143","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106143","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The study aims to identify the origin of mosaic stone tesserae mirrors discovered in El Caño, an archaeological site located in the Isthmus of Panamá within the archaeological tradition of Gran Coclé (750–1100 c.e.). The research objectives include (i) typological classification of the mirrors from El Caño by measuring the degree of similarity using the Jaccard coefficient, (ii) characterization of the materials used to make their stone bases, involving analyses such as optical microscopy, thin sections (petrography), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD); and (iii) identification of the tools used in their manufacture, through observations of marks using optical microscope and electron microscopy (SEM and Back Scattered Electron Detector [BSE]). The results indicate that (i) the mirrors found in El Caño are typologically similar to Maya mirrors from the Late Classic and Postclassic periods, (ii) the rocks used to manufacture the mirror bases are quartzose sandstone not observed in the geological formations in the Isthmus, and (iii) the tools used for shaping were limestone abrasives, consistent with the abrasives used by the Maya for shaping the stone bases of their mirrors. Considering these results, it is inferred that the artisans who manufactured the mirrors found in El Caño were Maya.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"175 ","pages":"Article 106143"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142929705","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-12-28DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2024.106148
Daniel R. Green , Tanya M. Smith , Gerry Olack , Ian S. Williams , Paul Tafforeau , Albert S. Colman , Kevin T. Uno
Variability of oxygen isotopes in environmental water is recorded in tooth enamel, providing a record of seasonal change, dietary variability, and mobility. Physiology dampens this variability, however, as oxygen passes from environmental sources into blood and forming teeth. We showcase two methods of high resolution, 2-dimensional enamel sampling, and conduct modeling, to report why and how environmental oxygen isotope variability is reduced in animal bodies and teeth. First, using two modern experimental sheep, we introduce a sampling method, die-saw dicing, that provides high-resolution physical samples (n = 109 and 111 sample locations per tooth) for use in conventional stable isotope and molecular measurement protocols. Second, we use an ion microprobe to sample innermost enamel in an experimental sheep (n = 156 measurements), and in a Pleistocene orangutan (n = 176 measurements). Synchrotron and conventional μCT scans reveal innermost enamel thicknesses averaging 18 and 21 μm in width. Experimental data in sheep show that compared to drinking water, oxygen isotope variability in blood is reduced to 70–90 %; inner and innermost enamel retain between 36 and 48 % of likely drinking water stable isotope range, but this recovery declines to 28–34 % in outer enamel. 2D isotope sampling suggests that declines in isotopic variability, and shifted isotopic oscillations throughout enamel, result from the angle of secretory hydroxyapatite deposition and its overprinting by maturation. This overprinting occurs at all locations including innermost enamel, and is greatest in outer enamel. These findings confirm that all regions of enamel undergo maturation to varying degrees and confirm that inner and innermost enamel preserve more environmental variability than other regions. We further show how the resolution of isotope sampling — not only the spatial resolution within teeth, but also the temporal resolution of water in the environment — impacts our estimate of how much variation teeth recover from the environment. We suggest inverse methods, or multiplication by standard factors determined by ecology, taxon, and sampling strategy, to reconstruct the full scale of seasonal environmental variability. We advocate for combined inverse modeling and high-resolution sampling informed by the spatiotemporal pattern of enamel formation, and at the inner or innermost enamel when possible, to recover seasonal records from teeth.
{"title":"How teeth record and attenuate seasonal signals","authors":"Daniel R. Green , Tanya M. Smith , Gerry Olack , Ian S. Williams , Paul Tafforeau , Albert S. Colman , Kevin T. Uno","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106148","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106148","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Variability of oxygen isotopes in environmental water is recorded in tooth enamel, providing a record of seasonal change, dietary variability, and mobility. Physiology dampens this variability, however, as oxygen passes from environmental sources into blood and forming teeth. We showcase two methods of high resolution, 2-dimensional enamel sampling, and conduct modeling, to report why and how environmental oxygen isotope variability is reduced in animal bodies and teeth. First, using two modern experimental sheep, we introduce a sampling method, die-saw dicing, that provides high-resolution physical samples (n = 109 and 111 sample locations per tooth) for use in conventional stable isotope and molecular measurement protocols. Second, we use an ion microprobe to sample innermost enamel in an experimental sheep (n = 156 measurements), and in a Pleistocene orangutan (n = 176 measurements). Synchrotron and conventional μCT scans reveal innermost enamel thicknesses averaging 18 and 21 μm in width. Experimental data in sheep show that compared to drinking water, oxygen isotope variability in blood is reduced to 70–90 %; inner and innermost enamel retain between 36 and 48 % of likely drinking water stable isotope range, but this recovery declines to 28–34 % in outer enamel. 2D isotope sampling suggests that declines in isotopic variability, and shifted isotopic oscillations throughout enamel, result from the angle of secretory hydroxyapatite deposition and its overprinting by maturation. This overprinting occurs at all locations including innermost enamel, and is greatest in outer enamel. These findings confirm that all regions of enamel undergo maturation to varying degrees and confirm that inner and innermost enamel preserve more environmental variability than other regions. We further show how the resolution of isotope sampling — not only the spatial resolution within teeth, but also the temporal resolution of water in the environment — impacts our estimate of how much variation teeth recover from the environment. We suggest inverse methods, or multiplication by standard factors determined by ecology, taxon, and sampling strategy, to reconstruct the full scale of seasonal environmental variability. We advocate for combined inverse modeling and high-resolution sampling informed by the spatiotemporal pattern of enamel formation, and at the inner or innermost enamel when possible, to recover seasonal records from teeth.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"175 ","pages":"Article 106148"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142902010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-12-27DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2024.106149
Ziqian Zhang , Bingjian Zhang , Yulan Hu , Zhengyu Wang
Mortar is the prevalent binding material in ancient construction, and its organic addition has been one of the hot topics for years. In the study of organic addition, historical literature can provide references for composition, while detection can examine and verify the accuracy of the historical records, complementing each other. Conventional detection techniques such as spectroscopy, chromatography, mass spectrometry, and optical microscopy have been used to detect organic components in the laboratory, but they may face challenges such as low organic content, and difficulty in completing quick batch detection on-site. Therefore, researchers from Zhejiang University Cultural Heritage Laboratory (ZJUL) developed chemical and biological detection techniques (CBT). These techniques offer advantages such as high sensitivity and specificity, strong interference resistance, and are suitable for rapid on-site batch detection. ZJU has applied CBT to over 500 samples, carefully selected from a collection of more than 1000 samples gathered across various regions of China, spanning a timeframe of over 4000 years. This study summarizes and analyze the characteristics of Chinese ancient mortar for the first time. Spatial, temporal and typological patterns were discussed. The findings suggest that mortar production techniques have been transmitted and refined across generations over millennia.
{"title":"Developments in chemical and biological detection of organic additives in Chinese historic mortar: A review","authors":"Ziqian Zhang , Bingjian Zhang , Yulan Hu , Zhengyu Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106149","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106149","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mortar is the prevalent binding material in ancient construction, and its organic addition has been one of the hot topics for years. In the study of organic addition, historical literature can provide references for composition, while detection can examine and verify the accuracy of the historical records, complementing each other. Conventional detection techniques such as spectroscopy, chromatography, mass spectrometry, and optical microscopy have been used to detect organic components in the laboratory, but they may face challenges such as low organic content, and difficulty in completing quick batch detection on-site. Therefore, researchers from Zhejiang University Cultural Heritage Laboratory (ZJUL) developed chemical and biological detection techniques (CBT). These techniques offer advantages such as high sensitivity and specificity, strong interference resistance, and are suitable for rapid on-site batch detection. ZJU has applied CBT to over 500 samples, carefully selected from a collection of more than 1000 samples gathered across various regions of China, spanning a timeframe of over 4000 years. This study summarizes and analyze the characteristics of Chinese ancient mortar for the first time. Spatial, temporal and typological patterns were discussed. The findings suggest that mortar production techniques have been transmitted and refined across generations over millennia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"175 ","pages":"Article 106149"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143157434","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-12-24DOI: 10.1016/j.jas.2024.106146
Yotam Asscher , Giulia Ricci , Michela Reato , Abraham Leviant , Ilana Peters , Jacques Neguer , Mark Avrahami , Gilberto Artioli
Preparatory drawings in mortars have guided mosaicists in the placement of colored tesserae, as a form of blueprint for the style and content of the mosaic. These drawings are made by implementing pigments in the substrate mortars, following the fresco technique, and are commonly known as sinopia. This study analyzes the data from non-invasive techniques applied on red and pink sinopia that was found below Roman and Byzantine mosaics in Judea. The mineralogical and chemical characteristics show hematite as the main chromophore, with different implementation of the red ochre in lime to achieve pink colors. The shift from red to pink colors is quantified using non-invasive portable reflectance spectroscopy, showing a reduction in the red colorimetric values, which is correlated to lower Fe/Ca values as determined by a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Diffraction and electron microscopy support the notion that the artisans added an additional layer of lime plaster on top of the red ochre, about 200 μm thick, to lighten the hue from red to pink. This research underscores the importance of studying sinopia beneath floor mosaics to understand pigments and techniques, contributing to the understanding of how red ochre attenuates through lime mortars.
{"title":"Implementation of Red Ochre in Sinopia: Non-invasive characterization of the invisible frescos beneath Roman and Byzantine mosaics in Judea","authors":"Yotam Asscher , Giulia Ricci , Michela Reato , Abraham Leviant , Ilana Peters , Jacques Neguer , Mark Avrahami , Gilberto Artioli","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106146","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106146","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Preparatory drawings in mortars have guided mosaicists in the placement of colored tesserae, as a form of blueprint for the style and content of the mosaic. These drawings are made by implementing pigments in the substrate mortars, following the <em>fresco</em> technique, and are commonly known as <em>sinopia</em>. This study analyzes the data from non-invasive techniques applied on red and pink <em>sinopia</em> that was found below Roman and Byzantine mosaics in Judea. The mineralogical and chemical characteristics show hematite as the main chromophore, with different implementation of the red ochre in lime to achieve pink colors. The shift from red to pink colors is quantified using non-invasive portable reflectance spectroscopy, showing a reduction in the red colorimetric values, which is correlated to lower Fe/Ca values as determined by a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer. Diffraction and electron microscopy support the notion that the artisans added an additional layer of lime plaster on top of the red ochre, about 200 μm thick, to lighten the hue from red to pink. This research underscores the importance of studying <em>sinopia</em> beneath floor mosaics to understand pigments and techniques, contributing to the understanding of how red ochre attenuates through lime mortars.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"175 ","pages":"Article 106146"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-12-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142901962","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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