Of mice and sparrows: Commensal faunas from the Iberian iron age in the duero valley (central spain)

This paper aims to emphasize the importance of imported commensal faunas in archaeological contexts by reporting on the earliest known house sparrows and house mice from the Iberian peninsula. The finds, which date to the Iron Age of a hinterland area of the peninsula, have been identified on the basis of osteomorphological and osteometrical criteria, which are specified in the text in order to demonstrate the reliability of the identification. The temporal and geographical coincidence of these remains in the two sites analysed with those of donkey and, secondarily, chicken remains and faunal remains of littoral origin, lends support to the hypothesis that these animals arrived with the earliest trans-Mediterranean colonizers to the southern shores of the Iberian peninsula and spread involuntarily thereafter as ‘side-products’ of the Phoenician commercial routes throughout the Iberian hinterland.     

New tools for rock art modelling: automated sensor integration in Pindal Cave

This paper presents the integration of automated sensors based on a terrestrial laser scanner and an amateur digital camera with the aim of generating a photorealistic three-dimensional (3D) model of the Principal Panel in Pindal Cave (Spain). The approach developed for 3D modelling overcomes many of the problems related to the independent implementation of photogrammetry and laser scanning. Particularly, a sequential and hierarchical approach was developed based on the processing and matching of images from the camera (camera image) and the laser scanner (range image). The results obtained demonstrate that the workflow for this model is automatic, effective, and accurate. The presented approach was found to create hyper-realistic models, even improving upon human visual capabilities.     

Reviews

AUSTRALIA AND THE COLONIAL QUESTION AT THE UNITED NATIONS. W. J. Hudson. Sydney University Press, 1970. ix, 214 pp. $6.

POLITICS AND CHANGE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES: STUDIES IN THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF DEVELOPMENT. Colin Leys (ed.). Cambridge University Press, 1969. xi, 289 pp. 45s. stg.

EXPERTS IN ASIA. A. H. Boxer. Australian National University Press. 180 pp. $6.

BACK IN ASIA. Daphne M. Keats. Australian National University Press. 190 pp. $4.50.

INDONESIAN POLITICAL THINKING. 1945–1965. Herbert Feith and Lance Castles (eds.). Cornell University Press, Ithaca & London, 1970. ix, 505 pp. $US13.50.

THE GROWTH OF A PARTY SYSTEM IN CEYLON. Calvin A. Woodward. Providence, R.I., Brown University Press, 1969. xiv, 338 pp. $8.50.

THE SECURITY OF CHINA. Arthur Huck. Chatto & Windus, London, 1970. 93 pp.

INDICTMENT WITHOUT TRIAL: THE CASE OF LIU SHAO‐CH'I. A. E. Kent. Australian National University. 68 pp. $A1.

GENEVA 1954: THE SETTLEMENT OF THE INDO‐CHINESE WAR. Robert F. Randle. Princeton U.P., 1969. 639 pp. $US17.50.

THE ESTRANGEMENT OF GREAT BRITAIN AND JAPAN, 1917–35. Captain Malcolm D. Kennedy. Manchester University Press, 1969. x, 345 pp. $8.15.

THE U.S., INDIA, AND THE BOMB. Shelton L. Williams. The Johns Hopkins Press. $3.05.

ISSUES IN UNITED STATES FOREIGN POLICY. M. S. Rajan (ed.). Indian School of International Studies, New Delhi, July‐October, 1968. 244 pp. $US4.50.

FRENCH POLITICIANS AND ELECTIONS, 1951–1969. Philip M. Williams. Cambridge University Press, 1970. xviii, 313 pp. $3.

HOUSE OF REVIEW?: THE NEW SOUTH WALES LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL, 1934–68. Ken Turner. Sydney University Press, 1969. $5.

THE HOUSE WILL DIVIDE. Don Whitington. Lansdowne Press, 1969. $4.50.     

Isotopic evidence for the reconstruction of diet and mobility during village formation in the Early Middle Ages: Las Gobas (Burgos,northern Spain)

Strontium, carbon, and nitrogen isotopes of human bone and tooth remains have been used to reconstruct residential mobility and diet of early medieval populations at Las Gobas from the sixth to eleventh centuries. Most non-local individuals correspond to the tenth to eleventh centuries and were mostly women and infants. This residential mobility coincided with the formation of Laño village and the abandonment of artificial cave settlement. Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of bone collagen indicate an omnivorous homogenous diet based on terrestrial plant resources, with few animal-derived proteins from livestock. Millet consumption was restricted to an earlier period of time (seventh to ninth centuries); and in later periods (tenth to eleventh centuries), mainly C₃ plants such as wheat and barley were consumed. In general, there were no dietary differences between individuals according to sex or age. Sex-related dietary differences have only been observed in the tenth to eleventh centuries, when females consumed a more vegetarian diet and less animal protein. The higher δ ¹⁵N values in infants reflect the weaning effect, while the differences in δ ¹⁵N values between young adult men and young adult women can be explained as a physiological factor related to pregnancy or different origins. In a comparison with contemporaneous medieval populations in the northern Iberian Peninsula, both δ ¹³C and δ ¹⁵N values suggest similar foodstuff resources and diet among Christian and Muslim populations.     

DIET AND ENVIRONMENT IN SOUTH‐EASTERN IBERIA DURING THE BRONZE AGE,BASED ON ISOTOPE ANALYSIS OF HUMAN REMAINS

A large sample of human bones from a series of archaeological sites in the south‐eastern Iberian Peninsula was selected for δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N stable isotope analysis. Except for some contrast samples, the remains date from the first half of the second millennium cal BC and are ascribed to the Argar Culture, which developed during the Bronze Age in south‐eastern Iberia. Most authors have considered that this region reached a high degree of social hierarchical organization at this time, as demonstrated by the funerary record, both with regard to the grave goods and to the evidence of physical effort and diseases on the human remains. Results of the isotope analysis revealed the existence of differences among the settlements studied, as well as differences over time within every settlement and among the various individuals tested. Some variances can be assigned to social classes/status and others are linked to chronological factors. In particular, changes in δ¹³C can be explained by the increasing aridity of the first half of the second millennium cal BC, although other causes can be put forward too.