Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences最新文献

Cut marks are striae accidentally produced by the contact made between the edge of a cutting tool and bone surfaces by anthropogenic activity, presenting evidence of hominin carcass processing and behaviour, butchery activities or diet. Post-depositional processes can cause the alteration (chemical or mechanical) of bones surfaces, changing their composition and causing the modification of bone surfaces. Previous research has addressed the problem of chemical alteration from a qualitative perspective, resulting in the loss of all diagnostic characteristics of the cut marks affected by these processes. Geometrics Morphometrics has led to great progress in the study of cut marks from a quantitative perspective and can be useful for the study of altered cut marks. In this study, an experiment was carried out in which 36 cut marks were reproduced and chemically altered. These marks were scanned and digitized before and after each phase of alteration. They were analyzed metrically as well as using Geometric Morphometrics, in order to study the evolution of modifications to cut mark morphology during the experiment. Results show clear morphological differences between the different phases of alteration with altered cut marks presenting a general tendency towards a decrease in both the width and depth over time. Research of this type opens up a new path for the study of the chemical alteration of cut marks, as well as other striae, through the application of Geometric Morphometrics.

This paper describes analyses of avifauna from Levantine Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene sites at contrasting scales. We present avian osteological data at Shubayqa, in northeast Jordan, illustrating human-bird-environment interactions over 4000 years offering interpretation of environmental change on avifaunal communities and reorientation in the nature of multi-species relationships at a wetland environment. Comparisons to published avifaunal assemblages investigates bird-human relationships across a broader temporal and geographical span. During the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, some of our species gradually transitioned to agriculture. People hunted birds for subsistence but extensive evidence for the symbolic importance of birds suggests complex relationships between species. Avifaunal evidence, therefore, presents insights into two commonly suggested primary causes for the shift from hunter-foragers to agriculturalists – resource pressure and symbolic expression. In this paper, we investigate and try to clarify the relationship between humans and birds at this transitional period in human history, furthering discussions of the shift towards agriculture. We argue humans gradually modified the landscape but this was not a reactionary response to resource stress. Nevertheless, this resulted in the productivity of the landscape increasing and allowed further intensification. Feathers and talons of birds were used for millennia preceding the shift to agriculture and the increase in bird hunting towards the end of the Pleistocene cannot be explained by the increased role of birds in the symbolic realm. The evidence from the avifauna adds weight to the idea of ecological niche construction activities, as people invested in specific locations, increasing productivity of habitats, thus encouraging further investment within some environments.

The Roman provinces did not exist as entities but as a part of a complex system involving their urban and rural landscape, communications and networks. This paper explores evidence for ceramic production within the territory of the Augustan colony of Patras, highlighting the city’s significance as a major production center due to its strategic position in regional and long-distance trading networks. Regarding the archaeological evidence, 60 sites with evidence for ceramic production were studied, providing new data on their architectural structures, workshops and kilns as well as spatial organization within Patras and its territory. The prime focus of the work, focused on the definition of local Roman wares. Hence, 150 samples were selected from the kilns and their surrounding area for typological and fabric analysis. This paper offers the first systematic archaeometric analysis of Roman ceramics from the city of Patras and serves as a major guide-line for defining what was actually produced locally (e.g. grey and red sigillatas, plain ware vessels, ceramic building materials and amphorae). Petrographic analysis enabled us to determine the local compositional patterns establishing that there are five fabrics encountered among the various workshops with few compositional differences, indicating that they derive possibly from the same locally available clay deposits. Imported (Italian) terra sigillatas could also be successfully distinguished. Mineralogical analysis through X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) allowed the study of the nature of the raw materials used and enabled the estimation of kiln firing temperatures, which ranged from 700 to 1100 °C, thereby offering vital insights into ceramic technology.

There are several characteristics that can be used to identify Acheulean workshops. However, the direct flaking of raw-material outcrops can be an important step in Acheulean lithic production that is missing from the current trait list. Here, we define and introduce the first systematically documented evidence of what we refer to as ‘flake harvesting’ at Wonderboom in Gauteng, South Africa. The presence of flakes and cores from the excavated Acheulean deposit, with similar dimensions and in similar condition to those associated with the nearby flake-harvesting localities, indicate that the behaviour was associated with the Acheulean. We explain that collecting flakes in this manner is different from quarrying, and provide a recording protocol that can be applied to other localities. This could help to explore whether the behaviour has been missed previously, or whether it is a uniquely localised development. We provide a summary of Acheulean workshop traits reported by other researchers, demonstrating that several of these traits are present at Wonderboom, so that the site can now be thought of in terms of a workshop, amongst other things, and flake harvesting can be added to the list.

Archaeological data confirm the widespread use of horse tack throughout the North European Bronze Age and the succeeding Hallstatt period in an inventory that included metal cheekpieces, phalerae, rein-knobs and other horse-related accessories. Similar usage has been assumed in the region of northern Poland, which has also furnished evidence for the use of horse gear accessories made of antler. This paper reports the results of traceological, isotopic and experimental research on three antler cheekpieces found at the Early Iron Age stronghold of Gzin in northern Poland and relates them further with archaeological and ethnographic patterns of horse exploitation. The results indicate that the artefacts from Gzin have rare comparanda and are isotopically consistent with the δ¹⁸O_w range of the site location, which can both be taken as evidence of their local origin. Moreover, traceological and experimental evidence from this study places the function and use of the analysed objects into a new light, undermining their use for horseback riding and suggesting that they were employed as cheekpiece coverings. Combined with the ethnographic record, ceramic iconography and archaeolinguistics, our findings fuel a discussion of deer valorisation during the Lusatian period in Poland, showing that the cheekpieces from Gzin may have served as elements of deer headgear.

On the north coast of Peru in the Casma Valley exist relict raised agricultural field systems dating to the Late Intermediate Period Chimu Empire (ca. 1300 – 1470 CE). While similar in many ways to other inland and coastal raised fields in South America, these fields are relatively unique in climate, weather patterns, and layout. The topography and hydrology of the Casma Valley provide clues on how these fields operated and why they differ from the regional norm. This paper reports satellite and drone-based aerial reconnaissance results used to collect multiscalar data for flow modeling and thermal photogrammetry. Flow modeling methods are compared to determine the best way to gain insight into surface hydrology using only elevation data, and thermal photogrammetry is used to analyze temperature dynamics in the raised fields. These data results provide insight into the function of the field system and its unique field morphology.

The significance of the archaeological record unearthed in the SHK fluvial landscape represents a noteworthy dataset to study in greater detail the expression of inter-assemblage variability during the formally labelled Developed Oldowan/Acheulean interface in Olduvai Gorge. A precise stratigraphic interval, laterally continuous, and preserving fractions of anthropogenic activity at different points of the same fluvial network makes it feasible to identify the variable techno-economic ways in which hominins responded to the local paleo-landscape in a short time unit. In this work we present the results of the comparative techno-economic study of the three lithic collections retrieved from the time unit defined by an isochronous litho-stratigraphic volcanic horizon deposited in the fluvial landscape of SHK Main site and SHK Extension. The combined use of this isochrone plus the archaeo-stratigraphic method to refine time-averaging constraints offers for the first time an assessment of the nature of technological variation within different fractions of the same fluvial landscape at ~ 1.5 Ma in Middle Bed II. The goal of this analysis is to look closely at inter-assemblage variability in a unit of time with a coherent degree of synchronicity and to add new data to the Developed Oldowan/Acheulean gradient.

Bone breakage is one of the most common features in the archaeological record. Fractures occur at different times and are classified as fresh or dry depending on the presence or absence of collagen in the bone. In the study of human remains, the timing of the occurrence of a fracture is of crucial importance as it can sometimes be linked to the cause of death. Types of skull breakage can be classified based on when they occurred, though not all fractures correspond to the expected features. This variability is added to the challenge of working with bones covered in consolidant, which obstructs the bone surface and hinders taphonomic analysis. This is the case of the Txispiri calotte, which was categorized as a skull cup in the early 20th century, though this classification was later rejected in the 1990s. In this study, we used statistics and machine learning (ML) to test the breakage characteristics of one set of skull fragments with fresh fractures, another set with dry fractures, and the Txispiri calotte. For this purpose, we considered the fracture type, trajectory, angles, cortical delamination and texture of each of the individual fractures. Our results show that the 13 fractures of the Txispiri calotte correspond to dry breakage and bear no relation to artificially produced skull cups. This study shows the potential of ML algorithms to classify fresh and dry fractures within the same specimen, a method that can be applied to other assemblages with similar characteristics.

Knowledge about medieval iron production in Denmark is very limited. However, recent excavations in the area around Silkeborg in central Jutland, Denmark, have led to the discovery of several slag heaps and furnaces testifying to considerable iron production in this part of the country. Charcoal from slag heaps at six sites has been analysed to learn about fuel use in iron production. At two sites from the 12th-13th century, many species were used as fuel. Only 50–63% of the fuel consisted of high-density wood with a high caloric value, which at these sites included species such as birch, elm and pomaceous fruit. At the other four sites from the 14th-15th century, species diversity was smaller, and species with a high caloric value constituted 85–93% of the fuel, with beech, oak and birch being most common. Thus, a change in fuel use over time, which possibly could be related to access rights to the high forest, is indicated in the study. Some horizontal and vertical variations within the slag heaps were also recorded. A detailed analysis of vertically sampled charcoal at Gødvad Bygade III showed that the tree species used for fuel changed slightly at some point during the period of iron production, and that the accumulation period was likely 5–60 years. The study demonstrates that there is a great potential in analysing charcoal from iron production sites, as this approach can provide not only information about fuel use but in some cases even about organizational aspects of the production.