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Publication date: Available online 16 November 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science Author(s): Mike W. Morley, Paul GoldbergGeoarchaeological research is now commonly undertaken as an integral component of archaeological investigations across much of the world. However, in humid tropical regions there is a relative shortfall of this Earth-Science approach to understanding archaeological records. In these regions, where hot and humid conditions prevail for significant parts of the year, sedimentological records are prone to high levels of diagenesis, bioturbation and weathering. This means that understanding and quantifying archaeological site formation processes can be very challenging because we may have not have sufficient existing data with which to decipher the stratigraphic (and microstratigraphic) features recorded in these sequences. In this paper we introduce a special issue of Journal of Archaeological Science in which we showcase a selection of geoarchaeological research from across the equatorial regions of five continents, highlighting the types of stratigraphic sequences and sedimentological features that are likely to be encountered, and evaluating the tools that can be employed to maximise the geoarchaeological potential of these unique records. Additionally, we use this opportunity to review geoarchaeology in the humid tropics from a global perspective, outlining the main problems that geoarchaeologists face working in these environments and the techniques available to mitigate them.

Publication date: December 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 76 Author(s): Barry Molloy, Mariusz Wiśniewski, Frank Lynam, Brendan O’Neill, Aidan O’Sullivan, Alan PeatfieldIn many regions of Europe, bronze metalwork survives in excellent states of preservation that enable us to examine traces of use on objects that are indicative of the ways in which they were used. This is a relatively young field of archaeometric research and the methodologies employed are as yet to be consolidated. A systematic relationship typically exists between experimental archaeology and the analyses of ancient objects to understand the character and causation of traces of use on objects. Mediation between these approaches has typically been undertaken using physical casts of damage on ancient objects or primary documentation and illustration by hand. We propose in this paper that advances in digital 3D modelling provide a new and dynamic interlocutor between artefact analyses and experimental archaeology. To this end, we evaluate the pros and cons of two of the affordable and commonly used modes of 3D data capture – laser scanning and structure from motion/photogrammetry – for studying the wear on bladed metal objects. We conclude that 3D modelling has considerable potential for enhancing metalwork wear analysis and object biography research. This is due to the dynamics of storing and displaying wear data for particular objects and by linking the study of traces of use on ancient objects more generally with those developed through experimental research.

Publication date: December 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 76 Author(s): Takumi Tsutaya, Akina Shimomi, Shiori Fujisawa, Kazumichi Katayama, Minoru YonedaJomon hunter–gatherers in Japan commonly show Neolithic characteristics, such as intensive utilization of potteries, grinding stones, and many plant food sources. In this study, breastfeeding and weaning practices in a Jomon hunter–gatherer population are investigated to evaluate two hypotheses concerning the relations between utilization of potteries/plant foods and early weaning and children’s diet around and after the weaning process. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were investigated for 46 subadult and 47 adult human skeletons excavated from the Yoshigo site of the Late/Final Jomon period (approximately 4000–2300 years BP) in eastern Japan. A new analytical procedure was developed and residuals of nitrogen isotope ratios were calculated to cancel out the effect of positive correlation in the carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios. Age changes in the residuals showed that the age at the end of weaning in the Yoshigo population was 3.5 years (2.3–5.5 years in 95% credible interval), which is not younger than that in typical non-industrialized populations and the other skeletal hunter–gatherer populations. Furthermore, most infants were probably weaned using a combination of the same food sources as those eaten by adults. These results suggest that the utilization of pottery and plant food per se is not a sole determinant of the age at the end of weaning in past human populations, and a special diet was not always applied during and just after the weaning process.

Publication date: December 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 76 Author(s): Andrea Seelenfreund, Marcela Sepúlveda, Fiona Petchey, Barbara Peña-Ahumada, Claudia Payacán, Sebastián Gutiérrez, José Cárcamo, Olga Kardailsky, Ximena Moncada, Ana María Rojas, Mauricio Moraga, Elizabeth Matisoo-Smith, Daniela SeelenfreundBark cloth (‘tapa/kapa’) is a fabric made from beaten plant fibres. In the Pacific tapa made of paper mulberry has been of great cultural importance and its use is associated with both utilitarian and ceremonial contexts. In the 19th century, traditional bark cloth was largely replaced by Western cloth. On some islands, tapa making was banished with the arrival of missionaries and Christianization. This is the case for the Gambier Islands in French Polynesia. Only a few tapa pieces from this island group survive and are held in Museum collections.In this work, we present results of the analysis of a bark cloth bundle discovered at the Te Ana o te Tetea cave on Agakauitai in the Gambier Archipelago. The bundle was made up of large and small strips of thin tapa, with some watermarks left by the beaters. Associated with the tapa, were a piece of wood and cordage. A few of the bark cloth samples showed symmetrical black lines along some of the folds. This paper presents the results of a number of analyses performed on the bark cloth bundle from this island with the aim of determining its age, if the decorations were man-made and the plant species used for its manufacture. Samples were dated by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) and the designs were analyzed by portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) and Scanning Electron Microscopy – Energy Dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) for elemental characterization. Raman spectroscopy was also performed in order to assess the chemical nature of pigments. These analyses allow us to conclude that the finds date to the pre-European contact period for this island group and that these lines can be attributed to man-made designs. In addition, genetic analysis of the ribosomal region were performed to identify the species used in its manufacture, which indicate that the plant used to make the tapa cloth was Broussonetia papyrifera or paper mulberry. The availability of new genetic sequencing techniques allow for new and very sensitive analyses of archaeological material that require careful handling from the beginning in order to avoid sample contamination.

Publication date: December 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 76 Author(s): Peter Davies, Jodi Turnbull, Susan LawrenceThe integration of remote sensing technologies, GIS and mobile mapping platforms is producing new insights into the archaeology of historic water management systems. Our case study of the gold rush in 19th-century Victoria, Australia, has identified ditches, dams, mining claims and sediment sinks at site and landscape scales that are normally obscured by dense vegetation. New technologies including LiDAR provide solutions to these challenges and make possible the analysis and interpretation of these spatially diffuse but historically linked sites. For the first time it is possible to record and analyse a complex archaeological landscape in north-east Victoria that is the result of alluvial mining activity in the later 19th and early 20th century. This approach offers a significant advance in Australasian archaeological science and provides an important model for other researchers examining industrial landscapes.

Publication date: December 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 76 Author(s): Wesley D. StonerCeramic compositional analyses have become a common part of archaeological inference. With a multitude of techniques available, which provide the best opportunity to answer specific research questions? I define an analytical nexus of techniques to help archaeologists determine which techniques provide the most appropriate methodology for their study regions. The relation among bulk chemical (NAA), spot chemical (LA-ICP-MS), and in situ mineral (petrography) analyses are explored through ceramics sampled from different time periods across the Basin of Mexico. Spatial and temporal patterns of compositional variability are identified with respect to the cultural systems living there. While different questions require different techniques, a stable bulk signature, like that provided by NAA, acts as a closed system that sums to 100 percent of all cultural and natural variables affecting paste composition. By comparison to the bulk baseline, any other technique that focuses on a fraction of the whole will also provide information on the unknown fractions.

Publication date: December 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 76 Author(s): Christian Reepmeyer, Sue O’Connor, Mahirta, Tim Maloney, Shimona KealyThis study analysed over 1000 obsidian stone artefacts excavated from two adjoining shelters at Tron Bon Lei on Alor Island Indonesia using portable XRF. The study showed an unambiguous separation of three different source locations (Groups 1, 2 and 3). Two sources (Group 2 and 3a, b, c) dominate the assemblage numerically. Group 1 and 2 indicate use of a single volcanic formation with a strong match between Group 1 artefacts and artefacts from sites in Timor Leste. Obsidian occurs in the earliest occupation layer in the Alor sites but does not include Group 1 artefacts which occur only after approx. 12,000 cal BP. Currently the geographical location of the Group 1 outcrop is unknown, however, based on the late appearance of the Group 1 artefacts in the Alor sequence it is likely that the location is not on Alor, but rather on another island of the Sunda chain. The dating of Group 1 artefacts in widely spaced sites on the never geographically connected islands of Timor and Alor indicates that maritime interaction between islands began by at least the terminal Pleistocene. The distribution of the obsidian in Tron Bon Lei shelter Pit B shows that there were periods of more intense interaction punctuated by periods when interaction declined or ceased.

Publication date: December 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 76 Author(s): Jean Milot, Franck Poitrasson, Sandrine Baron, Marie-Pierre CousturesProvenance studies of iron artefacts have become an important topic in archaeology to better understand the socio-economic organization of ancient societies. Elemental and isotopic tracing methods used so far for iron metal provenance studies showed some limitations, and the development of new additional tracers are needed. Since the last decade, the rise of cutting edge analytical techniques allows for the development of new isotopic tools for this purpose. The present study explores for the first time the use of iron isotopes analyses as a potential method for ancient iron metal tracing. Ore, slag and metal samples from two experimental reconstitutions of iron ore reduction by bloomery process were collected. Their Fe isotope compositions were measured by Multi Collector – Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) to assess the possible impact of smelting on the Fe isotope composition of the metal produced. Our results show that the iron isotope compositions of the slag and metal are for 8 out of 9 samples analyzed undistinguishable from that of the starting ores. This suggests that overall, no significant Fe isotope fractionation occurs along the chaîne opératoire of iron bars production, even if slight isotopic differences might be found in blooms before refinement. This fact, combined with the natural isotopic variability of iron ores, as reported in the literature, may allow the use of Fe isotopes as a relevant tracer for archaeological iron metals. This new tracing approach offers many perspectives for provenance studies. The combination of elemental and Fe isotope analyses should thus be useful to validate origin hypotheses of ancient iron artefacts.

Publication date: December 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 76 Author(s): Lars Fehren-Schmitz, Joshua Kapp, Kim Laura Ziegler, Kelly M. Harkins, Gary P. Aronsen, Gerald ConlogueThe application of radiographic imaging methods like conventional X-Ray and computed tomography (CT) in bioarchaeological research is normally considered to be non-invasive. While this holds true on the macro- and microscopic level, little is known about potentially induced damage on the molecular level that could inhibit the successful recovery of ancient DNA (aDNA) from such specimens. Although there has been speculation concerning possible damage to DNA recovered from ancient remains following exposure to radiation, little research has been published. Past studies attempted to determine the specific effect of X-ray and computed tomography on the amplification of DNA from bone of recently butchered animals. Although the results suggested exposure to clinical level of radiation decreased the recovery of aDNA, the un-dehydrated state of the samples might have biased the results. In this study we utilized dry human archaeological bones from nine prehistoric and historic individuals and exposed them to different levels of radiation using conventional X-ray to more accurately examine the issue. Employing Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) of shotgun sequencing libraries, quantitative PCR (qPCR), and multiplex PCR of autosomal genetic markers we show that neither the exposure to conventional X-ray dosages (moderate irradiation) used in archaeological imaging studies nor 20-fold increased dosages (strong irradiation) have a significant effect on the quantity and quality of DNA that can be recovered from these ancient specimens. We conclude that the application of radiographic imaging methods in bioarchaeology does not impair the success of subsequent aDNA studies if simple precautions are followed.

Publication date: November 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 75