Pollen taphonomy and airfall sedimentation in a tropical cave: the West Mouth of The Great Cave of Niah in Sarawak,Malaysian Borneo

This paper investigates the taphonomy of predominantly biogenic sediments and pollen in the key archaeological site in the West Mouth of the Great Cave of Niah, Sarawak. Strong spatial patterning of sediments and pollen were found, with a zonation related to distance into the cave. Near the cave mouth, sedimentation is silty and derived from waters running down the cliff outside the cave, with leaves from external vegetation. Pollen assemblages are similar to forest floor samples outside the cave, and thus are of airfall or wash origin. In the interior of the West Mouth, sedimentation is highly organic and composed largely of bird droppings. Pollen assemblages in the interior are strongly but regularly biased, with ‘over-representation’ of mangrove and riverine taxa resulting from the recruitment of pollen by bats and swiftlets foraging preferentially in these zones, over 7 and over 2 km from the cave, respectively. The significance of these findings for the understanding of humid tropical cave sequences and particularly for the current reassessment of Niah Cave is discussed.     

喀斯特洞穴书法景观的分类统计与洞穴旅游发展——以广西桂林市为例

书法景观是近期人文地理中出现的新的研究领域,以洞穴石刻为主体的洞穴书法景观的研究目前尚非常缺乏。本文通过对桂林市域1659个历史石刻的分类统计,首先梳理了洞穴石刻,同时结合洞穴石刻总数分析评价了旅游洞穴的吸引度。其次,划分了石刻的形式类型和内容类型,进而归纳为6大类旅游相关类型-亦即景点建设、粗放旅游、深层体验、群体旅游、景点历史、民俗,并进行了洞穴石刻相应的分类统计,分析了不同朝代洞穴旅游的兴衰状况和结构变化特征。     

Archaeological implications of human-derived manganese coatings: a study of blackened bones in El Mirón Cave,Cantabrian Spain

The main interest in the study of taphonomic processes lies, from the archaeological point of view, in being able to draw conclusions about human behaviour from them. This paper analyzes the causes of a specific taphonomic alteration: the differential appearance across levels and among site areas of a black stain on bones from the Magdalenian levels in El Mirón Cave. From an understanding of these taphonomic agents, we aim to achieve a better comprehension of aspects of human use of the cave toward the end of the Late Glacial period. By determining the processes that stained many of the bones with manganese in the rear part of the cave vestibule, we are able to suggest some characteristics of the human occupation of the cave and its possible seasonal use.     

Verification of the age of the Palaeolithic cave art at Creswell Crags,UK

Engravings representing Britain's first apparently Pleistocene cave art were discovered in Church Hole and Robin Hood caves, Creswell Crags. Representations of a deer, highly stylised females or birds and vulvae were engraved into the bedrock, and in some cases had been covered with a thin layer of flowstone. In the absence of radiocarbon datable pigments, uranium-series disequilibrium dating was undertaken on these flowstones to provide minimum ages for the engravings. Here we show that the oldest motif was carved earlier than 12,800 years ago which is consistent with radiocarbon dates for the Late Upper Palaeolithic archaeology at Creswell Crags. Thus we demonstrate the authenticity of the engravings and show them to be the oldest known examples in Britain.     

Combined pollen and macrofossil data as a source for reconstructing mosaic patterns of the early medieval urban habitats – a case study from Gdańsk,N. Poland

Plant macrofossils, pollen, fungal spores and other non-pollen palynomorphs (NPPs), were analyzed in three archaeological exposures established in a small area in the oldest part of the historic city of Gdańsk. One of the aims was to investigate how precisely the combined pollen and macrofossil data may reflect the diversity of local habitats within an urban archaeological site and to compare the range of information obtained using each of the methods separately. The other aim of the study was to reconstruct the environmental conditions in the earliest occupied area of the historic centre of Gdańsk. The repeatable composition and, in many points, consistency among pollen and macrofossil data in all three profiles strongly suggest that the apparently biased structure of these fossil remains in fact reflects a mosaic pattern of the vegetation in the area of the site. The combined pollen and macrofossil data enabled separation of local elements from those transported to the site by different means. The results show that already at the beginning of the 12th c., the area was almost totally deforested, but up to the mid-13th c. the settlement organization was still relatively loose, resembling a rather rural structure with well-developed ruderal plant communities and patches of semi-natural vegetation. At the coring area, strongly eutrophic riparian vegetation was bordering patches of dry grassland on a sandy holm. The large proportion of pollen of various entomophilous plants mostly from meadows and pastures is explained as a result of the presence of dung, as confirmed by the abundances of coprophilous fungal spores. The study indicates that parallel pollen and macrofossil analysis is essential for correct interpretation of fossil assemblages. Application of both methods enables broadening of the range of remains representing various organisms and obtaining more precise tools for environmental reconstruction and better understanding of the taphonomic processes at the archaeological site.     

龙门石窟小型坍塌窟龛的修复

龙门石窟小型窟龛坍塌、缺失的现象比较普遍,对坍塌、缺失窟龛进行适当修补和复原,可使雕刻品免受日晒雨淋的侵蚀。为此,以龙门石窟683号洞窟坍塌窟顶的保护性修复为例,选用石材在坍塌洞窟恢复小体量窟顶的修复方法。试验证明,这种方法对石窟外观的改变不大,又可以解决雕刻品直接受到的日晒雨淋问题。试验表明,本方法有可能应用于其它露天摩崖石刻的保护。     

Variability and sampling strategy of cave wall concretion: Case study of the moonmilk found in Leye Cave (Dordogne)

Cave Art is a fragile testimony of past human societies and the development of modern behaviours. In limestone caves, moonmilk commonly endanger the artworks. It is a calcite deposit with a large variability of chemical composition and morphological structures and it hosts numerous microbial communities. The possibility to characterize this deposit in the field would aid in a better understanding of cave behaviour and allow the setting up of proper conservation measures. The present study analyses the variability of a moonmilk strip of metric size in Leye Cave in the Vézère Valley (Dordogne, France). The cave was not ornate and was selected as a laboratory cave in which in‐situ observations and micro‐sampling could be carried out, before they were performed in cavities hosting parietal artworks. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) observations of 24 samples allowed, for the first time, an investigation of the variability of moonmilk deposits over the same wall of a few metres dimension. The observations highlighted the low variability of the moonmilk at the microscopic scale when regarding the chemical composition and morphological structures, despite significant macroscopic diversity, thus providing insights into how to optimize the sampling strategy of moonmilk in ornate caves.     

游客量对炳灵寺第128窟微环境影响初步研究

通过对炳灵寺石窟第128窟连续一年的微环境监测数据分析,结合游客参观统计,探究了游客量对炳灵寺第128窟微环境的影响;其中CO₂浓度与游客量呈正相关,窟内外温差越大,其衰减越快。洞窟温度升高与游客量呈一定程度正相关,温度增量主要为正值,负值与气象条件相关,温度的衰减与温度增量及窟内外温差正相关。窟内相对湿度变化较为复杂,监测期间游客参观对相对湿度影响在-5%～10%范围内,以降低窟内相对湿度为主。研究结果表明,目前的开放模式有助于CO₂浓度衰减,可适当扩大每批次参观人数至10人左右,以应对大客流状况;注重旅游旺季特别是5月、9月下旬至10月中旬时间段洞窟内相对湿度变化的监测,做好游客管理和洞窟相对湿度控制应对措施。本研究对于炳灵寺石窟第128窟及其他相似洞窟的旅游开放管理具有一定指导意义。     

砂岩类石窟寺保护新进展——以云冈石窟保护研究新成果为例

石窟寺作为石质文物的典型代表,具有极高的历史、艺术和科学价值,但普遍面临着洞窟及岩体失稳、各种水患、雕刻表面污染以及石雕风化等问题。国家科技部和国家文物局立项的"石质文物保护关键技术研究"项目,以世界文化遗产山西大同云冈石窟为例,针对我国砂岩类石窟寺普遍存在的共性关键技术问题,进一步深入研究了砂岩类石窟病害的机理,研发了监测、检测技术手段和装备以及文物加固、保护材料和工艺,提升了云冈石窟乃至我国砂岩类石窟文物保护的整体水平,研究成果已推广运用于同类石窟寺的保护工作。     

Rock Hyraxes (Procavia capensis) from Middle Stone Age Levels at Blombos Cave,South Africa

The ～100 ka Middle Stone Age levels at Blombos Cave, southern Cape, South Africa, contain numerous rock hyrax (Procavia capensis) remains. It is often ambiguous to interpret rock hyrax remains from archaeological deposits deriving from cave and shelter sites in southern Africa as the agent or agents of accumulation may be difficult to establish. In this paper, the different taphonomic signatures separating anthropogenic from natural accumulations at Blombos Cave are considered. The analysis indicates that although a few specimens show evidence for raptor and carnivore accumulation, there is also substantial evidence that suggests humans preyed on these small mammals during different times of the year.     

To catch a chameleon,or actualism vs. natural history in the taphonomy of the microvertebrate fraction at Qesem Cave,Israel

Qesem Cave is a unique Middle Pleistocene, hominin-bearing site in Israel that contains a rich microvertebrate accumulation. The microvertebrates are highly unusual in that half of them are from small reptiles, and most of the reptiles are chameleons, which are otherwise rare in the fossil record. Analysis of the lower vertebrate component shows uniform taphonomic characteristics: on average 17.6% of specimens show evidence of corrosion (the vast majority light), and specimen breakage is between 4.9 and 12.0%, depending on metric. Charring is negligible. Most species are small (body mass <60 g). These taphonomic attributes do not vary in the studied portion of the stratigraphic profile, nor do they systematically vary between taxa. Thorough study of all skeletal parts suggests that most individuals probably entered the cave as whole animals; the only exception is the large glass lizard, Pseudopus, which is represented mostly by the tail. These taphonomic data suggest a Barn Owl as the predominant accumulator. However, natural history observations on Barn Owls and chameleons are strongly at odds with this actualistic inference: Barn Owls are nowhere recorded as a major predator on chameleons. We argue that a focus on extant, especially European, populations could distort our understanding of their feeding biology and is vulnerable to counterexample. We propose a scenario that harmonizes actualism and natural history. We further identify a possible owl roost in Qesem Cave, the first time such a roost has been identified in a collapsed cave setting. These conclusions may have conservation implications for chameleons. They also suggest that the hearth adjacent to the microvertebrate concentration was situated in the twilight zone.     

An exclusively hyena-collected bone assemblage in the Late Pleistocene of Sicily: taphonomy and stratigraphic context of the large mammal remains from San Teodoro Cave (North-Eastern Sicily,Italy)

A detailed taphonomic analysis of the large mammal assemblage from 1998 to 2006 excavations at San Teodoro Cave is presented, taking into account the stratigraphic context of the deposits. Three not strictly contemporary fossiliferous levels having different lithological features have been detected, here named B-I, B-II, and B-III. Fossil remains are prevalently accumulated in B-I and B-II. The three levels are characterized by evidence of Crocuta crocuta spelaea occupation, represented by their skeletal remains, coprolites, and distinctive damages on the bones, similar to fossil and modern spotted hyena dens from Europe and Africa. A differential distribution of coprolites and small digested bones, probably due to different humidity conditions, has been recognized in B-I and B-II, and can be related to different topographic locations within the cave or to different climate conditions during the sedimentation phases. The very low density of fossil remains in B-III, which is the oldest level, could indicate an area that was less inhabited by hyenas, probably due to geomorphological conditions. Taphonomic comparison of the three fossiliferous levels of the San Teodoro Cave deposits points to a long-term, perhaps cyclic, occupation of the cave by hyenas and confirms the cave as one of the most important Pleistocene hyena dens in Europe.     

A reexamination of the reasons for the closure of the Dunhuang Library Cave

Abstract

Cave 17 or the cave library is located on the northern wall in the hallway of Cave 16 in Mogao Caves, Dunhuang. The murals on the cover layer of Cave 16 are closely connected with the reason why the cave library was sealed. The transformation tableaux of the thousand Buddhas on the cover layer of Cave 16 seems to reflect the thought of the Final Dharma, which could be dated in the late Guiyijun period when Dunhuang was ruled by the Cao family. In 1052, the trend of the Final-Dharma thought flourished in the Liao Dynasty. With the frequent communications between the Guiyijun regime and the Liao, this trend came to Dunhuang and merged with the original thought of the Final Dharma in this region, which tremendously impacted the Buddhist community in Dunhuang. So the local Buddhist community made the transformation tableaux on the mural of Cave 16 and also transformed Cave 17 for storing Buddhist texts as a response to the coming Final Dharma. These activities seem to have led to the eventual sealing of Cave 17.     

Of stones and bones: Interpreting site function in the Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic of Western Europe

Upper Paleolithic and Mesolithic excavations have usually yielded both artifacts and faunal remains in a variety of environmental settings across a latitudinal range from Belgium to Portugal. In some cases there seem to be functional relationships within levels between ungulate species and skeletal elements on the one hand and associated lithic and osseous artifacts on the other. In other cases—perhaps because of their nature as occupational and depositional palimpsests—the relationships are murkier. Examples examined here include La Riera and El Mirón caves (coastal and montane Cantabrian Spain, respectively), Dufaure rockshelter (Pyrenean lowland France), Magrite cave, Pape rockshelter, and Bois Laiterie cave and the Huccorgne open-air site (Ardennes upland, transitional zone, and central plateau of Belgium, respectively), and the Vidigal shell midden (coastal southern Portugal). The interpretation of site function (e.g., multi-purpose residential site, specialized logistical camp, or transit bivouac) is a matter of pragmatic, interdisciplinary, situation-specific analyses, and parsimony.     

Modelling land use around an early Neolithic timber ‘hall’ in north east Scotland from high spatial resolution pollen analyses

A methodology is described by which spatial patterns of land use were reconstructed from pollen analyses on anthropogenic sediments at a recently excavated early Neolithic timber ‘hall’ in north east Scotland. The anthropogenic sediments were from a deep, small diameter pit within the building. They present numerous taphonomic and interpretative challenges to the analyst, but from this type of deposit, the power to estimate quantitatively the vegetation structure around the archaeological site makes such difficult deposits very significant. A rigorous methodology is firstly described, therefore, by which confidence in ecological interpretation can be established. Secondly, the source of pollen in the deposit is evaluated. Thirdly, the possible pollen source area and structure of the surrounding vegetation are estimated by quantitative simulation modelling. Finally, these analyses are compared with region-scale pollen analyses from nearby conventional wetland deposits with much larger pollen source areas. The pollen assemblages recovered probably reflect land uses adjacent to the ‘hall’ and up to 2.5 km around. Cereal cultivation was the most important land use immediately around the ‘hall’, possibly grown between stands of scrub Corylus (hazel) woodland. These intensive but local-scale land uses cannot be discerned in region-scale pollen analyses.     

A Taphonomic Perspective on Neolithic Beginnings: Theory,Interpretation, and Empirical Data in the Western Mediterranean

The fills of caves and rockshelters generally comprise complex depositional palimpsests, making fine scale chronological resolution extremely difficult. Nevertheless, these settings remain very important in archaeology because they often preserve long records of cultural change. This is true for the initial appearance of food producing economies in the western Mediterranean. The chronologically ambiguous nature of cave and shelter deposits is one of the reasons for the continued debate over the processes responsible for the beginning of the Neolithic in this region. We employ taphonomic studies of the archeofaunal record from Mesolithic and early Neolithic cave and shelter sites in Mediterranean Spain to disentangle some of the formation processes affecting relevant deposits in order to better understand the processes of cultural change that led to the spread of agricultural communities.     

榆林25窟一佛八菩萨图研究

在吐蕃统治敦煌时期所开凿的洞窟中,榆林25窟是相对较特殊的一个,窟内南北两壁的观无量寿经变与弥勒经变延续了盛唐洞窟中经变画的构图、风格,而正壁残存的一佛八菩萨图在造像样式上与窟内其他图像则有一定的差别。从正壁残存的主尊、菩萨名号题记中可以发现,唐代不空译《八大菩萨曼荼罗经》能够与之相对应,但是该经对八大菩萨身形的描述与榆林25窟的图像有一定差别。此图像与藏经洞中的部分绢画具有类似的风格特征,其中一部分有藏文题记,表明它们与居住在敦煌的吐蕃信众有密切的关系,而藏经洞中发现的藏文抄写的《八大菩萨曼拏罗经》可以证明此地的吐蕃信众确实信奉这一经典。一佛八菩萨的图像在吐蕃本土拉萨及青海地区屡有发现,其中西藏昌都与青海玉树的两处摩崖石刻由高僧益西央开凿,年代均在九世纪初,这些遗迹说明一佛八菩萨图像在吐蕃本土的流传情况。在这几处图像与榆林25窟的一佛八菩萨的比较中可以发现,吐蕃流行的八大菩萨图样并不十分固定,但其构图和风格是基本接近的,而榆林25窟所采用的图像可能来源于吐蕃地区。     

Probable evidences of bone accumulation by Pleistocene bearded vulture at the archaeological site of El Mirón Cave (Spain)

The bearded vulture (Gypaetus barbatus), a bird or prey that mainly feeds on bones of large mammal carcasses, has been recently evidenced as an accumulating agent with significant contributions to palaeontological assemblages in caves and shelters, but extremely rare at archaeological sites. The results of the taphonomic analyses carried out in the Upper Palaeolithic layers of El Mirón Cave (Cantabrian Spain), which are presented here, evidence the existence of special digestive marks and a typical skeletal pattern in a noticeable amount of small and medium-sized ungulates bones. This fact suggest that a representative part of the bone assemblage has been caused by bearded vultures, and strengthens the idea that this bird has to be definitely included among other potential non-human accumulators in archaeological sites.     

Low regional diversity of late cave bears mitochondrial DNA at the time of Chauvet Aurignacian paintings

The Chauvet-Pont d'Arc and Deux-Ouvertures caves, located along the Ardèche River (France), contain abundant remains of the extinct cave bear (Ursus spelaeus). Because they also display a variety of Palaeolithic anthropogenic evidences, such as the earliest charcoal drawings recorded to date (Chauvet-Pont d'Arc), and delicate engravings (Deux-Ouvertures), they offer the opportunity of studying the interaction between animals and human beings during a key period for Pleistocene species extinctions. We characterized cave bear specimens from these two sites by radiocarbon dating, stable isotopes, and mitochondrial DNA analysis. In Chauvet-Pont d'Arc, we obtained radiocarbon ages that ranged between 29,000 and 37,300 years before present (BP). The Deux-Ouvertures cave bear specimens clustered to the bottom of this time frame, returning radiocarbon ages of 27,440–30,220 years BP. Cave bear nitrogen isotope values were all compatible with a vegetarian diet. Mitochondrial DNA analysis, carried out on a highly variable domain of the control region, evidenced only two cave bear haplotypes, including a new haplotype, and a common one which largely predominated. We detected both haplotypes in Chauvet-Pont d'Arc, but only recorded the predominant one in the Deux-Ouvertures Cave. Our data put forward the surprising observation that cave bears inhabited Ardèche over a short period of time, from about 37,000 to 27,400 years BP. They were notably present during the first (Aurignacian) phase of human intrusions in Chauvet-Pont d'Arc, 30,000–32,000 years BP. This points to the possible competition for cave sites, presumably on a seasonal scale considering the cave bear habit for hibernation. During this time period, the small number of haplotypes is at variance with the extensive genetic diversity reported elsewhere for much more ancient specimens.     

Deciphering bone depositional sequences in caves through the study of manganese coatings

The presence of black-coloured bones in caves has been sometimes associated to the use of fire by humans, but more frequently the agent responsible for black colour is the natural deposition of manganese oxides. Manganese coatings were not usually studied once human action was discarded. However, they can provide valuable information about the origin and the sequence of formation of a palaeontological or archaeological deposit. In this paper, we present a quantitative and qualitative study of the manganese coatings that affect most of the bones recovered in the palaeontological site of Liñares cave (NW of Iberian Peninsula) together with other taphonomic marks. The manganese coatings are superimposed on other features previously existing on the surface of the bones. In turn, the coatings can be affected by other agents that modified them totally or partially. The combined interpretation of the different taphonomic marks provides us with valuable information on the sequence where the different taphonomic processes were produced, as for example the intervention of carnivores in the disarticulation of some elements before the burial, the preservation of anatomic connections until after the burial of the carcasses, and the existence of reworking processes in some parts of the infill.