Iron age occupation in the Méma region,Mali

The recent archaeological campaign (regional site survey and excavations at the mound complex of Akumbu) has demonstrated that the Méma, a dry Sahelian region with a scattered population, was intensively occupied during the Iron Age. This intense occupation, certainly associated with better environmental conditions, extends back to the Late Stone Age. During the regional survey more than 100 Iron Age sites and nearly 30 Late Stone Age sites were identified; their size, surface material and features, and location on geomorphological zones were recorded. A series of radiocarbon dates spanning the fourth to fourteenth centuries ad obtained from the excavations at the Iron Age mound complex of Akumbu and a preliminary analysis of the pottery from both the excavations and the survey permitted the determination of a broad chronology of occupation. Numerous slag heaps (associated with smelting furnace remains) found during the survey and imported goods uncovered during the excavations at Akumbu indicate that both iron production and long-distance trade played an important role in the Méma economy.

---

Résumé Une campagne archéologique (reconnaissance et fouilles) exécutée en 1989–1990 a montré que le Méma, une région sahelienne de grande sécheresse à population actuellement éparse, était intensément peuplé pendant la période de l'Age du Fer. Cette intense occupation, certainement liée à de meilleures conditions climatiques, semble remonter à la période du néolithique. Au cours de la reconnaissance, conduite à l'échelle régionale, plus d'une centaine de sites datant de l'Age du Fer et environ une trentaine de sites néolithiques furent identifiés, enregistrés et décrits en termes de leurs dimensions, matériels et caractéristiques de surface, et environnement. Une série de datations au radiocarbone, obtenue lors de la fouille sur le complexe de buttes d'habitat de Akumbu, dans la partie ouest du Méma, indique une occupation s'étendant du quatrième siècle au quatorzième siècle de notre ère. La découverte d'imposants amas de scories, associés à des restes de hauts fourneaux, et objets exotiques trouvés lors des fouilles à Akumbu, attestent que la production de fer et le commerce à longue distance jouaient tous les deux un important rôle dans l'économie du Méma.

     

A palynological investigation of a second millennium BC bank-system in the black moss of Achnacree

Evidence of agricultural activity in Scotland during the Bronze Age is sparse. A bank system of that date, covered by a deep peat accumulation, in Argyllshire, Scotland has preserved a podzolic palaeosol. Palynological investigation of the palaeosol allows a consideration of potential prehistoric land use. The existence of a well developed iron pan in the palaeosol divides the soil pollen into two contrasting groups, suggesting two quite distinctive periods of land use. Also discussed are the problems which the processes of podzolization cause pollen analysts, the dating of buried soils and the possibility of periodicity in pollen movement through a soil.     

Evaluation of Fe isotope values as a provenance tool for chert artefacts from the north-eastern United States

Iron (Fe) isotope compositions of prehistoric stone tools and geological sources were compared to evaluate the robustness of this isotopic fingerprinting technique. Artefacts and source materials were collected from the Hatch site in central Pennsylvania, United States, where both veined chert (Bald Eagle chert) and stone tools coexist within several metres. Yellow artefacts (δ⁵⁶Fe = 0.38 ± 0.1, n = 7) and source materials (δ⁵⁶Fe = 0.42 ± 0.1, n = 8) isotopically matched within error. The source values also overlap yellow chert samples from three other Bald Eagle chert locations in the area. These values are different from six other chert locations in the north-eastern United States. These data suggest that the Fe isotope composition of chert artefacts reflect distinct geological sources. To enhance the mechanical characteristics of the stone tools, the chert experienced heat treatment, which induced a phase shift of the Fe oxide mineral goethite to hematite. This phase shift changes the colour of the chert to red. The red chert artefacts and source material also have overlapping Fe isotope values, but are 0.2‰ higher than the initial yellow chert. Experimental work where cherts were heated with different clays shows that Fe exchange with site soils induces the +0.2 fractionation. These data demonstrate that predictable Fe isotope fractionation occurs during heating, resulting in isotopically distinct artefacts.     

A Hellenistic/Early Roman Shipwreck Assemblage off Ashkelon, Israel

Underwater surveys at Ashkelon during 1998 exposed a Hellenistic/Roman shipwreck. The ship, c .15–25 m long, sank in the 1st or 2nd century BC, and its remains include iron anchors, lead sheathing, copper nails, assorted metal artefacts, and shipwright's unused nails. Bronze vessels found—oil-lamp, shovel and ladles—could have functioned in cult rites. Weights and balance-scale parts demonstrate commercial activity. Fishing-net sinkers indicate involvement in fishing. This paper raises important points regarding the risk to shipwrecks on the Israeli coast from environmental and human interference, and suggests that Ashkelon never had a built-up port.
© 2009 The Authors     

The prehistoric pile-dwelling settlement of Stagno (Leghorn,Italy): wood and food resource exploitation

A pile-dwelling settlement, dated to the final Bronze–early Iron Age (XII–XI century BC), was excavated at Stagno, near Leghorn (Tuscany, Italy). The site presented a well-preserved portion of the wooden foundation structure buried by sediments rich in plant remains: both wood and plant remains were subjected to archaeobotanical investigation. The ultimate goal was to improve our knowledge on agricultural economy and wood usage in Tuscany during the prehistoric ages. The results pointed to a farming system based on Triticum spp. (wheat), Hordeum spp. (barley) and Leguminosae cultivation in addition to the gathering of wild fruits, such as Corylus avellana, Cornus mas, Prunus spp., Vitis spp. Many of these plant remains are associated to a wetland context. Mesohygrophilous trees, such as deciduous Quercus, Ulmus minor, Fraxinus cf. excelsior, and Sorbus were used for the construction of the pile-dwelling structures; the choice of these plants indicates a good knowledge of the technological characteristics of timber.     

Granite‐related overpressure and volatile release in the mid crust: fluidized breccias from the Cloncurry District,Australia

The source and transport regions of fluidized (transported) breccias outcrop in the Cloncurry Fe‐oxide–Cu–Au district. Discordant dykes and pipes with rounded clasts of metasedimentary calc–silicate rocks and minor felsic and mafic intrusions extend several kilometres upwards and outwards from the contact aureole of the 1530 Ma Williams Batholith into overlying schists and amphibolites. We used analytical equations for particle transport to estimate clast velocities (≥20 m sec^?1), approaching volcanic ejecta rates. An abrupt release of overpressured magmatic‐hydrothermal fluid is suggested by the localization of the base of the breccias in intensely veined contact aureoles (at around 10 km, constrained by mineral equilibria), incorporation of juvenile magmatic clasts, the scale and discordancy of the bodies, and the wide range of pressure variation (up to 150 MPa) inferred from CO₂ fluid inclusion densities and related decrepitation textures. The abundance of clasts derived from depth, rather than from the adjacent wallrocks, suggests that the pressure in the pipes was sufficient to restrict the inwards spalling of fragments from breccia walls; that is, the breccias were explosive rather than implosive, and some may have vented to the surface. At these depths, such extreme behaviour may have been achieved by release of dissolved fluids from crystallizing magma, in combination with a strongly fractured and fluid‐laden carapace, sitting under a strong, low permeability barrier. The relationship of these breccias to the Ernest Henry iron‐oxide–Cu–Au deposit suggests they may have been sources of fluids or mechanical energy for ore genesis, or alternately provided permeable pathways for later ore fluids.     

山西阳城犁镜传统生产工艺调查

介绍了阳城犁镜的源流、现状及生产工艺,并对犁镜的材质进行了分析。阳城犁镜的生产沿用木炭竖炉炼铁、铁范铸造等古代生铁冶铸技术,是一项实用的优良传统生产工艺。     

Archaeological and chemical evidence for the earliest American use of raw coal as a fuel in ironmaking

The archaeological discovery of bituminous coal in the tipple area and the subsequent analyses of specimens of the iron ore, charcoal, limestone, slag, and cast iron from the Eaton (Hopewell) blast furnace built in 1802 indicate that raw coal was used in combination with charcoal as a fuel in American iron smelting at least thirty years before it was used alone. Further, its use in this combinatory manner marks the earliest as yet attested to in the New World.     

Early use and production of iron in the northern Shaanxi: A perspective on iron objects excavated from the Yuejiazhuang cemetery site

Yuejiazhuang is a cemetery site of Qin people in the Northern Shaanxi, China, and it is dated to the mid-late Warring States Period. Ninety-two iron objects were excavated from the Yuejiazhuang cemetery site, which provide an opportunity to understand the use and production of iron in the Northern Shaanxi. The metallurgical and statistical study has revealed that bloomery iron, cast iron, and steel made from cast iron were adopted in the Northern Shaanxi during the mid-late Warring States Period. In the meanwhile, cast iron and steel made from cast iron became dominant in the Northern Shaanxi.     

斯里兰卡的冶铁考古

介绍了斯里兰卡20世纪80年代以来冶铁考古研究所取得的成就。古代斯里兰卡的铁产品主要是块炼铁和高碳钢,冶铁技术主要有阿腊口腊瓦瓦的自然通风竖炉和以季风为鼓风动力的撒马纳腊瓦瓦开放性矮炉两种,可能与缅甸的自然通风竖炉、日本的踏踏拉以及西非的多哥兰地区抽风式竖炉存在某些历史联系。