Chemical and mineralogical characterization of historic mortars from the Santa Eulalia de Bóveda temple,NW Spain

Bulk samples of mortars from the Santa Eulalia de Bóveda temple (NW Spain) have been characterized from a chemical and mineralogical point of view, with the aims of contributing technological and provenance inferences, and evaluating possible correlations with the various identified stages along historical periods of construction.     

Hydraulic structures of the Roman Mithraeum house in Augusta emerita, Spain

This paper deals with some of the hydraulic structures of Augusta Emerita (Mérida, Spain), specifically those found in the Mithraeum House. In particular, we describe and characterise the hydraulic mortars and coatings of the viridarium water channel. The recipient of the channel was covered with two hydraulic mortars and a finishing coating. Hydrated lime was used as binder. Calcite grains with different morphology have been observed in the mortars studied. The siliceous aggregate was composed of quartz, mica and feldspars. Ceramic fragments, which were added to the mortar to improve its hydraulic properties, were composed of quartz, mica, iron oxides, anorthite and an amorphous phase; aluminium-iron silicates were used as raw materials for their manufacture. We discuss the interactions between the hydrated lime and the surface of the ceramics in the mortars.     

New radiometric dating of water management features at the prehistoric Purrón Dam Complex,Tehuacán Valley,Puebla, México

Recent investigations at the prehistoric Purrón Dam Complex in the Tehuacán Valley of southern Puebla, México applied radiometric dating to more securely date the complex. Ceramic-based dating in the 1960′s placed the Dam's origin to the Formative Period. While Formative Period origins are widely accepted, the chronology lacks resolution and direct dates. Samples from impounded sediments behind the dam and from prehistoric canal fill were dated through Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) as well as both standard ¹⁴C and accelerated mass spectrometry (AMS) assays. These samples directly date the functioning of the water management features within the complex. The results confirm the Formative Period origins of the Purrón Dam, and offer new insights into the construction and functioning of the dam and irrigation system.     

Stable nitrogen isotopic examination of Norse sites in the Western settlement of Greenland

To continue to explore the impact of past human activity on the stable nitrogen isotope ratios of modern vegetation, we have measured the δ¹⁵N values of plants now growing on several ancient farmsteads in the Western Settlement of Norse Greenland. Although this new test area is some 400 km north and in a different ecoregion from the previous study area, the same isotopic effect was observed. A clear isotopic signature was found on the ancient farms which could be directly correlated to past activity areas; in particular, the infields. Further, the magnitude of the δ¹⁵N values was found to be similar between study areas, indicating the same interpretative framework can be applied in widely separate geographic regions. A first test of different plant species showed that although the magnitude differed greatly the same basic information was found for functionally different plants. These observations provide additional information to aid in future archaeological application of this newly observed phenomenon.     

Still methodologically becoming: collaboration,feminist politics and ‘Team Ismaili’

This article mobilizes a feminist analytic to examine team research and collaborative knowledge production. We center our encounter with team research – a collectivity we named ‘Team Ismaili’ – and our study with first- and second-generation East African Shia Ismaili Muslim immigrants in Greater Vancouver, Canada. We draw upon feminist politics to highlight the ways in which ‘Team Ismaili’ at once destabilized and unwittingly reproduced normative academic power relations and lines of authority. A ‘backstage tour’, of ‘Team Ismaili’ shows the messiness and momentum of team research and sheds light on how collaborative knowledge production can challenge and reconfirm assumed hierarchies. Even as we are still methodologically becoming, through this discussion we strive to interrupt the prevailing silence on team research in human geography, to prompt more dialogue on collaboration and to foreground the insight garnered through feminist politics.     

The earliest cylinder seal in the Arabian Peninsula

A cylinder seal of Late Uruk (late fourth millennium BC) type from Abu Dhabi is presented and analysed. Comparisons with excavated finds from elsewhere in the Near East are discussed. An inventory of cylinder seals from sites in the UAE and the Sultanate of Oman shows that cylinder seal use, while not unknown in the region, was never very great. The ways in which the seal may have arrived at its eventual place of discovery are described and the significance of the seal is assessed.     

Different staining substances were used in decorative and therapeutic tattoos in a 1000-year-old Peruvian mummy

From a 1000-year-old mummy, found unwrapped in the sand of the desert at Chiribaya Alta in Southern Peru, two different kinds of tattoos were investigated: decorative tattoos displaying different animals and symbolic ciphers were present on the extremities and tattooed circles on the neck region.     

What Explains the Carcass Field Processing and Transport Decisions of Contemporary Hunter-Gatherers? Measures of Economic Anatomy and Zooarchaeological Skeletal Part Representation

This paper uses rationale derived from central place foraging models to explore the factors that guide the carcass processing and transport decisions of modern hunters. Using data derived from butchering experiments, I test different economic indices that purportedly reflect the field processing and transport decisions of contemporary African Hadza hunter-gatherers. The results show that no single index predicts part processing and transport for the species examined in this analysis. Processing and transport decisions are, however, patterned in ways that are consistent with theoretical predictions. While similar processes likely guide carcass treatment and transport decisions among all hunter-gatherers, different ecological, social, and historical constraints define the range of solutions to problems involving carcass treatment. In this specific example, intertaxonomic differences in carcass size and bone properties constrain how the trade-offs between field processing and transport costs are resolved. I conclude by suggesting ways in which analysts might make use of central place foraging rationale and models to explain variation in skeletal representation and abundances across time and space.

Characterisation of Chinese Tang sancai from Gongxian and Yaozhou kilns using ICP-MS trace element and TIMS Sr–Nd isotopic analysis

Tang sancai is one of the most important types of Chinese ceramics. To determine the provenance of Tang sancai is important to study ancient trade and other issues. In this paper we compare ICP-MS trace elements and TIMS Sr–Nd isotopes of visibly similar Tang sancai from two major production centres Gongxian and Yaozhou. The variation in contents/ratios of many of >40 trace elements is small for samples from Gongxian, yet is considerably bigger for that from Yaozhou. However, the variation in ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd isotopic ratios is very small for samples from both places. Gongxian and Yaozhou samples have distinctive Sr–Nd isotopic and trace element features despite their similarity in major elements, and these analysis data can be interpreted with geochemistry, indicating that Sr and Nd isotopes have great potential in ceramic provenance studies. The distinct characterisation of these samples provides valuable criteria for identifying provenance of Tang sancai of uncertain origin. Two modern fakes are also analysed, and they can as well be distinguished from antique Tang sancai using above criteria.