The ritual dugong bone mounds of Koey Ngurtai,Torres Strait,Australia: Investigating their construction

The islands of Western Torres Strait, between Papua New Guinea and Australia, saw the emergence of ritual dugong bone mounds approximately 400 years ago. These mounds were used as a means to commune with, and as an aid for the hunting of, dugongs. This paper explores the bone contents of three dugong bone mounds on the small, uninhabited island of Koey Ngurtai as a means to determine their construction and in doing so to explore the historical emergence of ritual bone mounds associated with dugong hunting magic—and thereby to historicise ethnographically known cultural practices—in Torres Strait. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) investigation in human and animal fossil bones from Holocene to Middle Triassic

We examined by Rietveld refinement of X-ray Diffraction patterns a series of 61 human and animal fossil bones in an age range from present time to Middle Triassic (around 245 Ma). This approach, supplemented by elemental analysis according to X-ray Fluorescence, has permitted to obtain a quantitative evaluation of the mineralogical phases in the specimens, thus allowing to reconstruct the mineralization process involved. Concerning the apatite phase, after adopting a monoclinic geometry for the unit cell, the method permits to determine with fair degree of precision the unit cell volume, which is found to decrease in relatively short geological times as a function of the fluorine substitution process for the hydroxyl group –OH. After excluding the role of a high-temperature fire treatment to the bones, it is found that a certain linear correlation may exist over the geological time scale involved between the age of the specimen and the average crystallite size. This observation permits to use the XRD pattern as an evaluation of the age of the fossil, although the stratigraphic observations, where available, remain as the main reliable source for dating such biomaterials. The uncertainty related to this age estimation may be hardly better than 15–20% in absolute, because of various assumptions involved in the XRD methodology used and in the variability of the burial environment that may be subjected to discontinuous changes over the very long time of deposition.     

释甲骨文中的“秉棘”

甲骨文中有秉棘一语,以往对棘字不识或误读,影响了对卜辞的理解。本文通过对棘字的考释,指出秉棘乃手持酸枣树的枝条之意。秉棘的目的是为了驱鬼。以棘驱鬼作为巫术之一种,有着久远的来源和很强的延续性。通过对卜辞秉棘一语的考释,可以窥见殷代巫术文化之一斑。     

Fragmentation and preservation of bird bones in uneaten food remains of the Gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus

This paper presents fragmentation patterns of bird bones in uneaten food remains of the gyrfalcon Falco rusticolus. The victims' bones show a relatively low degree of fragmentation. Elements of the pectoral girdle and wing predominate while head and leg elements are poorly represented.     

殷墟H3卜辞主人“子”为太子再论证

殷墟花东H3卜辞主人“子”身份的确定是H3卜辞研究的难点,目前有9家之言,其中,“子”为沃甲之后或武丁太子——孝己的观点影响最大。本文从马克思关于人的社会属性的观点出发,以“子”活动事项为依据,结合先秦文献中有关太子职责的记载,对“子”的身份为太子做进一步论证。     

历组一类卜辞研究

本文对历组一类卜辞的特点,历组卜辞中的祭祀、诸妇、军事活动等内容作了论述。     

《小屯南地甲骨》缀合拾遗

本文试缀了三例《屯南》甲骨,并作了释文。     

甲骨文献整理（两种）

本对甲骨献的整理分两种,前一种对甲骨试作缀合,共将7片甲骨缀为3组。后一种对部分甲骨卜辞重作分类,根据新近出土的花园庄东地H3类型甲骨,指出《甲骨合集》已录的某些甲骨卜辞属于与此同类型的子卜辞。     

Stable Isotope and Radiocarbon Dating of the Remains of the Medieval Royal House of Aragon (Spain) Shed Light on Their Diets,Life Histories and Identities

The remains of 20 individuals buried in three different pantheons, putatively pertaining to the medieval Royal House of Aragon, were analysed for their isotope (¹⁴C, ¹³C and ¹⁵N) measurements. The radiocarbon dates and stable isotope data contributed to identifying individual members and, combined with additional osteological and taphonomic information, as well as documentary evidence, provided a fuller picture of the diets and life histories of particular people. This group comprised the first members of a royal dynasty that ruled the Kingdom of Aragon before the Spanish Crown was established, and that played a significant role in the reconquest of the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim control, this being of paramount importance in the Spanish and European history.     

Cooked Bones? Method and Practice for Identifying Bones Treated at Low Temperature

Is it possible to determine low‐temperature cooking in archaeological bones? The indirect exposure of bones to fire at low temperature (≤ 100 °C), linked to cooking, produces macroscopic modifications on these bones. These modifications have not been clearly or systematically described previously. Instead, physicochemical changes at nanometric level are only now beginning to be understood. In this paper, our principle aim is to explore new methods and techniques that correlate macroscopic features such as smoothness or light transparency with physicochemical characterization results that could aid towards detecting cooked bones in the archaeological record. This study then selected 11 archaeological samples, both human and non‐human. Bones were considered to be thermally treated or not, on the basis of macroscopic criteria. Complementary characterization techniques were used to study morphology (scanning electron microscopy and small angle X‐ray scattering), structure (X‐ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy), local composition (energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy) and texture (gas adsorption). Indeed, fractal dimension, particle size, crystalline percentage or specific surface area may well explain some of the macroscopically observed modifications on these samples. The possibility that such apparent modifications may also be due to diagenesis is also considered. From an archaeological point of view, the results are promising. Our characterization of human and non‐human bones demonstrates that physicochemical techniques are complementary and provide good criteria against which to distinguish boiled from un‐boiled archaeological samples. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.