Fluvial spatial taphonomy: a new method for the study of post-depositional processes

Traditional taphonomic analyses do not consider the emergent properties resulting from the relationship of variables. Several of these emergent properties are expressed spatially. Here, we present a spatial taphonomic approach to the understanding of post-depositional processes affecting experimental assemblages modified by fluvial currents. Spatial statistical methods are a great tool to understand how different taphonomic variables relate at a spatial scale. The results of the application of this method to bone assemblages affected by low- and high-energy flows show the loss or modification of most of the original spatial taphonomic relationships. It also shows the degree of bone loss according to element, anatomical section and bone structure, and shape types. Anisotropy is identified in both experimental contexts. These results add new criteria to assess the impact of water flows in bone assemblages and contribute to define the properties of lag assemblages.     

La Espiral Cave (Cuba): Guano and signs of Plant Substances Used as Paint Ingredients

At La Espiral cave, located in Bahia Honda municipality (Artemisa province, Cuba), there are several pictographs, including two of particular importance due to the design used: one of concentric circles and another of a spiral. We analyzed the pigments and binders used in one of these pictographs. The chemical ingredients of the paint are considered in this article, as well as the use of bat guano as a major pigment compound. The apparent presence of ellagic acid, ellagitannin, or anthocyanins would strengthen the hypothesis that artists used vegetable protein as a paint binder or solvent.     

Qu(e)erying Sex and Gender in Archaeology: a Critique of the “Third” and Other Sexual Categories

In this paper, I will recover the issue of the “third gender” in archaeological analysis in order to argue that the use of a “third,” despite what it may appear at first sight, does not challenge the logic inherent in gender and sexual binaries, that is, the use of universal, ahistorical, and stagnated categories. As an alternative, I will rely on Almudena Hernando’s genealogical work on gender and identity, as well as on Lucía Moragón-Martínez’s arguments regarding corporeality, to state that in “oral societies” (like prehistoric ones), body and person cannot be ontologically distinguished and, as a consequence, the anatomical features that we categorize as “sex” can neither be thought nor defined abstractly. I will further examine the implications of this claim in relation to the sex–gender fluidity that can be seen in those oral societies, formerly pigeonholed into the third gender category. In addition, I will analyze current literature developed by gender archaeologists in order to show the strengths and limitations of my proposal in relation to recent works on the topic.     

FACTOR ACCUMULATION,EXTERNALITIES, AND ABSORPTIVE CAPACITY IN REGIONAL GROWTH: EVIDENCE FROM EUROPE

This paper proposes a model that incorporates capital accumulation and spatial spillovers across economies, while allowing for regional differences in absorptive capacity. This model is estimated using a sample of EU regions, over a period including the enlargement of the single‐market area in the middle of the first decade of the 21st century. Results confirm the relevance of local absorptive capacity that is directly linked with the process of making the most of externalities. Capital deepening reduced the role of capital in explaining the regional productivity gap, but was not enough to help lagging regions to equal the return to human capital investments reached by most advanced regions.     

Critical review of desalination in Spain: a resource for the future?

There have been significant territorial changes in the Spanish Mediterranean in the last few decades because of the important growth of residential tourism functions. The Spanish National Hydrological Plan ( 2001 ) and, to a greater extent, the Action for Management and Use of Water Programme ( 2004 ) advocated large‐scale desalination of seawater to guarantee a supply for urban, tourism, and even future agricultural demands. The paralysis of urban development planning caused by the financial crisis (2007/08), together with the downward trend in the consumption of drinking water in the last decade, highlighted a capacity to produce desalinated water that was far superior to actual needs. This study reviews the current context in which desalinated water is produced in Spain, weighs up the advantages and disadvantages of this method of water management, and considers the potential role that this non‐conventional source of water could play as a strategic resource in the future. The main findings of the study are that desalination is not a panacea; rather, it should be considered in terms of technological parameters tailored to the circumstances of each geographical and socioeconomic environment.     

Testing the accuracy of portable X-ray fluorescence to study Aztec and Colonial obsidian supply at Xaltocan,Mexico

This article demonstrates the accuracy of non-destructive portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) for the study of obsidian in central Mexico. Obsidian sources were identified for a sample of 103 artifacts from the site of Xaltocan, which spanned the rise and fall of the Aztec empire and the first centuries of Spanish colonial rule (AD 900–1700). Sources were assigned by comparing pXRF measurements with previously published source data and were verified using the standard techniques of laboratory XRF (lXRF) and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Additional tests of potentially confounding factors show that neither length of read time, presence of surface residue, nor incomplete detector coverage due to small artifact size compromised our ability to attribute sources to artifacts. Concave surfaces did decrease the accuracy of readings because of the greater distance between the artifact and the detector. Our results provide new insight into the stability of supply networks and markets well into the Colonial period as well as the homogenizing tendencies of the Aztec market system.     

Taken with a Grain of Salt: Experimentation and the Chemistry of Archaeological Ceramics from Xaltocan,Mexico

Neutron activation analysis (NAA) of ceramics from Xaltocan (n?=?651) displays high values for sodium and potassium and low concentrations of many transition metals and rare earth elements compared to other sites in the Basin of Mexico. Given that Xaltocan was situated on an island in the middle of a saline lake, the potential reasons for this chemical signature are diverse. On one hand, if the sodium and potassium were elevated due to some behavioral aspect of the potters, the Xaltocan chemical groups provide a glimpse at the behaviors of Xaltocan potters that permit more precise source designations. On the other hand, if this chemical fingerprint arose due to contamination in a saline post-depositional environment, the Xaltocan chemical groups would not be valid references for provenance studies. To evaluate these alternative hypotheses, we employ several lines of evidence: (1) comparison of the Xaltocan ceramics to over 5,000 NAA assays of clays and ceramics from the Basin of Mexico, (2) experimental doping of clays with water of different salinities and fired to different temperatures, (3) leaching experiments of archaeological pottery sherds (n?=?22) recovered from the site of Xaltocan, and (4) laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry of the clay and temper fraction of a small sample of Xaltocan ceramics to determine which component is responsible for the elevated sodium and potassium values. The results suggest that the high sodium and potassium values were present in the ceramic paste before firing. We then use these newly established reference groups to better understand the role of Xaltocan in the regional economy. The type of experimentation employed in this study has proven to be an important method for determining the behaviors of ancient potters and distinguishing them from post-depositional processes.     

COMPLEMENTARITY BETWEEN LOCAL KNOWLEDGE AND INTERNATIONALIZATION IN REGIONAL TECHNOLOGICAL PROGRESS*

ABSTRACT Trade, foreign direct investment, and inter‐regional R&D spillovers facilitate competition, the spread of knowledge, and the adoption of more advanced technologies, which in turn hastens total factor productivity (TFP) growth. The spread of these efficiency gains from internationalization requires a sufficient local knowledge to enable them to be adapted to the domestic productive environment. Thus, higher local knowledge and internationalization will lead to TFP growth, and the greater the complementarity between variables the higher the TFP growth. We test the complementarity hypothesis using Spanish regional data over the period 1980–1995 in which both regional local knowledge and internationalization experienced a notable increase.     

Implementing Artificial Intelligence in H-BIM Using the J48 Algorithm to Manage Historic Buildings

ABSTRACT

The preservation of the architectural heritage is characterized by the intervention of different technicians, who may disagree on decision-making criteria. In recent years, the H-BIM methodology has emerged to manage these buildings, although the multidisciplinary technical personnel make the decision-taking something of a challenge. In this regard, artificial intelligence may be an opportunity to establish automatic responses, thus optimizing the process. This article proposes a methodology to implement models of classification using the J48 algorithm in a H-BIM model. The case study was focused on a tiles panel from a building which belongs to the Real Alcazar of Seville. First, a model of classification was developed to estimate the degree of intervention with an adequate degree of adjustment. Then, the model was implemented in the H-BIM software by programming using GDL. This methodology automates the decision-making and reduces times of assessments, visualizing and managing the information in the H-BIM model.