Archives

Remote sensing landscapes of water management on the Victorian goldfields, Australia

Posted on November 9, 2016 by ARCAS

Publication date: December 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 76 Author(s): Peter Davies, Jodi Turnbull, Susan LawrenceThe integration of remote sensing technologies, GIS and mobile mapping platforms is producing new insights into the archaeology of historic water management systems. Our case study of the gold rush in 19th-century Victoria, Australia, has identified ditches, dams, mining claims and sediment sinks at site and landscape scales that are normally obscured by dense vegetation. New technologies including LiDAR provide solutions to these challenges and make possible the analysis and interpretation of these spatially diffuse but historically linked sites. For the first time it is possible to record and analyse a complex archaeological landscape in north-east Victoria that is the result of alluvial mining activity in the later 19th and early 20th century. This approach offers a significant advance in Australasian archaeological science and provides an important model for other researchers examining industrial landscapes.

Read more

The analytical nexus of ceramic paste composition studies: A comparison of NAA, LA-ICP-MS, and petrography in the prehispanic Basin of Mexico

Posted on November 9, 2016 by ARCAS

Publication date: December 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 76 Author(s): Wesley D. StonerCeramic compositional analyses have become a common part of archaeological inference. With a multitude of techniques available, which provide the best opportunity to answer specific research questions? I define an analytical nexus of techniques to help archaeologists determine which techniques provide the most appropriate methodology for their study regions. The relation among bulk chemical (NAA), spot chemical (LA-ICP-MS), and in situ mineral (petrography) analyses are explored through ceramics sampled from different time periods across the Basin of Mexico. Spatial and temporal patterns of compositional variability are identified with respect to the cultural systems living there. While different questions require different techniques, a stable bulk signature, like that provided by NAA, acts as a closed system that sums to 100 percent of all cultural and natural variables affecting paste composition. By comparison to the bulk baseline, any other technique that focuses on a fraction of the whole will also provide information on the unknown fractions.

Read more

Late Pleistocene/early Holocene maritime interaction in Southeastern Indonesia – Timor Leste

Posted on November 6, 2016 by ARCAS

Publication date: December 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 76 Author(s): Christian Reepmeyer, Sue O’Connor, Mahirta, Tim Maloney, Shimona KealyThis study analysed over 1000 obsidian stone artefacts excavated from two adjoining shelters at Tron Bon Lei on Alor Island Indonesia using portable XRF. The study showed an unambiguous separation of three different source locations (Groups 1, 2 and 3). Two sources (Group 2 and 3a, b, c) dominate the assemblage numerically. Group 1 and 2 indicate use of a single volcanic formation with a strong match between Group 1 artefacts and artefacts from sites in Timor Leste. Obsidian occurs in the earliest occupation layer in the Alor sites but does not include Group 1 artefacts which occur only after approx. 12,000 cal BP. Currently the geographical location of the Group 1 outcrop is unknown, however, based on the late appearance of the Group 1 artefacts in the Alor sequence it is likely that the location is not on Alor, but rather on another island of the Sunda chain. The dating of Group 1 artefacts in widely spaced sites on the never geographically connected islands of Timor and Alor indicates that maritime interaction between islands began by at least the terminal Pleistocene. The distribution of the obsidian in Tron Bon Lei shelter Pit B shows that there were periods of more intense interaction punctuated by periods when interaction declined or ceased.

Read more

Iron isotopes as a potential tool for ancient iron metals tracing

Posted on November 6, 2016 by ARCAS

Publication date: December 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 76 Author(s): Jean Milot, Franck Poitrasson, Sandrine Baron, Marie-Pierre CousturesProvenance studies of iron artefacts have become an important topic in archaeology to better understand the socio-economic organization of ancient societies. Elemental and isotopic tracing methods used so far for iron metal provenance studies showed some limitations, and the development of new additional tracers are needed. Since the last decade, the rise of cutting edge analytical techniques allows for the development of new isotopic tools for this purpose. The present study explores for the first time the use of iron isotopes analyses as a potential method for ancient iron metal tracing. Ore, slag and metal samples from two experimental reconstitutions of iron ore reduction by bloomery process were collected. Their Fe isotope compositions were measured by Multi Collector – Inductively Coupled Plasma – Mass Spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) to assess the possible impact of smelting on the Fe isotope composition of the metal produced. Our results show that the iron isotope compositions of the slag and metal are for 8 out of 9 samples analyzed undistinguishable from that of the starting ores. This suggests that overall, no significant Fe isotope fractionation occurs along the chaîne opératoire of iron bars production, even if slight isotopic differences might be found in blooms before refinement. This fact, combined with the natural isotopic variability of iron ores, as reported in the literature, may allow the use of Fe isotopes as a relevant tracer for archaeological iron metals. This new tracing approach offers many perspectives for provenance studies. The combination of elemental and Fe isotope analyses should thus be useful to validate origin hypotheses of ancient iron artefacts.

Read more

An investigation into the effects of X-ray on the recovery of ancient DNA from skeletal remains

Posted on November 1, 2016 by ARCAS

Publication date: December 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 76 Author(s): Lars Fehren-Schmitz, Joshua Kapp, Kim Laura Ziegler, Kelly M. Harkins, Gary P. Aronsen, Gerald ConlogueThe application of radiographic imaging methods like conventional X-Ray and computed tomography (CT) in bioarchaeological research is normally considered to be non-invasive. While this holds true on the macro- and microscopic level, little is known about potentially induced damage on the molecular level that could inhibit the successful recovery of ancient DNA (aDNA) from such specimens. Although there has been speculation concerning possible damage to DNA recovered from ancient remains following exposure to radiation, little research has been published. Past studies attempted to determine the specific effect of X-ray and computed tomography on the amplification of DNA from bone of recently butchered animals. Although the results suggested exposure to clinical level of radiation decreased the recovery of aDNA, the un-dehydrated state of the samples might have biased the results. In this study we utilized dry human archaeological bones from nine prehistoric and historic individuals and exposed them to different levels of radiation using conventional X-ray to more accurately examine the issue. Employing Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) of shotgun sequencing libraries, quantitative PCR (qPCR), and multiplex PCR of autosomal genetic markers we show that neither the exposure to conventional X-ray dosages (moderate irradiation) used in archaeological imaging studies nor 20-fold increased dosages (strong irradiation) have a significant effect on the quantity and quality of DNA that can be recovered from these ancient specimens. We conclude that the application of radiographic imaging methods in bioarchaeology does not impair the success of subsequent aDNA studies if simple precautions are followed.

Read more

Editorial Board

Posted on November 1, 2016 by ARCAS

Publication date: November 2016Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 75

Read more