Seasonality only works in certain parts of the year: the reconstruction of fishing seasons through otolith analysis

Seasonality estimations using incremental data usually suffer from small sample sizes and from the lack of comparison with sufficiently large modern samples. The present contribution reports on incremental studies carried out on large assemblages of plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) and haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) from a late medieval fishing village (Raversijde, Belgium) on the North Sea coast. In an attempt to refine previous seasonality estimates made for this site, and to expand conclusions concerning general methodology, extensive monthly samples of modern otoliths of these species, caught within the North Sea, have also been investigated. The modern material shows that the timing of the seasonal changes in the edge type (hyaline or opaque) of the otoliths is extremely variable and that it is dependent on the fishing ground, the year considered, and the age of the fish. It also appears that the increase of the marginal increment thickness is highly variable, to such an extent that the thickness of the last increment of a single otolith is mostly useless for seasonality estimation. Where large archaeological otolith assemblages can be studied, preferably from single depositional events, seasonality determination becomes possible on the condition, however, that the archaeological assemblage corresponds to fish that were captured during their period of fast growth. The growth ring study on the otoliths from Raversijde shows that plaice fishing took place in spring and that it was preceded by a haddock fishing season, probably in late winter/early spring. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimating meagre (Argyrosomus regius) size from otoliths and vertebrae

This study presents a method for predicting meagre (Argyrosomus regius) body size (total length) from otoliths and vertebrae recovered from archaeological sites. The method involves regression equations calculated from a reference collection of 36 meagre skeletons and 113 meagre otoliths (sagitta) and allows the simultaneous estimation of original body size and minimum number of individuals (MNI) from archaeological bone structures. We selected the following measurements to predict meagre body size: greatest dorso-ventral height, greatest mediolateral breadth, and greatest anteroposterior length of the vertebrae centra; maximum anteroposterior length, medial anteroposterior length, and dorso-ventral height of the sagitta. Our results show that the original body size of meagre can be accurately predicted from many bone measurements (r² range: 0.921–0.992). We exemplify the use of the regressions in the assessment of size variation and MNI of meagre from four Portuguese Mesolithic sites. We show that regression results provide additional insight into the significant role that this fish played in the subsistence of coastal fisher-hunter-gatherers, who targeted medium-sized animals but were also capable of acquiring rather larger specimens.     

Diaphyseal growth in a nineteenth century skeletal sample of subadults from St Thomas' church,Belleville, Ontario

This study presents skeletal growth data for a nineteenth century church cemetery sample from Belleville, Ontario. Skeletal growth profiles (SGPs), plotting measurements of growth against age estimated by tooth formation, were constructed for the sample. Means and confidence intervals for 1-year cohorts up to 12 years of age are presented for each of the long bones, the ilium and scapula. Comparison of the SGPs created for this sample with modern and archaeological samples demonstrates that the nineteenth century Belleville children followed a growth pattern similar to their modern counterparts, at least until 12 years of age. It is recommended that these data can be used by other investigators as a comparative sample of nineteenth century children; they can also be used as standards of growth for the purpose of estimating age from diaphyseal lengths for other archaeological samples of similar temporal context and population affinities. It is argued that confidence intervals rather than standard deviations be used to report variation, as the former controls for sample size as well as variance.     

An insect fauna from a modern cesspit and its comparison with probable cesspit assemblages from archaeological sites

The insects recovered by sampling a present day disused cesspit located in south Shropshire are compared with similar assemblages from two sites in 16th century Worcester, and, as controls, with faunas from a modern compost heap and garden soil. A simple experiment is described designed to test whether stored product pest species could have arrived in archaeological deposits considered to be the sites of cesspits after having been eaten with the foodstuffs they were infesting.     

Archaeomagnetic data from three Punic sites in Tunisia

Archaeomagnetic analyses on bricks and slag fragments from kilns have been undertaken. Four new archaeomagnetic directions and two new archaeomagnetic intensities have been reported for three Punic sites in Tunisia. The SCHA.DIF.3K archaeomagnetic model gives the most consistent age estimates, in agreement with the archaeological ages for three of the four analyzed kilns. The archaeomagnetic models appeared to be surprisingly proficient both using archaeodirections and intensities for El Maklouba. The existence of kilns from different chronological archaeological phases (4th–3th century BC and 2nd–3rd century AD) has been confirmed for this site. The archaeological hypothesis that associates the kiln in El Gaala with the neighboring Punic necropolis is compatible with the archaeomagnetic data obtained from the kiln, though a modern use or remagnetisation of the kiln cannot be excluded.     

Charcoal analysis of industrial fuelwood from medieval and early modern iron-working sites in Bilsdale and Rievaulx,North Yorkshire,UK: evidence for species selection and woodland management

Abstract

This paper presents the results of species diversity and dendrological analyses of archaeological charcoal excavated from medieval and early modern iron production sites in Bilsdale, and at Rievaulx in the neighbouring valley of Ryedale, North Yorkshire, UK. Standard methods of quantification are used to assess species diversity, sampling sufficiency and taxa presence. The assessment of dendrological features provides additional evidence for growth trends and cutting cycles analogous with cyclical woodland management, as well as environmental and growing conditions. Analysis of archaeological charcoal from four medieval bloomery furnace sites in Bilsdale, and from the site of the hammersmithy and blast furnace at the early modern iron works at Rievaulx, provide comparable data-sets which indicate a change in cutting practise and dominant species selection for industrial fuelwood occurred between the 12th- and mid-16th centuries AD. Results show that dominant species presence changed from an admixture of predominantly birch (Betula sp.) and hazel (Corylus avellana) sourced from small calibre branchwood and stemwood used in the medieval bloomery furnaces, to a dominant oak (Quercus sp.) presence from standard sources used at the Rievaulx iron works by the mid-16th century. Whilst it is uncertain whether this change in dominant species composition and the source of industrial fuelwood is related to changes in local availability, or the result of the technological transition to blast furnace processing which occurred at this time, estate records reveal a woodland management campaign was instigated to supply and maintain fuelwood supplies to the iron works at Rievaulx which coincides with the introduction of Tudor arboricultural legislation in the 1540s.     

Airborne LiDAR application to karstic areas: the example of Trieste province (north-eastern Italy) from prehistoric sites to Roman forts

The Trieste Karst, at the northernmost shore of the Adriatic Sea, is rich in prehistoric caves and protohistoric hill forts. Most of these archaeological sites were already identified in the second half of the 19th century when large parts of the area were almost without vegetation coverage for the effect of sheep breeding and exploitation of wood resources. Only a few open-air archaeological sites have been discovered in recent years due to the lack of systematic archaeological surveys and reforestation.     

Coastal connections,local fishing,and sustainable egg harvesting: patterns of Viking Age inland wild resource use in Mývatn district,Northern Iceland

Abstract

The 'Landscapes of Settlement Project' has carried out archaeological and paleoenvironmental research in the Lake Mývatn region of N. Iceland since 1996. Animal bone collections dating from the late 9th century to the early 13th century AD have been recovered from five sites in different ecological zones around the lake, and three of these sites provide multiple phases datable through radiocarbon, artefacts, and volcanic tephra. Modern systematic biological and geological investigations in the Mývatn district date to the 19th century and a detailed picture of the recent ecology can be combined with both archaeological and historical evidence for long term resource exploitation by humans in this inland region. Analysis of bird bones and bird eggshell suggests that the locally managed sustainable harvest of migratory waterfowl eggs carried out over the last 150 years extends back to the 9th century. These inland archaeofauna also include significant numbers of marine fish and sea birds, marine mollusca, and a few seal and porpoise bones. Marine fish remains recovered indicate specialised transport of partial skeletons missing most cranial and some thoracic vertebrae, suggesting that a cured fish product was being regularly brought to inland farms during the early years of the settlement. Inter-regional exchange and a pre-Hanseatic artisanal fish trade prior to AD 1000 suggests the importance of preserved marine fish in early Scandinavian economies, and may shed light on the source of the 11th century 'fish event horizon' recently documented in southern Britain.     

THE TRADING OF ANCIENT GLASS BEADS: NEW ANALYTICAL DATA FROM SOUTH ASIAN AND EAST AFRICAN SODA–ALUMINA GLASS BEADS*

The occurrence of similar glass beads at archaeological sites in Africa and Asia bears witness to the trade relationship between the two continents. This paper reports elemental analysis results from a recent in‐depth laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA–ICP–MS) study of a group of archaeological glass beads with a specific alumina‐rich composition from East Africa, India and Sri Lanka. Based on the concentrations of the trace elements, two different subgroups were identified. One subgroup occurs at early periods (fourth century bce to fifth century ace ) in South India and Sri Lanka. The second subgroup appears at later dates in Africa and was identified at different Kenyan sites dated from the ninth to the 19th century ace , and at the contemporaneous site of Chaul in western India.     

The dating of Doggerland – post-glacial geochronology of the southern North Sea

Abstract

The landscapes and archaeological sites of the southern North Sea, drowned in the period 12–6 ky BP, represent an almost unexplored field of research. Published palaeoenvironmental reconstructions are largely speculative, being based on few published sea-level index points and in the absence of detailed physical and chronological surveys. In this paper, we review the post-glacial geochronology for the southern North Sea, which includes 54 radiocarbon ages derived from peat, 17 from molluscs and one known dated artefact. The lack of detailed contextual information for many dated samples means that there remains uncertainty in some elevation data, and thus in the resulting interpreted sea level. The archaeological artefacts are mostly derived deposits and thus are of limited use in palaeoenvironmental reconstruction. Overall, the data are consistent with current models of relative sea-level change back to about 10 ky BP (～45 m depth) but beyond this, there is very little published data. Much more detailed stratigraphic, microfossil and geochemical analysis is needed to help verify chronological data, help interpret the sedimentary settings in which fossils and artefacts are found, and contribute towards more reliable palaeoenvironmental and archaeological reconstructions of the history of the southern North Sea.     

Paleopathology and health of native and introduced animals on Southern Peruvian and Bolivian Spanish Colonial sites

Spanish colonial sites in southern Peru and Bolivia contain remains of native camelids and introduced bovids with examples of degenerative paleopathologies that are interpreted as reflecting changes in herd management, animal use and animal health following the Spanish conquest. The archaeological contexts include three Spanish colonial wineries from Moquegua in southern Peru and the nearby colonial village of Torata Alta where indigenous people were forced to resettle under Spanish control. Also from Peru is faunal material from the 14th to 16th century rural agropastoral village of Pillistay located near Camana. Animal remains with bone abnormalities are also present in residential, commercial and industrial sites associated with Spanish silver mining near Potosí, Bolivia at Tarapaya and Cruz Pampa. Eighteen pathological specimens are described including examples of degenerative changes to phalanges, vertebrae, tarsals, limb elements and ribs. Paleopathologies present include exostoses, osteophytes, porosity, grooving and eburnation. Examples of phalangeal exostoses on bovid phalanges indicate the use of these introduced animals as draught cattle. Exostoses on camelid first phalanges suggests their use as cargo animals as do thoracic vertebrae with severe cases of degenerative pathology. Introduced caprines contain few pathologies indicating their primary use as food animals. The bone abnormalities from colonial sites are more severe than those reported for prehispanic faunal assemblages. These data provide insights into the health and work behaviour of indigenous Andean camelids and introduced Eurasian animals following the Spanish conquest. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Developing baseline data to understand environmental change: a geochemical study of archaeological otoliths from the Coorong,South Australia

Otoliths are calcium carbonate structures found in the inner ear of teleost fish. While they are routinely studied by marine scientists, analyses of otoliths recovered from archaeological sites in Australia and the Pacific have generally been restricted to identification of species and sometimes the fish age. Otoliths can also provide information on the season of catch, and, through trace element analysis, allow the reconstruction of environmental conditions experienced by fish. In this study, we use otoliths from mid- to late Holocene aged archaeological shell middens at the Coorong (South Australia) to examine species present, season of catch, age of fish and environmental conditions experienced by fish. Results demonstrate that the majority of the fish (identified as Argyrosomus japonicus and Acanthopagrus butcheri) were caught in freshwater environments during the warm season, and had grown to an age and size indicative of their having reached sexual maturity. This study provides data indicating fluctuating levels of salinity in the estuary, which are significantly lower than the hypersaline conditions experienced today. Ultimately, this project highlights the usefulness of conducting more detailed investigations of otoliths, including geochemical analyses, to address a wide range of research questions in archaeology and palaeoenvironmental research.     

Interpreting,dating, and reevaluating the botanical assemblage from tell Kedesh: a case study of historical contamination

Botanical assemblage including charred and mineralized macro plant remains were examined from tell Kedesh in the Upper Galilee, Israel. Flotation samples were collected from various contexts within and outside a large Persian-Hellenistic administrative building complex at tell Kedesh, dated to the 5th to the 2nd century BC, based on the archaeological material. Four AMS radiocarbon dates were obtained on plant macro remains recovered from the flotation samples from the complex. The radiocarbon dates range from the 9th century BC to 17th century AD. The discrepancy among the radiocarbon dates obtained from plant remains and those based on archaeological material can be attributed to bioturbation, including the deep burrowing of harvester ants. The study demonstrates the need for direct radiocarbon dating of the charred plant remains generally assumed to be of ancient origin. This research improves the understanding of depositional and postdepositional processes of plant macro remains and explains their mode of arrival, relevant for the sites with a long occupational history by humans and animals.     

The pattern of spondylosis deformans in prehistoric samples from west‐central New Mexico

A Pre‐Columbian skeletal sample (n=42) from two ancestral Pueblo sites in the Rio Grande valley of west‐central New Mexico was examined for frequency and severity of spondylosis deformans (vertebral osteophytosis). No significant sex differences were detected. Degenerative changes in the collective sample are generally confined to no more than well‐defined horizontal lipping at the joint margins. Advanced proliferative osteophytic change is infrequent even in the oldest age category. Not surprisingly, the lumbar vertebrae were the most frequently and most severely involved vertebral segment for all three adult age cohorts defined. The cervical vertebrae were the least involved. This pattern generally conforms with observations made on other archaeological samples from west of the Mississippi River, but it contrasts with the general pattern of more extensive cervical involvement in Pre‐Columbian North American samples from the Eastern Woodlands. This possible east–west difference is hypothesized (Bridges, P.S. 1994. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 93: 83–93) to be related to differential burden bearing habits. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Protocol for Recording Enamel Hypoplasia in Modern and Archaeological Caprine Populations

This paper outlines the first methodology for recording dental enamel hypoplasia in the high‐crowned dentition of modern and archaeological caprine teeth. The method has been developed and trialed on five caprine populations from Orkney (UK); two modern populations (Shetland and North Ronaldsay breeds) and three Neolithic assemblages from the archaeological sites of Knap of Howar, Skara Brae and Holm of Papa Westray. Problems associated with differential tooth wear, as well as the presence of coronal cementum, are discussed, and recommendations are given on the identification and recording of hypoplastic dental defects in caprines. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Classification and provenance of soapstones and garnet chlorite schist artifacts from Medieval sites of Tuscany (Central Italy): insights into the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic trade

Soapstones (talc-bearing schists) and garnet chlorite schist artifacts found in Medieval archaeological sites of Tuscany (Central Italy) were classified, in order to define provenance of the different lithotypes. In Italy and throughout the Central Europe, these greenschist facies metamorphic rocks are generally known, among the archaeologists, as the pietra ollare from the Alps. The investigated Tuscan archaeological sites are between 6 and 13th century AD and were strictly linked, in that period, to the well defined network trade running along Tyrrhenian coast. Samples come from little containers used for cooking and preserving food and showing traces of lathe manufacturing at their sidewalls. According to modal mineralogy, petrographic texture, XRD, SEM-EDS and whole rock chemistry we recognised, among the 18 studied findings, three different petrographic groups of the Alpine pietra ollare. (i) Fine grained magnesite talc schists (i.e. soapstones) from outcrops of the Central Alps located in the Valchiavenna area. (ii) Garnet chlorite schists from the Valle d'Aosta region. (iii) Amphibole talc schists (i.e. soapstones) with a provenance in the Ticino area. It is worth noting that artifacts of pietra ollare lithotypes from the Western Alps (i.e. garnet chlorite schists and amphibole talc schists) were not detected in the archaeological sites of the Middle Adriatic coast of the Central Italy, belonging to the same Medieval time interval. This emphasises that the petrographic groups of pietra ollare from the Alps spread to the south of the Po Plain according to Western and Eastern trade along the Italian Peninsula, using respectively, the Tyrrhenian and the Adriatic Sea commercial routes.     

Electrochemical Characterization and Dating of Archaeological Leaded Bronze Objects Using the Voltammetry of Immobilized Particles

The application of solid state electrochemistry techniques for the characterization and dating of leaded bronze objects is described. Characteristic voltammetric signatures of copper and lead corrosion products were used as markers of more or less prolonged corrosion periods. The proposed methodology was applied to samples from the Roman archaeological sites of Valeria (Spain) and Gadara (Jordan), Roman and medieval sites in Xàtiva (Spain), and modern statuary exhibited outdoors, on the campus of the Universitat Politècnica of Valencia, Spain, covering a time interval between the fourth to second century bc and the 20th century ad . For such samples, the ratio between the signals for copper and lead corrosion products decreased monotonically with the corrosion time. This variation was modelled on the basis of thermochemical and kinetic considerations, the experimental data being consistent with a potential rate law for the corrosion process.     

The Classical Tradition Strikes Back. Reply to Comments on The Rise of Bronze Age Society from Gullög Nordquist and Helène Whittaker.

This paper discusses the recent excavation of a 10th century shieling in the highlands of eastern Iceland and places it in the context of other sites and research into Viking age shielings in the North Atlantic. Although the basic economic role of shielings in relation to livestock and summer transhumance is not contested, it is argued that a more complex interpretation needs to be developed around such sites, to consider their ideological and political status. The presence of ‘subsidiary activities’ is often a prominent element in the archaeological record of such sites; the site of Pálstóftir provides indications of small scale craftwork, hunting and magico‐religious practices which need to be made a more central part of interpretation.     

The Upper Paleolithic of the Russian steppe zone

The vast steppe area North of the Black Sea has been populated since the early Middle Paleolithic. The number of known sites dating to the Upper Paleolithic is increasing as research progresses, and today about 150 Upper Paleolithic sites have received some (although varied) degree of study. For a long time, the steppe zone was considered to have had a separate cultural-economic adaptation that differed drastically from that found in the periglacial province farther north. The difference was expressed in the specialization in bison hunting and in the very high mobility of the population. More recent archaeological research, described briefly in this article, presents a different picture: Subsistence was more varied, hunting was not limited to bison, and the settlement system indicates long periods of occupation of the sites. There were many local archaeological cultures, and study of the material remains indicates numerous contacts between the people of the steppe zone and those in Central Europe and the Caucasus and, by way of the Caucasus, with Western Asia.