Prepared core reduction at the site of Kudu Koppie in northern South Africa: temporal patterns across the Earlier and Middle Stone Age boundary

Kudu Koppie is a stratified late Earlier Stone Age and Middle Stone Age archaeological site located in the northern Limpopo Province of South Africa. The prepared core reduction strategies are described and temporal trends across the ESA–MSA boundary are presented. The prepared cores and endproducts of Kudu Koppie suggest that both the late ESA and MSA toolmakers employed the Levallois Volumetric Concept, but they often exploited a nodule's natural convexities and form. The MSA toolmakers used a greater variety of prepared core methods and more intensively exploited cryptocrystalline and microcrystalline nodules, the scarcity of which may have resulted in a more “formalized” application of the Levallois Volumetric Concept. These observations are considered within the context of human behavioural evolution.     

A crossbeam co-ordinate caliper for the morphometric analysis of lithic nuclei: a description,test and empirical examples of application

Over the last four decades, there has been surprisingly little advance in the quantitative morphometric analysis of Palaeolithic stone tools, especially compared to that which has taken place in biological morphometrics over a comparable time frame. In Palaeolithic archaeology's sister discipline of palaeoanthropology, detailed quantitative morphometric, geometric morphometric, and even 3D geometric morphometric analyses are now seen almost as routine. This period of relative methodological stasis may have been influenced by the lack of homologous landmarks on many lithic tools (essential for any comparative analysis), especially core-based technologies of the Lower Palaeolithic. Archaeological field conditions may also prohibit the use of expensive and delicate precision instruments in certain cases. Here we present a crossbeam co-ordinate caliper that – crucially – both geometrically locates and measures distances between morphologically homologous landmarks upon lithic nuclei via a single protocol. Intra- and inter-observer error tests provide evidence that error levels associated with the instrument fall within acceptable ranges. In addition, we present empirical examples of application in the form of a multivariate analysis of 55 discrete morphometric variables, and a 3D geometric morphometric analysis of co-ordinate landmark configurations derived from Pleistocene lithic nuclei (i.e. ‘cores’ sensu lato). We also introduce to lithic studies some techniques for the study of shape variation that have previously been used with success in biological morphometric analyses. We conclude that use of an instrument such as the crossbeam co-ordinate caliper may provide a useful adjunct to traditional techniques of lithic analysis, particularly in developing a quantitative morphometric approach.     

Size and form in the analysis of flake debris: Review and recent approaches

Flake debris — the by-product of lithic reduction — is abundant, not subject to uncontrolled collection, and sometimes culturally diagnostic. Its greatest virtue, however, is in registering the kinds and amounts of toolmaking and tool-using behavior that curated tools themselves may not. Most debris studies emphasize formal dimensions, yet even the best approaches assume rather than demonstrate a relationship between behavior and formal variation. Moreover, the diversity of formal typologies hinders interassemblage comparison. Progress in debris analysis has two prerequisites: (1) a minimum attribute set for individual flakes and (2) the combination of formal and continuous approaches to variation. Preliminary study suggests that Ahler's mass-analysis model and log skew Laplace functions hold particular promise for behavioral interpretation from debris assemblages.     

Numerical modelling of 3D fluid flow and oxygen isotope exchange in fractured media: spatial distribution of isotope patterns

An understanding of fluid flow, mass transport and isotopic exchange in fractured rock is required to understand the origin of several geological processes including hydrothermal mineral deposits. The numerical model HydroGeoSphere simulates 3D advection, molecular diffusion, mechanical dispersion and isotopic exchange in a discretely fractured porous media, and can be used to better understand the processes of mass transport and isotopic exchange in fractured rocks. Study of ¹⁸O isopleth patterns for different types of fractures and fracture networks with a range of structural complexity and hydraulic properties shows that fracture properties and geometry control mass transport and isotopic exchange. The hydraulic properties, as well as the density, spacing, and connectivity of fractures determine the isotopic patterns. Asymmetries in the geometry of oxygen isotope patterns could be used to determine the direction of hydrothermal fluid flow.     

潮汕与中国传统侨乡：一个关于移民经验的类型学分析

广东的潮汕地区、江门五邑地区和兴梅(即梅州)地区,以及福建的福州地区、浙江的青田都是中国的传统侨乡。本文试以潮汕侨乡为重点,选择江门五邑、梅州、福州、青田等侨乡为参照,分析在全球化时代的背景下,中国传统侨乡的新移民浪潮所展现的各自的不同特点和道路。并在此基础上,对侨乡的移民经验进行类型学分析,对当代中国侨乡人口国际迁移的特征、类型和发展趋势进行探讨。     

Geochemical provenance analyses of Roman lava millstones north of the Alps: a study of their distribution and implications for the beginning of Roman lava quarrying in the Eifel region (Germany)

In Roman times, rotary querns and different types of millstones, driven either by horse-capstan or water power, were produced in the lava quarries of the quaternary volcanic Eifel region and exported to many parts of the Empire. The geographic distribution of Roman lava millstones from the Eifel region provides important information about trade patterns and, in cases of well dated millstones, also allows an estimate as to when the Roman lava quarrying in the Eifel region began. Sixty-two millstones from Germany, France and Austria were sampled and analyzed for major and trace elements by X-ray fluorescence. To determine their provenance, the millstone data was evaluated by a combination of geochemical discrimination and cluster and discriminant analyses using an extensive and detailed database of all Roman lava quarries in the Eifel region. An Eifel provenance could be confirmed for forty-four artefacts and, furthermore, determined down to the exact lava flow. The affiliation of the other artefacts to other possible regions where millstones of comparable lava were extracted was carried out on the basis of geochemical data from the literature. However, because of insufficient data, only assumptions about the regional provenance can be made. The origins of the other finds are assumed to be the Vogelsberg region, the Massif Central, Orvieto, and, possibly, the Pannonian Basin. A preliminary map of the distribution of Eifel millstones in Roman times based on these data is presented; the beginning of Roman lava quarrying can be constrained to 8–7 BC.     

Chiefdoms and states in the Yuncheng Basin and the Chifeng region: A comparative analysis of settlement systems in North China

Regional settlement datasets for the Yuncheng Basin and the Chifeng region are re-analyzed for comparison so as to reconstruct differing patterns of community development at local and supra-local scales. A methodological implication of this reanalysis is that comparing settlement areas and surface artifact densities between projects requires special attention to how the data were recorded so as to put them on the same measurement scale. The analytical approaches originally taken to reconstructing community organization in the two regions, while differing in several respects, are shown to produce highly compatible results, permitting a comparison of the two trajectories with a sound empirical foundation. Neolithic settlement began much earlier in Chifeng, but rates of demographic and community growth were extremely slow. In Yuncheng, early village growth was much more dramatic. Multiple chiefly districts of modest size emerged in both regions, but those of Yuncheng, despite their shorter developmental trajectory, had substantially larger populations. Their central settlements, in particular, grew to be much larger than those in Chifeng and the special activities carried out at these centers differed between the two regions. A poorly understood, but not contemporaneous, demographic disruption punctuated both sequences. It was followed by the emergence of political integration on a much larger scale in the Yuncheng Basin, focused on a single settlement an order of magnitude larger than its predecessors. In Chifeng, regional population soared far beyond previous levels, but political integration remained persistently small in scale.     

The 4th-century B.C. shipwreck at Mazotos,Cyprus: New techniques and methodologies in the 3D mapping of shipwreck excavations

Abstract

Well preserved ancient shipwrecks are rare in the archaeological record, but when discovered, they can provide valuable information on a wide range of research issues if analyzed and documented properly. In this paper we discuss the significance, potential, and constraints of mapping methods applied during the underwater excavation of shipwreck sites with special emphasis on stratigraphy, documentation of finds, and reconstruction of site formation processes. As a case study, we present the digital photogrammetry and computer vision software programs used in the excavation of the 4th-century b.c. shipwreck at Mazotos, Cyprus. Our goal is to develop a targeted documentation and mapping method of ongoing shipwreck excavations so that others can address complex research questions concerning this unique discipline of archaeology.