THE APPLICATION OF ACETATE PEELS IN LITHIC USEWEAR ANALYSIS

A technique for making acetate peels of tools using Triafol is outlined. A series of ‘blind tests’ is described where the suitability of this replica material for reproducing the details of usewear was tested. The advantages and disadvantages of the use of acetate peels are discussed with reference to examination of usewear traces.     

THE USE OF TEXTURAL PARAMETERS IN THE ANALYSIS OF CAVE SEDIMENTS

This paper considers the presentation of the results of the mechanical analysis of cave sediments, suggesting that the use of grain size parameter scatter diagrams is preferable to the older method of cumulative percentage frequency graphs. A sequence of samples was taken from an ideally-situated cave, the Badger Hole at Wookey, and first subjected to the standard soil analytical tests, followed by a detailed mechanical analysis. It is hoped that this preliminary work will encourage a more quantitative approach to granulometric analysis for archaeological purposes, leading eventually to the extraction of more precise environmental data from cave sediments.     

LITHIC RESOURCES IN THE EARLY PREHISTORY OF THE ALPS*

Rocks, which are ubiquitous in archaeological sites as chipped or polished tools, were important factors in the prehistoric Alpine economic system. Archaeometric characterization and identification of source areas open the path to a more detailed understanding of the production and diffusion mechanisms behind Alpine lithic industries. An overview of the situation from the eastern to the western Alps in the Mesolithic, the Neolithic and the Copper Age illustrates current debates and issues.     

THE USE OF NON-DESTRUCTIVE ACTIVATION ANALYSIS AND PATTERN RECOGNITION IN THE STUDY OF FLINT ARTEFACTS

A method is described for the identification of the origin of flint artefacts. The method is based on the variation in the trace element concentrations for different origins. The trace element concentrations were determined by non-destructive neutron activation analysis. The identification was obtained from a pattern recognition analysis.     

THE USE OF SPECIFIC HEAT IN THE NON-DESTRUCTIVE ANALYSIS OF SILVER/COPPER ALLOY COINS

Using partly plastic apparatus, specific heats of coins have been found calorimetricly to an accuracy of ± 3% for most coins. For silver/copper alloys the specific heat varies approximately linearly with the weight percentage composition, so the latter can be calculated for coins of unknown composition.     

MICRODENTICULATES OF THE FUNNEL BEAKER CULTURE: LITHIC ATTRIBUTE ANALYSIS,USE‐WEAR ANALYSIS,AND CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS

In a study published in 1994, Helle Juel Jensen observed that microdenticulates are tools whose function is difficult to assess. She calls the use of the tools “an unresolved functional puzzle”. This study proceeds from that conclusion. Based on attribute and use‐wear analyses together with contextual studies the results show that microdenticulates are complex tools, in which other parts of the flake besides the denticulated edge were used. The result also show that other flint objects from the flint asemblage were used for the same operations as the microdenticulates. The work comprised a conceptual action in which the production, use, and deposition of the material were all parts of the same process. The task was given in advance. The work probably consisted of preparing or treating plant fibres in some way in order to make thread, rope, bast, or the like. The result shows that seemingly simple tools like microdenticulates were a part of the materiality of the south Scandinavian Funnel Beaker complex. The work conducted using the microdenticultates and the tool box associated with them was associated with concepts shared by people over large areas (present day south Sweden and Denmark) over hundreds of years (from Early Neolithic to Middle Neolithic AI).     

THE USE OF IMAGE ANALYSIS TO DETERMINE YARN TWIST LEVEL IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL TEXTILES

An analysis of the structure of archaeological textiles can give an insight into different traditions, geographic origins or technologies associated with the textile production. An important parameter in this context is the level and direction of yarn twist. In this paper a new quantitative method of yarn twist measurement is described. Using image analysis techniques a measure of the mean twist level and the variation in twist can be determined. The technique is applied to a selection of woven woollen textiles from the first-century Roman fort at Vindolanda in northern England.     

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PETROLOGY AND THE ARCHAEOMETRY OF LITHIC MATERIALS*

For 50 years, archaeologists and physical scientists have been dating, determining the composition of and measuring stone tools, and reporting them in Archaeometry and many other journals. In Archaeometry specifically, the number of papers devoted to the analysis of lithic material has increased at least 30 times since 1958 and volume 1. This is a reflection not only of an increase in the number of scholars devoting their time to the archaeometry of stone, but also of increases in the quality and quantity of instrumental technology available to researchers in the field.     

NEGATIVE FACTORS IN THE USE OF THE BIOCLIMATIC RESOURCES OF THE APSHERON PENINSULA

The author raise several significant problems involved in plans to establish resort functions on the Apsheron Peninsula, which together with its major metropolitan areas (Baku and Sumgait), serves as a center for oil refining and petrochemical production based on significant offshore oil drilling in the Caspian Sea. Among these problems are the fact that part of the area of greatest resort/recreational potential (northern coast) is also the area of highest SC₂ concentrations (reflecting chemical production in Sumgait), and that another promising location (southern coast) exhibits high levels of NO₂ (largely attributed to automobile traffic and power generation in Baku) (translated by Andrew R. Bond).     

2001-2008年无锡市土地利用景观格局变化分析

无锡市作为位于长江三角洲地区的核心地域,2000年实施新城市化战略以来城市化水平大幅上升,但对这一时期无锡市土地利用景观变化的研究相对较少。本文从景观生态学的角度研究无锡市2001-2008年间的土地利用景观变化,发现无锡市的土地利用变化速率较快,且递减最快的为耕地,而递增最快的为建设用地及园地;无锡市2000年之前景观格局基本构型以大斑块为主,景观格局较为单一,但2001-2008年该地区剧烈的人类活动使得这些大斑块发生破碎化,导致不同景观类型的斑块数量不断增加,各类用地所占比例的差异逐步减少。总体上看,无锡市的景观多样性在增加,景观优势度在减少。     

THE USE OF SHELL-TEMPERED POTTERY IN THE CADDO AREA OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES

Abstract

Freshwater mussel shell was used as a temper in the manufacture of ceramic vessels by potters in the Caddo area of the southeastern United States after ca. A.D. 1300. This was at least one or two centuries after it became the dominant temper used by aboriginal groups in much of the Eastern Woodlands but generally contemporaneous with shelltempered usage in parts of the Southern Plains. The introduction of shell temper was variable across the Caddo area, and in certain regions its use was negligible in ceramic vessel assemblages until the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries but then was rapidly adopted as the dominant temper employed in vessel manufacture, particularly for utility wares. In the traditional territory of the historic Hasinai Caddo in East Texas, shell temper did not appear in vessels until the early eighteenth century, and then only in minor amounts on presumed trade vessels.