Southwest Scottish Crannogs: using in situ studies to assess preservation in wetland archaeological contexts

This paper presents the results of in situ monitoring of waterlogged burial contexts in southwest Scotland. The sites investigated are Iron Age crannogs (lake dwellings) which have a proven waterlogged archaeological component, and which are being assessed as part of a national program of study by the Scottish Wetland Archaeology Programme (SWAP) team. A monthly monitoring program commenced in July of 2004. To date, monitoring of water levels, pH, and redox potential, has been undertaken for a period of 17 months in order to encompass any seasonal variability at the sites studied. The results have proven robust in that an ‘ideal’ site for in situ preservation has been identified from the five sites investigated, and the monitoring has highlighted external variables and seasonal impacts that have the potential to influence the long-term in situ preservation at the remaining sites studied. In general, these results have expanded upon our knowledge of the potential for the preservation of existing archaeological remains within such contexts. This study represents the first stage of monitoring aimed at developing a holistic understanding of in situ conditions at the crannog sites studied in southwest Scotland.     

河南汝州市煤山龙山文化墓葬的发现与认识

煤山遗址位于汝州市北部、北刘庄村西的一处土岗上,东临洗耳河,南面为汝河,面积约20万平方米,20世纪70年代以来已经过四次考古发掘。煤山遗址龙山文化墓葬是洛阳博物馆于1970年首次对该遗址进行考古调查时发现的[1]。由于墓葬已遭破坏,形制不清,墓内出土的随葬品均为小型明器,资料发     

Mollusk shells from burials of tuzovskiye bugry-1 As indicators of ethno-cultural processes In southern siberia and western central asia In the 3rd millennium bc

This article focuses on adornments made of mollusk shells from graves of the Tuzovskiye Bugry-1 burial ground in the Altai Territory. The collection includes bivalve shells: Corbicula ferghanensis Kurs. et Star. currently inhabiting the Amu Darya and Syr Darya basins; Corbicula tibetensis Prash. inhabiting the mountain regions of Central Asia, Eastern Kazakhstan, and the Amu Darya and Syr Darya basins; fossil Corbicula similar to Corbicula fl uminalis Mull; swan mussel of the genus Colletopterum inhabiting the Ob basin; and one specimen of Cardiidae sp. of the marine, probably, paleospecies. The most interesting are ancient marine tooth shells related to the genus Dentalium (class Scaphopoda, family Dentaliidae). In the Altai Territory, there are no such deposits that could have contained such shells. These shells were possibly brought by people from other regions. The closest occurrences of Dentaliidae are known in the Aral Sea region. The presence of beads of a truncated cone shape made of Dentalium shells as well as pendants made of Corbicula valves suggest connections between the Altai population and people inhabiting Western Central Asia. These connections might have existed in the form of direct contacts with bearers of the Ust-Narym and Botai cultures or else might have been the result of migration of people from Western Central Asia and Eastern Kazakhstan to the Altai.     

The social role of food in the Natufian cemetery of Raqefet Cave,Mount Carmel,Israel

The archaeology of mortuary practices and related foodways in the Late Natufian (LN; ca. 14,000/13,500–11,700 BP) sheds light on the communal activities of the last hunter–gatherers in the Mediterranean Levant. We present a detailed analysis of the fauna from the LN cemetery of Raqefet Cave (Mount Carmel, Israel). Taphonomic evidence indicates that the animal bones are butchery and consumption leftovers. While the patterns of animal exploitation are reminiscent of Natufian habitation sites, the remains do not reflect the typical recurring post-discard damage resulting from continuous or repeating habitations in those sites. Hence the fauna is interpreted as the leftovers of punctuated, short-term events, rather than ‘ordinary’ Natufian household trash. Taking into account the special depositional context and site characteristics, we interpret the fauna as the intentionally-gathered and buried remains of simple funerary feasts. Elaborate mortuary behavior and symbolic role of food refuse were recently suggested at the contemporaneous cave of Hilazon Tachtit (Israel). The new data from Raqefet Cave probably reflect a somewhat different type of communal meals, adding to the diversity and complexity of pre-agricultural life-ways in the Levant.     

Pollen on the Shroud of Turin: The Probable Trace Left by Anointing and Embalming

This study proposes an alternative interpretation of the pollen grains found on the Christian relic of the Shroud of Turin, the majority of which belong to entomogamous plants. The examination of the images in the literature and the observation of modern pollen under light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy reveal that the most abundant pollen on the relic may be attributed to the genus Helichrysum (Asteraceae family) instead of Gundelia tournefortii. The other most important pollen found belongs to the Cistaceae‐Cistus spp.—the Apiaceae—probably Ferula spp.—and the Anacardianceae—the genus Pistacia. These pollen grains could have come from plants used to obtain expensive and valuable substances that would have been the basis for the oils of Helichrysum, ladanum and galbanum, as well as for mastic and terebinth products; this fact has not been considered by previous authors. Ancient historical records give us references that could link the pollen traces to a mixture of balms and ointments employed for preparing the body for funeral and burial. For this reason, the palynological study reveals coherency with these historical records about the rituals, as reported on by the important scientists Pliny the Elder and Dioscorides, dating back to the first century ad .     

青铜瓶考识——以包山楚墓出土的“直颈平肩器”为中心

瓶是常见于先秦至汉代文献中的一种器物,出土青铜器中也有若干自名或者被学者定名为"瓶"的文物,但是这些器物要么名不符实,要么形制特殊,并未呈现出有规律的形制特征。1986年湖北荆门包山2号楚墓出土的青铜直颈平肩器,为解决"瓶"的定名问题提供了重要的线索。从器物的形态、功用以及在墓葬中的组合等方面综合分析,可以证明该类器物应该就是文献中所说的"瓶"。这种青铜瓶目前所见有16件左右,主要流行于战国时期。西汉早期以后,青铜质地的瓶走向了消亡,汉代的瓶多以陶质为主,为生活实用器,往往与井、灶等配套出土。另外青铜瓶在青铜礼器中的地位很高,其在形制上与战国秦汉时期流行的蒜头壶、青铜锺、投壶、等也有着明显的区别。     

Food and social complexity at Çayönü Tepesi,southeastern Anatolia: Stable isotope evidence of differentiation in diet according to burial practice and sex in the early Neolithic

The identification of early social complexity and differentiation in early village societies has been approached in the past most notably through the evaluation of rituals and architectural layouts. Such studies could be complemented by an approach that provides data about everyday behaviours of individuals. We took 540 human and animal bone samples for stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis from the Neolithic site of Çayönü Tepesi in southeastern Anatolia. The inhabitants at this site chose to bury their dead in two different ways at different times during its occupation: beneath the floors of their houses, but also inside a public mortuary building known as the Skull Building. This variation provides an opportunity using isotope methods to test whether there was evidence for structuring of daily activities (diet in this case) that might serve to reinforce this change in burial practice. We show that when the inhabitants of Çayönü Tepesi changed their architecture and operated different burial practices in conjunction, this coincided with other aspects of behaviour including socially-constituted food consumption practices, which served to reinforce social identities.     

On yellow and red pigmented bones found in Mayan burials of Jaina

In the island of Jaina, Campeche, red and yellow pigmented bones have been found. The study of the yellow and red colors in these burials is important for their possible interpretation, either religious, intentional coloring, or to understand taphonomic processes such as reactions of the original pigments with other compounds. Yellow color on bones is unusual in prehispanic burials.     

Adipocere withstands 1600 years of fluctuating groundwater levels in soil

An extraordinarily well-preserved skeleton of a child, interred in a stone sarcophagus in the Late-Roman era, was discovered in the city of Mainz (Germany) in 1998, covered with a puff pastry-like substance assumed to be adipocere. It is the first time that this substance, which is derived from fat under oxygen-deficient conditions and prevents corpses from decaying, has been discovered on corpses buried under conditions described in the present paper.     

湖北巴东义种地墓葬发掘报告

2001年秋冬,武汉市文物考古研究所对巴东义种地墓地进行了发掘,发现了几座砖、石室墓.墓葬被破坏严重,年代从六朝、隋唐到宋代.从发掘中可见,宋代墓葬明显是利用了早期的墓室.墓葬出土文物丰富,是近年来三峡考古中少见的.