居延遗址T129烽燧出土纺织品分析

居延遗址与汉代丝绸之路兴盛密切相关,是历代丝绸之路开拓与畅通的重要历史见证。在人迹罕至的居延遗址T129烽燧附近的地面发现了纺织品残片,伴随发现的有汉代木简和五铢钱。为了了解织物成分和编织工艺,进行了相关的科学分析。使用红外光谱分析确定了纺织材料为丝,通过视频显微镜和扫描电镜观察,确定纺织品采用平纹织法,未经染色,根据织做工艺可定名为汉代常见的绡。该纺织品可作为汉代戍边士卒衣装的标本之一,对于研究汉代西北地区的丝绸之路物质交流和文化传播具有一定的意义。     

The application of a new method of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to the analysis of burned bone

A new method of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) is applied to the analysis of burned bones. FTIR analyses were undertaken to examine changes in Crystallinity Index (CI), Ca/P and C/C ratios in bone experimentally burned to known, but varying, temperatures and durations. Three sample groups were used to assess the new FTIR method. Blind tests were performed to assess the use of the CI for predicting burning conditions. The results suggested that the new method of FTIR was preferable to the traditional approach, but that CI is affected by factors other than temperature of burning, including the method of FTIR used, and that predictions of burning conditions in archaeological material may not extend beyond that of ‘high’ or ‘low’ intensity of burning.     

Accessing Hunter-Gatherer site structures using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy: applications at a Taltheilei settlement in the Canadian Sub-Arctic

The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy on soils and caribou bone from a Taltheilei culture settlement in northern Canada contribute to developing micro-archaeological approaches suitable for locating and characterizing hearth and midden features on hunter-gatherer sites. A weak yet pervasive signal for montgomeryite was developed from the diagenesis of dispersed ash and caribou processing residues. Disordered calcite, carbonate hydroxylapatite, charcoal, and burned bone in two pit-house hearth deposits indicate that both wood and bone were used for fuel. Crystallinity indices and carbonate/phosphate ratios for bone indicate high intensity burning. These data, in tandem with the presence of semi-subterranean dwellings, demonstrate that this particular tundra-based encampment was occupied during cold seasons, a type of settlement behaviour previously unrecognized in the Taltheilei archaeological record. Our results confirm that Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy is an accessible, rapid, and cost effective means of discovering micro-archaeological evidence valuable for reconstructing hunter-gatherer site structures.     

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.     

Discovery of Beeswax as binding agent on a 6th-century BC Chinese Turquoise-inlaid Bronze sword

Recent archaeological field surveys and excavations at Qiaojiayuan, a platform 40 km west of the Yun County in present-day northwestern Hubei Province (central China), revealed four tombs (M₃, M₄, M₅ and M₆) dating back to around 6th to 5th century BC. The grave's layout, artifact assemblages and burial practice indicate that the owners of these four graves were aristocrats of the Chu state. Five turquoise-inlaid bronze artifacts (two swords and three dagger-axes) were excavated. The sword from M₄, imbedded with pieces of well-cut and finely-polished turquoise on its handle, was in a very bad state of preservation and underwent conservation treatment. Some sticky, whitish pastes were exposed when the inlaid turquoises dropped off. The pastes were supposed to be residues of unknown binding agents. Samples of the pastes were collected for FTIR (Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy) and XRD (X-Ray Diffraction) analyses to determine the chemical component(s). The results revealed that the pastes were composed of almost pure beeswax. This indicated that beeswax was used as binding agent in turquoise-inlaid bronzes as early as the 6th to 5th century BC in China. Review of recent technical studies suggested that beeswax was used in early China in several different regions (mostly southern part of China) for at least two different purposes (binding agent and lightening).     

A preliminary study on using enzymes in cleaning archaeological wood

The main goal of this study was to study and evaluate the effect of hydrolyzing enzymes on the anatomical structure and chemical composition of archaeological wood samples. Pine and beech wood samples, which were taken from anonymous mashrabia, have been cleaned with three types of enzymes then a scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) study were undertaken, to see if any significant structural or chemical differences could be detected between “untreated” and “treated” wood. No dramatic changes in functional groups on the wood surface, as monitored by infrared spectroscopy, occurred in the samples before and after enzymatic cleaning. SEM data, however, show that protease and lipase enzymes may give good results in cleaning wood surface, but the enzyme residues remaining on the cell walls of archaeological wood are another point to consider.     

FTIR AND SOLID‐STATE 13C CP/MAS NMR SPECTROSCOPY OF CHARRED AND NON‐CHARRED SOLID ORGANIC RESIDUES PRESERVED IN ROMAN IRON AGE VESSELS FROM THE NETHERLANDS*

In this study, solid‐state ¹³C magnetic resonance spectroscopy using cross‐polarization combined with high‐powered proton decoupling and magic‐angle sample spinning and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy using a diamond anvil cell, are employed to give information about the organic functional groups present in charred and non‐charred solid organic residues and to give an insight into the degree of condensation of the chars. Residues were preserved in ceramic vessels recovered from the indigenous settlement of Uitgeest–Groot Dorregeest, dating back to the Roman period. In addition, the application of these solid‐state techniques is used for verification of earlier results obtained in analytical pyrolysis studies and to clarify the relationship between the already thermally degraded charred residues and the controlled heating fragmentation taking place during analytical pyrolysis and direct temperature‐resolved mass spectrometry.