The Middle Paleolithic of the Caucasus

Journal of World Prehistory - This paper presents a short review of the data and new approaches to Middle Paleolithic chronology and variability in the Caucasus. A climatostratigraphic scheme of...     

Reassessing the diet of Upper Palaeolithic humans from Gough's Cave and Sun Hole,Cheddar Gorge,Somerset, UK

Richards et al. (2000) reconstructed the diet of the human remains found in Gough's and Sun Hole Cave through isotope analysis. They concluded that these people consumed an entirely terrestrial-based diet. Their reconstruction was based upon comparison of the results from human bones with those from a very small number of associated animals. The diets of the Gough's and Sun Hole Cave human were different from the other six Upper Palaeolithic humans from the British Isles for which dietary information has been obtained through isotope analysis. The work of Richards et al. (2000) suggests that they were the only ones for whom marine or freshwater resources did not play a significant role in their diets. We test this through further analyses of faunal remains from Gough's Cave, Sun Hole and other contemporary sites (Kent's Cavern, Aveline's Hole, Kendrick's Cave). Despite the limited faunal sample, the original palaeodietary reconstruction is broadly consistent with our findings. The isotope values of the main protein sources consumed by the humans from both sites are consistent with those of red deer and bovines, and, for a single individual, with that of horse and red deer. Reindeer was postulated in the original reconstruction as a potential food source, but this seems very unlikely based on our isotope reconstruction and the archaeological remains.     

How flakes shatter: a critical evaluation of quartz fracture analysis

Despite its worldwide use as a stone tool raw material, quartz is known to be a difficult material for archaeologists. The main reason for this is the tendency of quartz flakes to fragment during detachment, which complicates the use of traditional lithic analyses. In this article we present an experimental study of quartz flake fragmentation. We evaluate the method called fracture analysis that has been developed and used explicitly for the study of quartz assemblages. The method assumes high predictability of quartz flake fragmentation, but our experiments show that there is significant variation in fragmentation that fracture analysis does not take into account. Our results indicate that this variation is partly explained by indenter hardness, the relative thickness of the detached flake, as well as individual knapper-related factors. These results undermine the applicability of quartz fracture analysis in its current form. In addition, we discuss the effects of flake fragmentation on the technological organisation of prehistoric quartz users and suggest that it has affected reduction strategies as well as blank and tool dimensions. We also suggest that there should be mobility-related differences in archaeological assemblages in terms of the quality of the quartz raw material and that the curation of quartz should be low in relation to better quality raw materials used parallel with it.     

Technological traditions inferred from iron artefacts of the Xiongnu Empire in Mongolia

Iron objects excavated from sites of the Xiongnu Empire (3rd century BC–2nd century AD) in Mongolia have been examined using optical and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the Xiongnu iron tradition may be characterized by the use of low carbon iron and carbon control by carburization. Cast iron was also used in the Xiongnu Empire, but only in very limited applications and with no convincing evidence of its use for the production of low carbon iron. The Xiongnu iron technology seems to have been established on the basis of the bloomery technique, without much influence from the Chinese style of technology, based on cast iron.     

Hunting behavior and Neanderthal adaptability in the Late Pleistocene site of Pech-de-l'Azé I

The late Mousterian of Acheulian tradition (MTA) site of Pech-de-l'Azé 1 shows a very particular stratigraphic sequence characterized by numerous elements not usually found in Mousterian contexts such as avifauna exploitation and the use of hundreds of mineral pigments. Recent zooarchaeological and skeletochronological analyses provide new insights into the evolution of subsistence behaviors and settlement patterns of the Neanderthals that inhabited the shelter. Due to changes in hunting season, Neanderthals adapted their hunting strategies, exploiting various red deer populations which presented very different behavior. The evolution in the seasonal occupation of the shelter may have been the results of major modifications of its (series of roof collapsed) which induced a shrank in inhabitable space., which forced the Mousterians to adjust the way they used the cavity to its characteristics in order to optimize its exploitation. The conclusions underline the excellent adaptability of the Neanderthals to their physical environment.     

The red-stained flint crescent from Gesher: new insights into PPNA hafting technology

A red-stained flint crescent found in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (ca. 9000 BC) site of Gesher, Israel, provides us with a unique opportunity to study the hafting technology of a particular tool type in the Levant. We present here a reconstruction, based on chemical and mineralogical analyses, of the hafting technologies and materials employed in the process. Use will also be made of relevant studies of the archaeological record. Local material was used for the production of an elastic adhesive paste, mud plaster, which was then hardened to hold the crescent securely in the haft. The study contributes insight into the hafting technology that was most probably implemented in the production and maintenance of composite tools during the Early Neolithic period.     

从出土实物和模拟实验看商周青铜器纹饰技术的发展脉络

通过对出土实物的观察和做模拟实验的发现,笔者认为,商周青铜器的纹饰技术伴随其范铸分型技术的进步而不断发展,同时它也引起铭文技术随之变化。商周青铜器纹饰技术具体的发展脉络为:夏代青铜器制模、制范技术不规范,纹饰技术处于摸索阶段。商早期青铜器范铸分型技术已具成熟的工艺设计思想,在素范面压塑纹饰的"纹饰压塑技术"出现;商中期青铜器纹饰技术有了划时代的进步,出现了"纹饰堆塑技术",且与"纹饰压塑技术"兼容并用;商晚期青铜器纹饰技术达到顶峰。西周青铜器范铸分型技术无明显进步,纹饰制作技术显示退化趋势;春秋中期以后,青铜器范铸工艺分型增多,纹饰技术发生改革,发明了单元纹饰范拚兑技术。     

日本的产业技术扶持政策与实施手段 以太阳能产业为例

日本经济的核心是日本企业以持续技术革新为基础的国际竞争力。日本企业之所以能持续进行技术革新是与日本政府的政策引导和支持分不开的。本文指出日本政府在国家总体目标之下,利用自身的信息优势和资源优势,根据时代的变迁,制定不同的产业技术政策,通过政策引导,使企业能够明确技术革新的方向,并通过对市场的增进为新技术提供需求,从而促进新兴产业的发展。     

Neandertals,early modern humans,and rodeo riders

In 1995 Berger and Trinkaus (J. Archaeol. Sci. 22, 841–852) proposed that the anatomical distribution of Neandertal trauma, with a predominance of upper body lesions, reflected close-quarter ambush hunting as dictated by the available Middle Paleolithic weaponry (the “Rodeo rider” hypothesis). The necessity for mobility among these Late Pleistocene foragers, as a factor possibly reducing the number of preserved lower limb injuries, was considered as an alternative explanation. The accumulating data on Upper Paleolithic injuries and Middle Paleolithic weaponry, considerations of differential skeletal susceptibility of minor trauma, and evidence of interhuman violence, plus the importance of mobility for Late Pleistocene human existence, suggest that hunting injuries may explain only part of the pattern. The purpose of this note is not to resolve to ultimate factors behind the anatomical distribution of traumatic lesions among the Neandertals (or early modern humans). It is 1) to emphasize that there are multiple probable contributing factors other than close-quarter ambush hunting due to the limitations of Middle Paleolithic weaponry, and 2) to open the discussion to alternative interpretations.