Journal of Archaeological Science最新文献

{"title":"Deep learning-based detection of qanat underground water distribution systems using HEXAGON spy satellite imagery","authors":"Nazarij Buławka ,&nbsp;Hector A. Orengo ,&nbsp;Iban Berganzo-Besga","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106053","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106053","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Qanats are a remarkable type of ancient hydraulic structure for sustainable water distribution in arid environments that use subterranean channels to transport water from highland or mountainous areas. The presence of the qanat system is marked by a line of regularly spaced shafts visible from the surface, which can be used to detect qanats using satellite imagery. Typically, qanats have been documented by field mapping or manual digitisation within a Geographic Information System (GIS) environment. This process is time-consuming due to the numerous shafts within each qanat line. However, several automated methods for detecting qanat structures have been explored, using techniques such as morphological filters, custom convolutional neural networks (CNN) and, more recently, YOLOv5 and Mask R-CNN. These approaches used high-resolution RGB images and CORONA images. However, the use of black and white CORONA in CNNs has been limited in its applicability due to a high rate of false positives.</p><p>This paper explores the potential of YOLOv9 in processing the black and white HEXAGON (KH-9) high-resolution spy satellite system launched in 1971. Two areas in Afghanistan (Maiwand) and Iran (Gorgan Plain) were selected to train the system images extracted from HEXAGON imagery and artificial synthetic data. The training dataset was augmented using the Albumentation library, which increased the number of tiles used. The model was tested using two types of HEXAGON imagery for selected areas in Afghanistan (Maiwand), Iran (Gorgan Plain) and Morocco (Rissani), and CORONA imagery in Iran (Gorgan Plain).</p><p>Our study provided a model capable of predicting the location of qanat shafts with a precision of over 0.881 and a recall of 0.627 for most of the case studies tested. This is the first case study aimed at detecting qanats in different landscapes using different types of satellite imagery. Using real, augmented, and artificial data allowed us to generalise the representation of qanats into lineal groups of circular features. Thanks to applying labelling for individual qanats and their pairs as separate classes, our approach eliminated most of the isolated and clustered false positives.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106053"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440324001213/pdfft?md5=3d2f9314b9aead48de5ae05e4d64f2b1&pid=1-s2.0-S0305440324001213-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142149950","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":"New chronology evidence of prehistoric human activities indicated by pottery luminescence dating in the humid subtropical mountains of South China","authors":"Junjie Wei ,&nbsp;Jianhui Jin ,&nbsp;Lin Fu ,&nbsp;Xinxin Zuo ,&nbsp;Junjie Qiu ,&nbsp;Chenyang Hou ,&nbsp;Daiyu Xu","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106072","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106072","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The age of prehistoric human sites serves as a fundamental basis for studying the relationship between human activities and landscape changes in the humid subtropical mountains of South China. The presence of pottery in these archaeological sites is widespread and offers a valuable resource for precise dating purposes. The Longtoushan (LTS) site, located in the northern mountains of Fujian Province, contains a rich variety of pottery types from various periods, representing a rare multi-period stratigraphic overlap in this area and playing a crucial role in constructing the cultural sequence and lineage of prehistoric and ancient times in this region. In this study, we employed thermoluminescence (TL) and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques to establish the age of pottery samples collected from the LTS site situated in the upper Minjiang River region of southeast China for the first time, while also comparing our findings with other dating methods to construct a chronological framework for the site. The results showed that: (1) The samples analyzed in this study can be classified according to the peak strength of 325 °C TL signal at natural and regenerative doses of quartz. Samples with weak TL signal at 325 °C (type II samples) showed high recuperation and equivalent dose underestimation at a low preheat temperature (220 °C) in OSL test. (2) Conventional SAR procedures employed for type I samples are not suitable for type II samples. Type II samples require additional OSL stimulation towards the end of the cycle and an extended stimulation duration. (3) The application of various dating methods has revealed that the LTS site represents a long-term settlement in the humid subtropical mountains of South China, commencing around 4.6–4.4 thousand years ago (ka). Specifically, the dating of pottery pieces from kiln sites and tombs in the late Neolithic period provides a specific temporal reference for further understanding of prehistoric human culture and production behavior in the humid mountains of Fujian.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106072"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142149879","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":"Moated site object detection using time series satellite imagery and an improved deep learning model in northeast Thailand","authors":"Hong Yang ,&nbsp;Shaohua Wang ,&nbsp;Shunli Wang ,&nbsp;Pengcheng Zhao ,&nbsp;Mingyao Ai ,&nbsp;Qingwu Hu","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106070","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106070","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Moated sites are crucial for revealing the formation of early civilizations and societies in Southeast Asia, and a significant amount of effort has been expended in investigating their distribution. This work is the first application of deep learning object detection methods to identify moated sites from time series satellite images. We presented multi-information fusion data (N-RGB) based on the fusion of multispectral and vegetation indices from Sentinel-2 time series imagery, generated a dataset of moated sites via the data augmentation method, and improved the YOLOv5s model by adding bidirectional feature pyramid network (BiFPN) structures for automatically identifying moated sites. <strong>The results</strong> indicate that the model trained with time series N-RGB data improves precision, recall, and mAP by more than 20.0% compared with single image data. The improved model was able to enhance the identification of small, moated sites and achieved 100% detection in a test of 100 moated sites. <strong>Ultimately</strong>, 629 targets were detected in northeast Thailand, with a false-negative rate of less than 3%, and 116 probable sites were identified. Among these, 6 probable sites were highly likely to be moated sites, as visually verified by high-resolution GEE imagery. <strong>In addition</strong>, among the targets automatically detected in other regions of continental Southeast Asia, the 5, 3, 2, 1, and 7 most probable sites were identified in Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos, Vietnam and other regions of Thailand, respectively. <strong>In summary</strong>, our approach enables the automatic detection of exposed and visible moated sites from satellite imagery, and could improve site discovery and documentation capabilities, opening new perspectives in larger geographic site units and even in civilization surveys.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106070"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142149880","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":"Sheep and goats taxonomic abundance trends in 1st millennium CE southern Italy: Multilevel bayesian modelling of NISP datasets","authors":"Roberto Ragno","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106068","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106068","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The 1st millennium CE represents a period of significant change in the agricultural landscape of southern Italy. Sheep and goats are among the most common faunal remains recovered from archaeological excavations of this period, but the contribution of these animals to the agricultural economy (particularly wool production) is often discussed through textual sources. This paper synthesises caprine taxonomic abundance trends using a Bayesian multilevel modelling approach that employs a beta-binomial distribution to address the problems of overdispersion and unequal assemblage/group sizes. Our models contribute directly to the problem by suggesting a period of change in livestock management practices around the 4th and 6th centuries CE, when the region's shift to cereal farming appears to be accompanied by an increase in sheep and goat numbers.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"171 ","pages":"Article 106068"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142136370","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 costs of transporting goods by different modes: A case study of pottery movement in late Roman Britain","authors":"Rob Wiseman ,&nbsp;Scott G. Ortman ,&nbsp;Olivia Bulik","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106059","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106059","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>There is a long-standing view that, in the Roman world, transport by sea and river was very much cheaper than by land. Previous analyses of transport costs have relied primarily on a few surviving historical records, notably the Edict on Maximum Prices issued by Diocletian in 301 CE. Here we outline an alternative method for deriving relative costs of transportation by different modes using materials recovered in archaeological excavations. We apply this to the distribution of Late Romano-British pottery (c. 250–400 CE) to calculate the cost ratios of transportation by road, river and sea to rural settlements and towns in lowland Britannia. The analysis suggests a best fit cost ratio of road to rivers and sea of 1:3:4 (i.e. transport by road was three times as costly as by river and four times that by sea), with 95% confidence interval of roads to rivers 1:1–5 and roads to sea of 1:1–9. These values are broadly consistent with transport cost ratios of 1:4:8 in England in the first half of the fourteenth century, when the country's transport network had reached a degree of integration comparable with late Roman Britain.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106059"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440324001274/pdfft?md5=ede8f2dfa8e68e3050be1c6b83af2d29&pid=1-s2.0-S0305440324001274-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142129994","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":"Utilization and exchange of jade in western China during the late Longshan Era (2300∼1800 BC): Evidence from Lajia site, Minhe County, Qinghai Province","authors":"Yiwen Xu ,&nbsp;Zhanwei Du ,&nbsp;Qianqian Wang ,&nbsp;Qiang Zhen ,&nbsp;Wei Du ,&nbsp;Qian Ma ,&nbsp;Mengzhou Yu ,&nbsp;Rong Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106051","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106051","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>During the Longshan Era, the production and use of jade, including bi-discs, cong-tubes, axes, and other artifacts, were prevalent in several regions situated along the middle and upper reaches of the Yellow River. The exchanges and interactions between them have been discussed by many scholars. Among these societies that valued jades, Ganqing region of Qijia Culture is regarded as a significant source of some valuable jade materials like nephrite. The non-destructive testing of jade artifacts excavated from the Lajia site, a central settlement of the Qijia culture, revealed a comparatively high proportion of nephrite, as well as a rich variety of materials. This demonstrates the acknowledgment and utilization of jade materials, particularly the valuable nephrite in the surrounding region. The availability of jade materials and uncomplicated jade processing created the conditions for household production of jade. Needs for ritual and exchange are considered as potiential driving force behind such production. Evidences of producing and using amazonite artifacts and trumpet-shaped tubes suggests long-distance exchange and influence of jade artifacts/materials. The circulation of nephrite materials may also have been embedded in this network of exchange.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106051"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-09-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142122128","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":"Speiss at Amarna (Egypt, c. 1353–1336 BCE) – Exotic anachronism or cherished commodity?","authors":"Frederik W. Rademakers ,&nbsp;Marie Vandenbeusch ,&nbsp;Elvira Vassilieva ,&nbsp;Frank Vanhaecke ,&nbsp;Patrick Degryse","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106043","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106043","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106043"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440324001110/pdfft?md5=dbbddec93e15620bd877ad720537f7c7&pid=1-s2.0-S0305440324001110-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142095123","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":"Multi-stage experiments in Bronze Age spear combat: insights on wear formation, trauma, and combat contexts","authors":"V. Gentile ,&nbsp;C.J. van Dijk ,&nbsp;O. Ter Mors","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106044","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106044","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper presents and discusses an experimental investigation of Bronze Age spear combat, with a focus on the impacts of bronze points against each other and other materials such as wooden shafts and shields, and animal tissues which act as a proxy for the human body.</p><p>A replicable methodology comprising of a series of interconnected experiments gradually shifting the ratio between control and actualism is presented. The results offer fresh insights into prehistoric combat dynamics and the relationship between combat style, contact material, and the formation of wear traces. A comprehensive account of the morphology and formation dynamics of the damage inflicted on weapons, skin, and bone is provided, supported by detailed photographic documentation.</p><p>The experimental design permitted to assess the frequency and type of collisions that would occur in actual spear combat. Furthermore, the development and modification of wear traces over time was also observed for the first time on spear points. The tests provided further insights into the level of training and skill required to execute specific movements with different combat objectives. Potential indicators for spear use in various combat contexts, such as fighting against multiple opponents versus more controlled encounters like duels, have been identified. The wear traces produced experimentally find convincing comparisons in the archaeological record.</p><p>In conclusion, the results contribute to a more detailed understanding of Bronze Age armed encounters and provide robust guidance for interpreting combat marks on archaeological copper alloy weapons and on bones.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106044"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440324001122/pdfft?md5=38fd165d988dec7f7a3919a9df6184ed&pid=1-s2.0-S0305440324001122-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142088330","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":"Some first observations on ant-nest morphology and micromorphology, the effects of wildfires, and their implications for the understanding of archaeological features","authors":"Hans Huisman ,&nbsp;Hans Peeters ,&nbsp;Jan-Willem de Kort ,&nbsp;Jap Smits","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106056","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106056","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Ants are among the soil mesofauna that cause significant bioturbation at the location of their nests. They can have significant impact on the preservation of soil features and on post-depositional artefact distribution. Moreover, there is discussion on the natural or anthropogenic nature of so-called ‘pit-hearth’ features dating to the Mesolithic. Such features are common in parts of the Netherlands, NW Belgium, and NW Germany, and form an important body of evidence in the study of hunter-gatherer landscape use. However, it has been hypothesized that these features represent ant nests burnt due to climate-related wildfires, instead of anthropogenic pit hearths, and are therefore of little archaeological value, other than as a potential proxy for climate conditions. Considering the lack of direct evidence on underground characteristics of ant nests, we investigated the characteristics of two wood ant nests: Oone abandoned and one accidently burnt in a wildfire c. 10 years earlier. We trenched through the ant nest remains and used micromorphology to study the characteristics of the ant-influenced soil profiles. The surface domes of the ant nests had disappeared, leaving behind a bowl-shaped depression. In the burnt ant nest, a thin band of charred litter-like organic material was all that was left over from the burned superstructure. These depressions seem not to reach deeper than the top of cemented podzol Bhs-horizons. Surrounding and underneath the depression, extensive networks of tunnels and chambers were found in the B- and C-horizons. If archaeological artefacts had been present on the site, they would have become buried and moved to the top of the B-horizon. Any soil features would have been destroyed. Moreover, the extensive tunnel and chamber network extending from the depression would potentially affect the botanical record and the OSL signal of the deposits.</p><p>Comparison of our results with Mesolithic pit-hearth features shows substantial differences between the two types of remains. Ant nest depressions do not extend into (cemented) podzol B horizons, whereas Mesolithic pit hearths typically have their base in the C horizons. The extensive tunnelling in B- and C-horizons of large ant nests has not been observed in Mesolithic pit-hearth features. On the other hand, the large amount of charred humus and charcoal fragments in Mesolithic pit hearths are lacking in the burned ant nest we studied. We therefore conclude that Mesolithic pit-hearth features are not the result of the burning down of ant nests, but should be regarded as anthropogenic features.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106056"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440324001249/pdfft?md5=c27c84b8ade6129e076b33cd002c67dd&pid=1-s2.0-S0305440324001249-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142088282","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":"Archaeological investigation of burials preluded by ground penetrating radar and geospatial technologies","authors":"Rene Lee-Yee Kwan,&nbsp;Wallace Wai-Lok Lai","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106058","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106058","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Ground penetrating radar (GPR) is a non-invasive and efficient scientific tool in burial analysis that can 'see the unseen,' answering both simple questions such as the existence and boundaries of burials, as well as more difficult questions like whether burials are intact or decayed. This paper reviews common reflection signatures associated with burials and applies the three fundamental GPR principles (dielectric contrast, scattering and polarity of reflections) to two distinct caseworks involving historical graves and civilian burials, which serve as benchmarks with known ground truth. It encompasses a third test case involving family tree research in a civilian cemetery, drawing upon the benchmarked results obtained from the first two caseworks. In adherence to geophysical signal reflection principles, our study discerns distinct hyperbolic traits associated with three burial types including intact shroud-wrapped, coffin burials, and decayed or mass-grave burials. A GPR-geospatial integration workflow incorporating GPR, aerial photogrammetry and global navigation satellite system - real time kinetics (GNSS-RTK), is derived to enhance the identification and investigation of burials using GPR. Our workflow encompasses a range of indicators for survey methods and burial classification, presenting a general framework for the systematic contextualization of tailored workflows to individual contexts. This work exemplifies the efficacy of GPR in the detection of burials that have been undisturbed for over a century in the soils of Hong Kong and how geophysics and geospatial science can address the limitations inherent in conventional desktop-based archaeological investigation. Its implications extend to professionals in diverse fields including historians, archaeologists, cemetery management officials, and even family members searching for their lost loved ones.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106058"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440324001262/pdfft?md5=312b95067a00dcab847315f459f2ee44&pid=1-s2.0-S0305440324001262-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142088329","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}