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Publication date: August 2018Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 96 Author(s): L. Melheim, L. Grandin, P.-O. Persson, K. Billström, Z. Stos-Gale, J. Ling, A. Williams, I. Angelini, C. Canovaro, E. Hjärthner-Holdar, K. KristiansenThis article presents the results of a comprehensive provenance study based on a combined geochemical-isotopic and archaeological approach, comprising 98 analyses of 97 copper-alloy objects from the Danish Bronze Age. When it comes to the question of the origin of the metal, our interpretations diverge somewhat from earlier established theories about the origin of copper imported to Denmark, which mainly pointed to Central and Eastern Europe. Clear geochronological patterns in the Danish dataset are interpreted as being due to shifts in ore sources; reflecting varying areas of origin as well as the utilization of varying ore types. This again relates to shifting trade networks/suppliers and shifting technological trends. Plausible sources for Danish copper-alloys identified in the current study are ore regions in the British Isles, Alpine ore districts in Italy and Austria, as well as ore regions in the western part of the Mediterranean and to some degree the Slovak Carpathians. The comparison includes hundreds of recently published lead isotope data for ores in Slovakia, the Iberian Peninsula and the Italian and Austrian Alps.

Publication date: August 2018Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 96 Author(s): Hao Li, Zhan-yang Li, Matt G. Lotter, Kathleen KumanLingjing, located in northern China, is an open-air spring site dated to ∼90–125 ka through Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating. Two late archaic human crania, which possess a mosaic of features indicative of both eastern Eurasian and Neanderthal ancestry, were excavated from the site, along with abundant animal fossils and stone artifacts. Despite Lingjing’s obvious significance, detailed analyses of the processes that have influenced site formation and modification have not yet been performed. In this paper we provide an interpretation of the depositional context at Lingjing and we also provide an assessment of the level of site disturbance, both during and post-deposition. Sedimentary and archaeological indicators are employed in this study, and results show that there is differential modification of the stratigraphic horizons, primarily between lower layer 3 and the overlying upper layers 2 and 1. Although this disturbance is apparent, overall its extent is limited. The findings in this study therefore confirm that assemblage integrity at Lingjing is high, and that behavioural information is well preserved.

Publication date: August 2018Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 96 Author(s): Christina Collins, Eleni Asouti, Matt Grove, Ceren Kabukcu, Lee Bradley, Richard ChiverrellThe role of the environment in shaping agricultural origins is still not fully understood, despite a century of debate on this topic. Comparison of the expected prevalence of a resource in the landscape with actual archaeological presence of the same resource can provide a metric for assessing resource choice in prehistory. However, the palaeoenvironmental data that would allow resource choice to be evaluated in this way are rarely available. Species Distribution Modelling (SDM) techniques allow independent palaeoenvironmental datasets to be computed, which when compared to actual species’ presence at sites as attested by archaeological datasets, can provide data on resource choice. Following recent calls for SDM to be applied more widely in archaeological contexts, we outline a simple method for predicting the presence of plant species in prehistory using modern analogues and palaeoclimatic datasets. These modelled distributions provide an independent dataset for comparison with archaeological data, thus providing a window into human resource choice in prehistory. We outline the method with specific reference to the transition from foraging to farming in the Neolithic of Central Anatolia, but the method could be applied to any period or region. We have used exclusively open source data and provided all code in our online supplementary materials, so that our method can be utilized by researchers interested in human resource choice in any region of the world and any period.

Publication date: July 2018Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 95

Publication date: August 2018Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 96 Author(s): James T. Dillon, Sam Lash, Jiaju Zhao, Kevin P. Smith, Peter van Dommelen, Andrew K. Scherer, Yongsong HuangAssessing impacts of climate change on ancient human societies requires accurate reconstructions of regional climate variations. However, due to the scarcity of in situ climate indicators in archaeological sites, climate interpretation often relies on indirect, geographically distant data from geological archives such as lake or ocean sediments, ice cores and speleothems. Because many cultural changes occurred abruptly over periods of years to decades, and are regional or even local in scale, correlating societal changes with climate reconstructions from geological archives induces significant uncertainties: factors such as chronological dating inconsistencies and geographic heterogeneity of climate can severely undermine interpretation. Here we show, for the first time, that it is possible to determine past climate change by analyzing bacteria-derived ‘branched glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers’ (br-GDGTs) in ancient bones from archaeological sites. To the best of our knowledge this proxy has never been applied before to bones, nor with the intention of developing the method for application in archaeological research. We demonstrate that these compounds are likely derived from bacterial growth within bones following deposition in the ground, and the potential for their distributions to reflect climate and environmental conditions during the years immediately following deposition when bacteria consume internal substrates. Our preliminary results show that bone samples from different climate zones display distinct br-GDGT distributions. Well-dated late Pleistocene and Holocene bones from Alaska yield reconstructed temperatures consistent with existing climate reconstructions. While further work is necessary to determine how quickly the signal stabilizes in the bones, and to continue ongoing refinement of calibrations for temperature, precipitation, and other influences on br-GDGTs, we propose that br-GDGTs from ancient bones in archaeological sites may be taken as a new, in situ archive for reconstructing past climate conditions. This opens new perspectives for assessing connections between climate variations and social transformations in the past.

Publication date: August 2018Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 96 Author(s): Christine A.M. France, Haiping Qi, Gwénaëlle M. KavichHydrogen isotopes in archaeological human bone collagen are poorly understood, but present an opportunity to add new depth to our understanding of ancient populations. The competing influences of meteoric water versus protein intake on human bone collagen hydrogen isotope values were examined through comparison with the well-understood proxies of hydroxyapatite oxygen and collagen nitrogen isotopes, respectively. Consideration of the data set as individual points compared to averaged pools of individuals in each of 11 archaeological sites suggested the latter partially eliminates inherent variability due to food choice or regional movement. Collagen hydrogen isotopes were moderately correlated with hydroxyapatite oxygen isotopes (R = 0.695, site averages) and collagen nitrogen isotopes (R = 0.562, site averages). Correlation improved with a multiple linear regression including both oxygen and nitrogen (R = 0.745, site averages). Correlation between meteoric water hydrogen and oxygen isotope values converted from hydroxyapatite and collagen values, respectively, yielded a slope well below the expected value of ∼8 observed directly in meteoric water (i.e. the “meteoric water line”). Correlation between converted meteoric water hydrogen and the measured collagen non-exchangeable hydrogen isotope values showed a slope well below the expected value of 1.0. Theoretical meteoric water hydrogen isotope values and theoretical herbivorous collagen hydrogen isotope values were calculated based on previously established equations in order to construct a hypothetical framework free of trophic level influences. Deviations between actual values and these theoretical values correlated weakly with collagen nitrogen isotope values, suggesting that direct trophic level enrichment/depletion is not controlling the disparity between expected and measured values. The deviations are hypothetically caused by non-local food sources, and a decoupling of expected oxygen and hydrogen relationships as individuals consumed more meat and decreased in vivo non-essential amino acid production. This work presents a new model that facilitates understanding of the complex relationship between meteoric water and protein intake controls on hydrogen isotopes in omnivorous human populations that can potentially inform about past meteoric water values and amounts of animal protein consumption.

Publication date: Available online 31 May 2018Source:Journal of Archaeological Science Author(s): Sean W. Hixon, Carl P. Lipo, Ben McMorran, Terry L. HuntThe archaeological record of Rapa Nui (Easter Island, Chile) is noteworthy for its massive statues (moai) that were transported over long distances with relatively small numbers of people and minimal use of resources. Equally impressive are the colossal bodies of red scoria (pukao) placed on the heads of many of the moai. In this study, we use three-dimensional models of 50 pukao found across the island and 13 red scoria cylinders from Puna Pau, the island’s pukao quarry, to study the process of pukao manufacture, transport, and placement atop statues. Our analysis identifies surface features that are explained by the process of construction and transport of these multi-ton objects. Based on shared physical features of pukao, evidence in the archaeological record, and the physics necessary for pukao movement, we propose a falsifiable hypothesis in which relatively small numbers of people rolled pukao up stone ramps to place pukao atop moai. We conclude that activities of pukao production and transport did not require oversight by a centralized political authority, nor do they support notions of a large population that collapsed with “ecological suicide” on Rapa Nui.

Publication date: August 2018Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 96 Author(s): Jonas BergmanEggs from an intestinal parasite has been found in a burial radiocarbon dated to 5210-4840 cal BC in Motala, east-central Sweden. The two helminth eggs are identified as Trichuris trichiura (human whipworm). Control samples from the cemetery site were all negative and confirmed that there was no evident contamination of younger material. This discovery raises new questions concerning the early geographical spread and timing of parasitic diseases among hunter-gatherer societies in northern Europe, and in the temperate zone of the northern hemisphere. Whipworm infection (Trichuriasis) is perhaps the disease most associated with crowding and poor sanitation, and as it manifests itself in the youngest dated burial, it could be a contributing factor to the final abandonment of the Mesolithic settlement. Also, parasite eggs found in a soil sample from the Neolithic Alvastra pile dwelling could indicate the continued presence of the Trichuris parasite in east-central Sweden. Generally, parasite ecology can aid in reconstructing human behaviors that include aspects of sedentism, mobility, food preferences, hygiene and other social practices.

Publication date: July 2018Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 95 Author(s): Miguel Ángel Rogerio-Candelera, Primitiva Bueno Ramírez, Rodrigo de Balbín-Behrmann, M. Isabel Dias, Leonardo García Sanjuán, Mathilda Larsson Coutinho, José Antonio Lozano Rodríguez, Ana Z. Miller, Alistair W. Pike, Christopher D. Standish, M. Isabel Prudêncio, Ana Luísa Rodrigues, José María De la Rosa Arranz, Diego GasparThe background of this paper is the biographical relationship between the Menga dolmen and La Peña de los Enamorados mountain (a conspicuous and highly-recognisable natural formation), both part of the Antequera megalithic landscape. Our main aim is to provide a high-resolution characterisation of the Matacabras rock art shelter, located on the northern side of La Peña de los Enamorados. This is achieved through a photogrammetric topographic survey, a detailed assessment of the graphic motifs identified through the use of digital image processing and various types of physical and chemical analysis, a geo-chemical characterisation of pottery found on its surface, and a comparative stylistic analysis of its motifs. Our study suggests that Matacabras (and the site of Piedras Blancas I, located just below it), played an important role in the genesis of Menga, which perhaps makes it the most important rock art location of Spanish Late Prehistory.

Publication date: July 2018Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 95 Author(s): Luc Bordes, Richard Fullagar, Linda C. Prinsloo, Elspeth Hayes, Maxim B. Kozlikin, Michael V. Shunkov, Anatoly P. Derevianko, Richard G. RobertsRaman spectroscopy is a powerful method for detecting micro-residues on stone tools. To further develop techniques for determining stone tool function, we devised a methodology using Raman microscopy to analyse in situ micro-residues before conventional usewear study. We analysed 18 stone artefacts collected in situ from Denisova Cave in Siberia, where excellent organic residue preservation is expected. We report here details of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids identified on eight stone tools from the Middle Palaeolithic levels. The spatial distribution of smeared fatty acids shows strong correlation with spatial distributions of usewear (particularly use-polish, but also striations, edge rounding and scarring) on each tool, demonstrating that these micro-residues are likely associated with prehistoric tool contact with animal tissue. We compared Raman spectra and the types, abundance and distribution of micro-residues on the Denisova Cave artefacts with those on modern experimental stone tools (with known function). The results provide further support for Middle Palaeolithic processing of animal tissue and probable skin scraping at Denisova Cave.