NDT for the detection and characterization of superficial treatments on stone material from archaeological sites of Merida (Spain)

Different treatments (consolidation and water-repellent) were applied on samples of marble and granite from the Front stage of the Roman Theatre of Merida (Spain). The main goal is to study the effects of these treatments on archaeological stone material, by analyzing the surface changes. X-Ray Fluorescence and Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy techniques, as well as Nuclear Magnetic Resonance have been used in order to study changes in the surface properties of the material, comparing treated and untreated specimens. The results confirm that silicon (Si) marker tracking allows the detection of applied treatments, increasing the peak signal in treated specimens. Furthermore, it is also possible to prove changes both within the pore system of the materialand in the distribution of surface water, resulting from the application of these products

Archaeological sites in China during the Neolithic and Bronze Age

A total of 51,074 archaeological sites from the early Neolithic to the early Iron Age (c. 8000-500 BC), with a spatial extent covering most regions of China (c. 73-131°E and c. 20-53°N), were analysed over space and time in this study. Site maps of 25 Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities, published in the series 'Atlas of Chinese Cultural Relics', were used to extract, digitalise and correlate its archaeological data. The data were, in turn, entered into a database using a self-developed mapping software that makes the data, in a dynamic way, analysable as a contribution to various scientific questions, such as population growth and migrations, spread of agriculture and changes in subsistence strategies. The results clearly show asynchronous patterns of changes between the northern and southern parts of China (i.e. north and south of the Yangtze River, respectively) but also within these macro-regions. In the northern part of China (i.e. along the Yellow River and its tributaries and in the Xiliao River basin), the first noticeable increase in the concentration of Neolithic sites occurred between c. 5000 and 4000 BC; however, highest site concentrations were reached between c. 2000 and 500 BC. Our analysis shows a radical north-eastern shift of high site-density clusters (over 50 sites per 100 * 100 km grid cell) from the Wei and middle/lower Yellow Rivers to the Liao River system sometime between 2350 BC and 1750 BC. This shift is hypothetically discussed in the context of the incorporation of West Asian domesticated animals and plants into the existing northern Chinese agricultural system. In the southern part of China, archaeological sites do not show a noticeable increase in the absolute number of sites until after c. 1500 BC, reaching a maximum around 1000 BC.

Three archaeological sites in Somerset County, Pennsylvania ...

Bibliography: p. 75-76.

A summary of tree-ring dates from some southwestern archaeological sites /

Includes bibliographical references (p. 30-31).

Eleven archaeological sites in Hillsborough County, Florida.

Bibliography: p. 84.

Duck fleas as evidence for eiderdown production on archaeological sites

Acknowledgements This project was undertaken as part of my doctoral studies funded by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CACR-2009-39) in the United Kingdom. I would like to thank my supervisors Karen Milek and Andrew Dugmore for their help and support. I also wish to thank Jónas Helgason, his son Alexius Jónasson and Baldur Vilhelmsson for kindly having allowed access to the eiderdown stores and workshops at Æðey and Vatnsfjörður and for having provided assistance when needed. I would like to thank Fornleifastofnun Íslands for supporting my fieldwork at Vatnsfjörður, as well as Paul Ledger and Garðar Guðmundsson for their help during fieldwork. I am especially grateful to Richard Marriott for his invaluable help with flea identifications and for lending me reference material. Erling Ólafsson and Jan Klimaszewski also helped with the beetle identifications. Consultation of the BugsCEP database (Buckland and Buckland, 2006) aided the redaction of this paper.

Duck fleas as evidence for eiderdown production on archaeological sites

Acknowledgements This project was undertaken as part of my doctoral studies funded by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CACR-2009-39) in the United Kingdom. I would like to thank my supervisors Karen Milek and Andrew Dugmore for their help and support. I also wish to thank Jónas Helgason, his son Alexius Jónasson and Baldur Vilhelmsson for kindly having allowed access to the eiderdown stores and workshops at Æðey and Vatnsfjörður and for having provided assistance when needed. I would like to thank Fornleifastofnun Íslands for supporting my fieldwork at Vatnsfjörður, as well as Paul Ledger and Garðar Guðmundsson for their help during fieldwork. I am especially grateful to Richard Marriott for his invaluable help with flea identifications and for lending me reference material. Erling Ólafsson and Jan Klimaszewski also helped with the beetle identifications. Consultation of the BugsCEP database (Buckland and Buckland, 2006) aided the redaction of this paper.

Duck fleas as evidence for eiderdown production on archaeological sites

Acknowledgements This project was undertaken as part of my doctoral studies funded by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission (CACR-2009-39) in the United Kingdom. I would like to thank my supervisors Karen Milek and Andrew Dugmore for their help and support. I also wish to thank Jónas Helgason, his son Alexius Jónasson and Baldur Vilhelmsson for kindly having allowed access to the eiderdown stores and workshops at Æðey and Vatnsfjörður and for having provided assistance when needed. I would like to thank Fornleifastofnun Íslands for supporting my fieldwork at Vatnsfjörður, as well as Paul Ledger and Garðar Guðmundsson for their help during fieldwork. I am especially grateful to Richard Marriott for his invaluable help with flea identifications and for lending me reference material. Erling Ólafsson and Jan Klimaszewski also helped with the beetle identifications. Consultation of the BugsCEP database (Buckland and Buckland, 2006) aided the redaction of this paper.

Narratives Around Iberian Culture at Valencia Museums and Archaeological Sites: From Official Discourses to Social Perceptions

Museums and archaeological sites are considered the most authoritative places for talking about the past and the heritage from a scientific perspective. In fact, visitors assume their discourses as reliable and indisputable. In spite of that, professionals of archaeology must critically analyse the production of narratives at heritage sites, since they often reflect social, political and identity issues related to the present-day realities. The aim of this paper is to study official and popular discourses about the Iberian culture (Iron Age) collected in museums and archaeological sites from Valencia region.

The ceramic artifacts in archaeological black earth (terra preta) from Lower Amazon Region, Brazil: chemistry and geochemical evolution

This paper carried out a chemical investigation of archaeological ceramic artifacts found in archaeological sites with Black Earth (ABE) in the Lower Amazon Region at Cachoeira-Porteira, State of Pará, Brazil. The ceramic artifacts, mostly of daily use, belong to Konduri culture (from 900 to 400 years BP). They are constituted of SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, Na2O and P2O5; SiO2 and Al2O3 together add up to 80 % and indicate influence of acid rocks, transformed into clay minerals basically kaolinite. The relative high contents of P2O5 (2.37 % in average) come out as (Al,Fe)-phosphate, an uncommon fact in primitive red ceramics, but found in some roman and egyptian archaeological sites. The contents of the trace elements are similar or below the Earth's crust average. This chemical composition (except P2O5) detaches saprolite material derived acid igneous rocks or sedimentary ones as the main raw material of the ceramics. The contents of K, Na and Ca represent the feldspars and rock fragments possibly introduced into saprolitic groundmass, indicated by mineralogical studies. The presence of cauixi and cariapé as well as quartz sand was confirmed by optical microscope, SEM analyses and by the high silica contents of ceramic fragments. Phosphorus was possibly incorporated into groundmass during cooking of foods, and ABE soil profile formation developed on yellow Latosols. The raw materials and its tempers (cauixi, or cariapé, feldspar, crushed rocks, old ceramic artifacts and quartz fragments) are found close to the sites and therefore and certainly came from them.

Decision Support Model for Assessing Archaeological Survey Needs for Bridge Replacement Projects in Iowa, 2006

The Bridges Decision Support Model is a geographic information system (GIS) that assembles existing data on archaeological sites, surveys, and their geologic contexts to assess the risk of bridge replacement projects encountering 13,000- to 150-year-old Native American sites. This project identifies critical variables for assessing prehistoric sites potential, examines the quality of available data about the variables, and applies the data to creating a decision support framework for use by the Iowa Department of Transportation (Iowa DOT) and others. An analysis of previous archaeological surveys indicates that subsurface testing to discover buried sites became increasingly common after 1980, but did not become routine until after the adoption of guidelines recommending such testing, in 1993. Even then, the average depth of testing has been relatively shallow. Alluvial deposits of sufficient age, deposited in depositional environments conducive to human habitation, are considerably thicker than archaeologists have routinely tested.

Archaeological and archaeomagnetic dating at a site from the ager Tarraconensis (Tarragona, Spain): El Vila-sec Roman pottery

A very accurate archaeological dating of a Roman site in NE Spain (El Vila-sec) was made based on the typology of pottery artifacts. Three different phases were identifi ed with activity ranging from the mid- 1st century BC to the early-3rd century AD. Analyses of bricks from kilns at El Vila-sec produced data on their stored archaeomagnetic vector. These data were compared with the secular variation curve for the Iberian Peninsula and the SCHA.DIF.3K regional archaeomagnetic model. Both, the reference curve and the model, produced probability distributions for the final period of use for two kilns from the second archaeological phase that were not used during the third phase. At a 95% con fidence level, both time distributions cover a wide chronological range including the presumed archaeological age. Both the Iberian secular variation curve and the SCHA.DIF.3K regional model proved to be suitable models for dating the site, although on their own they do not produce a single unambiguous solution. This archaeomagnetic approach could also be applied to neighbouring archaeological sites that have an imprecise archaeological age.

Analysis of red pigments from the Neolithic sites of Çatalhöyük in Turkey and Sheikh-e Abad in Iran

Samples containing red pigment have been collected from two different archaeological sites dating to the Neolithic (Çatalhöyük in Turkey and Sheikh-e Abad in Iran) and have been analysed by a range of techniques. Sub-samples were examined by IR spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction, whilst thin sections were studied using optical polarising microscopy, synchrotron based IR microscopy and environmental scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis. Thin layers of red paint in a wall painting from Çatalhöyük were found to contain ochre (hematite and clay) as well as an unexpected component, grains of red and colourless obsidian, which have not been identified in any previous studies of the wall paintings at Çatalhöyük. These small grains of obsidian may have improved the reflective properties of the paint and made the artwork more vivid in the darkness of the buildings. Analysis of a roughly shaped ball of red sediment found on a possible working surface at Sheikh-e Abad revealed that the cause of the red colouring was the mineral hematite, which was probably from a source of terra rossa sediment in the local area. The results of this work suggest it is unlikely that this had been altered by the Neolithic people through mixing with other minerals.