Journal of Archaeological Science最新文献

{"title":"Blurred boundaries: Exploring the complexity of the production system at the Luomaqiao kiln in Yuan-dynasty Jingdezhen","authors":"Wenpeng Xu ,&nbsp;Dashu Qin ,&nbsp;Yanjun Weng ,&nbsp;Xianping Gao ,&nbsp;Yu Ding","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106328","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106328","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The conceptual framework of attached and independent production has long shaped archaeological studies of ancient craft organization. While this dichotomy is often regarded as an oversimplification, the nuanced variations within ancient craft production systems remain insufficiently explored. This study addresses the complexities of attached production through a case study of the Luomaqiao kiln site in Yuan-dynasty Jingdezhen (1271–1368 CE) —a state-affiliated workshop that produced high-quality porcelain. By integrating high-resolution compositional analysis (LA-ICP-MS) with archaeological and historical evidence, the study examines raw material selection and use, as well as the associated organizational dynamics. Specifically, it identifies three major porcelain styles—egg-white (<em>luanbai</em>), bluish-white (<em>qingbai</em>), and grayish-green (<em>huiqing</em>) glazed porcelain—each produced with geochemically distinct raw materials, reflecting deliberate choices in sourcing and production strategy. Notably, the <em>luanbai</em> porcelains bearing five-clawed dragon motifs—symbols strictly reserved for imperial use—exhibit exceptional chemical purity and homogeneity, suggesting the possible use of the <em>yutu</em> (imperial clay) as described in historical records. However, this special clay was also employed in the production of ordinary <em>luanbai</em> wares, implying that imperial resources were not strictly confined to official products but circulated more broadly within the kiln system. These findings reveal a production system in which the boundaries between attached and independent modes are blurred, reflecting significant artisan agency within a state-controlled framework. Recognizing the duality and fluidity inherent in Yuan-dynasty porcelain production in Jingdezhen underscores the need for more nuanced frameworks that capture the dynamic interplay between state control and artisan agency, thereby offering broader insights for archaeological interpretations of ancient craft production systems.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"181 ","pages":"Article 106328"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144829233","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":"When less is more: risk, reward and optimisation in Acheulean handaxe manufacture and the impact of skill","authors":"Finn Stileman ,&nbsp;Alastair Key","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106343","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106343","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As the most numerous manifestations of technology across the Palaeolithic record, linking stone tool artefacts to past hominin cognition and expertise represents a major pursuit of human origins researchers. Acheulean handaxes are of special interest as the earliest tools with clear design modalities, along with their presence spanning major evolutionary events of the <em>Homo</em> genus between 1.8 and 0.2 million years ago. Prior knapping experiments have evidenced the prolonged learning-trajectories necessary when replicating later Acheulean biface forms, with novices producing characteristically thick, irregular and asymmetric tools, most similar to early Acheulean assemblages. Here, we track 88 handaxe reductions by expert and novice knappers, detailing discrepancies not only in their final configuration, but in their patterns of change across rough-out and finishing stages. Extensive flaking (past the rough-out stage) improved expert handaxes but led to an accumulation of knapping errors and edge degradation for novices, providing incentive for the latter to adopt conservative flaking strategies. Simply, novice knappers should stop earlier during handaxe-shaping sequences, to maintain working edges and minimise the opportunity for breakages, edge crushing, and other major errors. This scenario presents a conflict between the immediate goals of tool use and long-term trajectories in skill acquisition; risk-aversion can yield short-term benefits but will hinder expansion of the technological repertoire. We suggest that the expertise required to produce bifaces characteristic of the later Acheulean required a greater propensity to incur short-term costs whilst knapping, facilitating long-term benefits in skill development.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"182 ","pages":"Article 106343"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144828961","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":"Traceological analyses of tool marks on western Iberian stelae and their replications: Stones and steel at the end of the Bronze Age","authors":"Ralph Araque Gonzalez ,&nbsp;María-Eugenia Polo ,&nbsp;Pablo Paniego Díaz ,&nbsp;Vera Rammelkammer ,&nbsp;Bastian Asmus ,&nbsp;Michael J. Kaiser ,&nbsp;Alexander Richter ,&nbsp;Giuseppe Vintrici ,&nbsp;Rafael Ferreiro Mählmann","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106340","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106340","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>For the study of carved rock art, particular tool materials can only be meaningfully hypothesized, identified, or excluded by combining traceological analyses with an accurate understanding of the physical-mechanical properties of the carved rock as well as knowledge of the available tool materials from an archaeological, material analytical, and experimental point of view. The aim of this study was to identify the tools that were used during the Final Bronze Age-Early Iron Age transition (c. 1200-550 BC) for the carving of western Iberian stelae by comparing the work traces on originals and replications with the same rock supports and the archaeologically identified tool-set. This was achieved by the traceological-technological study and categorisation of the carved lines and motifs, based on the profile sections of the engravings, on a sample of four western Iberian stelae made from granite-aplite, meta-arkoses, and silicate quartz-arenite. All components were replicated according to petrological and metallurgical analyses. This approach, which is based on 3D-scans in combination with GIS and a thorough evaluation of digital data, material analyses, and archaeological data, will be presented here for the first time. The application of GIS and DEM for the analysis of the profile sections of carved ornaments provided analytical and graphical results from 444 profiles, allowing the classification in six different profile typologies. The most striking result is that silicate quartz-arenites cannot be carved with bronze tools and that lithic tools only left superficial traces that are very different from the original stelae from this lithology. Therefore, this particular material, which represents over 20 % of all stelae, could only be carved with hardened steel chisels, while many granitoid and sedimentary rocks could also be carved with lithic tools.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"181 ","pages":"Article 106340"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144828193","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":"Archaeometallurgical production remains in India: A review","authors":"Meghna Desai,&nbsp;Thilo Rehren","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106333","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106333","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The archaeometallurgical literature on India can be broadly separated into the study of the composition and manufacturing of metal artefacts, the geological provenancing of metal objects primarily using lead isotope abundance ratios, and the study of production technologies as represented by remains related to the smelting and alloying of the metals used; this review covers the latter. Beginning with the early evidence for metallurgical practices in the Indus Valley Civilisation it moves to copper smelting, first in the IVC and then across India. Subsequent sections cover the evidence for bronze working, before summarising the important work on medieval and later zinc and lead-silver production in Western India, and emerging crucible finds in recent excavations across India. The production of iron is ubiquitous, but surprisingly little-studied. Much emphasis is placed on crucible steel research, with northern Telangana a particular region of sustained and fruitful research, and further evidence spread across southern India. Finally, we highlight specific technologies that are particularly understudied, such as gold and silver production and refining, brass making, tin smelting, and the diversity in bloomery iron smelting practices. The importance of long-term, collaborative and in-country based research in order to achieve archaeologically meaningful results is stressed, incorporating theoretical models of data interpretation and social anthropology into the research, highlighting the importance of studies in reverse engineering and <em>chaîne opératoire</em>.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"181 ","pages":"Article 106333"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144810335","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":"Shifty baselines: The landscape factor in archaeological applications of stable carbon and nitrogen isotopes","authors":"D.J. Huisman","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106332","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2025.106332","url":null,"abstract":"The carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) stable isotope systems (expressed as <ce:italic>δ</ce:italic><ce:sup loc=\"post\">13</ce:sup>C and <ce:italic>δ</ce:italic><ce:sup loc=\"post\">15</ce:sup>N values) are used extensively in archaeology to study food chains, diet and subsistence practices. However, the variability of <ce:italic>δ</ce:italic><ce:sup loc=\"post\">13</ce:sup>C and <ce:italic>δ</ce:italic><ce:sup loc=\"post\">15</ce:sup>N values in different types of landscape is often underestimated leading to calls to consider these values in archaeological contexts as isoscapes. I investigate the relation between landscape characteristics and <ce:italic>δ</ce:italic>C<ce:sup loc=\"post\">13</ce:sup> and <ce:italic>δ</ce:italic>N<ce:sup loc=\"post\">15</ce:sup> values in plants and (human and animal) bones, using a dataset of ∼2500 published measurements from modern and past environments in the Netherlands.","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"6 1","pages":"106332"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144897853","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":"Built-in smartphone LiDAR for archaeological and speleological research","authors":"Daniel Antón, Juan Mayoral-Valsera, María Dolores Simón-Vallejo, Rubén Parrilla-Giráldez, Miguel Cortés-Sánchez","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106330","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2025.106330","url":null,"abstract":"LiDAR technology is reshaping cave surveying by providing detailed 3D models that enhance the accuracy of morphological and rock art digitisation and reduce subjective interpretation. This technology, in its varied forms and solely or combined with other remote sensing techniques such as photogrammetry, enriches the documentation and supports multidisciplinary research by enabling spatial analyses and virtual exploration, thus opening new possibilities in various fields such as archaeology, geology, speleology, tourism or education. In this sense, this research aimed to democratise the use of low-cost mobile LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) 3D scanning, subjected to fewer accessibility limitations than tripod-mounted Terrestrial Laser Scanners (TLS), in cave archaeology and speleology. For this purpose, La Pileta Cave in Málaga (Spain) was chosen as a case study. Declared a Spanish National Monument in 1924, the cave boasts one of the greatest collections of prehistoric art in Europe and, therefore, a reference in South Iberia, and outstands out for its varied karstic morphologies. The research methodology involved a systematic process to ensure clarity and accuracy. First, the main itinerary in La Pileta was scanned using the smartphone LiDAR technique. This was followed by a Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) survey of a specific sector within the same itinerary, with numerous morphological details of its karstic environment and important Palaeolithic rock art samples. Both the smartphone LiDAR and TLS spatial data were then validated against a Ground Control Points (GCPs) network previously established using a total station. Given the higher accuracy of TLS for graphical documentation, it was further employed as a benchmark to validate the accuracy of smartphone LiDAR. Despite its limitations, this research revealed smartphone LiDAR as a suitable technique for geometric data recording in cave archaeology and speleology. Solely or combined with TLS, mobile LiDAR can be used to document rock art panels in karstic environments, surpassing the latter technique in terms of texture quality. In addition to the accurate graphic documentation carried out in the cave sector, this research broke down the advantages and disadvantages of the smartphone LiDAR technique and provided a series of recommendations for its use in this context.","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"24 1","pages":"106330"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144897855","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":"Network entropy as a key to the past: A quantitative approach to complex social networks","authors":"Joaquín Jiménez-Puerto, Óscar Trull, Eamonn Devlin","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106329","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2025.106329","url":null,"abstract":"The quantification of adaptive cycles in complex systems remains a significant challenge, particularly in archaeological contexts where traditional approaches rely heavily on qualitative assessments. This paper presents PANARCH (Phase Analysis of Network Adaptive Research &amp; Complex Hierarchies), a methodological framework that integrates four complementary entropy measures—degree, eigenvector, community, and betweenness entropy—to identify and quantify adaptive cycle phases in complex networks. The framework enables systematic detection of phase transitions and provides mathematical signatures for different system states, advancing beyond single-metric analyses. We validate this approach through a detailed case study of archaeological networks from Eastern Iberia (5300-3800 cal BP), analyzing lithic arrowhead similarity patterns across multiple temporal windows. The results reveal structured patterns of social transformation, with entropy variations successfully identifying different phases of the adaptive cycle. PANARCH demonstrates particular utility in archaeological contexts where preservation biases often complicate traditional analyses, while offering broader applications for studying complex system dynamics across disciplines where phase transitions and system reorganization are key concerns.","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"14 1","pages":"106329"},"PeriodicalIF":2.8,"publicationDate":"2025-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144897854","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":"The effect of survivorship bias on archaeological oyster valve size metrics: implications for fisheries baselines","authors":"Neill J. Wallis ,&nbsp;Torben C. Rick ,&nbsp;Cristina I.R. Oliveira ,&nbsp;Alisa Luthra ,&nbsp;Jennifer Green ,&nbsp;Aditi Jayarajan ,&nbsp;Michelle J. LeFebvre","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106335","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106335","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Oysters (Ostreidae) are ecological and cultural keystone species that have been exploited by humans for millennia. Oyster size is a good proxy for population health, and researchers frequently use valve height and length measurements from archaeological and paleontological contexts that provide historical ecological baselines with potential to inform present-day management around the world. Oyster fragmentation in the archaeological record, however, is not commonly considered in studies of oyster size. This study presents the first systematic investigation of the effects of oyster fragmentation on eastern oyster (<em>Crassostrea virginica</em>) size metrics. Oyster assemblages including whole valves, valve fragments with hinges, and valve fragments lacking hinges were analyzed from stratified contexts at two Florida Gulf coast sites, Garden Patch (8DI4) and Calusa Island Midden (8LL45). Through comparisons of weight, height, length, and survival rates of whole valves, and the number and weight of fragmented valves, we show that survivorship bias—the selective preservation of whole valves of specific size ranges—explains significant variation in oyster valve size metrics. In some cases, survivorship bias is the primary driver of whole valve size differences between sampling units, indicating that whole valve samples are not representative of the pre-fragmented population. This conclusion has significant implications for current interpretations of archaeological oyster assemblage valve size as a proxy for past oyster reef health and effects of human predation and management. We suggest several methods for recognizing the confounding effects of survivorship bias in studies of archaeological oyster valve metrics and encourage continued critical evaluation of the archaeology of oyster and other shellfish assemblages and interrogation of their historical ecological implications in the present.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"181 ","pages":"Article 106335"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144772930","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":"Advancing the morphometric analysis of early medieval Slavic pottery: A semi-automated 3D toolset for virtual sections","authors":"Martin Košťál,&nbsp;Vojtěch Nosek,&nbsp;Jiří Macháček","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106314","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106314","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study introduces a semi-automated toolset for the generation of virtual cross-sections from 3D models of hand-made asymmetrical vessels. The toolset is presented through the analysis of early medieval Slavic pottery, with a particular focus on Prague-type ceramics. Developed using both visual and standard programming languages, the toolset extracts key morphometric attributes from 3D scanned pottery, facilitating a detailed analysis. To demonstrate its functionality, the toolset was used on 175 vessels from the Roztoky (CZ) and Přítluky (CZ) sites. For this initial demonstration of data extraction, commonly used morphometric attributes specific to early medieval Slavic pottery in Central Europe were employed, based on modified formulas from established typological systems. This open-source approach offers a fast and accurate solution for pottery analysis, advancing morphometric research in archaeology, especially that based on the automatic extraction of attributes from both 3D models and 2D sections.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"181 ","pages":"Article 106314"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144766437","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":"Beyond Pentelikon: Imported white marbles in Athenian sculptural workshops of the Roman period","authors":"Yannis Maniatis ,&nbsp;Brian Martens ,&nbsp;Dimitris Tambakopoulos","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106336","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106336","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article presents the results of a provenance study of the marbles used for 58 sculptures from the excavations of the Athenian Agora (Greece), including numerous unfinished works. The sculptures were preselected for analysis because they did not match the visual characteristics of local Pentelic marble. All sculptures were studied noninvasively with a standard light source, and measurements of the Maximum Grain Size (MGS), the Most Frequent Grain Size (MFS), and translucency were taken. The sculptures were also analyzed for trace elements, such as strontium (Sr) and manganese (Mn), using a portable X-Ray Fluorescence (pXRF) instrument. Samples were collected from 44 sculptures for laboratory-based analyses, including verification measurements of MGS and MFS under a stereoscopic microscope, qualitative examination of crystalline features of the marbles, and Isotopic Ratio Mass Spectroscopy (IRMS) for measurements of the stable isotopes of carbon and oxygen. The results show that a range of imported white marbles were being carved in local Athenian workshops during the Roman period (1st century BCE to 3rd century CE), including marbles from Thasos (5 sculptures), Paros (as many as 16 sculptures), and Afyon, near Dokimeion in Phrygia (as many as 33 sculptures). Marble from Göktepe, near Aphrodisias in Caria, is also identified (3 or 4 sculptures), but it is present only among the finished works. This study highlights the extensive material networks to which ancient Athens belonged and underscores the importance of interdisciplinary methodologies, integrating archaeometry, archaeology, and art history, for reconstructing the artistic practices and aesthetic desires of past communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"181 ","pages":"Article 106336"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-08-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144766438","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}