Dating Historical Buildings: An Update on the Possibilities of Absolute Dating Methods

The reconstruction of the history of a building represents a difficult task, as written information is not usually available or incomplete. Some building materials (e.g., bricks, wood) have been classically used for absolute dating while on others has been considered unreliable (e.g., stone). However, developments and tests performed in the last 20 years have shown important advances on the use of such methods, increasing the possibilities of successful reconstruction of building chronologies, although most of these advances are still scarcely known by the community involved in the site management (e.g., archaeologists, architects). Both, radiocarbon and luminescence dating have been the most successful techniques but others, such as archaeomagnetism, can also be used. Even, some important events such as fires could be dated. The purpose of this work is to provide an overview of the last achievements of absolute dating techniques available in building materials.     

RHX Dating: measurement of the Activation Energy of Rehydroxylation for Fired‐Clay Ceramics

In rehydroxylation (RHX) dating, the activation energy of the rehydroxylation reaction is required first in the estimate of a material's effective lifetime temperature (ELT), and second to correct the RHX rate constant obtained at a given measurement temperature to that at the ELT. Measurement of the activation energy is thus integral to the RHX methodology. In this paper, we report a temperature‐step method for the measurement of activation energy and develop fully the underlying theoretical basis. In contrast to obtaining the activation energy from a series of separate experiments (each of which requires the sample to be dehydroxylated prior to measuring the RHX rate constant), the temperature‐step method not only requires a single dehydroxylation at 500°C but also eliminates repeated acquisition of Stage I data, which are not required for dating purposes. Since the first temperature step is set to correspond to the temperature at which a dating determination is carried out, the measurement of rate constants at higher temperatures simply becomes an extension of dating. Consequently, the logistics of obtaining the activation energy of rehydroxylation are greatly simplified.     

穷科克岩画的分类及分期研究

岩画在欧亚大陆北方草原地区东起大小兴安岭西达黑海的广大区域内都有分布,从岩画的内容看,大多与古代游牧民族有关。在对中国西北草原地区古代游牧文化遗迹进行调查与研究的过程中,我们发现,在岩画的附近,一般都有古代游牧文化的遗址分布,这应该是古代游牧文化遗址分布的一个重要规律。     

The Malham Pipe: A Reassessment of Its Context,Dating and Significance

The Malham Pipe is a musical instrument formed from the tibia of a sheep, and was discovered in 1950 among artefacts revealed during the excavation of a Bronze Age burial mound at Seaty Hill on Malham Moor in the Yorkshire Dales. On the basis of associated finds the pipe was dated originally to the Iron Age, and in a study published in 1952 the musical properties of the pipe were examined physically at a level of detail that set a benchmark for the characterization of other such objects discovered subsequently. However, in the intervening period the dating of the pipe has been questioned. In this paper, following a detailed reappraisal of the Seaty Hill finds and dating evidence, including burial practice and settlement remains in the locality, and their wider historical context, we have concluded that the Malham Pipe is of post-Roman date. We believe, therefore, that although the Malham Pipe may no longer be claimed to be the earliest known duct flute found in the British Isles, nevertheless it appears to be the first recorded bone flute found in a post-Roman (Anglo-Saxon) burial context.     

Statistical Methods for Evaluating the Geometrical Hierarchy of a Network

The objective of this paper is to present statistical methods for evaluating the geometrical hierarchy of a network in comparison with a random hierarchy network. First, the random hierarchy network is explicitly formulated by four stochastic processes in which line segments or lines, which represent roads, are randomly placed and their placement is independent of their ranks. Second, under these stochastic processes, this paper derives the expected value and variance of i) the number of intersections between roads of different ranks; and ii) the distance from an arbitrary point to the nearest highest-ranked road through two kinds of routes. Using these expected values, the intersection index and the detour index are proposed, and it is shown that these indicators are useful for evaluating the geometrical hierarchy of a network. As calculation of these indices is laborious, an efficient computational method is developed, and its application to an actual example is described.     

Methods of Russian Heritage Site Dating on the Spitsbergen Archipelago

Abstract

Russian Pomor people used Spitsbergen as a hunting and trapping area for over 300 years, from the early sixteenth century until the mid-nineteenth century. The early dating of Pomor activity is discussed with respect to written sources, dendrochronology, epigraphy, direct dating and geomorphological relationships.     

Dating the Domestic Ceramics and Pipe Smoking Related Artifacts from Casselden Place, Melbourne, Australia

This paper compares the dates of manufacture obtained for the domestic ceramic and pipe smoking related artifact assemblages from Casselden Place, Melbourne. It has previously been argued that ceramic items, because of their potentially long use-lives, may be deposited many years after their date of manufacture and purchase. This is in contrast to pipe smoking related items, which tend to have very short use-lives. However, the results presented here demonstrate that there is no significant evidence for a time lag between the date of manufacture of the ceramic items and their incorporation into the archaeological record at Casselden Place.     

The Politics of the Pipe: Clay Pipes and Tobacco Consumption in Galway, Ireland

In this paper, clay pipes and the historical record are used to explore the illicit importation of tobacco in seventeenth-century Galway, Ireland. This is part of a wider tradition of the politics of smoking, including the proliferation of the clay pipe, the widespread smuggling of tobacco, and the overtly political nineteenth-century pipes that touted nationalist emblems. Here, the juxtaposition of the archaeological and historical records locates subversive local agency in the face of overarching colonial mandates. Colonialism, trade, consumption, and identity are linked in an examination of a merchant community's maneuvers through the expanding Atlantic economy and the restricted colonial mandates that marked the world around them.     

Rehydroxylation of Fired‐Clay Ceramics: Factors Affecting Early‐Stage Mass Gain in Dating Experiments

To obtain accurate results in the RHX dating of ceramics, it is essential that the RHX measurements are continued until the rate of mass gain is constant with (time)^1/4. In this paper, we discuss how the initial stages of mass gain are affected by the specific surface area (SSA) of the ceramic material. The paper provides guidance on experimental protocols to avoid dating results being distorted by relatively early‐time mass gain data.     

Archaeofaunal Relative Abundance,Sample Size,and Statistical Methods

Tests for correlations between sample size and taxonomic relative abundance are commonly used in zooarchaeological analyses to determine whether observed trends in relative abundance might simply be the result of sampling error. Monte Carlo simulations designed to evaluate the utility of this method indicate that it is inadequate as a means of detecting errors resulting from the incorporation of small samples in an analysis. Among simulated sets of sample assemblages, significant correlatoins between sample size and relative abundance are distributed randomly with respect to whether or not Type II errors concerning trends in relative abundance are present, and are underrepresented in cases in which Type I errors are present. This is because the conditions that are most conducive to correlations between sample size and relative abundance are quite different from the conditions that will lead to erroneous conclusions about the presence or absence of a trend in relative abundance. An alternative chi-square-based statistical method for evaluating trends in sample relative abundance, Cochran's test of linear trend, results in lower rates of both Type I and Type II errors than is the case with previously used correlation-based methods.     

Evidence for Complexities in the RHX Dating Method

The rehydroxylation (RHX) dating method applicable to virtually all baked clay fragments still requires testing and new developments. Here, we have obtained new weighing measurements from Syrian medieval ceramic fragments. In particular, they allow us to illustrate the scatter in RHX behaviour that may exist between different potsherds of the same age and found at the same archaeological site, thus having experienced the same effective lifetime temperature, and even between samples collected from the same artefact. Thanks to a so‐called time‐span analysis, we also report on some complexities in data sets previously obtained by Wilson et al. (2009, 2012, 2014).     

Description and Thermoluminescence (Tl) Dating of An Alleged Hopewell Mobiliary Clay Human Figurine from Hopeton Earthworks,Ross County,Ohio

During a reorganization of the collections at Kent State University (KSU), a fired-clay human figurine was discovered. Beyond the fact that KSU obtained the specimen from a collector, and the alleged origin was the Ohio Hopewell site of Hopeton Earthworks, information on the specimen’s provenience and chain of custody was lacking or ambiguous. To determine whether the artifact was consistent in style and age with Hopewell, we conducted a comparative study, as well as a direct chronometric assessment using thermoluminescence (TL) dating. The comparative study was equivocal: The figurine possessed some attributes consistent with Hopewell, but other features were not consistent or missing. TL dating revealed an age of 4590?±?270, exceeding the Hopewell period by over 2,000 years. These results suggest two mutually exclusive hypotheses, neither of which is relevant to Hopewell: Either the figurine is one of the earliest examples of ceramic technology in eastern North America or it is a “fake,” perhaps from the Old World, and the object entered the KSU collections under pretense. More broadly, we suggest that archaeologists take a much more circumspect approach to collector-acquired objects and perform their due diligence in verifying the stories associated with them, even if that means increased use of destructive testing procedures.     

Sequencing Analytical Methods for Small Sample Dating and Dye Identification of Textile Fibers: Application to a Fragment from Seip Mound Group,Ohio

Examination of fibers from a colored fabric fragment from Seip Mound Group, Ohio, demonstrates the utility of sequencing analytical techniques: (1) minimally destructive pretreatment to remove humic acids followed by plasma-chemical oxidation, in preparation for accelerator mass spectrometric determination of radiocarbon age and (2) direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS) of the pretreatment solution, for the determination of red colorants. Pretreatment followed by plasma-chemical oxidation provided the opportunity to date 3?mg of fiber using just 200?mcg of carbon. Examination of the pretreatment solution by DART-MS confirmed the composition of anthraquinones consistent with those from bedstraw root (Galium sp.). The date determined (1,805?±?35 B.P.) places the textile in the midrange of radiocarbon dates previously obtained for the Seip earthworks; identification of the dye plant shows that the Hopewell possessed a sophisticated knowledge of plants and their uses.     

Successful Technique for Dating of Lime Mortar by Carbon-14

Abstract

Lime mortar can be dated successfully by the following important modificationsin technique: 1) crushing and sieving to remove inert aggregate; 2) acidization of live mortar and taking only the first fraction of gas evolved, that fraction which has least contamination; 3) correction of results by σC₁₃ and dendrochronology. We have applied this technique to buildings in Stobi with generally successful results.     

第二轮志书使用统计数据的原则与方法

使用统计数据方面存在的问题,已经成为影响第二轮志书质量的因素之一。因此,使用统计数据必须遵循严谨科学、全面系统的原则,应当经过认真严密的校核、考证,做到重要的基本的统计数据说明资料来源,并在必要时注明统计口径、范围,力求反映地情概貌的基本数据全面系统,注意防止志书数据保密上的两种错误倾向,使志书真正达到存真求实、确保质量的要求。     

The Hemerdon China Clay Works,Devon: A History and Description of the Site and Working Methods

This article presents an overview of the Hemerdon China Clay Works, 6 miles north-east of Plymouth (Devon), active from c.1860 to 1942. Based on research commissioned in advance of an extension to Headon West Quarry, it describes the development of the clay works and the methods of clay extraction and processing. Archaeological survey recorded a broad range of structures, features, earthworks and artefacts. They included the remains of an engine house of c.1907, two large masonry bases (probably associated with the flat rod system that transferred power from the engine) and a rocker beam. The article also describes a group of mica drags and settling tanks built c.1907. Combining this evidence with that gleaned from documentary sources, notably the large-scale Ordnance Survey mapping, an exceptionally detailed narrative has been constructed of the work's development through time. It has a relevance beyond the particular, and will help the future interpretation and management of the china clay extraction sites that are so characteristic of the region.