The bioerosion of bird bones

This study presents a synthesis of the evidence for modern archaeological, and palaeontological bioerosion of vertebrate tissue. It describes the first evidence for the bioerosion of modern, archaeological and fossil bird bones. A new form of bone bioerosion, known as Hackett tunnels, is defined. The bioerosion of vertebrate tissue by cyanobacteria and algae in modern marine and lacustrine environments is also described. Archaeological evidence indicates that the destruction of bone by bioerosion occurs in other terrestrial environments, such as cave deposits and middens. Bone from marine and lacustrine environments that appears to be macroscopically well preserved can have large amounts of microscopic fabric destruction. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Animal bones and human behavior

A.T. Clason, ed. Archaeozoological Studies. New York: American Elsevier (Amsterdam: North‐Holland), 1975. xvi + 477 pp. List of participants, index, figures, tables, and chapter references. English (29 articles), German (16 articles), and French (3 articles). $45.00 cloth.

B.D. Smith. “Middle Mississippi Exploitation of Animal Populations.” Ann Arbor: University of Michigan (Museum of Anthropology) Anthropological Paper no. 57, 1975. xii + 233 pp. List of figures and tables, appendices, bibliography. $4.00 paper.

R.W. Casteel. Fish Remains in Archaeology and Paleo‐environmental Studies. New York: Academic Press, 1976. x +180 pp. References, author and subject indices. $14.80 cloth.

L.R. Binford, ed. For Theory Building in Archaeology: Essays on Faunal Remains, Aquatic Resources, Spatial Analysis, and Systemic Modeling. New York: Academic Press, 1977. xviii + 419 pp. List of contributors, figures, and tables, chapter references, author and subject indices. $24.50 cloth.     

Lead concentrations in bones and soil

Lead concentrations were measured in 41 rib samples from the Romano-British cemetery at Poundbury and in two sets of soil samples from the graves yielding up the bones. The levels of lead in the soil were in no way exceptional (means for the two series were 16·7 and 24·8 μg/g dry weight) and there was no correlation between soil lead and bone lead concentrations.Since bone lead concentrations vary independently of those in the soil, it is unlikely that the bones are contaminated by lead in the soil, at least under the conditions prevailing at this particular site.     

Bower birds,bones and archaeology

Objects collected by the Australian great bower bird, Chlamydera nuchalis, may include artifacts and human food debris. The birds could affect the shape and interpretation of some archaeological assemblages. Bones from two bower collections are described according to: (1) their sizes and shapes; (2) the taxa and elements represented; and (3) marks and damage. The potential relevance of the birds for archaeological interpretation is assessed and ways of recognizing bias caused by the birds are discussed.     

Traumatic bowing deformities in tubular bones

Is bowing in long bones from an archaeological context representative of postmortem damage or genuine antemortem pathology? Bowing deformities (also known as traumatic bowing deformities, plastic bowing deformities, plastic bowing fractures and acute bowing fractures in the clinical literature) are true pathological entities that have only recently been recognized by clinicians. Bowing in long bones results from a force that exceeds the elastic properties of a given bone, producing a new plastic (bowing) response phase. These subtle deformities commonly affect the radii and ulnae in children and less frequently other tubular bones of the skeleton. Traumatic bowing should be considered as a possible diagnosis whenever abnormal curvature of a long bone is observed. This presentation illustrates two cases of traumatic bowing isolated from two ossuary populations from Ontario, Canada and addresses differential diagnostic concerns. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

国家图书馆藏甲骨整理札记

自十九世纪末发现甲骨,至今已有一百余年的历史.1928年以前出土的甲骨,多是非科学发掘出土的资料,因而其出土的准确数量很难统计.据胡厚宣先生1984年的统计:殷墟出土的甲骨文资料,在我国大陆有98个机关单位,47家私人收藏,共收藏97611片;在台湾和香港有9个机关单位,3家私人收藏,共收藏30293片;在国外,计日本、加拿大等12个国家和地区,共收藏26700片.合国内外,公私收藏共154604片,举成数而言,即共有15万多片①.20世纪90年代以后还陆续有甲骨出土:1991年安阳殷墟花园庄东地出土甲骨1583片,其中有刻辞的689片②;2002年7月殷墟宫殿区又有甲骨发现③.总之,到目前为止,所有出土的甲骨数量不会超过16万片.     

Changes in human bones boiled in seawater

The differences between boiled or unboiled bones are not often studied. However, they are crucial to understand postmortem rituals and to establish defleshing procedures and mortuary practices. In this work, human bones boiled in sea or fresh water are characterized. The bone composition, as well as the compounds present in the resulting materials, shows that salt alters the boiling process mechanism. Hence, from structural and morphological criteria, it is possible to distinguish if a bone has been boiled in salt or fresh water. In both sets of samples, the smoothness of the bone surface depends on boiling time, but only in bones boiled in seawater, filaments are observed apparently pouring out of the pores.Those differences which are mainly morphological (smoothness of the surface) are explained in terms of a collagen diffusional mechanism favored by sodium and chloride ions. For a boiling time of 6 h, the surface is covered by a thick layer or crusts of degraded collagen. Experiments with seawater may be used as model experiments to simulate taphonomical alterations in bones exposed to salt water.     

周原甲骨保存现状评估研究

为保护珍贵的周原甲骨文物,了解文物保存现状,将1977年出土周原甲骨与2010年出土周原甲骨及新鲜甲骨进行对比研究。采用扫描电镜、X荧光光谱、X衍射、红外光谱等方法,从表面微观特征、元素成分、化学结构等方面对周原甲骨进行分析。结果表明,经历了两千多年地下埋藏、出土后的酸洗及三十多年保存,1977年出土的周原甲骨,表面疏松粉化,微孔结构逐渐消失,出现走向无序的裂纹及片层状脱落,无机成分以羟基磷灰石为主,蛋白质等有机成分已全部分解。2010年出土的周原甲骨出土后未经任何保护处理,目前表面未出现明显粉化与脱落,仍有少量有机物存在。本研究成果可以作为甲骨文物保护方法与保护材料研究的基础参考资料。     

Recollecting bones: the remains of German-Australian colonial entanglements

This article critically engages with the different politics of memory involved in debates over the restitution of Indigenous Australian ancestral remains stolen by colonial actors in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and brought to Berlin in the name of science. The debates crystallise how deeply divided German scientific discourses still are over the question of whether the historical and moral obligations of colonial injustice should be accepted or whether researchers should continue to profess scientific ‘disinterest’. The debates also reveal an almost unanimous disavowal of Indigenous Australian knowledges and mnemonic conceptions across all camps. The bitter ironies of this disavowal become evident when Indigenous Australian quests for the remains of their ancestral dead lost in the limbo of German scientific collections are juxtaposed with white Australian (fictional) quests for the remains of Ludwig Leichhardt, lost in the Australian interior.     

Lead concentrations in bones from a Neolithic long barrow

Lead concentrations were determined in ribs obtained from the Neolithic long barrow at Hazelton and compared with those in a series of modern bones. The mean lead concentration in the neolithic material was about two-and-a-half times less than the contemporary mean indicating that human activity has considerably increased the human body burden of lead.     

Comparing bird bones from Saxon sites: problems of interpretation

Bird bones from Saxon settlements in England provide evidence for considerable exploitation of birds, especially domestic poultry. This paper discusses some of the problems of analysing the relative importance of birds and of the ratio of fowls and geese. Detailed comparison of the results from sites in Southampton suggest that the first questions the faunal analyst should be asking concern methods of recovery and quantification. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

关于卜用甲骨起源之探讨

关于卜用甲骨的起源,学术界有不同的看法。本文通过对卜用甲骨产生背景的构建,探讨了卜用甲骨的起源问题。卜骨这一占卜习俗在北方地区从龙山早期出现后一直沿用到龙山晚期,中原地区的卜骨可能受到北方地区的影响。卜甲最早见于南关外期,此后在二里岗下层二期卜甲才又开始出现,二里岗上层数量大为增加,分布范围亦有所扩大。卜甲不见二里岗下层一期,可能南关外期的这件卜甲年代需要重新考虑。