Phytolith assaying using a micron-scale electrokinetic sorting ring

A particularly useful indicator of past vegetation are phytoliths, glassy products of plant metabolism which have distinctive size and morphology based on the plant taxa which produced them; however, their analysis is a time-consuming task. Building on investigations into mobilizing and sorting of synthetic polystyrene microspheres using a closed loop rectangular microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) electrokinetic array, we investigate these devices’ utility for sorting natural microparticles. Using phytolith samples extracted from archaeological sediment, we show that closed loop MEMS can separate the glassy bodies from both mineral contaminants and each other. Also, small differences in polarization between the phytoliths cause lateral segregation between particles of different sizes and shapes. This process facilitates manual analysis by providing a motive force to the phytoliths that translates and rotates them, showing different configurations as they are propelled by the MEMS array. The organization of the phytoliths into streams also opens the door to automated analysis using image processing. Phytolith assaying is therefore feasible using a MEMS electrokinetic ring and merits additional research to explore the potential of this innovative approach.     

Characterising the potential of sheep wool for ancient DNA analyses

The use of wool derived from sheep (Ovis aries) hair shafts is widespread in ancient and historic textiles. Given that hair can represent a valuable source of ancient DNA, wool may represent a valuable genetic archive for studies on the domestication of the sheep. However, both the quality and content of DNA in hair shafts are known to vary, and it is possible that common treatments of wool such as dyeing may negatively impact the DNA. Using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR), we demonstrate that in general, short fragments of both mitochondrial and single-copy nuclear DNA can be PCR-amplified from wool derived from a variety of breeds, regardless of the body location or natural pigmentation. Furthermore, although DNA can be PCR-amplified from wool dyed with one of four common plant dyes (tansy, woad, madder, weld), the use of mordants such as alum or iron leads to considerable DNA degradation. Lastly, we demonstrate that mtDNA at least can be PCR-amplified, cloned and sequenced from a range of archaeological and historic Danish, Flemmish and Greenlandic wool textile samples. In summary, our data suggest that wool offers a promising source for future ancient mitochondrial DNA studies.     

Strontium isotope analysis of human tooth enamel from Barsinia: a late antiquity site in Northern Jordan

The archaeological site of Barsinia represents a model of a mixed subsistence strategy in the late antiquity of Jordan. Contrary to historians' belief that the late antiquity economy was stagnated, archaeological evidence at the site of Barsinia points to wealth accumulation as mirrored by the local wine industry and trade. As the economic growth may enhance population dynamics, the study tests the population mobility at the site using strontium isotope ratios from the human tooth enamel. The study comprised 12 right upper third molars and 12 rodent teeth samples. The results confirm that all of the sampled individuals were local to the area (raised in the area) and whose diets were probably obtained from spatially restricted localities in the region.     

The possible influence of post-harvest objectives on Cucurbita maxima subspecies maxima and subspecies andreana evolution under cultivation at the Argentinean Northwest: an archaeological example

This paper investigates the possible links between postharvest activities and methods of plant husbandry or management of Cucurbita maxima ssp. maxima and C. maxima ssp. andreana in the prehispanic Argentinean Northwest area. Microscopic methods were used to assess the micromorphological characteristics of modern specimens of South American Cucurbita and Lagenaria species to obtain diagnostic anatomical traits. These traits were then used as criteria for identifying archaeological Cucurbitaceae rind remains from domestic to funerary contexts of the Pampa Grande archaeological site (1720 ± 50 bp, cal. 259–433 ad). Following the taxonomic identification of the archaeological plant remains, they were futher assessed for signs of human selection or possible cultivation, including: rind thickness, qualitative characters (lobbing, wartiness and colour) and postharvest traits (artificial shape, charring, staining and decoration of sherds). The results indicate the presence of Lagenaria siceraria together with spontaneous, intermediate and domestic C. maxima morphotypes. Different subspecies maxima morphtypes were recognized: those intended as food, having thin pericarps to facilitate consumption and those intended also as food, but as containers too, as in Lagenaria, in which the rinds are thickened and lignified. The latter morphotype may possibly represent a strategy of postharvest intensification, but not through new processing techniques, but through the development of landraces with a longer fruit shelf life, resulting from changing husbandry criteria to selective pressures over cultivated stands.     

Damage caused by insects during the mummification process: an experimental study

The process of mummification had been known since the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom (ca. 2600 bc) and continued to develop throughout ancient Egyptian history. Although mummification protected the body from decay, especially by microbes, some mummification techniques left the body susceptible to insect attack. Certain types of insects have been detected in the mummies. In scholarly publications, most authors have dealt with microorganisms, while few have concerned themselves in depth with the effect of insects on the mummies. This study aims to discuss the significance of insects and the changes they affected to the mummies during embalming. To achieve this goal, experiments were carried out replicating various mummification techniques using albino Wistar rats. Analysis and investigative techniques used included visual observation, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, investigation of the surface morphology by a scanning electron microscope, and color change by a spectrophotometer. The following insects could be identified as being present during the second and third processes of mummification: Dermestes maculatus, Necrobia rufipes, Saprinus gilvicornis, Chrysomya albiceps, Wohlfahrtia magnifica, and Attagenus fasciatus. In addition, the majority of our findings confirmed that the degradation by insects increased with the second and third methods of mummification. Finally, the experimental study conducted using the mummification techniques of the New Kingdom (ca. 1570–1070 bc) indicated that they were more resistant to insect attack than the other types.     

Phylogeography of einkorn landraces in the Mediterranean basin and Central Europe: population structure and cultivation history

Einkorn (Triticum monococcum L.) was one of the first cereals to be domesticated in the Old World ca. 10,000 years ago and to spread towards Europe and North Africa. Its cultivation declined before the Iron Age and it remains today only as a relic crop in remote areas. To investigate if the geographic distribution of genetic diversity in modern einkorn landrace accessions could be informative about the movement of this crop during prehistory, we genotyped 50 accessions of einkorn from Europe, North Africa and the Near East. Using nuclear and chloroplast microsatellites and clustering methods, we detected two main gene pools in einkorn. The distribution of these lineages revealed differences between accessions from Morocco and the Iberian Peninsula from the rest of Europe and the Near East and suggests different regional dynamics in the spread of this crop.     

Mapping Spain in the Sixteenth Century: The Escorial Atlas and Pedro de Esquivel’s Notebook

ABSTRACT

The twenty-one maps of Spain that comprise the Escorial atlas (El atlas de El Escorial) and the later notebook compiled by Pedro de Esquivel for another map of Spain have long been confused. Recently identified documents in the Royal Library, Stockholm, have allowed us to recognize the two works as completely separate and to shed new light on each. In this article we describe their respective histories, starting with the Escorial atlas, now known to have been commissioned by Emperor Charles V from the Sevillian cosmographer Alonso de Santa Cruz, who between c.1538 and 1545 produced an index map and 20 regional sheets drawn to the scale of 1:400 000. We then go on to show how, later in the century (between c.1552 and 1565), Pedro de Esquivel was using a version of the topographical methods described in Peter Apian’s Cosmographia to assemble data for the map of Spain commissioned by Philip II before and just after he became king in 1556. Esquivel died in 1565 before all the data had been collected, his map was never drawn, and his notebooks, with all his astronomical measurements and calculations of angles and distances, took a curious journey that ended in Stockholm in the archives of the Royal Library of Sweden.