Archaeobotanical investigation of two Scythian-Sarmatian period pits in eastern Ukraine: Implications for floodplain cereal cultivation

Abstract

Two Scythian-Sarmatian period pits dated to the 5th–1st centuries b.c. were discovered while excavating the Chalcolithic site of Zanovskoe, located on a floodplain of the Donets River in the steppe region of eastern Ukraine, Lugansk oblast. No contemporaneous settlement sites are known in the region. Archaeobotanical analysis was conducted on charred plant macrofossils recovered from pits at the site. The crop assemblage consisted of hulled barley and broomcorn millet, from which AMS radiocarbon dates were obtained. Other identified plant species mostly constituted arable weeds and wetland plants. The archaeobotanical assemblage implies floodplain cereal cultivation strategies among the steppe inhabitants during this period.     

Salt Production of Late Imperial China in the Upper Three Gorges Region: A Case Study of the Zhongjingba Site in Chongqing

This article aims to improve the understanding of salt production in the upper Three Gorges region, based on archaeological investigation and excavation of salt-production sites in Yushan, Pengshui County, Chongqing. This article introduces the features of salt sources and the types and dates of the salt wells in Yushan, and investigates the local brine transportation and salt-making techniques. The Zhongjingba site is a large salt-making site with well-preserved remains of production and support facilities dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. Large numbers of evaporation furnaces, brine tanks, and working pits have been excavated and revealed a complete process of producing salt. Analysis of historical documents and the excavated remnants has allowed the reconstruction of the po lu yin zao salt-making process (which, in Chinese, means to splash brine onto the evaporation furnace), the first archaeological evidence of this technique; the management, output capacity, and sales area of the ancient salt production in Yushan are also discussed.     

东北地区城市规模分布的分形特征

本文借助Zipf公式考察了东北地区(1994)城市规模分布的分形几何特征,发现辽宁省城市规模分布具有双分形结构,吉林省城市规模分布具有单分形结构,而黑龙江省城市规模分布则具有局部分形结构,整个东北地区的城市规模分布呈现局部分形图式,但显示出双分形迹象。文章得出了一些重要的理论结论,并为东北三省的城市体系等级结构优化提出了若干建议。     

Starch grain analysis for groundstone tools from Neolithic Baiyinchanghan site: implications for their function in Northeast China

Large numbers of groundstone tools have been uncovered from archaeological sites in the Early Neolithic period in China. Traditionally they are often regarded as agricultural tools for processing cereals. In this paper we report preliminary starch grain analysis of groundstone tools from Baiyinchanghan site to gain a better understanding of use of these tools in the Northeast China. We found that starch grains on these groundstone tools are most likely from Quercus sp. The result of this study indicates that many groundstone tools for the Early Neolithic period were used to process wild and domesticated plants alike.     

The Upper Palaeolithic Lithic Industry of Nazlet Khater 4 (Egypt): Implications for the Stone Age/Palaeolithic of Northeastern Africa

Between Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 4 and 2, Northeast Africa witnessed migrations of Homo sapiens into Eurasia. Within the context of the aridification of the Sahara, the Nile Valley probably offered a very attractive corridor into Eurasia. This region and this period are therefore central for the (pre)history of the out-of-Africa peopling of modern humans. However, there are very few sites from the beginning of the Upper Palaeolithic that document these migration events. In Egypt, the site of Nazlet Khater 4 (NK4), which is related to ancient H. sapiens quarrying activities, is one of them. Its lithic assemblage shows an important laminar component, and this, associated with its chronological position (ca. 33 ka), means that the site is the most ancient Upper Palaeolithic sites of this region. The detailed study of the Nazlet Khater 4 lithic material shows that blade production (volumetric reduction) is also associated with flake production (surface reduction). This technological duality addresses the issue of direct attribution of NK4 to the Upper Palaeolithic.     

Late Precambrian algal megafossils Chuaria and Tawuia in some areas of eastern China

Chuaria is widespread in Late Precambrian deposits throughout the world. In China it has been found in the Jingeryu Formation of Jixian County, Tianjin, and in its equivalents in eastern China including the Nanfen Formation of Liaoning and Jilin Provinces, and the Liulaobei Formation of Anhui Province. In the latter, Chuaria is associated with the genus Tawuia which Hofmann (in Hofmann & Aitken, 1979) described as algae of undertermined affinity and which is based on material from Canada. The glauconitic sandstone directly resting upon Chuaria-bearing greyish-green shale of the Jingeryu Formation in Jixian County has a K-Ar age of 0.899 Ga. This paper describes C. circularis Walcott, T. dalensis Hofmann and T. sinensis n. sp., and discusses the morphology, biological and taxonomic affinities, and age and geographic distribution of Chuaria. Because of the association of Chuaria and Tawuia in the Mackenzie Mountains, Canada, and also in the area of Shouxian County, Anhui Province, China, it is considered that Chuaria and Tawuia probably have close affinities. According to their general morphology and occurrence, both may be marine planktonic multicellular algae.     

MACROBOTANICAL ANALYSIS OF TWO HOPEWELL MOUND SAMPLES FROM THE MANN SITE (12PO2) IN INDIANA

Abstract

The Mann site (12PO2), most noted for its large Hopewellian mound complex, is a little studied but significant archaeological site in southwestern Indiana. Non-mound habitation areas at both the Mann and nearby Mann phase Grabert site were the sole source of archaeobotanical information for these sites prior to the current macrobotanical analysis of two newly available and fairly large (55–60 g of charred material each) samples collected from Mann site mound pit features. Analysis of the macrobotanical material from these pits, in the context of what is already known from both the Mann and Grabert sites, provides additional evidence that plant resources were being used in the Mann phase subsistence system consistent with interregional Hopewellian influences. Data indicate that the inhabitants were using some form of seed storage and may have been participating in non-burial-related ceremonial feasting.     

Kara-tepe,Karakalpakstan: Agropastoralism in a Central Eurasian Oasis in the 4th/5th century A.D. Transition

This paper reports on the results of archaeological field excavations at the site of Kara-tepe, in the semi-autonomous region of Karakalpakstan in northwestern Uzbekistan. Investigations at the site in 2008–2009 turned up an unusually rich assemblage of remains from a household context. Combined analysis of the household botanical and faunal remains has allowed us to reconstruct the agropastoral practices of local inhabitants in this oasis region during a critical period of social and environmental change in the Early Medieval transition (4th–5th centuries a.d.). The results of the study raise important new questions about agropastoralism in the oases of Central Eurasia, highlighting continuities of practice between oasis and steppe populations, and revealing dynamic changes in these systems over time.     

传统技术、生态知识及环境适应:以明清时期淮南盐作为例

传统技术发展演变有复杂的社会经济与环境背景。通过讨论江苏淮南盐区制盐技术发展的过程及关键影响因素,可以揭示中国传统盐作技术演化机制的复杂性。明末清初各海盐区基本废煎改晒,但江苏淮南盐区仍继续沿用传统煎法生产,成为中国海盐经济发展史上的特殊现象。作为中国传统盐业生产的“特区”,淮南盐区在明末清初至20世纪中后叶也经过数次废煎改晒尝试,但淮南岸段的砂质土壤与低于500毫米的净蒸发量限制了大规模改晒的可能,重煎轻晒的产销政策又使淮南煎法在清代更为巩固,进一步影响了该区域传统制盐技术革新。淮南盐区传统制盐技术演变可为前工业化技术的比较研究提供经验基础,有助于更深刻了解本土技术发展机制及其环境适应特征。     

金沙土遗址盐害分布与演化特征

金沙土遗址表面存在泛盐、粉化、空鼓等盐害。对这些盐害的分布特征与演化过程的研究是科学保护金沙土遗址的第一步，也是进一步探讨盐害致病机理的前提条件。本工作收集整理了2010～2020年金沙土遗址病害调查资料，通过现场调查和图像处理技术对盐害的类型、分布特征与演化过程进行定性和定量分析；采用X射线衍射、离子色谱和扫描电镜等测定了不同高度土样的成分、盐分含量以及微观结构。结果显示金沙土遗址主要的盐害类型为表面泛盐、粉化、空鼓、片状剥蚀和掏蚀；主要分布区域是西北向走廊和古河道附近，机挖坑侧壁最为严重；在探方侧壁上盐害由上到下依次由表面泛盐过渡到单独粉化，再到空鼓和片状剥蚀，最底层为掏蚀。金沙土遗址盐害的发育过程可以概括为四个阶段，每个阶段主要发育的盐害类型不同，依次为表面泛盐、粉化、片状剥蚀和掏蚀。越到后期，各类盐害分布范围越大，发展速度越快，对土遗址破坏性越大。离子浓度沿高度的分布与毛细上升作用有关，也与病害的劣化程度和发育进程有关。硫酸钙类是导致土遗址泛盐、粉化和脱落的主要盐分之一。     

Exploitation of wild mammals in South-west Ethiopia during the Holocene (4000 BC–500 AD): the finds from Moche Borago shelter (Wolayta)

Abstract

The rock shelter of Moche Borago in Wolayta Province, South-west Ethiopia, has provided evidence of human occupation during part of the Holocene. Recovery of more than 30,000 animal bones has allowed reconstruction of the exploitation of animals by humans from the 4th millennium BC until the first half of the 1st millennium AD. It could be demonstrated that humans exploited (mainly for food) a great diversity of mammals, especially bovids, and that there were very few diachronic changes observed in the fauna during the occupation. Remains of domestic animals have not been found, even in the most recent part of this period, suggesting that animal husbandry was a late introduction into this mountainous and isolated part of Ethiopia. The human inhabitants of the shelter appear to have exploited the surrounding environment, using its favourable position at the end of a stepped valley for mass killing of African buffaloes (Syncerus caffer). The rich and diverse environments of Wolayta favoured the development of a specialised society that mastered the exploitation of wild animals throughout much of the Holocene.     

Catalogue of the Emblems of Saints

This report describes the excavations of a 4ha multi-period site situated in the parish of Heslerton, North Yorkshire, on the southern edge of the Vale of Pickering. The site came to light in 1977 and a rescue excavation project, sponsored by the Department of the Environment through North Yorkshire County Council, continued on a seasonal basis from 1978 until December 1982.

Occupation at the site began during the late Mesolithic with a flint knapping area, which was also used during the Neolithic and early Bronze Age. During the Late Neolithic a series of shallow gullies may represent the first attempts to establish a field system, and domestic activity may be indicated by two pairs of refuse pits. Other pits of this period demonstrate the presence of an ill-defined avenue of very large post pits running across part of the site. During the early Bronze Age two barrow cemeteries were present. The excavation of Barrow Cemetery 1, besides providing an important series of stratified carbon 14 dates, has produced an important series of Beakers and Food Vessels.

After the barrow cemeteries went out of use, woodland regenerated in the area prior to the late Bronze and early Iron age when the central part of the site became the setting for extensive occupation dispersed along the line of a major boundary which, once established, continued to function, though on a lessening scale through the Roman period when much of the site was turned over to agriculture. During the early Anglo-Saxon period a cemetery was established, focused upon Barrow Cemetery 2, which must have contained well over two hundred individuals, and is associated with a nearby settlement. During the later medieval and post-medieval periods the site continued in use as part of the agricultural landscape. A gradual accumulation of blown sands, associated with periods of denudation, prevented plough damage from disturbing the deposits over much of the area examined.     

黄家湾旧石器遗址发掘简报

湖北省十堰市的丹江口水库位于汉水上游,地处鄂西北、豫西南交界处的秦岭、大巴山与江汉平原的过渡地带,属丘陵盆地型水库。正常蓄水位为157m,淹没区面积800多平方公里。南     

甘肃肃北马鬃山玉矿遗址2011年发掘简报

马鬃山玉矿遗址位于甘肃省肃北县马鬃山镇西北约22公里的河盐湖径保尔草场。2011年10～11月,甘肃省文物考古研究所对该遗址进行了调查和发掘,调查确定遗址面积约5平方公里,发掘面积为150平方米,清理的遗迹有矿坑、防御性建筑、作坊、灰坑,出土陶器、石器、金属器、玉料及毛坯等200余件。从发掘资料看,遗址的年代下限为汉代,是目前在西北地区发现的年代最早的玉矿遗址。此次发掘为研究骗马文化提供了新资料,出土的玉矿原料为研究马鬃山玉矿的矿物成分、矿藏成因等提供了重要的实物资料。     

营城子汉墓出土玻璃耳珰的化学成分与制作工艺研究

营城子汉墓位于辽宁省大连市甘井子区,是我国东北地区一处重要的大型汉墓群。营城子汉墓出土了一批玻璃耳珰,为探讨其成型工艺及来源,采用超景深显微系统进行了表面形貌观察,初步认为是模铸成型,并经过打磨。采用便携式X射线荧光光谱仪(XRF)进行了化学成分分析,结果显示,它们分属铅钡硅酸盐和钾硅酸盐玻璃系统,一件由Cu²⁺着色,其余主要由Co²⁺着色。其为我国自制,所用钴料来源相同,钴料的锰钴比特征与国产钴土矿的类似。并对营城子汉墓出土玻璃耳珰造型与化学成分体系间的关系进行了分析,对玻璃耳珰制作模式进行了初步探讨,进一步加深了对我国古代玻璃耳珰制作与传播的认识。     

Wood exploitation and food supply at the border of the Roman Empire: the case of the vicus of Thamusida – Sidi Ali ben Ahmed (Morocco)

This paper presents the results of inter-disciplinary work drawing on archaeobotanical and archaeometric studies to trace the agroforestry landscape and the supply economy at the vicus of Thamusida in north-west Morocco at the border of the Roman Empire. The available data indicate the self-sufficiency of the settlement in both forestry and agricultural products throughout the period investigated from the end of the 1st century BC to the beginning of the 4th century AD. Charcoal data testify to the presence of a Quercus suber forest in the close surroundings of the site and its exploitation for a variety of forestry products such as timber, fuelwood, cork, and probably also leaves and acorns to feed livestock. The overwhelming presence of Q. suber in the archaeological layer investigated clearly indicates that this forest was under human influence prior to Roman occupation and was already partially degraded. Charred seed and fruit remains suggest that the diet of both troops and civilians was mainly based on locally grown products and that all the inhabitants of the site had access to good cereals such as barley, naked wheats and pulses with large seeds such as horse bean and pea; quality fruits, such as olive and grape, were also produced locally for fresh consumption. Organic residue analyses of the contents of ceramic vessels and plastered vats allowed archaeobotanical data to be complemented, thereby shedding light on some of the imports at Thamusida. Despite the remote location of this settlement, imported goods such as oil and wine were transported here in amphorae from different parts of the Empire.     

ESTIMATION OF THE AGE OF A PRE‐INDUSTRIAL IRON SITE IN KOREA*

A pre‐industrial iron‐smelting site in Korea, whose period of active use is placed on typological grounds between the eighth and 18th centuries ad , has been dated using accelerator mass spectrometry and thermoluminescence. The ages of two charcoal samples were 77 ± 25 and 81 ± 25 years bp , with the calibrated date for both ranging from ad 1700 to ad 1955, while a clay fragment dated to ad 1650 ± 50. The results from typology and radiocarbon seem insignificant due to the considerable uncertainties involved, but in combination with the thermoluminescence result they place the most probable date of the site at around ad 1700.     

A local response to a wider situation: the archaeology of the clan stronghold of Dùn Èistean,Isle of Lewis

Abstract

Dùn Èistean stands at the end of a long tradition of clan strongholds seen in the MacLeod lordship of the western seaboard of north-west Scotland in the medieval and early post-medieval periods. Excavations on the site have shown that it was in repeated use for refuge in times of trouble in the 16th and early 17th centuries, acting as a power centre caught up in the wider political scene. The inhabitants of Dùn Èistean were a people with a strong local identity, using their traditional building techniques, adapting to available raw materials and drawing on the resources of the surrounding environment to support and defend the inhabitants in the face of incoming attack.     

Economic Change in the Prehistoric Hexi Corridor (4800–2200 bp), North‐West China

It is widely known that the Hexi Corridor in North‐West China lies at a hub of trans‐Eurasian cultural exchange. Its role became increasingly important during the late prehistoric period, particularly as the ancient Silk Road began to be used. While the profound transformation of local cultural characteristics in the late Neolithic and the Bronze Age is well documented, the detailed economic dynamics of cultural evolution have not yet been clearly illustrated. In this paper, we report on significant new zooarchaeological and faunal isotopic data from the Neolithic and Bronze Age sites in the Hexi Corridor. The primary objective is to systematically reconstruct the prehistoric economic context of this area by combining these new data with previous archaeological studies and radiocarbon dates. We argue that the primary economic activities of local inhabitants changed dramatically in the prehistoric Hexi Corridor. This was marked by agricultural production at c.4800–4000 bp , agro‐pastoral production at c.4000–3000 bp and animal husbandry at c.3000–2200 bp , respectively. The major subsistence strategies of these three periods show considerable variation. It is very likely that these transformations of economic patterns in the prehistoric Hexi Corridor were primarily triggered by transcontinental cultural exchange and, to a lesser extent, by climate change.