Lost writing uncovered by laser two-photon fluorescence provides a terminus post quem for Roman colonization of Hispania Citerior

In this work, two-photon absorption fluorescence is used as a non-destructive method to detect the presence of paint upon an archaeological sample. The objective was to recover writing that, due to the discoloration caused by the passage of the time, was barely readable. The technique has been successfully applied to determine the consular date painted upon the neck of a Dressel 1A amphora found in the Roman village of Iesso (Guissona), in Catalonia. The identification of the consular date provides a terminus post quem for the foundation date for the city as well as a starting date for the Roman colonization of Hispania Citerior.     

A possible case of hyperparathyroidism in a burial of 15–17th century AD date from Wharram Percy,England

The subject of this paper is the partial skeleton of an adult female, dating to ad 1420–1640, excavated from the church at the deserted village of Wharram Percy, North Yorkshire, UK. Lesions are described which are probably indicative of hyperparathyroidism. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The family, love, and suicide in early modern Geneva

Analysis of criminal proceedings and death records for early modern Geneva reveals an explosion in suicides after 1750. New attitudes toward courtship, marriage, and the familly contributed to this dramatic increase, as unprecedented numbers of people took their lives because of family concerns, such as marital breakdown, unhapppy love stories, and deaths of family members. Greater interest in the companionate marriage was central to these changes. After 1750, marriage, even more than parenthood, offered immunity to suicide, as married people were underrepresented among those who took their lives. Although men constituted the large majority of suicides, women and men shared the growing emphasis on conjugal sentiment, which cut across class lines.     

Historical ecology of late Holocene sea otters (Enhydra lutris) from northern British Columbia: isotopic and zooarchaeological perspectives

We examined the isotopic composition (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) of sea otter (Enhydra lutris) bone collagen from ten late Holocene (ca. 5200 years BP–AD 1900) archaeological sites in northern British Columbia (BC), Canada. Because sea otters are now extinct from much of this region and have not fully recolonized their former range (e.g. Haida Gwaii and most of northern BC) these data represent an important first step towards better understanding sea otter foraging ecology in BC. The isotopic data suggest a diet composed primarily of benthic invertebrates, with a very low reliance on epibenthic fish. There is very low isotopic and thus inter-individual dietary variability in Holocene BC sea otters during the late Holocene. Furthermore, zooarchaeological abundance data suggest that otters represented a widespread and significant focus of aboriginal hunting practices on the northern BC coast during the mid- to late-Holocene. The consistent reliance on a small number of low-trophic level prey and limited dietary variability in Holocene BC sea otters may reflect top-down impacts on otter populations by aboriginal peoples. As part of our assessment of sea otter diet, we review trophic discrimination factors (Δ¹³C and Δ¹⁵N) for bone collagen from published literature and find marked variability, with mean values of +3.7 ± 1.6 for Δ¹³C (n = 21) and +3.6 ± 1.3 for Δ¹⁵N (n = 15).