Fuel For Lamps: Organic Residues Preserved in Iron Age Lamps Excavated at the Site of Sahab in Jordan

Five Iron Age ceramic lamps from a tomb at the site of Sahab in the south‐eastern part of central Jordan were analysed using gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC–MS). The results of this study provide data on the type of fuel used in three of these lamps. The study proposes that animal fat, possibly of ruminant origin, was used in three Early Iron Age II lamps. The material used in the other two Iron Age I lamps could not be determined due to the absence of diagnostic biomarkers. The data obtained from the lamps can be put in conjunction with the archaeological evidence on the availability of domestic animals and, most probably, use of their products at the site of Sahab during the Iron Age.     

Integrated geoarchaeological methods for the determination of site activity areas: a study of a Viking Age house in Reykjavik,Iceland

For over a decade, geoarchaeological methods such as multi-element analysis and soil micromorphology have been used to identify and interpret activity areas on archaeological sites. However, these techniques, along with others such as magnetic susceptibility, loss on ignition, and microrefuse, artefact and bone distribution analyses are rarely integrated in the study of a single site, even though they provide very different and potentially complementary data. This paper presents a comparative study of a wide range of geoarchaeological methods that were applied to the floors sediments of a Viking Age house at the site of Aðalstræti 16, in central Reykjavík, Iceland, along with more traditional artefact and bone distribution analyses, and a spatial study of floor layer boundaries and features in the building. In this study, the spatial distributions of artefacts and bones could only be understood in the light of the pH distributions, and on their own they provided limited insight into the use of space in the building. Each of the sediment analyses provided unique and valuable information about possible activity areas, with soil micromorphology proving to have the greatest interpretive power on its own. However, the interpretation potential of the geochemical methods was dramatically enhanced if they were integrated into a multi-method dataset.     

Identifying activity areas in archaeological soils from a colonial Virginia house lot using phytolith analysis and soil chemistry

Environmental archaeology methods can uncover both house lot organization and economic adaptation practices when applied systematically in conjunction with traditional archaeological research. This is the first study to employ both phytolith analysis and soil chemistry to interpret activity areas on an archaeological site. The patterning in the phytolith and soil chemistry analyses from the site of Rich Neck Plantation, Williamsburg, Virginia, reveals a set of six activity areas in and around the 17th century house lot, demonstrating a degree of economic diversification generally attributed only to 18th century colonial economic and social transformations.     

Trace element and Pb isotope provenance analyses of native copper in northwestern North America: results of a recent pilot study using INAA,ICP-MS,and LA-MC-ICP-MS

Several indigenous groups in northwestern North America used native copper prior to EuroAmerican contact. The Arctic, Subarctic, and Northwest Coast culture areas all have archaeological finds and geological sources of native copper. The copper-rich region of south-central Alaska and southwestern Yukon has often been credited as the source of archaeological native copper found on the Northwest Coast despite the presence of native copper sources further south. This paper presents the results of a pilot study using INAA, ICP-MS, and LA-MC-ICP-MS to assess the potential for native copper provenance research in Alaska and the Yukon Territory. Discrete native copper sources could be distinguished from one another intra-regionally. Difficulties associated with future native copper provenance research in northwestern North America are discussed.     

Faecal biomarker and archaeobotanical analyses of sediments from a public latrine shed new light on ruralisation in Sagalassos, Turkey

A public latrine in the ‘Imperial Baths’ of Sagalassos was transformed into a dump site in the early Byzantine period. Several layers of urban waste, including ceramics, bones, glass and perhaps excrements were deposited on the floor. Faecal biomarker analyses and archaeobotanical analyses were conducted to reconstruct the history of the room. 5β-stanols of human origin, such as coprostanol, were found in the sewage channels together with mineralised plant remains, indicating a human faecal context. The botanical remains are furthermore representative of the Roman diet of the Sagalassians. Soil layers, deposited on top of the latrine floor and dating to the early Byzantine period, contained herbivore derived 5β-stanols, such as 5β-stigmastanol and epi-5β-stigmastanol. Additionally, a clear predominance of epi-5β-stanols over 5β-stanols showed that the animal dung has been subject to composting. In this period, the former latrine was clearly used as a manure production site which is further confirmed by stratigraphic evidence of large amounts of urban waste artefacts, which were commonly collected together with manure before application on the fields. The results of the present study support the theory that off-site potsherd scattering can be used as a proxy for manuring events. Additionally, the data show key evidence for vertical migration of 5β-stanols and presumably also for the leaching of bile acids.