The key role of zinc,tin and lead in copper-base objects from medieval Talgar in Kazakhstan

Metallurgical examination of brass and bronze objects from the medieval (AD 9th–13th century) site at Talgar in Kazakhstan shows that they were mostly cast from the quaternary copper–zinc–tin–lead system with some exceptions that were forged from binary copper–zinc alloys. Evidence is found that brass was produced in the cementation process and that the addition of tin and lead to the parent brass was considered beneficial in casting but was strictly avoided in forging. The mutual effect of zinc, tin and lead for better casting and the advantages of the binary copper–zinc alloys in forging seem to have been the major factors driving the establishment of this unique brass tradition in a society with probably limited access to tin.     

Characterising the late prehistoric, ‘Romano-British’ and medieval landscape, and dating the emergence of a regionally distinct agricultural system in South West Britain

Palaeoenvironmental evidence for the character of lowland cultural landscapes during the last 2500 years in Britain is poorly understood, owing to a combination of an over-reliance on data from upland sequences, and because lowland mires are typically located in positions marginal to areas of settlement and agriculture. This paper presents an attempt to derive environmental evidence for this time period from a lowland context in order to characterise the key periods of change and continuity in the lowlands. The study focuses on mid-Devon, in South West Britain, and uses small pollen sites which are embedded within the historic landscape. The South West is a particularly poor region for lowland environmental data, and has until now been reliant on upland sequences. The results show that continuity, rather than abrupt change, has characterised the landscape from the later Iron Age to the early medieval period (around cal AD 800). There is no palynologically distinct Roman period in the data, contrary to evidence from the high uplands of Exmoor that suggests a decline of the agricultural system during the immediate post-Roman period. Around cal AD 800 there is a change in the agricultural system from predominantly pastoral activities to one that led to relatively high proportions of cereal pollen appearing in the sequences, which is interpreted here as marking the onset of convertible husbandry, a regionally distinct agricultural system which is recorded from AD 1350, but whose origins are not documented. This agricultural system remained in place until the post-medieval period, when the predominant agricultural regime returned to pastoralism around AD 1750. The data clearly show discrepancies between the high uplands and the lowlands, demonstrating the potential hazards of extrapolating upland sequences to lowlands environments.     

Luminescence chronology of the medieval citadel of Termez,Uzbekistan: TL dating of bricks masonries

Among the dating methods in archaeology, thermoluminescence (TL) is widely developed. The present research concerns the construction chronology of the citadel of Termez (Uzbekistan) in the medieval period. On the methodological side along the TL study, we had to take into account two decisive factors that are expected to affect the accuracy: control of anomalous fading on the polymineral fraction (quartz and feldspars) and the effect of thermal treatments on the luminescence properties of the dated material. With regard to the determination of the annual dose, difficulties, associated with the evolution of the radiochemical composition of the dated samples and their environment over time, were overcome.     

The care of women's health and beauty: an experience shared by medieval Jewish and Christian women

In this article I intend to elucidate the extent to which medieval western Jewish and Christian women shared customs, knowledge and practices regarding health care, a sphere which has been historically considered as part of women's daily domestic tasks. My study aims to identify female agency in medical care, as well as women's interaction across religious lines, by analysing elusive sources, such as medical literature on women's health care, and by collating the information they provide with data obtained from other textual and visual records. By searching specific evidence of the dialogues that must have occurred between Christian and Jewish women in transmitting their knowledge and experiences, I put forward the idea (developed from earlier work by Montserrat Cabré i Pairet) that medical texts with no clear attribution can be used as sources to reconstruct women's authoritative knowledge.     

A possible case of renal osteodystrophy in a skeleton from medieval Wharram Percy,England

The skeletal remains of a child aged 13–15 years, recovered from Wharram Percy, England, and dating from AD 960–1700, were examined using gross observation, radiography and scanning electron microscopy. Lesions suggestive of renal osteodystrophy were found. Palaeopathological recognition of renal disease has hitherto relied upon the identification of soft tissue lesions or the presence of urinary calculi. This appears to be the first palaeopathological identification of renal insufficiency on the basis of skeletal changes alone. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Age Patterns of Mortality During the Black Death in London, A.D. 1349-1350

This paper examines adult age-specific mortality patterns of one of the most devastating epidemics in recorded history, the Black Death of A.D. 1347-351. The goal was to determine whether the epidemic affected all ages equally or if it targeted certain age groups. Analyses were done using a sample of 337 individuals excavated from the East Smithfield cemetery in London, which contains only individuals who died during the Black Death in London in 1349-1350. The age patterns from East Smithfield were compared to a sample of 207 individuals who died from non-epidemic causes of mortality. Ages were estimated using the method of transition analysis, and age-specific mortality was evaluated using a hazards model. The results indicate that the risk of mortality during the Black Death increased with adult age, and therefore that age had an effect on risk of death during the epidemic. The age patterns in the Black Death cemetery were similar to those from the non-epidemic mortality sample. The results from this study are consistent with previous findings suggesting that despite the devastating nature of the Black Death, the 14(th)-century disease had general patterns of selectivity that were similar to those associated with normal medieval mortality.     

European national poetry,Islam and the defeat of the medieval Church

The Muslim conquest of the Holy Land from Christendom, the invasion of southwestern Europe in the eighth century, and the Christian struggle, ultimately unsuccessful, to regain the Holy Land from Islam in the Crusades dominated European culture, particularly its poetry, for centuries. From the Old French epic, The Song of Roland (c. 1100) to the Albanian epic, The Highland Lute (early twentieth century), a vast popular culture grew in European vernacular languages in response to Muslim invasions and conquests. This article attempts to elucidate in panoramic form a neglected area of nationalism. It argues that from the medieval period until the fall of the Ottoman empire, poetry was instrumental in the rise of European national identities, partly in reaction to centuries of ascendancy of Islam, which undermined the authority of the Pope, the universal Church, the Gospel and Latin. The defeat of the medieval Church opened the way to narrower, more national and cultural concerns, reflected in a cluster of vernacular European poetic traditions.     

Recovery of DNA from archaeological insect remains: first results,problems and potential

We report the recovery of short fragments of PCR amplifiable ancient DNA from exoskeletal fragments of the grain weevil Sitophilus granarius (L.) extracted from Roman and medieval deposits in Northern England. If DNA preservation in archaeological insect remains is widespread then many applications in the spheres of evolutionary studies and archaeology can be conceived, some of which are outlined.