Journal of Archaeological Science最新文献

{"title":"From cost to conductance: A technique for incorporating social conductance in Least cost analysis","authors":"Sean Field ,&nbsp;Robert S. Weiner ,&nbsp;Kelsey M. Reese","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106050","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106050","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><em>We draw attention to differences in logistic least cost rationales</em> that <em>emphasize the practical conditions that push people toward optimization and social approaches, which emphasize the sociocultural conditions that can pull people away from optimization. To better incorporate the prosocial tendencies of people moving through lived landscapes, we develop a socially informed least cost approach that prioritizes social interactions at known sites without explicitly inputting those places as</em> <em>destinations. To highlight the utility of this technique, we deploy the social approach in a case study of the South Road</em>—<em>an important movement corridor during the Chaco fluorescence (ca. AD 850-1150) in present-day northwestern New Mexico. Results show that a social approach produces travel corridors that more closely resemble the route of the South Road than corridors derived through a logistic approach. The results demonstrate the importance of considering traditionally non-optimal and socially informed motivations when modeling human movement and large-scale transportation in the past.</em></p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106050"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142088331","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 adaptation of dryland crops to the climate in southern China","authors":"Qingjiang Yang ,&nbsp;Keliang Zhao ,&nbsp;Yongbin Chu ,&nbsp;Jian Wang ,&nbsp;Fang Han ,&nbsp;Zengwu Wang ,&nbsp;Jinbao Liu ,&nbsp;Xinying Zhou ,&nbsp;Xiaoqiang Li","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106057","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106057","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>It is unclear how dryland crops adapted to the humid climate of southern China, nevertheless they were an important component of prehistoric agricultural systems in the region. In this study, archaeobotanical results assembled from 110 archaeological sites in southern China, Digital Elevation Model (DEM)-based slope results of these archaeological sites, regional meteorological data and paleoclimate records were used to analyse the main factors affecting the distribution of prehistoric dryland agriculture, to help understand the adaptation of this agriculture to southern China and assess the role of climate change in the expansion of dryland crops in the region. The results highlighted the importance of effective water input and temperature. Farmers in prehistoric times adopted diverse strategies to plant dryland crops in southern China. The main proportion of the dryland crops centred on the use of foxtail millet (over 75% of the total dryland crops) and it was adjusted to adapt to the variations in effective water inputs resulting from precipitation and topography in the low-elevation area. Approximately 3° might be the slope threshold for agricultural transformation in the low-elevation humid areas of southern China. The millets-dominated (61.7%) or rice-dominated (85.3%) agricultural systems in dry-hot valleys, and wheat-dominated (51.8%) agriculture in the west Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau were developed to adapt to the arid climate and the low summer temperature, respectively. The weakening of the Asian monsoon since 5000 BC had objectively favoured the expansion of dryland agriculture in the low-slope areas of southern China, but the role of climate change should not be overestimated in the expansion of dryland crops.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106057"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142076856","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":"Leveraging the potential of charred archaeological seeds for reconstructing the history of date palm","authors":"S. Ivorra ,&nbsp;M. Tengberg ,&nbsp;V. Bonhomme ,&nbsp;T. Kaczmarek ,&nbsp;T. Pastor ,&nbsp;J.-F. Terral ,&nbsp;M. Gros-Balthazard","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106052","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106052","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The analysis of seeds from archaeobotanical assemblages is essential for understanding the history of crop cultivation. However, the majority of these seeds are typically found charred, a condition that not only degrades DNA, which hinders genetic studies, but also distorts their morphological features, which may bias comparisons with uncharred modern samples. While the effects of charring on several other crop seeds or fruits are well-documented, date palm seeds remain largely unexamined, limiting our ability to use charred seeds effectively to document the agrobiodiversity dynamic of this crop.</p><p>In this study, we assessed the morphological changes induced by the charring of 1375 <em>Phoenix</em> seeds under varied conditions, including charring temperatures of 200–600 °C, exposure durations from 10 to 120 min, and oxidizing/reducing conditions. By comparing charred samples with a modern reference collection of 6991 seeds, we evaluated the extent to which charring affects the ability to discriminate between groups of interest, particularly between wild and domesticated specimens.</p><p>Our study identified a significant shrinkage in <em>Phoenix</em> seeds, up to 25%, as a result of charring, with the extent of deformation influenced by the conditions of exposure. The shrinkage displayed an isometric pattern, keeping the proportions between seed dimensions consistent, thereby validating size ratios as a dependable metric for studying <em>Phoenix</em> agrobiodiversity even when dealing with charred material. Moreover, seed outlines stay predominantly unchanged, further endorsing their utility in morphometric studies. Using our results to examine 13 charred seeds from Shahi Tump and Miri Qalat, two Protohistoric settlements (5^th-3^rd millennia BCE) located in the Kech-Makran district of southwestern Pakistan, we deduced a predominance of wild resource utilization over the cultivation of date palms.</p><p>This research sheds light on the impact of charring on seed morphology and underscores its potential in differentiating between species and groups. It moreover confirms the value of charred seeds as a crucial resource for unraveling the complex history of crop cultivation, offering a detailed framework for future studies in this domain.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106052"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142050012","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":"Ancient parasite analysis: Exploring infectious diseases in past societies","authors":"Piers D. Mitchell","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106067","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106067","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Parasites are the causative agents of infectious diseases that have affected humans throughout our evolution. Some appear to have been ubiquitous in past societies around the globe, but others were only viable in distinct regions where the conditions suited their complex life cycles. This review considers how we can recover and identify ancient parasites, before interrogating the literature to explore some of the ways this evidence can help us to better understand past societies. Variability in sanitation infrastructure, diet, cooking methods, lifestyle, behaviour and environment all affected the kinds of parasites that could infect past people, and determined how common infection was. The health consequences of parasite infection in different past communities are considered, as we think about the many ways health can be impaired by such infections. Where a good number of studies have focussed on one geographic region, variation in the apparent endemic range of certain parasite species allows an assessment of the relationship between humans and the surrounding environment. When parasites are found outside of their usual range this can be used as a marker of long distance travel and migrations. As the body of evidence for parasites in past populations expands, so do the ways we can use this information in an innovative manner to better understand those who lived in the past.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106067"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440324001353/pdfft?md5=dbaf01a6c8667982820a000f91014277&pid=1-s2.0-S0305440324001353-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142049962","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":"Applying a mask R-CNN machine learning algorithm for segmenting electron microscope images of ceramic bronze-casting moulds","authors":"Lingyu Liao ,&nbsp;Zhenfei Sun ,&nbsp;Siran Liu ,&nbsp;Shining Ma ,&nbsp;Kunlong Chen ,&nbsp;Yue Liu ,&nbsp;Yongtian Wang ,&nbsp;Weitao Song","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106049","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106049","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Material characteristics of casting moulds are crucial for understanding the evolution and diversification of bronze ritual vessel production in Bronze Age China. During relevant studies, a Back Scattered Electron (BSE) image detector is commonly employed to analyze mould microstructure, effectively revealing the volume ratios and shape features of the clay matrix, silt/sand particles, and voids. It is always challenging to analyze and cross-compare these BSE images quantitatively since they typically contain numerous phases with highly irregular shapes. Traditionally, time consuming manual point counting or multi-step image processing were used to obtain semi-quantitative results. Addressing these challenges, we have proposed a deep learning method called BCM-SegNet, an optimized Mask R-CNN-based algorithm for segmenting BSE images of bronze casting moulds and cores. Using the proposed method, key parameters, such as area, Feret diameter, roundness, and solidity of segmented particles, can be provided based on well segmented results, even for the images with complex background. Experimental outcomes show that the algorithm achieves a segmentation precision of 95% and an accuracy of around 91%, demonstrating its strong generalization capability. This study provides a significant foundation for micro-feature analysis of archaeological ceramic materials, classification of particles, and determination of technological processes in archaeological research.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106049"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142049961","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":"A method for defining dispersed community territories","authors":"Kenneth B. Vernon,&nbsp;Scott G. Ortman","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106048","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106048","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The transition from dispersed to aggregated forms of settlement reflects a critical shift in the relative value of social and primary (food) modes of production. However, investigating trade-offs between these different forms of settlement requires estimates of the extent of community territories, including their nearby arable land. Here we demonstrate a simple algorithm to do that. Our algorithm is analogous to that used to define core-based statistical areas for the US census, though instead of central business districts, we rely on community centers (or areas of known and persistent interaction between unrelated individuals). We provide examples of our algorithm by applying it to archaeological sites in the central Mesa Verde, northern Rio Grande, and Cibola regions in the US Southwest. A sensitivity analysis is also conducted to demonstrate how each tuning parameter contributes to the algorithm.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106048"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142050013","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":"Vitamin D deficiency, pregnancy, and childbirth in early medieval Milan","authors":"Lucie Biehler-Gomez ,&nbsp;Elisa Pera ,&nbsp;Valentina Lucchetti ,&nbsp;Laura Sisto ,&nbsp;Beatrice del Bo ,&nbsp;Mirko Mattia ,&nbsp;Lucrezia Rodella ,&nbsp;Giorgio Manzi ,&nbsp;Anna Maria Fedeli ,&nbsp;Alessandro Porro ,&nbsp;Cristina Cattaneo","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106054","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106054","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>This paper explores the burden of osteomalacia on pregnancy and childbirth through two cases from early medieval urban Milan. Two skeletons of female individuals with skeletal deformities and associated with 25–36 gestational weeks fetuses, excavated from the <em>Ad Martyres</em> and <em>San Vittore al Corpo</em> urban cemeteries and dated to the Early Middle Ages, were examined. Paleopathological and historical analyses were performed in a biocultural approach to investigate the impact of clinical complications and skeletal deformities on their daily life, the course of their pregnancy, and childbirth. The women showed severe skeletal deformities attributable to osteomalacia including scoliosis, reduced rib-neck angle, <em>coxa</em> <em>vara</em>, severe bending of the pelvic bones, <em>protrusio acetabuli</em>, and narrowed pelvic outlet. The condition and its biomechanical complications impacted the health of both mothers and fetuses, the quality of life of the women (i.e., gait alteration, difficult and limited mobility, compression of internal organs), as well as pregnancy outcomes. It is possible that both the mothers and fetuses died due to childbirth complications. Bioarchaeological cases of osteomalacia, pregnancy, and death during childbirth are excessively rare. This paper also provides insight into how maternal experiences and biocultural environments in early medieval Milan impacted childbirth outcome. The study of the <em>Ad Martyres</em> and <em>San Vittore al Corpo</em> necropolises is still ongoing and could provide further insight. Isotopic and paleogenomic analyses may shed more light into the factors that led to vitamin D deficiency in these women.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106054"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440324001225/pdfft?md5=72ba801930f0b1e31572f0df5510184e&pid=1-s2.0-S0305440324001225-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142021256","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":"Estimating the scale-dependent influence of natural terrestrial corridors on the positioning of settlements: A multi-scale study of Roman forts in Wales","authors":"Joseph Lewis","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106055","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106055","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Natural terrestrial corridors have been shown to have influenced the positioning of past settlements. The scale at which this pattern-process relationship operates is often un-estimated and thus remains unclear. This paper proposes the comparison of multiple point process models as an approach for estimating the optimal scale at which this relationship is strongest. With this approach, it is revealed that the positioning of Roman forts used during the conquest of Wales was most influenced by natural terrestrial corridors at a scale of 1,100m. At this scale, the Roman army stationed at these forts could control natural corridors – both via on-the-ground response as well as through overseeing movements by the native communities of Wales. Comparing multiple scenarios, it is also shown that the control of river-systems did not influence the positioning of Roman forts at the expense of controlling these natural terrestrial corridors used by those on foot. With archaeological interpretations susceptible to change as a result of the scale at which this pattern-process relationship is measured, the estimation of the optimal scale is pivotal for non-biased inferences on the processes thought to have influenced the positioning of settlements in the past.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106055"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440324001237/pdfft?md5=417810802ac542846b01857d5c23e59b&pid=1-s2.0-S0305440324001237-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142006502","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":"Temporal and spatial patterns of domestic horse utilisation in northern China during the pre-Qin period","authors":"Chao Lu,&nbsp;Linyao Du,&nbsp;Bo Tan,&nbsp;Liyuan Zheng,&nbsp;Yong Zhang,&nbsp;Wensheng Zhang,&nbsp;Lai Jiang,&nbsp;Lei Tang,&nbsp;Chengbang An","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106042","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106042","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>In China, it is a conclusive fact that domestic horses had already appeared by the Late Shang period. Regarding their utilisation by humans, osteological and pathological analyses have been carried out at multiple sites, but the spatial and temporal characteristics are still unclear, and the archaeological context of the horse bones can provide a perspective for examining this issue. In this study, we systematically collected archaeological and coexistence information of horse bones excavated in China from the Late Shang to the Warring States periods (1300–200 BCE), and sorted out the horse equipment coexisting with the bones, and the burial treatment of horses. Subsequently, we analysed this information in the context of the geographic environment and the human subsistence strategies in northern China. The analysis results showed that, due to the influence of geography, livelihood conditions, and social development, horses were mainly used for pulling chariots in the farming societies of the monsoon region during the pre-Qin period, and for riding in the nomadic societies of the arid region. The burial treatment of horses was mainly the whole-horse burial in the monsoon zone, and the partial-bone burial in the arid region.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106042"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141993885","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":"Sabarmati and its connection with the Harappan port Lothal and the Nal corridor: A study using multi-sensor data, cloud-computing and multi-platforms","authors":"Ekta Gupta,&nbsp;V.N. Prabhakar,&nbsp;Vikrant Jain","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106046","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2024.106046","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Lothal is situated approximately 30 km inland from the Gulf of Khambhat on the western coast of India in Gujarat. It served as a bustling port during the Bronze Age Harappan period (2600 BCE to 1900 BCE) and was connected to a series of Harappan production and distribution centres dotted along the Gulf of Kachchh and the Rann of Kachchh. Artefacts of foreign nature found in Lothal attest to its intercultural trade relation. Further, Lothal is renowned for its well-preserved brick-walled dockyard and warehouse. However, different views for and against the dockyard are available in archaeological literature. This study revisits the dockyard theory from the landscape perspective and integrates information extracted from early maps, multi-spectral and multi-temporal satellite data of different spatial resolutions, and Digital Elevation Models to understand the larger context of the palaeolandscape around Lothal, including both fluvial and coastal areas. The findings offer fresh perspectives on the hydrographic dynamics of the region, highlighting an evident direct connection between Lothal and the former course of River Sabarmati, one of the major rivers in Gujarat that currently flows 20 km east of Lothal. The reconstruction of the palaeolandscape, both fluvial and coastal, complements and verifies certain interpretations related to the dockyard theory, partially bridging the ‘credibility gap’ in the broader discussion and strengthening the arguments in favour of the dockyard theory. Additionally, the study underscores the significance of integrating various types of geospatial data to understand past landscapes. Further investigation of the reconstructed palaeolandscape, particularly the complex hydrographic network including rivers and creeks, of this historically important region has the potential to contribute to new insights into existing archaeological and geomorphological interpretations and may guide us about the past human adaptation to the natural dynamics.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"170 ","pages":"Article 106046"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2024-08-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141991200","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}