Seismic behavior of two Portuguese adobe buildings: Part I - in-plane cyclic testing of a full-scale adobe wall

This article addresses the laboratory testing of a full-scale double-T shaped adobe wall, under in-plane horizontal cyclic loading of increasing amplitude, with the aim of contributing to the understanding of the seismic behavior of adobe structures. The wall was built with lime adobes taken from an existing building and mortar with a traditional composition. The behavior of the wall was assessed in terms of: shear stress versus horizontal drift and moment versus rotation relationships; maximum lateral strength; drift and rotation at peak stress; evolution of stiffness, lateral displacements, dissipated energy, and natural frequency; and damage pattern. The wall exhibited brittle behavior and in-plane strength corresponding to 56% of the vertical load. Cracking was observed with an X-shaped pattern whereas no sliding occurred at its base. This research supported the subsequent development of a repair and retrofit solution and also of numerical models to simulate the seismic behavior of two adobe buildings.     

Morphometric analysis and detection of invisible archaeological elements by spectral treatment of digital images

The aim of this paper is to describe the creation of a method to apply digital image treatment, consisting of a combination of filters and algorhythms, to prehistoric rock carvings, to enhance the information obtained from them. In the experimental phase a study was made of a laboratory piece and two highly valuable pieces of cave art from the Tamanart Valley in Morocco and the Casares Cave in Guadalajara, Spain. The results clearly demonstrate the potential of the proposed digital methodas information was obtained that could not have been achieved by the traditional techniques.     

Combining residue analysis of floors and ceramics for the study of activity areas at the Garum Shop at Pompeii

In this paper, we propose the application—for the first time in the Mediterranean area—of the combination of the study of chemical residues in floors and ceramics, with the aim of providing information about the activities carried out in archeological buildings. We chose the Garum Shop at Pompeii to test the method. In fact, due to the peculiarity of this archeological context, it provided an ideal case in which the activities performed are in part known, and the ceramic vessels recovered are still in situ. Floor samples were studied by means of spot tests developed in Mexico aimed at identifying the presence of phosphates, fatty acids, and protein residues, while the organic residues preserved in the ceramic matrix of amphorae, dolia, and other ceramic vessels were studied by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. Moreover, we integrated the data obtained with specific studies directed at better identifying the solid residues found inside two of the amphorae studied: botanical studies of fruit stones recovered in a Dressel 20 amphora and the characterization of the lime preserved in an African amphora. The research allowed for the identification of the traces of some of the activities performed, such as cooking and producing garum in the floors of the building, and the use and re-use of amphorae and dolia before the Vesuvian eruption.     

Diet in transitory society: isotopic analysis of medieval population of Central Europe (ninth–eleventh century AD,Czech Republic)

Dietary behavior in the context of the formation of state structure, Christianization, and significant urbanization was studied, using the Great Moravian Empire (ninth–tenth century AD, Czech Republic) as a representative example. We also analyzed the impact of the disruption of social structure at the beginning of the tenth century and subsequent recovery of society during the eleventh century. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic values were measured in 189 adults (both sexes) and 74 animals representing different socioeconomic contexts (power centers/hinterlands) and chronology (Great Moravian/Late Hillfort period). Statistically significant differences in animal protein consumption were observed between centers and hinterlands. For centers, significant relationship was found between nitrogen isotopic values and socioeconomic status in males but not for females. Diachronic diet changes were observed, with the eleventh century diet characterized by higher millet consumption in both sexes and lower consumption of animal protein in males. These results confirm that Great Moravia represented a highly stratified society socioeconomically. Social status appears to determine the consumption of animal protein much more in males than in females. The diet of females also proved to be more uniform in the diachronic frame. The diachronic change in dietary behavior suggests that through the apparent recovery in the eleventh century, Moravian society did not reach its original level of welfare at least in terms of the quality of diet.     

Micro-photogrammetric and morphometric differentiation of cut marks on bones using metal knives,quartzite, and flint flakes

In a previous article, we presented an innovative method to analyze cut marks produced with metal tools on animal bones from a metrical and tridimensional perspective (Maté-González et al. 2015). Such analysis developed a low-cost alternative technique to traditional microscopic methods for the tridimensional reconstruction of marks, using their measurements and sections. This article presents the results of an experimental study to test this photogrammetric and morphometric method for differentiating cut marks generated with metal, flint, and quartzite flakes. The results indicate statistically significant differences among cut marks produced by these three types of raw material. These results encourage the application of this method to archeological assemblages in order to establish a link between carcass processing and lithic reduction sequences on different raw materials and also to define the kind of tools used during butchery.     

Body mass estimation in skeletal samples using the hybrid approach: the effect of population-specific variations and sexual dimorphism

Body mass is estimated from skeletal records with low accuracy, and it is expected that population-specific equations derived by a hybrid approach may help to reduce the error in body mass estimates. We used 204 individuals from five Central European Early Medieval sites to test the effect of population-specific femoral head breadth equations on the accuracy of body mass estimates. The baseline for living body mass was computed using the biiliac breadth and stature. We also analyzed the agreement of five general femoral head techniques that are used in body mass estimation (Elliott et al. (Archaeol Anthropol Sci 1–20, 2015b; Grine et al. (Am J Phys Anthropol 97:151–185, 1995); McHenry (Am J Phys Anthropol 87:407–431, 1992); Ruff et al. (Am J Phys Anthropol 148:601–617, 2012); Ruff et al. (Am J Phys Anthropol 86:397, 1991)). Our results support previous findings showing that body mass is predicted with lower accuracy than stature, even when population-specific equations are derived. However, the population-specific approach increases the agreement with the body mass estimated from the biiliac breadth and stature, particularly when sex-specific equations are used. Thus, our results advocate for the employment of sex-specific equations when possible and show that the possibility of deriving equation for each sex separately is the main advantage of the population-specific approach. The best agreement among the body mass techniques in the Central European Early Medieval samples was observed using the femoral head equations reported by Ruff et al. (Am J Phys Anthropol 148:601–617, 2012) and McHenry (Am J Phys Anthropol 87:407–431, 1992), whereas other studied equations provided lower agreement. The particularly low performance obtained using the technique reported by Elliott et al. (2015b) questioned the use of their equations to estimate body masses.     

The Servilia tomb: an architecturally and pictorially important Roman building

One hundred and eleven samples from the important Servilia Roman tomb have been analysed for the first time by Raman spectroscopy, resulting in a complete characterisation of the pigment palette used for its remarkable wall paintings: 73 different pigment mixtures have been identified for the composition of its 11 colours and their tonalities. Dyer’s weld, an ancient organic yellow pigment, which was described by Vitruvius, has been identified and characterised for the first time in Roman wall paintings. Distinctive Raman spectroscopic signals which differentiate between haematite and caput mortuum (a violet colour from haematite which has been subjected to thermal treatment) are also reported. The use of the very expensive lazurite for a balance relates the importance of this otherwise ordinary instrument with psychostasia (the human soul weighing process) and is not found elsewhere in the tomb. The distribution of white minerals alone or in admixture is not related to any particular colouring pigment or figure; this possibly indicates that there was no specific use for each white mineral and that several craftsmen worked on the paintings, perhaps in different periods, or that the frescoes have been subjected to unrecorded restoration. We conclude that Raman spectroscopy is a valuable analytical technique for the unambiguous identification of mixtures of both organic and inorganic compounds, to study the degree of mineral crystallinity and for identifying treatment. These data are relevant for the holistic interpretation of the artwork in its historical, economical and social context.     

Kukulkanus,a new genus of buxtoniin brachiopod from the Artinskian–Kungurian (Early Permian) of Mexico

Torres-Martínez, M.A., Sour-Tovar, F. & Barragán, R., November 2017. Kukulkanus, a new genus of buxtoniin brachiopod from the Artinskian–Kungurian (Early Permian) of Mexico. Alcheringa 42, 268–276. ISSN 0311–5518.

Kukulkanus is the first genus of the tribe Buxtoniini recorded from rocks of the late Cisuralian (Artinskian–Kungurian). The Early Permian (Cisuralian) outcrops of the Santa Rosa Group, from southeastern Chiapas, are one of the most important marine Palaeozoic successions of Mexico. The Artinskian–Kungurian Paso Hondo Formation is the youngest unit in the succession and is dominated by massive limestone. Different marine invertebrates deposited in massive calcareous rocks characterize this formation. The buxtoniin Kukulkanus spinosus gen. et sp. nov. is reported from a single bed within the unit. The outcrops are located in southeastern Chiapas, very near the Guatemala–Mexico border. The lithological features and the preservation of fossils indicate that the fossil-bearing rocks were deposited in a low-energy open-waters paleoenvironment over the continental platform. Fusulinids, cephalopods and brachiopods previously described for the Paso Hondo Formation have been correlated with faunas of different coeval localities from Texas, New Mexico, Coahuila, Chiapas and Venezuela, regions that form part of the biotic Grandian Palaeo-Province.

Miguel A. Torres-Martínez [miguelatm@geologia.unam.mx] Departamento de Paleontología, Instituto de Geología, Circuito de la Investigación Científica, Avenida Universidad No. 3000. Colonia Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Delegación Coyoacán, Cd. Mx. C.P. 04510, Mexico. Francisco Sour-Tovar [fcosour@ciencias.unam.mx] Museo de Paleontología, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Av. Universidad No. 3000, Colonia Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Delegación Coyoacán, Cd. Mx. C.P. 04510, Mexico. Ricardo Barragán [ricardor@geologia.unam.mx] Departamento de Paleontología, Instituto de Geología, Circuito de la Investigación Científica, Avenida Universidad No. 3000. Colonia Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Delegación Coyoacán, Cd. Mx. C.P. 04510, Mexico.