Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences

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Technology, life histories and circulation of gold objects during the Middle Period (AD 400–1000): A perspective from the Atacama Desert, Chile
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences - Tập 14 - Trang 1-37 - 2022
María Teresa Plaza Calonge, Valentina Figueroa Larre, Marcos Martinón-Torres
Studies of archaeological goldwork in the Americas are increasingly revealing a rich variety of context-specific ways in which gold items were produced and valued, but research attention has largely focused on visually striking artefacts. However, in the south-central Andes, goldwork is described essentially as a ‘sheet technology’—a definition that tends to downplay the potential complexity and cultural significance of this technology in such an extensive and varied region. Here, we employ a life-history approach to explore the existence of particular traditions within this large area. We present chemical and microscopic analyses, using pXRF, SEM–EDS, PIXE and digital microscopy, of 142 gold and silver objects from San Pedro de Atacama (northern Chile), recovered in seven cemeteries dated to the Middle Period (AD 400–1000). Our results reveal a heterogeneous assemblage where compositions, techniques, designs and skill levels vary, suggesting that gold artefacts circulated and were imported from different areas of the south-central Andes, such as Tiwanaku, Cochabamba and northwest Argentina. We also identify for the first time two distinct technological traditions used in San Pedro: small-scale goldwork production, and a tradition of modifying and reusing imported objects by cutting, perforating and separating object parts. Considering the depositional contexts, we propose that the funerary ritual at San Pedro was a key factor in the development of this local goldwork. Our research demonstrates that even small and unimpressive artefacts can be successfully interrogated from archaeological perspectives with integrative approaches that go beyond overly generalising perspectives of gold as an exotic status marker.
Innovations in Acheulean biface production at la Noira (France) during Middle Pleistocene in Western Europe
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences - Tập 14 - Trang 1-22 - 2022
Paula García-Medrano, Jackie Despriée, Marie-Hélène Moncel
The archaeological sequence of la Noira (Centre region, France) yielded two phases of occupation: ca 700 ka (stratum a) and ca 450 ka (stratum c). No site between these two dates has yet been discovered in the area, and this chronological period has thus been interpreted as a gap in settlement from MIS 16 to MIS 12, two crucial phases of occupation in Western Europe. The record before the long glacial event MIS 12 has been traditionally associated with the onset of the Acheulean in Europe. From MIS 12, the record represents the earliest evidence of innovations, a clear shift in human evolution. Here, we compare these two levels (strata a and c), tracking the technological innovations during this time and combining technological analysis with geometric morphometrics with the use of 3D models comparison of the large cutting tools (LCTs). Stratum a yielded an Early Acheulean, one of the few evidences in Europe presents tools with mainly short shaping sequences on local millstone slabs, with special attention to tips, but with clear management of tool volume. Stratum c, dated to the MIS 11, differs in that both local millstone and flints from distant sources show longer shaping sequences, the use of soft hammers for several series of removals on tools, combined with final regularizing retouch on entire edges. The morphometric approach shows a morphological transition from oval to teardrop shapes for the thinnest tools. Our data suggest a clear technological filiation between strata a and c and in la Noira populations from MIS 16 and MIS 12, as suggested for innovations of core technologies and land-use patterns, and raise question on local human behavioural evolution over the Middle Pleistocene in Western Europe.
Origin and fate of the greatest accumulation of silver in ancient history
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences - Tập 14 - Trang 1-10 - 2022
Janne Blichert-Toft, François de Callataÿ, Philippe Télouk, Francis Albarède
The capture of the Achaemenid treasuries in 331–330 BCE by Alexander the Great in Persepolis and Susa marked the demise of the 300-year-old Persian Empire and the advent of Hellenistic kingdoms. Alexander seized the equivalent of about 5000 tons of silver, which represented the accumulated tributes paid by subjugated people from the Aegean Sea to the Indus to their Achaemenid rulers. Die studies show that this gigantic amount of silver, the so-called Persian mix, had been used to produce most of the coinage of Alexander the Great himself and to an even greater extent those of the Diadochi, his successors. What remains to be understood is the origin of the silver of this immense treasure. Lead isotope abundances determined on both Persian sigloi and alexanders struck from Achaemenid silver trace the bullion source to the southern Aegean, Macedonia, and Thrace. Lead in pseudo-coinage from early Indian kingdoms is isotopically different from the rest, which attests to a limited Indian contribution to the Achaemenid treasuries. Studies of Iron Age hoards from the Levant leave open the possibility that the making of the Persian mix may have predated the Achaemenid expansion of the seventh century BCE. We speculate on the motivations of such massive hoarding by the Persian kings and on its economic implications.
The implication of the metallurgical traditions associated with Chinese style wagons from the royal Xiongnu tomb at Golmod 2 in Mongolia
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences - Tập 10 Số 7 - Trang 1535-1546 - 2018
Jang‐Sik Park, Diimaajav Erdenebaatar, Gelegdorj Eregzen
First case of boring-and-cutting trepanation in ancient China
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences - Tập 14 - Trang 1-9 - 2021
Haijun Li, Xiaoyong Xiao, Yuqing Huang, Hailong Zhang, Enguo Lv, Qian Wang
Trepanations on skulls have been practiced since prehistoric ages. Techniques and purposes of trepanations vary. There are many discoveries of trepanations in China, yet only three types of trepanation, drilling, scraping, and grooving, have been reported and described. In this article, the first case of the fourth type, boring-and-cutting, was reported from past discoveries in China. A cranium belonging to a young male from the Iron Age Chaiwopu cemetery, Xinjiang, China, presented two trepanations. Visual examination and computed topography image analyses revealed that a large oval-shaped trepanation on the left side of the cranium had a series of boring perforations along the margins of the opening, and signs of the bone were cut between the boring holes, a distinct morphology of the boring-and-cutting technique. The margins of the perforations had no signs of bone healing, and the large boring-and-cutting perforation on the left side of the cranium did not avoid important intracranial structures, suggesting that trepanation was practiced either perimortem or postmortem. The purpose of the trepanations on this individual is not clear, but possibly in memory of the dead or for passing spiritual strength.
Evidence of open-air late prehistoric occupation in the Trieste area (north-eastern Italy): dating, 3D clay plaster characterization and obsidian provenancing
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences - Tập 10 - Trang 1933-1943 - 2017
F. Bernardini, E. Sibilia, Zs. Kasztovszky, F. Boscutti, A. De Min, D. Lenaz, G. Turco, R. Micheli, C. Tuniz, M. Montagnari Kokelj
Abundant clay burnt plaster remains and a few flaked tools, including an obsidian artefact, found on the ground surface not far from Trieste (north-eastern Italy) provide rare evidence of a possible prehistoric open-air occupation in the area. To confirm and detail their ancient origin, a plaster sample has been dated between 4000 and 2000 B.C. via thermoluminescence. Outer and inner structure of selected plaster samples has been characterized using several techniques, i.e. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray computed micro-tomography, obtaining information about their production technology. The last technique has allowed to image and virtually extract vegetal remains and imprints. Their 3D morphological study has contributed to collect information about the ancient environment and has provided clues to define the plaster production season. The provenance of the obsidian artefact from Lipari Island, revealed by prompt gamma activation analysis, suggests that the finding site was part of long-distance connection systems and probably worked as intermediate point between the north-eastern Adriatic coastal areas and the inner Karst plateau.
The marbles of the basilica of Ascalon: another example of the Severan building projects
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences - Tập 14 Số 3 - 2022
Vasiliki Anevlavi, Chiara Cenati, Walter Prochaska, Sabine Ladstätter, Saar Ganor, Rachel Bar-Nathan
Abstract

This paper presents the research conducted on the origin of the white marble architecture of the basilica of Ascalon (Israel). The basilica is located in the civic centre of the Roman city of Ascalon and it is one of the relatively few known monumental buildings of Roman Palestine. The various construction phases of the basilica are dated from the first century BC to the third century AD. As Israel has no sources of marble, this paper explores the origin of the white marble that was used for several architectural elements such as bases, columns, capitals, and figurative pilasters to identify their provenance. The methodology includes petrographic studies, chemical and isotopic analyses, and chemical analyses of inclusion fluids and extractable salts (crush-leach analyses) of the marble. The results demonstrate that the imported marble highlights the wide extent of connectivity and interregional trade in the region. Some of the main sources of building materials used in the construction programme of this basilica originate from famous supra-regional quarries such as Prokonnesos and Thasos, and different quarries on the island of Lesbos. The similarities between the Severan basilica in Ascalon and the contemporary building in Leptis Magna are also discussed in this paper. In combination with the absence of a built-up port in the ancient city of Ascalon, these results also provide important information on the economy of Roman Palestine, transportation networks, and the logistical organisation of large-scale building programmes.

Taphonomy and dispersion of bones scavenged by New World vultures and caracaras in Northwestern Patagonia: implications for the formation of archaeological sites
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences - Tập 8 Số 2 - Trang 305-315 - 2016
Fernando Ballejo, Fernando Julián Fernández, Claudia I. Montalvo, Luciano José María De Santis
Age and formation processes of an Acheulean site with extensive accumulation of large cutting tools: Garba I (Melka Kunture, Upper Awash, Ethiopia)
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences - Tập 14 - Trang 1-31 - 2022
Sol Sánchez-Dehesa Galán, Eduardo Méndez-Quintas, Jean-Jacques Bahain, Luca di Bianco, Raymonde Bonnefille, Elisa Brunelli, Denis Geraads, Rita Melis, Andrea Serodio Domínguez, Pierre Voinchet, Margherita Mussi
The paper provides new data on the age and formation processes of Garba I (Melka Kunture, Upper Awash, Ethiopia). The site, one of the largest handaxe accumulations of the African Acheulean, was extensively excavated in the 1960s of the last century by J. Chavaillon but left largely unpublished. The chronology was also poorly constricted. Quartz grains dated through electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometry now provide a minimum age of 538 ka for the archaeological layer. In addition, we make available new data allowing an updated interpretation of the stratigraphic sequence and spatial distribution, as well as a detailed taphonomic study of the lithic assemblage. Additional information on the archaeozoological and palaeobotanical record are integrated in the discussion. We conclude that the extensive accumulation of large cuttings tools (LCTs) is not the result of major sedimentary disturbance processes but rather the outcome of a distinct hominin behaviour, which possibly was not focused on the processing and consumption of large mammals. New research at Garba I allows new insights on the Acheulean sites with similar large accumulations of handaxes. Additionally, it contributes to a better understanding of the early Middle Pleistocene in Africa, an under-researched period of the Early Stone Age.
Animal bones in old graves: a zooarchaeological and contextual study on faunal remains and new dated evidence for the ritual re-use of old cemetery sites in Southern and Western Finland
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences - Tập 12 - Trang 1-15 - 2020
Auli Bläuer
Animal remains from twelve Iron Age (ca. 500 BC–1200/1300AD) sites from Southern and Western Finland, showing a mixture of finds and features typical of both settlement sites and cemeteries, were investigated using a zooarchaeological, taphonomic and contextual approach. Rarefaction analysis of the species richness and anatomical distribution indicates that the samples included both general domestic waste type and species and element-selective deposits of cattle and horse skulls, mandibles and limb bones. According to radiocarbon dating results, there seems to be a gap between the dates of burials and those of other ritual activities, indicating that the context of such deposits is a disused cemetery. The faunal deposits could represent remembrance rituals or relate to votive offerings intended to ensure healthy or productive livestock, a practice described in later ethnographic sources. These deposits seem to be in use within a large geographical area over a long period, and some aspects of this belief system may even have survived into the Christianisation of society in the historical period.
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