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Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2022 19;14(3):44. Epub 2022 Feb 19.

Moesgaard Museum, 8270 Højbjerg, Denmark.

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2022 27;14(2):32. Epub 2022 Jan 27.

Faculty of History, Department of Art, Geography and History, GEAAT, University of Vigo, Olga Gallego 1st floor, 28, 32004 Ourense, Spain.

Rising sea levels, along with other biological and human factors, have increased erosion rates at a number of important sites located along the Atlantic coastline. Project GaltFish implemented a series of contingency measures to record some of these sites before they degraded further or totally disappeared. This process involved detailed photogrammetric recording of some of the sites under threat over a set period of time. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2021 26;13(8):141. Epub 2021 Jul 26.

BioArCh, University of York, Environment Building, Wentworth Way Heslington, York, YO10 5DD UK.

The emergence of pottery in Europe is associated with two distinct traditions: hunter-gatherers in the east of the continent during the early 6th millennium BC and early agricultural communities in the south-west in the late 7th millennium BC. Here we investigate the function of pottery from the site of Rakushechny Yar, located at the Southern fringe of Eastern Europe, in this putative contact zone between these two economic 'worlds'. To investigate, organic residue analysis was conducted on 120 samples from the Early Neolithic phase (ca. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2021 2;13(7):125. Epub 2021 Jul 2.

Institut für Archäologien, Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria.

This paper analyses 20 Late Bronze Age (ca 1080-800 BC) copper alloy objects to discern their manufacture and the skills of local craftsmen. Several tools and jewellery were studied that originated from a bronze workshop located immediately next to the Prigglitz-Gasteil copper ore mining site and several contemporaneous sites in the surrounding area. The samples were studied with optical microscopy (microstructurally), and SEM-EDXS and XRF (chemical analyses). Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2021 17;13(10):166. Epub 2021 Sep 17.

Archaeology, School of Humanities, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK.

Mineral compounds, as pigments and therapeutics, appeared regularly in the technical and medical texts of the Greco-Roman (G-R) world. We have referred to them as 'G-R medicinal minerals' and we suggest that despite their seeming familiarity, there are actually many unknowns regarding their precise nature and/or purported pharmacological attributes. Earth pigments are part of that group. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2021 14;13(7):115. Epub 2021 Jun 14.

Bioarchaeology Department, Austrian Archaeological Institute at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Franz Klein-Gasse 1, 1190 Vienna, Austria.

Although malaria is one of the oldest and most widely distributed diseases affecting humans, identifying and characterizing its presence in ancient human remains continue to challenge researchers. We attempted to establish a reliable approach to detecting malaria in human skeletons using multiple avenues of analysis: macroscopic observations, rapid diagnostic tests, and shotgun-capture sequencing techniques, to identify pathological changes, antigens, and DNA, respectively. Bone and tooth samples from ten individuals who displayed skeletal lesions associated with anaemia, from a site in southern Egypt (third to sixth centuries AD), were selected. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2021 13;13(4):62. Epub 2021 Mar 13.

Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Kahlaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany.

Historical sources describe irrigation and intensive agriculture being practiced in lowland Yunnan from at least the first century AD, but so far archaeobotanical remains allowing investigation of this issue have been scarce. Here, we present new archaeobotanical evidence, including macro-botanical and phytoliths results, from the Dian settlement site of Dayingzhuang, with direct AMS radiocarbon dates on two wheat grains falling between 750 and 390 BC. We compare these results with contemporary Dian sites and analyse the agricultural systems in Central Yunnan between the eight and fourth centuries BC. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2021 8;13(4):60. Epub 2021 Mar 8.

Laboratoire Archéologie et Peuplement de l'Afrique (APA), Anthropology Unit of the Department of Genetics and Evolution, University of Geneva, 30 quai Ernest Ansermet, CH-1205 Geneva, Switzerland.

While narratives of the spread of agriculture are central to interpretation of African history, hard evidence of past crops and cultivation practices are still few. This research aims at filling this gap and better understanding the evolution of agriculture and foodways in West Africa. It reports evidence from systematic flotation samples taken at the settlement mounds of Sadia (Mali), dating from 4 phases (phase 0=before first-third century AD; phase 1=mid eighth-tenth c. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2021 13;13(3):42. Epub 2021 Feb 13.

Department of Geography and Environment, School of Geosciences, University of Aberdeen, Elphinstone Road, Aberdeen, AB24 3UF UK.

Analyses of high-resolution pollen data, coprophilous fungal spores, microscopic charcoal and sedimentology, combined with radiocarbon dating, allow the assessment of the impact of Sami and Nordic land use in the region surrounding the winter market town of Lycksele in northern Sweden. Such winter markets were established by the Crown during the seventeenth century AD to control the semi-nomadic movements of the Sami who traded here with Finnish settlers and were also taxed and educated. Little is known about Sami and Nordic co-existence beyond these market places, mainly due to a lack of archaeological evidence relating to Sami activity. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2021 15;13(1):25. Epub 2021 Jan 15.

Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Institució Milà i Fontanals, Archaeology of Social Dynamics, Barcelona, Spain.

Throughout the Western provinces of the Roman Empire, greater economic and political connectivity had a major impact on agricultural production, which grew in scale and specialisation after integration with the Roman state. However, uniquely in Western Europe, farming strategies in Italy began to evolve centuries before the Roman conquest, and many 'Roman' patterns associated with livestock size and the relative proportions of different taxa first emerged during the early and middle centuries of the first millennium BC. These changes imply a significant reorganisation of production strategies well before Roman hegemony, even in relatively marginal areas of Italy. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2021 15;13(1):24. Epub 2021 Jan 15.

Department of Anthropology, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, ON Canada.

Given their strong affinity for the skeleton, trace elements are often stored in bones and teeth long term. Diet, geography, health, disease, social status, activity, and occupation are some factors which may cause differential exposure to, and uptake of, trace elements, theoretically introducing variability in their concentrations and/or ratios in the skeleton. Trace element analysis of bioarchaeological remains has the potential, therefore, to provide rich insights into past human lifeways. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2021 6;13(1):13. Epub 2021 Jan 6.

Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica Antonio González (IUBO), Universidad de La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain.

Burned or charred organic matter in anthropogenic combustion features may provide important clues about past human activities related to fire. To interpret archaeological hearths, a correct identification of the organic source material is key. In the present work, Raman spectroscopy is applied to characterise the structural properties of char produced in laboratory heating- and open-fire experiments. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2021 17;13(1). Epub 2020 Dec 17.

Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, UK.

Kůlna Cave is the only site in Moravia, Czech Republic, from which large assemblages of both Magdalenian and Epimagdalenian archaeological materials have been excavated from relatively secure stratified deposits. The site therefore offers the unrivalled opportunity to explore the relationship between these two archaeological phases. In this study, we undertake radiocarbon, stable isotope (carbon, nitrogen and sulphur), and ZooMS analysis of the archaeological faunal assemblage to explore the chronological and environmental context of the Magdalenian and Epimagdalenian deposits. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2021 15;13(1). Epub 2020 Dec 15.

Russian Academy of Sciences, Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, Saint Petersburg, Russia.

More than 4300 Eurasian elk () incisors, most of them pendants, were found in 84 burials in the Late Mesolithic cemetery of Yuzhniy Oleniy Ostrov, Northwest Russia. We analysed the manufacture techniques of elk teeth (4014), in the collection of the Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, St Petersburg. A striking observation is that the manufacture of these pendants is similar in all burials. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2020 23;12(11):265. Epub 2020 Oct 23.

Center for Forensic Medicine, Medical University of Vienna, Sensengasse 2, 1090 Vienna, Austria.

The identification of sex-specific peptides in human tooth enamel by nanoflow liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (nanoLC-MS/MS) represents a quantum leap for the study of childhood and social relations more generally. Determining sex-related differences in prehistoric child rearing and mortality has been hampered by the insufficient accuracy in determining the biological sex of juveniles. We conducted mass spectrometric analysis to identify sex-specific peptides in the dental enamel of a child from a settlement pit of the Early Bronze Age settlement of Schleinbach, Austria (c. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2020 26;12(10):243. Epub 2020 Sep 26.

Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, G1 1XQ UK.

A Pb-based synthetic mineral referred to as (pl. ) was manufactured in the Greek world at least since the 6th c BCE and routinely by the 4th c BCE. Theophrastus () describes its preparation from metallic Pb suspended over a fermenting liquid. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2020 3;12(8):200. Epub 2020 Aug 3.

Department of Anthropology, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, Trent University, Peterborough, Canada.

Analysis of individual animal bodies can provide numerous useful insights in archeology, including how humans provisioned such animals, which in turn informs on a variety of other past behaviors such as human dietary patterns. In this study, we conducted stable carbon ( C) and nitrogen ( N) isotope analysis of collagen and keratin from four types of tissues from a dog burial at the Ust'-Polui site in the Iamal region of Arctic Russia. Ust'-Polui is an Iron Age site located on the Lower Ob River, a major northern fishery characterized by extreme seasonal shifts in fish presence. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2020 16;12(8):169. Epub 2020 Jul 16.

Archaeology, History, Culture and Communication Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.

Reindeer herding probably developed during the Late Iron Age onwards and is still an important part of the subsistence and culture of many peoples in northern Eurasia. However, despite the importance of this husbandry in the history of these Arctic people, the period and place of the origin as well as the spread of domestic reindeer is still highly debated. Besides the existence of different breeding methods in these territories, identifying domesticated individuals in the archaeological record is complicated because reindeers are considered to still be in the early phases of the domestication process. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2020 18;12(2):40. Epub 2020 Jan 18.

2Department of Archaeology, School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Sciences, University of Reading, Reading, UK.

Livestock dung is a valuable material for reconstructing human and animal inter-relations and activity within open areas and built environments. This paper examines the identification and multi-disciplinary analysis of dung remains from three neighbouring sites in the Konya Plain of Central Anatolia, Turkey: Boncuklu (ninth-eighth millennium cal BC), the Çatalhöyük East Mound (eighth-sixth millennium cal BC), and the Late Neolithic occupation at the Pınarbaşı rockshelter (seventh millennium cal BC). It presents and evaluates data on animal management strategies and husbandry practices through the simultaneous examination of plant and faecal microfossils and biomarkers with thin-section micromorphology and integrated phytolith, dung spherulite, and biomolecular analyses, together with comparative reference geo-ethnoarchaeological assemblages. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2020 15;12(1):37. Epub 2020 Jan 15.

3UCL Institute of Archaeology, 31-34 Gordon Square, London, WC1H 0PY UK.

The present paper reports the first systematic archaeobotanical evidence from Bangladesh together with direct AMS radiocarbon dates on crop remains. Macro-botanical remains were collected by flotation from two sites, Wari-Bateshwar (WB), an Early Historic archaeological site, dating mainly between 400 and 100 BC, with a later seventh century AD temple complex, and Raghurampura Vikrampura (RV), a Buddhist Monastery () located within the Vikrampura city site complex and dating to the eleventh and sixteenth centuries AD. Despite being a tropical country, with high rainfall and intensive soil processes, our work demonstrates that conventional archaeobotany, the collection of macro-remains through flotation, has much potential towards putting together a history of crops and agricultural systems in Bangladesh. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2019 1;11(11):6221-6241. Epub 2019 Nov 1.

1Department of Anthropology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-4364 USA.

Early herders in eastern Africa built elaborate megalithic cemeteries ~ 5000 BP overlooking what is now Lake Turkana in northwestern Kenya. At least six 'pillar sites' were constructed during a time of rapid change: cattle, sheep, and goats were introduced to the basin as the lake was shrinking at the end of the African Humid Period. Cultural changes at this time include new lithic and ceramic technologies and the earliest monumentality in eastern Africa. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2019 19;11(12):6485-6500. Epub 2019 Nov 19.

Institute of Archaeology, University College London, London, WC1H 0PY UK.

Domestic rice agriculture had spread across the mainland Indian subcontinent by c.500 BC. The initial spread of rice outside the core zone of the central Gangetic Plains is thought to have been limited by climatic constraints, particularly seasonal rainfall levels, and so the later spread of rice into the dry regions of South India is largely supposed to have relied on irrigation. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2019 16;11(11):6161-6181. Epub 2019 Aug 16.

2BioArch, Department of Archaeology, University of York, York, UK.

This paper presents the first multi-tissue study of diet in post-medieval London using both the stable light isotope analysis of carbon and nitrogen and analysis of microdebris in dental calculus. Dietary intake was explored over short and long timescales. Bulk bone collagen was analysed from humans from the Queen's Chapel of the Savoy (QCS) ( = 66) and the St Barnabas/St Mary Abbots (SB) ( = 25). Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2019 15;11(8):4011-4024. Epub 2019 Feb 15.

3Lithuanian Institute of History, Kražių st. 5, Vilnius 01108, Lithuania.

With the arrival of the Early Neolithic Globular Amphora and Corded Ware cultures into the southeastern Baltic, ca. 2900/2800-2400 cal BC, a new type of economy was introduced, animal husbandry. However, the degree to which this transformed the subsistence economy is unknown. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2019 18;11(5):2167-2179. Epub 2018 Jun 18.

6UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, UCL, London, UK.

Body mass prediction from the skeleton most commonly employs femoral head diameter (FHD). However, theoretical predictions and empirical data suggest the relationship between mass and FHD is strongest in young adults, that bone dimensions reflect lean mass better than body or fat mass and that other femoral measurements may be superior. Here, we generate prediction equations for body mass and its components using femoral head, neck and proximal shaft diameters and body composition data derived from dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scans of young adults ( = 155, 77 females and 78 males, mean age 22. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2019 12;11(3):1107-1122. Epub 2018 Jan 12.

IRAMAT-CEB, UMR5060, CNRS/Université d'Orléans, 3D, rue de la Férollerie, 45071 Orléans cedex 2, France.

The trade of glass beads has long been assumed to have been under Islamic dominance during the early centuries following the Arab conquest of the Middle East, judged by the prevalence of Islamic beads in the archaeological contexts from Viking Scandinavia to medieval Morocco. This paper explores the impact of the Byzantine-Slavic transition on the use and by extension trade of glass beads in the Balkans from the seventh to the ninth century CE. A series of 48 glass beads and 4 vessel fragments from two excavated sites in modern day Albania have been analysed morphologically, technologically and chemically by LA-ICP-MS. Read More

Archaeol Anthropol Sci 2016 Dec;10(5):1153-1164

Department of Vegetation Ecology, Institute of Botany of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Lidická 25/27, CZ-60200 Brno, Czech Republic.

The population boom-and-bust during the European Neolithic (7000-2000 BC) has been the subject of lively discussion for the past decade. Most of the research on this topic was carried out with help of summed radiocarbon probability distributions. We aim to reconstruct population dynamics within the catchment of a medium sized lake on the basis of information on the presence of all known past human activities. Read More