Development and application of methods used to source prehistoric Southwestern maize: a review

Archaeological cobs free of mineral contaminants should be used to source the soils in which they were grown. Mineral contaminants often contain much higher concentrations of metals than vegetal materials and can alter a cob’s apparent metal and heavy-isotope content. Cleaning a cob via immersion in an acid solution for more than a few minutes will result in the incongruent and sometimes complete leaching of metals, including strontium (Sr), from the cob. When using ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr to determine the location of potential agriculture fields, it is best to either integrate several depth-integrated soil samples or to integrate several vegetation samples from individual fields. Biologically labile Sr in semi-arid Southwestern soils largely originates from eolian source or sources and usually is not derived from underlying bedrock. Existing Sr-isotope data indicate that archaeological cobs from Aztec Ruins came from either the Mesa Verde-McElmo Dome or Totah areas, that Pueblo Bonito and Chetro Ketl cobs, from Chaco Canyon that predate A.D. 1130, probably came from the Rio Chaco corridor, and that cobs from Chaco Canyon, that postdate A.D. 1130, probably came from either the Totah or Zuni areas.     

考古与遗址公园——国家考古遗址公园建设中的两个定位

国家考古遗址公园是近年来我国大遗址保护的一种创新模武.在建设过程中,我们既要正确理解国家考古遗址公园的定位,处理好"考古遗址"与"公园"之间的关系,确保考古遗址公园的特质属性和发展走向,也要全面准确把握国家考古遗址公园中考古工作的定位.这种正确的定位有利于考古遗址的科学保护、深入研究及有效展示,同时也有助于推动中国现代...     

Deletion/Substitution/Addition (DSA) model selection algorithm applied to the study of archaeological settlement patterning

This paper introduces GIS-based statistical methods for the study of settlement patterning in an archaeological context. The main aspect is an improvement over suboptimal stepwise statistical model selection procedures, with the introduction of a Deletion/Substitution/Addition (DSA) algorithm, a systematic model selection algorithm that provides an optimal model choice. The paper also introduces the combined use of Receiving Operator Characteristic (ROC) curves, and variable ranking as key tools aimed at an understanding of settlement patterning causation. An illustrative case study is provided whereby both a purely environmental and a mixed environmental/historical model (based on settlement hierarchy considerations) are investigated.     

UAV and RPV systems for photogrammetric surveys in archaelogical areas: two tests in the Piedmont region (Italy)

Aerial photogrammetric surveys are usually expensive and the resolution of the acquired images is often limited. For this reason, different innovative systems have been developed and tested in order to perform a photogrammetric survey in an inexpensive way, with high-resolution images. In this context, one of the most promising acquisition techniques is represented by the use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) equipped with a digital camera.     

再论御器厂的建立时间——明代御窑遗址的考古学分期

长期以来关于御器厂的研究多依据文献进行考证,20世纪80年代以后开始关注御窑遗址出土文物。但是,由于以往的研究中一直把文献所记的御器厂和景德镇从事生产的窑场视为完全相同的对象,所以对御器厂建成厂时间的论定则出现偏差。本文根据正德《饶州府志》、万历《大明会典》的相关记载,认为景德镇从事生产的窑场和厂署在饶州府治所在的鄱阳县城、作为管理机构的御器厂所指并不相同,在对比景德镇御窑遗址的考古发现后,考订景德镇从事生产的官府窑场在明代的始烧时间不晚于洪武四年,作为管理机构的御器厂建立于洪熙元年宣德皇帝即位以后,而御器厂从饶州迁往景德镇与生产窑场合一是正德六年以后的事。     

考古学研究的问题来自哪里?

问题通常是研究的中心,而考古学研究的问题来自哪里却长期困扰着中国考古学研究者以及即将进入研究领域的学生,因此有必要梳理考古学研究问题的形式、内容、来源与背景关联。文章侧重指出考古学研究的问题来自于考古学"透物见人"多层次推理的过程,我们需要从外在与内在的关联之中来审视考古学所研究的问题,唯有如此,考古学研究的问题才可能丰富精彩。。     

Sceattas in Anglo-Saxon Graves

ANGLO-SAXON SILVER PENNIES (sceattas) are rare as gravegoods, but their provision was a regular element of burial practice in a small minority of later 7th-century-furnished inhumations and later burials. Although the number both of coins and burials is very small, they show patterns of deposition and treatment that have both a cultural and a broader chronological significance. This sample provides a window on social and symbolic attitudes to the coinages as elements of the broader material culture of contemporary society, and constitutes important corroborating evidence that the Primary Phase issues embodied a new degree of monetisation in 7th-century England.     

Lidar mapping and surface survey of the Izapa state on the tropical piedmont of Chiapas,Mexico

Recent lidar and pedestrian surface surveys have remapped the well-known Mesoamerican site of Izapa and the surrounding Soconusco piedmont. These data document: 1) occupation from the surrounding piedmont environment, 2) significantly larger estimates of the site's size during both the Formative and Classic periods as well as 3) new architectural features from the monumental site core. Methodological issues are outlined for combining high precision lidar mapping with ground truthing and pedestrian survey that focuses on surface collection of temporally diagnostic artifacts. Results are presented for 670 mounds documented in an area of 43.1 sq km in and around the ancient capital of Izapa.     

Characterization of dyes in ancient textiles from Yingpan,Xinjiang

In this paper we analyzed the natural dyes in well-preserved, ancient textiles from Yingpan, an important archaeological site on the Silk Road, using high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array and mass spectrometric detection. Dyes were removed from textile fibers using a soft extraction method (pyridine, water and oxalic acid). Two species of madder-type plants, Rubia tinctorum and Rubia cordifolia were identified as the dye sources in red and brown samples. We also were able to detect unusual flavonoid glycosides in yellow and green woolen yarns, although we have not been able to pinpoint with certainty a specific plant that may have been used to produce this dye(s). On the other hand, we found that yellow and green silk threads had been colored with protoberberine-type dyes, probably obtained from species of cork tree, Phellodendron spp., and/or other protoberberine producing plant. We propose that the textile dyes found at Yingpan reflect a merging of Eastern and Western practices and technologies during the 800-year period (206 BCE–618 CE) encompassing the early years of the Silk Road.     

A new approach to Corystospermales based on Triassic permineralized stems from Argentina

Anatomically preserved mature stems of late Middle Triassic corystosperms from the Paramillo Formation of Argentina are described and assigned to Cuneumxylon spallettii gen. nov. et sp. nov. The silicified specimens show features of the pith, primary xylem and successive rings of secondary xylem and phloem. The most striking characteristic is the anomalous secondary growth, represented by secondary xylem bounded by arcs of secondary phloem probably derived from successive repositioned cambia. Cuneumxylon has two kinds of unusual centrifugal secondary growth. The first shows unequal activity of different portions of the cambium on the circumference of the axes; the consequent restriction of cambial activity to certain restricted areas develops wedged stems, which often split. The second produces polyxylic stems following supernumerary cambial activity. As in extant plants growing in arid regions, the included phloem and the associated parenchyma may have had functional value avoiding desiccation of the outer tissues of the stem during droughts. Anatomical features of other Corystospermaceae were used to determine systematic affinities and to establish relationships among medullosans, corystosperms and cycads.