Recent developments in the analysis of lithic artifacts

A review of recent research on lithic technology and functional analysis is presented. Our perception of the state of the art is based on a review of the literature published during the past three years and on the topics that were covered at conferences and workshops on lithic analysis. While the goals have essentially remained the same since the turn of the century, concerns with chronology and the classification of lithic artifacts have given way to studies that treat stone implements as products of a dynamic system of human behavior. In order to understand stone artifacts and the people that made and used them, archaeologists must understand theprocesses involved in the acquisition, production, exchange, and consumption of lithic artifacts. In the past ten years, experimental studies involving the manufacturing and use of stone tools have been integrated with studies of refitted or conjoined lithic artifacts and microwear analysis. The result is a much more dynamic view of the variability in assemblages of lithic artifacts. In this review, we focus on replication and technological analysis of chipped stone artifacts and microwear analysis, and consider the implications of this research.     

Influence of Frequency Content and Peak Intensities in the Rocking Seismic Response of Rigid Bodies

The rocking response of a family of bodies given by its width and height due to synthetic and recorded strong ground motions is presented; this allow us to identify the main parameters that govern their response: peak acceleration and velocity, dominant frequency, and acceleration time-history. Recorded strong ground motions were scaled to the same peak acceleration and also to the same peak velocity to analyze the effect of both parameters in the response of rigid bodies. These three parameters were used to build an equation to obtain the height/width overturning plots. The proposed equation was tested for many well-known strong ground motions and the results were compared to other methods shown to be more accurate. This parametric equation does not need iterations or numerical approximations to be solved and can provide engineers, in a very practical way, minimum design requirements or particular specifications to protect non structural elements.     

Observations on Some of the Principal Portraits of Devonshire Worthies

Area excavation of five Middle Bronze Age Round Houses at Black Patch, Alcisten, E. Sussex, has conclusively proved that the house terrace itself was a major structural element in the house construction. The position of storage pits and artifacts confirms that the house floor consisted of the whole house terrace. The precise recording of the position of every artifact was used to define activity areas which indicate the possible function of individual houses. From this evidence it is possible to suggest the likely social organisation of the excavated compound.     

甘肃出土糟朽木器材质鉴定及特征分析

甘肃木器是反映河西走廊古丝绸之路文化、历史和社会重要的珍贵遗产。武威、高台作为甘肃木器重要的发现地,出土器物不仅类型、风格迥异,而且器物材质形态、结构特征明显,属于典型的糟朽木器类型。研究工作从木材学的角度出发,应用生物切片技术,对出土器物材质树种、特征及特性进行了科学鉴定和剖析。鉴定结果表明,树种类型有:①云杉;②冷杉;③圆柏;④落叶松;⑤胡杨;⑥榆树;⑦香椿;同时采用扫描电镜、X射线衍射分析技术对糟朽木质纤维显微形态、结构进行了观察和分析,分析结果表明:出土糟朽木器木质结构已发生降解、腐变,其材质形态特征及特性会随着后期保存环境及其因素的影响、腐蚀而频繁变化或骤变。最后,分析工作对糟朽木器纤维素结晶度、降解度等相关物理参数进行了实验测定。测定结果表明:出土实物纤维素结晶度约为58%,而纤维降解度达到40%以上。综合以上鉴定结果和实验数据,得出以下结论:①甘肃木器制作材质涉及的树种种类较多,基本以云杉材为主,而青海云杉在祁连山林区分布广泛,为其制作用材提供了丰富的天然材料;②材质糟朽及纤维严重降解是甘肃木器重要的材质特征,表现为纤维(纤维素、半纤维素)含量降低呈现木素含量升高,而木素含量的相对增大,则是导致材质颜色变深的重要原因;③受糟朽器物自身含水率的变化、影响,其材质特征具有脆弱性和不稳定性,而且改变、变化过程通常具有滞后性,导致结果往往是致命的;④纤维素结晶度和纤维降解度是衡量和评估糟朽木器材质健康状况重要的物理参数,二者之间存在关联关系。本研究结果可为糟朽木器形态与结构研究提供科学依据和技术支撑。     

申明铺遗址出土铁器的工艺考察

申明铺遗址(编号2004.HN.X.A-5)位于河南省南阳市淅川县滔河乡申明铺村北,丹江南岸的河边台地上,遗址出土铁器的器形有釜、鍪、环首刀、剑、铧、锸、削、灯、锛、环、席镇等。年代跨越较大,从战国到清代都有,但以汉代为主。为揭示该遗址铁器制造工艺及相关问题,应用金相显微镜、扫描电镜能谱分析仪(SEM-EDS)等检测手段,对采集于申明铺遗址的铁质农具、兵器、手工工具及生活用具等14件铁器残片进行了金相及扫描电镜能谱分析。结果表明,对硬度、强度、韧性等机械性能要求较高的农具和兵器多采用固体脱碳技术;较大型的炊具,如铁釜、铁鍪等则采用白口铁、麻口铁及灰口铁等铸造工艺。从一个侧面表明,战国至汉代,我国南阳地区的冶铁水平业已十分高超。     

The analysis of copper artifacts of the copper inuit

Metallography and neutron activation analysis have been used to investigate copper artifacts from 19th century archaeological sites associated with the “Copper Inuit” of the west-central Canadian Arctic. A knowledge of the source of the copper from which the artifacts were manufactured - native (local) copper or European (exotic) copper - is important, for example, to studies of the effects of European contact on utilization of native copper and on the general lifestyle of the Copper Inuit. Trace element analysis by neutron activation using the SLOWPOKE reactor has allowed local native copper, from the Coppermine River and Victoria Island, NW Territories, to be clearly distinguished from 19th century European smelted copper, which was found to contain higher concentrations of arsenic, antimony, nickel and selenium. Moreover, optical and scanning electron metallography revealed significant microstructural differences between native copper and the 19th century smelted copper. As a consequence it was possible to differentiate between native copper archaeological artifacts and those produced from smelted copper.     

Virtual Representation: the Production of 3D Digital Artifacts

As new digital technologies now pervade the discipline of archaeology, the practice of creating digital 3D representations of artifacts has become widespread. The rapid growth and acceptance of these technologies into the discipline leaves us in a position where we must engage with how these tools fit our epistemologies. I propose that we look to a much older technology, photography, to inform the way that these digital artifacts are dealt with as we move into an increasingly digital field. In doing so, I will argue that the creation of a 3D digital artifact is a productive process, just as any form of media used to document and interpret the archaeological record. Through this production, the digital form is decoupled from the original physical artifact. The creation of a new representation of the artifact (in the form of a photograph or digital model) provides a new dimension to our interactions with these artifacts. The result of the digital movement in archaeology is a more interactive experience with artifacts, allowing researchers and the public alike digital access to archaeological collections. If the current trend continues, digital artifact modeling will become as indispensable to archaeology as traditional photography. It is therefore necessary for archaeologists to be aware of the subjectivities and biases that exist during this productive act as we move into a more integrated field of digital, representational technologies.     

四川大邑县高山古城遗址出土新石器时代动物骨骼遗存

通过对四川大邑县高山古城遗址2015、2016年出土动物骨骼遗存做了比较详细的鉴定、测量、统计和分析,可以肯定为家畜的仅有猪和狗。从出土动物骨骼的NISP、MNI统计来看,家猪的比重均占绝对优势,NISP占比达93.78%,MNI占比为86.49%;家猪上、下第三臼齿的长度、宽度较小,均处于家猪第三臼齿的长、宽参数范围内;从猪的年龄结构来看,以月龄10~20个月为主,也与一般农耕聚落家猪的宰杀年龄结构相符。鉴于以上三个方面的观察,可以推断高山古城先民饲养家猪的技术比较成熟且稳定,饲养家猪也是先民肉食资源最主要的获取途径。而狗所占的比重不高,占NISP、MNI的比重分别为3.76%和5.41%,可能多用做狩猎伴侣或其他。结果表明宝墩文化时期的高山古城先民以饲养家猪作为获取肉食资源的主要途径,当时的家畜饲养技术比较成熟稳定,而稻-粟混作的农业体系无疑为家畜的饲养奠定了坚实的基础。     

Use-wear analysis of obsidian artifacts from Later Stone Age shell midden sites on the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea,with experimental results

This paper presents results of use-wear study on lithic artifacts from two Later Stone Age sites (Gelalo and Misse) on the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea. The sites produced large quantities of lithic artifacts in association with mollusk shells and ostrich eggshell beads, but it is unclear if all the stone tools were required for bead and mollusk shell processing. The study involved recording of microfracture damage traces in order to infer the use-material and the manner in which the artifacts were used. A large percentage of the analyzed samples from Gelalo and Misse preserve wear patterns suggestive of human use. The diagnostic wear types include: (1) dense step, snap (crushing) and hinge fractures typically confined on the working edges, and (2) feather scars organized in a scalar manner visible on the ventral and dorsal surfaces of the active parts. The observed damage patterns suggest cutting and engraving medium to hard materials. The evidence is incomplete for more generalization about the specific activities carried out at the sites. A brief experimental study involving ostrich eggshell drilling, oak twig sawing and bark scraping, meat slicing, and mollusk shell sawing and drilling was carried out to aid interpretation of wear features observed on the archaeological specimens. Wear traces produced by sawing mollusk shell and oak wood showed close affinity to those observed on the archaeological specimens. The study contributes important information about early Holocene site use on the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea. The close association of used lithic artifacts, symbolic objects (beads) and broken shell remains indicates that the sites were habitation areas.     

广东汕头市“南澳Ⅰ号”明代沉船

2010年4~7月,对广东汕头市南澳Ⅰ号沉船进行发掘。发现的船体纵长约27米,有17道隔舱板和16个隔舱。发掘出水各类遗物1万余件,以漳州窑青花瓷为大宗,应为漳州窑16世纪末至17世纪初的产品,沉船所属年代与此大致相同。南澳Ⅰ号沉船的发掘为研究不同地区间的物质文化交流提供了直接证据。     

An investigation of cortical bone loss and fracture patterns in the neolithic community of Çatalhöyük,Turkey using metacarpal radiogrammetry

Bioarchaeologists have conducted numerous studies on human skeletal remains using metacarpal cortical bone radiogrammetry. This method allows cortical thickness of the second metacarpal to be quantified. As a sensitive index of bone health metacarpal cortical thickness is evaluated in the context of functional adaptations, growth, ageing and bone loss in osteoporosis, as well as used as a reliable indicator of fracture risk. The focus of this study is an examination of the widely used calculation that expresses second metacarpal cortical bone values, followed by an examination of age and sex-related patterns of cortical bone loss and skeletal fragility fracture in a Neolithic archaeological skeletal sample from Çatalhöyük, Turkey. Using metacarpal radiogrammetry, 49 adult metacarpals (f = 27 m = 22) were examined. Data were collected for size variables, length (L) and total bone width (TW) as well as quantity variables, medullary width (MW) and cortical thickness (CT). These parameters were then used to calculate the widely used cortical index (CI) and two new indices expressing medullary width and cortical bone thickness in relation to length (medullary width index, MWI and cortical thickness index, CTI). The ratios were then used to explore age- and sex-related cortical bone loss and fragility fracture patterns amongst the inhabitants of Çatalhöyük. Çatalhöyük males and females demonstrate an inverse relationship where CTI decreases as age and MWI increase. Analyses indicate statistically significant age-related change in MWI amongst the oldest females. Despite age-related loss of bone, no typical fragility fractures are observed. We discuss the role of ageing and lifestyle factors at Çatalhöyük that may have been beneficial to skeletal health and a reduction in the risk of fragility fracture.     

Plants as material culture in the Near Eastern Neolithic: Perspectives from the silica skeleton artifactual remains at Çatalhöyük

Investigating plants used for building and craft activities is important for understanding how environments surrounding archaeological settlements were exploited, as well as for considering the social practices involved in the creation and use of plant objects. Evidence for such plant uses has been observed at many Near Eastern Neolithic sites but not widely discussed. Survival may occur in a number of ways, including as impressions in clay, and as charred or desiccated macroremains. Another, less well-known, way in which plant artifacts can be found is as silica skeletons (phytoliths). Formed by the in situ decay of plants, their analysis may tell us about taxa exploited, and locations in which plant artifacts were used or discarded. At Çatalhöyük, an abundance of silicified traces of plants used in building materials and for craft activities survive, and are found in domestic and burial contexts. Their analysis demonstrates the routine use of wild plants, especially from wetland areas, for basketry (mats, baskets and cordage) and construction, as well as the secondary use of cereal husk chaff in certain types of building materials. The numerous finds suggest that plant-based containers played an important role as an artifactual class, even after the adoption of early pottery.     

工业CT扫描文物的伪影与校正

工业计算机断层成像(computed tomography,CT)可以无损获得被检器物的结构组成、材质分布和密度变化等内部信息,是文物结构特征和材质分布无损分析的常用方法之一。由于文物的材料种类繁多、厚度不一、器形复杂,其工业CT扫描结果会伴随一定的伪影——伪影会严重降低图像质量,甚至导致无法准确判断文物的内部结构。因此,需要寻找避免或减弱CT伪影的方法。CT成像的伪影源于多种因素:物理因素导致的伪影和CT投影数据采集过程有关;样品因素导致的伪影和样品的摆放、结构和材料有关;CT算法伪影和CT设备所使用的软件及重建算法有关。其中有些伪影可以通过软件校准减少,但在许多情况下,通过样品的合理摆放和选择合适的CT扫描参数是避免CT伪影的最佳手段之一。本文列举CT检测文物中所遇到的一些常见伪影,并解析这类伪影的消除或减弱的方法,以期为今后CT检测文物提供一定的借鉴作用。     

甘肃出土糟朽木器的形态与结构分析

甘肃出土木器依据形态与结构划分,属于典型的糟朽木器类型,材质外观特征与特性明显。制作材质鉴定表明,基本类型有①松科云杉;②松科冷杉;③柏科圆柏。通过对糟朽木器形态类型、结构属性、影响因素及发生改变原因剖析,指出了糟朽木器材质在经历了第一阶段的转折性根本改变后（含水率远低于纤维饱和点）,即将面临第二阶段的转折性根本变化（含水率略高或接近于平衡含水率）,而这一阶段的改变结果对器物将是毁灭性的;为了避免出土器物在短期内形态发生剧变,运用生物切片、扫描电镜分析技术对木质纤维显微结构进行了观察和研究,研究结果与结构病害腐变结果相吻合。选取与糟朽器物同期考古出土的糟朽棺板木作为分析对象,分别对其化学成分、容积重、含水率以及力学性能进行了实验测试,测得糟朽木器降解损失超过50%,含水率约为10.5%,力学强度指标与正常材质相比,均有明显的下降,且相对差异较大,最大约为正常木材强度的60%。对比分析结果,得出了结论：①糟朽木器的形态与结构状况与实验生物切片分析、电镜显微结构观察和研究结果相吻合,同时材质成分、容积重与力学性能测定结果为上述分析结果提供了有力的数据支撑;②致使糟朽木器形态和结构发生改变的主要因素是胎木含水率,其值是非恒定的并随外部环境而改变,因此含水率可用于反映糟朽木器的材质特性;③纤维饱和点与平衡含水率是影响、衡量和评估糟朽木器形态与结构的两个重要的物理参数;④鉴于糟朽木器的材质特性,后期保存应尽量避免与水分的直接接触,需要严格控制其胎木的含水率,且维持恒定、稳定的保存环境,这点对后期糟朽木器的保存是非常重要的     

大佛真三维模型贴图方法初探

随着三维技术的发展,以数字城市为主的真三维景观建设已越来越贴近人们的生活。国内外许多科研机构进行了文物数字化的研究,但传统的文物重建多用于单个文物实体,在纹理采集、模型制作等方面制作时间长、经费需求高,无法大规模应用推广,不能满足文物真三维场景建设的需要。文物真三维景观建设的关键就是大型文物的真三维建设。而大型古文物结构复杂,测量数据量大,在纹理影射、后期成果组织等方面都相当复杂。为此,提出了一种基于三维激光扫描多边形模型快捷的贴图方法,并以彬县大佛寺主窟大佛重建为例,论述对于大型文物贴图的可行方案,实现建立大型文物的真三维模型,为文物真三维实体场景建设提供了供新的思路及技术方法。     

An assessment of the effect of gravity waves on the width of radar Doppler spectra

Radars can be used to obtain turbulence parameters by measuring the width of the Doppler spectrum of returned power. Other effects can contribute to the Doppler-spectrum width, including short-period gravity waves, making turbulence parameter measurements more difficult. In this paper, an experimental study of the effect of gravity waves on the width of the Doppler spectrum is presented. The data were obtained using the Poker Flat 50 MHz VHP radar. A parameter Y_i is used to describe the discrepancy between the width of spectra sampled over a long period of time and that taken over a shorter time. If Y_i is not significantly different from 1.0, no contamination is present. The experimental data considered were of a time resolution that allowed the period and amplitude of the contaminating gravity wave to be determined. A theoretical expression for gravity wave contamination proposed by Hocking [(1988) J. geophys. Res.93, 2475–2491] was tested and found to agree with measurements. It was also found that non-unity values of Y_i occurred in some cases. This suggests that, at commonly used sampling times, short-period gravity waves can contaminate spectral width estimates.     

INTELLECTUAL HISTORY,INCONCEIVABILITY, AND METHODOLOGICAL HOLISM1

The debate between individualism and holism in the philosophy of history pertains to the nature of the entities relied on in historical explanations. The question is whether explanations of historical items (for example, events, actions, artifacts) require the assumption that the collective historical entities (for example, civilizations, cultures, and so on) used in these explanations are (sometimes) conceived of as irreducible to the actions, thoughts, and beliefs of individual human beings. In this paper I analyze two methodological problems that holist explanations face in the writing of intellectual history. The first problem derives from the fact that holist explanations in intellectual history have to rely on the claim that certain beliefs were inconceivable to some individuals because they were members of specific collectives, whereas it is unclear how historical research can justify such claims when made from the holist position. The second problem pertains to the difficulties the holist position faces when it has to account for the novel properties of artifacts studied by intellectual history.     

Macusani obsidian from southern Peru: A characterization of its elemental composition with a demonstration of its ancient use

Transparent obsidian artifacts have been reported for the northern Lake Titicaca Basin. Based on instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) of these artifacts a distinct chemical group was identified. Yet, the location of the source of transparent obsidian in the southern Andes remained unreported in the archaeological literature. This paper reports on the chemical composition and geographic location of a source of transparent obsidian from the Macusani region of Peru. Through the use of INAA and portable X-ray fluorescence (PXRF) we demonstrate that Macusani obsidian or macusanite comprises (at least) two chemical groups. One of these groups was used for making artifacts during the Archaic Period. Artifacts made of this obsidian were found more than 120 km from the source and yet, one-third of the obsidian artifacts encountered at Macusani were from the non-local source of Chivay which is 215 km to the southwest.     

The Construction of the Khufu I Vessel (c.2566 BC): a Re-Evaluation

A re-evaluation of the published reports on the Khufu I vessel suggests: first, Egyptian boatwrights used as much of a plank's original width and length as possible to minimize waste, resulting in unpredictable stealer and scarf placement; second, crafting tenons to be narrower than corresponding mortises may have been one of many standardized techniques of Egyptian boatbuilding; third, temporary and permanent edge-to-edge transverse lashing was an important structural feature. Finally, woven straps instead of ropes were probably used to lash this vessel, and seams were probably sealed with wadding and battens, while the frames appear to have been recycled.
© 2009 The Author     

Non-destructive characterization of archeological Cu-based artifacts from the early metallurgy of southern Portugal

In this study, Monte Carlo (MC) simulations combined with energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) spectroscopy have been used to characterize non-destructively a collection of Cu-based artifacts recovered from two archeological sites in southern Portugal: (a) the Chalcolithic E.T.A.R. site of Vila Nova de Mil Fontes and (b) the Middle Bronze Age site of Quinta do Estácio 6. The metal artifacts show a multilayered structure made up of three distinct layers: (a) brownish carbonate soil-derived crust, (b) green oxidized corrosion patina, and (c) bulk metal. In order to assess the reliability of the EDXRF-based Monte Carlo simulations to reproduce the composition of the alloy substrate in archeological bronze artifacts without the need to previously remove the superficial corrosion and soil derived patinas, EDXRF analysis together with scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) was also performed on cleaned and patina-/crust-coated areas of the artifacts. Characterization of the mineralogical composition of the corrosion products in the surface patinas was further determined by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results suggest that the adopted EDXRF/Monte Carlo protocol may represent a safe and fast analytical approach in the quantitative characterization of the bulk chemical composition of Cu-based metal artifacts even in the presence of fairly thick corrosion patinas and/or soil-derived encrustations at the surface of the archeological objects.