Stapedial footplate fixation in a 4000-year-old temporal bone from Franzhausen II,Austria

In one of 185 temporal bones from 100 individuals excavated from the Bronze Age cemetery Franzhausen II in Lower Austria, stapedial footplate fixation was detected, in a 16–20-year-old male. Examination by surgical microscope, flexible endoscope and computed tomography revealed that the stapes footplate is almost completely fixed into the oval window, with abnormal bone formation in its anterior end. As shown by computed tomographic imaging there were no radiolucent zones around the cochlea, which can sometimes be seen in modern patients with cochlear otosclerosis. Most findings lead to the conclusion that this case of a stapes ankylosis nearly 4000 years ago is probably due to otosclerosis.     

Pigment analysis in Bronze Age Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean painted plaster by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS)

Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) was used in the examination of Bronze Age painted plaster samples from several sites in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean. The elemental content of paint materials was determined in most cases leading to the identification of the pigment used in agreement with data from analyses of the same samples with other established techniques. The analyses demonstrate that a virtually non-destructive technique such as LIBS provides sufficient data for the elemental characterisation of painting materials while in parallel has the capability for routine, rapid analysis of archaeological objects enabling the quick characterisation or screening of different types of artefacts. This certainly shows an important way forward in technological studies of fragile and scarce archaeological material.     

Landscape and Settlement in Late Bronze Age Cyprus: Investigations at Pyla-Kokkinokremos, 2007–2009

Pyla-Kokkinokremos is a fortified hilltop settlement in Cyprus founded towards the end of the Late Bronze Age. It has played a prominent role in discussions concerning the c. 1200 BC ‘collapse’ in the wider eastern Mediterranean. Results from survey and soundings (2007–09) provide significant new information about the site and its relationship to the surrounding landscape. This includes the discovery of a large intramural feature in the form of a shallow bedrock terrace with associated architecture running through the centre of the settlement. Consideration is also given to broader regional patterns of settlement in the surrounding Pyla littoral and south-east Cyprus.     

Salt mining tools and techniques from Duzdaği (Nakhchivan,Azerbaijan) in the 5th to 3rd millennium B.C.

The emergence of mining reflects profound changes in the organization of late prehistoric societies. In terms of lithic and ore mining, salt is a highly strategic mineral resource which was exploited for its dietary and healing properties. The exceptional prehistoric salt mine of Duzda?i (Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan) is located in a high salt-bearing region centered on the Aras River in the Lesser Caucasus. Field survey, spatial recording of archaeological materials and use-wear analysis of macrolithic tools have allowed us to outline the mining operations and techniques there from the Chalcolithic period onwards. We have identified workshops for the manufacture and repair of tools, as well as salt extraction and processing areas.     

A palynological and geoarchaeological investigation into Bronze Age farming at Belderg Beg,Co. Mayo,Ireland

This contribution describes the results and interpretations of geoarchaeological and palynological analyses of a soil profile near to a ¹⁴C dated Bronze Age roundhouse in a sub-peat field system at Belderg Beg, north Mayo in western Ireland, which displayed field-scale evidence of tillage in the form of cultivation ridges. This evidence of arable cultivation was supported by the presence of quernstones in the roundhouse, but there was no supporting evidence from other forms of socio-economic analysis. Soil micromorphological analysis was employed to define how the ridges were created and with what tools; pollen analysis was used to characterise the surface vegetation and test the purpose of the ridges. The results unequivocally showed that a phase of ard cultivation was followed after a brief hiatus by ridge-and-furrow tillage. There were tentative indications of possible amendment of the earlier, ard-worked soil, and more definitive evidence of midden material addition to the ridged soil. An AMS radiocarbon assay on the base of peat overlying the ridges indicated that tillage occurred in the Mid to Late Bronze Age.     

Climate deterioration and land-use change in the first millennium BC: perspectives from the British palynological record

Climate deterioration at around the time of the Bronze Age/Iron Age transition has for long been argued to have resulted in upland abandonment in northern and western Britain, and recent research has provided evidence that a major climate downturn from 850 cal BC caused settlement abandonment in western Europe and potentially worldwide. It is, however, unclear to what extent only ‘marginal’ sites were affected, due to the lack of any systematic attempt to view the evidence for settlement and land-use change across a range of landscape types with differing sensitivities to environmental change. This paper addresses this issue by an evaluation of 75 pollen sequences spanning the late Bronze Age and early Iron Age in Britain to assess whether climatic deterioration was sufficient to cause widespread land abandonment. The results provide no evidence for wholesale land-use change at this time; the overall picture is one of continuity of land use or even increased agricultural activity. There are, however, hints of regional variability, with a greater tendency to abandonment of upland areas in Wales, and signs of woodland regeneration in agriculturally productive areas of lowland central southern England. The latter pattern may reflect a combination of rising ground-water levels affecting local land-use in the immediate vicinity of the mires which provide the source of the pollen data, against a backdrop of regional-scale social and economic changes at the Bronze Age-Iron Age transition.     

云南滇池地区聚落遗址2008年调查简报

经国家文物局批准,云南省文物考古研究所与美国密歇根大学人类学系签订为期3年的合作协议,进行"滇池区域史前聚落形态考古调查"项目,目的是通过开展全面的区域系统调查,寻找并确认与石寨山文化(亦称滇文化,时代约从春秋时期至西汉末期)有关的遗址和聚落[1],揭示这些聚落的     

Pottery production and distribution in prehistoric Bronze Age Cyprus. An application of pXRF analysis

Portable X-ray Fluorescence (pXRF) analysis of over 400 samples of Early and Middle Bronze Age Cypriot pottery from four widely separated sites identifies both local and non-local products at each. A series of analyses of sub-sets of the data highlights differences in the clays used at each site and for some distinctive types and wares. When assessed in the context of general typological, technological and stylistic factors these variations provide the basis for considering patterns of local production and inter-regional relationships across the island. Although the great majority of pots were locally made, particular wares and shapes were brought in from elsewhere. For some sites finer, more highly decorated vessels are mostly imports, but at others both simpler and more complex vessels were made of the same local clays. While small juglets or flasks may have been containers for transporting small quantities of rare substances, larger vessels are likely to have held less precious material. Open vessels, especially small bowls – some of which are plain, utilitarian items – represent another aspect of social behaviour and inter-regional relationships.