Masticatory and non‐masticatory dental modifications in the epipalaeolithic necropolis of Taforalt (Morocco)

In this study, we used standardized methods to investigate masticatory and non‐masticatory dental alterations (chipping, notches, interproximal grooves) in teeth from the epipalaeolithic necropolis of Taforalt (Morocco, about 12,000–11,000 BP). The particular distribution of some of the alterations could be related to avulsion of the upper central incisors, a systematic ritual characterizing all adult individuals of the necropolis. Because of this practice, the functions of the anterior teeth (cutting and tearing portions of food while eating, holding objects, etc.) likely shifted to the posterior teeth. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Vascular Grooves on Human Femora and Tibiae as a Potential Activity‐related Trait

The presence of vascular grooves on the shafts of femora and tibiae was scored for a sample of human remains from a mass burial at Tell Majnuna, Syria, dated to the early fourth millennium bce . In the sample of 140 femora and 64 tibiae, many of which were damaged or fragmented, the grooves were most common on the femoral midshaft (31/108 = 28.7%) and on the proximal and middle shaft of the tibia (10/45 = 22.2 and 14/54 = 26.0%, respectively). For femoral midshafts, the difference in mean cross‐sectional size and shape indices between bones with and without vascular grooves was checked with multivariate analysis of variance for a sample of 51 bones. The presence of grooves appeared to correspond significantly with higher mean values of both indices. As the shape index is interpreted as an indicator of the level of terrestrial mobility and the size index may be used for sex assessment, it is possible that vascular grooves occur more frequently at the femoral midshafts of men and more active individuals, and thus they may be cautiously interpreted as another activity‐related trait. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Occlusal grooves in anterior dentition among Kovuklukaya inhabitants (Sinop,northern Anatolia, 10th century AD)

Mesiodistally directed grooves have been observed on the occlusal surfaces of nine incisors of five females in a small skeletal population from Kovuklukaya (Sinop, northern Anatolia, 10^th century AD). There is no archaeological evidence to explain the cultural practices that must have caused such unusual abrasions of the anterior dentition. Investigations of the geographical characteristics of the region and data gathered on the traditional lifestyles of Çulhalı inhabitants enables us to reach meaningful conclusions about the Kovuklukaya people. According to the direction of the grooves, ecological characteristics of the region, and ethnographic data, it is proposed that the unusual abrasion observed in the Kovuklukaya population may be linked to passing yarn between the anterior teeth to wet it. The grooves in the Kovuklukaya population were found only in female skeletons, indicating the existence of a sex‐based division of labour in yarn production. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surfaces from the Visual Past: Recovering High<Emphasis Type="Bold">-</Emphasis>Resolution Terrain Data from Historic Aerial Imagery for Multitemporal Landscape Analysis

Historic aerial images are invaluable sources of aid to archaeological research. Often collected with large-format photogrammetric quality cameras, these images are potential archives of multidimensional data that can be used to recover information about historic landscapes that have been lost to modern development. However, a lack of camera information for many historic images coupled with physical degradation of their media has often made it difficult to compute geometrically rigorous 3D content from such imagery. While advances in photogrammetry and computer vision over the last two decades have made possible the extraction of accurate and detailed 3D topographical data from high-quality digital images emanating from uncalibrated or unknown cameras, the target source material for these algorithms is normally digital content and thus not negatively affected by the passage of time. In this paper, we present refinements to a computer vision-based workflow for the extraction of 3D data from historic aerial imagery, using readily available software, specific image preprocessing techniques and in-field measurement observations to mitigate some shortcomings of archival imagery and improve extraction of historical digital elevation models (hDEMs) for use in landscape archaeological research. We apply the developed method to a series of historic image sets and modern topographic data covering a period of over 70 years in western Sicily (Italy) and evaluate the outcome. The resulting series of hDEMs form a temporal data stack which is compared with modern high-resolution terrain data using a geomorphic change detection approach, providing a quantification of landscape change through time in extent and depth, and the impact of this change on archaeological resources.     

Deconvolution of ionospheric parameters in the F1-region

In order to study the influence of altitude smearing on the determination of ionospheric parameters by incoherent scatter, we take advantage of the fact that EISCAT single pulse measurements in the F1-region have been made simultaneously with two different altitude resolutions. It is shown that the measured parameters can be very far from the real parameters, due to this altitude smearing. An attempt to deconvolve the profiles is made, which works well in the case of smooth power variations within the diffusive volume, but diverges in the case of strong structured power variations, such as those produced by energetic auroral particle precipitation into the upper atmosphere. In this last case it was, however, possible to deduce the real profile with quite good accuracy by a trial and error method. The geophysical consequences of the large discrepancy between measured and actual parameters (density and temperatures) are finally discussed.     

A late Changhsingian (latest Permian) deep-water brachiopod fauna from Guizhou,South China

O’Gorman, J.P. &; Gasparini, Z., 2013. Revision of Sulcusuchus erraini (Sauropterygia, Polycotylidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina. Alcheringa 37, 161–174. ISSN 0311-5518.

Sulcusuchus erraini, from the upper Campanian–lower Maastrichtian of Patagonia, Argentina, is the only polycotylid from the Southern Hemisphere for which the skull and mandible are known. The diagnosis of the species and genus is emended based on new observations. Sulcusuchus is characterized by the following autapomorphies: (1) deep and broad rostral and mandibular grooves and (2) a wide notch on the posterior margin of the pterygoids that are combined with a part of the body of the basioccipital, forming a wide plate. Several hypotheses about the identity of the structures that could have been housed in the rostral and mandibular grooves are evaluated. Only two of several hypotheses were not discarded. The first is that the grooves may have accommodated oral glands (supralabial and sublabial), but the biological role of such glands could not be inferred. The second hypothesis is the presence of special structures of an electrosensitive and/or mechanosensitive nature, which might allow the detection of infaunal or semi-infaunal food in soft substrates, as is represented in modern analogues, such as dolphins.

José P. O’Gorman [joseogorman@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar] and Zulma Gasparini [zgaspari@fcnym.unlp.edu.ar], División Paleontología Vertebrados, Museo de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Paseo del Bosque s/n., B1900FWA La Plata, Argentina. Also affiliated with Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Av. Rivadavia 1917 (C1033AAJ), Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina and CONICET: Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, Argentina Received 5.6.2012; revised 31.7.2012; accepted 4.9.2012.     

Cape Rock Lobster (Jasus lalandii) Remains from South African West Coast Shell Middens: Preservational Factors and Possible Bias

Cape rock lobster (Jasus lalandii) remains in South African west coast shell middens are represented by calcareous mandibles, and by fragments of exoskeleton when preservation is good. Quantification of MNIs and observations on ody size of Cape rock lobsters have been based on counts and measurements on the surviving mandibles. Little is known of the importance of this resource in precolonial hunter-gatherer subsistence, and even less is known about the possible preservational bias affecting the recovery of representative quantitative data from Cape rock lobster mandibles. The latter problem is crucial to resolve in order to understand issues about coastal hunter-gatherer subsistence. Left and right mandibles are not exact mirror images of each other, with left mandibles being consistently larger and thicker than the right mandibles. Moreover, small mandibles measuring between 4·5 and 7·5 mm are much thinner and delicate than large specimens. Due to their small size, however, small mandibles can escape attrition by falling within protective spaces, such as those created under large whole shells. In order to ascertain whether or not left mandibles survive in larger number than right ones, and whether or not smaller mandibles (left and right) break more frequently than larger ones, we conducted basic statistical procedures with quantitative data (frequency and mean size of mandibles) from a variety of depositional contexts. The results show that left and right mandibles break with the same frequency, and that breakage does not bias measurements of mandibles towards the larger or smaller end of the size range. Similar studies will need to be conducted when recovering Cape rock lobster mandibles from depositional contexts different to the ones encountered in the study area.     

A 6000‐Year‐Old Hand Amputation from Bulgaria—The Oldest Case from South‐East Europe?

A skeleton from Tell Yunatsite in Bulgarian Thrace shows evidence of amputation of the right hand. The individual dates back to the end of the fifth millennium, connecting it to the Late Copper Age of that region. The Chalcolithic settlement on the tell ended immediately after a bellicose assault. Therefore, the question arose if the loss of the hand may be connected with this incidence. Anthropological studies in close collaboration with the archaeologists on site made clear that the abscission took place at an earlier time. This result led to a series of complex questions. These are described in this work. We will show that a congenital origin for the loss of the hand can be excluded, and that the individual survived this severe injury for a certain time span. Several possible explanations for an amputation are discussed. It turns out that a surgical intervention seems to be the most likely reason. It becomes clear that there must have been an excellent medical knowledge in the Copper Age concerning surgery and wound treatment. Furthermore, the survival of the handicapped individual documents a certain social cohesion. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS OF THE SOPRON-KRAUT ACKER IRON AGE POTTERY WORKSHOP

Excavations at the Celtic settlement of Sopron-Krautacker (W. Hungary) make it possible to form an overall view on the local practice of pottery manufacture. Study of the soil conditions has established that the source of raw material is the nearly calcium carbonate-free upper layer of the local soil resulting from a leaching process. By the various analytical methods used (XRD, XRF spectroscopy, and thermal analysis) composition of the pottery has been determined, and it has been shown that the vessels were fired at 600–700 °C.     

Chosŏn Korea in the Ryūkoku Kangnido: Dating the Oldest Extant Korean Map of the World (15th Century)

The date of the earliest extant Korean world map, entitled Honil kangni y?ktae kukto chi to (Map of Integrated Lands and Regions of Historical Countries and Capitals) and now in the ōmiya Library, Ryūkoku University Academic Information Center, Kyoto, Japan, is unknown. The Ryūkoku Kangnido (as the map is commonly referred to), along with three other Korean world maps believed to have been made in Chos?n Korea in the fifteenth or sixteenth century, is thought to have been derived from a now‐lost world map made in Chos?n Korea in 1402. Opinions on possible dates for the Ryūkoku Kangnido have varied widely. In this paper, a revised date of between early 1479 and late 1485 is proposed on the basis of a study of the Korean place‐names in the map and changes in the Korean civil and military administration they reflect. It is also suggested that, despite showing most of the rest of the world, the Korean officials who produced the Ryūkoku Kangnido were less interested in portraying current images of neighbouring Asian countries than in presenting an up‐to‐date image of Chos?n Korea.     

Dietary patterns during the late prehistoric/historic period in Cikobia island (Fiji): insights from stable isotopes and dental pathologies

The dietary patterns of eight adults and one child interred in the Korotuku burial mound (Cikobia, northern Fiji), dated from the late prehistoric/historic period (around AD 1850), have been investigated using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope signatures and dental and oral pathologies. Bone collagen isotopic compositions showed that (1) males and females had similar diets in terms of terrestrial C₃ resources and marine fish components and proportions; (2) the proportion of marine fish comprised around 25% of the protein fraction of the diet, and the proportion of vegetal food was high; and (3) one canid that was also studied had a different diet, probably rich in shellfish. Oral and dental examinations of the humans evidenced (1) a low level of dental macrowear, (2) a high rate of carious lesions—interproximal and cervical—of about 15%, and (3) a low amount of abscessing, as well as the presence of alveolar bone recession and calculus in most of the adults. This evidence suggests a diet relying mainly on vegetal food with very limited shellfish consumption. When viewed in the light of ethnohistoric information, this pattern suggests a particular sociocultural behaviour, including food selection, since the analyses of the canid remains indicate that more diversified food resources were available than those consumed by the humans. Overall observations suggest that the deceased in the Korotuku burial mound might be members of an elite living on the island, thus pointing to possible social stratification in the late prehistoric/historic Cikobia community.     

Sequential Incisions on a Cave Bear Bone from the Middle Paleolithic of Pešturina Cave,Serbia

We present the detailed analysis of a cervical vertebra from a cave bear, found at Pe?turina cave, Serbia, in a Mousterian archaeological level dated by radiocarbon at 43.5–44.6 kyr cal BP, and by ESR to between 93.5 and 102.5 kyr BP. Identified as a portion of the cranial articular facet, the fragment displays ten subparallel grooves. The microscopic study of these grooves and other surface modification present on the bone fragment, conducted with multifocus optical and confocal microscopes and complemented by a taphonomic analysis of the associated faunal assemblage, supports the hypothesis that the incisions were made by humans. Results are used to critically examine ambiguities implicit in the analysis and interpretation of early engravings, a category of material culture that has been playing a key role in the identification of early instances of symbolically mediated behavior.     

Representations of electricity: the development of a visual language for electrical phenomena

Abstract

This paper has two primary objectives. First, it addresses the development of an iconography for electrical phenomena in the eighteenth century, showing how scientific progress influenced artistic images, and how, eventually, Franklin's revolutionary discovery that lightning is an electric discharge made it possible to use a zigzag line (already used at the time as the iconographic symbol for lightning) as a sign for electricity. Second, it investigates the creation and evolution of conventions for scientific illustrations. The following original argument is also introduced: that the stylistic ideals of Classicism influenced scientific illustration in the period around 1800.     

Microscopic examination of ground sections – a simple method for distinguishing between bone and antler?

Both bones and antlers have been used throughout history for manufacturing various products. Therefore, archaeologists often have to distinguish between these materials. The more the raw material (bone or antler) has been treated, the more complicated it is to distinguish. For this study, recent macerated and archaeological samples of bone and antler and their products have been compared. Antler is usually very easy to distinguish based on the characteristic surface structure; however, the original surface is not preserved in all artefacts. The inner surface of the diaphysis of long bones is mostly compact with prominent trabeculae and lamellae, whereas, after removal of the spongiosa, the inner surface of antler is characterised by numerous grooves. Sometimes, however, artefacts are found which are composed only of the compact bone substance, without inner and outer surfaces, and it is not possible to distinguish between bones and antlers macroscopically. Haversian systems can be found in histological and ground sections of both bones and antlers. In contrast to bones, antlers have few interstitial lamellae. The osteons of antler seem to be smaller and to consist of fewer layers than those of bone. Inner and outer circumferential lamellae cannot be distinguished in antlers. Although microscopic examination of sectioned samples does not allow distinction between bones and antlers in every case, it represents a valuable additional tool for distinguishing between these two materials in historic artefacts. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Radiocarbon dating: Some practical considerations for the archaeologist

The article is divided into four main sections in each of which a key aspect of radio-carbon dating is discussed with emphasis on the practical implications for users of dates. The four topics which the article attempts to deal with are, in turn, (i) the effect on the radiocarbon timescale of the variations in atmospheric ¹⁴C now known to have occurred in the past and the role of other absorlute dating methods in investigating these, (ii) laboratory measurement of ¹⁴C, (iii) selection of optimum samples for dating and (iv) some of the limitations of the final dates. The theme is essentially that the technical difficulties of radiocarbon measurement in the laboratory have been overcome to the extent that the physical measurements can now be made with high precision, that is to within ±1% or better, as a routine. Thus, it is more important than ever (a) that only reliable samples having very firm associations should be dated and (b) that pretreatment of such samples by the dating laboratory to remove any age contaminants should be completely effective. However, in addition to the recognized statistical limitations, the absolute accuracy of radio-carbon dating is limited by the past ¹⁴C variations. Coupled with the requirements of proper association and pretreatment of samples is the long-term need to establish an overall correlation between radiocarbon and calendar years. At present this is still a matter for final agreement by the laboratories concerned. Meanwhile, when all possible steps have been taken to ensure the reliability of the date messurements, these can strictly only be compared with one another in terms of radiocarbon years bp. In practice this is often too restrictive but any attempts at calibration must be regarded as approximations for the time being. In this article the lower and upper case notation advocated in Antiquity46, 265, for radiocarbon and calendar years respectively has been followed.     

Mapping of an Archaeological Site at Olduvai Gorge,Tanzania

Abstract

An archaeological site at Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, consists of a roughly quadrilateral surface of consolidated silt, about 25 feet by 47 feet. It shows a complex microtopography of pits and grooves. In order to record all these features a plan was made with a horizontal scale of 1:4 and contour interval of 0.1 foot (1.2 inches). The contours were interpolated between a large number of spot-heights. The positions of the spot-heights in the horizontal plane were fixed by distance measurement along the lines in a rectangular grid laid out from points on the margins of the surveyed area. The elevations of the spot-heights were determined by levelling with an automatic level. When the spot-heights had been plotted the map was mounted and taken into the field. Constant comparison was necessary to ensure that the interpolated contours provided an accurate representation of the complex topography.     

A Case of Marked Bilateral Asymmetry in the Upper Limbs of an Upper Palaeolithic Male from Barma Grande (Liguria), Italy

Barma Grande 2, a male skeleton of upper palaeolithic age from Balzi Rossi (Liguria, Italy), shows a marked degree of upper limb bilateral asymmetry. Similar cases of asymmetry in palaeolithic hominid fossils have variously been attributed to high levels of behavioural asymmetry (related to handedness) or a pathologically induced alteration of upper limb skeletal remodelling processes. As in many of these cases, the skeleton from Barma Grande lacks any indications of trauma or pathology in the smaller left limb. Consideration of the morphology of the preserved upper limb elements and a comparative analysis of asymmetry in normal and pathological male palaeolithic fossils and normal recent human samples suggests that the asymmetry in Barma Grande 2 was a secondary effect of trauma or pathology in the left side. The degree and pattern of asymmetry in numerous humeral and ulnar measurements indicates an adult onset of altered loading patterns. Several possible aetiological factors are considered, with the most probable being an entrapment neuropathy, direct trauma to one or more muscles about the shoulder, or possibly glenohumeral joint instability. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Ancient DNA typing shows that a Bronze Age mummy is a composite of different skeletons

Excavations at Cladh Hallan, a Bronze Age-Iron Age settlement on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides off the west coast of Scotland, revealed the skeletons of two adults, a sub-adult and a child buried beneath the foundations of three roundhouses. Osteological and isotopic evidence has shown that the male adult skeleton is a composite made up of parts of at least three different individuals. To test the hypothesis that the female skeleton was also a composite we examined ancient DNA from four of its components: the skull, mandible, right humerus and right femur. Seven polymerase chain reactions (PCRs) were attempted, these covering positions 15,996–16,420, 16–132 and 232–368 of the mitochondrial DNA hypervariable I and II regions. Three PCRs were successful for each sample and a total of 55 sequences were obtained from the cloned products. After exclusion of possible contaminating sequences, the remaining 34 were compared. It was concluded that the mandible, humerus and femur come from different individuals. Insufficient data were obtained to draw conclusions regarding the origin of the skull. The presence of two composite skeletons at Cladh Hallan indicates that the merging of identities may have been a deliberate act, perhaps designed to amalgamate different ancestries into a single lineage.