Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences最新文献

This article examines the chronology of Great Moravian hillfort construction using radiocarbon data from the Bojná agglomeration, one of the key centres of early medieval settlement in the Middle Danube Basin. Based on an analysis of 79 radiocarbon dates from five sites, a refined chronological model is proposed for the agglomeration’s development in the 6th–10th centuries. The findings challenge the widely accepted view that hillfort construction intensified only at the turn of the 8th and 9th centuries. The data presented here are expected to stimulate broader critical discussion on the chronology of Carolingian-period hillfort construction in Central Europe. The modelling has also revealed a significant issue: radiocarbon dates associated with features from the first half of the 9th century tend, once calibrated, to extend back into the 8th century—a pattern that is not supported by the existing archaeological evidence. This discovery highlights a challenge for archaeologists, as it may result in the false ageing of features and distort the broader chronological framework. This would indicate a more general problem within early medieval archaeology, particularly concerning the chronology of the Carolingian period. Identifying this issue here may help direct future research efforts towards resolving it.

While the introduction of the Neolithic way of life in central Belgium around 5300 BCE is well-documented, the provenance and mobility patterns of Middle to Final Neolithic groups in southern Belgium (Wallonia) remain unclear. This work presents the first multi-element isotopic (strontium, ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr; oxygen, δ¹⁸O; carbon, δ¹³C) data from prehistoric human dental enamel from the region. The study includes a total of 29 individuals, coming from karstic caves in the Meuse basin, the mining complex of Spiennes, and the megalithic tomb of Wéris II. The study also explores the variability of bioavailable strontium ratios in the geologically heterogeneous Meuse basin using modern plants. The analysis of multi-element isotopic data reveals high δ¹⁸O values and diverse ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios. The findings suggest that these individuals likely originated from or spent their childhood in present-day Belgium. Furthermore, the study highlights limited mobility during the Final Neolithic period, characterized by a combination of local residency and potential short-distance mobility or post-mortem movements. Overall, this study provides the first δ¹⁸O values from ancient human remains in the region and reshapes our understanding of human mobility during the Neolithic in present-day Belgium.

Exploring the exchange and trade paths of turquoise among Sanxingdui people, this study clarifies the communication and trade channels between Sanxingdui and other regions in China and explores underlying social issues in turquoise production and consumption areas. It focuses on the Sanxingdui site located in Guanghan City, where new “sacrificial pits” were discovered. Forty-one turquoise artifacts from Sanxingdui pits K5, K6, and K7 were examined—all thin flakes and predominantly rectangular in shape. Laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry (LA-ICP-AES) compositional analysis revealed that these turquoise pieces have a relatively high boron (B) content, falling into the category of boron-rich turquoise. Analytical testing and provenance tracing revealed that the samples were not derived from the Erlitou, Panlongcheng, Runlou, or Yinxu sites. They also show little correlation with turquoise sources from the Central Plains, with no exact match found between the Sanxingdui turquoise and that from currently known mineral sources or archaeological sites. This suggests that the turquoise source(s) of Sanxingdui may not have been discovered yet. Although the technology and concept of turquoise inlays originated in the Central Plains and were adopted in Sanxingdui, the raw materials used in Sanxingdui differed from those of the former. Further, Sanxingdui’s bronze wares drew on the creation concepts of the Central Plains but were transformed into unique content, with production technologies adopted while making modifications. The results highlight that to truly understand cultural interaction, it is necessary to adopt a hierarchical approach; classify artifacts by type; and integrate archaeology, art, and science and technology.

This paper presents an in-depth study of Meroitic metallurgical remains from the Kushite city of Dangeil (third century BCE – third century CE). An assemblage of production waste was found within the construction phase of a temple dedicated to the god Amun, consisting of crucibles, casting moulds, and other technical ceramic fragments. A full documentation of these remains has been undertaken to provide a visual reference (Supplementary Materials) for similar finds encountered in Sudanese archaeology, where such technical materials rarely have been examined. This was followed by an analytical study using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (with energy dispersive spectroscopy) to understand the nature of metallurgical operations taking place at Meroitic Dangeil. These attest to the active alloying of tin bronze with low lead concentrations, likely alongside the recycling of similar alloys. Furthermore, trace element and lead isotopic analyses of selected samples highlight shared provisioning networks with other Meroitic sites in Nubia and contemporaneous Egyptian settlements, as well as connectivity with the wider Eastern Mediterranean world. Fragments of a blowpipe and tuyère offer rare examples of crucible heating techniques in ancient Nubia, while the crucibles themselves perhaps present the greatest rarity. Although their metallurgical use is in line with expectations for this period, their rim shapes offer the first documented example of non-utilitarian decoration of such technical vessels, affording a remarkable sense of identity to the craftspeople that once used them.

The archaeological site of Perdigões (Reguengos de Monsaraz, Portugal) was a centre of social and ceremonial importance with diverse funeral traditions from the middle 4th to the 3rd millennium BC. Previous strontium isotope analysis of human remains indicates that these funerary contexts contained individuals from a wide catchment area. Together with artefactual evidence, it suggests Perdigões was a part of a large interaction network of settlements that may have spanned Iberia, Northern Africa, and the Central Mediterranean. The stable isotopic analysis of domesticated animals’ bones and teeth can provide insights into human behaviour via the choices connected to animal pasture and foddering regimes. Sheep and goats were pivotal species for Neolithic and Bronze Age communities in Iberia, and the herding strategies of individual flocks would have been dependent on local vegetation and geography as well as production strategies. Here we present a detailed and comprehensive picture of husbandry practices of sheep/goat remains found at Perdigões, using stable isotopic values from suids and deer as a baseline for the local environment. The incremental stable δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O isotopic results from sheep/goat molars provide insight into seasonal variations in pasture and foddering practices, thereby shedding light on human management strategies. Differences between individuals may suggest that sampled sheep/goats individuals did not come from a single flock. The results reinforce the argument that Perdigões was a central place of significance, attracting communities and their herds both within the vicinity of the site and also further afield.

Effective identification of starch grain botanical origins constitutes a critical aspect of archaeological research. This study proposes a quantitative starch grain morphology analysis framework integrating geographic information systems (GIS) and machine learning (ML), addressing limitations in traditional archaeobotanical analysis—specifically high subjectivity, low efficiency, and inconsistent data standards. Leveraging the ArcGIS platform, we developed a standardized morphological acquisition system that extracts 44 quantitative indices spanning three dimensions: size, shape, and feature. These indices were integrated with multivariate statistical analysis and ML algorithms (Random Forest, XGBoost, Artificial Neural Networks, and Naive Bayes) to achieve automated starch grain classification and identification. Using 15 common Chinese root and tuber species as reference samples, we constructed a high-accuracy ML classification model through microscopic imaging, GIS-based processing, and morphological quantification. The XGBoost model achieved 94.4% overall classification accuracy, significantly outperforming traditional clustering methods (52.1%). SHAP interpretability analysis further identified ARE (area) and Hu3 as pivotal discriminative morphological indicators, highlighting the classification potential of size and feature-class parameters. This work establishes a unified analytical standard for archaeobotanical starch grain morphology and advances AI applications in archaeological science.

In 2023, a joint team of researchers from the Chongqing Research Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology and Sichuan University’s School of Archaeology and Museology uncovered six well-preserved blast furnace bases and large quantities of slag an iron smelting site Xiaonongchang in Wulong District, Chongqing. The results of the scientific analysis, including X-Ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF), X-Ray diffraction analysis (XRD), metallography, Scanning Electron Microscopy - Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), on the smelting-related materials includes ores and slags indicate that this is a pig-iron production site focusing possibly only on pig-iron ingots. Xiaonongchang site is dated to the early to late Ming Dynasty according to the radiocarbon dating results and the local typology of pottery. This site is the earliest known pig-iron smelting site in Chongqing, and it is the largest and best-preserved example from the Ming Dynasty in Southwestern China, or even the whole nation. Considering the multiple iron-smelting sites dating to the middle and late Ming Dynasty recently discovered in the southern part of Chongqing, this paper tries to investigate from the perspective of economic history, while including the political, economic, and technological background factors that contributed to the concentration of iron-smelting production in Southern Chongqing during the Ming Dynasty.

Skateholm I and II cemeteries form the core of a notable Late Mesolithic activity area located in southern Sweden on the coast of the Baltic Sea. The burial sites date back to approximately 5,200–4,800 BCE, representing the final stage of the hunter-fisher-gatherer way of life. The cemeteries have been instrumental in advancing our understanding of Late Mesolithic societies in Northern Europe by shedding light on aspects such as material culture, ritual practices, and social organization. For the first time, evidence of perishable soft organic materials such as fur, feathers and plant fibres were investigated in 35 burials in Skateholm I and II. The research was based on the identification of microscopic fibre remains in soil samples that were collected during the excavations in the 1980s. The research provided indications of clothes, headgear, and footwear as well as the use of soft organic materials for grave furnishing and possible wrapping. Microscopic fibres were recovered even in burials that lack other grave goods. Moreover, the species composition was consistent with the reconstruction of human-animal relations based on osteological studies. Our research underlines the importance of microarchaeological analysis of graves in search of highly decomposed organic materials which may facilitate the full recognition of feathers, furs and fibres in archaeological mortuary research. In future, microarchaeological identification of highly perishable organic materials can provide hitherto invisible zooarchaeological find material to widen our understanding of past material culture.