Characterization of dyestuffs in ancient textiles from Xinjiang

Extraordinarily well-preserved organic remains from mortuary and settlement sites, including mummified bodies, are scattered along the outer, oasis-laden rim of the Tarim Basin in Xinjiang Province, China, ranging in date from about 1400 BC to the late first millennium BC. Specimens of textile finds from Chärchän, dated at about 1000 BC were selected for dye analysis using newly developed protocols employing high performance liquid chromatography with spectrophotometric and mass spectrometric detection. A single blue (from an indigo plant), a red (from madder, a Rubia species) and two yellow dyes were detected, although the exact plant source for none of them could be identified with certainty. This research offers new insights in the interpretation of textile finds from prehistoric Xinjiang, and more generally, of early Bronze Age Eurasia.     

MC‐ICP‐MS analyses of tin isotopes in Roman‐era bronze coins reveal temporal and spatial variation

Tin's small mass fractionation and the lack of accepted reference standards have hindered Sn isotopy in archaeology and conservation science. Because of ore field variation and potential fractionation during ore reduction, attempts to determine artefacts’ ore sources have been limited. After norming the fractionations to NIST 3161a (Lot #070330), significant differences in Sn isotope mass fractionation in Judaean bronze ‘Biblical’ coins minted by different rulers during the first centuries bce and ce were discovered. These variations and those in δ ⁶⁵Cu and ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁴Pb are connected to historical events in the Levant.     

Provenance of Early Bronze Age metal artefacts in Western Switzerland using elemental and lead isotopic compositions and their possible relation with copper minerals of the nearby Valais

Ten Early Bronze Age (BzA1, 2200–2000 BC) copper artefacts from the central Valais region from Switzerland were studied for their elemental composition and lead isotope ratios. In order to answer the archaeological question of a local copper supply, a database for copper minerals across the Valais (Switzerland) has been established. This database contains 69 data on lead isotope ratios as well as additional information on the minerals and geochemical associations for copper minerals from 38 locations in the Valais. Comparisons of the artefacts were also made with data pertaining to minerals from various deposits from Europe and Anatolia taken from the literature. The provenance of the materials is very diverse. Some of the data are compatible with the data from the copper mineral deposits of the Valais region. Moreover, three copper lunulae were identified as possibly Tuscan, which suggests contacts between Italy and the Valais region. This pattern also establishes a multiplicity of provenances for the metal and cultural influences in the Alpine environment of the Rhone Valley of Switzerland at the beginning of the Early Bronze Age.     

Chemical evidence for wine production around 4000 BCE in the Late Chalcolithic Near Eastern highlands

Archaeological excavations in the Areni-1 cave complex in southeastern Armenia revealed installations and artifacts dating to around 4000 cal. BCE that are strongly indicative of wine production. Chemical evidence for this hypothesis is presented here using a new method to detect the anthocyanin malvidin that gives grapes and pomegranates their red color. Using solid phase extraction (SPE) and alkaline treatment of the samples, followed by combined liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS), this method was applied to authentic standards and four ancient potsherds from Armenia and Syria. A positive result was observed for two of the samples from the Areni-1 cave complex, adding evidence supporting the hypothesis that wine was produced in the Near Eastern highlands in the Late Chalcolithic Period.     

Mapping prehistoric social fields on the Sepik coast of Papua New Guinea: ceramic compositional analysis using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry

The Sepik coast of northern Papua New Guinea is one of the most linguistically diverse places on earth despite communities there currently being connected into wide-reaching social and economic networks that cross language boundaries. One possible explanation for observed human diversity is that social connections were substantially less intensive prior to colonial pacification. As a proxy for human interaction, we compositionally analyzed 287 ceramic sherds from archaeological contexts using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to determine their place of production. Our results indicate that ceramics produced on Tumleo Island—currently the most important regional ceramic producer—were transported to other places on the Sepik coast after ∼1000 BP, suggesting that linguistic diversity on the coast has been maintained in an interactive environment for at least a millennium.     

矿化溶液浸泡-气体扩散法加固骨质文物

本研究探讨了以钙源、磷酸盐源、胶原蛋白矿化溶液浸泡—气体扩散多循环法加固古代骨骼材料的工艺方法，并利用超景深显微镜、傅里叶转换红外光谱(FT-IR)、X射线衍射仪、扫描电镜和色度分析法、抗压强度试验等方法研究了保护效果。结果表明，利用该工艺处理后的生物磷灰石骨骼具有加固材料成分和骨质本体一致，原位合成且深入到骨质内部等特点，克服了有机聚合物及其他矿物材料简单物理充填的一些弊端，且处理过程简单、效率高、外观改变小，能满足对脆弱骨质文物、人骨及其他动物骨骼的加固保护需求。