A NEW METHOD FOR EXTRACTION,ISOLATION AND TRANSESTERIFICATION OF FREE FATTY ACIDS FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTTERY

This paper presents evidence for increased recovery of organic residues from archaeological pottery through use of a microwave‐assisted liquid chromatography protocol. C_16:0 and C_18:0 saturated fatty acids were obtained from archaeological potsherds recovered from nine Neolithic settlements in the Middle East dating between 4700 and 7300 cal bc , including materials that had not produced evidence for the survival of any lipid species through use of ‘conventional’ solvent extraction techniques. Compound‐specific isotopic analyses of C_16:0 and C_18:0 fatty acids in potsherd extracts subsequently revealed δ¹³C/δ¹²C compositions consistent with modern subcutaneous fats of wild boar and goats pastured on lands adjacent to the Jordan Valley, and residues from a modern pottery vessel used in the manufacturing of butter, cheese and yogurt in central Turkey. These results are presented as an illustration of capabilities of the microwave‐assisted recovery protocol. The reclamation of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids from archaeological pottery fragments recovered from a number of the earliest ceramic horizons in the Middle East is herewith reported, and the extraction methods and instrumental analytical techniques are described.     

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF GLASS BEADS FROM MEDIEVAL AL‐BASRA (MOROCCO)

This paper reports the results of elemental analysis, using laser ablation – inductively coupled plasma – mass spectrometry (LA–ICP–MS), of 30 glass beads from an assemblage of beads excavated at medieval al‐Basra, Morocco. Six chemical glass types are represented and their characteristics and geographical origins are discussed, with reference also to the techniques used to make the beads. The presence of numerous beads of lead–silica glasses is of particular interest. The morphological, technological and chemical analyses of the bead assemblage shed light on al‐Basra's trade connections.     

Exploring ‘Other’ childhoods through quantitative secondary analyses of large scale surveys: Opportunities and challenges for children's geographers

This paper considers the potential contribution of secondary quantitative analyses of large scale surveys to the investigation of ‘other’ childhoods. Exploring other childhoods involves investigating the experience of young people who are unequally positioned in relation to multiple, embodied, identity locations, such as (dis)ability, ‘class’, gender, sexuality, ethnicity and race. Despite some possible advantages of utilising extensive databases, the paper outlines a number of methodological problems with existing surveys which tend to reinforce adultist and broader hierarchical social relations. It is contended that scholars of children's geographies could overcome some of these problematic aspects of secondary data sources by endeavouring to transform the research relations of large scale surveys. Such endeavours would present new theoretical, ethical and methodological complexities, which are briefly considered.     

Sourcing archaeological bitumen in the Olmec region

Prehispanic Mesoamerican peoples collected, processed, and used bitumen for decoration, sealant, and adhesive. Among the earliest to do so were the Olmec (1200–500 b.c.) of Mexico's southern Gulf coastal lowlands. Geochemical analysis of bitumen from Olmec archaeological contexts as well as from seeps in the Olmec region reveals that seeps can be geochemically differentiated and can be correlated with archaeological samples. Groups of sites with chemically different archaeological bitumen indicate multiple procurement networks reflecting complex regional systems of exchange and interaction. Organic geochemical analysis of bitumen provides a new tool to study procurement strategies and exchange patterns in Mesoamerica.     

Lower Pecos and Coahuila peyote: new radiocarbon dates

Peyote, a psychoactive cactus native to the Chihuahuan Desert, has been preserved from excavations at only two archaeological sites: Shumla Caves in the Lower Pecos region of southwest Texas and shelter CM-79 near Cuatro Ciénegas in Coahuila, Mexico. We determined three indistinguishable radiocarbon ages of 5160 ± 45, 5200 ± 35, and 5210 ± 35 ¹⁴C years BP, yielding a mean age of 5195 ± 20 ¹⁴C years BP for the three specimens from Shumla Caves. For one of the Cuatro Ciénegas specimens we obtained the first direct radiocarbon date of 835 ± 35 ¹⁴C years BP. This study demonstrates the use of peyote by inhabitants of the Lower Pecos region of the Chihuahuan Desert about 6000 calendar years ago, and confirms its use by inhabitants of the Cuatro Ciénegas region of the Chihuahuan Desert in Late Prehistoric times. The Shumla Caves' specimens are composed of an aggregate of ground peyote mixed with other plant material, i.e., they appear to be manufactured peyote effigies, and are definitely not intact peyote buttons.     

Monks on the move? An assessment of mobility at the medieval Nubian monastery of Ghazali,Sudan (ca. 680–1,275 CE)

The location of Ghazali monastery away from the Nile valley within the relatively isolated environs of the Bayuda desert presents a landscape suggestive of mobility toward the monastery by those who chose to reside there as monks. To assess this potentiality, a sample of 37 individuals from the monastic cemetery (Cemetery 2) were analysed for ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and δ¹⁸O to assess residency during dental enamel formation. The data generated bring into question the nature of mobility to Ghazali monastery, particularly in regard to the potential movement of people from the Nile valley, adjacent desertic landscapes, and further afield.     

Direct evidence of the use of beehive products in pre-Roman Sardinia

Written sources and iconographic evidence suggest that honey and beehive products, used in culinary, medicinal, and technological functions since pre-Neolithic times, were likely known and used in Phoenician and Punic Sardinia. The role of these resources is nonetheless poorly understood because no direct evidence survives on a macroscopic level. Significant advances in the knowledge about beeswax and beehive products processing in the past have been offered in recent decades by organic residue analyses (ORA), an approach that enables the characterisation of surviving chemical compounds or suites of compounds that provide information relating to human activity in the past. The relatively recalcitrant nature of lipid compounds comprising beeswax means that this commodity is among the products that can be unambiguously identified through ORA. Here we present and discuss the results of analyses undertaken on 368 pottery sherds from Phoenician and Punic Sardinia (eighth to third century BCE). These analyses offer direct evidence for the presence of beehive products on the island, suggesting the use of honey for culinary purposes in pots, and possibly connecting one specific vessel category with beeswax decanting during beekeeping and honey production processes. Our results also now clearly illustrate the widespread use of beehive products in pre-Roman Sardinia.     

Obsidian Sources in the Regions of Erzurum and Kars (North‐East Turkey): New Data

The obsidian sources on the Erzurum–Kars Plateau have not been extensively surveyed, and their geochemical signatures are still poorly understood. Yet a significant number of artefacts from archaeological sites in Georgia and Armenia have produced chemical compositions that are unrelated to any Turkish or Caucasian source analysed so far. Their origins may lie in these poorly known deposits. The objective of the collaborative project undertaken by the University of Erzurum and the French mission ‘Caucasus’ is to study the sources of obsidian in the Erzurum and Kars regions, in order to shed light on the intensity of exploitation of this material, and to highlight the exchange networks that may have existed between north‐eastern Turkey and the southern Caucasus. The analyses that we have carried out on the samples taken during this exploratory survey have enabled a definite extension of the territory of circulation of this obsidian to western Transcaucasia. The lack of knowledge concerning the diffusion of obsidian from the regions of Erzurum and Kars thus appears for the moment mainly related to insufficient geochemical characterization of the sources, confirming the importance of future surveys.     

New Data on the Exploitation of Obsidian in the Southern Caucasus (Armenia,Georgia) and Eastern Turkey,Part 1: Source Characterization

A large analytical programme involving both obsidian source characterization and obsidian artefact sourcing was initiated recently within the framework of the French archaeological mission ‘Caucasus’. The results will be presented in two parts: the first part, this paper, deals with the presentation and characterization of obsidian outcrops in the southern Caucasus, while the second presents some results obtained from a selection of artefacts originating from different Armenian sites dated to between the Upper Palaeolithic and the Late Bronze Age. The same analytical method, LA–ICP–MS (laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry), has been used to characterize all the studied samples (both geological and archaeological). This method is more and more widely used to determine the elemental composition of obsidian artefacts, as it causes minimal damage to the studied objects. We present in this first part new geochemical analyses on geological obsidians originating from the southern Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia) and eastern Turkey. These data enhance our knowledge of the obsidian sources in these regions. A simple methodology, based on the use of three diagrams, is proposed to easily differentiate the deposits and to study the early exploitation of this material in the southern Caucasus.     

The Faragola Ceramic Collection: Ceramic Production,Consumption and Exchange in Seventh‐Century Apulia

A collection of 30 ceramic samples, 16 of coarse wares and 14 of fine painted wares, have been investigated by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and neutron activation analysis. Further samples of clayey sediments, both locally outcropping and found within the settling tank, have been submitted to the same analytical techniques for comparison with the ceramic collection. The results demonstrated that local clayey sediments were used as received for the production of coarse wares. The same raw materials were sieved and/or refined by decantation for the production of fine painted wares, which, in fact, provided results that were perfectly comparable with those for the clayey raw materials found within the settling tank. The Faragola productions were distinguished from the neighbouring Apulian productions according to petrographic features (the presence of leucite‐bearing volcanic rocks and Mn‐rich wads) and their bulk chemical composition.