Potential Discrimination of Belgian Black Marbles Using Petrography,Magnetic Susceptibility and Geochemistry

Five varieties of Belgian black marbles are investigated in order to discriminate them. Their age ranges from Frasnian (Golzinne) to Visean (Dinant, Theux, Basècle, Lives). Three methods were used: petrography, magnetic susceptibility and geochemistry of major elements and Rare Earth Elements (REE). The petrographic analyze reveals 16 microfacies reflecting very quiet environments, sporadically perturbed by more energetic phenomena like turbidites or storms. These microfacies are integrated in two depositional models: a quiet offshore setting, below or close to the storm wave base (Salet, Basècles) and a shallow but very restricted zone, protected from waves and currents (Lives and Golzinne). The magnetic susceptibility results show that all the black marbles are characterized by very low, even slightly negative values, except the Golzinne one which shows higher values. Geochemical data allow to discriminate between the Theux black marble (low SiO₂ content), and the Basècles samples (low Al₂O₃, K₂O and REE contents). These methods could be useful to determine/refine the origin of archaeological stones, even if all these analyses are destructive. Two archeologic samples were investigated in order to identify their possible origin.     

The Organisation and Practice of Metal Smithing in Later Bronze Age Europe

Journal of World Prehistory - During the later Bronze Age in Europe (c. 1500–800 BC), the archaeological visibility of the production and consumption of bronze increases substantially. Yet...     

Wave Hindcasting and Anchoring Activities in Ancient Harbours: The Impact of Coastal Dynamics on Ancient Carthago Nova (Cartagena,Spain)

Journal of Maritime Archaeology - This study analyses nautical harbour activities and their spatial distribution using a high-resolution method of wind-wave hindcasting, in order to identify the...     

Malebogo Mvimi: Past Environments and Plant Use in Holocene Southern Africa. A Study of Charcoal and Seed Remains from the Late Stone Age Sites of Toteng (Botswana), Leopard Cave and Geduld (Namibia)

African Archaeological Review -     

Was the Fishing Village of Lepenski Vir Built by Europe’s First Farmers?

Journal of World Prehistory - It is now widely accepted that agriculture and settled village life arrived in Europe as a cultural package, carried by people migrating from Anatolia and the Aegean...     

Die regionalökonomische Bedeutung der Wissenschaft für das Ruhrgebiet

The Ruhr area has advanced to the largest university region in Germany – often unnoticed within and outside. At the same time scientific institutions have become a major economic factor. Because of the higher and extra-university research institutions about 2.5 billion euros are effective as a demand potential in the region. 1.7 billion euros of this amount are directly associated with investments and operating expenditures of the scientific institutions as well as consumptions of employees and students. Additional 770 million euros result in revenues of many branches such as trade, housing, gastronomy sector, handcraft industry etc. It should not be underestimated that higher and extra-university research institutions generate with their research activities particular funding from the European Union or the rest of Germany for benefit of the region. Each euro spent by the state government for basic funding creates 39 cents third-party funding. These regional-economic effects result in noticeable employment impacts within the region. Around 25,000 people are directly employed in higher and extra-university research institutes or student unions (Studierendenwerke), about 22,000 jobs in other economic sectors are ensured or created by the induced demand. Science has thus become an important economic factor and represents an essential counterbalance to employment decline in shrinking industries of the region. The specific inclusion of science in a regional development strategy and targeted relining with appropriate measures to strengthen the science creates therefore an effective starting point for the design of structural change.     

Characterization of Late Prehistoric Plasters and Mortars from Erimi – Laonin tou Porakou (Limassol,Cyprus)

Several plasters and mortars from the Middle Bronze Age site of Erimi – Laonin tou Porakou (Cyprus) were analysed in order to perform a technological characterization. Morphological (SEM), elemental (EDX), mineralogical (XRPD), petrographic (polarized OM, SEM–EDX), thermal (TGA) and spectroscopic (FT–IR) techniques were applied. Plasters and mortars were identified as pyrotechnological lime products, obtained using local raw materials and containing a moderate amount of spathic calcite fragments. The use of organic fibres was ascertained and a seminal use of a crumbled ceramic as additive was evidenced.     

Analyses of Early Medieval Stained Window Glass From the Monastery of Baume‐Les‐Messieurs (Jura,France)

The collection of early medieval window glass found in the abbey of Baume‐les‐Messieurs (Jura, France) is exceptional because it dates to the end of the eighth century, and due to the number of fragments as well as their state of conservation. Different colours and forms have been identified. These pieces are a rare opportunity to address the glass craft, its recipes and techniques for a phase of its history that has remained little known. Analyses in PIXE–PIGE prove that, in addition to fragments from two soda glass items, the pieces are made from wood‐ash glass. Most of them probably came from the same production and the raw material is present in the region. At this early stage of wood‐ash glass production, the glassmakers had mastered the glass as well as the colour processes.     

A Compositional and Microstructural Study of Eighth‐Century BC Bronzes from Moita Da Ladra (Tagus Estuary): How Did the Spread of the Phoenician Metallurgy Take Place in Western Iberia?

Metals from a votive deposit at Moita da Ladra (Tagus Estuary) dating to the eighth century bc were studied by micro‐EDXRF, optical microscopy and Vickers testing to investigate the adoption of Phoenician innovations by indigenous communities. Artefacts are made of bronze alloys with suitable tin contents (11.6 ± 2.3 wt%) and very low iron impurities (<0.05 wt%), and were often manufactured using the long post‐casting sequence. Comparisons with indigenous and Phoenician metallurgies from western Iberia revealed a conservative technology suggesting that the spread of Phoenician innovations was very slow. In this region, the adoption of a diversified copper‐based metallurgy and reduction furnaces only seems to occur during the Post‐Orientalizing Period, c. sixth to fourth centuries bc .