The Social and Economic Complexity of Ancient Jerusalem as Seen Through Choices in Lighting Oils

This paper presents and discusses the results of residue analysis conducted on 78 ceramic lamps found in archaeological excavations in ancient Jerusalem, in an attempt to identify the types of oils used and the reasons for their preferential choice. The oil lamps chosen for the study were taken from a variety of contexts, which represent the different periods during which Jerusalem was settled and the different sectors of the city. The results of the study show that even the most mundane activity of lighting using oil held within it social and economic choices, as mirrored in the different excavation areas.     

Microstructural,chemical and isotopic evidence for the origin of late neolithic leather recovered from an ice field in the Swiss Alps

Archaeological leather samples recovered from the ice field at the Schnidejoch Pass (altitude 2756 m amsl) in the western Swiss Alps were studied using optical, chemical molecular and isotopic (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N of the bulk leather, and compound-specific δ¹³C analyses of the organic-solvent extracted fatty acids) methods to obtain insight into the origin of the leather and ancient tanning procedures. For comparison, leathers from modern native animals in alpine environment (red deer, goat, sheep, chamois, and calf/cow) were analyzed using the same approach. Optical and electron microscopically comparisons of Schnidejoch and modern leathers showed that the gross structure (pattern of collagen fibrils and intra-fibrils material) of archaeological leather had survived essentially intact for five millennia. The SEM studies of the hairs from the most important archaeological find, a Neolithic leather legging, show a wave structure of the hair cuticle, which is a diagnostic feature for goatskins. The variations of the bulk δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values, and δ¹³C values of the main fatty acids are within the range expected for pre-industrial temperate C₃ environment. The archaeological leather samples contain a mixture of indigenous (from the animal) and exogenous plant/animal lipids. An important amount of waxy n-alkanes, n-alkan-1-ols and phytosterols (β-sitosterol, sitostanol) in all samples, and abundant biomarker of conifers (nonacosan-10-ol) in the legging leathers clearly indicate that the Neolithic people were active in a subalpine coniferous forest, and that they used an aqueous extract of diverse plant material for tanning leather.     

The ‘Semblance of Immortality'? Resinous Materials and Mortuary Rites in Roman Britain

There is increasing evidence for complexity in mortuary practices in Britain during the Roman period. One class of burials demonstrates an association between inhumation in stone sarcophagi or lead‐lined coffins, ‘plaster’ coatings, textile shrouds and natural resins. It has been suggested that this ‘package’ represents a deliberate attempt at body preservation. Fragments with a resinous appearance found in one such burial from Arrington, Cambridgeshire, UK were analysed using gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. The triterpenic compounds identified are biomarkers for the genus Pistacia and provide the first chemical evidence for an exotic resin in a mortuary context in Roman Britain.     

Study of the Technique and of the Materials of a 19th‐Century Polychrome Wood Mask from Papua New Guinea

This paper presents the results of the analysis carried out on a polychrome wood mask from Papua New Guinea during conservation work at Pigorini Museum's restoration laboratory. The significance of this study is that no prior work has characterized the painting materials of Papua New Guinea masks both with spectroscopic and internal microstratigraphic analysis. In fact, these objects were studied especially from an anthropological or conservative point of view and the wood was wrongly defined by its visual appearance. Microstratigraphic and spectroscopic investigations discovered a refined execution technique that up to now has not been demonstrated. The stratigraphy of the painted layers demonstrates a deep knowledge of the materials and of the application techniques on the part of the Papua New Guinea people, together with the ability to foresee the aesthetic result for the artefact. The analysis of the constitutive materials and of the stylistic features supplied valid results in favour of provenance of the mask from Papua New Guinea.     

Biomass Spectrometry Identification of the Fibre Material in the Pall Imprint Excavated from Grave M1, Peng‐state Cemetery,Shanxi, China

In order to identify the fibre material of the pall imprint excavated from the Peng‐state cemetery in Shanxi, biomass spectrometry was applied to determine the amino acid sequences of the residual protein extracted from the soil underneath the imprint. The sequences were searched against a standard protein sequence database. A well‐preserved silk pall sample from the Warring States Period was used as a comparative template. The protein extracted is identified as silk fibroin (Bombyx mori). This finding indicates that the extremely degraded pall was made of silk and that the deceased in the Peng‐state cemetery enjoyed high social status. In this way, a novel methodology, which is very promising in uncovering the origin of silk, could be initiated.     

Fish ’n chips: ZooMS peptide mass fingerprinting in a 96 well plate format to identify fish bone fragments

Fish are a large, highly diverse, and anthropologically important group of vertebrates. However, fish bones are underrepresented in the archaeological literature because they are less stable than those of other taxa and identification of bone to species is often difficult or impossible. We explore a new identification system, ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry), which is based upon protein barcoding. As proteins can be cleaved enzymatically and analyzed by mass spectrometry in a repeatable way, protein barcoding is used widely in microbiological contexts for quick and inexpensive protein identification; mass spectra reflect the differences in protein sequence and can therefore be reproducibly linked to a particular protein or protein fragment. ZooMS uses peptide fingerprinting of bone collagen as a method for rapid identification of archaeological bone. This has involved the identification of masses related to peptides of known sequence. For mammals, sufficient sequence information is available for this approach but for groups, such the teleost fish, species are highly diverse and there are few available collagen sequences. Here we report a preliminary investigation into the identification of fish species by peptide mass fingerprinting that does not require sequence information. Collagen mass spectra are used to identify eight species of bony fishes (Osteichthyes) from four orders: Clupeiformes, Salmoniformes, Gadiformes, and Perciformes. The method is applied to both modern and archaeological fish remains and offers the capacity to identify traditionally unidentifiable fish fragments, thus increasing the Number of Identified Specimens (NISP) and providing invaluable information in specialized contexts.     

Earthenware production and distribution in the prehispanic Philippine polity of Tanjay: results from laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS)

This paper presents the results of laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) analysis of low-fired earthenware from the prehispanic trading polity of Tanjay (c. A.D. 500–1600) in the central Philippines. The goal of this project was to determine whether or not the compositional analysis of ceramics could be used to examine the organization of pottery production and exchange relationships in the Bais-Tanjay region of Negros Island. Results indicate that at least five distinct groups of ceramics can be differentiated based on elemental compositions and that pottery production was both a part-time, dispersed endeavor and a full-time, likely centralized, craft. In addition, a number of compositional outliers in the ceramic dataset suggest that interregional trade took place, with pottery made outside the Bais-Tanjay region being imported, especially by upland swidden farmers.     

Chemical analyses of organic residues in archaeological pottery from Arbon Bleiche 3, Switzerland – evidence for dairying in the late Neolithic

Fatty acids distribution and stable isotope ratios (bulk δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N and δ¹³C of individual fatty acids) of organic residues from 30 potsherds have been used to get further insights into the diet at the Late Neolithic (3384–3370 BC) site of Arbon Bleiche 3, Switzerland. The results are compared with modern equivalents of animal and vegetable fats, which may have been consumed in a mixed ecology community having agrarian, breeding, shepherd, gathering, hunting, and fishing activities. The used combined chemical and isotopic approach provides valuable information to complement archaeological indirect evidence about the dietary trends obtained from the analysis of faunal and plant remains. The small variations of the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values within the range expected for degraded animal and plant tissues, is consistent with the archaeological evidence of animals, whose subsistence was mainly based on C₃ plants. The overall fatty acid composition and the stable carbon isotopic compositions of palmitic, stearic and oleic acids of the organic residues indicate that the studied Arbon Bleiche 3 sherds contain fat residues of plant and animal origin, most likely ruminant (bovine and ovine). In several vessels the presence of milk residues provides direct evidence for dairying during the late Neolithic in central Europe.