The Unidentified Forts of the Burghal Hidage

STRUCTURAL Analysis coupled with archaeological excavation at King John's House. Romsey, has revealed a mid-13th-century chamber block which probably stood within a precinct of adjoining buildings. The discovery and extravagant claims subsequently made for the building illustrate how far interpretation may be conditioned by the circumstances of the time.     

Quantitative non-destructive analysis of metals in artefacts

Work on corroded lead-iron shot from the Mary Rose led to the development of two non-destructive techniques which can be employed to determine quantitatively the amounts of metals in a bimetallic artefact. The methods are described, equations produced and experiments conducted to authenticate the data produced. Both methods are relatively simple and need little equipment.     

Recognising burnt vein quartz artefacts in archaeological assemblages

The primary aims of this study were to determine how vein quartz behaves in an open wood fire and to suggest how burnt quartz may reliably be distinguished from unburnt quartz. Experimental burning was conducted on 10–50 mm pieces of knapped quartz collected from outcrops and beach cobbles near a later Mesolithic and Neolithic quartz scatter at Belderrig, north County Mayo, Ireland. Burning resulted in considerable fragmentation, with the majority of post-burning fragments <10 mm in size. Compared to experiments with flint, few quartz pieces were expelled from the hearth during burning, probably due to lower water content. Burning reduced the lustre and transparency of quartz and oxidized any iron-bearing rock impurities to a red-brown or pink colour, but these changes could only be diagnostic of burning where unburnt quartz of the same type is available for comparison. Burning did not affect the texture of the quartz, though quartz grain boundaries became more visible in some samples. Under the microscope, all >5 μm fluid inclusions in quartz lost their fluid contents, often with the development of fluid escape structures, and this is likely to be a reliable discriminant between burnt and unburnt vein quartz generally, even in the absence of unburnt material for comparison. Burning also creates microfractures, but this feature does not provide a diagnostic test of burning as there is considerable overlap between burnt and unburnt samples in microfracture density.     

Minimally destructive DNA extraction from archaeological artefacts made from whale baleen

Here we demonstrate the successful extraction and amplification of target species DNA from artefacts made of whale baleen collected from excavations of past palaeo-Eskimo and Inuit cultures in Greenland. DNA was successfully extracted and amplified from a single baleen bristle of 1.5 cm length dated based on archaeological context to the period of the Saqqaq culture, more than 4000 years ago and following decades of storage at room temperature at the National Museum. The results reveal ancient baleen in archaeological material as a potential source of DNA that can be used for population genetic studies. We conclude that genetic investigation of historical baleen collections can contribute to our knowledge of the prehistoric population genetics of baleen whales, for example by quantifying the impact of modern whaling on the genetic diversity of bowhead whales.     

Starch residues on museum artefacts: implications for determining tool use

A sample of 11 museum artefacts was examined to assess the preservation of any adhering organic residues, particularly starch granules, and to assess the potential for the identification of cooked starchy foods. The primary aim was to examine starchy deposits, extract starch granules and examine their physical condition to increase our understanding of the taphonomy of starch granules and associated organic residues in archived material and archaeological deposits. The study shows that organic plant residues could be recovered from archived artefacts and makes a significant contribution to understanding the function of this material. Recovered starch granules showed an interesting pattern of varying organic preservation on the surface of stone and wooden artefacts. Some starch granules were found to be well preserved while others in the same sample appeared to have been affected by enzyme degrading micro-organisms. Recovered residues included fully gelatinised starch.