Settlement structures and cemetery at Wadi Shab-GAS1, Sultanate of Oman: Report on the 2002 and 2003 field seasons

Many chronological and cultural facets of Early and Middle Holocene Prehistoric Oman are still unclear. Archaeological excavations of settlements and cemeteries are adding new data to the reconstruction of a chronological and cultural framework. Wadi Shab-GAS1 is a Middle Holocene site found at the beginning of the 1980s and later destroyed by urbanisation. It is located in a rich environmental niche, on a cliff facing the sea and near a permanent freshwater source. Three years of fieldwork at this site brought to light structural remains, a cemetery and interesting material culture.     

GEOARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE FROM DESERT LOESS IN THE NAZCA–PALPA REGION,SOUTHERN PERU: PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES AND THEIR IMPACT ON PRE‐COLUMBIAN CULTURES*

The paper presents proxies from an interdisciplinary geoarchaeological working group. Sediment analyses and geomorphological studies, radiocarbon ages of snail shells and luminescence dating of loess allow a preliminary chronology of the environmental evolution of the eastern Atacama desert, Nazca–Palpa region (southern Peru). Until now, typical desert loess was unknown from the arid western flank of the Andes (southern Peru). The loess points to periods of more humid conditions with open grasslands at the eastern Atacama desert margin in the early and middle Holocene. In the footzone of the Andes, aridification set in before the Paracas Culture (c. 800–200 bc ) evolved, but the Cordillera Occidental remained semi‐arid. A second push of increasing aridity started at the latest in the Middle Nazca Period (after ad 250). During this time, the Nazca settlement centres moved upstream through the river oasis, following the eastward‐shifting desert margin. It is possible that culminating aridity after ad 600 caused the collapse of the Nazca civilization. During the Late Intermediate Period (ad 1000–1400), more humid conditions favoured the massive reoccupation of the eastern Atacama up to a distance of about 40 km from the Pacific coast. Since the 14th and 15th centuries, the Palpa region has again been part of the hyper‐arid Atacama. The study shows that in the Nazca–Ica region, the deep cultural changes of Pre‐Columbian civilizations were not caused by catastrophic run‐off of El Niño events, but by a shifting eastern desert margin due to the changing monsoonal influence.     

THE JUDICIOUS SELECTION AND PRESERVATION OF TUFF AND TRAVERTINE BUILDING STONE IN ANCIENT ROME*

The Republican and early Imperial monuments of Rome are, for the most part, built of tuffs quarried from at least seven pyroclastic deposits erupted from nearby Monti Sabatini and Alban Hills volcanoes. Remarks by Vitruvius (2.7.1–5), field observations of the monuments, and petrographic and rock testing studies of samples from Roman quarries demonstrate that Roman builders developed a good knowledge of the diverse material properties of the tuffs over centuries of use and exposure. Measurements of compressive strength, specific gravity, water absorption and adsorption of water vapour confirm that the petrographic characteristics of each tuff lithology strongly influence its strength and durability. Early construction utilized weakly durable, soft or vitric tuffs such as Tufo del Palatino or Tufo Giallo della Via Tiberina that are susceptible to decay, as at Temple C (290 bc ) of the Largo Argentina Sacred Area. Late Republican structures, such as the Temple of Portunus (80–90 bc ), employed somewhat durable, vitric–lithic Tufo Lionato reinforced with travertine, a durable limestone quarried near Tivoli. Roman builders selected the material properties of the tuffs to advantage for specific structural elements within large public monuments of the first century bc and the first century ad , as at the tabernae of the Forum of Caesar (46 bc ), where an upper storey of lightweight Tufo Lionato is supported by robust, lithic–crystal Lapis Gabinus pillars and flat arches reinforced with travertine. The tuffs are not very durable building stones; Romans preserved them with protective stucco, and travertine and marble cladding. Their high water intake, coupled with direct exposure to rain, daily fluctuations in relative humidity and urban weathering at present makes them especially vulnerable to decay.     

CUERDA SECA CERAMICS FROM AL‐ANDALUS,ISLAMIC SPAIN AND PORTUGAL (10TH−12TH CENTURIES AD): INVESTIGATION WITH SEM–EDX AND CATHODOLUMINESCENCE*

Since little is known about the cuerda seca technique, our aim has been to complete an initial analysis of 11th‐century cuerda seca by studying fragments from the 10th century (Pechina, Almería) and the 12th century (Mértola and Almería), so as to establish the diachronic evolution of this technique. Characteristics specific to cuerda seca ceramic glazes were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and quantitative chemical analysis with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectrometry (EDX). The chemical compositions of the different‐coloured glazes (green, black, yellow and white) have given us valuable indications about the evolution of the technique. The opacification mode and the firing process were also investigated. With the help of cathodoluminescence (CL) and the study of modern ‘cuerda seca’ glazed ceramics, new hypotheses regarding the number of firing stages, taking into account glaze and paste transformations and their interactions, are put forward.     

FURTHER STUDIES IN THE COMPOSITIONAL VARIABILITY OF COLOURLESS ROMANO‐BRITISH VESSEL GLASS*

Previous studies of colourless Romano‐British vessel glasses have suggested that, regardless of vessel type, they show considerable compositional homogeneity. Intriguing differences in variability (as opposed to mean composition) have, however, also emerged. This paper reports on a compositional study of 243 vessels, that is larger and more carefully controlled than in previous studies of this kind. Unexpected compositional differences have been found both between and within the four vessel types studied. We discuss the implications of these results in the context of different models that have been proposed for glass‐making and glass‐working in the Roman world.     

CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND STATISTICAL MULTIVARIATE ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT POTTERY FROM MESSINA,CATANIA, LENTINI AND SIRACUSA (SICILY)*

This paper presents the chemical characterization of 79 fragments of Archaic and Hellenistic fine‐grained pottery from archaeological sites in Messina, Catania, Lentini and Siracusa (Sicily). The sherds were classified as ‘calcidian’, ‘banded’, ‘unvarnished’ and ‘black varnished’ pottery. The major and trace elements identified by X‐ray fluorescence (XRF) were statistically elaborated using the method proposed by J. Aitchinson in 1986 for the analysis of compositional data. From cluster analyses using element/SiO₂ log‐ratios, it was possible to group the pottery found in Catania, Lentini and Siracusa into highly linked clusters. Conversely, the Messina pottery was divided into two clearly distinct groups. With the aim of identifying any possible mineralogical differences between the two Messina groups, Fourier transform infrared (FT–IR) absorption measurements were made, showing only quantitative differences in plagioclase and muscovite. The specific groups of pottery with restricted chemical compositions are considered to be of local production, also on the basis of archaeological and petrographic evidence.     

Work hard, play hard: selling Kelowna, BC, as year-round playground

A keen interest in place making and place selling is widespread in contemporary society. While the bulk of academic research has focused on studying the restructuring of large urban conglomerates, places beyond the exploding metropolis, by comparison, have received little attention, especially when it concerns Canadian landscapes. In an attempt to study the particularities of place making in contemporary smaller, more isolated communities—hinterlands—this work analyses the city of Kelowna, in British Columbia, Canada. We argue that historically Kelowna, a small rural community specialising in ranching, forestry and fruit production, since the early 1980s, has been re-imagined and re-designed, on the one hand as an all-year playground and as an innovative frontier for high-tech industries; on the other hand, this post-Fordist reinvention contains a discourse of 'whiteness', one that entices by packaging 'place' in terms of 'sameness' and 'familiarity'. In contrast to large cosmopolitan post-industrial cities, hinterland-type cities are invented, sought and lived as geographies cleared from the 'elements' that make cities 'unsafe'.