The Kirigamine area is one of the major obsidian sources in the Chubu-kanto region of central Japan, and is regarded as an important archaeological study area for improving the understanding of historical changes in human–environment interactions related to obsidian procurement activities during the Upper Paleolithic. Previous studies have presented a model for the relationship between human activities

Bulk δ15N and δ13C values of proteinaceous tissues are being increasingly used in bioarchaeological studies to elucidate the physio-pathological status of ancient individuals. This method has not always been successful. The present study aims to explore the novel use of single amino acid carbon isotope analysis in palaeopathology by investigating the effect of a serious infectious disease, tuberculosis

We present a workflow to conduct a full characterization of medium to coarse-grained igneous rocks, using portable, non-invasive, and reproducible approaches. This includes: (i) Image Analysis (IA) to quantify mineral phase proportions, grain size distribution using the Weka trainable machine learning algorithm. (ii) Portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer (PXRF, Bruker Tracer IV) to quantify the

Glass mosaic decorations were used throughout the medieval Mediterranean as a powerful medium to convey religious and political agendas, yet we know next to nothing about the source of the materials and the transmission of the necessary technical know-how. Mosaics are generally considered a Byzantine art form, not least due to their prominence in Byzantine church architecture and because medieval Islamic

Current methodologies for radiocarbon dating of mortars typically use mechanical and chemical separation to isolate fractions of carbon dioxide from suitable lime binder carbonates. These methods have a moderate frequency of success, but difficulties are often encountered with (a) secondary crystallisation, (b) the presence of incompletely burnt limestone or limestone aggregate, and (c) more complex

It is generally believed that early agriculture on the Korean Peninsula was established during the Mumun period (1500–100 BC). While previous studies on agriculture in prehistoric Korea have relied on cultivated plant remains from archaeological sites, only a few isotopic studies have been conducted on Mumun individuals due to poor bone preservation during this period. Here, we measured bulk carbon

Traditional methods for estimating age-at-death of caprines are based on dental and epiphyseal fusion data and known to produce rather wide age intervals. In order to better interpret prenatal to early infantile mortality of sheep in prehistoric assemblages more precise age predictions are needed. We address this issue using a Generalized Additive Model (GAM) developed on humerus measurements of unborn

Zooarchaeologists have relied upon various approaches to study the impacts of harvest pressure and environmental change on ungulate populations, such as analysis of prey mortality patterns and morphometrics. Analysis of ancient DNA from ungulate bones and bone fragments from archaeological sites provides an additional means for studying prey population dynamics related to environmental change and human

The use of detailed meteorological data with sailing software, in conjunction with sailing the Ma'agan Mikhael II replica ship, has engendered the development of a method for examining maritime mobility of single-masted square sail Mediterranean merchantmen in the Graeco-Roman period, with the initial objective of mapping direct, open sea, return sailing routes from the Levant that a priori lie contrary

Demographic profiling of a population of sheep buried in toto in the Ptolemaic-Early Roman animal necropolis at Syene/Aswan (Upper Egypt) revealed significantly higher age estimates based on tooth eruption and wear than those based on epiphyseal fusion. Since located in an arid landscape with occasionally heavy dust loads, one plausible assumption would be that at Syene, dental abrasion may have been

The addition of temper in the pottery manufacturing process is attested since Prehistoric Times and is still a production choice adopted in the ceramic industry. When the temper is composed of minerals and rocks which outcrop in regions distant from each other, new questions about the production technology arise. Such situations can be explained by considering the recycling of imported rocks, including

The hard and soft tissue remains of a pre-Hispanic population of the Gran Canaria Island at six different archaeological localities were studied using 14C dating and stable isotope compositions. Radiocarbon dating indicates island occupation ranging from the beginning of the 7th to the mid-14th century. We analyzed the oxygen isotope compositions of apatite phosphate bones of some pre-Hispanic individuals

Recent analytical developments in the field of mass spectrometry have made possible accurate measurements of “non-traditional” isotopic ratios of elements such as Fe, Cu, Ag, Sn, Sb and Hg. The stable isotopes of these elements do not have any radioactive parents, but their ratios undergo limited fractionation from various causes, most of them mass-dependent. These effects can lead to variation in

The recording of age at death is an important aspect of zooarchaeological analysis as it provides evidence about a variety of research questions, spanning from the origins of domestication to husbandry strategies. Age estimation based on tooth eruption and wear is a commonly used method to establish the age at death of archaeological populations. However, this approach has its limitations. It relies

The analysis of paintings and engravings on the walls of Upper Palaeolithic caves generally focuses on the images themselves, their technical or stylistic characteristics, graphical and spatial composition, and, to a lesser extent, radiometric dating. More recent studies of cave art have reinforced new interdisciplinary perspectives that address the archaeology, karstology and geomorphology of the

Unlike other Upper Paleolithic industries, Gravettian assemblages from the Swabian Jura are documented solely in the Ach Valley (35-30 Kcal BP). On the other hand, traces of contemporaneous occupations in the nearby Lone Valley are sparse. It is debated whether this gap is due to a phase of human depopulation, or taphonomic issues related with landscape changes. In this paper we present ERT, EC-logging

The paper presents a geochemical analysis of a remarkable assemblage from the early La Tène period (4th century BCE): the Duchcov hoard found in the late 19th century in north-western Bohemia. More than a thousand pieces of bronze jewellery (mostly brooches and bracelets) in a bronze cauldron were deposited in a natural spring. This possibly ritual offering of unknown purpose might have involved a

Determining the proportion of males and females in zooarchaeological assemblages can be used to reconstruct the diversity and severity of past anthropogenic impacts on animal populations, and can also provide valuable biological insights into past animal life-histories, behaviour and demography, including the effects of environmental change. However, such inferences have often not been possible due

Fossil insect assemblages from post-medieval Skálholt, the oldest episcopal see in Iceland, provide new information about indoor environments and the specific use of a structure which according to historical information was listed as a larder attached to the episcopal school. The assemblages recovered also provide information on the background fauna which comprises of species related to turves, used

The field of ancient DNA is dominated by studies focusing on terrestrial vertebrates. This taxonomic bias limits our understanding of endogenous DNA preservation for species with different bone physiology, such as teleost fish. Teleost bone is typically brittle, porous, lightweight, and is characterized by a lack of bone remodeling during growth. All of these factors potentially affect DNA preservation

This paper proposes a new methodology for modelling chronological data in archaeology. We introduce the concept of “chronological network”, a flexible model for representing chronological entities, synchronisms between them, and other chronological constraints such as termini post/ante quem and duration bounds. We propose a procedure for checking the consistency of a chronological network and for refining

This study demonstrates a novel approach to overcoming challenges associated with obtaining reliable radiocarbon dates for rock paintings. Using two independent methods, we obtained ages for Pecos River style paintings at Eagle Cave in Langtry, Texas. The first method employed plasma oxidation to isolate organic carbon directly from the paint layer for accelerator mass spectrometry C-14 measurement

Plant resins, tars and organic fossil substances provide valuable insights into the ecological, environmental and cultural contexts of ancient societies. Their study offers evidence of past know-how, production systems, socio-economic networks and mobility. In this paper, we present new data from 16 sites located in the North-West Mediterranean that provide new insights into the exploitation of these

The orientation of artifacts and faunal remains within archaeological deposits are useful for understanding past processes that led to the formation of these deposits. This is because post-depositional processes move clasts in particular ways, causing non-random patterning in clast orientation arrangements. On the other hand, when assemblages exhibit a randomly distributed bearing orientation and minimal

In recent years there has been a surge in the recovery of ancient organic molecules from archaeological contexts. These analyses are yielding unprecedented insights into human evolution and cultural practices, and are providing valuable data for reconstructing paleoenvironments. However, contamination of archaeological sediments by microorganisms can alter ancient biomolecular data. Furthermore, the

Recent excavations of the Via dei Sepolcri ceramic workshop in Pompeii provide an exceptional window into ancient Roman material culture. The remarkable ceramic objects found here, and importantly, the raw geological materials used in their production, afford a unique opportunity to gather information about each aspect of the organisation of the workshop and the ceramics production cycle, including

Rammed-earth construction techniques (i.e., tamping or pounding loose earth into a solid mass with a rammer) were invented in the Iron Age Mediterranean and the Neolithic Middle Yellow River Valley and adopted across the globe overtime. Rammed-earth techniques were widely employed for building massive structures ranging from large tombs to the Great Wall in late Neolithic and dynastic China; as such

In this paper we present data from multi-isotopic analyses (87Sr/86Sr, δ18O, δ13C) of human individuals buried in the Neolithic communities of the north-eastern Iberian Peninsula. The sites researched were Bòbila Madurell, Can Gambús and Puig d'en Roca, all dated to the late 5th and early 4th millennia cal BC. The main objective was to explore chronological movement and the extent to which these communities

Though many ethnohistoric sources in the tropical Pacific recount chiefly feasting events, few describe childhood feeding practices despite the impact childhood under-nutrition may have had on morbidity and early mortality. Bioarchaeological investigation of the Namu burial ground (circa 750–300 BP) on the island of Taumako (southeast Solomon Islands) provides a direct means of understanding prehistoric

The sourcing of ceramics contributes to resolve questions about the nature of interactions between ancient societies. One such question concerns the primacy of the Olmec center of San Lorenzo in the development of the first unified iconographic style and its role in the early evolution of Mesoamerican civilization. Applying a combination of the isotopic systems of lead and strontium to a selection

The degradation of archaeological bones is influenced by many variables. The bone material itself is a composite of both organic and inorganic components, and their degradation depends on processes occurring both before and after burial, and on both intrinsic bone characteristics as well as extrinsic environmental parameters. In this study we attempt to quantify the effect of some of the variables

Global and local analyses of spatial autocorrelation are commonplace in spatial archaeology. However, they are exclusively focused on continuous numerical parameters, even though logical (presence/absence) and categorical parameters are equally frequent in archaeological research. Global tests of spatial dependence for categorical data are routinely used in other fields, and local versions of these

An innovative approach based on the combination of spectroscopy and traceology was used in order to analyse iron ore mirrors excavated at the Sojo site (Chibcha area, present-day Costa Rica) in the northern Pacific region of Costa Rica (AD 300 to AD 500–600). Such mirrors were prestigious artefacts related to power, shamanism and divination during the Classic Period in the Maya area. Stone bases, adhesives

This paper presents results from a study of starch granules in charred archaeological grains with the purpose of identifying markers of malting. Starch granules are microstructures from plant organs that can be identified to the level of plant genus based on their shape and size. Starch granules have been extracted from archaeological deposits. However, surprisingly few studies have focused on identifying

Fired-clay ceramics gain mass with time as a result of rehydroxylation (RHX) of the dehydroxylated structures of clay minerals. The mass gain is usually described using the time to the quarter (TTTQ) model, which is fundamental to the archeometric dating technique called RHX dating. In RHX dating practice, experimental mass gain fits can be improved by adding a time-offset correction (t0), apparently

Understanding past population dynamics in lowland South America relative to changes in subsistence is crucial for drawing comparisons with global processes. Here, we use aggregated radiocarbon data as a palaeodemography proxy for in the eastern La Plata Basin and adjacent Atlantic coast, southeastern South America. Our results show that population dynamics in the study area are best explained by a

This paper presents novel insights into the archaeology of food in ancient South Asia by using lipid residue analysis to investigate what kinds of foodstuffs were used in ceramic vessels by populations of the Indus Civilisation in northwest India. It examines how vessels were used in urban and rural Indus settlements during the Mature Harappan period (c.2600/2500–1900 BC), the relationship between

A new approach is presented for the simultaneous analysis of lead isotope ratios and gold, lead, and bismuth concentrations in metallic silver using nanosecond laser ablation multi-collector inductively-coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-MC-ICP-MS). Corrections for both isotope and concentration analyses are performed using an in-house matrix matched silver reference material RM3834. Accuracy and

We synthesise the results of a large programme of plant ecological research to investigate the selective pressures driving crop domestication and the origins of agriculture in western Asia. We explore this primarily through a series of experiments, comparing the ecological characteristics of: (1) domesticated cereal and pulse species with their wild progenitors and (2) the wild progenitor species with

Research increasingly suggests that natural and social environments shaped the Neolithic expansion of the farming niche into Europe. The Danube Gorges, on account of its position between the Mediterranean and more temperate regions and the presence of archaeological sites with continuous Mesolithic and Neolithic layers of occupation associated with vast burial grounds is ideal for studying the modality

Saltmarshes are tremendously important culturally and ecologically because they can provide abundant nutrient-rich fodder for grazing livestock, with relatively little resource investment. They also perform critical ecological services, including detoxifying water and stabilizing coastlines. For these reasons, methods for investigating the nature and extent of past saltmarsh use have significant potential

The study of silver, which was an important mean of currency in the Southern Levant during the Bronze and Iron Age periods (~1950–586 BCE), revealed an unusual phenomenon. Silver hoards from a specific, yet rather long timespan, ~1200–950 BCE, contained mostly silver alloyed with copper. This alloying phenomenon is considered here for the first time, also with respect to previous attempts to provenance

We report a newly extended stratigraphic sequence with associated Palaeolithic sites from the area of the extinct Kilombe volcano in central Kenya. The extended archaeological sequence runs from Oldowan finds, through the Acheulean, and up to the Middle Stone Age. The sedimentary sequences within the Kilombe caldera and south flanks of the mountain have been dated through 40Ar/39Ar measurements and

In this paper we highlight the potential of compositional characterisation (NAA) of Khmer stonewares for understanding regional economic development in the Angkorian Empire (c. 9 th −15 th c CE). A central feature of the Angkorian economy was the precocious development of sophisticated craft industries. Of the multiple crafts produced in this empire, stoneware production stands out for two reasons:

Independent Component Analysis (ICA) is a statistical technique for decomposing information from datasets into maximally independent components. ICA allows the researcher to recover two or more independent signals that appear mixed within the same dataset. This paper shows ICA to be an extremely effective method for separating different colours found in rock paintings into discrete images or components

Grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is one of the emblematic crops of Greece. Despite evidence of early wine making in the Aegean since the Late Neolithic (ca 4500–4000 BC), the hypothesis of a local domestication of the grapevine in this area hasn't be thoroughly investigated. In order to date the first appearance of the domesticated grapevine and to explore the past cultivated diversity in the Aegean,

The systematic evaluation of accessibility to different sectors in caves with Palaeolithic rock art is crucial to interpret the contexts of prehistoric human activity that took place inside them, especially if focused on the areas that are harder to reach. 3D models have been employed in a GIS to process spatial information, calculate numerical cost values and estimate optimal transit routes or needed

The extent of pollution and human mobility in the Iron Age in the southern Levant is estimated in this study through lead (Pb) and strontium (Sr) concentrations and isotopic compositions in human tooth enamel. The concentrations of Pb and other trace metals (Cu, Co, Cd, Zn) and Pb/Ca along with Ba/Ca ratios are used to determine background levels of metals and exposure to metal pollution. Strontium

The analysis of starch grains from food-related archaeological artefacts and human dental calculus has provided evidence for the consumption of plant resources worldwide. Recently, and based on experimental research, starch grain analysis has also been used as a proxy to reconstruct food transformation in the archaeological record through the analysis of the damage produced on starch grains by different

Aleppo pine (Pinus halepensis Miller) is present in the palaeoenvironmental records of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Western Mediterranean) since the Early Holocene. It is also documented in the archaeological charcoal analysis (aka anthracology) of early prehistoric sites, but it was especially exploited at certain sites during the Late Iron Age. However, different woodland exploitation strategies cannot

Teeth are thought to be less affected than post-cranial elements by factors such as age, region, sex, and post-Pleistocene climate change, making changes in tooth size a better gage of domestication-induced morphological change in Sus scrofa. Rigorous empirical evaluation of this assumption, however, has been lacking. Here we examine the impact of multiple factors on molar size in an assemblage of