Extinct species identification from late middle Pleistocene and earlier Upper Pleistocene bone fragments and tools not recognizable from their osteomorphological study by an enhanced proteomics protocol

Ancient preserved molecules offer the opportunity of gaining a deeper knowledge on their biological past. However, the development of a proteomic workflow remains a challenge. The analysis of fossils must involve a low quantity of material to avoid damaging the samples. In this study an enhanced proteomic protocol was applied to 5-milligram samples of about 130,000-year-old mammalian bones ranging from the end of the Middle Pleistocene up to the earlier Upper Pleistocene, excavated from Scladina Cave (Sclayn, Belgium). Using sequence homology with modern sequences, a biological classification was successfully achieved and the associated taxonomic ranks to each bone were identified consistently with the information gained from osteomorphological studies and palaeoenvironmental and palaeodietary data. Amino acid substitutions on collagens were identified, thus providing new information on extinct species sequences and helping in taxonomy-based clustering. Considering samples with no osteomorphological information, such as two fragments of bone retouchers, proteomics successfully identified the families providing paleontologists new information on these objects. Combining osteomorphology studies and amino acid variations identified by proteomics, one of the retouchers was potentially identified as belonging to the Ursus spelaeus species.     

Le retard de l'archéologue. L'interprétation historienne face à l'oeuvre de Michel Foucault

Partant des termes très tranchés de la polémique qui s'est récemment élevée autour du cas Pierre Rivière, jeune parricide du XIXème siècle, révélé en 1973 par l'équipe de chercheurs réunis auprès de Michel Foucault au Collège de France, il s'agit de considérer une difficulté majeure posée à la discipline historique par l'oeuvre du penseur disparu : les conditions et les limites d'une activité interprétative. La méthode archéologique professée par Foucault prétendait surmonter les impasses évidentes de l'histoire des idées, traditionnellement entendue, sa naïve confiance en la continuité apparente des vocables, notamment ; elle ne parvient cependant à ses fins qu'au seul prix de l'oubli de ses propres conditions de possibilité, s'exposant ainsi au scepticisme qu'elle a elle‐même suscité. La question récurrente—et pourtant jamais abordée de front—du pouvoir atteste l'impossibilité ultime de la méthode foucaldienne de dépasser le point aveugle de sa propre légitimité. Loin qu'il faille tenir ses interpellations pour nulles et non avenues, “l'archéologie du savoir” ne peut, à ce compte, que fonctionner comme un puissant stimulant de l'opération historienne.     

A New Method For Combining Lead Isotope and Lead Abundance Data to Characterize Archaeological Copper Alloys*

We present a new methodology for interpreting lead isotope data from archaeological copper alloy objects. It is not based on the conventional isotope ratio biplots, which were originally devised to allow the calculation of the geological age of the lead mineralization, but is derived from isotope mixing models, more often used for presenting strontium isotope data. We illustrate the method by reworking published data on Sardinian Nuragic oxhide ingots and copper alloy artefacts. While we confirm the consensus assumption that the oxhide ingot fragments found on Sardinia are isotopically consistent with Cypriot copper ores (although we see no isotopic reason to favour only Apliki, as originally suggested), we also show that there is evidence for mixing between local and ingot copper in some objects, which was previously not detected. More broadly, we suspect that the apparent mismatch between some source allocations for copper drawn from isotope geochemistry and the rest of the archaeological data in some cases might be due to mixed isotopic signals being incorrectly assigned to a specific source, and suggest that the method presented here will reduce the chances of this happening.     

A new protocol for the chemical characterisation of steatite – two case studies in Europe: the Shetland Islands and Crete

Steatite has been one of the most difficult materials of archaeological interest to characterise by physico-chemical methods of analysis with a view to identifying its origin. This paper presents a new protocol for the chemical characterisation of steatite based on the analysis by ICP-MS in tandem with INAA of rare earth elements (REE) and some transition metals in geological steatite from several outcrops on the Shetland Islands and on Crete. The major advance over earlier work has been the secure determination of REE at low concentrations. The results have demonstrated the ability to discriminate chemically three of the known Viking Age sources on Shetland. On Crete, although the situation is complex, four sources in the centre of the island have been partially differentiated. This study has also shown that first mineralogical analysis (by XRD) of steatite provides valuable supplementary characterisation data, and second strontium isotope analysis has promising potential for the sourcing of steatite.     

The absent-present researcher: data analysis of pre-recorded parent-driven campaign videos

ABSTRACT

In recent years, there has been a proliferation of sophisticated, user-friendly and accessible instruments of video data collection (e.g. mobile/cell phones and tablets) which facilitate video-based research and analysis. This paper reports on the opportunities and challenges of undertaking video analysis by reporting on the qualitative video analysis of a subset of 30 purposively selected videos from #notanurse_but, a parent-driven video campaign initiated by WellChild, a UK charity. This paper provides insight into one way of conducting video analysis, appreciating that a variety of approaches exist and that methodological reflections on analytical work with video recordings are limited. The authors critically consider researcher subjectivity; the everydayness of video data; making assumptions; and the incomplete picture provided by video data. Despite notable limitations to the approach of video analysis as a standalone method, the authors conclude that video analysis is capable of eliciting data that may not otherwise be obtained.