The origins of two purportedly pre-Columbian Mexican crystal skulls

The well-known life-size rock crystal skull in the British Museum was purchased in 1897 as an example of genuine pre-Columbian workmanship, but its authenticity has been the subject of increasing speculation since the 1930s. This paper is concerned with the history, technology and material of the skull and another larger white quartz skull, donated recently to the Smithsonian Institution. Manufacturing techniques were investigated, using scanning electron microscopy to examine tool marks on the artefacts, and compared with Mesoamerican material from secure contexts. A Mixtec rock crystal goblet and a group of Aztec/Mixtec rock crystal beads show no evidence of lapidary wheels. They were probably worked with stone and wood tools charged with abrasives, some of which may have been as hard as corundum. Textual evidence for Mexican lapidary techniques during the early colonial period, supported by limited archaeological evidence, also indicates a technology without the wheel, probably based on natural tool materials. In contrast, the two skulls under consideration were carved with rotary wheels. The British Museum skull was worked with hard abrasives such as corundum or diamond, whereas X-ray diffraction revealed traces of carborundum (SiC), a hard modern synthetic abrasive, on the Smithsonian skull. Investigation of fluid and solid inclusions in the quartz of the British Museum skull, using microscopy and Raman spectroscopy, shows that the material formed in a mesothermal metamorphic environment equivalent to greenschist facies. This suggests that the quartz was obtained from Brazil or Madagascar, areas far outside pre-Columbian trade networks. Recent archival research revealed that the British Museum skull was rejected as a modern artefact by the Museo Nacional de Mexico in 1885, when offered for sale by the collector and dealer, Eugène Boban. These findings led to the conclusion that the British Museum skull was worked in Europe during the nineteenth century. The Smithsonian Institution skull was probably manufactured shortly before it was bought in Mexico City in 1960; large blocks of white quartz would have been available from deposits in Mexico and the USA.     

Migration in the Nile Valley during the New Kingdom period: a preliminary strontium isotope study

The value of strontium isotope analysis in identifying immigrants at numerous archaeological sites and regional areas has been demonstrated by several researchers, usually by comparing ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values of human tooth enamel and/or bone with the local strontium isotope signature determined by faunal and environmental samples. This paper examines the feasibility of using ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios to investigate residential mobility in the Nile Valley region, specifically at the New Kingdom period (∼1050–1400 BC) archaeological site of Tombos (ancient Nubia). Archaeological and textual information regarding this period indicates that immigrant Egyptians and local native Nubians were likely interacting at this site during a period of Egyptian colonial occupation. The results of this study suggest that non-local individuals may be distinguished from locals using ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values and that colonial agents in the Tombos population were probably both local native Nubians and immigrants.     

青海农产品地理标志保护探究

开展农产品地理标志登记与保护工作,是新形势下发展特色农业、品牌农业的新举措,其意义重要而显著。青海省农产品地理标志保护工作尚处在起步阶段,广泛宣传普及农产品地理标志保护的相关知识,开展现有优势资源的调查工作,对有望申请获得地理标志保护的农产品给予扶持,积极发挥农业行业协会组织在农产品地理标志保护工作中的主力军作用,才能促进此项工作的顺利、快速发展。     

Aging mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella): refining methods of tooth eruption and wear and bone fusion

This paper refines current methods for aging mountain gazelle (Gazella gazella), one of the most common species hunted by prehistoric humans in the southern Levant. Most importantly, we present a new tooth wear scheme for aging the lower deciduous fourth premolar (dP₄), the lower permanent molars (M₁, M₂, M₃) and the lower fourth premolar (P₄) of the gazelle. Broader wear stages for complete mandibles and individual teeth and bone fusion stages are also provided. Finally, a comparison of the tooth wear and bone fusion data indicates that the two methods can be linked at the important transition when a gazelle reaches adulthood (ca. 18 months of age). The completion of the fusion of the gazelle skeleton corresponds directly to the replacement of the dP₄ by the P₄ and the beginning of wear of the M₃. The coincidence of these aging indicators allows for direct comparison of gazelle bone fusion and tooth wear data.     

Variation in tooth mark frequencies on long bones from the assemblages of all three extant bone-collecting hyaenids

Tooth mark frequencies on long bones are examined from the assemblages of all three extant bone-collecting hyaenids. Comparisons are made with a recent study examining tooth mark frequencies and possible sources of variation from a single spotted hyaena (Crocuta crocuta) assemblage (Faith, J.T., 2007. Sources of variation in carnivore tooth-mark frequencies in a modern spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) den assemblage, Amboseli Park, Kenya. Journal of Archaeological Science 34 (10), 1601–1609). The factors that may influence tooth mark frequencies are fragment size, fragments from different sized animals, region of skeletal element and bone density. All four factors are examined in the present study and compared across species and with previous results. The results indicate that there is a great deal of variation in tooth mark frequencies not only between the species but also from the same species.     

A calf for all seasons? The potential of stable isotope analysis to investigate prehistoric husbandry practices

The Early Bronze Age barrows at Irthlingborough and Gayhurst in central England are notable for the large number of cattle (Bos taurus) remains associated with their human Beaker burials. Previous work using strontium isotope analysis has indicated that most of the cattle analysed, and one aurochs (Bos primigenius), were of local origin [Towers, J., Montgomery, J., Evans, J., Jay, M., Parker Pearson, M., 2010. An investigation of the origins of cattle and aurochs deposited in the Early Bronze Age barrows at Gayhurst and Irthlingborough. Journal of Archaeological Science 37, 508–515.]. In this study, stable isotope analysis of enamel and bone was carried out to investigate whether the mature cattle had experienced similar husbandry practices, climate and environment. Bulk carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotope analysis of collagen suggested most were consuming similar sources of plant protein from environments probably local to the sites and this was supported by high resolution intra-enamel carbon isotope profiles. Oxygen isotope profiles indicated the aurochs and most of the cattle experienced similar climatic regimes: the only exception being an animal with a non-local strontium isotope ratio. However, a comparison of seasonality profiles of the local animals using estimated tooth formation times showed that there was no consistency in season of birth: the animals appeared to have been born throughout the year. Cattle can breed throughout the year but it requires considerable human effort and intervention to successfully overwinter young stock; it is therefore unlikely to have been carried out without good reason and benefit if winters were harsh. One reason is to ensure a continuous supply of milk. Measuring oxygen isotope profiles to identify year-round calving may thus be a potential indicator of dairying economies.     

Seasonality and season of birth of modern and late Neolithic sheep from south-eastern France using tooth enamel δO analysis

Stable oxygen isotopic analysis of tooth enamel was used to investigate seasonality and season of birth in sheep. Analyses were performed on the teeth of eight modern sheep bred at the Carmejane farm in south-eastern France and born in different periods of the year. This reference data set confirms that oxygen isotopic records in the second and third molars can be used to differentiate between sheep born in late winter and those born in early autumn. The results show that inter-individual variability in the timing of tooth formation is low for the second lower molar and more pronounced for the third lower molar in this population. The duration of the process of enamel mineralization has been estimated at approximately six months. The teeth of four sheep and two goats from the late Neolithic site of Collet-Redon in south-eastern France were analyzed using the same methodology. At this site, lambing occurred between the late winter and early spring. A slight difference appears in the seasonal sequence recorded in sheep and goat, although it cannot be determined, whether this is due to different timing of tooth development, or an actual shift in the birth period. From the distribution of slaughter ages and birth period, it is suggested that domestic caprines were killed throughout the year and that Collet-Redon was probably a permanent settlement.     

Calving seasonality at Pool,Orkney during the first millennium AD: an investigation using intra-tooth isotope ratio analysis of cattle molar enamel

The identification of dairying is essential if we are to understand economies of the past, particularly in northwest Europe, where a high degree of lactose tolerance suggests that fresh milk has long been a significant food product. This paper explores a possible link between economic focus and seasonality of calving. Although cattle (Bos taurus) can breed throughout the year, animals living in temperate regions with minimal or no human management tend to breed seasonally, their breeding behaviour being strongly influenced by the availability of food. In order to achieve a year-round supply of fresh milk in the past, it is likely that multiple-season calving was necessary, which would have required additional husbandry effort. Alternatively, for meat-focussed economies or those based on storable dairy products, a strategy of single-season calving in spring may have been favoured to maximise the utilisation of spring and summer vegetation. Cattle birth seasonality is investigated through isotope ratio analysis (δ¹⁸O, δ¹³C) of tooth enamel. Results for cattle from Pool, Orkney dating to the latter part of the first millennium AD suggest that calving occurred during at least three seasons implying that the continuous provision of fresh milk was of economic importance.     

Dietary ecology of extant guanaco (Lama guanicoe) from Southern Patagonia: seasonal leaf browsing and its archaeological implications

The analysis of dietary traits of ungulates through tooth microwear and mesowear has been applied to archaeological sites to investigate seasonal changes in settlements by hunter–gatherers. In this paper we propose to test the hypothesis that tooth microwear (combined to mesowear) is able to indicate seasonality in the diet of extant ungulates in arid habitats (semi-deserts or steppe). The material analyzed comes from six faunal monospecific assemblages of guanaco (Lama guanicoe) resulting from a mass mortality event in winter 2000 near the Cardiel Lake in Southern Patagonia (Province of Santa Cruz, Argentina). Mesowear results indicate that the guanacos from the Cardiel Lake area are mixed feeders, and thus, have a diet that shifts seasonally. Moreover, microwear analysis supports the hypothesis that tooth microwear is able to indicate seasonality in the diet of extant guanaco in arid habitats. The pattern is clear for the winter sample and needs to be confirmed for a summer sample. Consequently, tooth microwear is proposed as a new potential proxy for detecting seasonal occupation in archaeological sites in Patagonia and other arid environments.     

Refining the Quadratic Crown Height Method of age estimation: do elk teeth wear quadratically with age?

Teeth are the basis for the best methods for estimating the age-at-death of archaeological and paleontological faunal remains, because they change by eruption and wear throughout an individual's life and because they preserve well. However, age-at-death can be difficult to estimate when teeth are isolated or when no known-age reference sample is available. For these reasons, researchers developed the Quadratic Crown Height Method (QCHM), a set of quadratic formulae that can be used to predict age-at-death from tooth crown height, when unworn crown height and the ages when the tooth erupts and when its crown height should reach zero can be estimated. Previous tests of the QCHM suggest that modified equations could improve the method. Here, we use crown height measurements on a sample of 226 known-age Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus) to perform such modifications. We adjust the age at which each tooth type's crown height reaches zero from the species' potential ecological longevity or average maximum life span to an age that we empirically estimate for each tooth type. We also empirically assess whether for different elk teeth the exponent in the QCHM formula is actually equal to 2; it is for M1, but for P4 it is about 1, indicating a roughly linear relationship. The exponents for M2 and M3 are intermediate, being closer to 1.5. Because different teeth wear at different rates and wear completely away at different ages, we recommend that researchers use the modified equations provided here to estimate age-at-death for samples of Cervus elaphus.