Regional and interregional networks of ancient Eleon during the early 12th century BCE as seen from the petrographic and neutron activation analyses of pottery

In this article, we present the results of application of petrographic and neutron activation analyses to a group of pottery fragments dating to the 12th century BCE deriving from ancient Eleon (Boeotia, Greece) as a means of investigating regional and interregional networks in which the site participated. Production centres in Boeotia and central Euboea provided, as could be expected, the majority of sampled pottery across various shapes. A number of more distant areas, however, such as eastern Attica, the Cyclades, Macedonia, and western Crete, are also documented in the present study, suggesting their products were available to local consumers at ancient Eleon. These results are discussed with reference to consumer preferences and exchange networks operating at that time. Finally, some of the identified petrographic and chemical groups can be securely identified at the macroscopic level, allowing us to arrive at conclusions pertinent to a substantial part of the entire pottery assemblage.     

Substitute or addition to hypermobile lifestyles? Second home mobility and Finnish CO2 emissions

Tourism produces an increasing share in global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. These are mostly derived from transport emissions, and long-haul air travel in particular. Short-haul domestic tourism is believed by some to be a potential substitute for long-haul tourism. Using the example of Finland this paper examines the extent to which domestic second home tourism can substitute for other leisure trips and therefore contribute to reductions of travel-generated GHG emissions. Survey data are used to evaluate the CO₂ emissions caused by travel to domestic second homes, and to create statistical models that verify if the owners of domestic second homes travel to other leisure destinations less frequently than others, and if they cause less emissions by their leisure mobility than others with comparable economic and demographic background. We find that although the owners and users of domestic second homes travel for other leisure purposes less frequently than others, this does not mean their leisure mobility generates less emissions. Overall, owners of second homes produce significantly more CO₂ by their leisure mobility than non-owners. The use of second homes does not seem to be a substitute for high emission long-haul travels, but rather a part of an overall highly mobile leisure lifestyle. It is therefore necessary to better understand and influence the entire range of individual mobility behaviours in order to reduce travel-related GHG emissions.     

A Multidisciplinary Study of a Group of Post‐Classical Cameos from the National Museum in Krakow,Poland

A group of 18 cameos dated from the 16th to 19th centuries (bearing motifs of Roman emperors and female members of their families) from the Constantine Schmidt‐Ci??yński collection was investigated with gemmological analyses, supported by non‐destructive mineralogical methods such as X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and micro‐Raman spectroscopy (RS) to ascertain the material used. Although there is no scientific method to date the specimens precisely, the mineralogical data supported by archaeological analyses enabled the estimation of the possible timing of the manufacture of the gems. As a result, the cameos were divided into four basic chronological groups: (1) Renaissance, (2) Baroque, (3) uncertain and (4) Classical and Neoclassical.     

Identifying food provenience using Sr/Ca ratio in human enamel

The strontium (Sr) concentration in bioapatite of human bone and teeth reflects the Sr concentration in food that is differentiated by two major factors: an abundance of Sr in local soils and the biopurification effect along the trophic levels. Eastern Syria is an area with a relatively high concentration of Sr within the Euphrates valley and a low concentration of Sr beyond the valley. For this reason, the strontium/calcium (Sr/Ca) ratio in human enamel retrieved from skeletons buried in cemeteries within the Euphrates valley may be used as a proxy for food provenience in a local population. A sample of human teeth (N = 72) from Tell Ashara and Tell Masaikh was divided into seven temporal subsets covering periods between c.2200 bce and the early 20th century ce . A significant difference in Sr/Ca values between temporal subsets is observed. The Sr/Ca values in later subsets are negatively correlated with δ¹³C values, indicating the wider exploitation of steppe areas outside the valley with more wild C4 grasses and a low Sr concentration. For periods with lower Sr/Ca values (c.2200–1900 bce and 19th–20th centuries ce ) there is additional textual and isotopic evidence for food transportation from outside the river valley, supporting the interpretation of Sr/Ca values as a proxy for food provenience in this specific area.     

Spatial organization of the Gravettian mammoth hunters' site at Kraków Spadzista (southern Poland)

One of the largest and best known sites of the Central European Gravettian is the Kraków Spadzista site. This article summarizes archaeological, palaeontological, and zooarchaeological data from the site, obtained in the course of more than 40 years of excavations and studies. The site is known mainly from the discovery of the large mammoth bone accumulation in trench B. During field work conducted in a few trenches located close to this assemblage, numerous human artifacts and faunal remains were found. On the basis of analyses of lithic materials, faunal remains, and radiometric data it is concluded that the Krakow Spadzista site was frequently re-occupied during a few weeks or months, by groups of Gravettian hunters in the period 24–22,000 rcyBP This short-term camp site was related to mammoth hunting. The analysis allowed identification of three possible activity zones, characterized by the presence of different groups of flint tools, fireplaces, and different faunal assemblages: a camp area, a lithic workshop, and an animal-processing area, besides the well known accumulation of mammoth bones.     

The oldest human traces north of the Carpathians (Kończyce Wielkie 4, Poland)

In the area of the Kończyce Wielkie quarry (middle-southern Poland), the Quaternary deposits of different genesis crop out. The lower fluvial series is overtopped with the glacigenic sediments occurring below the Matuyama–Brunhes boundary. This ice-sheet advance is correlated with the Günz and with the oldest traces of glaciations in Western Europe. Culture materials were located within layer of fluvial sands with fine-grained gravels, below the boulder pavement and diamicton – interpreted as till. Raw materials inventory are local flint and hornstone, also foreign flint, hornstone, quartzite, opalite and gneissose granite. The inventory contained macrolithic and microlithic cores, flakes and tools. The tools are made from pebbles, flakes and microlithic-flakes.     

Interdisciplinary studies of spring mire deposits from Radzików (South Podlasie Lowland,East Poland) and their significance for palaeoenvironmental reconstructions

The paper presents the results of interdisciplinary (multiproxy) palaeoenvironmental studies of peat — calcareous tufa depositional sequences of spring mire from Radzików site (east Poland). Analyses of three biotic proxies (plant macrofossils, pollen, molluscs) were supplemented with sedimentological, geochemical, oxygen and carbon stable isotopes analyses and radiocarbon dating and used for reconstruction of environmental changes in Late Glacial and Holocene. The obtained results enable us to (1) reconstruct main phases of mire development and (2) determine environmental factors influencing changes of water supply.     

The results of thermoluminescence dating in the Halych IIC (Ukraine) profile as the expression of the conditions of mineral material deposition

Many studies conducted in the last few years in Poland indicate that the results of thermoluminescence dating of loess are reliable and correspond well to their geological ages. They can form the basis for determination of the chronology of changes of palaeoenvironmental conditions. In this paper we report dating results from the Halych IIC profile (Halych Prydnistrov’ja region, Ukraine). Thermoluminescence dating of this profile gives new information about the influence of local conditions on the results of TL analysis. As much as 75% of the obtained results are distinctly overestimated, even by several hundred per cent, that is untypical of regional loess profiles. However, in the Halych Prydnistrov’ja region it is the second loess site in which such incompatibility of the expected age and thermoluminescence age is found. This fact indicates how this region is unique among the loess areas of SE Poland and NW Ukraine in respect of the conditions of mineral material transport and deposition. Further investigations are necessary to identify the reasons for regular overestimating of the TL results obtained for loess deposits of the Halych Prydnistrov’ja region.     

From the discovery of radioactivity to the development of the K-Ar dating method

In this paper I try to explain why the potassium-argon dating method was developed much later than other radiometric methods (like U-He and U-Pb), which were established at the beginning of the 20^th century. In fact the pioneering paper by Aldrich and Nier (1948) was published 50 years after the discovery of polonium and radium, when nearly all the details concerning potassium isotopes and radioactivity of potassium-40 had been investigated. The role of Marie Curie’s concept of the nature of radioactivity in the discovery of the radioactivity of potassium is emphasized.