Journal of Archaeological Science最新文献

{"title":"The emergence, development, and impact of prehistoric agriculture on the Tibetan plateau","authors":"Jishuai Yang ,&nbsp;Yu Gao ,&nbsp;Xiaoyan Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106216","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106216","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Tibetan Plateau, the highest region in the world, presents significant challenges for human survival due to its extreme environment characterized by hypoxia, low temperatures, intense radiation, and limited food resources. The formation and development of agriculture (including crop cultivation and livestock husbandry) on the Tibetan Plateau reflect human adaptation to high-altitude environments. In the past decade, in addition to traditional archaeobotany and zooarchaeology based on morphological studies, analyses of stable carbon and nitrogen isotope, lipid, ancient DNA, and ancient sedimentary DNA have been employed to investigate the history of agricultural development on the Tibetan Plateau, resulting in a series of new findings. Based on comprehensive analyses of flora and fauna remains, along with a database of archaeological radiocarbon dates, we summarize the evolution and impacts of prehistoric agriculture on the Tibetan Plateau as follows. (1) The development of agriculture can be divided into three phases: millet agriculture, mixed millet-barley-wheat agriculture, and barley-wheat agriculture. (2) Crops from the East and the West spread via the “Plateau Road.” (3) The sequential emergence of millet and barley-wheat agriculture triggered two significant waves of human exploitation of the high-elevation regions. This is evidenced by the onset of sedentism in the lower-elevation river valleys (1500–3000 masl) initiated by intensive millet agriculture, followed by the expansion of settlements into higher altitudes (&gt;3000 masl) facilitated by barley-wheat agriculture. Future research directions may focus on several key areas: the adaptation processes of introduced domesticates (including crops and livestock such as cattle, sheep, goats, and horses) to high-altitude environments, the local domestication of yak and Chenopodium, and the impacts of introduced crops and domestic animals on both human societies and alpine ecosystems. These investigations could be advanced through increased archaeological work and the application of cutting-edge methods, particularly ancient DNA and ancient sedimentary DNA analyses.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106216"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143785299","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Modeling maize-based carrying capacities and population pressure in prehispanic central Panama","authors":"C. Adam Berrey","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106208","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106208","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Few realms of archaeological research are as fraught with potential error as the study of prehistoric population pressure. Much of this error stems from the challenges involved in making prehistoric population and carrying capacity estimates, both of which are conceptually complex and entail numerous assumptions and relatively wide error ranges. But overcoming these challenges is well worth the effort, as it allows archaeologists to push beyond traditional lines of inquiry into the diverse range of ways that population pressure can impact human societal development. Leaving aside for the moment the many important issues involved in making prehistoric population estimates (issues that have been addressed elsewhere in the archaeological literature), this paper builds on the conceptual advancements that have been made in the anthropological literature on estimating carrying capacities and puts them to use in the analytical realm. A model is developed for estimating maize-based carrying capacities in prehispanic central Panama, which is then used to assess population pressure among early complex societies. This assessment reveals patterns that run counter to traditional models of population pressure and complex society development and urge further analytical exploration. The model developed here for estimating maize productivity can be adapted and applied to other regions, especially those where data on prehistoric maize productivity (such as prehistoric cob lengths) is limited or non-existent.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106208"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143783543","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Provenance study of the official architectural glazed tiles of Wudang Mountain in the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 CE): Insights from Wulong Palace and Laojun Hall","authors":"Jiahui Zhang ,&nbsp;Guofeng Wei ,&nbsp;Yuhu Kang","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106221","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106221","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Wudang Mountain ancient building complexes were royal Taoist buildings during the Ming Dynasty, comprising over 20,000 structures. The question of whether the architectural glazed tiles in huge demand were transported from other regions or produced locally reflects the organizational system of glazed tile production and the supply of raw materials in royal architectural engineering. Glazed tiles from Wulong Palace and Laojun Hall were analyzed, using WDXRF, HR-ICP-MS, and TIMS to characterize both the major, minor, and trace elements of the body and the lead isotope ratios of the glaze layer. The results exclude the possibility that the studied glazed tile samples originate from the Pangwan Kiln (an official glazed tile supplier for Wudang Mountain). Furthermore, when compared with glazed tile data from the Ming Dynasty imperial capitals and official kilns, it is clear that these reference samples do not share the same origin as those of Wulong Palace and Laojun Hall. Lead isotope analysis suggests that the lead used for Wulong Palace and Laojun Hall likely originated from western Hubei. This exploratory study contributes to revealing the organizational system and lead supply network of imperial engineering in the Ming Dynasty while providing a reference for the future restoration of Ming architecture.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106221"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143783544","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Assemblage first: Using provenance methods to understand 38,000 years of ochre use at Gledswood Shelter 1, Woolgar Country (northwest Queensland), Australia","authors":"Jillian Huntley ,&nbsp;Brandi L. MacDonald ,&nbsp;Woolgar Aboriginal Cooperation ,&nbsp;Kathryn Fitzsimmons ,&nbsp;Lynley A. Wallis","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106210","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106210","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Like stone artefacts, ochres (Earth mineral pigments) are durable, surviving from deep time archaeological contexts across the globe, leaving lasting records of the lifeways of those people who gathered and used them. However, unlike stone tools, variation between ochres is not always obvious. Ochres that look the same in colour and texture may have been gathered from distinct or disparate locations. Scientific analyses (such as trace element chemistry) are therefore required to be able to differentiate ochre sources, providing insights into the interactions of past peoples with their landscapes and each other. To date, most ochre provenance investigations have extrapolated archaeological patterns from the physicochemical analysis of few artefacts. This is especially true in Australia. Here, we describe patterns of ochre use through the 38,000-year occupation sequence at Gledswood Shelter 1 in Woolgar Country (what is now northwest Queensland). Using an analytic mainstay of sourcing studies, neutron activation analysis, we were able to geochemically characterise all suitable ochre artefacts, analysing 61 % of the assemblage to define patterns in procurement and use from prior to and throughout the Last Glacial Maximum, up until the recent past. Our findings demonstrate that valuable, otherwise unattainable, archaeological insights are generated through the application of provenance methods to archaeological ochre assemblages, regardless of their comparison to known or potential raw source materials. Ochre procurement and use at Gledswood Shelter 1 are discussed in the context of models of Pleistocene human population dispersal and Holocene social reorganisation in semi-arid, tropical northern Australia.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106210"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143776472","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Material characterisation of the Neo-Assyrian writing boards from Nimrud","authors":"Diego Tamburini ,&nbsp;Joanne Dyer ,&nbsp;Francesco Palmas ,&nbsp;Caroline Cartwright ,&nbsp;Jonathan Taylor ,&nbsp;Rebecca Stacey","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106218","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106218","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The writing boards excavated from Nimrud (modern Iraq) represent the first material evidence of cuneiform writing on wax. Scientific investigations conducted in the 1950s identified the yellowish writing paste as a mixture of beeswax and orpiment (As₂S₃), with the boards possibly made from walnut (<em>Juglans regia</em>). Advances in analytical techniques and further archaeological discoveries of writing boards have renewed interest in these artifacts and their materiality. This study re-examines some board fragments in the British Museum using Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry with <em>in situ</em> silylation (Py(HMDS)-GC-MS) and gas chromatography coupled to quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-QToF-MS) for the characterisation of the organic components of the wax paste. Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used for pigment and wood species identification, respectively. The results confirmed that the yellow paste is composed of beeswax mixed with orpiment. The wax components are particularly well preserved, and no organic additives were detected. GC-QToF-MS detected traces of wax even from areas of the boards where no visual evidence of wax survived. Charred vegetable matter, consistent with the use of a carbon black pigment, suggests that writing boards with a grey/black colour, relatively common in Greek and Roman practices, were also produced in the Middle East. The wood was confirmed to be walnut, which is native to Southwest Asia. As no ancient Near Eastern recipe for wax writing boards has come to light so far, the information gathered is key to better understand this ancient practice, ground this knowledge in scientific evidence and enhance the contextualisation of wooden writing boards in the Middle East and beyond.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106218"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143776473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Written in ‘her’ bones: Cremation and identity in Roman Beirut","authors":"Vana Kalenderian ,&nbsp;Tim J.U. Thompson ,&nbsp;Deandra De Looff ,&nbsp;Alexander P.H. Surtees ,&nbsp;Geoff M. Nowell ,&nbsp;Georges El Haibe ,&nbsp;Assaad Seif","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106153","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106153","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>At the time of its annexation in the 1st c. BC, cremation was not a customary practice in the Roman province of Syria. This contrasts with the western provinces of the Empire, where burning the body for burial remained the method of choice until the turn of the 2nd c. AD. As such, the discovery of cremation burials in the Roman Near East raises questions about the identities and origins of the buried individuals. This article focuses on one such example from Berytus, the first Roman colony in the Near East (modern Beirut, Lebanon). It implements a multidisciplinary approach through osteological, chemical, and material analyses to explore various aspects of mortuary practice and identity. Osteological and isotopic results indicate that the buried individual was likely a female of non-local origin. On the other hand, FTIR-ATR analysis, along with the macroscopic examination of the bones, suggest the burning of a fresh body at elevated temperatures. Furthermore, exceptional environmental conditions led to the formation of calcite crystals within the urn and on the human remains, which were identified using Raman spectroscopy. Similarly, unique burial conditions resulted in the preservation of textile pseudomorphs, which offer rare insights into body treatment practices that are typically absent from the archaeological record of the Levantine coast. By contextualizing the different bioarchaeological and material findings, this study reconstructs the life-history of the interred individual and examines the social and cultural significance of this burial within the context of the Roman colonization of Beirut.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"177 ","pages":"Article 106153"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143768844","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"An experimental archaeological project in recreating an ancient bronze naval ram","authors":"Stephen DeCasien ,&nbsp;Christopher Dostal ,&nbsp;Glenn Grieco","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106217","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106217","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ancient bronze naval rams were a weapon used in Mediterranean naval warfare to destroy, swamp, or sink enemy vessels for nearly a millennium (c. 500 BCE–500 CE). This study utilized experimental archaeological methods to reconstruct a ram using shipbuilding and casting techniques reflective of those from Greek and Roman cultures. This project represents the first successful casting of a ram in over 1500 years, informed by textual, iconographic, and archaeological evidence. The findings challenge the prevailing assumption that rams were manufactured using sand-casting or indirect lost-wax casting techniques. Instead, this study supports the theory that rams were produced using the direct lost-wax casting method, employing standardized processes that were customized to accommodate the specific dimensions of each ship and the required ram size. Furthermore, this experimental project provides critical insights into the process, labor, time, and materials required for ram production, offering a deeper understanding of the socioeconomic dimensions of naval warfare in the ancient Mediterranean.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106217"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-04-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143768972","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Metaproteomic approaches to ancient foodways: A review","authors":"Miranda Evans","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106211","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106211","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Proteomic approaches to understanding ancient foodways have rapidly expanded in recent years, addressing diverse questions, regions and sample types. Proteins are well placed to explore questions of ancient food given that they can sometimes provide tissue and taxonomically specific ingredient detections and can be resistant to degradation into archaeological timescales. Here I review the development of protein studies of ancient foodways, and current and future research agendas. The development of protein-based approaches to ancient foodways is reviewed, spanning early amino-acid and immunological approaches to residues on stone tools and pottery, then shifting to a discovery based “shotgun” approach. The sample types that have yielded proteomic insights into ancient food are outlined, including stone tools and pottery and their residues, well preserved food remains, dental calculus and other organic remains. Finally, the current research agendas are laid out, including understanding the biases which impact protein preservation, optimising extraction and data analysis pipelines for ancient samples, and implementing multi-method approaches. Suggestions for future studies include further development and refinement of ancient protein authentication and screening approaches, and a focus on benchmarking expected protein results from a diverse range of experimental studies of intentional actions such as food preparation practices and incidental taphonomic factors, the results of which will inform expected preservation and provide a basis of archaeological interpretations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106211"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143726239","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Cumulative Interaction Path Analysis for Santo Domingo Tonaltepec, Mixteca Alta, Mexico","authors":"Antonio Martínez Tuñón,&nbsp;Verónica Pérez Rodríguez","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106215","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106215","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We present a Cumulative Interaction Path Analysis (CIPA) that combines a Least Cost Path (LCP) analysis with a gravitational principle of political interaction to examine the development of a peripheral area in relation to a peer polity system and its changes through time. We performed this analysis on a large settlement pattern database of pre-Hispanic sites in the Mixteca Alta region of Mexico, centered on the modern-day pottery-making community of Santo Domingo Tonaltepec. The results of the analysis suggest that in early periods Tonaltepec was relatively isolated from the larger network and in later times it became an important node between polities. This change related not so much to Tonaltepec itself, but to changes in the relative importance of the polities that developed around it. This supports the idea that the locational advantages of a site are dependent on the broader interaction network and the political developments that occur at larger scales. Our methods and results are significant not only in understanding the historical trajectory of this corner of the world but also serves as a case study on how to approach broader processes in other world regions where large settlement-pattern databases exist.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106215"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143726240","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Multi-proxy approaches in Archaeobotany: Botanical reconstruction of ancient gardens from a Mediterranean perspective","authors":"Dafna Langgut","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106209","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106209","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Over the past two decades, the field of garden archaeology has expanded significantly in both temporal and spatial scopes, moving beyond its initial focus on the gardens of the Vesuvius region. These early Roman gardens, remarkably well-preserved, feature the first instances where garden soils were treated as archaeological artifacts. This innovative approach laid the groundwork for the study of ancient gardens in subsequent decades. The developments of this discipline in recent years are largely attributable to advancements in archaeobotanical techniques and the incorporation of new methodologies. This paper seeks to review the current knowledge of archaeobotanical methods used to identify ornamental plants cultivated in ancient gardens. The most efficient techniques involve microbotanical proxies such as palynology and phytolith analysis, as well as the study of macrobotanical remains, including wood, charcoal, seeds, and fruits. For each type of archaeobotanical method, this paper will explore sampling strategies, identification possibilities, data interpretation, and associated strengths and limitations. The article demonstrates that employing multiple archaeobotanical techniques enhances the accuracy and comprehensiveness of the resulting list of ornamental plants. Once such a list is established, it can be integrated with other evidence, such as root cavities, to reconstruct garden designs and identify gardening trends, including the use of exotic species or practices such as dwarfing trees and shrubs. Additionally, the suggested list of ornamental plants can help reconstruct the sensory experience of ancient gardens, considering the plants' colors, scents, and possible soundscapes. This sensory analysis is further enriched by examining the surrounding environment, the garden's visual communication, and its features, including walls, fountains, channels, pools, and statues. This review paper primarily focuses on the ancient gardens of the Mediterranean and the Near East, but the approaches discussed and the conclusions drawn are applicable to ancient gardens worldwide. Prospects of the discipline are also given.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"178 ","pages":"Article 106209"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143706284","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}