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Publication date: April 2017Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 80 Author(s): William A. BrownPopulation growth rate estimators have recently emerged in demographic temporal frequency analysis (dTFA) as further tools to monitor pre-census population dynamics. The information that such estimators supply affords considerable heuristic potential for population-ecological research both because they implicate the environmental, behavioral, and physiological mechanisms that condition population growth, and because they impose much-needed empirical constraints on our efforts to build theory addressing long-run human population dynamics. However, the earnestness with which these estimators have been applied warrants caution. First, several nonidentical measures of population growth are current in both formal demography and dTFA, creating an opportunity for their equivocation. Second, our ability to insightfully interrogate growth estimates for population-ecological information has been checked by a tendency to interpret them in the framework of off-the-shelf parametric growth models ill-suited to long-run population dynamics. This paper evaluates the biodemographic merit of three estimators recently applied in dTFA. It also advocates a transition away from parametric and toward dynamic growth models and introduces an inductive, regression-based approach to the latter. A Monte Carlo simulation study indicates that this inductive approach can successfully recapture information about environmental influences on population growth from archaeological summed probability distributions, less so from kernel density estimates.

Publication date: April 2017Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 80 Author(s): Wesley D. StonerSatellite imagery and a LiDAR-based DEM have enabled the identification of more area of agricultural intensification in the Gulf lowlands than anywhere else in Classic period (∼300–800 CE) ancient Mesoamerica. This research helps to unravel the complex relationships among population density, settlement organization, food production, agricultural management, and level of sociopolitical complexity. The following conclusions are made: 1) Vestiges of agricultural intensification occur primarily in areas with dense concentrations of prehispanic monumental architecture, which represent nodes of political authority; 2) Nevertheless, some regions with evidence of intensification are distant from any monumental architectural complexes, indicating that at least some fields were constructed using family and corporate labor outside direct political oversight; 3) Intensified agricultural field area correlates negatively with the amount of rainfall recorded in historic times along the coast, suggesting that intensifications may have aimed either to reduce risks associated with exclusive use of rainfall (non-irrigation) agriculture or to maximize the annual growth cycle to produce a surplus; 4) Limited dating suggests that use of intensified agriculture ceased around the same time (∼500–800 CE) just before a massive depopulation took place across much of the Gulf lowlands. This pattern implicates environmental and social stresses as part of the multifaceted process of Classic period collapse in the Gulf lowlands.

Publication date: April 2017Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 80 Author(s): Frederik W. Rademakers, Thilo Rehren, Ernst PernickaThe origin of copper used in Late Bronze Age (LBA) Egypt is very poorly understood despite its cultural and economic importance attested in archaeological and historical sources. Extensive literature discusses major LBA copper sources such as Cyprus (oxhide ingots), Oman (bun ingots) and Egyptian-controlled sites in the Sinai. This paper presents new chemical and lead isotope data for Egyptian copper alloys excavated in several bronze production workshops from the New Kingdom capital Pi-Ramesse, expanding on earlier data from Amarna. Supporting data is obtained from the analysis of crucible remains from the same context, for which the potential contribution of lead isotope analysis is critically evaluated.Diachronic changes in the provisioning of these Egyptian workshops are discussed, incorporating an extensive overview of currently known Egyptian mining and metallurgy. The results have major implications for our understanding of LBA copper circulation in the wider region, for the first time analysing a major Egyptian ‘consumer’ assemblage.The analytical results reveal a complex picture of variable copper supply to the Ramesside workshops, which involved both the recycling of existing bronzes and the use of freshly smelted copper from various origins to produce fresh alloys. Importantly, this includes crucial new evidence for the melting of (Cypriot) oxhide ingot fragments in crucibles for alloying.The royal, internationally connected nature of these workshops makes Pi-Ramesse an exceptional case study of LBA metal trade, and hypotheses raised in this paper highlight the need for more extensive analysis of ancient Egyptian copper artefacts to grasp metal circulation throughout Egypt’s long history. More refined frameworks, incorporating the variety of private as well as royal contexts, will improve understanding of Egypt’s ancient economic organisation. This paper offers new perspectives onto LBA metal supply and consumption networks, with broader archaeological interpretative models of economic and political interactions across the wider ancient Near East.

Publication date: April 2017Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 80 Author(s): Stephen A. Collins-ElliottMethods of measuring differentiation in archaeological assemblages have long been based on attribute-level analyses of assemblages. This paper considers a method of comparing assemblages as probability distributions via the Hellinger distance, as calculated through a Dirichlet-categorical model of inference using Monte Carlo methods of approximation. This method has application within practice-theory traditions of archaeology, an approach which seeks to measure and associate different factors that comprise the habitus of society. It is implemented here focusing on the question of regional food consumption habits in Republican Italy in the last two centuries BCE, toward informing a perspective on mass social change.

Publication date: March 2017Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 79

Publication date: April 2017Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 80 Author(s): Rita Giannini, Ian C. Freestone, Andrew J. ShortlandThe blue pigments on 112 fragments or small objects of Qing Dynasty Chinese, 95 of underglaze blue and white and 17 overglaze enamelled porcelains were analysed by LA-ICPMS. The underglaze blues on both blue and white and polychrome objects were created with a cobalt pigment that was rich in manganese with lesser nickel and zinc. This suite of accessory elements is generally considered to be characteristic of local, Chinese, sources of pigments. However, the blue enamels were very different. The cobalt pigment here has low levels of manganese and instead is rich in nickel, zinc, arsenic and bismuth. No Chinese source of cobalt with these characteristics is known, but they closely match the elements found in the contemporary cobalt source at Erzgebirge in Germany. Textual evidence has been interpreted to suggest that some enamel pigment technologies were transferred from Europe to China, but this is the first analytical evidence to be found that an enamel pigment itself was imported. It is possible that this pigment was imported in the form of cobalt coloured glass, or smalt, which might account for its use in enamels, but not in an underglaze, where the colour might be susceptible to running. Furthermore, the European cobalt would have given a purer shade of blue than the manganese-rich Chinese cobalt.

Publication date: April 2017Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 80 Author(s): Christian Fischer, Ellen HsiehThe chemical composition of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, from the body to the pigment and the glaze, has been widely investigated over the last decades. However, most studies focused on ware from official kilns and much less attention has been given to folk kilns whose production was primarily aimed at supplying overseas markets. Moreover, scientific analysis has often relied on sophisticated laboratory-based instrumentation, a methodology that can be used neither for large sets of archaeological sherds nor in the field. The research presented here evaluates the applicability of non-invasive portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) and fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS) for the study of overseas Chinese blue-and-white porcelain manufactured in Jingdezhen and Zhangzhou, the main production centers during the late 16th to early 17th centuries. Results obtained on a limited number of sherds found in Indonesia and the Philippines show that concentration levels of some minor and trace elements, in particular zirconium and associated thorium, are sufficient to clearly distinguish Jingdezhen and Zhangzhou productions. The composition of the cobalt-based blue pigment was also easily identified with pXRF, highlighting the Fe-poor and Mn-rich compositional pattern in accordance with the local asbolite ores used during this time period. Furthermore, FORS provided additional information on tint and shade variations of the blue pigment. Consequently, pXRF combined with FORS represents an innovative and cost effective analytical approach to study the chemistry and provenance of Chinese blue-and-white porcelain, particularly in the field and/or for large archaeological sherd collections.

Publication date: April 2017Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 80 Author(s): T. Douglas Price, Robert Frei, Ylva Bäckström, Karin Margarita Frei, Anne Ingvarsson-SundstromHistorical documents record the operation of a silver mine from the 16th century AD located near the former village of Salberget in central Sweden. The historical record describes several categories of inhabitants, including local families, workers and miners, foreign engineers and mining specialists, as well as war captives and criminals used as forced labor in the mines. A church yard in the vicinity of the village served as a burial ground. Archaeological evidence indicates two distinct grave types (coffin and earthen) and physical anthropology documents differences in age and sex between these grave types, as well as harsh conditions of life. Strontium and oxygen isotopes have been used previously to investigate the place of origin of the cemetery inhabitants and clear differences among the types of graves were seen in the isotope results. Place of origin was more difficult to ascertain however. Here we utilize lead isotopes as an additional isotopic tracer to identify origins. The lead isotope investigations pinpoint several areas outside of the Sala region where some of the inhabitants originated. In addition, the study documents the benefits of using lead isotopes in human proveniencing studies.

Publication date: Available online 9 February 2017Source:Journal of Archaeological Science Author(s): Isabel Pombo Cardoso, Elizabeth PyeThis paper is the fourth in a series covering Portuguese gesso gilding grounds from the late 13th to the 18th century, but with a special focus on the Baroque period when gilded surfaces played an important religious, political and social role in Portugal. This fourth paper concentrates on unravelling the motives of the craftsmen who chose to produce grounds for gilded surfaces using very specific materials and techniques: gypsum, as the raw material, and a double-structured layered system. It seems plausible that the properties of this type of ground, the religious and social importance and the function of the gilded objects, cultural influences from southern European, and the particular Portuguese historical context all contributed to this choice. This paper aims to contribute to enrich understanding of gilding technology and to inform conservation decision-making for the preservation of these gilded objects.

Publication date: March 2017Source:Journal of Archaeological Science, Volume 79 Author(s): Ben Marwick, Elspeth Hayes, Chris Clarkson, Richard FullagarUnderstanding post-depositional movement of artefacts is vital to making reliable claims about the formation of archaeological deposits. Human trampling has long been recognised as a contributor to post-depositional artefact displacement. We investigate the degree to which artefact form (shape-and-size) attributes can predict how an artefact is moved by trampling. We use the Zingg classification system to describe artefact form. Our trampling substrate is the recently excavated archaeological deposits from Madjedbebe, northern Australia. Madjedbebe is an important site because it contains early evidence of human activity in Australia. The age of artefacts at Madjedbebe is contentious because of the possibility of artefacts moving due to trampling. We trampled artefacts in Madjedbebe sediments and measured their displacement, as well as modelling the movement of artefacts by computer simulation. Artefact elongation is a significant predictor of horizontal distance moved by trampling, and length, width, thickness and volume are significant predictors of the vertical distance. The explanatory power of these artefact variables is small, indicating that many other factors are also important in determining how an artefact moves during trampling. Our experiment indicates that trampling has not contributed to extensive downward displacement of artefacts at Madjedbebe.