Archaeometry最新文献

A wooden polychrome statuette of Virgin and Child in Majesty, currently in the Museum Montanelli in Prague, is actually a torso. It was created in the 11th or 12th century at the latest, being the oldest wooden polychrome statuette in the Czech Republic. Current research combining advanced imaging and micro-analytical methods substantially contributed to the determination of its regional origin and detection and dating of later interventions. Identified pigments, including azurite, vivianite and smalt, together with changes in gilding technology, were found to be essential in tracing the story of the statuette over time.

This study reconstructed the technical chaîne operatoire of silver seed bead production in the Maikop culture on the basis of tracewear analysis and experimental research using silver beads from the Early Bronze Age dolmen (c. 3200–2900 bce) in kurgan 2 at Tsarskaya (1898). The results demonstrate that such beads were produced as a “garland” lost wax casting, when a garland of beads is formed on a hollow dry stalk (straw) that burns out during the casting process. The technology of “garland” casting is an original and, probably, the earliest solution in history that helped address the issue of large-scale production of uniform cast precious metal seed beads. It is not yet clear whether this technology was originally developed in the Caucasus or brought here from Western Asia, where the Maikop culture has its roots.

The observed weights of ancient coins are usually less than the nominal “ideal” weights of the coin standards to which they belong because state authorities took a fee—“seigniorage”—for minting coins to cover costs and to make a profit. The basis for calculating the amount taken by the state and the way it administered manufacture are not well understood. Here we analyze the weights of 1344 of the earliest coins of Athens (c. 550–479 bce). We reveal a parabolic relationship between the cost of the silver and the weights of the coins whereby a progressively higher proportion was taken as the denomination decreased, meaning that the smaller the coin, the larger was the proportion of silver taken from it. There was tight control of the minting process and mathematical sophistication in precisely adjusting the silver content from the first introduction of coinage. It also made minting a profitable business. Changes in minting practice can be detected with the introduction of the Athenian “owl” coins, when the percentage of silver taken by the state increased and the spread of weights widened to include coins weighing more than the nominal weight. The latter indicates a significant shift toward monetization of the economy.

The lateral angle method of sex estimation is tested on an archaeological population with genetic sex estimates. Casts of the internal auditory canal were made using a quick drying impression material on 90 individuals (76 adults and 14 nonadults) from Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Cambridgeshire. The anterior and posterior angles of the internal auditory canal were measured, and the relationship of the angle to genetic sex was tested. The posterior angle failed intra-observer error tests, and only the anterior angle could be analysed. Using the previously published sectioning point for unburnt remains (45°), the method did not adequately distinguish between the sexes. Furthermore, the difference between male and female was insufficient to create population-specific discriminant functions. The anterior angle does not meet the requirements for an osteological method of sex estimation, exhibiting no statistical correlation with genetic sex in this population.

This article presents the results of research on bricks from medieval castles in north-central Poland. They were characterised based on petrographic analyses of thin section and mutually complementary instrumental methods. The bricks came from the oldest parts of the castles preserved to this day, or from castles not preserved but examined and excavated during archaeological research. The data obtained allowed for the identification of building materials that shared similar material and technical properties and that can be associated with different phases of the castles. Based on the results, it was found that the Pleistocene tills commonly found around the castles were not used in the manufacturing of the bricks. Small local deposits of fatty clays were used—Pleistocene varved clays or Miocene variegated clays. The buildings differed in the composition and texture of their bricks, indicating that the local clay raw material was extracted for each building separately. The share of raw material brought in from larger exposures further afield was small. Analyses of brick samples indicate the use of a fatty clay raw material that was improved by the addition of clastic material (quartz sand or a mixture of sand and quartz silt of various fractions).

Although the discovery of metal objects is not common in Chalcolithic or Bronze Age sites, the study of bone surface microscopic grooves from animal butchering can yield evidence of the use of metal artefacts in these contexts. Additionally, the presence of slice marks made with metal objects in Chalcolithic and Bronze Age sites has highlighted the use of metal in common practices beyond their ornamental application, as usually expected at the early stages of metallurgy. Here, we present the study of the slice marks found at the Chalcolithic site of Zanjillas, using geometric morphometrics and machine learning algorithms, with the aim of identifying the nature of the tools used for carcass processing at the site. For this purpose, we replicate previous analyses considering slice marks produced with lint flakes and metal tools to generate a referential framework that serves as comparative to the Zanjillas sample. Our results suggest that most of the domestic activities related to carcass skinning, defleshing, or evisceration in Zanjillas were still performed with flint artefacts.

This paper presents the results of the mineralogical, petrographic and chemical study of different archaeological samples related to terracruda sculptures and other elements that were part of the architectural decoration of the Buddhist sites of Tepe Narenj and Qol-e-tut (Kabul, Afghanistan; fifth to 11th centuries CE). The main objective of the study was to characterize the samples using an archaeometric approach. The study helped to better understand the materials involved in the modeling of Afghan sculptures and their processing, such as the different nature of the clay layers and the finishing ‘stucco’ coating. The results further indicate that similarities exist among the manufacturing process of the studied samples and that used today by an ancient caste of clay artists in West Bengal (India), suggesting the existence of a continuous technological tradition that deserves to be further explored in the future.

This study examines the fluting of two well-known Late Pleistocene fluted point types in North America: Clovis and Folsom. Using scaling analyses, we assess the changing relationship between flute length and point length in a large sample of each type. Researchers use scaling to investigate the physical constraints of an object and determine how its dimensions change with size. We compare the strength and consistency of the scaling relationships between the older Clovis and the younger Folsom with the aim of shedding light on scaling differences, if any, over their temporal span. Our results show that there is a significant difference in the relationship of fluting length to point length between these types. In Folsom point manufacture, flute length increases nearly twice as fast with increasing point length than in Clovis. Importantly, the scaling of flute length to point length relationship is isometric (linear) in the Folsom sample, whereas it is allometric (sublinear) in the Clovis sample. In other words, Folsom flintknappers maintained a constant ratio of flute length to point length. Clovis flintknappers were less concerned about maintaining this ratio. We attribute this difference to a potentially increasing, or changing, functional role of fluting in Folsom.

The Salado and Verde streams constitute the two main seasonally available freshwater courses that flow into the Atlantic coast of the Río Negro province (continental Patagonia, Argentina, 42° South). This would have favored their use in the past as corridors for human circulation between the coast and the interior. This paper presents the results of the technomorphological and geochemical analyses of the obsidian artifacts recovered in the area to constrain mobility. The results allow us to propose the existence of toolkit reconditioning or replacement activities, and the identification of different sources of provenance of the obsidians (Sacanana, Telsen, and Portada Covunco, distant up to 800 km from the study area), reinforcing the hypothesis of a coast–inland circulation, with the possible existence of circuits of exchange of this raw material.

Lithic artifacts are some of the most common and numerous remains recovered from paleolithic archaeological sites. However, these materials can undergo multiple post-depositional alterations after their introduction into the archaeological record. Due to the high quantity of lithic remains recovered, a quick, flexible, and effective method for identifying degrees of alteration on the surface of lithic implements is highly desirable. The present study examines the use of gray level images to obtain quantitative data from the surface of flint artifacts and determine whether these images can detect the presence of post-depositional alterations. An experimental collection of flints was subjected to sequential episodes of rounding in a tumbling machine. After each episode, photographs were taken with a microscope, resulting in quantitative surface values using gray level values. The quantitative surface values were used as variables in machine learning models to determine time of exposure and the most salient variables for discrimination. Our results indicate that the extraction of metrics from gray level images successfully capture changes in the surface of flint artifacts caused by post-depositional processes. Additional results provide insight into which areas to sample when seeking post-depositional alterations and underscore the importance of particle size in the generation of alterations.