An Alakul funeral and ritual site in the Eastern Orenburg region

An unusual funeral and ritual site of the Alakul culture is described. It is situated in the northern periphery of a Late Bronze Age mining and metallurgical center in the Ural–Mugodzhary region, and is associated with the Ishkinovka group of ancient copper mines, which began to be exploited in the Early Bronze Age. A stone statue and votive objects suggest that the kurgan was a sanctuary marking a tribal area and a ritual center of a population engaged in copper mining and copper metallurgy     

Charcoal analyses as an environmental tool for the study of Early Medieval sunken houses infills in Roztoky near Prague, Czech Republic

The research was focused on the testing of possible information value of charcoal analysis from infills of archaeological objects, when methodologically different approaches are used in the combination with the micromorphological and pollen-analytical approach. The case study site chosen for this type of study is the unique Early Medieval settlement at Roztoky, Czech Republic. The comparative study includes the infills of 20 pithouses from the extensive settlement comprising about 750 (323 excavated) such archaeological structures situated along the left bank of Vltava River close to what today is the city of Prague. A combination of three anthracological outcomes (the number of charcoal fragments, the anthracomass, and the qualitative frequency of charcoal species) proves to be a powerful tool in determining the vegetation pattern in the surrounding landscape. The study revealed a major effect of post-depositional processes and quantification methods on the final anthracological interpretation. A modification of the anthracological record in different layers was traced in order to assess the applicability of sedimentology and micromorphology in the interpreting of the primary use and ending of the objects found. The reliability of anthracological interpretations are then compared with the results of micromorphological analyses and with regional vegetation patterns interpreted from pollen analyses of an off-site pollen profile.     

Combining pollen and charcoal: evaluating Holocene vegetation composition and dynamics

Pollen analysis reveals vegetation change on a local and regional level over (ideally) continuous time spans but with complications when it comes to the reconstruction of spatially precise species occurrence and composition. Wood charcoal analysis provides site-related information on species occurrence and woodland composition, especially when sediments containing pollen are lacking, but is normally discontinuously available and has the danger of human bias due to potential selection of certain species for e.g. fire making, house construction or charcoal making. Combining the two methods – assuming that suitable palaeoarchives are neighbouring – might compensate for their disadvantages and strengthen the interpretations on vegetation composition and dynamics on a local, extra-local and regional scale. Three examples are given where pollen analysis from “classical” archives – mires and lake sediments – was carried out, and where additionally species identification of wood charcoals was done on samples extracted from close-by archives. The first example (Kugelstattmoos, Bavarian Forest, Germany) combines a Holocene pollen diagram derived from a small mire with late medieval/early modern times charcoal spectra from charcoal production sites which are situated on the margin of the mire. Results show the local occurrence of the main woodland species Fagus sylvatica and Abies alba, and raises new questions on the montane species composition of the formerly natural forests in the Bavarian Forest. The second example (Bargstedter Moor, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) combines Holocene pollen diagrams from a peat bog with late medieval/early modern times charcoal spectra from charcoal production sites in a woodland close to the bog. It shows the role of Quercus, Fagus, Alnus and Carpinus in medieval and early modern times woodlands and its use by man. The third example (Kleiner Tornowsee, Brandenburg, Germany) combines pollen data from sediments of a small lake with charcoal data derived from Holocene colluvisols and soils. The examples show that anthracological and palynological data complement one another to create a more detailed picture of woodland history and landscape change than one method alone would provide.     

Silver lining: evidence for Inka silver refining in northern Chile

Prehistoric silver purification using lead cupellation has been documented in multiple places throughout the Andes, but direct evidence of the Inka use of this technology has remained elusive. In this study, we use X-ray fluorescence, scanning electron microscopy, and electron-microprobe analysis to document direct evidence of Inka period (AD 1400–1532) silver purification using lead cupellation in the Tarapacá Valley of northern Chile. Local metalworkers used wind-driven huayra furnaces to produce pure lead metal, sustaining temperatures of ca. 900–1100 °C to smelt lead-bearing ores that may have included galena. The lead metal was then used in open-vessel cupellation of silver-bearing ores, some of which may have been cupriferous and derived from the nearby Inka mines at Huantajaya. Phase analyses of the slagged interiors of bowl-shaped ceramic vessels used for cupellation indicate that the metalworkers maintained the oxidizing environment and temperatures between 800 and 1100 °C requisite for cupellation. We argue that the Inka introduced this technique to Tarapacá metalworkers. The absence of finished silver artifacts in local valley contexts suggests that the refined silver was removed from the valley for use elsewhere in the empire.     

Roman mining on Exmoor: a geomorphological approach at Anstey's Combe,Dulverton

Abstract

A survey of valley fills in south-facing combes (headwater valleys) along the south side of the Exmoor massif revealed an anomalously deep infill in one valley. This infill of up to 5 m depth had been gullied revealing a complex stratigraphy. Studies of the stratigraphy, clast orientation and shape suggested several accumulation episodes under different environmental conditions commencing in a periglacial climatic regime. Later units included sandy silts which can be dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of quartz grains. The OSL dates, indicate that the inter-gravel silts accumulated in two periods, the Romano-British period and the 16th–17th centuries AD. A survey of the very small valley catchment revealed a linear trench of a type associated with early iron mining. Given the anomalously high volume of accumulated sediment from such a small catchment and evidence of mining on the slope above the site, the geomorphic mechanism is almost certainly the downslope transport of mining debris from the slope to the valley floor. This study suggests that the systematic survey of headwater valleys in metalliferous uplands may be one way of locating areas of early mining activity and that such deposits could provide a chronology of working and abandonment.     

Chinese Indentured Mine Labour and the Dangers Associated with Early 20th Century Deep‐level Mining on the Witwatersrand Gold Mines,South Africa

Trauma analysis in archaeological human remains can aid our understanding of cultural practices, socio‐economic status, environmental and social conditions, and even aspects of a person's occupation. For this reason, fracture patterns and frequencies can be useful in making inferences about the environment people lived and worked in. This is especially true for the 20th century mining industry where unskilled migrant labourers were often subjected to harsh working and living conditions. In this study, the skeletal remains of 36 Chinese indentured mine labourers, who worked and died on the Witwatersrand mines, South Africa, during the period ad 1904–1910, were assessed for evidence of trauma. Historical information suggests that these indentured Chinese labourers were unfamiliar with the workings of deep‐level mines and as a result sustained many work‐related injuries. Analyses suggest low frequencies of ante‐mortem trauma. In the few instances where they occurred, these healed fractures most probably reflect injuries already sustained in China, some time before Chinese indentured employment on the Witwatersrand mines. A high frequency of traumatic lesions, specifically peri‐mortem fractures, however, suggests a drastic shift in their working environment attesting to the hazardous working conditions associated with deep‐level mining in the early 20th century. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sustainable management of metallurgical forest on Mont Lozère (France) during the Early Middle Ages

Mont Lozère, located in the French Massif Central region, provides an exceptional context in which to research the impact that charcoal production and metallurgy had on woodlands, along with the role that these activities played in changing the mountain landscape. This study provides an insight into the land use, forest management methods and metallurgical practices in the area during the Middle Ages (11th to 15th centuries). Medieval charcoal burning platforms, archaeological remains that have often been neglected in the past as a source of historical information, along with nearby smelting sites, were identified, sampled and analysed. In this paper, spatial analyses, radiocarbon dating and anthracological and dendro-anthracological studies have been combined in a unique manner. The results reveal that charcoal burners practiced beech coppicing, where the species and diameter of wood used remained the same over a period of four centuries. It is proposed that this form of metallurgical forest management be considered an early example of a sustainable utilisation of natural resources.     

Identifying food provenience using Sr/Ca ratio in human enamel

The strontium (Sr) concentration in bioapatite of human bone and teeth reflects the Sr concentration in food that is differentiated by two major factors: an abundance of Sr in local soils and the biopurification effect along the trophic levels. Eastern Syria is an area with a relatively high concentration of Sr within the Euphrates valley and a low concentration of Sr beyond the valley. For this reason, the strontium/calcium (Sr/Ca) ratio in human enamel retrieved from skeletons buried in cemeteries within the Euphrates valley may be used as a proxy for food provenience in a local population. A sample of human teeth (N = 72) from Tell Ashara and Tell Masaikh was divided into seven temporal subsets covering periods between c.2200 bce and the early 20th century ce . A significant difference in Sr/Ca values between temporal subsets is observed. The Sr/Ca values in later subsets are negatively correlated with δ¹³C values, indicating the wider exploitation of steppe areas outside the valley with more wild C4 grasses and a low Sr concentration. For periods with lower Sr/Ca values (c.2200–1900 bce and 19th–20th centuries ce ) there is additional textual and isotopic evidence for food transportation from outside the river valley, supporting the interpretation of Sr/Ca values as a proxy for food provenience in this specific area.     

Spatial and temporal variety of prehistoric human settlement and its influencing factors in the upper Yellow River valley,Qinghai Province,China

We report an investigation of forty-two prehistoric sites in the upper Yellow River valley located in Guide, Jianzha, Hualong, Xunha and Minhe, Qinghai Province, China, including forty-four new radiocarbon dates from twenty-four sites, review published archaeological surveys and radiocarbon dates, analyze landform features and discuss the reasons for spatial and temporal variety of regional prehistoric human settlement. Our results suggest that people occupied the upper Yellow River valley during the early Holocene, but a continuous archaeological record begins only after about 5500 Cal yr BP. Thereafter, the intensity of prehistoric human settlement in the area is varied. Neolithic human settlement spread northwestward to high altitude areas of the upper Yellow River valley during early-mid Majiayao and Qijia periods, but moved southeastward to lower locations in the area during late Majiayao period. During the Bronze period, two coeval archaeological cultures, the Kayue and Xindian, occupied the upper Yellow River Region. Kayue archaeological sites are numerous and widely distributed in the high areas of the upper Yellow River, while Xindian sites are restricted to the lowest basin of the region. Variation in site density and location are likely the result of changing paleoclimate and technology.     

A Palaeoenvironmental Investigation of Sediments from the Prehistoric Mine of Copa Hill,Cwmystwyth, mid-Wales

This paper investigates the use of mine sediments to reconstruct the vegetational changes and atmospheric pollution history associated with prehistoric and Mediaeval metal mining in the Ystwyth valley, Dyfed, mid-Wales. Pollen, charcoal, plant macrofossils, fossil insects and chemical analyses are presented from radiocarbon-dated sediments contained within a prehistoric mine situated on the upper slope of Copa Hill, close to the village of Cwmystwyth. The results provide additional support to the hypothesis that prehistoric mining had a negligible impact on woodland and that deforestation took place after Bronze Age mining ceased. Although high concentrations of Cu, Pb and Zn were determined from sediments of prehistoric and Roman Age, the patterns bear little resemblance to off site atmospheric pollution records and to the archaeological evidence for metal mining. Interpreting geochemical data from mine contexts is problematic as numerous factors influence the distribution and concentration of metals. However, an on-site and off-site approach to investigate human-environment interactions caused by metal mining is advocated.     

New insights into the ancient silver production of the Wallis area, Switzerland

This paper discusses the results of a study of the exploitation history of the metallogenic region of the Wallis, Switzerland. Periods of exploitation in this mining district are determined by comparisons of the lead isotope fingerprint of the mines with those of dated artefacts presumed to have a local origin based on the style of craftsmanship. The approach is based on the study of silver mines in the Wallis area and illustrated by three examples of local craftsmanship: (1) silver jewellery from the Late Iron Age, (2) a reliquary shrine from the Early Middle Ages and (3) silver coins from the Late Middle Age.     

Condemned to metallum? The origin and role of 4th–6th century A.D. Phaeno mining campresidents using multiple chemical techniques

The Byzantine period (4th–7th centuries A.D.) site of Khirbet Faynan (Phaeno) was a state-run mining camp described in ancient sources as a destination for Christian martyrs and others prosecuted by the administration who were condemned to the mines (damnatio ad metallum). However, other evidence suggests that Phaeno had a much broader role and population in antiquity than that described by ancient writers. Here, strontium and oxygen isotope data on the level of migration into Phaeno were compared with elemental data on lead and copper skeletal levels to illuminate the varied exposure of local vs. non-local individuals to contaminated environments (presumably from working in mining and smelting operations). Dental enamel ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ¹⁸O data from 31 individuals excavated from the Southern Cemetery identified one individual born in a region with different strontium isotope values in the bedrock yet similar oxygen isotope signatures as Faynan. Most of the primarily locally-derived Faynan residents displayed skeletal copper and lead levels exceeding those seen in comparative samples, confirming that growing up and residing in the polluted environment of Faynan led to notable bioaccumulation of heavy metals and its resulting health effects. In addition, ten individuals had extremely elevated lead and copper levels in their skeleton resulting from more intensive exposure to contaminated environments, possibly through smelting and mining activities. These data confirm the relatively localized nature of this imperial operation and that this predominantly locally-derived population had different activities that put them ask varied risk for contamination by heavy metals.     

Early medieval origins of iron mining and settlement in central Sweden: multiproxy analysis of sediment and peat records from the Norberg mining district

The historical Norberg mining district in central Sweden with its shallow, easily accessible iron ores figures prominently in the earliest documents from the 14th century concerning mining or metallurgy. This 1000-km² district is considered to be one of the first areas in Sweden exploited for iron ores and, in fact, Europe’s oldest known blast furnace, Lapphyttan, is located in the Norberg district about 10 km from the mines in the village of Norberg (Norbergsby). Earlier archaeological excavations suggest the furnace was in operation as early as the 11th or 12th century (870 and 930 ¹⁴C yr BP), and a number of other sites in the district have been dated to the 13th–15th centuries. Here, we have analyzed two lake sediment records (Kalven and Noren) from the village of Norberg and a peat record from Lapphyttan. The Lapphyttan peat record was radiocarbon dated, whereas the sediment from Kalven is annually laminated, which provides a fairly precise chronology. Our pollen data indicate that land use in the area began gradually as forest grazing by at least c. AD 1050, with indications of more widespread forest disturbance and cultivation from c. 1180 at Lapphyttan and 1250 at Kalven. Based on ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb isotope ratios in Kalven’s varved sediment record, there is an indication of mining or metallurgy in the area c. 960, but likely not in immediate connection to our sites. Evidence of mining and metallurgy increases gradually from c. 1180 when there is a decline in ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratios and an increase in charcoal particles at Lapphyttan, followed by increasing inputs of lithogenic elements in Noren’s sediment record indicating soil disturbance, which we attribute to the onset of mining the iron ore bodies surrounding Noren. From AD 1295 onwards evidence of mining and metallurgy are ubiquitous, and activities accelerate especially during the late 15th century; the maximum influence of Bergslagen ore lead (i.e., the minimum in ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb isotope ratios) in both Kalven and Noren occurs c. 1490–1500, when also varve properties change in Kalven and in Noren sharp increases occur in the concentrations of a range of other ore-related metals (e.g., arsenic, cadmium, copper, iron, lead, mercury and zinc). From the 15th century onwards mining and metallurgy are the dominant feature of the sediment records.     

Modeling skeletal traits and functions of the upper body: Comparing archaeological and anthropological material

The aim of this study is to look at upper body functional modifications caused by mechanical loading. We look at 4th lumbar vertebra as well as fibrous humeral musculoskeletal stress markers (MSMs). This study uses information provided by magnetic resonance images of living individuals from the University of Oulu Hospital data banks (N = 91), archaeological skeletons from Sweden (N = 54) and England (N = 61), and autopsied skeletal collection of early 20th century Finns in Natural History Museum, University of Helsinki (N = 48). The lumbar vertebrae and MSM are subjected to mechanical loading caused by the upper body weight and loads lifted and/or carried. We hypothesized that the vertebral size reflect body size, habitual mechanical loading and the overall skeletal robusticity as mechanical competence to withstand mechanical loading standardized to body size, which has decreased over millennia. For Helsinki material occupation, age and sex is known and the material was used in Niinimäki (2011). In the study by Niinimäki (2011) MSM were found to be affected by the intensity of muscular action as well as body size and age. This study is reviewed here in light of re-analysis of the data to follow the current anatomical understanding of the entheses as well as viewing MSMs as a part of upper body functional complex. Only fibrous entheses were included in the re-analysis. Furthermore, due to small number of females where activity intensity could be assessed, females were dropped from the re-analysis.     

Relict Anthropogenic Ecosystem from the Middle Ages: History of a Salt Marsh from Transylvania (Sic,N Romania)

ABSTRACT

A paleoecological study was performed on a sediment core recovered from a former artificial lake – the Reedbed of Sic near Cluj-Napoca, Romania – in order to explore the history of water management and nearby salt mining, and its impact on the environment. From the Roman period, the area served as a recipient of salty wastewaters. The most significant shift in the sediment composition and macrofossil assemblages took place after 1000 AD, suggesting a significant upturn in salt mining. The impact of mining-related activities was further increased in the Middle Ages when, according to documentary sources, fishponds and watermills were constructed in the area. They led to the stabilisation of the water level in the lakebed, and enhanced the appearance of reed beds and the spread of secondary salt marsh vegetation. This biotop was later invaded by the Entzia macrescens, an agglutinated foraminiferal taxon, known mostly from the high intertidal marshes worldwide. In the investigated marshland, the dominance of halophytic species reached their acme in the seventeenth century, which coincides with the acme of mining activities. This medieval – early Modern Age industrial ecosystem survived the abandonment of salt mines and fishponds, being preserved until today.     

RAILWAYS AND MINING: THE ROLE OF THE TRAIN IN THE EXPLOITATION OF THE CERRO MURIANO MINE (CÓRDOBA,SPAIN)

Abstract

Since its inception, the railway has been intimately connected with mining. On one hand, the arrival of trains permitted the large-scale development of numerous mines far from the sea, with the railways facilitating supply delivery to the mine as well as the transport of its products to ports or industrial centres and other interior points. On the other hand, railways depended on the mines being provided with raw materials and fuel. Thus, during the 19th and 20th centuries, a close relationship was established between the two industries, often reflected in the capital invested. In this article, we study this relationship using the example of the British-worked Cerro Muriano mine (Córdoba, Spain).     

From Incremental Dispossession to a Cumulative Land Grab: Understanding Territorial Transformation in India's North Karanpura Coalfield

This article explores a great contradiction in rural land debates in India: on the one hand, explosive political contestation that is often able to halt proposed land acquisition; on the other, an unprecedented urban‐industrial expansion that is appropriating rural land. The authors argue that land grabbing for mining proceeds in an incremental manner, yet its cumulative effect leads to territorial transformation. To investigate this incremental appropriation, a temporal study of the North Karanpura coal mining tract in eastern India was conducted, combining remote sensing, interviews and official land‐use data. The results reveal a cumulative land grab of thousands of hectares from the late 1980s to the present day as open‐cut coal mines swallow up vast swathes of agricultural fields and forests. The political economy mechanism behind this immense land grab, which to date has gone undetected, consists of three phases: the reservation of the land as a coalfield with multiple coal blocks; the division of the blocks into separate mines; and the flexible expansion of individual mines wherever reduced resistance to land acquisition is encountered. This research indicates that an aggregate analysis of land dynamics can more robustly place the dramatic rearrangements of the Indian countryside within the international land grabbing debate.     

Metal Working in the Northern Lowveld,South Africa A.D. 1000–1890

Abstract

The Iron Age archaeology of the northern Lowveld of South Africa is notable for the abundance of mining, metal working, and salt production sites recorded in the region. We report the results of scientific studies of the metallurgical remains recovered from 1965 to 1978 by Nikolaas J. van der Merwe, David Killick, and colleagues in various campaigns of survey and excavation in the Phalaborwa region, a major center of precolonial metallurgy. Both iron and copper ores occur in a carbonatite complex at Phalaborwa and were smelted in low-shaft furnaces of two different designs. Two radiocarbon dates of ca. 1000 b.p. are available for the mines themselves, which have now been completely destroyed. All other radiocarbon dates for the archaeological sequence at Phalaborwa fall in two groups, the first from the 10th to 13th centuries A.D., the second from the 17th through the 20th centuries A.D. Both iron and copper were smelted in both periods; tin-bronze and brass appeared towards the end of the earlier period.     

Late Mesolithic hunting of a small female aurochs in the valley of the River Tjonger (the Netherlands) in the light of Mesolithic aurochs hunting in NW Europe

The valley of the River Tjonger, situated in the Province of Friesland (the Netherlands), is rich in prehistoric organic remains. The fill of the valley, consisting of waterlogged sediments (peat, gyttja and sands), presents favourable conditions for the preservation of bone, antler and botanical remains. Numerous bones with chop and cut marks, in majority of aurochs (Bos primigenius), are known from several locations in the valley. The Late Mesolithic (ca. 8000–5500 BP) is especially well represented. In this paper we present a recently discovered small hunting and butchering wetland site dating to the Late Mesolithic. The site, named Balkweg, represents a single hunting and primary butchering event pertaining to a small female aurochs with a height at the withers of 134 cm. The morphology of the vertebrae and the phalanges as well as the Late Mesolithic date confirm the identification as an aurochs cow. Single event sites are underrepresented in the archaeological record due to their small size and poor visibility. The importance of aurochs hunting during the Mesolithic is discussed in this paper as well.