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.     

Draught cattle and the South Scandinavian economies of the 4th millennium BC

Abstract

This paper presents an osteomorphological survey of evidence for draught utilisation of cattle in the South Scandinavian TRB culture. The investigations focus on morphological changes in the lower limb bones of domestic cattle from a large number of archaeological sites and from several individual cattle skeletons found in bogs. The osteological results are discussed in the context of other lines of evidence, both archaeological and environmental, and one of the main themes of this discussion is the relationship between the adoption of animal traction and developments in land use. Furthermore, developments in the economic complex of the South Scandinavian TRB culture are compared with certain trends further south in Europe.     

Economics and environmental change during the Late Mesolithic and Neolithic periods — investigations in the valley of the Gieselau near Albersdorf,Schleswig-Holstein,Germany

Abstract

Interactions between people and the environment have resulted in constant changes in relief and soil conditions since the Neolithic. Soil transport and degradation had considerable effects on human land use. Extensive field investigations (excavations, auger sampling), measurements (e.g. texture, pH-value, C_org, N), datings (¹⁴C, pottery), together with extensive literature searches in different scientific disciplines (archaeology, palaeoecology, palaeoclimatology etc.), made it possible to reconstruct the Holocene landscape development in four study areas along the valley of the Gieselau near Albersdorf (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany). Stratigraphies were established in the study areas. This paper describes landscape developments around Albersdorf and in northern Central Europe during the Late Mesolithic and Neolithic. The compiled data for the landscape and land-use history serve as a basis for the design of the extensive Archaeological-Ecological Centre Albersdorf (AÖZA) — occupying a site of approximately 40 hectares — using reconstructed features from the Neolithic landscapes.     

The expansion of Araucaria forest in the southern Brazilian highlands during the last 4000 years and its implications for the development of the Taquara/Itararé Tradition

Abstract

An examination of the late Holocene environmental and cultural sequences of the southern Brazilian highlands indicates that the colonisation of this region by the Taquara/Itararé people is associated with the expansion of Araucaria forest resulting from the onset of wetter climatic conditions in the region, which started between around 1410 and 900 cal. yr BP. The more intense and permanent human occupation of this region is associated with the advance of Araucaria forest, which provided Taquara/Itararé groups with a newly abundant and reliable resource: Araucaria seeds. In addition, we review the evidence for landscape transformation associated with the beginning of food-production in the region. Charcoal records show that local populations may have practiced slash-and-burn agriculture at lower elevations since the beginning of the late Holocene around 4320 cal. yr BP, and continued this practice during the second part of the late Holocene.     

Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction at an oxbow lake situated at the lower Nottawasaga River,southern Ontario,Canada

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation at the lower Nottawasaga River in southern Ontario, Canada, was to reconstruct the impact of base level on fluvial stability and human occupation during the Holocene in a topographically confined section, where the river cuts through the Edenvale Moraine. Three cores were extracted from an oxbow lake (Doran Lake) and a ground-penetrating radar survey was executed in its vicinity to study wider subsurface alluvial architecture. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the Nottawasaga River became entrenched in the Edenvale Moraine early in the Holocene, with base-level lowering in the Lake Huron basin, and that Doran Lake formed towards the middle Holocene as a meander cutoff when water levels in the Lake Huron basin increased, leading to a period of fluvial instability, enhanced flow and floodplain aggradation. Fluctuating lake levels would have affected human settlement as well as the preservation and visibility of archaeological remains predominantly through vertical accretion.     

CHEMICAL AND MINERALOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF SASANIAN AND EARLY ISLAMIC GLAZED CERAMICS FROM THE DEH LURAN PLAIN,SOUTHWESTERN IRAN*

One hundred and seventy‐five glazed ceramics from Sasanian and Early Islamic period sites located on the Deh Luran Plain in southwestern Iran were examined by instrumental neutron activation analysis for characterizing differences in ceramic pastes and by laser‐ablation inductively coupled plasma mass‐spectrometry for identifying the constituents of the ceramic glazes. The results of the analysis reveal that alkaline‐based glazed ceramics have paste compositions that are distinct from contemporary and later ceramics decorated with alkaline–low‐lead and lead‐based glazes.     

The Use of Optical Coherence Tomography for Monitoring the Subsurface Morphologies of Archaic Jades

We demonstrate the use of the Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) technique for non‐invasive scanning of the subsurface morphologies of jade objects. The two‐dimensional tomography images show the refractive index or dielectric constant variations in the samples, reflecting their structures. Three samples of archaic jade objects from the Qijia and Liangzhu cultures in China are scanned in order to understand the subsurface morphologies of the naturally whitened jades. Also, two jade objects with artificial treatments (burning) are scanned and compared with the original materials in subsurface structures. In the original objects, the jade materials can generally be quite transparent, such that the backscattering intensity is weak, although the large‐scale (tens of microns or larger) subsurface morphology can be clearly observed. After burning, small‐scale (smaller than a few microns) structures are formed and the backscattering intensity is enhanced. In this situation, the large‐scale structures may be preserved or even newly generated. On the other hand, in an archaic object with natural whitening, small‐scale structures are also formed. Hence, the deeper distributions of significant backscattering intensity are observed, when compared with the unwhitened objects. Nevertheless, the large‐scale features diminish during the whitening process. With OCT scanning, such differences in subsurface morphology can provide us a valuable reference for authenticating archaic jade objects.     

Sasanian period drop-tower gristmills on the Deh Luran Plain,southwestern Iran

Abstract

The nature of the Deh Luran gristmill system is described, and archaeological and ethnohistorical observations provide insights into ancient rural technology, economics, and socio-politics. Optically Scanned Luminescence, ceramics, and other archaeological associations, date the Deh Luran gristmills to the Sasanian period (A.D. 225–700). A Middle East/Mediterranean origin as early as 250 B.C. is suggested for the drop-tower side-shot water wheel technology used.

The Deh Luran gristmill technology was well adapted to the topography and limited, variable water supply. Currently farmed lands, and their productivity, are found to be far less than projected grain surpluses for an expanding Sasanian Empire in Deh Luran. Population estimates based on gristmill productivity contradict those from archaeological data. Data suggest that Deh Luran, and similar rural areas, were relatively autonomous.     

CHARACTERIZATION OF RED‐COLOURED SLIPS (ALMAGRA) ON ISLAMIC CERAMICS IN MUSLIM SPAIN*

Small objects found in Islamic (eleventh‐century) kilns excavated in Zaragoza (Spain) were studied to determine the nature of the red coating of almagra pottery. Ceramics with almagra decoration were completely coated with a glossy deep‐red layer, a slip, applied to the body before firing. Chemical and mineralogical studies were carried out, together with analysis of a surface treatment with organic compounds. The results of this study confirm that almagra ceramics were produced by means of a specific and elaborate process (slip preparation, firing and wax application), demonstrating the introduction of this slip into local production during the Islamic period.     

A BRONZE SCULPTURE ATTRIBUTED TO LOUIS-SIMON BOIZOT AND PLATINUM COATING METHODS

During the examination of the sculpture of Medea Rejuvenating Aeson attributed to Louis-Simon Boizot (1743–1809), X-ray fluorescence analysis revealed, surprisingly, that the outer surface of the brass cast was patinated with platinum. Research into the history of platinum coating methods revealed that chemical techniques for the deposition of platinum from solution were in use before the advent of electroplating. Some experimental work to replicate the patination technique of electrochemical replacement plating of platinum based on recipes from the nineteenth century is described. The technical evidence suggests that a late eighteenth-century date for the sculpture is reasonable.