EVALUATION OF THE APPLICABILITY OF CONVENTIONAL METHODS FOR THE CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF WATERLOGGED ARCHAEOLOGICAL WOOD

A series of 112 waterlogged archaeological wood samples of different provenances, wood species, burial times and states of preservation were analysed with the aim of assessing the validity (in terms of limits and reliability) of procedures conventionally used in the pulp and paper industry, to evaluate the state of preservation of decayed wood. In particular, the extent of any damage wrought on decayed wood tissue by the repetitive cycles that characterize these procedures was evaluated as a function of the degradation of the samples. The results indicated that standard methodologies give reliable measurements regardless of the extent of wood decay. However, it is essential to compare these data with those of non‐decayed wood that has been measured using the same procedures to take account of the errors that are inherent in these methodologies and that affect measurements.     

CREEP OF LEAD DYEING VESSELS IN POMPEII: THE USE OF FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS TO ANSWER ‘UNANSWERABLE’ QUESTIONS

The scale of manufacture of the dyeing industry in Pompeii is a controversial subject. Previous studies have taken a theoretical approach. This study used full‐scale replicas of dyeing apparatus to investigate their operating parameters. To explore the physical effect within the materials during the dyeing cycle, a virtual replica was constructed. Finite element analysis was used to explore the long‐term mechanical effects of the dyeing process on the apparatus and on production as a whole. These combined methods have given an understanding of the significance of the industry and this new method has provided a foundation for further work.     

Poor Law Guardians,Coalminers, and Friendly Societies in Northern England, 1860–1894: Statutory Provision,Local Autonomy,and Individual Responsibility

Abstract

This article examines the ways in which the Poor Law dealt with victims of coalmining accidents who, though friendly society members, felt compelled to apply for parochial relief. It shows that although the Poor Law authorities provided explicit guidance on how to deal with such cases, guardians in the northern coalfields proved strikingly heterodox in the policies which they pursued. It is suggested that their independence has significant implications for our understanding of the relationship between statutory provision, local autonomy, and individual responsibility.     

The Miners' Lockout in 1926 in the Cumberland Coalfield

Abstract

The General Strike of 1926 was a pivotal point in the history of the British labour movement. However, the miners' lockout that underpinned the dispute has been under-researched. This article seeks to address two themes. Firstly, it provides the first detailed account of the Cumberland coalfield and its role in the 1926 conflict. As such the article contributes to the growing literature on individual districts of the Miners' Federation of Great Britain that has led to a questioning of the dominant characteristics of miners implicit in some of the classic works of coal mining historiography. Through an examination of the social, cultural and political developments in the Cumberland coalfield we get a sense of the complexity, drama and tragedy of industrial strife. Secondly, this study of Cumberland illuminates a number of generic issues that are relevant to the study of coal communities in a more general sense. Through an exploration of the role of colliery deputies in the workplace and community, women's autonomous action in social conflict, and the sociology of outcropping, the article signposts areas of coal mining history that require further research.     

PATTERNS OF IRON AGE HORSE SUPPLY: AN ANALYSIS OF STRONTIUM ISOTOPE RATIOS IN TEETH*

This paper presents a pilot study of strontium (Sr) isotope ratios from Iron Age horse tooth enamel samples. It compares ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios from horse teeth to estimates for local ranges of biologically available strontium, to investigate whether horses were being bred at the sites where their remains were discovered. A horse from Middle Iron Age Rooksdown, Hampshire, was not bred at the site but, rather, came from as far away as Wales, Scotland or continental Europe. Horse teeth from Middle Iron Age Bury Hill, Hampshire, returned ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values typical of local chalkland.     

The chronology of the Neolithic sequence at Dikili Tash,Macedonia, Greece: TL dating of domestic ovens*

The chronological sequence of a major reference site for Neolithic periods in southeastern Europe and the Aegean, Dikili Tash (Macedonia, Greece), has been reassessed by TL. Baked adobe material samples extracted from domestic ovens, directly associated with specific occupational levels, have been studied. The fine‐grain technique has been used for equivalent dose determination. K, U and Th contents and the equilibrium state of U‐series have been measured by low‐background gamma spectroscopy. Since the archaeological levels were already partly excavated, the environmental dose‐rate was evaluated by a reconstruction technique combining laboratory analysis and on‐site measurements. The TL results (weighted average of multiple age determination, oven 400, middle of the Dikili Tash I (DT‐I) phase, 5500 ± 320 bc ; oven 600, end of DT‐I, 4920 ± 310 bc ; house 3, DT‐II, 4260 ± 280 bc ; house 4, DT‐II, 4510 ± 410 bc ) are in general agreement with the timeframe deduced from previous radiocarbon dates. This convergence strengthens the settlement's chronology, established now by independent dating methods.     

Akhalkalaki: The Taphonomy of An Early Pleistocene Locality in the Republic of Georgia

As part of our investigations into the potential of the Republic of Georgia for providing information on early hominin occupation of Eurasia, we report here on Akhalkalaki, a large late Early Pleistocene locality located along the lower slopes of a Miocene andesitic cone. Originally excavated in the 1950s as a palaeontological site, it was re-opened in the 1990s and stone tools were found associated with the fauna, suggesting that it is also an archaeological occurrence. Excavations in the 1950s and 1990s uncovered thousands of bones of an early Galerian fauna, including the remains of new species of Hippopotamus,Equus , and Canis (Vekua, 1962, 1987) and dominated by the remains of Equus süssenbornensis. We present the stratigraphy of the site, which together with faunal correlations and reversed paleomagnetics indicates an age most likely in the late Matuyama Chron, probably between 980,000 and 780,000 years ago. Taphonomic analysis suggests that the fauna was deposited and buried over a short time period, and was heavily modified by carnivores, but we cannot demonstrate involvement by hominins. Based on evidence of abundant krotovina (animal burrows filled with sediment) and the lack of definitive evidence for hominin modification to the bones, the stone tools at the site may have been mixed in with the older fauna. The taphonomic characteristics of the Akhalkalaki bone assemblage are not readily explained with reference to assemblage formation processes developed with actualistic studies that have been mostly conducted in Africa, including carnivore dens, predator arenas, human hunting and scavenging, mass deaths, or attritional bone deposition. Because of extreme anthropogenic modification of the present environments, the temperate setting, and the presence of mainly extinct taxa, local models based on actualistic studies cannot approximate the mammalian ecology reflected in the Akhalkalaki bone assemblage. A few comparisons are made with preliminary taphonomic observations from Dmanisi, an Early Pleistocene Homo ergaster site not far away.     

THE HISTORY OF THE LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY INSTRUMENTAL NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS PROGRAMME FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL AND GEOLOGICAL MATERIALS

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory pottery provenance group developed standards and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) methods that are used at many archaeometry laboratories around the world. The background and development of ‘Standard Pottery’ and of methods for INAA are described. Early pottery provenance studies are described, and other research programmes, involving obsidian and magmatic mixing, the origin of the stone used for the Colossi of Memnon, and the ‘Plate of Brass’, are mentioned. Research work by the Laboratory included the discovery of the world‐wide iridium anomaly and extensive subsequent research on what has come to be known as the ‘Asteroid Impact Theory’. Characteristics of the analytical programme for pottery provenance work, including overall aims, precision and accuracy, intercalibration, and irradiation and measurement protocols, are discussed. New research areas developed in the past 15 years, to broaden the usefulness of chemical compositional data for archaeological investigation, and examples of recent work, are described. This research, which makes use of high‐precision X‐ray fluorescence analysis in addition to INAA measurements on sample splits, includes distinguishing the products of different workshops located at the same production site, studies on the significance of the distribution of silver in archaeological pottery and the use of high‐precision chemical compositional data as an aid for making chronological distinctions.     

Bone Diagenesis and Taphonomic History of the Paso Otero 1 Bone Bed, Pampas of Argentina

Samples of guanaco bone from an archaeological site in the Pampas of Argentina have been analysed to understand the diagenetic profile of the bone assemblages that characterized the taphonomic history of the site. Two archaeological occupations of Paso Otero 1 were investigated, encompassing similar landscape settings, climates, and depositional environments. The time span is a c. 2000 year period from c. 4800 to 2800 years . A total of 30 bone samples taken from both occupations were used to provide a preliminary characterization of the diagenetic pathways at the site. The parameters investigated provide a comprehensive account of how both mineral (hydroxyapatite) and bone protein (collagen) have been altered. In order to compare the two bone assemblages in terms of their diagenetic parameters, multivariate analyses were conducted. Results indicate two different diagenetic profiles in the site, % N being one of the variables that accounts for most of the variation in Paso Otero 1. The diagenetic analyses indicate that protein is less preserved in the bone assemblage from the middle stable landscape. Alternative interpretations of the diagenetic profiles are discussed in light of the taphonomic history of the site, and palaeoenvironmental information of the region. One hypothesis stresses the importance of the role of climate in defining the different diagenetic pathways, and the other the continued action of the combined diagenetic factors along time as the main explanation for the variability in the state of preservation of the bones in Paso Otero 1.