New Jurassic predatory cockroaches (Blattaria: Raphidiomimidae) from Daohugou,China and Karatau,Kazakhstan

Liang, J., Shih, C. &; Ren, D., October 2017. New Jurassic predatory cockroaches (Blattaria: Raphidiomimidae) from Daohugou, China and Karatau, Kazakhstan. Alcheringa 42, 101–109. ISSN 0311-5518.

Two new species and a new combination in a new genus of predatory cockroaches, Falcatusiblatta gracilis and F. qiandaohua from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou, China and F. karatavica (Vishniakova) comb. nov. from the Upper Jurassic Karabastau Formation of Karatau, Kazakhstan are described within Raphidiomimidae. The new taxa are distinguished by the presence of a very long ovipositor (plesiomorphy) and elongate cerci with heteronomous articles and forewing markings with irregular patch-like shapes of light and dark patterns (autapomorphies).

Junhui Liang [liangjh0602@126.com], Tianjin Natural History Museum, 31 Youyi Road, Hexi District, Tianjin, 300203, PR China; Chungkun Shih? [chungkun.shih@gmail.com], College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, 105 Xisanhuanbeilu, Haidian District, Beijing, 100048, PR China; Dong Ren [rendong@mail.cnu.edu.cn], College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, 105 Xisanhuanbeilu, Haidian District, Beijing, 100048, PR China. ?Also affiliated with: Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC 20013, USA.     

Identifying grinding,scoring and rubbing use-wear on experimental ochre pieces

Ochre pieces were used experimentally for a variety of grinding, scoring and rubbing activities to record and compare the use-wear markings that each activity creates on the ochre piece. Ochre that is ground on coarse or fine-grained slabs develops parallel striations that cover the surface of the piece. The striations have unfrayed ends. Grinding is the only activity that results in significant changes to the surface shape of the ochre, producing a plane. When ochre is scored either to create a deliberate design or to produce powder, the grooves that form often do not reach all the edges of the used surface and they regularly have frayed terminations. This demonstrates that the incisions were created by multiple scoring strokes. When ochre is scored to manufacture ochre powder the incisions that are generated are parallel groups of grooves with erratically oriented grooves as well. Bone and wooden tools are soft and they therefore do not generally create obvious incisions on ochre pieces. Grooves created through grinding on a slab or scoring with a stone tool have microstriations within them and they show a range of profile shapes. The most common use-wear from rubbing ochre on animal hide, human skin, human hair and wood is smoothing, edge rounding and polish, although incisions and microstriations also occur occasionally. Residues are often left on an ochre piece after rubbing or scoring with organic materials. The comparative collection of macro- and microscopic use-wear marks from experimentally ground, scored and rubbed ochre is useful as an aid to classifying archaeological collections of ochre.     

良渚文化瑶山玉神器分化及巫权调整之探讨

本文根据《瑶山》揭示的甲乙两类、南北两行墓列12座墓葬,分别判定墓主为觋与巫的不同性别,进而考定南行6位墓主为觋,北行6位墓主为巫。作者首先针对出自巫墓内的所谓“神面”、“兽面”及“神徽”进行分析,重新认定“神面”为觋面,“兽面”为小巫扮演的道具兽或兽面,并破译原定“神徽”为觋戴魃头骑小巫扮演的道具兽以玉事神图徽,可简称为“觋事神图徽”。经过对南行墓列6座觋墓出土的玉冠形器、带盖柱形器、三叉形器、成组锥形器、玉钺、琮等6种玉器进行分析,本文认为玉冠形器为玉梳背,琮中之大孔琮应是镯,不是原来意义上的神器之琮。巫专用的玉器有玉梳背、璜与圆牌。从觋巫所用玉器的尺寸、纹饰、形制来看,觋玉大大高于巫玉,也折射出觋的地位大大高于巫。本文论证了与母系、父系两种社会相关的由巫权向觋权过渡的新问题,指出瑶山墓地显示觋权已巩固,而巫权已败落并居于觋权之下。作者提出瑶山觋已是掌握政治军事大权而又兼顾事神的新型统治人物,即不称王的“王”,而当王掌权之后,巫觋便降格为“祝”与舞者,这就是《瑶山》在考古学上的重大贡献,也是玉文化研究的一次突破。     

Fracture markings from flake splitting

When a flake is split longitudinally during its detachment, it can leave several kinds of fracture markings, termed here split marks, on the flake scar. Observations from contemporary knapping are considered together with mechanics and fractography for understanding the formation of the split marks. These markings on a negative flake scar can indicate the splitting of a flake during its detachment. Recognition of flake splitting is of archaeological interest especially for technologies where the flakes were utilized.     

A longitudinal study of tooth growth in a single individual based on long- and short-period incremental markings in dentine and enamel

Ground sections of teeth from a single individual revealed approximately 30 fluorescent lines in the dentine resulting from successive courses of tetracycline antibiotics given over a period of approximately 12 years. In addition, many teeth showed long-period incremental markings in the dentine. Short-period daily cross-striations in the enamel were used to calculate the periodicity of the long-period incremental lines in both enamel and dentine. The incremental markings in the dentine were then used to calibrate the time of administration of each of the courses of tetracycline antibiotics. Enlarged micrographs of the teeth, constructed using fluorescence microscopy, were used to measure the increase in height of different teeth throughout the growth period on each occasion the tetracycline antibiotics were given. The times of initial mineralization of the teeth and the duration of crown formation were also determined for each tooth section. Line plots of tooth height against age were computed and used to calculate the rate of increase in tooth height during crown and root formation for one example of each tooth type. Initial rates of increase in height during enamel apposition and coronal dentine formation were fast, between 10 μm and 14 μm per day. During the latter phase of crown formation and during early root formation, tooth height increased at a slower rate of between 4 μm and 6 μm per day. Rates of increase in tooth height then rose to between 13 μm and 26 μm per day during the second half of root formation before falling off to a rate of approximately 4 μm per day during root completion (as the root apex formed). The times of initial crown mineralization and the total crown formation times estimated in this individual were all within the range known for modern humans but there was comparatively early mineralization of the third permanent molar. These findings are discussed in the context of other studies on human dental development.