Archaeometry最新文献

It is tempting in material sourcing analyses to treat chemical data primarily as numbers to be sorted, while disregarding their interlinked geochemistries. Consideration of geochemistry, however, often leads to the drawing of more nuanced and reliable conclusions. In this paper we re-examine data published in 2020, related to the sourcing of stone #58 at Stonehenge, paying attention to geochemistry. We question the potential single-source interpretation of these data and suggest instead that three to six sources cannot be ruled out.

This contribution discusses salient aspects of the development of ceramics technology from its invention to the present, and the role ceramics have played during the cultural development and technological progress of ancient and modern societies. The conjecture is being advanced that the transformation of ceramic production modes from holistic, that is, individualistic processes to prescriptive, that is, cooperative industrially determined technologies had a profound and lasting impact on the social, economic, and cultural fabric of all societies. In addition, the chaotic and thus, nondeterministic interaction of ceramic technology and society, and the transfer of information among potters will be described in terms of the concept of strange attractors as well as sets of self-normalizing ‘memes’ (ideas) in a Lamarckian and/or Darwinian mode. Such specific ideas drive cultural and, by inference, technological evolution of societies.

Charred aggregates are one of the most common forms in which millets are preserved on archaeological sites. Despite the lack of consensus on their origin, few studies have attempted to determine how aggregates are formed. Knowing how aggregates are produced allows us to understand the diversity of processes operating in the formation of charred archaeobotanical assemblages. As a contribution to filling this gap, we investigated the charring conditions of archaeological millet assemblages by comparing them to experimentally charred millets grains exposed to different temperatures, and reducing and oxidizing atmospheres, using pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) and thermally assisted hydrolysis and methylation-GC-MS (THM-GC-MS). The results show that the formation of aggregates in the millet species studied is due to the transformation of organic material into char and the emission of volatiles as a consequence of the high thermal impact that is produced in some areas of grain clusters. Substances derived from the charring act as a ‘glue’ that holds a grain cluster together, in which some grains are exposed to a temperature range allowing preservation of recognisable grain morphologies.

The Smederevo Fortress served successively as the capital of the medieval Serbian state and the seat of the Smederevo Sanjak from 1427 to 1512, assuming great political and military significance. Five shards of Chinese celadon were excavated from the Smederevo Fortress of Serbia in the 1960s. Analysis by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry of these celadon pieces has revealed that they date back to the Yuan dynasty and were crafted in Longquan County, Zhejiang province, China. The Longquan celadon signified outstanding financial or political values and was treasured by the local royalty or the elite of the Smederevo Fortress.

The Caribbean islands witnessed a population expansion of ceramic-using horticulturalists during the Early Ceramic Age (ca. 500 BC to 750 AD) from the Orinoco Valley to Puerto Rico. We examined 18 lithic artefacts from Guadeloupe and Dominica initially thought to be obsidian, a material believed to be absent from those islands. We investigated the volcanic or meteoritic origin of this unique and yet unknown material through observation (binocular, SEM, microtomography) and geochemical analyses (PIXE, SEM-EDS, ED-XRF, EPMA, LA-ICP-MS). Elemental analyses rule out the hypothesis of an origin from a meteoritic impact (i.e. identification as tektites). Most of the artefacts have an andesitic composition (<63% SiO₂), which appears to be unique among ‘massive’ glasses. The only artefact with a rhyolitic composition has been traced back to the Guadeloupe's Volcan du Tuf, where glassy fragments have been collected and analysed. The geological source of the other vitreous artefacts that exhibit an andesitic composition could be from a sublocal subduction-arc volcanism (maybe from Martinique), although no volcanic vitreous material of this kind has ever been reported worldwide. These results once again highlight the regional mobility of Early Ceramic populations and the production of standard lithic products using a highly original, albeit low-quality, local lithic resource, and provide valuable references for future identification of similar materials.

We present portable X-ray fluorescence data on the composition of body, glaze and enamels of several Meissen porcelain objects associated with the Hoym–Lemaire Affair (1728–1731). In 1728, the French merchant Rodolphe Lemaire convinced the Meissen Porcelain Manufactory into making copies of Japanese Kakiemon porcelain for sale as originals in Paris, a dubious enterprise that depended on the development of additional pigments closely emulating the Kakiemon palette. We shall illustrate how the color formulations for these objects, designed to imitate Japanese porcelain, differ from those on earlier porcelain from 1723–24, as well as later (mid-18th century) objects. In all cases, the colorant chemistry can be related to special recipes introduced by Johann Gregorius Höroldt specifically for this purpose and preserved in the Meissen archives. A surprising observation is the absence of antimony or tin in the yellow colorant. As an ancillary finding, we have confirmed analytically for the first time that unmarked, undecorated Meissen porcelain in storage since prior to 1725 was decorated around 1730 and became part of the Hoym–Lemaire shipment.

This contribution provides a topical view at and review of traditional clay-based utilitarian cooking pots that were used for millennia to prepare, serve, display, and distribute foodstuff. Key mechanical and thermal properties of ceramic cooking vessels will be discussed and strategies of property optimization outlined. In addition, some important chemical changes food constituents undergo during cooking will be explained. Mass-produced ancient ceramic cooking pots from Neolithic Mesopotamia have revolutionized the art of cooking by allowing foodstuff to be processed in water. As an example of successfully optimizing the properties of cooking vessels, emphasis is being given to Indigenous prehistoric North American ware of the Mississippian culture (c. 800 to 1600 CE) that show impressively how ancient potters overcame the technological challenges posed by essentially unsuitable smectite-rich clays with extreme plasticity and high swell–shrink ratio by adding copious amounts of burnt mussel shells as temper material.

Although evaluating developmental stress is challenging, it is critical to understanding phenotypic adaptation and differentials in morbidity and mortality related to spatiotemporal variation in environmental and cultural factors. This paper presents a new, reproducible, and reliable geometric morphometric (GM) protocol through which stress-induced deviations to symmetry, known as fluctuating asymmetry (FA), can be robustly quantified. A case study, in which maternally mediated early-life stress in human skeletal remains is explored through first permanent molar (M1) FA, illustrates the method's effectiveness and wide-ranging potential to revolutionise the investigation of themes such as stress intensity, developmental processes, and buffering mechanisms in past populations.

The obsidian dating method converts the quantity of diffused molecular water within a near-surface hydration layer to elapsed time using an experimentally derived diffusion coefficient predicted from the structural water content of the glass. Infrared spectroscopic transmission measurements on transparent archaeological samples record vibrational responses of water bands in the near-infrared region, permitting determination of structural water content (OH), and the amount of diffused ambient water (H₂O). In this application, the H₂O water band at 5200 cm⁻¹ is measured directly. The accuracy of the approach is assessed by an evaluation of the precision of each contributing variable. The new protocol is evaluated using obsidian artifacts from radiocarbon-dated deposits at Salamanca Cave in Argentina.

The present work describes the chemistry and mineralogy of soils such as Terra Preta Arqueológica (TPA) or Terra Preta de Índio (TPI) from the Bitoca I and II sites, located in the Salobo Region (Carajás Mineral Province, Pará-Brazil). The results revealed chemical and mineralogical characteristics that are similar to other TPAs found throughout the Amazon region, such as relatively high levels of Ca (average of 3600 ppm), P (average of 850 ppm), Mn (average of 730 ppm), Zn (average of 55 ppm), and Cu (average of 63 ppm). In soils related to the characteristics of occupation by huts and campfires, the mineralogical composition is represented by quartz, kaolinite, calcite, muscovite, anatase, hematite, goethite, and gibbsite. Amorphous phases have also been identified mainly as calcium phosphates and organic matter (humic and fulvic acids). The analysis of the features/structures described here helped in the identification/verification of areas destined for different activities within the sites.