OPTICAL DATING OF SINGLE AND MULTIPLE GRAINS OF QUARTZ FROM JINMIUM ROCK SHELTER,NORTHERN AUSTRALIA: PART I,EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN AND STATISTICAL MODELS*

Jinmium rock shelter is famous for the claims made by Fullagar et al. (1996) for the early human colonization and ancient rock art of northern Australia. These claims were based on thermo-luminescence ages obtained for the artefact-bearing quartz sediments that form the floor deposit at the site. In this paper, we outline the background to the optical dating programme at Jinmium, and describe the experimental design and statistical methods used to obtain optical ages from single grains of quartz sand. The results, interpretations, and implications of this dating programme are reported in a companion paper (Roberts et al. 7999, this volume).     

GEOGRAPHICAL PATTERNS IN BIOLOGICALLY AVAILABLE STRONTIUM,CARBON AND OXYGEN ISOTOPE SIGNATURES IN PREHISTORIC SW GERMANY*

In order to interpret strontium and oxygen isotope values in Neolithic human skeletons analysed previously, we begin to map the biologically available strontium, carbon and oxygen isotopic signatures of prehistoric southern Germany by analysing tooth enamel of pigs from archaeological sites distributed around the region. The mapping shows a marked upland–lowland difference in biologically available ⁸⁷ Sr/ ⁸⁶ Sr values, ranging between 0.7086 and 0.7103 in the sedimentary lowlands, and from 0.710 to as high as 0.722 in the crystalline uplands of the Odenwald, the Black Forest and the Bavarian Forest. In addition, carbon isotopes in the carbonate fraction of pig enamel were generally about 1–2 more enriched in ¹³ C in the uplands. Despite the expected depletion of ¹⁸ O with altitude, oxygen isotopes in pig enamel showed little correlation with site altitude, although for pig samples not older than the Iron Age there was some geographical correlation withδ¹⁸O patterns in modern precipitation.     

PREHISTORIC CULTURE,CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURE AT YUCHISI,ANHUI PROVINCE,CHINA

A palaeoculture sediment profile from the Yuchisi site, Mengcheng County of Anhui Province, China, was sampled to study the concentrations of elements, total carbon content, grain size and pollen percentages, to reveal information on food supply based on statistical analysis of elements between 5050 cal. yr bp and 4000 cal. yr bp . The variations in the reconstructed food supply and pollen percentages are in good agreement with the results of other archaeological methods. The results from pollen and element analyses indicate that the Longshan Culture at the Yuchisi site was not developed from the local Dawenkou Culture, and the cultural transition corresponds with an extremely dry event, which may have caused the change.     

Human remains in marine archaeology

Abstract

This paper deals with human remains in marine contexts, both from the intertidal zone and from below low water mark. Some of the legal and ethical aspects pertaining to human remains are discussed, with an emphasis on the English experience. Survival of human remains in marine environments is considered, and recovery procedures in fieldwork projects are discussed. Finally, drawing upon work from Britain and from other parts of Europe, particularly on remains from wreck sites, attempts are made to discern some of the more important directions for research on human remains from marine archaeological contexts.     

PROCESSING CLAY FOR POTTERY IN NORTHERN CAMEROON: SOCIAL AND TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS*

For several decades, interpreting technical variations in the physical characteristics of pottery has followed two major trends: the ‘cultural’approach and the ‘behavioural or ‘techno‐functionalist’approach. Using data collected during extensive ethnographic fieldwork, I will consider the relative importance of social and technical requirements in the field of clay processing techniques in the Faro area (northern Cameroon) 1 will show that environmental and techno‐functional constraints cannot explain technical variations, while cultural factors appear determinant. However, faking the discussion one step further, I will show the complexity of the social/cultural mechanism involved in the regional distribution of these techniques.     

A NEW DIRECT RADIOCARBON AMS DATE FOR AN UPPER PALAEOLITHIC HUMAN BONE FROM SIBERIA

A new AMS radiocarbon date has been obtained from a Siberian human bone sample taken directly from a cranial fragment. The specimen comes from the north‐east Siberian site of Pokrovka 2 (55⁰19′46.30″N, 92⁰26′48.80″E). The remains consist of the anterior portion of the cranium or the superior part of the face; that is, the forehead and the roof of the eye sockets. Sadly, indifferent features of the frontal bone do not allow a confident diagnosis of the sex of the individual. The evidence suggests, however, that the remains are probably those of a young adult (teenager) and an anatomically modern human, rather than a Neanderthal. Radiocarbon dating was undertaken at the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit (ORAU). The radiocarbon age determination of the bone fragment, 27 740 ± 150 bp (OxA‐19850), is one of the earliest direct dates for a modern human from Siberia. The Pokrovka cranial fragment dates to the middle Upper Palaeolithic of Eurasia and is broadly contemporary with the human remains from the famous eastern European site of Sunghir. When the radiocarbon age is compared with the Cariaco Basin ¹⁴C data set and the Greenland oxygen isotope record of NGRIP, it corresponds with Greenland Interstadial 5, a warmer phase of the Last Glacial period, although this is a preliminary conclusion, and is based on climate records that may or may not be wholly synchronous between the two locations.     

Stone Tool-Making and Brain Activation: Position Emission Tomography (PET) Studies

This study introduces to archaeology a new experimental technique for examining the relationship between stone tool-making and brain function. The principal focus of this exploratory study was the development of effective methods for the identification and examination of the regions of the modern human brain recruited during the manufacture of simple (Oldowan or Mode I) stone tools. The functional brain imaging technique employed, Positron Emission Tomography (PET), examines task-related brain activity by assessing changes in regional cerebral blood flow during specific tasks. The single-subject study reported here represents a heuristic, initial exploration of this subject. Results indicate that during stone tool-making there was heavy activation of cortical and subcortical regions of the brain associated with motor and somatosensory processing. Especially interesting was the high degree of activation in areas known to be involved with complex spatial cognition requiring integration of diverse sensory inputs (e.g. vision, touch, and proprioception, or sense of body position and motion). Expansion of such higher-order association areas has been particularly important during the course of human evolution. This single-subject pilot study demonstrates the application of the PET brain imaging technique to the study of early stone technologies and suggests hypotheses to be tested in more comprehensive studies in the future.     

Analysis of Dental Cementum Rings as an Approach to Azilian Hunting Strategies

Abstract

Perfected by biologists, the analysis of dental cementum rings allows us to know the precise age of the animals studied as well as their season of death. Cementum deposits are layers of various density formed regularly during the animal's life. Large, translucid deposits (observed with polarized light), growing during the good season (spring, summer, autumn), alternate with thin, opaque ones that grow during the bad season (winter). Used to study two French Azilian sites, La Fru and Campalou, this method gives us a better understanding the hunting behaviour of these two human groups. Thus, the Azilian hunters who established their camp in the La Fru and Campalou rockshelters hunted around the site, killing ibex. However, these two groups of predators preferred red deer. Taking advantage of the hunting opportunities offered by the environment, hunters at both sites made opportune captures to the detriment of summer herds of hinds and young. Also, at Campalou, they continued their predation during the rut, concentrating on young animals, probably young males temporarily alone because of the mating season.     

Tephrochronology,Environmental Change and the Norse Settlement of Iceland

Abstract

The first human impacts on the Icelandic environment came with the Norse colonisation or Landnám of the ninth century AD. The colonisation represents a fundamental environmental change that is both rapid and profound. In this paper we assess geomorphological dimensions of the initial settlement period using a tephrochronology that includes the Landnám Tephra, erupted ca. 870 AD, two tenth century AD tephras KR 920 and E 935, and 11 other well dated tephra layers. We report a new ¹⁴C age of 1676 ±12 ¹⁴C yr BP (cal AD 345 (400) 419) for the tephra SILK-YN which forms a key prehistoric marker horizon that constrains rates of environmental change in the centuries before Norse Settlement. Aeolian sediment accumulation rates show five geomorphological responses to settlement that differ in the rate and trajectory of change. These distinct anthropogenic signals are the result of spatially variable sensitivity to grazing and deforestation, and reflect the extent of local soil erosion. This critical erosion threshold is variable in space and time.