Comparing bird bones from Saxon sites: problems of interpretation

Bird bones from Saxon settlements in England provide evidence for considerable exploitation of birds, especially domestic poultry. This paper discusses some of the problems of analysing the relative importance of birds and of the ratio of fowls and geese. Detailed comparison of the results from sites in Southampton suggest that the first questions the faunal analyst should be asking concern methods of recovery and quantification. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The radiocarbon reservoir effect: new evidence from the cemeteries of the middle and lower Dnieper basin,Ukraine

This paper presents preliminary results of new radiocarbon dating of human, faunal and fish skeletal remains from a number of the cemeteries from the Middle and Lower Dnieper Basin, Ukraine. The results appear to demonstrate the presence of a radiocarbon reservoir effect during the Neolithic–Eneolithic periods, the first time that this has been identified in this region. The data indicate that the radiocarbon reservoir effect is currently only evident during these periods, and not in the earlier Epipalaeolithic–Mesolithic periods, prompting the suggestion that the radiocarbon reservoir effect is associated with elevated fish consumption from the Neolithic period onwards.     

Large Mammal Fauna from the Pleistocene Deposits of Chagyrskaya Cave Northwestern Altai (based on 2007–2011 Excavations)

The article focuses on the results of analysis of more than 100 thousand animal fossils recovered from Chagyrskaya Cave in 2007–2011. Animal remains from strata 5 and 6a result mostly from the hunting activity of wolves and cave hyenas, which used the cave as a shelter or den for breeding their offspring. In contrast, fauna remains from strata 6b and 6c at the cave's entrance zone primarily accumulated due to the hunting activities of Paleolithic humans, who mostly hunted bison (Bison priscus). To a lesser extent, they also hunted the Ovodov horse (Equus (Sussemionus) ovodovi), reindeer (Rangifer tarandus), Siberian mountain goat (Capra sibirica), and argali (Ovis ammon). Animal bones representing common taxa point to the existence of steppe landscapes during the formation of stratum 6. The sediment deposition of stratum 5 supposedly proceeded under arid climatic conditions. However, small forested areas existed in river valleys and mountain gorges throughout the entire sedimentation period.     

Modeling Breastfeeding and Weaning Practices (BWP) on the Coast of Northern Chile's Atacama Desert During the Formative Period

Stable isotope analysis of bone collagen is frequently employed as a means of studying the breastfeeding and weaning practices (BWP) of archaeological populations. Such studies are strengthened greatly through the application of statistical models that permit precise and model-bound estimates of weaning age, duration, trophic enrichment, and the isotopic characterization of supplementary foods. Here we present the result of a stable isotope (δ¹⁵N) and Bayesian computational modeling study of bone collagen from human subadults from two coastal cemetery sites located near the mouth of the River Loa in the Atacama Desert. Recent bioarchaeological and paleodemographic research on remains from these marine hunter-gatherer sites, which are contemporary with the Formative Period (1500 BC–AD 400), has found evidence for notably elevated rates of female fertility. Ultimately, we argue that the modeled BWP parameters, which indicate the early introduction of supplementary foods, support an argument of high fertility as gleaned from the bioarchaeological evidence, and that these results provide novel insights into the child-rearing practices of the coastal populations of the Atacama. Indeed, these populations would have seemed to have developed a set of BWP that carefully balanced the biological and economic production/reproduction of the community.     

The Never-Ending Story? The Lessons of Fifteen Years of Archaeological Monitoring at the Former Island of Schokland

Abstract

The former island of Schokland became part of the mainland of the Netherlands when the Noord-Oost polder was drained in the 1940s. Mesolithic camp sites, Neolithic and Bronze age settlements, and medieval dwelling mounds (terps) on Schokland and in its immediate surroundings now form a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The main threat to the former island and the archaeology is drying out of the soil profiles, causing degradation of organic remains. Because of this, on the island and in its immediate surroundings the groundwater table is kept high in a specially created hydrological zone.

Schokland was one of the first sites in the Netherlands to be monitored in order to assess threats to the archaeological record and ongoing degradation processes. Monitoring started in 1999, and subsequent measurements were taken in 2001, 2006, and 2009/10. This included measurements of groundwater tables, water composition, redox, soil moisture and soil chemistry, micromorphology, and the degradation of botanical remains and bone. This time series of measurements makes it possible — first and foremost — to study long-term effects and changes in the Schokland burial environment, and their effects on the archaeology. In addition, the development of monitoring techniques around Schokland illustrates how the field of archaeological monitoring has evolved over the years.

Since the first monitoring round in 1999, developments in monitoring have included (1) technological developments enabling monitoring of high-frequency variations in groundwater, redox, and moisture contents, for example; (2) growing knowledge of degradation processes and the relevant characteristics of the burial environment; and (3) an increase in easily accessible datasets from third parties. Worries have arisen about the long-term storage and availability of monitoring data.

For future monitoring rounds, the value of the various monitoring techniques need to be critically evaluated, and the purpose of monitoring specific sites need to be reconsidered.     

Bird Remains from Two Sites on the Red Sea Coast and some Observations on Medullary Bone

This paper discusses the bird remains found in the Roman levels of the military fort of ‘Abu Sha’ ar and of the ancient harbour of Berenike. Food procurement was essentially based on wild resources at ‘Abu Sha’ ar and this is also reflected in the bird remains. Only 28 per cent of the bird bones at the low status site of ‘Abu Sha’ ar are from domestic fowl, whereas at the commercially important town of Berenike 92 per cent were. Medullary bone was present in 66 per cent of the 161 chicken remains at Berenike. The occurrence and formation of medullary bone in modern domestic fowl is discussed and possibilites from its study in the chicken remains from Berenike are presented.     

Fish ’n chips: ZooMS peptide mass fingerprinting in a 96 well plate format to identify fish bone fragments

Fish are a large, highly diverse, and anthropologically important group of vertebrates. However, fish bones are underrepresented in the archaeological literature because they are less stable than those of other taxa and identification of bone to species is often difficult or impossible. We explore a new identification system, ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry), which is based upon protein barcoding. As proteins can be cleaved enzymatically and analyzed by mass spectrometry in a repeatable way, protein barcoding is used widely in microbiological contexts for quick and inexpensive protein identification; mass spectra reflect the differences in protein sequence and can therefore be reproducibly linked to a particular protein or protein fragment. ZooMS uses peptide fingerprinting of bone collagen as a method for rapid identification of archaeological bone. This has involved the identification of masses related to peptides of known sequence. For mammals, sufficient sequence information is available for this approach but for groups, such the teleost fish, species are highly diverse and there are few available collagen sequences. Here we report a preliminary investigation into the identification of fish species by peptide mass fingerprinting that does not require sequence information. Collagen mass spectra are used to identify eight species of bony fishes (Osteichthyes) from four orders: Clupeiformes, Salmoniformes, Gadiformes, and Perciformes. The method is applied to both modern and archaeological fish remains and offers the capacity to identify traditionally unidentifiable fish fragments, thus increasing the Number of Identified Specimens (NISP) and providing invaluable information in specialized contexts.     

Use of vegetative remains in the identification of dyeplants from waterlogged 9th–10th century AD deposits at York

Vegetative remains of four dyeplants (Rubia tinctorum L., Genista tinctoria L., Diphasium complanatum (L.) Rothm. and Isatis tinctoria L.) found in 9th–10th century deposits at York, are described in detail. A fifth species (Reseda luteola L.), so far only found as seeds, is also described.     

Use-wear analysis of an Amudian laminar assemblage from the Acheuleo-Yabrudian of Qesem Cave,Israel

In this paper the results of use-wear analysis of an Amudian lithic assemblage recently discovered at Qesem Cave, Israel, are presented. Although very old, this assemblage maintains well-preserved traces of use that indicate that butchering activities and plants collecting were carried out at the site. Cut marks on faunal remains confirm the observations obtained by use-wear analysis.     

Changes in invertebrate taxa at two pre-Columbian sites in southwestern Jamaica, AD 800–1500

Excavations at two pre-Columbian sites at Paradise Park, Parish of Westmoreland, Jamaica, revealed significant changes in mollusk use through time. The sites are located on a low dune ridge in a tropical forest between a mangrove swamp and sawgrass morass on Bluefields Bay. One site (Wes-15a) dates to the 9th century AD and contains only Ostionan (redware) pottery. It is located 240 m to the east of a Meillacan (White Marl/Montego Bay style) site dated to the 15th century AD (Wes-15b). The molluscan fauna in the Ostionan site is dominated by species that prefer freely circulating, high salinity seagrass habitats (i.e., Strombidae, Cardiidae, and Veneridae). In marked contrast, Lucinidae and Melongenidae dominate the Meillacan deposits, taxa that favor habitats of low circulation, lower salinity, and muddier substrates that are often associated with mangroves in Jamaica. Cultural and environmental factors that may have contributed to the observed shift in resource use are discussed.     

New light on the personal identification of a skeleton of a member of Sir John Franklin’s last expedition to the Arctic, 1845

In 1845, an expedition, commanded by Sir John Franklin, set out to try and discover the north-west passage. All 129 men on this ill-fated voyage perished. Over the years, skeletal remains associated with the final throes of the expedition have been located on and near King William Island, Nunavut, in the Canadian arctic. In general, even a tentative personal identification for these remains has proved impossible. An exception is some skeletal remains that were recovered in 1869 and brought back to England and interred beneath the memorial to the Franklin expedition in Greenwich. In the 19th century, these were tentatively identified as of one of HMS Erebus’s lieutenants, Henry Le Vesconte, a conclusion that has been widely accepted in studies of the Franklin voyage. Renovations to the monument in 2009 provided an opportunity for scientific examination of the remains, and to re-evaluate the personal identification made nearly 140 years before. The current work, which is the first modern scientific analysis of a fairly complete skeleton associated with the Franklin voyage, describes the remains and the artefacts interred with them, discusses the pathological conditions present, and evaluates the personal identification using osteological techniques and isotope geochemistry. Results indicate that the remains are of an adult male of European ancestry. Although some writers have suggested that scurvy or tuberculosis may have been important causes of morbidity and mortality on the Franklin expedition, osteological analysis and, in the case of tuberculosis, DNA analysis, provided no evidence for their presence in these remains. Isotopic studies indicate that the personal identification as Le Vesconte is unlikely to be correct. From the isotopic results and forensic facial reconstruction, HDS Goodsir, an assistant surgeon on the expedition, appears a more likely identification, but the results do not allow a firm conclusion.