Characterization and textural analysis of Middle Bronze Age Transdanubian inlaid wares of the Encrusted Pottery Culture,Hungary: a preliminary study

Inlaid ceramics belonging to the Encrusted Pottery Culture and dated to the Middle Bronze Age (2000–1500 BC) are highly distinctive vessels with complex decorative motifs found in large numbers in the Transdanubia region of Hungary. Despite this considerable corpus of material there has been little systematic investigation of the composition of the inlays. Micro-analysis of Transdanubian inlaid wares by X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro-Fourier transform infrared microscopy (FT-IR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provides new compositional, structural and textural information on the inlays. In contrast to common statements in the literature regarding the materials used to make inlays, these new data show that the majority of inlays are composed of hydroxyapatite (bone) that was previously ashed, although some of the inlays are composed of calcium carbonate. Additional compositional and textural variation in the bone inlays suggests that bone material from different skeletal elements and/or of different age may have been used, and that contrasting recipes for inlay preparation were employed during fabrication. These results suggest that the production of inlaid vessels of the Encrusted Pottery Culture was more complex than has hitherto been thought.     

Stable isotope evidence for salt-marsh grazing in the Bronze Age Severn Estuary,UK: implications for palaeodietary analysis at coastal sites

Stable isotope analyses of modern coastal and salt-marsh plant species (‘salt-loving’ plants or halophytes) have demonstrated that these are significantly enriched in ¹⁵N compared to other terrestrial plants. Coastal salt-marshes were far more extensive in the past than they are today. They represented a vast and much-exploited resource in many areas of the UK and north-western Europe and were considered to be prime land for the grazing of animal stock.     

生物揭展剂在古书画文物揭展中的应用

揭展是书画重新装裱过程中最重要的一环。在装裱过程中所用的浆糊往往与画心、命纸很难分离,导致揭展过程复杂,且容易造成古书画的损毁。传统的水闷润揭展法对于难揭展的纸质画心极易揭晃。为解决这一问题,利用芽胞杆菌发酵产生的含有淀粉酶的胞外液制备生物揭展剂,并通过作用于宣纸老化材料验证了揭展效果。试验结果表明:枯草芽胞杆菌的发酵液去除菌体并透析后获得的生物揭展剂揭展效果较好。利用扫描电镜和拉力强度检测分析了生物揭展剂对书画文物的影响。结果表明:该生物揭展剂能够降低剥离力和纤维指数,与用水闷润相比,增加了宣纸样品在闷润后的抗拉强度,且对宣纸微观结构无明显影响;观察生物揭展后100天的样品并没有霉菌生成,表明该生物揭展剂具有很好的揭展安全性。在此基础上,对成套明代水陆画进行揭展,取得了良好效果。     

《上海博物馆藏甲骨文字》甲骨缀合五组

《上海博物馆藏甲骨文字》是一部新近出版的甲骨著录书,拓本精良,优于以往。本文介绍了作者依据此书完成的五组甲骨卜辞缀合,复原了历史遗物,表明收藏于博物馆中的甲骨重出拓本亦对甲骨研究有着十分重要的作用。     

Why are cut mark frequencies in archaeofaunal assemblages so variable? A multivariate analysis

Cut mark frequencies in archaeological faunal assemblages are so variable that their use has recently created some skepticism. The present study analyses this variability using multivariate statistics on a set of 14 variables that involve differential skeletal element representation, fragmentation processes, carnivore ravaging impact, carcass size and tool type. All these variables affect the resulting cut mark frequencies reported in archaeological sites. A large sample of archaeofaunal assemblages has been used for this study. It was concluded that the best estimator of cut mark frequency in any given assemblage is the percentage of cut-marked long bone specimens (probably due to its better preservation than other anatomical areas), which is determined by fragmentation and carnivore ravaging. Carcass size and tool type also play a major role in differences in cut mark frequencies. Fragmentation is also a key variable determining the abundance of cut-marked specimens. It is argued that general cut mark percentages are of limited value, given the number of variables that determine them, and that a more heuristic approach involves quantifying cut marks in a qualitative manner.     

An X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) investigation in human and animal fossil bones from Holocene to Middle Triassic

We examined by Rietveld refinement of X-ray Diffraction patterns a series of 61 human and animal fossil bones in an age range from present time to Middle Triassic (around 245 Ma). This approach, supplemented by elemental analysis according to X-ray Fluorescence, has permitted to obtain a quantitative evaluation of the mineralogical phases in the specimens, thus allowing to reconstruct the mineralization process involved. Concerning the apatite phase, after adopting a monoclinic geometry for the unit cell, the method permits to determine with fair degree of precision the unit cell volume, which is found to decrease in relatively short geological times as a function of the fluorine substitution process for the hydroxyl group –OH. After excluding the role of a high-temperature fire treatment to the bones, it is found that a certain linear correlation may exist over the geological time scale involved between the age of the specimen and the average crystallite size. This observation permits to use the XRD pattern as an evaluation of the age of the fossil, although the stratigraphic observations, where available, remain as the main reliable source for dating such biomaterials. The uncertainty related to this age estimation may be hardly better than 15–20% in absolute, because of various assumptions involved in the XRD methodology used and in the variability of the burial environment that may be subjected to discontinuous changes over the very long time of deposition.     

Experimental series and use-wear in bone tools

This paper presents an experimental program and microscopic patterns identified in the analysis of five worked bone morpho-functional groups: harpoon heads, drilled points, bipoints, awls and smoothers.     

Calcium isotopes in archaeological bones and their relationship to dairy consumption

The calcium isotope ratios (δ^44/42Ca) of bones from humans and fauna from three archaeological sites, Taforalt, Abu Hureyra, and Danebury, are evaluated in order to assess whether calcium isotope ratios of bones can be used to detect dairy consumption by adult humans. At each site the fauna δ^44/42Ca is the same regardless of species, while the humans have lower δ^44/42Ca than the local animals by 0.24–0.41‰ (site means). However we cannot ascribe this difference to dairy consumption, given this human–faunal difference also occurs in Epipalaeolithic and Mesolithic adult humans, where dairy consumption is unlikely. Rather, this difference appears to be a result of differences in metabolic processes or other aspects of diet between humans and fauna. Minimal isotopic change in sequential acid leaches of bone powders and consideration of the high calcium concentration in bone suggest that bone calcium isotope ratios are not substantially affected by diagenetic change.     

From riches to rags: organic deterioration at Star Carr

The 11,000-year old lake edge archaeological site of Star Carr in the Vale of Pickering of North Yorkshire is one of the most famous Mesolithic sites in Europe, and one of the earliest, dated to the period of climatic warming that immediately followed the final termination of the last ice age. One of the main reasons for this international importance is the richness of its organic artefacts, faunal assemblage and environmental data. However, recent investigations have demonstrated that these organic remains have severely deteriorated over the last 60 years due to the decay and acidification of the surrounding peat. This paper presents research into the effects on the bone (histological analysis using light and polarising microscopy, and Transmission Electron Microscopy, bulk collagen analysis, and amino acid analysis), antler (visual and metrical analysis, loss on ignition and Scanning Electron Microscopy) and wood (visual analysis, decay assessment tests and Scanning Electron Microscopy).