Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports最新文献

{"title":"Neither wheat, nor barley: An appraisal of the functional variability of the grinding and pounding stones from Hasankeyf Höyük, a Neolithic hunter-fisher-gatherer site on the upper Tigris","authors":"Atsumi Ishida ,&nbsp;Laure Dubreuil ,&nbsp;Ken-ichiro Hisada ,&nbsp;Yutaka Miyake","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.104994","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.104994","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Many researchers have suggested that grinding and pounding stones should be regarded as multi-functional tools. However, studies centered on the Neolithic of Southwest Asia often view such implements as related to cereal processing. This is most likely because the emergence and spread of agriculture, especially of cereal, is one of the most investigated topics in Southwest Asian Archaeology. In this context, sickle blades and grinding and pounding stones, are generally considered as evidence of cereal harvesting and processing.</div><div>Hasankeyf Höyük is a Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (PPNA) site located in the Upper Tigris Basin in Southeastern Turkey. Hunter-fisher-gatherer villagers settled at the site, where a rich number of grinding and pounding tools have been found, yet cereals were rarely uncovered at the site. The main purpose of this study is to assess the function of the grinding and pounding tools through use-wear analysis.</div><div>First, we describe our experimental reference collection of tools made of local limestone. Second, a comparison of the experimental tools use-wear with that of the artifacts reveals that the grinding and pounding tools from the site were multi-functional and used especially for processing oily materials such as meat, fish, nutlets and nuts. Our results indicate that grinding and pounding stones in the Tigris Valley during PPNA should not necessarily be discussed in the context of founder crop use.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"62 ","pages":"Article 104994"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143160307","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Urban vs rural lifestyle in Roman Italy: a bioarchaeological and paleopathological investigation","authors":"Claudia Moro ,&nbsp;Lucie Biehler-Gomez ,&nbsp;Federica Boschi ,&nbsp;Cristina Cattaneo","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105007","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105007","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To examine differences in lifestyle between urban and rural settings during the Imperial period in Italy, a comparative study was undertaken between the rural necropolis of Contrada Nevola (1st-3rd century CE) in Corinaldo (Ancona) and the urban necropolis of Università Cattolica in Milan (1st-5th century CE). Anthropological and radiographic investigations were conducted on 60 individuals from Corinaldo and 50 from Milan, focusing on stress markers (cribriotic lesions, Harris lines, enamel hypoplasia, Schmorl’s nodes, entheseal changes, and antemortem trauma). Individuals from Corinaldo appear to have experienced better living conditions compared to their counterparts in Milan. Furthermore, based on stress markers distribution, disparities in resource access and possibly different work-related tasks between sexes were more pronounced in rural settings than in urban ones.</div><div>The synergistic approach combining anthropological and radiological methods for analyzing lifestyle provided comprehensive insights into the individuals buried in these necropolises. Through this comparative analysis, we aim to contribute to the understanding of the social and environmental dynamics that shaped the lives of past populations, thus offering new perspectives for comprehending the evolution of human societies and their interactions with the environment.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"62 ","pages":"Article 105007"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143160311","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Woodlands, tree management, and fuel economy in Bronze Age eastern Crete: An anthracological approach","authors":"M. Ntinou ,&nbsp;Ll. Picornell-Gelabert ,&nbsp;V. Apostolakou ,&nbsp;T. Brogan ,&nbsp;A. Livarda ,&nbsp;C.H. Sofianou ,&nbsp;J. Soles","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105010","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Analyses of plant macro-remains have recently become important in assessing past landscapes, economy, and society in prehistoric Crete. The present study focuses on the anthracological datasets from Bronze Age sites in eastern Crete. The studied sites are all coastal settlements, namely Mochlos, Papadiokambos, Palaikastro and Chryssi island, located in different natural settings along the northern coast and off the southern coastline. They preserve Middle and Late Minoan phases of variable spatial organization and different socio-economic characteristics. Most of the studied wood charcoal assemblages originate from buildings without evidence of destruction by fire, thus representing firewood debris. The study, therefore, focuses on firewood procurement and consumption patterns. We assess the role of fuel and firewood in the economy as well as the nature of woodlands and their management by Bronze Age communities in eastern Crete. Diversity of woody vegetation types are documented in the different areas. Still, similar firewood provisioning trends are shared between the sites in east Crete, shifting from an important exploitation of wild woodlands in the Middle Minoan towards an intense use of olive management by-products as fuel during the Late Minoan, in accordance with the broader productive model. Firewood provisioning practices are defined for the islet of Chryssi during the Late Minoan related to their geographic and economic particularities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"62 ","pages":"Article 105010"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143160313","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Early Neolithic grinding practices in central Europe: A case study from the LBK micro-region in southwestern Poland","authors":"Bernadeta Kufel-Diakowska,&nbsp;Marcin Chłoń,&nbsp;Aleksandra Gawron-Szymczyk","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105016","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105016","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Macro-lithic stone tools were a part of the so-called Neolithic package introduced by the first farmers north of the Sudety Mountains and Carpathians in the 2nd half of the 6th millennium BCE. In the early communities of the Linear Pottery Culture (LBK) in today’s southwestern Poland, two general traditions are noticed when selecting raw materials for their production. The first tradition is evidenced by axes and adzes made exclusively of metabasite from the Bohemian Massif in Sudety as far as 200 km south. On the other hand, grinding and abrading tools used for processing various products and tool manufacturing were made of locally accessible selected rocks and erratic resources.</div><div>This paper focuses on the production and use of different grinding and abrading tools from the LBK microregion in southwestern Poland (Lower Silesian cluster). The collection consists of 80 implements grouped into a few categories: passive querns and grinding slabs/anvils, active grinders, handstones, hammerstones, grooved abraders and polishers. To study strategies for selecting and processing patterns of locally accessible raw materials, we studied morphometric characteristics and use-wear and residue analysis combined with experimental data. Our research showed that the methods of production and utilisation of grinding and abrading tools in grain processing, edge tools manufacturing and repair, as well as deposition patterns of querns and grinders at the settlements in the Lower Silesian cell, are similar to southern and north-western regions of the LBK occupations. That shows similar technological traditions among the first farmers and their similar patterns of adaptation to the local environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"62 ","pages":"Article 105016"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143160312","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Lead–barium glass production in North China during the Warring States period — Scientific study of square eye beads from a Qin tomb in Xianyang, Shaanxi","authors":"Xingyu Du ,&nbsp;Siyu Sun ,&nbsp;Hanqing Zhao ,&nbsp;Qinggang Geng ,&nbsp;Jianfeng Cui","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105015","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105015","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study presents a scientific analysis of the special square eye beads excavated from a Qin Tomb during the Warring States in Shaanxi province. The results show that all of the beads are composed of lead-barium glass, with low-impurity quartz sand, lead ore, and barium ore (Ba and Na content are positively correlated) serving as the raw materials; all appear to have been made through a winding method with square moulds. Beads of different colours were likely made in the same place. The results of typology and lead isotope analyses indicate that the square eye beads were produced in the Qin Kingdom, demonstrating that, in addition to the Chu State, the more north-westerly Qin Kingdom was also able to produce lead–barium glass during this period. The positive correlation observed between sodium and barium contents should stimulate further study of the source of raw barium materials for lead–barium glass production and the relationship between lead–barium and soda–lime glass during this critical time in Chinese history.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"62 ","pages":"Article 105015"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143160309","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quantification of microwear on experimental shell tools: First results using focus variation microscopy, surface roughness, and multiscale geometric analyses","authors":"Danielle A. Macdonald ,&nbsp;Naomi L. Martisius ,&nbsp;W. James Stemp ,&nbsp;Christopher A. Brown ,&nbsp;Logan Guthrie ,&nbsp;Matthew A. Gleason","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.104986","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.104986","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Archaeologists have increasingly adopted approaches from engineering and materials sciences to quantify the surfaces of artifacts and ecofacts. Different microscope systems and surface texture/roughness parameters have been employed with various degrees of success. Although most studies have focused on chipped stone tools and animal bones, to date there has been no attempt to quantify microwear on shell tools. In this study, focus variation microscopy was used to mathematically document the surfaces on the edges of twelve little neck clam shells in both unused and used conditions. The clam shells were used to scrape a variety of materials, including fresh, greasy bone, untanned leather, and sweet potato (hard vegetable). Microwear was calculated from the surface measurements taken on the used and unused shell edges using multiple ISO parameters, including conventional height parameters and multiscale geometric analysis (relative area; area-scale complexity). The results of this experiment indicate that the quantification of microwear on shell tools is possible and that shell, as a raw material, may present challenges in terms of surface texture/roughness documentation. Discussion of the results includes an assessment of which parameters may be best for distinguishing used from unused shell tool surfaces and the surfaces of shell tools used on different contact materials, and possible problems resulting from post-depositional processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"62 ","pages":"Article 104986"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143160308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Broken pots, unbroken habits? Traces of a special use activity related to pedestalled vessels in Starčevo and post-Starčevo communities","authors":"János Jakucs ,&nbsp;Ákos Ekrik ,&nbsp;Eszter Horváth ,&nbsp;Attila Kreiter ,&nbsp;László Gucsi ,&nbsp;Katarina Botić ,&nbsp;Krisztián Oross ,&nbsp;Tibor Marton","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.104980","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.104980","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The use of ceramic vessels in the western Carpathian Basin was introduced by the first farming communities of the Starčevo culture at the beginning of the 6th millennium BC. The Starčevo pottery is characterized by a consistent technological tradition and design implemented in a fairly uniform manner over a large geographic area. After the turn of the 56th–55th centuries BC, various pottery styles (early Vinča, Raziste, early LBK) were created and homogeneity was replaced by stylistic diversity. Most previous research focusing on ceramics of the Starčevo and post-Starčevo cultural phenomena have predominantly examined the technology and style of the pottery, uncovering many intertwinings between these communities. Use-alteration analysis targeting pottery function and post-production activities, have received less attention so far. The study investigates a specific type of attrition exclusively relating to pedestalled vessels. Similar attritions were identified on pedestal fragments at various Starčevo sites and, more recently, in some post-Starčevo assemblages in southern Hungary and northern Croatia. A systematic analysis from three sites (Alsónyék-Bátaszék, Tolna-Mözs, Szederkény-Kukorica-dűlő) examines the qualitative and quantitative properties of pedestalled vessels. The study highlights the systematic fragmentation of these vessels and, using several examples, investigates whether the attrition occurred during use of the intact vessels or from recycling pedestal fragments. Photogrammetry and optical microscopy was used to document the dimensions and shapes of the attritions, searching for indicators to understand their formation. Both macroscopic and microscopic observations suggest a prolonged, repetitive activity performed with a rotating rod-like tool. Our observations suggest that the same specialized activity was involved with the investigated Starčevo and post-Starčevo pedestalled vessels. This raises intriguing questions not only about the activities leading to the attrition but also regarding the observed differences in its distribution among various post-Starčevo communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"62 ","pages":"Article 104980"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143159697","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Mid Holocene human adaptation at the Ras al Jinz 3 site: The late neolithic to the early bronze age lithics of coastal Oman from a traceological and technological perspective","authors":"Yamandú H. Hilbert ,&nbsp;Ignacio Clemente-Conte ,&nbsp;Alexandre de Rorre ,&nbsp;Valentina M. Azzarà","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104897","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104897","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The south-eastern Arabian coastline, with its diverse habitats and high levels of bio productivity, is characterised by an abundance of archaeological sites spanning from the Neolithic to the Islamic periods. Since the Early Holocene, populations of hunters, fishers, herders, and gatherers developed cultural and behavioural knowledge that allowed them to flourish and endure the climatic fluctuations affecting the region. Here we present the results of the traceological, typological and technological analysis undertaken on a sample of lithic artefacts dating to the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age from the multi occupational site of Ras Al Jinz RJ-3 on the Omani coast. The site presents multiple archaeological horizons, dated by radiocarbon, each associated with stone tools marked by diverging techno-typological and functional patterns, indicating that different activities were performed through the Mid and Late Holocene. During the Late Neolithic (c. 4200–3200 BCE) a high diversity of functional and behavioural patterns was identified. The first part of the Early Bronze Age (EBA) (Hafit period, c. 3200–2600 BCE) is characterized by an increase in diversification and ad-hoc use of stone tools for diverse activities such as cutting, scraping and drilling. Finally, the second part of the EBA (Umm an-Nar period, c. 2600–2000 BCE) shows a strictly task oriented pattern dominated by the manufacture of <em>Conus</em> shell rings. Our results further strengthen the interpretation of the site as being the center of different and specific task activities throughout the Mid-Late Holocene period.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"61 ","pages":"Article 104897"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143146804","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Archaic grinding stone tools in the basin of Mexico. A study through use-wear analysis and micro-residues","authors":"Patricia Pérez-Martínez ,&nbsp;Guillermo Acosta-Ochoa ,&nbsp;Jorge Ezra Cruz-Palma ,&nbsp;Marcos Alejandro Reyes-Armella ,&nbsp;Paloma Domínguez-Zannie","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104909","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104909","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study reevaluates one of the most poorly understood periods in the archaeology of the Basin of Mexico through microscopic functional analysis and residue identification on grinding tools from the San Gregorio, Atlapulco site. To achieve this, experimental work was conducted using various plant species, fruits, and tubers identified via starch analysis, creating a reference catalog for comparison with our archaeological assemblage.</div><div>This approach identified artifacts used for plant processing, revealing starch grains from <em>Ipomoea batatas, Phaseolus vulgaris, Zea mays, Physalis</em> sp.<em>, Capsicum sp</em>., and <em>Dioscorea sp</em>. through residue analysis. Use-wear traces, including pits, micro-striations, and micro-polishes, suggest brief but intense grinding activities on the surface of these materials. These findings indicate that the diet of these societies was based on the collection of plants and lakeshore plain resources, supplemented by the consumption of domesticated plants like maize during a period of climatic improvement preceding the emergence of the earliest ceramics in central Mexico, specifically during the Atlapulco Phase (ca. 4200–3800).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"61 ","pages":"Article 104909"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143146974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The use of statistical tools in the reconstruction of pottery function. A case study from the Middle Copper Age Carpathian Basin","authors":"Zsuzsa Hegedűs ,&nbsp;Attila Kreiter ,&nbsp;Orsolya Viktorik ,&nbsp;László Máté ,&nbsp;András Kalli ,&nbsp;Eszter K. Tutkovics","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104922","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2024.104922","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The traditional, typological approach of pottery analysis is often difficult to apply in the case of prehistoric settlement assemblages, as the material is highly fragmented, which limits the possibility of reconstructing pottery shapes and types. Moreover, recent research trends have started questioning the effectiveness of the methods solely based on classifying individual pieces into predefined types. Due to this, a different approach is proposed: the aim of the present research was to perform a functional reconstruction on a fragmented pottery assemblage by combining statistical methods and considerations about vessel usage. It can be assumed that – besides adhering to sociocultural restrictions – potters designed vessels to fulfil primary practical functions. Therefore, it is verifiably possible to identify these primary functions by analysing the attributes linked to them. The study focuses on the Middle Copper Age Hunyadihalom culture’s (3900–3700 BCE) pottery material from Bükkábrány–Bánya XI/B site, located in the northern part of the Great Hungarian Plain. This approach made it possible to include 92% of all Middle Copper Age sherds in the study (16,506 fragments of 9,150 vessels), thus improving the representativity of the results. The analysis was supplemented by a series of petrographic examinations, shedding some light on the raw material usage of the community. The functional reconstruction reveals not only the composition of pottery sets but also the practical considerations and habits of the potters. Functional reconstruction as a method can look beyond traditional typology: it might shed light on how past people thought about the vessels they used and how they created a pottery set that met all their needs, all within the framework of their cultural and cognitive systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"61 ","pages":"Article 104922"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143146986","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}