考古发掘现场出土脆弱遗迹提取方法研究述评

考古发掘现场脆弱遗迹提取关系到遗迹长期保存及后续保护修复,因此要求提取方法科学、严谨,所用材料安全、有效。本文以考古发掘现场文物保护与修复工作实际出发,总结了提取材料的要求与原则,回顾了考古发掘现场出土脆弱遗迹所用的石膏提取、聚氨酯泡沫提取、环十二烷提取以及薄荷醇提取等几种方法的使用情况,评述了其提取工艺及性能,并对考古发掘现场出土脆弱遗迹提取方法未来研究方向进行了展望。     

Impression and replica methods for studying hypoplasia and perikymata on human tooth crown surfaces from archaeological sites

Perikymata and enamel hypoplasia can be studied most easily by light and scanning electron microscopy of replicas rather than of the original tooth crown surface. Delicate archaeological specimens require special handling. Selection of specimens and cleaning technique are some of the most important factors in producing good replicas, and this paper outlines procedures that have been developed over some years. Several widely available materials produce similarly detailed initial impressions of the crown surface, but an addition-type silicone dental impression material is recommended here because of its superior stability. The replica itself is cast in the mould of the original impression, and a slow-curing low-viscosity Araldite resin-hardener system is recommended. The paper outlines procedures for taking impressions from a variety of dental remains, together with methods for handling, examining and storing the replicas. The non-destructive techniques outlined here make it possible to take records of large numbers of crown surfaces in the field, or during a short museum visit, for later study in the laboratory. Many replicas can be produced from one original crown surface impression and the replicas are very robust—they can be mailed easily to other researchers for records or comparative studies. With continuing calls for reburial or repatriation of archaeological human remains, the production of a permanent record for future study is of considerable concern.     

Identification of metal residues associated with bit-use on prehistoric horse teeth by scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis

Our ability to identify evidence of the use of horses for transportation from archaeozoological remains is important for improving our understanding of the role of horses in socioeconomic changes throughout prehistory. When a horse is used with a bit, the bit can come into contact with the anterior (‘front’) surface of the lower second premolar (P₂). Here, results of X-ray microanalysis, undertaken in a variable pressure scanning electron microscope, of chemical elements on the anterior surface of four archaeological horse P₂ are presented. Analysis of dental materials (enamel and cementum) returned expected results, with calcium, phosphorous and oxygen dominating. Iron-rich residues are also identified on the front of two of the teeth, which are interpreted here as deriving from contact with iron bits. It is proposed that such analyses may provide a useful additional method for identifying bitting damage in archaeological horses or corroborating interpretations made from macroscopic examinations.     

考古现场墓葬壁画信息提取方法探讨

墓葬壁画是我国重要文化遗产,承载着灿烂的文明与古代科技,体现着当时社会先进生产力,是能让文物"活起来"的典型代表。壁画类文物的保护研究与价值阐释,是国家文化自信建设战略的重要组成部分。基于墓葬壁画本身材质的脆弱性以及较低的环境耐受性,目前墓葬壁画的保护手段还是以现场揭取、搬迁等异地保护方法为主。在这一过程中壁画承载的信息难免流失,保护壁画的材料亦为后续研究带来了干扰。故而,建立起一套墓葬壁画现场信息提取方法体系,在考古发掘现场第一时间提取表面信息、挖掘隐藏信息,开展综合研究十分必要。本工作参考了石窟、建筑壁画、考古现场遗迹信息提取方法,结合墓葬壁画自身特点,针对墓葬壁画信息提取不全面、不深入的问题,以多座陕西地区墓葬壁画以及四川、江西、河北、宁夏等地墓葬壁画为研究对象,开展了墓葬壁画信息提取方法研究,提出了全面的墓葬壁画现场信息提取的思路与方法。首先,开展有效环境监测,从而提出合理的小环境控制手段,以延缓壁画劣化;然后,通过有效组合各种照相技术和光谱技术,开展从宏观到微观,从可见光到多光谱全方位、多维度的画面信息提取,全面深入记录画面信息;联合多种便携检测设备,在科学选点基础上,提出由表及里、由点及面、重点关注逐层深入、互相补充的材质工艺研究思路,有效获得壁画的制作材料组成、工艺特征;最后,综合以上多重结果,通过观察与仪器检测,对壁画进行多角度、多层次病害调查,准确掌握壁画壁画病害分布、病害程度。此外提出了以研究需求与标本保存为目的各类标本采集要求与方法。墓葬壁画考古现场信息提取是现场科学保护和后续考古学研究的关键部分,其积累的大量影像资料、数据资料为壁画保护提供了支撑,为考古学研究提供了重要证据,为壁画价值的深入挖掘提供科学依据;极大地提高了考古学家对现场信息提取的重视程度,促进学科交叉融合。本研究弥补了墓葬壁画信息提取手段单一,缺乏方法体系的不足,为行业发展提供技术支持,为实现壁画文物的有效保护发挥作用。     

The identification of archaeological dung deposits on the basis of remains of predatory mites (Acari; Gamasida)

The results of a study of recent predatory mite faunas, characteristic of the dung of different domestic animal species, forms the basis of a two-step identification method for archaeological dung deposits. The method is illustrated by a study of the remains of the predatory mites found in 12 mediaeval dung samples from the north of The Netherlands.     

Elevated lead exposure in Roman occupants of Londinium: New evidence from the archaeological record

The evolution of metallurgical practices over several millennia has resulted in human exposures to a diverse variety of toxic elements. These exposures were not just confined to the metalworkers, but in many cases broadly impacted the larger community and society. The role of lead in Roman civilization is particularly fascinating, where the available evidence of lead use in a myriad of applications by Roman civilization suggests the potential for elevated exposures. The present paper addresses the hypothesis that because of these practices, Roman occupants of ancient Londinium (43–410 ad ) were exposed to levels of lead that far exceeded exposures in the preceding populations of Iron Age Britain (700 bc –43 ad ). The elemental content and stable lead and strontium isotopic signatures of 30 femora from three Londinium cemeteries and radiocarbon-dated representative burials were examined and the results then compared with 70 femora dating to the pre-Roman Iron Age from the well-known Iron Age hillfort of Danebury, Hampshire, and from three cemeteries in East Yorkshire. Extensive efforts were directed at the minimization of sediment and soil contamination, the assessment of contamination from burial artefacts and a careful review of the burial context of specimens. Data for lead and 20 additional trace and major elements were obtained by magnetic sector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICPMS), after acid dissolution of pre-cleaned bone cores. Lead isotope ratios in the bone core digests (and burial soils) were measured by multi-collector ICPMS. It was found that concentrations of lead in the Roman/Londinium-era femora were > 70-fold greater than those from pre-Roman populations. This was confirmed by femoral data obtained from the analysis of a pre-Roman burial from the early first century bc found adjacent to the Southern Cemetery. Several major and trace element metrics for diagenesis demonstrate that levels of lead in the bone are robust indicators of human exposure during life. Lead isotope data for the Roman population are consistent with previously identified widespread lead pollution. The pre-Roman populations contain lead isotopic compositions consistent with highly localized, minor sources of lead. Together, these data provide unequivocal confirmation that the Romans in Londinium were exposed to elevated lead levels. Elevated blood lead levels would have resulted, negatively affecting their health and possibly contributing to declining birth rates.     

The ethnoarchaeology of firewood management in the Fang villages of Equatorial Guinea, central Africa: Implications for the interpretation of wood fuel remains from archaeological sites

In archaeological literature, the study of trees and wood remains is a topic of relatively marginal interest, especially compared to texts on crops and human–animal relations. However, charcoal is the most frequent botanical remain found in archaeological sites. Charcoal analysis can therefore play a major role in the development of studies in both landscape and palaeoethnobotanical reconstruction. The majority of the archaeological charcoal assemblages reflect the exploitation of wood as an energy source (fuel). The archaeological study of firewood selection has been predominantly developed from “eco-utilitarian” or “subsistence economy” perspectives, but has not yet considered fuel collection and use as one of the most enduring categories of human–environment interactions, nor has archaeology looked into its potential as a source of empirical information on past perceptions of, and interactions with, ancient landscapes. The aim of this paper is to expand previous archaeological work on the interpretation of charcoal macro-remains through the study of firewood collection as a historically constituted, socially mediated and archaeologically observable landscape practice. In order to achieve this, we present an ethnoarchaeological case study from the Fang society of Equatorial Guinea (central Africa) aimed at gaining a better understanding of the complex interactions between cultural, ecological and economic variables in firewood collection strategies.     

Acanthodian fish remains from the Lower Devonian Cavan Bluff Limestone (Murrumbidgee Group), Taemas district,New South Wales

A well-preserved acanthodian fish fauna from the Lower Devonian (early Emsian) Cavan Bluff Limestone (Murrumbidgee Group), Taemas, Yass district, New South Wales, consists of dentigerous jawbones, fin spines and scales. Four taxa belonging to the Order Ischnacanthida are recognized including Taemasacanthus erroli Long, 1986 and newly described genera and species Cavanacanthus warrooensis gen. et sp. nov., Cambaracanthus goodhopensis gen. et sp. nov. and Taemasacanthus porca sp. nov. An amended diagnosis is provided for T. erroli. The jawbone of C. warrooensis gen. et sp. nov. is of moderate size and bears a single row of teeth with a circular parabasal section. The jawbone extends in an anterior direction beyond the foremost tooth. C. goodhopensis gen. et sp. nov. is a small to moderate sized jawbone bearing two teeth rows separated by a longitudinal ridge. The teeth of the mesial tooth row, the main tooth row, are circular in parabasal section. The lateral tooth row is weakly developed, bearing one or two incipient teeth. T. porca sp. nov. is represented by a small curved jawbone (mesially concave) bearing two teeth rows separated by a prominent longitudinal ridge. The teeth of both tooth rows have a circular parabasal section. The anterior extension of this ridge beyond the foremost tooth represents approximately one quarter the length of the jawbone. These fishes inhabited a Lower Devonian carbonate platform consisting of patch reefs built upon a muddy substrate on a low energy shallow marine shelf which was subjected to frequent storm surges.     

Methodological problems in the analysis of fossil non-artifactual wood assemblages from archaeological sites

The analysis of fossil wood fragments is often undertaken in relation to the archaeological excavation of a site. However, such analysis does not yet appear to have the strong methodological foundation that the investigation of many other classes of palaeoenvironmental evidence (e.g. seeds and pollen) have. Consequently, it is difficult to evaluate the value of fossil wood analysis at an archaeological site. Using data regarding non-artifactual wood assemblages at one site in southern Scotland, the relative merits of possible analysis are described and discussed. The results from such analyses tend to fall into two broad groups: (I) those of relatively high reliability, and (2) those of relatively low reliability. The results in the former group are often based on moderately secure methodology and tend to provide relatively non-interpretative information (e.g. species lists). On the other hand, those in the latter group are more often based on insecure interpretive methodology and provide relatively more stimulating information, such as evidence for prehistoric woodland management. There are many reasons for this situation, and these are discussed. In conclusion, it is argued that to increase the reliability of results in the second group (in particular), a full understanding of the taphonomy of non-artifactual fossil wood assemblages is needed, and that once this is available attention can then be paid, as elsewhere in environmental archaeology, to the problems of providing statistically valid samples for analysis.     

Genetic sexing to determine the optimal discriminant functions for the analysis of archaeological remains from El Hierro (Canary Islands)

A correct sex assignment of a given bone or bone fragment is of paramount importance for the archaeologist, anthropologist and in forensic medicine. Discriminant functions, combining several anthropometric measurements obtained from individuals with known sex are useful tools for this purpose, but it is essential to know exactly the sex from which the measures are obtained. This is an easy task in modern populations, but it is problematic in ancient ones, since even when the entire skeleton is available, diagnosis of sex is not 100% accurate. Sexing by genetic methods by amplifying the first intron of the amelogenin gene constitutes a much more accurate method for sexing bones and may be the gold standard for further elaboration of discriminant functions which may serve for sexing new bones dug up in future excavations. With this aim we have genetically sexed 52 (out of 59) tibiae belonging to the prehispanic population of El Hierro, in the Canary Islands, identifying 18 women and 34 men, and then, performed discriminant functions combining several anthropometric variables. These functions show a high accuracy in sex diagnosis (94.2%; area under ROC curve = 0.954 with the best of the functions), so that they allow correct sexing of tibiae or tibiae fragments (only proximal third, distal third or midshaft). Thus, genetic sexing obviates the problem of finding an accurate gold standard for the elaboration of discriminant functions for ancient bones. This method could be applied to other populations of different antiquity and different ethnicity.     

Identification of wood from archaeological sites in the American Southwest. I. Keys for gymnosperms

Keys for the identification of gymnosperm wood remains from archaeological sites in the American Southwest are presented. Wood identification and analysis are briefly discussed.     

夏家店下层文化遗址出土铜器的矿料来源分析

为进一步了解夏家店下层文化铜器的物料信息,探讨其矿料来源,采用多接收电感耦合等离子体质谱仪(MC-ICP-MS)对4处夏家店下层文化遗址和1处高台山文化遗址出土的部分铜器进行了铅同位素比值测定,并将测定结果同辽西地区几处金属矿的铅同位素数据进行了对比。结果表明:这4处夏家店下层文化遗址出土铜器的原料可能是使用辽西当地的大井多金属矿的矿石冶炼而成,而大山前遗址出土铜器的铅料有可能来自辽宁桓仁的多金属矿,二道井子遗址所出红铜器的铜料则可能另有来源。所属高台山文化的湾柳遗址铜器的铅同位素数据具有高放射性成因铅特征,表明其与同期其他考古学文化存在某种联系。     

Comparing the survival of osteocalcin and mtDNA in archaeological bone from four European sites

The small mineral-binding bone protein, osteocalcin, has been applied in a number of studies on ancient bone due to predictions of its long-term stability. However, the intact protein has not been shown to survive in ancient bone devoid of DNA, which is a much more phylogenetically informative biomolecule. In this investigation, the survival of osteocalcin is directly compared to the amplification of mtDNA in a set of 34 archaeological samples from four sites throughout Europe. We also present unpublished osteocalcin sequences of seven mammalian species in addition to the 19 published sequences to highlight phylogenetic limitations of this protein. The results indicate that the intact osteocalcin molecule survives less in archaeological samples than mtDNA and is more subject to the temperature of the archaeological site. Amino acid analyses show the persistence of the dominant protein collagen in samples that failed both osteocalcin and mtDNA analyses. The implications these findings present for biomolecular species identification in archaeological and palaeontological material are that, although proteins do survive beyond ancient DNA, osteocalcin does not appear to be the most ideal target.     

Cropmarks in main field crops enable the identification of a wide spectrum of buried features on archaeological sites in Central Europe

Buried (syn. sunken, sub-surface and sub-soil) archaeological features on arable land can frequently be discovered due to visually detectable changes in crop growth termed cropmarks. The aim of this paper was to demonstrate the range of features identified through cropmarks on aerial photographs in stands of main field crops in the Czech Republic.     

利用X-CT和数字图像相关法对遗址反复干湿导致的劣化机制进行基础研究

此研究是以石材和土壤所构成的考古遗址为主要研究对象。在确定石材和土壤的渗透性下,通过数字体积相关法(DVC)和数字图像相关法(DIC)对干湿劣化的环境条件进行定量的评估,并提出控制这种劣化发生的环境调整方法。 为了收集基本数据,通过DIC及X射线成像技术分析从湿润到干燥的过程中丰浦硅砂的位移量实验,并在实验中,使用DIC计算样品在收缩应力下的变形分布。此外,本次实验以铁粉作为示踪剂添加至样品中,并以铁粉作为参考点计算丰浦硅砂特定范围的移动量,借此评估铁粉作为示踪剂的适用性及精确性。结果表明,通过拍摄干燥前后样品的X射线图像,并用DIC进行分析可以计算出干燥前后的变形分布。在样品中添加示踪剂也被发现有助于分析样品局部区域的移动方向及移动量。因此通过此基本数据的检验,相信将来通过X射线计算机断层扫描(X-CT)及数字体积相关法(DVC)的应用,可以用来阐明反复干湿风化的劣化机制。     

非水分散体加固剂固结砂土能力的研究

有机树脂非水分散体是一种新的土体防风化加固材料,对黄土样品和考古遗址都有好的加固效果。为检验这种加固剂对不同土体的加固能力,选择砂土作为被加固材料,用1．5％TD和2％21J加固剂进行加固试验。结果表明这种材料以低的浓度就有好的加固效果,经过加固的砂土样颜色和孔隙率变化小,土样的力学强度得到提高,具有好的耐水耐冻融能力及较好的耐盐能力,证明这种材料可用于砂土质遗址的加固保护。     

Development and evaluation of geochemical methods for the sourcing of archaeological maize

Strontium (Sr)-isotope values on bone from deer mice pairs from 12 field sites in the Chaco Canyon area, New Mexico, were compared with isotope values of synthetic soil waters from the same fields. The data indicate that mice obtain Sr from near-surface sources and that soil samples collected at depths ranging from 25 to 95 cm contain Sr that is more accessible to the deep roots of maize; thus, synthetic soil solutions provide better data for the sourcing of archaeological maize. However, the Sr-isotope composition of mice may be more valuable in sourcing archaeological remains of animals such as rabbit, turkey, and deer.