Possible shell beads from the Middle Stone Age layers of Sibudu Cave,South Africa

Recent excavations at Sibudu Cave, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, uncovered an Iron Age horizon below which is a complex 3 m thick Middle Stone Age sequence with post-Howiesons Poort, Howiesons Poort, Still Bay and pre-Still Bay layers. Available OSL ages indicate that the Howiesons Poort occupation is older than 60 ky and the Still Bay older than 70 ky. Here we present the archaeological context and the taphonomic analysis of six Afrolittorina africana, three of which bear perforations, from the Still Bay and Howiesons Poort layers of this site. The single specimen from the latter cultural horizon comes from the lowermost layer attributed to this technocomplex. This and the depositional context of this layer suggest that this shell derives, as do the other five, from the Still Bay occupation layers. Taphonomic analysis of the archaeological specimens based on present day Afrolittorina africana biocoenoses, microscopic examination, morphometry, experimental perforation of modern shells, and a review of the natural agents that may accumulate marine shells at inland sites, indicate probable human involvement in the collection, transport, modification, and abandonment of Afrolittorina africana in Sibudu. If confirmed by future discoveries these shells would corroborate the use of personal ornaments, already attested at Blombos Cave, Western Cape Province, by Still Bay populations. The apparent absence of ornaments at Howiesons Poort sites raises the question of the mechanisms that have led to cultural modernity since it seems to contradict the scenario according to which cultural innovations recorded at Middle Stone Age sites reflect a process of continuous accretion and elaboration interpreted as the behavioural corollary of the emergence of anatomically modern humans.     

A new Palaeolithic discovery: tar-hafted stone tools in a European Mid-Pleistocene bone-bearing bed

Two stone flakes partly covered in birch-bark-tar and a third without tar on it were discovered in fluvial gravel and clay in central Italy, in association with the bones of a young adult female Elephas (Palaeoloxondon) antiquus and several micromammals. The probable chronology of the stone flakes is compatible with the late Middle Pleistocene suggested by the site's small mammals and geological context. The fauna indicates a cool stadial episode before isotope stage 6. That age means the flakes are the oldest ever found hafted with tar and indicate a greater capacity for late Middle Pleistocene hominins to utilize raw materials available during cold phases.     

The Art of Taphonomy and the Taphonomy of Art: Layer IV,Molodova I,Ukraine

Level IV of Molodova I, an open-air Middle Paleolithic site in the Ukraine has been described by some researchers as a possible source of evidence for early symbolic behavior. We examined bone objects from this layer that were identified by Ukrainian researchers as exhibiting possible Neandertal produced engravings including two anthropomorphic figures. While we have determined that there is no evidence of symbolic activity at Molodova I, the database we have created, with its systematic recording of traces left by taphonomic agents on faunal remains, provides a better understanding of the overall site taphonomy.     

Possible evidence of bone tool shaping by Swartkrans early hominids

Ever since Dart (J. Phys. Anthrop. 7 (1949) 1) interpreted certain bones from Makapansgat as tools, scientific consensus has fluctuated as to whether some bone objects from early hominid sites should be interpreted as artefacts, or the result of non-human taphonomic processes, which are known to produce pseudo-bone tools morphologically similar to human modified or used artefacts. Here we present possible evidence of bone tool shaping from Swartkrans (Members 1–3; ca. 1.8–1.0 Mya). Four horncores and the proximal end of an ulna used as tools in digging activities also have facets covered by parallel spindle-shaped striations characteristic of grinding. Identification of these traces as possibly resulting from deliberate shaping or re-sharpening of the bone tools is based on the characterisation of the use-wear pattern and other taphonomic modifications observed on the Swartkrans bone tools. This interpretation is also supported by the study of the remainder of the horncores from Swartkrans, horncores from other southern African Plio-Pleistocene sites (Sterkfontein, Makapansgat, Gondolin), modern horncores affected by pre- and post-mortem modification, ethnographic, LSA, African Iron Age and experimental bone tools shaped by grinding. These data suggest that early hominids had the cognitive ability to modify the functional area of bone implements to achieve optimal efficiency.     

Characterisation of archaeological mortars from Pompeii (Campania,Italy) and identification of construction phases by compositional data analysis

This work describes the compositional characterisation of coccciopesto and natural pozzolanic mortars sampled in the Regio VI area of the archaeological site of Pompeii, with particular reference to the Casa di Pansa in Insula 6 and Casa 17 in Insula 2. Samples were studied by optical microscopy and analysed by XRF, SEM-EDS, LA-ICP-MS and XRPD. The XRF and SEM-EDS data, subjected to multivariate analysis (cluster analysis), identified the three main construction phases involved in building the Casa di Pansa. In addition, mineralogical and petrographic characteristics of the aggregate were determined and found to be compatible with pyroclastic deposits from the volcano Vesuvius. Study revealed C–S–H phases in the binder, due to pozzolanic hydration phemomena of hydrated lime with cocciopesto and natural pozzalana.     

Cultural Response to Environmental Change in the Alpine Lacustrine Regions: The Displacement Model

Summary. Following an abrupt change in climatic conditions, the Middle Bronze Age northern Alpine lake‐dwellers were forced to abandon their settlements. As a result, the archaeological record shows a gap of occupation from the end of the sixteenth century to the beginning of the twelfth century BC. Where did those groups go during that period? Recent studies show that some Middle Bronze Age sites hitherto regarded as traditional dry‐land dwellings might represent constructions by former lacustrine people. Typological analyses of pottery assemblages and house structure remains found on these sites have made it possible to trace them back to an origin in the lacustrine tradition. The MBA lake‐dwelling occupational hiatus could finally be bridged and the process of cultural continuity reconstructed. The MBA lake‐dwellers certainly did not disappear; they just temporarily adapted to a drier environment until the lake shores became ‘safe’ again for re‐settlement.