Bairaki–a lower paleolithic site on the lower dniester

Findings of excavations at a Lower Paleolithic site, discovered in 2010 near Dubasari on the Lower Dniester, are described. Earlier, two sites with Lower Paleolithic fl int tools – Dubasari-1 (Bolshoi Fontan) and Pogrebya – were found nearby. The cultural layer, located in the top of the lower buried soil overlying the alluvial deposits of the sixth or seventh terrace of the Dniester, included a few stone artifacts and a fragment of an animal bone. The likely age of this buried soil is estimated at ca 500 ka by geological methods. In the alluvium gravel of the same terrace downstream, three pebble tools including two choppers made of a strong Cos?u?i sandstone, and four fl int pieces were found. Geological observations suggest that this alluvium is more than 800 ka old. So far these are the earliest stone tools discovered in a stratified context in the Russian, Moldavian, and Ukrainian parts of the Russian Plain.     

Fish Bones in Odino Ritual Complexes at Preobrazhenka-6, Western Siberia

Fish bones from pits near Odino-type human burials at Preobrazhenka-6, the Baraba forest-steppe, are described with regard to methodological issues involved in the analysis of ichthyofauna from archaeological excavations. The bones are diagnosed in terms of age, species, number, and season of ?shing. Artifacts found in pits together with ?sh bones and the arrangement of pits suggest that ? sh were part of ritual practices of the Odino people.     

On the Biological Affinities of People of the “Lappish Parishes”: A Craniometric Analysis of the 17th– Early 19th Century Population of Alozero,Karelia

The 17th–early 19th century cranial series, consisting of 23 specimens (15 male and 8 female) from Alozero is the earliest from northern Karelia. The cemetery was evidently left by one of the ?rst groups of Karelians who had permanently settled in this territory. Their crania are generally similar to those of later Karelians. Two distinct morphological trait combinations are present. One is characterized by robustness, a very high vault and a broad face. This combination appears to be the earliest since it links the Alozero people not only with later northwestern Karelians but also with the medieval population of the northwestern Ladoga region and ultimately with the Mesolithic and Neolithic people of the Baltic region. Another trait combination includes a medium high cranial vault, a medium broad face and a convex nasal bridge, linking it with the combination displayed by recent Finns of Finland. The latter component apparently re?ects immigration from central Finland. The predecessors of Karelians in that territory are sometimes said to be related to modern Sami. However, no evidence of Sami admixture has been detected either in the Alozero series or in other Karelian groups     

Upper Paleolithic Rock Crystal Artifacts from the Southeastern Shore of Lake Bolshiye Allaki,the Southern Urals

Artifacts from the second cultural horizon of Bolshiye Allaki-2 are described, and data on the topography and stratigraphy of the site are examined. Results of technological, typological, petrographic, and faunal analyses along with radiocarbon dates suggest that this may be the earliest Upper Paleolithic ritual site in the Urals.     

TEXTURAL ANALYSIS OF CERAMIC THIN SECTIONS: EVALUATION OF GRAIN SAMPLING PROCEDURES

‘Textural analysis’ is being increasingly used for the characterisation of pottery fabrics. In this study we have investigated some of the effects on the observed size distribution data of applying a number of different grain selection procedures (principally various point-counting and ribbon-counting procedures). The results indicate that significant differences may arise from the application of the various techniques of grain selection and it is important that appropriate procedures be rigorously applied.     

SEPARATION,RETALIATION AND SUICIDE: MOURNING AND THE CONFLICTS OF YOUNG TIWI MEN

This paper describes some Tiwi conceptions of death, linking an important myth of the origins of death to an interpretation of the dynamics of Tiwi mourning. It argues that one part of the myth describes the psychological dangers of human responses to loss, in particular the dangers of destructive rage and self-destructive withdrawal, suicide. The mourning ceremonies facilitate the overcoming of these dangers and the re-integration of the individual into collective life in the course of a drawn-out process, a patterned dramatization of reactions to grief in collective action. The collective process of mourning is central to processes of psychological and social integration in Tiwi life. The paper then discusses a case of pathological mourning which led to the suicide of a young man, and sketches the impact of this death on a number of the younger male kinsmen of the deceased. The suicide was followed by a number of suicide attempts by these men. These attempts can be seen partly as manifestations of individuals' conflict with their surroundings, but also as manifestations of the collective process of adjustment to the death, in a sense as the culmination of the history of mourning in a family-group extending over more than twenty years. In conclusion, the paper briefly summarizes recent changes in Tiwi social life which have contributed to the precariousness of integration of young men, and to the emergence of the historically new pathological forms implied by the contemporary rise in the number of instances of suicide.     

RELIABILITY AND REPEATABILITY IN DENDROCHRONOLOGICAL ANALYSIS: TESTS USING THE FLETCHER ARCHIVE OF PANEL-PAINTING DATA

Research into the dates of timber used for art-historical objects has provided a large data set on which to test standard dendrochronological techniques. Some 177 sets of tree-ring measurements, originally analysed by the late Dr J. M. Fletcher at Oxford University, have been re-examined independently in the tree-ring laboratories at the University of Sheffield and the Museum of London Archaeology Service. The results show a high level of agreement between the laboratories. In contrast, many of the dates produced by Dr Fletcher for the paintings are not confirmed. The two different approaches described here also resulted in remarkably similar internal groupings of the dated material. These groupings probably reflect the provenance of the timbers and suggest that two different areas of the eastern Baltic supplied the bulk of the material with smaller quantities of panels originating in Britain and central Europe.     

Reduction of topography effect in inductive electromagnetic profiles: application on coastal sambaqui (shell mound) archaeological site in Santa Catarina state, Brazil

We present results of electrical conductivity profiles obtained with inductive electromagnetic geophysical method in Santa Marta archaeological site, Santa Catarina State, southern Brazil. This site is a sambaqui (shell mound), in which several human occupation remains are found during pre-colonial period such as buried lithic and bone artifacts, fire-place, etc. Most of these mounds include as well many human burials, which, in many cases, point to funerary ritual as a main agency for mound building. A set of profiles of apparent electrical conductivity and magnetic susceptibility was acquired in two sites aiming the identification of geophysical anomalies with potential interest for excavation. To enhance conductivity data, we applied an effective procedure to remove topographical effects in the apparent conductivity measurements, which are rather conditioned by the presence of a variable water table depth or conductive sediment layer. A linear dependence among conductivity values and the site elevation provided a simple linear model to remove the influence of topography. Corrected electric conductivity maps substantially improved the definition of anomalies, many of them rather subtle in raw data images. Corrected maps also show a better adherence with magnetic susceptibility maps, both of them identifying archaeological structures of interest: a well-structured fire-place and a concentration of ceramic fragments.