Palynology and archaeological inference: bridging the gap between pollen washes and past behavior

Credible interpretation of pollen recovered from archaeological sites hinges upon understanding how pollen becomes deposited by both the environment and human behavior. The environmental role has been studied to some extent, but how the activities of people have formed the pollen assemblages at archaeological sites is usually just assumed rather than considered explicitly. Moreover, the complexity involved in the interaction between human behavior and pollen ecology is seldom considered. An archaeological case study of grinding tool pollen washes highlights the ambiguities of standard practice because the results confound common assumptions about pollen washes. A series of experimental seed and grinding tool washes designed to test the relationships between the processing of seeds and the deposition of pollen help explain why, for most situations, artifact pollen washes do not provide direct or even faithful records of plant processing. These results highlight the need for further experimental research with pollen so that we are warranted in making behavioral inferences from palynology. This conclusion is easily extended to other microbotanical data classes that archaeologists regularly employ.     

湖北郧县人遗址石器的第二步加工

郧县人遗址中发现的石器第二步加工的特点是大部分用石锤来直接进行加工;打击方向垂直或接近于垂直;修整痕迹多浅、平;加工方向大部分为单向加工,少数为交互加工、转向加工的;在两刃或两刃以上的石器中,不同边缘的加工方向相同的多,不同的少。郧县人遗址中的石器特征与国内外的旧石器时代早期石器进行对比,在石器的第二步加工技术方面,有着自己鲜明的特点,从而构成了独具特色的“郧县人文化”。     

Early Middle Ages Houses of Gien (France) from the Inside: Geoarchaeology and Archaeobotany of 9th–11th c. Floors

ABSTRACT

At Gien (France), indoor floors from early Middle Ages occupation (8th–10th c. AD) are very well preserved, providing a new reference for archaeological investigation in northern France. This site is located on an outcrop, 20 m above the Loire valley, where a 15th c. castle stands now. The medieval occupation combines high-status houses with crafting and agricultural areas. They constitute a new urban nucleus, which grew 2?km east from an ancient Roman settlement. During the rescue excavation, four buildings of different status were sampled and studied using an integrated approach, combining stratigraphy, micromorphology, chemical, macro-remain and phytolith analyses. Micromorphological investigations helped to identify 74 built floors, from 0.5 to 150?mm thick, made with transformed local clay or imported silty earth. Mineral floors were covered by vegetal ones, consisting of crop processing refuse. These litters include an abundance of phytoliths and some seeds, both produced by cultivated cereals, which were processed in situ, such as Triticum durum, Secale cereale and Hordeum vulgare. The refuse above the mineral and vegetal floors were trampled. They were produced not only by domestic activities, such as cooking and eating, but also by metallurgic activities and animal husbandry. The investigation of a contemporary pit indicated that, despite the large amount of refuse, floors were well maintained and regularly rebuilt. The spatial distribution of waste indicated that a single space could be dedicated to several activities, which were not necessarily separated by new floors. Moreover, the total absence of bioturbation allowed the study of a stage of dark earth formation, by comparing it to the contemporaneous mechanical disturbance of a part of the strata which occurred when building new floors. All these results give new evidence of the richness and the complexity of the early Middle Ages town, in addition to help identifying the activities which could take place in early castral areas.     

云南昆明石寨山出土汉代青铜器的初步分析

云南昆明的石寨山墓葬是汉代滇池区域的土著文化,为了了解该地汉代铜器的制作工艺水平,本研究通过金相显微镜观察、扫描电镜及能谱分析的现代分析手段来对M3、M5、M6、M7、M10、M12这6个墓葬群的31件青铜器展开探讨。结果显示在31件铜器样品中,有30件为铜锡合金,1件为红铜,所有器物均为铸造,其中有1件铜戈的刃部经历过热锻加工。这一分析结果丰富了石寨山文化的铜器研究,为器物的保护修复提供科学依据,同时也为云南汉代时期的铜器考古学以及金属技术史补充部分资料。