Kana Tamata or Feasts of Men: An Interdisciplinary Approach for Identifying Cannibalism in Prehistoric Fiji

By integrating osteological, taphonomic, archaeological and stable isotopic data, we test for cannibalism in the Lau Group, Fiji and discuss the potential underlying cause(s) and context(s) of this behaviour. First, we compare taphonomic and element representations of human skeletal material from two contexts in Fiji, examining human bone fragments from archaeological sites, including middens and burials in the Lau Island Group. Fourteen sites produced human remains. Only two of those sites included distinct human burial contexts, but in the remaining 12 sites, the human bone was recovered from middens or contexts where midden was mixed with possible secondary burials. A total of 262 number of identified specimens per species, representing an estimated 15 minimum number of individuals make up the Lau human assemblage. Second, we analysed bones contained in 20 individual human burials from four different sites that are housed at the Fiji Museum for comparative purposes. Third, we examine previously published stable isotopic (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N) analysis of bone collagen to gauge protein consumption of likely cannibalised humans in midden contexts and potential cannibals from primary burials. We model a cannibalistic diet category within the context of isotopically measured Pacific Islands food groups and apply an isotopic mixing model to gauge plausible dietary contributions from six sources including human flesh. Isotopic mixing models of the Lauan samples illustrate a high diversity in reconstructed diets. The percent contribution of human flesh is low for all individual Lauans. We conclude that mortuary rituals evidenced by sharp‐force trauma may suggest non‐nutritive and non‐violent practices that may have included the consumption of small amounts of human flesh. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Prospection of two circular Bronze Age ditches with multi-receiver electrical conductivity sensors (North Belgium)

Two types of electrical conductivity sensors were evaluated to prospect circular ditches surrounding former Bronze Age burial mounds, complementing aerial photography. The first sensor was based on the electrical resistivity (ER) method, while the second sensor was based on frequency-domain electromagnetic induction (FDEM). Both sensors were designed with multiple receivers, which measure several depth sensitivities simultaneously. First, the sensors were tested on an experimental site where a rectangular structure with limited dimensions was dug in a sandy soil. The structure appeared as a higher conductivity anomaly in the low-conductivity sand. Then, both methods were applied on two Bronze Age sites with different soil properties, which were discovered by aerial photography. The first site, in a sandy soil, gave only very weak anomalies. Soil augering revealed that the ditch filling consisted of the same sandy material as the surrounding, therefore this filling was not able to cause a high-conductivity contrast. Due to its lower sensitivity to noise in the low-conductive range, the ER-sensor produced a more pronounced anomaly than the FDEM-sensor. The second site was located on top of a ridge with a shallow substrate of Tertiary, coastal sediments. The ditch was very clearly visible on the sensor maps as a conductive low. At this location, the soil augering revealed that the ditch was dug through an alternating clay-sand layer and subsequently filled up with silty material from the topsoil. Overall, the shallow receiver separation produced anomalies that were both stronger and that corresponded better to the geometry of the ditches. The other receiver separations provided more information on the natural soil layering, and in the case of the ER-array they could be used to obtain a cross-section of the actual electrical conductivity with 2-D inversion modelling. The results of this study proofed that conductivity sensors can detect Bronze Age ditches, with varying contrast depending on the soil geomorphology. Moreover, the sensor maps combined with soil observations by coring provided insight in the environmental conditions that influence the contrast of the anomalies seen on the aerial photographs and the sensor maps.     

An Etruscan ointment from Chiusi (Tuscany,Italy): its chemical characterization

This paper focuses on the chemical characterization of the original contents of an Egyptian origin alabaster unguentarium, found in an Etruscan burial in Chiusi (Tuscany, Italy) and dated 150/125–100 B.C. The unguentarium, found in an intact tomb belonging to a noble woman of Chiusine society, preserved a good part of its original contents owing to a protective layer of clay. The chemical characterization was carried out using a combination of two analytical procedures based, respectively, on Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS).     

Secular variations in seawater chemistry as a control on the chemistry of basinal brines: test of the hypothesis

The hypothesis that basinal brines inherited their major ion chemistries and elevated salinities from evaporated paleoseawaters is tested by comparing the compositions of basinal brines in Silurian (Michigan basin, Illinois basin, Appalachian basin in eastern Ohio) and Jurassic/Cretaceous (Central Mississippi Salt Dome basin, Arkansas shelf, and south‐central Texas) host rocks, when the world oceans were ‘CaCl₂ seas’, with those from Permian and Pennsylvanian rocks (Palo Duro basin, Central Basin Platform, and Delaware basin, Texas and New Mexico) when the world oceans were ‘MgSO₄ seas’. Basinal brines examined are assumed to have originally formed from evaporation of the same seawaters that produced major evaporites. Sulfate, Mg and K levels in basinal brines are below the concentrations expected from evaporation of seawater of any type, which emphasizes the importance of diagenetic mineral–brine interactions in controlling basinal brine chemistry. There are no major differences in SO₄, Mg and K concentrations between basinal brines hosted by rocks originally formed during ages when the world oceans were MgSO₄ seas versus CaCl₂ seas. Basinal brines in Pennsylvanian–Permian rocks are compositionally distinct (relatively high Na and low Ca) from basinal brines in Silurian, Jurassic and Cretaceous host rocks, which may reflect original differences in seawater chemistry. Basinal brines enriched in Ca and depleted in Na relative to evaporated seawater of any type have traditionally been interpreted to form by albitization of plagioclase feldspar. A new explanation for Ca enrichment and Na depletion of basinal brines is the mixing of evaporated CaCl₂‐type seawater with more dilute water. Some basinal brines are similar in major ion composition to evaporated seawater of a particular age, for example basinal brines in the Cretaceous Edwards Group carbonates, Texas, where dolomitization is the only reaction required to convert evaporated Mesozoic CaCl₂ seawater into Edwards Group brine.     

武汉江夏流芳唐墓清理发掘简报

流芳唐墓位于武汉市江夏区流芳镇大邱村。为一“亚”字形墓,是南方地区比较流行的唐代墓葬。出土有盘口壶、碗、双唇罐等青瓷器和鐎斗、洗、盘、勺等青铜器。该墓的发掘为研究两湖地区唐墓提供了重要资料。     

试谈北魏墓志的等级制度

本文分析了现存的北魏墓志材料,考虑到北魏时期存在三种不同尺度的状况,对北魏墓志的大小类别采取了较宽松的标准,从而揭示出北魏墓志中存在的等级制度,并对个别不符合这一制度的墓志材料作了合理的解释。说明在北魏时期,随着正方形墓志成为主要的墓志形制,结合礼制,已经形成了一套对墓志外形尺寸以及雕饰的正式等级规定。隋代以后的墓志制度基本上沿袭了这一规定,或在其基础上加以调整。     

新见楚器铭文中的"竞之定"及相关问题

2006年底,在澳门惊现了一批由中国内地盗出的楚式青铜器,《文物》2008年第1期、《江汉考古》2008年第1期均发表了有关这批青铜器及铭文的考证、考释文章。本文认为这批铜器极为重要,其上铭文和过去已见的"救秦戎"钟上铭文可互为印证,并通过对读认为铭文中的"竞之定"为人名,器物的年代应为战国早期晚段,所见楚王酓(熊)恘可能为战国早期的楚悼王酓(熊)疑。墓葬并非楚王墓,墓主所使用的应是上卿之葬制。     

A double dog burial from San Nicolas Island, California, USA: osteology, context, and significance

Recent archaeological excavations on San Nicolas Island, located off the coast of southern California, revealed the remains of a double dog burial interred sometime during the 13th and 14th centuries. Two carefully laid to rest and possibly sacrificed juvenile, female domestic dogs (Canis familiaris) between the ages of 1 and 6 months were found within a Native American village. Digestive tract residues include burned and unburned fish and marine mammal bone that suggest scavenging behavior or direct feeding by humans. Breed classifications place it between the Short-Nosed Indian dog and the Plains-Indian dog, likely representing a cross between those and other varieties of North American dogs. Comparisons with other dog burials from archaeological sites across southern California suggest commonalities and possible cultural linkages.     

Breaking Traditions: An Isotopic Study on the Changing Funerary Practices in the Dutch Iron Age (800–12 bc)

Urnfields in the Dutch river area were replaced by cemeteries with a mixture of cremation and inhumation graves around the sixth century bc . This study provides the first biogeochemical evidence that the Iron Age communities were heterogeneous in terms of geological origins. The high percentage of non‐locally born individuals (~48%) supports the hypothesis that the change in burial practice was the result of the influx of foreign people, who were being allowed to keep their own burial customs, whereas some of the local inhabitants adapted the burial rites of foreign cultures, leading to a heterogeneous burial rite for some centuries.     

枣阳郭家庙曾国墓地出土石英珠的初步研究

本文分析讨论了枣阳郭家庙曾国墓地出土的石英珠的化学成份和制造工艺,探讨了其制造工艺与楚国玻璃制造工艺之间的关系,认为至迟在西周晚期,随枣走廊一带的工匠们已经掌握了石英珠的制造技术,对后来楚国玻璃制造业的兴起,起到了直接重要的作用。