Contract for delivery of jars

The papyrus edited here is an example of a so‐called “delivery purchase” contract. The objects of the purchase are jars for the bottling of wine. The vendor is a deacon, who is said to be illiterate but signs in his own hand. The document is dated to AD 494 by reference to the Oxyrhynchite era and gives us the name of a hitherto unknown notary.     

Microwear study of quartzite artefacts: preliminary results from the Middle Pleistocene site of Payre (South-eastern France)

Preliminary functional results obtained from the quartzite assemblage of the Early Middle Palaeolithic site of Payre (South-eastern France) are presented. In an area rich in flint, hominins at Payre also collected quartzite in their local environment, specifically along the Rhône River banks. Although the Payre lithic assemblage is largely composed of flint, quartzite was introduced in the site mainly as large cutting tools knapped outside. This fact pointed out an apparently highly differential treatment of the raw material types available in the region. A major concern is to understand the reason why. Is there any functional reason for the introduction of those artefacts, perhaps to perform specific activities related to the toughness of quartzite? Or is there any functional differentiation among the various raw materials? Use-wear analysis is a useful tool for better understanding human technological choices and strategies of lithic raw material management. Before attempting to extensively apply use-wear analysis on the quartzite assemblage, we analysed a limited sample to evaluate the general surface preservation. A specific experimental programme with the same local quartzite was carried out in order to provide a reliable comparative reference for interpreting use-wear evidence on archaeological implements. Methodological difficulties related to use-wear analysis applied to quartzite artefacts are also discussed. Both Optical light microscopy (OLM) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) were employed in this study; however, interpretations were elaborated considering principally SEM micro-graphs.The analysis of the archaeological material showed a good state of preservation of the surfaces with a low incidence of post-depositional alterations. The documented use-wear allowed us to identify the active edges, the kinematics and, more rarely, the worked material. Chopping activities were documented on two large artefacts suggesting a specific utility of those tools.     

Using airborne small-footprint laser scanner data for detection of cultural remains in forests: an experimental study of the effects of pulse density and DTM smoothing

Cultural remains are laborious to register by means of field surveys. Thus, in recent years several trials using remote sensing data to detect cultural remains have been carried out. The most promising remote sensing technique for such purposes is airborne laser scanning (ALS) from which digital terrain models (DTM) that enable visual interpretations of anomalies on the ground are generated. Although it has been documented previously that ALS is a powerful data source for detection of cultural remains, it has not yet been carried out studies that focus on the effects of the point density of the ALS data and properties of the subsequent generation of the DTM on the detection success of cultural remains. Thus, this study aimed at analyzing these effects by letting four experienced archeologists interpret DTMs generated from ALS data with point densities of 1 p m⁻², 5 p m⁻², and 10 p m⁻², each with three different levels of DTM smoothing. The experiment was conducted according to a randomized complete block design and the analyses were carried out using analysis of variance. The results showed that there was a significant improvement in the detection success when the point density was increased from 1 p m⁻² to 5 p m⁻². There were also some improvements when increasing the point density further to 10 p m⁻², but they were less pronounced. Furthermore, the results showed that the DTM smoothing did not have any significant effect on the detection success.     

What's behind the tell phenomenon? An archaeozoological approach of Eneolithic sites in Romania

This article is concerned with the Eneolithic period in southeastern Europe, which corresponds to a phase of increasing social complexity. We demonstrate that the development of a new type of settlement, the tell site, which in southeastern Romania fully began with the Gumelni?a culture, was accompanied by changes in the meat component of the diet. The 39 available faunal spectra are processed by correspondence analyses; this shows that the homogeneity that characterized the previous cultures (Hamangia and Boian) was followed by a greater diversity in animal exploitation systems in the Gumelni?a culture. The main change is the important role that large game played for some Gumelni?a communities (the favored species varied). However, variability existed within the domestic species as well. This may result from the interaction between several possible factors (e.g. new husbandry techniques, complex socio-economic relations between the sites, a great social value given to wild mammals). This diversity contrasts with the homogeneity of the pastoral practices developed for sheep (and, to a lesser extent, for cattle) at the Gumelni?a tell sites (reliable kill-off patterns were established for five sites). We also show that sheep exploitation was specialized. Given that this kind of specialized exploitation became the norm from the Gumelni?a period, we propose that the appearance of homogeneous and specialized practices for sheep is linked to the development of tell sites. More generally, certain standardization in pastoral practices during the Gumelni?a period is possible. For three tell sites, it is likely that the youngest sheep and goats died mainly elsewhere; we suggest that these settlements were parts of larger pastoral systems, on a local or regional scale, and that places or sites with complementary functions existed.     

Home-rule versus non-territorial autonomy? Western European national movements and their views on the minority question, 1919–1939

The leading elites of the ethnonationalist movements that developed in the aftermath of World War I in Western Europe usually refused to see their nations and territories as ‘national minorities’. In their view, they were stateless nations or nationalities. However, in the aftermath of World War I, the prior international discussion on the nationality principle was increasingly replaced with the notion of ‘minority rights’, enhanced by the implementation of the Minorities Treaties by the League of Nations. Thus, the term ‘national minority’ emerged as a label that permitted ethnonationalist activist to present their claims on the international stage. This became evident in the participation of some Western European national movements in the activities of some transnational non-governmental organisations, such as the Congress of European Nationalities (1925–1939). However, the general programme advocated by the most influential leaders of East-Central ethnic minorities, based on the extension of the personal principle and the implementation of non-territorial autonomy all over Europe, was hard to accept for ethnonationalist elites from Western Europe, which were interested in territorial home-rule and believed that their homelands did not fit in the category of ‘minority’. This article explores the modalities and limits of that cultural and political dialogue.