Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports最新文献

{"title":"Hydrological staging of a second carved shelter in the Paris basin: emergence of new Palaeolithic symbols","authors":"Médard Thiry ,&nbsp;Anthony Milnes ,&nbsp;Marie Nieves Liron ,&nbsp;Marie-Claude Auffret","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105349","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105349","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A second female sexual figuration has been found in a cramped cavity shelter in a quartzitic sandstone megaclast at Courdimanche, some 10 km from that recently described in the La Ségognole 3 shelter at Noisy-sur-Ecole. As in the latter, modifications to the quartzitic sandstone hosting the figuration had been undertaken to deliver water flows on demand, presumably to enhance its ‘power’. The Courdimanche figuration is a spectacular, annular, essentially natural structure with a sandstone protrusion at its centre. The encompassing shelter is engraved with a large motif of neat and deep grooves which evoke a phallus and several smaller convergent grooves evoking vulvar features: almost all point to the annulus.</div><div>The proximity of the Courdimanche shelter to the La Ségognole shelter, both featuring modifications that enhance natural structures to form a sexual figuration, is noteworthy. The two sites are likely to have a cultural link (technological and possibly also spiritual) and thereby the same Magdalenian age as that attributed to the Ségognole 3 shelter by the style of the horse engraving associated with the sexual feature. Staging the sexual figuration by hydrological modifications, as at Ségognole 3, connects femininity with water. This is fundamentally different from the engraved or sculpted static Palaeolithic feminine representations throughout southwestern Europe. We explore a territorial cultural identity that links water to the symbol of fertility: a semiological change that could indicate changes in the socio-economic functioning of regional groups.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"67 ","pages":"Article 105349"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144889469","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":"Mobility of Scandinavian commodities in the Middle Ages and modern period: identification of Norwegian whetstones in northern France, Belgium and the Netherlands","authors":"Paul Picavet ,&nbsp;Roland Dreesen ,&nbsp;Thomas Goovaerts ,&nbsp;Thierry Leduc ,&nbsp;Fien Naessens ,&nbsp;Timo G. Nijland ,&nbsp;Sibrecht Reniere ,&nbsp;Éric Goemaere","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105360","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105360","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The sampling of several series of whetstones from medieval sites in the northern quarter of France and Belgium has revealed the (omni-)presence of specimens originating from Norway. This origin, assumed by macroscopic observation of the rocks, has been verified by previously unpublished EDS analyses acquired using the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). The rock is a fine ash-grey to green-grey micaceous quartz schist, rich in flakes of muscovite, chlorite and biotite, sometimes extending as far as the green-tinted quartz mica schist. The phyllosilicates bear a signature that ascertains their identification.</div><div>The first Norwegian whetstones appeared in Western Europe with the arrival of the Vikings in the late 8th − 9th centuries, and the same supply seems to have lasted throughout the Middle Ages and the modern era. The production area of these whetstones is well known in the county of Telemark in Norway, where the exploitation of multiple quarries began in the Iron Age and ended around 1950.</div><div>This study distinguishes Eidsborg stone from the macroscopically similar Mostadmarka stone, which crops out in the Caledonides region of western Norway and supplied whetstones from the 8th to the 11th century. The latter material appears to be absent from our collections, whereas the Eidsborg quarries supplied the French-Belgian region. These observations are in line with those made over the last decades around the North Sea basin, and illustrate that its southern part was connected to the same trading system. These discoveries shed light on an underestimated part of the medieval economy and reveal an exceptionally long-lived trading circuit.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"67 ","pages":"Article 105360"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144886976","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":"Petrographic chert characterization of Suwannee projectile points from Florida and implications for hunter-gatherer mobility during the Younger Dryas","authors":"Adam M. Burke","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105359","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105359","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Toolstone provenance studies in the southeastern United States have historically been used to reconstruct past human behavior using a variety of methodological approaches. For over 40 years, the Quarry Cluster Method of chert provenance has been the prevailing method for characterizing Florida cherts with the goal of informing our archaeological understanding of past human landscape use, mobility, and technological organization. While the Quarry Cluster Method is a robust comparative petrographic approach, it has seen only minimal use for late Pleistocene diagnostic artifacts. This study builds upon the initial contributions of the Quarry Cluster Method by presenting the results of new raw-material surveys from northern Florida and southern Georgia, as well as new petrographic descriptions for 265 chert samples from 74 localities in Alabama, Florida and Georgia. These new data are then compared to 163 Younger Dryas-age Suwannee projectile points from three disparate project areas in northern Florida. The results of this chert provenance study shed light on a broad trend of chert conveyance and overlapping landscape use at key localities in northern Florida, most especially in areas that may have provided access to surface water during the arid Younger Dryas. This case study is placed in the broader context of late Pleistocene and early Holocene mobility studies in Florida and the greater Southeast, and a pattern of water-focused landscape use is informed and supported through chert provenance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"67 ","pages":"Article 105359"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144886974","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":"Wood from the 4th − 7th century CE in Kuča Caves in Xinjiang, China: Past vegetation and preliminary wood utilization","authors":"Fan Yang ,&nbsp;Lihui Miao ,&nbsp;Ji Wang ,&nbsp;Xin Yan ,&nbsp;Anaerguli aobulikasimu ,&nbsp;Yin Jia","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105356","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105356","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Taitai’er Grottoes and Mazabha Grottoes are integral components of the Kuča Caves，and the date of the caves were from the 3^th to 9^th century CE. To investigate how monks utilized wood during this period and to analyze the climate and vegetation characteristics of that era, we conducted a systematic identification of 58 wood samples found in fireplaces, wooden architectural components, and woodware within the two caves using dendrological identification methods. Five species of wood were identified: <em>Populus</em> sp. (poplar) , <em>Salix</em> sp. (willow) , <em>Hippophae</em> sp. (sea-buckthorn) ,<em>Morus</em> sp. (mulberry) , and <em>Elaeagnus</em> sp.(elaeagnus).</div><div>Based on the archaeological context of these samples, it is inferred that <em>Populus</em> sp. and <em>Salix</em> sp. species were more extensively utilized. These woods may have served as fuel, for constructing dwellings, and making for crafting daily utensils, which was because of their wood properties. Archaeological investigations further reveal that both caves were situated near rivers,which were favorable conditions for the growth for <em>Populus</em> sp. and <em>Salix</em> sp.. It could be inferred that these wood in the caves were collected by monks locally. Although the number of wood samples discovered is relatively limited, by integrating existing climatic research findings and historical literature records about this area, we deduce that the climate during this period fluctuated between cold and warm phases, while the vegetation surrounding the sites predominantly consisted of <em>Populus</em> sp., <em>Salix</em> sp. and some shrubs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"67 ","pages":"Article 105356"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144865579","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":"Plant and animal molecules non previously identified in Maya mural paintings: First results from Acanceh","authors":"Jorge Martínez Sales ,&nbsp;Gloria Ivonne Hernández-Bolio ,&nbsp;Emanuel Hernández Núñez ,&nbsp;Claudia Ocampo Flores ,&nbsp;Patricia Quintana Owen ,&nbsp;Maria Luisa Vázquez de Ágredos Pascual ,&nbsp;Cristina Vidal Lorenzo","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105348","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105348","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The debate regarding the Maya painting technique has been extensive since its discovery. Initially, due to their similarity to the Pompeian frescoes, these paintings were mistakenly referred to as “Maya fresco wall paintings”. However, archaeometry studies applied to the knowledge of pre-Hispanic Maya murals have frequently detected organic binders, which indicates that Maya painters mainly applied dry techniques in their development. But what organic binders did these artists use for this purpose? After many decades of optimizing physicochemical protocols to detect them, the results are only conclusive for a few plant-based binders. Previous analytical methods applied for other authors (<span><span>Magaloni, 1998a, 2001</span></span>; <span><span>Vázquez de Ágredos Pascual, 2006; Guasch-Ferré, 2016; Guasch-Ferré et al., 2019</span></span>) have ranged from stratigraphic observation using optical microscopy to more advanced techniques focusing mainly on plant-derived sugars. This article describes the results obtained by applying a methodology for the extraction of medium polarity organic components using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC–MS) to Maya mural paintings. This methodology has identified new molecules suggesting plant and animal origin in mural paintings remains from Acanceh, dating from the Late Classis Period (ca. 600–900). These results not only provide new evidence on pictorial binders, but also invite replication of this study on other murals from the Maya area to expand our knowledge of painting technique of these works, which are of great interest to archaeology, art history, conservation and restoration sciences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"67 ","pages":"Article 105348"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144860445","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":"Geographic insularity and intra-lifetime mobility in Late Intermediate Period (ca. 1000 – 1450 CE) Arequipa, Peru determined from 87Sr/86Sr isobiographies","authors":"Beth K. Scaffidi ,&nbsp;Justin Jennings ,&nbsp;Tiffiny A. Tung ,&nbsp;Gwyneth Gordon ,&nbsp;Kelly J. Knudson","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105355","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105355","url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Objectives</h3><div>This study examines mobility adaptations to a time of sociopolitical tumult in the ancient Andes. We examine ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr variability in human burials (n = 21) dating to the Late Intermediate Period (“LIP,” <em>ca.</em> 1100 – 1450 CE) in the Sihuas Valley, Arequipa, Peru. The LIP in the southern and central Peruvian Andes is characterized as a time of drought, inter-community violence, and balkanization. Grave goods reflect ties to the nearby highlands, so we examine whether any Quilcapampa burials were non-locals and characterize their intra-lifetime mobility.</div></div><div><h3>Materials and Methods</h3><div>We report ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values from tooth enamel samples (n = 35) reflecting residential origins during three distinct periods during early-life, and bone (n = 12) reflecting origins averaged over the last years of life. We use ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isobiographies to identify individuals who were likely non-local to Quilcapampa at some point in their lifetimes. Because there are no extreme outliers, we define the cumulative local range as mean ±2σ of archaeological human samples, extended by the range of water ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr within 10 km. We determine the proportion of probable non-locals and compare this and intra-lifetime mobility within Quilcapampa subgroups and between neighboring sites.</div></div><div><h3>Results</h3><div>Two males from the northern sector exhibit non-local ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values, and the northern sector has a higher mean intra-lifetime ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr range than the southern sector. Only 4.5% of burials exhibit non-local ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values at some point in their lifetimes—higher than contemporaneous highland sites, but low mid-elevation Arequipa valleys. Quilcapampa, however, shows a higher mean intra-lifetime ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr range compared to neighboring mid-valley sites, possibly reflecting adaptive short-term mobility.</div></div><div><h3>Conclusion</h3><div>Mobility for Quilcapampa individuals was likely constrained to nearby mid-valley communities and highlands, rather than long-distance travel. Immigrants likely leveraged pre-existing intra-regional mobility networks between neighboring valleys with similar geological characteristics.</div></div><div><h3>Tweetable Summary</h3><div>⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isobiographies show limited intra-lifetime mobility in LIP Sihuas Valley, Peru.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"67 ","pages":"Article 105355"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144852224","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":"Taphonomy of the Kraków Spadzista (Late Gravettian) mammoth killing and butchering site","authors":"Piotr Wojtal ,&nbsp;Gary Haynes ,&nbsp;Jarosław Wilczyński ,&nbsp;Krzysztof Sobczyk ,&nbsp;Janis Klimowicz","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105320","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105320","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Kraków Spadzista (Poland) is an important Late Gravettian site that is unusual because of its direct evidence of mammoth hunting, its enormous amount of mammoth remains, and its separate zones of different human activities. Excavations have been conducted at the site from 1968 until the present day. Nearly 400 sq. m. of the site have been studied. Earlier analysis of the archaeological and osteological materials revealed that three distinct activity zones are present as parts of a single large site. These include a camp area where domestic activities were conducted, a workshop and animal processing area, and a large accumulation of mammoth remains. This article presents the results of zooarchaeological and taphonomic studies of all osteological material from all trenches excavated between 1968 and 2017. During the course of the fieldwork a total of ∼119,000 mammal remains were discovered, belonging to 16 species (including rodents and other mammals). Some osteological materials were studied for the first time and other materials were subjected to a second round of examination and analysis. The abundant remains of woolly mammoth (<em>Mammuthus primigenius</em>) (MNI = 113) and Arctic fox (<em>Vulpes lagopus</em>) (MNI = 35) represent a significant majority of the total faunal remains. It is inferred that the mammoths were killed very near or within the area of accumulated bones and teeth, where they were dismembered and butchered. The hunters did not adhere to a strict age-based selection of mammoths for killing and may have opportunistically selected mammoths of varying ages as prey, along with a few individuals of other taxa. Mammoth ribs with embedded lithic fragments presumed to be from weapon points are direct evidence of killing rather than scavenging. The meat-removal and dismembering of carcasses of just killed animals is evidenced by cut marks on various mammoth bones and cut marks on a reindeer tibia. The presence of burned bones suggests the utilisation of mammoth long limb bones as fuel in hearths or cooking fires. Gravettian people did not remain at the site year-round and temporarily left after several weeks or months. After they had departed, the site was visited by animals attracted to scavengeable remains during the spring and summer. Although the mammoth bones likely had been stripped of most meat by Gravettian butchers, carnivores gnawed on remnant soft tissue and the nearly fresh bones. Additionally, the site was utilised by raptors, probably nesting Snowy owls which regurgitated pellets or casts containing remains of rodent prey, which became incorporated into the site sediments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"67 ","pages":"Article 105320"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144842069","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":"Mining tools from the prehistoric quarries in Serra Llarga (NE Iberia): Preliminary results from lithological and techno-morphological approaches","authors":"Xavier Terradas ,&nbsp;David Ortega ,&nbsp;Clara Fernández ,&nbsp;Arnau Minguell ,&nbsp;Carlos Rodríguez-Rellán ,&nbsp;Rafel Rosillo ,&nbsp;Carles Roqué","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105361","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105361","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Montvell quarries form an archaeological site specialized in the procurement of flint nodules for the production of knapped lithic tools. Excavations and studies carried out so far suggest exploitation based on the recurrence of discrete episodes throughout the Mesolithic and Neolithic. These quarries are not an isolated case, since the surveys carried out along the entire 12 km length of Serra Llarga mountain range have allowed us to record more than 100 quarry faces. The similarity of their formal characteristics and the type of associated mining tools lead us to propose a prehistoric chronology for the entire quarrying operation. All these discoveries highlight the importance of this mining complex in the supply of flint in the Iberian northeast throughout prehistory.</div><div>During a survey carried out in the 2020 fieldwork season we recovered a significant number of mining tools (n = 50), both on the surface and associated with quarry faces located within the area studied archaeologically. The blanks of these tools are cobbles, without any type of modification, obtained from alluvial deposits outcropping near the slopes of Serra Llarga. The choice of blanks was based on their lithology, weight and morphology. Their lithologies correspond to tenacious materials, mainly quartzite, as well as other metamorphic, igneous and sedimentary rocks.</div><div>A first morphotechnical approach reveals that there are no perceptible differences among the tools according to their shape and weight.</div><div>Although there is certain diversity in their weight, they are presented ordered, without significant groupings that would allow us to establish types of tools based on discontinuities. Bearing in mind the extremes, it could be established that some may be regarded as heavy sledgehammers linked to the hard work of dismantling the calcareous strata that contain the flint nodules, whereas others could correspond to hammerstones used to remove limestone remains adhering to the surface of flint nodules, to test them, or in preliminary knapping operations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"67 ","pages":"Article 105361"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144842039","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":"First technological approach to a late Holocene pottery assemblage from the Marshill site in the Eastern Cape, South Africa","authors":"A. Dorado-Alejos ,&nbsp;F. Lander ,&nbsp;P. de la Peña","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105358","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105358","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Marshill rockshelter is an archaeological site in the Stormberg, in the foothills of the Maloti-Drakensberg mountain range. Between 2020 and 2024, we conducted a series of small test trench excavations to establish a chronostratigraphic framework and to begin the analysis of cultural material recovered from the deposits. This paper offers a preliminary analysis of a small but crucial ceramic collection that was uncovered during the excavations from 2020 to 2023. In this assemblage, we have identified surface strategies (smoothing, spatulating and burnishing), the use of kilns with controlled atmospheres, two main modelling methods (coils and moulding), and three types of textural classes that coincide with three thin section fabrics. In the context of southern African archaeology, some of the characteristics identified for Marshill’s pottery assemblage find similarities with other excavated sites in the broader region (e.g., vegetal matter in some of Marshill’s sherds).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"67 ","pages":"Article 105358"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144842038","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":"Prehispanic Maya dental inlays in teeth with open apices: Implications for age of cultural practices","authors":"Marco Ramírez-Salomón ,&nbsp;Estuardo Mata-Castillo ,&nbsp;María Beatriz Monsreal-Peniche ,&nbsp;Camilo Luin ,&nbsp;Héctor Klee-Bueso ,&nbsp;Andrea Cucina ,&nbsp;Elma Vega-Lizama","doi":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105353","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105353","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The present study analyzes three permanent Prehispanic anterior teeth (one maxillary left central incisor, one maxillary right canine, and one mandibular left lateral incisor) belonging to individuals in the (pre)adolescent 7- to 10-year-old age range sporting one circular jade inlay each in the buccal side of the crown. They are currently part of the skeletal collection housed at the Popol Vuh Museum of the Francisco Marroquin University in Guatemala. Age at death was determined by the degree of root formation. Along with gross morphoscopic inspection, each tooth was analyzed by means of X-ray and Cone Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) to inspect the tooth’s inner structure and pulpal chamber. X-rays and CBCTs confirmed that the roots were still forming, validating the morphoscopic estimation of such young ages at death. More important, they highlighted dentine reactions in the roof of the three pulpal chambers. The physiological responses to the mechanical stress exerted on the teeth from the drilling process show that the individuals were still alive when the jade inlays were embedded in their teeth. This finding contrasts with previous bioarchaeological evidence that suggests the process of inlaying teeth was performed only in individuals close to adult age (18–20 years) and raises questions on the extent to which this cultural practice was indeed limited to adults among the ancient Mayas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":48150,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science-Reports","volume":"67 ","pages":"Article 105353"},"PeriodicalIF":1.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144842036","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}