Journal of Archaeological Science最新文献

{"title":"Mycenaean roads in the Peloponnese, Greece: Least-cost path modelling using R and Movecost","authors":"Christopher Nuttall ,&nbsp;Jovan Kovačević","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106414","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106414","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study evaluates multiple methodologies and their variants for Least Cost Path (LCP) modelling, applied in combination with different Digital Elevation Models (DEMs), to explore the broader applicability of the Movecost package, using the Mycenaean Road networks of the Peloponnese (Greece) as case studies. Using a geographic information system (GIS) and the R programming environment, this paper employs the Movecost package for the R statistical package to simulate ancient routes based on existing road segments. By integrating a variety of functions and parameters, this study evaluates their effectiveness across different DEMs, including both Shuttle Radar Topography Mission DEM (SRTM-DEM) and Copernicus DEM (COP-DEM) at 30 m spatial resolution. The study also examines how varying these parameters can lead to different modelling outcomes, underscoring the necessity of calibrating least-cost analysis to specific regional contexts. The road segments around Nichoria (Messenia), Ayios Ioannis Kazarma (Argolis), and in the Berbati Valley (Argolis), provide a historical canvas against which these methodological innovations are tested with the ultimate aim of exploring the capabilities of the Movecost package and how different combinations of DEM, function, parameter, and path points can effectively model the route through the existing road remains, highlighting the variability and context-specific nature of LCP modelling. The results suggest that the 'Wheeled-vehicle critical cost function' (WCS) was effective in modelling the roads through the extant remains based on start and endpoints suggested by previous research and posited by this paper. These results further suggest that Mycenaean roads likely served as key infrastructure links between major centres and ports or harbours, underscoring their role in facilitating regional trade and communication. However, this outcome represents one of several possible results, as the appropriateness of functions and the parameters tested depend on the specific landscape and archaeological context. This underscores the importance of careful parameter selection, providing insights into the economic and social landscapes of Mycenaean Greece, while also highlighting the potential of integrating spatial data with robust computational tools to enhance our understanding of ancient infrastructure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 106414"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145424203","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 economics of Late Bronze age gold mining by the Egyptian New Kingdom in Nubia","authors":"Leigh Bettenay,&nbsp;James Ross","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106420","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106420","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper provides the first quantitative estimates of the profitability (in the sense of reward for effort) of gold mining in Antiquity. We have developed and assessed four models for New Kingdom gold mining in Nubia, during this period of peak gold production. These are: mining from oxidised lodes (OLM), proximal alluvial placer deposits in desert wadis (PAP), alluvial placer deposits along the Nile (NAP), and alluvial clast mining (ACM). The last refers to selective extraction of gold-bearing clasts (“quartz chunks”) from wadi alluvium and has become an archaeological focus in Nubia. We examine two variants: proximal to the source lodes (ACM-P) and distal in larger catchments (ACM-D).</div><div>Daily worker productivity has been estimated for each step in the <em>chaîne opératoire</em> using parameters drawn from: records of 19th century miners in isolated locations and reliant on simple technologies; modern artisanal miners; recent observations in Nubia and along the Nile; and limited experimentation. Gold production in each model is standardized to a 50-day expedition of 50 people.</div><div>Under our base-case parameters all models, except for distal clast mining (ACM-D), are profitable: they produce more gold than required to pay the workers. The main factor is the low cost of labour in New Kingdom Egypt, when priced in gold. However, only the placer models (PAP and NAP) can generate large returns within realistic modelling parameters, because their free gold particles can be simply recovered by screening and washing. In contrast, lode and clast mining methods (OLM and ACM) must allocate most of the workforce to crushing and grinding ore to liberate gold before recovery. Clast mining is further disadvantaged by barren sediment dilution and is only viable in small catchments close to source lodes.</div><div>New Kingdom Egypt expanded into previously unmined areas of Nubia and along the Nile and therefore enjoyed “first-mover” status over large areas of richly endowed goldfields. By analogy with virgin goldfields in Australia and California, where substantial placer gold dominated earliest production, they had access to numerous unworked deposits with grades perhaps significantly higher than assumed in our models. A surge in New Kingdom gold production was likely, followed by an inevitable decline after depletion of best resources.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 106420"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145434363","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":"Modelling of the Mid–Late Holocene coastline variations of the Ras al-Jinz site (Sultanate of Oman) using UAV technology photogrammetry, electromagnetic survey, and sedimentary archives","authors":"Jérôme Lejot ,&nbsp;Jean-François Berger ,&nbsp;Adrien Barra ,&nbsp;Guillaume Bruniaux ,&nbsp;Alexandre Patrick De Rorre ,&nbsp;Olivia Munoz ,&nbsp;Hervé Guy ,&nbsp;Franck Bassinot ,&nbsp;Valentina Maria Azzara","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106408","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106408","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The <em>Neoarabia</em> project aimed to investigate the interactions between the ancient populations of the eastern coast of Oman and the dynamic coastal landscapes of the Holocene, shaped by the complex interplay of marine influences, glacio-hydro-isostatic processes, and regional climatic and hydrological changes. Using morphological, electromagnetic, litho- and chrono-stratigraphic, as well as archaeological data, this study combines geomorphological analysis with very high-resolution unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) imagery and structure-from-motion photogrammetry to reconstruct coastal environmental conditions throughout the different periods of the Middle and Late Holocene. It takes advantage of the presence of intercalated archaeological sites at Ras al-Jinz 3 within a coastal sequence to refine the chronology of marine fluctuations during a period of instability marked by rapid changes. Field data illustrate that, after the stabilization of eustatic sea levels in the Middle Holocene, several marine oscillations altered the configuration of the coastlines—sometimes rapidly—with varying degrees of impact on fishing and hunter-gatherer populations. Through dating and 3D spatial analysis using a geographic information system (GIS), we accurately reconstructed paleo-sea levels over three distinct periods, each with an average sea level approximately +3 m above the present mean sea level, occurring at 0.95–0.75, 4.4–4.2, and 6.5–6.4 ka BP. Their 3D palaeogeographic reconstruction helps explain the distribution of archaeological sites within Ras al-Jinz Bay.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 106408"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145364931","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":"Cities are different animals: A zooarchaeology of urbanism at Hamoukar, Syria, 5th–3rd millennia BC","authors":"Kathryn Grossman ,&nbsp;Max Price ,&nbsp;Diana Fennimore ,&nbsp;Salam Al Kuntar ,&nbsp;Clemens Reichel","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106409","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106409","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The advent of urbanism marks a significant shift in human lifeways, and comparative study has shown that the world has seen many different forms of urbanism. We argue that animals were a fundamental part of what made cities different from other forms of settlement and different from one another. In this article, we provide the first long-term, diachronic analysis of a Mesopotamian city that foregrounds the evolving role of animals. We argue that the site of Hamoukar in northeastern Syria is best viewed as a succession of three cities, each distinctive in its own way and each dependent on animals in its own fashion. To make this argument, we summarize urban dynamics at Hamoukar from the late 5th through mid-late 3rd millennia BC, with a particular focus on faunal remains. We show that intensive and potentially long-distance caprine management was key to the first city; a more mixed animal economy, with caprines potentially harvested for wool, defined the second city; and pigs dominated the meat supply of the third city. Analysis of changing patterns in species composition, caprine survivorship, secondary products exploitation, and biometrics demonstrates that the three different cities were––both literally and metaphorically––different animals.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 106409"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145515815","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":"Mobility patterning during the Neolithic and the Bronze Age in north-central Myanmar","authors":"Baptiste Pradier ,&nbsp;Argyro Nafplioti ,&nbsp;Alexandra V. Turchyn ,&nbsp;Harold J. Bradbury ,&nbsp;Matthew J. Cooper ,&nbsp;Daw Kay Htwe Oo ,&nbsp;U Saw Naing Oo ,&nbsp;Anna Willis ,&nbsp;Frédérique Valentin ,&nbsp;T.O. Pryce","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106418","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106418","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines patterns of human mobility between two archaeological sites in north-central Myanmar during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age (late 2nd to early 1st millennium BC). By analysing strontium isotope ratios in an interindividual as well as an intraindividual approach, we reveal that individual mobility was more pronounced during the Neolithic period (larger range of strontium isotope ratios), likely linked to the exploitation of a broader subsistence area. In contrast, the Bronze Age shows a shift towards smaller mobility, with the majority of individuals exhibiting local strontium isotopic compositions. Notably, a small number of individuals with distinct strontium isotopic signatures were associated with unique funerary practices. We discuss the implications of these findings in relation to subsistence strategies and cultural transformations between the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. This research offers valuable insights into mobility, subsistence, and social dynamics in late prehistoric Myanmar, contributing to broader discussions within the contexts of Mainland Southeast Asia and southern China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 106418"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145434365","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":"Automated starch granule classification using high-throughput microscopy and machine learning","authors":"Steven Andrew Mozarowski ,&nbsp;Matthew Boyd ,&nbsp;Yimin Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106421","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106421","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Starch analysis is widely used in archaeology to investigate the processing of wild plants for food and medicine, as well as the domestication and spread of cultigens. Starch analyses are dependent on the development and use of identification keys. To date, all published methods to identify starch granules are either time-consuming to produce and apply, or difficult to statistically validate for their accuracy. The method outlined in this paper mitigates two major production bottlenecks experienced by current methods. First, the necessary task of collecting reference images of starch granules is accelerated using a multispectral imaging flow cytometry (MIFC), a high throughput microscope that collects thousands of images per second. Second, the traditional step of collecting measurements of individual granules by hand is eliminated. Processed image sets are used directly to train image recognition (machine learning) algorithms for species identification. This method produces identification accuracies that are comparable to, or better than, other published methods. When this method is applied using 15,000 images of starch granules from 15 plants occurring in North America, validation accuracies were observed to be as high as 100 %. This method promises to provide a feasible, cost-effective, and accurate means to identify starch granules recovered from archaeological materials.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 106421"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145492153","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":"Inside the matrix: Exploring the variability of mudstone and grog in archaeological ceramics using microanalytical methods","authors":"Possum Pincé ,&nbsp;Negar Abdali ,&nbsp;Dennis Braekmans","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106419","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106419","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The differentiation between various fine-grained and clay-rich materials, also described as argillaceous inclusions, specifically mudstones and grog, presents considerable challenges in the analysis of archaeological ceramics. These difficulties arise from overlapping characteristics and the mineral uniformity of raw materials in certain environments. This study addresses these challenges by developing an interpretative framework to identify robust characteristic features to distinguish between mudstone and grog as well as recurring pitfalls. To this end, we constructed an experimental reference set comprising 26 testbars, which are analyzed using thin section petrography and SEM-EDS to examine the features of mudstone, grog and clays. The materials derive from the Kur River Basin in Southwest Iran, as this is an area with evidenced presence and use of extensive argillaceous inclusions through time. Additionally, we studied thin sections from a variable selection of archaeological ceramics (n = 11) with argillaceous inclusions from the same region that date from the Banesh to Late Bronze Age periods (ca. 3500 to 900 BCE) for comparison. The aim of this research was threefold: (1) assess optical identifiable characteristics of the argillaceous materials, (2) determine the compositional variability in the mudstones and grog fragments in this region and (3) document and test the potential of mudstone analysis for characterization and provenance purposes. Our findings indicate that distinguishing features are influenced by the granularity of the grog and sintering process. Notably, characteristics associated with mudstone inclusions comprise a compact, fine-grained texture, homogeneity with few to no constituents, solid or polygonal cracking, higher roundness, variability in particle sizes, and a pronounced likelihood of birefringence at lower firing temperatures where sintering has not yet occurred. The differentiation challenges intensify once sintering develops at higher firing temperatures, particularly when fine grog is present. In such cases, the angularity of the inclusions emerges as the primary criterion. SEM-EDS analysis further corroborated the established criteria, demonstrating a consistent chemical difference between grog and mudstone, aside from one overlapping type. Moreover, it supports a typological approach for determining these characteristics in thin section petrography and highlights a potential for provenance determinations of mudstone within a regional framework. Finally, analysis of the argillaceous inclusions in the archaeological ceramics suggests that no grog was used in these ceramics and that an intra-basin variability of mudstone was present that allows for higher resolution provenance studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 106419"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145525042","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":"From extant to extinct: The role of experiments and interdisciplinary inferences in studying cognitive and language evolution","authors":"Svetlana Kuleshova ,&nbsp;Michael Pleyer","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106423","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106423","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This article evaluates the role of experiments and interdisciplinary inferences in the field of language evolution and, more broadly, studies of cognitive evolution. Namely, we assess the inferences made from experiments on extant species about the evolution of extinct ones. We concentrate on the field of language evolution research as a case study of research on cognitive evolution. Specifically, we look at inferences from experiments in three major approaches in language evolution research: comparative psychology, cognitive archaeology, and experimental semiotics. For each approach, we first explain the overall methods they employ, then we summarize important inferences from experimental studies in these fields, and finally, we evaluate to what degree these inferences can be extended to characterizing the cognitive abilities of extinct hominins. Finally, we discuss the role of experimental work for interdisciplinary theory-building in language evolution research and challenges regarding the epistemological commensurability of different approaches. We then propose solutions for increasing the ecological validity and epistemological alignment of experimental investigations of the study of cognitive evolution.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"184 ","pages":"Article 106423"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-12-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145472925","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":"Mitochondrial DNA diversity in northeast Iberians during the Iron Age","authors":"Daniel R. Cuesta-Aguirre ,&nbsp;M. Rosa Campoy-Caballero ,&nbsp;Carolina Sandoval-Ávila ,&nbsp;Cesc Busquets i Costa ,&nbsp;Marta Fàbregas i Espadaler ,&nbsp;Alejandro G. Sinner ,&nbsp;Gabriel de Prado ,&nbsp;Nuria Molist Capella ,&nbsp;Montserrat Duran i Caixal ,&nbsp;Imma Mestres Santacreu ,&nbsp;Natalia Alonso ,&nbsp;Maria Pilar Aluja ,&nbsp;Assumpció Malgosa ,&nbsp;Cristina Santos","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106390","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106390","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Iberian culture emerged along the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula between the 8th and 6th century BCE, flourishing during the 5th-3rd BCE until the Roman conquest. Iberians engaged in metallurgy, agriculture, and livestock, and actively participated in Mediterranean commercial trade networks. Despite cremation being the predominant funerary practice, advances in ancient DNA techniques have enabled the recovery of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from an increasing number of Iberian individuals. Here, we analyzed the remains of 31 newborns, successfully obtaining mtDNA profiles for 21 individuals (20 Iberians and 1 Late Roman). These data were merged with 41 previously published mtDNA profiles from unrelated Iberians across different tribes of the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula. Additional prehistoric data were compiled to contextualize Iberian haplogroups. We investigated maternal lineage diversity between tribes, temporal shifts in haplogroup composition, and signatures of long-distance female mobility. Our results revealed subtle differences in mtDNA haplogroup frequencies between groups, although genetic differentiation was not statistically significant. Mitochondrial diversity remained relatively high across all tribes, consistent with patrilocal mating systems and small-distance female migration that may have prevented strong matrilineal differentiation among tribes. A predominance of haplogroups H, J, K, HV0, and U was observed, most of which were already present in the Iberian Peninsula before the Iron Age. Haplogroup diversity remained stable over time, without population differentiation, suggesting maternal genetic continuity from the Bronze Age. However, the presence of some haplogroups pointed to occasional female-mediated gene flow from North Africa, the Near East, and Central Europe. Overall, this study provides the most comprehensive NGS-based assessment of maternal ancestry in Iron Age Iberians to date, revealing a genetic landscape shaped by local continuity alongside some long-distance female mobility linked to commercial trade and cultural interaction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106390"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145268633","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":"Determination of burning environment and temperature by colour and magnetic susceptibility based on heating simulation experiments and its application in Sanxingdui site in Sichuan, China","authors":"Qian Wu ,&nbsp;Fang Xiang ,&nbsp;Yuming Guo ,&nbsp;Ming Huang ,&nbsp;Jiancheng Liu ,&nbsp;Xin Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106399","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106399","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Magnetic susceptibility and colour are essential physical indicators for identifying traces of ancient fire use and are widely applied in archaeological research to reconstruct fire-related activities. The Sanxingdui site (4.8–2.8 ka) in Southwest China stands as one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the 20th century. In this study, heating simulation experiments were conducted on Guanghan clay–widely distributed across the site–under both air and argon atmospheres, to investigate how its colour and magnetic parameters changed with temperature. Burnt soil from Pit K4 was used as a case study to infer the burning temperature and environment. The results indicated that changes in magnetic susceptibility and colour were closely tied to the phase transitions of magnetic minerals. Elevated magnetic susceptibility results from the formation of ferromagnetic minerals during high-temperature heating, whereas increased redness was attributed to the formation of hematite. The bluish-gray colour observed in an anaerobic environment was associated with the abundant formation of ferrous oxide. By comparing the colour and magnetic data of burnt soil from Pit K4 with those of Guanghan clay, combined with magnetic analysis and previous research, we inferred that fire rituals at the Sanxingdui site reached temperatures of approximately 850 °C and were likely conducted in open, well-ventilated settings. The method developed in this study, based on heating simulation experiments, for determining burning temperatures and environments using colour and magnetic susceptibility, can provide a reference for preliminary estimation of firing temperature ranges of burnt soil formed by human fire use or wildfires at numerous ancient Shu sites distributed on the Guanghan clay layer. It also provides insights into studying ancient fire-related behaviours at other archaeological sites.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106399"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145268632","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}