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.     

Common ware production at Thamusida: dating and characterisation of Roman and Islamic pottery

Twenty-one samples of likely Roman, likely Islamic and unknown common ware from the archaeological site of Thamusida (Rabat, Morocco) were analysed in order to anchor selected types of pottery to a limited time span and, possibly, to a production area and technology. Analytical techniques were thermoluminescence, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray fluorescence. The results arising from this research are definitely useful for the study of the site of Thamusida as well as for all researchers involved in archaeological and archaeometrical research in Morocco. Chronologies proposed on a typological base have been denied twice: a likely Islamic cup dates back to the second century a.d.; vice versa, a stewpot, framed into the Roman period, resulted to be an eighth century a.d. production. Moreover, the identification of an eighteenth century ceramic production is of outstanding importance, as it characterises a completely unknown production. Regarding the production area, four samples of both Roman and Islamic periods have been recognised as local productions of Thamusida.     

Bone density studies in zooarchaeology

Accurate bone density data are essential for assessing the influence of destructive processes in archaeological faunal assemblages. Unfortunately, the diversity of methods employed by different researchers to derive density values has resulted in recent confusion. Two recent publications in this journal [J Archaeol Sci 29 (2002) 883; J Archaeol Sci 29 (2002) 979] exemplify this state of misunderstanding. Both studies argued that the role of bone density in shaping archaeological faunal assemblages has been largely overrated, but both based their conclusions on density values that were inaccurately derived. The former employed a method of calculating bone density that has been largely discredited over the past decade [J Archaeol Sci 29 (2002) 883]. Within a larger discussion of zooarchaeological methodology, the latter provided an assessment of the current state of bone density research that inappropriately characterized the discrepancies between available sets of density data as a reflection of the differences between two technologies—photon densitometry and computed tomography [J Archaeol Sci 29 (2002) 979]. The actual dichotomy exists—irrespective of the technology employed—between studies that account for variation in the shape of bone cross-sections and those that do not. The different sets of density data currently available to zooarchaeologists vary tremendously in their accuracy. We review and evaluate the different techniques employed in the research of bone density patterns of mammalian fauna. Computed tomography produces the most accurate density data. For elements without medullary cavities, photon densitometry may provide density values of similar accuracy but only if a method of cross-sectional shape-adjustment is applied.