Archaeological and chemical evidence for the earliest American use of raw coal as a fuel in ironmaking

The archaeological discovery of bituminous coal in the tipple area and the subsequent analyses of specimens of the iron ore, charcoal, limestone, slag, and cast iron from the Eaton (Hopewell) blast furnace built in 1802 indicate that raw coal was used in combination with charcoal as a fuel in American iron smelting at least thirty years before it was used alone. Further, its use in this combinatory manner marks the earliest as yet attested to in the New World.     

Testing the provenance of Patayan pottery at Las Colinas: chemical and petrographic analyses of phyllite-temper fragments

Mobile Patayan foragers of the interior desert of southwestern Arizona were makers of Lower Colorado Buff Ware ceramics. These containers were sometimes traded to Hohokam irrigation agriculturalists at the western margin of the Hohokam territory. By A.D. 1100, the distribution of Patayan Buff Wares shifted to the east, penetrating the Hohokam heartland. Some theorists have suggested the ceramic distribution implies a migration of Patayan people, who joined agricultural communities in the Hohokam core area. One way to assess this idea is to identify the production of Patayan material culture within the Hohokam territory. We test for the local manufacture of Lower Colorado Buff Ware at the Hohokam village of Las Colinas, where Patayan pottery was found in abundance, and a Patayan enclave has been inferred. Using petrographic analysis and SEM-EDS assays of the phyllite temper fragments in the Patayan wares, we conclude that the Patayan pottery was made elsewhere and was not fabricated with local materials at Las Colinas.     

The earliest Sabaeans in the Jawf: A reconsideration

It appears that not all the Jawf was originally'Madhabian'and its territory included at least one Sabaean enclave at the very beginning of the Sayhadian civilisation. The site of Abu Thawr (MNHYT^m) may well have been the centre of the other such enclave. MNHYT^m situated in the centre of the earliest Sabaean settlements might have even performed the functions of'the second Sabaean capital'in the second half of the eighth century BC.     

Understanding residues of oil production: chemical analyses of floors in traditional mills

Oil production is an important aspect of ancient Mediterranean economy; therefore, archaeological studies on oil-producing installations using archaeometry and in particular the chemical analysis of absorbed residues is valuable in identifying the substances actually produced and to understand the spatial distribution of the activities carried out at oil mills.Modern contexts may provide a good reference for interpreting the archaeological chemical traces.This study examines the chemical traces in three abandoned oil mills in the Mediterranean: Polveraia (Tuscany, Italy), Martina Franca (Puglia, Italy) and Binibassi (Mallorca, Balearic Islands). To identify the residues released by the production of oil and absorbed by the floors, samples were taken from the floors of these installations and analysed using spot tests aimed at identifying the presence of fatty acids and phosphates. Some of the samples were analysed also with gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The results of the analyses were plotted in the Geographic Information System (GIS) platform and interpolated with Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) to determine the spatial distribution of the residues. Overall, the results show a large presence of fats in the analysed floors in all of the installations.     

Lipid residue analyses of Early Neolithic funnel-beaker pottery from Skogsmossen,eastern Central Sweden,and the earliest evidence of dairying in Sweden

This study address the question of the use and function of Early Neolithic (4000–3000 cal. BC) funnel-beaker pots from Mälardalen in eastern Central Sweden. The material studied is pottery from a wetland offering at the site Skogsmossen in the province of Västmanland. While deposited under ritual circumstances in a fen, the pots were likely used in a domestic domain on the settlement adjacent to the offering fen, prior to final deposition. The lipid analysis indicate a varied vessel use, there are traces of aquatic resources, plants, terrestrial animals and milk. The identification of milk residue is the oldest so far from Sweden.     

On the earliest contacts between Dubrovnik and England

According to tradition, King Richard I of England visited Dubrovnik (Ragusa) in 1192. Much of the evidence for this visit comes from a dispute at the end of the sixteenth century concerning the rights of the abbot of Lokrum. Medieval evidence can also be taken into contribution, notably the comments of the English chronicles of the early thirteenth century and the surviving documentation for the career of a Ragusan archbishop who later became bishop of Carlisle. The author concludes that King Richard's visit was a reality.     

On the earliest contacts between Dubrovnik and England

According to tradition, King Richard I of England visited Dubrovnik (Ragusa) in 1192. Much of the evidence for this visit comes from a dispute at the end of the sixteenth century concerning the rights of the abbot of Lokrum. Medieval evidence can also be taken into contribution, notably the comments of the English chronicles of the early thirteenth century and the surviving documentation for the career of a Ragusan archbishop who later became bishop of Carlisle. The author concludes that King Richard's visit was a reality.     

Platform cache encampments: Implications for mobility strategies and the earliest ancestral Apaches

Abstract

The Hormiguero site is a large mountainside Apache residential site in the Peloncillo Mountains of southern Arizona that lies in the heart of historically documented Chiricahua Apache territory. It represents an encampment at an important caching location, a category of residential site that has not been previously described archaeologically. Ethnographic data are enlisted to understand this unique type of Apache residential site and a previously unknown cache form—the platform cache. Archaeological evidence is combined from a number of sites with caches like those at Hormiguero to interpret aspects of cultural identity and chronology including the presence of ancestral Apaches in southern Arizona as early as the 14th century a.d.     

A comparison of chemical and petrographic analyses of Neolithic pottery from South-eastern Europe

This paper deals with the importance of chemical analyses in characterising prehistoric pottery fabrics. Two three-year projects focussed on the minero-petrographic and SEM/EDS analyses of the oldest pottery from south-east Europe (ca. 6000 cal BC). Whereas in the Impressed Ware culture of the Adriatic region, optical microscopy was sufficient to identify provenance, the more uniform geological background of the central Balkans required chemical analyses to be able to differentiate between different raw materials. Multiple bulk analyses of each sherd were obtained to gauge the variability in composition within each vessel. The limiting factor in determining provenance in this area appears to be the similarity of clay sources, not the inhomogeneity of the coarse pottery. This is shown here using results from four of the sites, including three where petrographic analyses could not establish provenance.     

Translocated Testudinidae: the earliest archaeological evidence for land tortoise in Britain

Abstract

This paper calls attention to the discovery of what is believed to be the earliest archaeological evidence for land tortoise in Britain. The specimen derived from a late 19th-century context at Stafford Castle and was associated with bones of cats and dogs, which may have been kept as pets by the castle's caretakers. The date accords with the historically attested rise in tortoise importation and with changes in attitudes towards pet animals.     

On the tracks of the earliest dinosaurs: implications for the hypothesis of dinosaurian monophyly

From the record of dinosaurian skeletal remains it has been inferred that the origin and initial diversification of dinosaurs were rapid events, occupying an interval of about 5 million years in the Late Triassic. By contrast numerous reports of dinosauroid tracks imply that the emergence of dinosaurs was a more protracted affair extending through much of the Early and Middle Triassic. This study finds no convincing evidence of dinosaur tracks before the late Ladinian. Each of the three dinosaurian clades — Theropoda, Sauropodomorpha, Ornithischia — produced a unique track morphotype that appears to be an independent modification of the chirotherioid pattern attributed to stem-group archosaurs (thecodontian reptiles). The existence of three divergent track morphotypes is consistent with the concept of dinosaurian polyphyly but can be reconciled with the hypothesis of dinosaurian monophyly only by invoking many and rapid reversals in the locomotor anatomy of early dinosaurs. The origin of dinosaurs was not the correlate or consequence of any single event or process, be it global change, competitive replacement, or opportunism in the wake of mass extinction. Instead the origin of dinosaurs is envisaged as a series of three cladogenetic events over an interval of at least 10 million years and possibly as much as 25 million years. This scenario of dinosaurian polyphyly is as well-supported by fossil evidence as is the currently favoured view of dinosaurian monophyly.     

Chemical analyses of the earliest pigment residues from the uttermost part of the planet (Beagle Channel region,Tierra del Fuego,Southern South America)

This paper presents the results of chemical analyses of the organic and inorganic fractions of pigment residues found in three archaeological sites located in the Beagle Channel region, Tierra del Fuego, Southern South America. Twenty-one archaeological samples have been analysed through XRD, SEM–EDX, FT-IR and GC–MS in order to characterise their inorganic colouring components and to search for the presence of organic substances used as binders. Lipids found in some samples are considered as potential binders. These organic components are compared to those found in archaeological sediment samples from the same layers where the pigments have been found, in order to search for potential taphonomic contaminations of the latter by the former. Results show that such contaminations are unlikely, hence the lipid contents are deemed of anthropic origin. The pigment sample results are also compared to data from analyses of natural sediment samples collected in several localities of the Beagle Channel in order to search for potential natural pigment sources. Results show that organic and inorganic components of these sediments are not the same than those present in the archaeological pigment samples, hence the pigment raw material sources have not been yet located. All these data provide for the first time evidence of the existence of ancient activities of pigment sourcing and paint preparation with organic binders which range from 6000 BP to 1900 BP in the southernmost region of the planet.     

Recovering social and cultural dynamics from plaster floors: chemical analyses at ancient Chunchucmil,Yucatan, Mexico

Phosphate analysis and trace metals analysis were used to determine activities that took place on plaster floors in domestic contexts at the ancient Maya site of Chunchucmil, Yucatan. Research on activities and the use of space contributes to an understanding of social relations within household groups as well as unforeseen patterns that structure refuse discard. The floors analyzed in this paper pertain to three structures in two neighboring houselots dating to the Early Classic (300–600 A.D.) period. Data from the chemical analyses were utilized in conjunction with associated architectural features and artifacts found on the floors. These three lines of information were interpreted with the help of models developed from ethnographic and ethnoarchaeological research. The results demonstrated functional differentiation of rooms within elaborate residences and suggested that front rooms were used to host visitors. The results also suggested that different types of debris were managed differently. Finally, chemical analyses suggest that non-elite Maya occasionally enacted rituals often restricted to elites.     

Hunter-gatherer tobacco smoking: earliest evidence from the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America

Chemical analysis of residue extracted from stone pipes and pipe fragments excavated at sites in the southern Pacific Northwest Coast of North America demonstrate that hunter-gatherers smoked the psychostimulant tobacco (Nicotiana sp.) by at least AD 860. Non-farming ethno-historic Native Americans throughout the west gathered and sometimes cultivated tobacco for ritual and religious purposes, but until now the antiquity of the practice on this part of the continent was unknown. Method validation includes chemical characterization of a suite of smoke plants and experimental reproduction of “smoked” pipe chemistry; results indicate biomarkers are traceable for several species commonly smoked by ethnographic native peoples, including tobacco (nicotine, cotinine), tree tobacco (anabasine), and kinnikinnick (arbutin). Developed methods—where residue is extracted directly from the stone or clay matrix of whole and fragmentary archaeological pipes—may be applied in similar studies investigating the spread and use of ritual smoke plants in the ancient Americas and elsewhere.     

Prouille,Madrid, Rome: the evolution of the earliest Dominican Instituta for nuns

The lifestyles of the three earliest Dominican women's communities were formulated according to their specific historical conditions and exigencies during the years 1206–21. Initially, the women associated with the preaching mission of Diego of Osma and Dominic Guzman were based at Prouille in the Languedoc and followed the Augustinian Rule. The development of the first instituta for Dominican nuns was the result of 15 years of overseeing the lives of the sisters. However, enclosure, and the institutional requirement for its observance, only came about in 1220 with the establishment of San Sisto, when St Dominic wrote an instituta specifically intended for a cloistered nunnery. This paper retraces and elucidates the historical development of the first Dominican instituta for women, and considers the remarkable choice of the Augustinian Rule as the basis for an enclosed women's order.