Heads or Tails? Modified Ceramic Gaming Pieces from Colonial California

Modified ceramic disks have been recovered from historic-era sites across the Americas. Small unperforated disks are commonly interpreted as gaming pieces and larger perforated disks are often classified as spindle whorls. Here, we examine these interpretations in light of collections from three colonial-era sites in central California: Mission San Antonio de Padua, Mission San José, and the Rancho San Andrés Castro Adobe. We argue that the small unperforated disks from our study sites were two-sided dice. These gaming pieces facilitated the social cohesion of Native people living in the large, multiethnic Indigenous communities that formed around Spanish colonial missions and later Mexican-era ranchos.     

In situ desalination of a granitic column by the electrokinetic method

Desalination of rocks used in monuments is a common strategy to reduce the possibility of deterioration by soluble salt crystallization processes. In the last years, some laboratory studies have demonstrated that the application of electrokinetic techniques allow to achieve higher desalination effectiveness, overcoming most limitations of the traditional methods. However, to our knowledge no studies have been conducted on the effectiveness of this technique for in situ desalination of granite. The present study is aimed at filling this gap. The results of an in situ desalination intervention using electrokinetic methods, on a column highly contaminated with salts are presented. The desalination method was optimized to desalinate large in situ structures, trying to establish the necessary protocols (buffering system, irrigation system, setup, etc.) to obtain results as satisfactory as those obtained in laboratory. The results demonstrated the high effectiveness of this method in terms of total salt extraction and depth of salt extraction. The concentration of anions in the column was decreased by more than 80% after 55 days of treatment. No mineralogical and aesthetic damages on the stone were detected after the treatment, confirming the reliability of this method to be applied in situ on granitic rocks.     

The Suitability of 3D Data: 3D Digitisation of Human Remains

The use of 3D data in the analysis of skeletal and fossil materials has conveyed numerous advantages in many fields; however, as the availability and use of 3D scanning equipment are rapidly increasing, it is important for researchers to consider whether these methods are suitable for the proposed study. The issue of suitability has been largely overlooked in previous research; for instance, casts and reconstruction methods are frequently used to increase sample sizes, without sufficient assessment of the effect, this may have on the accuracy and reliability of results. Furthermore, the reliability of geometric morphometric methods and the implications of virtual curation have not received sufficient consideration. This paper discusses the suitability of 3D research with regard to the accuracy, reliability, and accessibility of methods and materials, as well as the effects of the current learning environment. Areas where future work will progress 3D research are proposed.     

The Ethical Challenge of Digital Bioarchaeological Data

Introduction to the Special Issue: Digital Bioarchaeology: New Dimensions, New Methods, New Ethics.     

Subsistence Digging in Iran’s Archeology and the Cultural Heritage

Subsistence digging is an action taken by people living a region to find antiquities in order to sell them and use resulting proceeds as a means of living. Subsistence digging is the main source of recent excavated cultural materials supplied to the market. The term is tied to the economy and plays an important socioeconomic role in many countries particularly in developing countries throughout the world by solving the starvation problem. Despite of the frequency of digging activities, they have not been investigated and even are not known in Iran so far. To find out the possible reasons behind digging activities and the neglect of the relevant authorities and agencies, this study explores subsistence digging and distinguishes it from looting, a term that is frequently referred to as the looting of cultural heritage in Iran.     

To Salt or Not to Salt: A Review of Evidence for Processed Marine Products and Local Traditions in the Aegean Through Time

This article addresses the question of the production of locally processed and imported marine products in the Aegean through time, utilising zooarchaeological evidence combined with various other records when available. What is clear from this overview is that Aegean populations were familiar with processing techniques from as early as the Mesolithic period. Despite evidence for more intensive exploitation and preservation of marine resources at specific times and in specific areas, aimed at maximising the returns from seasonally abundant catches, in general preserved marine products seem to have been of limited significance to Aegean communities and they probably never constituted a significant part of the Aegean diet.     

Fish Processing in the Mediterranean: Varying Traditions,Technologies and Scales of Production with Particular Reference to the Eastern Mediterranean

Research into the processing of marine resources along the Mediterranean coasts in antiquity reveals an uneven picture. The archaeological evidence for the systematic processing of fish and seafood in the western part is abundant and varied. Here, the production of salted fish and fish sauces seems to have been an important factor contributing to economic growth in many locations. In the eastern part of the Mediterranean, however, archaeological evidence for the processing of marine resources is much less common and is often indirect. Large-scale processing plants are virtually absent from the archaeological record and there are few studies of the remains of fish and shellfish or of other material evidence relating to fish preservation and commerce. Yet written evidence on the subject abounds, but places heavy emphasis on consumption and commerce rather than production. This paper describes the evidence and explores possible reasons for this imbalanced representation in an attempt to assess the actual importance of the processing of marine resources across the whole Mediterranean region. Issues discussed are the shifting emphasis on fish processing across space and through time, archaeological research agendas and methodologies, resource availability and abundance and, finally, issues of scale and visibility.