A NEW LOOK AT KINCAID: MAGNETIC SURVEY OF A LARGE MISSISSIPPIAN TOWN

Abstract

Despite extensive work by the University of Chicago in 1934–44, Kincaid has remained one of the least understood of the large mid-South Mississippian mound complexes. Between 2003 and 2009, large-scale magnetic gradient survey was done on 33.6 ha of the site, roughly half of the total site area and 65 percent of the larger and more accessible Massac County portion. The survey was highly successful, revealing large numbers of cultural features, including palisades, structures, pit features, and midden areas. This paper presents the preliminary results of the geophysical survey, complemented by small-scale groundtruthing excavations. Together these have significantly expanded and refined our understanding of this large prehistoric town. Kincaid is clearly much larger than once thought, both in terms of total site area and area of habitation. The site also exhibits much greater internal complexity, as evidenced by internal palisades and numerous small mounds and earthen platforms.     

ANALYSIS OF EARLY-NINETEENTH-CENTURY MUSCOGEE CREEK FUR TRADE AT A UNITED STATES FACTORY STORE

Abstract

We conducted an analysis of economic transaction records from the Fort Wilkinson Factory Store in central Georgia in an attempt to understand trade behaviors by the Muscogee Creek people of the southeastern United States. Between February 4, 1804, and November 29, 1806, factory personnel recorded 2,168 trade transactions at Fort Wilkinson. During this period, 38,226.5 deerskins and skins, 482 hides and rawhides, and 569 furs entered the fort. In exchange for these items, the Creek Indians primarily received cloth, followed by manufactured items such as kettles, gun supplies, and consumable groceries. We analyze the month-by-month exchange trends and compare the trade-good assemblages to archaeological sites that represent Creek occupations that date to the same time period in Georgia and Alabama. Further, we assess the biases of the data and interpret the data in relation to existing historical and archaeological studies of the Muscogee Creek people.     

DETERMINING THE SEASON OF MISSISSIPPIAN HOUSE CONSTRUCTION FROM PLANT IMPRESSIONS IN DAUB

Abstract

It has been suggested that Mississippian farmsteads in some parts of the Southeast were abandoned in the late fall/early winter, with concomitant population concentration in large, palisaded villages. This assertion is contradicted by published data on plant impressions in daub which indicate farmstead house construction during the fall. Missing from this debate has been information on the season of house construction at mound centers. Plant impressions in daub from a structure at the Lyon’s Bluff site (22OK520) in Mississippi indicate that house construction took place during early to midspring. When coupled with other data, year-round construction at this mound and village complex is suggested. Although these results do not solve the question of the season of house construction at farmsteads, they do suggest that house construction at mound sites was not confined to any particular season of the year, as might be expected with seasonal influxes of farmstead inhabitants.     

ANALYSIS OF FIRST MILLENNIUM bc GLASS VESSELS AND BEADS FROM THE PICHVNARI NECROPOLIS,GEORGIA*

The Pichvnari necropolis on the Black Sea coast of Georgia lies in an area known in the late first millennium as ‘Colchis’, on part of the trade route leading to the Orient. The burials of the necropolis date to the late fifth century bc and frequently contain grave goods, including extremely well‐preserved polychrome glass beads and core‐formed vessels. This paper presents a study of these vessels both stylistically and archaeologically and using SEM–WDS and LA–ICPMS. It reveals that the vessels have compositional differences that may point to multiple manufacturing sites. One of the vessels appears stylistically unique and may exhibit one of the earliest uses of manganese as a decolorizer. Major and minor element data for the vessels suggest that they may belong to the same ‘Levantine’ group as many Roman glass objects, suggesting that a source of sand on the coast of the Levant could have been used in their production. The beads clearly show glass with both natron‐ and plant ash‐based flux with distinct rare earth compositions, showing multiple sites of production, some of which were probably either in the Middle East or the Indian subcontinent.     

PETROGRAPHIC MODAL ANALYSIS - A NECESSARY COMPLEMENT TO CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF CERAMIC COARSE WARE

Bulk chemical analysis is shown to be insufficient for the archaeometric interpretation of coarse ware pottery. Accompanied by quantitative petrographic analysis of the temper much more conclusive information can be obtained at little more expense. Three small groups of prehistoric pottery from Switzerland have been examined with both techniques, showing that expensive chemical bulk analyses may be obsolete or even misleading, and in any case need further confirmation and interpretation by petrographical means. Assuming a rigorous sampling strategy, the number of analyses necessary for valid statements can be substantially reduced relative to those necessary for the statistical interpretation of bulk analyses only.     

THE CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF ORIENTAL CERAMIC BODY COMPOSITIONS: PART 1: WARES FROM NORTH CHINA*

This paper presents the body analyses of 70 sherds of ceramics made in north China during the Late Tang and Northern Song dynasties (c. AD 80–1200). The major types represented are Ding, Xing and Cizhou-type wares. The analyses were obtained by atomic absorption spectrometry, giving information on nine major and minor constituents. These have been used to differentiate chemically between the major kiln sites in the north, with the aid of multivariate computer analysis. This has demonstrated that there are differing chemical characteristics associated with these kilns, but the study is hampered by the lack of authentic material from controlled excavations of the kiln sites.     

琱生三器考释

目次一释文二器名三断代四字词、语句五译文六铭文反映的西周宗法与土地制度传世青铜器有五年琱生簋,或称五年召伯虎簋,原著录于《捃古》三之二·25,亦见《集成》4292,现藏美国耶鲁大学博物馆。又有六年琱生簋,或称六年召伯虎簋,原著录于《积古》6·17,亦见《集成》4293,现藏国家博物馆。二器内底各有铭文104字。二铭应可连读,其内容或以为记载了琱生与其同族召伯虎之间的财产权纠纷;或以为记述琱生这一支贵族扩大     

RQ-MODE PRINCIPAL COMPONENTS ANALYSIS OF CERAMIC COMPOSITIONAL DATA*

RQ-mode principal components analysis (PCA) is a means for calculating variable and object loadings on the same axes, so that elements can be displayed along with data points on a single diagram. The biplots resulting from RQ-mode PCA preserve both Euclidean relations among the objects and variance-covariance structure. When used with data on the chemical composition of archaeological pottery, such biplots facilitate recognizing compositional subgroups and determining the chemical basis of group separation. RQ-mode PCA is illustrated in this paper with neutron activation data on Mesoamerican Plumbate pottery.     

TEXTURAL ANALYSIS OF CERAMIC THIN SECTIONS: EVALUATION OF GRAIN SAMPLING PROCEDURES

‘Textural analysis’ is being increasingly used for the characterisation of pottery fabrics. In this study we have investigated some of the effects on the observed size distribution data of applying a number of different grain selection procedures (principally various point-counting and ribbon-counting procedures). The results indicate that significant differences may arise from the application of the various techniques of grain selection and it is important that appropriate procedures be rigorously applied.     

GAS CHROMATOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF FATTY MATERIAL FROM A THULE MIDDEN

Fatty material from a Thule Eskimo site on Herschel Island, Yukon Territory, Canada was analysed by gas chromatography and thin layer chromatography. The fatty acid composition of the samples was then compared with published data for a number of marine species which could have been food sources for the Thule peoples. The samples appear to be derived from seal or whale, or a mixture of these, but what is more surprising is that the fats have changed so little over the 1000 year period of their burial.     

NEOLITHIC ZOOMORPHIC VESSELS FROM EASTERN MACEDONIA,GREECE: ISSUES OF FUNCTION*

Five fragments of Late Neolithic clay zoomorphic vessels from northern Greece have been analysed for organic residues by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry. The results showed that the containers had been used in connection with a number of substances, in particular lower terpenoids, an oil or fat, possibly fossil fuel and in one case possibly beeswax. The paper considers likely interpretations of such combinations of materials in relation to possible functions of these symbolically enhanced artefacts. It appears that substances may have been used in the vessels because of their aromatic and/or medicinal and combustible properties, possibly in order to produce light, fragrance and/or smoke.     

FROM SUSA TO ANURADHAPURA: RECONSTRUCTING ASPECTS OF TRADE AND EXCHANGE IN BITUMEN‐COATED CERAMIC VESSELS BETWEEN IRAN AND SRI LANKA FROM THE THIRD TO THE NINTH CENTURIES AD*

In contrast with artefactual studies of long‐distance trade and exchange in South Asia during the Prehistoric and Early Historic periods ( Ardika et al. 1993 ; Gogte 1997 ; Krishnan and Coningham 1997 ; Tomber 2000 ; Gupta et al. 2001 ; Ford et al. 2005 ), few scientifically orientated analyses have focused on artefacts from the region's Historic period. During excavations at the ancient city of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, a number of buff ware ceramics with a putative organic coating on the interior were recovered ( Coningham 2006 ). Dated stylistically to between the third and ninth centuries ad , analysis of the coatings using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and stable isotope analysis (carbon and deuterium) confirmed that the coatings are bitumen—an organic product associated with petroleum deposits. There are no known bitumen sources in Sri Lanka, and biomarker distributions and isotopic signatures suggest that the majority of the samples appear to have come from a single bitumen source near Susa in Iran. The relationship between the bitumen coatings and the vessels is discussed, and it is suggested that the coatings were used to seal permeable ceramic containers to allow them to transport liquid commodities. This study enhances our knowledge of networks of trade and exchange between Sri Lanka and western Asia during Historic times.     

MINERALOGICAL ANALYSES OF CERAMIC MATERIALS FROM QUINUA,DEPARTMENT OF AYACUCHO,PERU

Mineralogical analyses of clays, tempers and paints from contemporary sources in the vicinity of Quinua, Peru, were carried out by means of X-ray diffraction, microscopic examination and physical separation. The data indicates that (1) there is a substantial amount of mineralogical variability in these materials, (2) the differences between the clays and tempers consist of the differences between the relative amounts of plastics and non-plastics present in each of these kinds of materials, (3) the paints contain a mineral known for its superior spreading qualities. The study concludes that (1) the region had the ceramic resources to support a tradition of several polychrome styles like those made during the Peruvian Middle Horizon (a.d. 600–800), (2) ancient pastes made in the region had a great deal of mineralogical variability, (3) archaeologists should redefine their notion of ‘temper’, and (4) modern mineralogical differences between pastes tempered by the potter and those not tempered by the potter can also apply to ancient pastes of the region.     

ANALYSIS OF WEATHERED GLASS FROM YORK MINSTER

Non-destructive analyses are reported of a twelfth century stained glass panel from York Minster. The main conclusion from the results is that the observed differences in severity of corrosion between various glasses may be explained by variations in the proportions of potassium and calcium.     

POTTERY VESSELS FROM A NEWLY DISCOVERED AMMONITE DOVECOTE AT AIN AL-BAIDA,AMMAN

Abstract

This paper deals with pottery vessels from a newly discovered Ammonite dovecote located at Ain al-Baida in north-east Amman. This dovecote may have operated independently or as an adjunct to a large estate or farm holding. Based on parallel ceramic studies, the writers date the establishment to the period from the late eighth to the sixth centuries BC. This discovery is unique, since no other comparable example from the late Iron Age is attested in Jordan.     

THERMOLUMINESCENCE AND STYLE IN THE AUTHENTICATION OF CERAMIC SCULPTURE FROM OAXACA,MEXICO

Oaxacan urns, the most characteristic esthetic expression of Zapotec culture in ancient Mesoamerica, are an important potential source of information for archaeologists and art historians, but relatively few exist with specific archaeological context and many are suspect as forgeries. This paper reports the thermoluminescent authenticity determinations of over one hundred Oaxacan urns as a first step toward confirmining a sequence previously determined by stylistic analysis. We tested a collection of 117 urns on loan to the St Louis Art Museum, mostly acquired after 1960, and another group of 6 from the Peabody Museum, Harvard, acquired before 1930. Our hypothesis that more recent collections would contain fewer forgeries was confirmed and a number of stylistic criteria for determining authenticity are critically examined in the light of the results.