Journal of Archaeological Science最新文献

{"title":"Physicochemical analysis of grey pigments from pre-Columbian archaeological ceramics from the sites of Alto del Cardal and Nuevo Corinto (Costa Rica): First identification of fired bone mixtures in Central America","authors":"Matthieu Ménager ,&nbsp;Paula Sibaja Conejo ,&nbsp;Patricia Fernandez Esquivel","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106198","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106198","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ceramic samples from the sites Alto del Cardal and Nuevo Corinto in Costa Rica, dating between 700 and 1500 CE (Common Era), were analysed. These sherds, excavated from domestic, funerary, and workshop contexts, exhibited substantial socio-productive activities, including tool manufacturing. The ceramics were characterized by significant thickness, ranging from 9.25 to 12.46 mm. Analysis using infrared spectroscopy, Raman, and Scanning Electron Microscopy revealed the presence of biogenic hydroxyapatite from fired bones, amorphous carbon, meta-smectite, quartz, anatase, hematite, and traces of magnetite. Finding hydroxyapatite from fired bone as a ceramic pigment or coating is unprecedented in Costa Rica, Central America, and Mexico. This technique suggests a high degree of layer heterogeneity and an application without slip, reminiscent of a singular occurrence documented in southern Argentina and analogous practices in Brazil and Chile. This similarity allowed us to hypothesize a potential use of the studied ceramics in metal production.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"177 ","pages":"Article 106198"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143562161","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":"Bioarchaeological insights into Late Eneolithic violence: Analysing a grave from the Sadowie cemetery, Poland","authors":"Wojciech Pasterkiewicz ,&nbsp;Anita Szczepanek ,&nbsp;Zdzislaw Belka ,&nbsp;Jolanta Dopieralska ,&nbsp;Anna Juras ,&nbsp;Maciej Chyleński ,&nbsp;Danuta Piniewska-Róg ,&nbsp;Artur Moskała ,&nbsp;Janusz Skrzat ,&nbsp;Paweł Jarosz","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106185","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106185","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines a grave of the Złota culture from the Late Eneolithic period (the first half of the 3rd millennium BC), discovered at a cemetery in Sadowie, southeastern Poland. The deliberately constructed grave chamber contained the remains of six individuals of varying sex and age: five males and one female. Evidence of fatal injuries was observed on the skulls of three individuals, while flint arrowheads were embedded in the postcranial skeletons of two others. Interdisciplinary studies were conducted to investigate the biological characteristics of the buried individuals and the circumstances surrounding their deaths. Genetic analyses indicated kinship ties between some of the individuals. Strontium isotope analyses revealed that most of the individuals were local to the Sadowie area, with the exception of one female who was identified as non-local. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios in bone collagen revealed that the individuals had similar diets, predominantly based on C3 plants, with notable contributions from animal protein, likely derived from herbivorous meat and/or dairy products. The studied burial provides further evidence of prehistoric violence among Late Eneolithic communities.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"177 ","pages":"Article 106185"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-03-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143528859","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":"Facial approximation of a Late Pleistocene human fossil in the Yahuai Cave, southern China","authors":"Wuyang Shui ,&nbsp;Guangmao Xie ,&nbsp;Letian He ,&nbsp;Qiang Lin ,&nbsp;Minghui Yu ,&nbsp;Jieying Lu ,&nbsp;Mingquan Zhou ,&nbsp;Xiujie Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106180","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106180","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>An almost complete human cranium, alongside a partial mandible dating to approximately 16,000 BP, was discovered in the Yahuai (YH) Cave in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, southern China. The estimation of facial appearance has captivated both the academic community and the general public, potentially influencing perceptions of the characteristics and evolutionary history of <em>Homo sapiens</em>. The aim of this research was to explore a computerized method integrating geometric morphometrics and three-dimensional (3D) computer graphics to: 1) examine the morphological variations of the YH skull in comparison to contemporary humans; 2) estimate 3D facial appearance using various facial soft tissue thickness depths and the facial morphology of contemporary humans; and 3) capture morphological variations in the approximated face to provide insights into the facial traits of the Late Pleistocene individual. The results indicate that the YH skull is relatively distinct from contemporary human skulls, and this is reflected in morphological dissimilarities in the approximated face. We discuss the methods involved in computerized facial approximation, which has the potential to contribute to estimating the facial appearances of other Late Pleistocene human skulls.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"177 ","pages":"Article 106180"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143509012","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":"Reply to “Burnt ant nests and their parallels with Mesolithic charcoal-rich pits: A comment on Huisman et al. (2024)” By Philippe Crombé and Roger Langohr","authors":"Hans Huisman ,&nbsp;Hans Peeters ,&nbsp;Jan-Willem de Kort ,&nbsp;Jap Smits","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106188","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106188","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Crombé and Langohr (2025) criticize our interpretation (Huisman et al., 2024) that morphological and micromorphological differences between modern ant nest remains and Mesolithic “pit hearth“ features support an anthropogenic origin of the latter. In this response to the main points of their response, we argue that podzols were present during the Mesolithic and could be humus-cemented. Furthermore, the lack of tunnelling features in Mesolithic hearth features cannot be explained by archaeologists not digging deep enough, as such tunnels also extend laterally from an ant nest. The biological features observed in the Doel excavations do not match the morphology of ant tunnels. Moreover, the charred material we observed in a burnt nest does not match that of Mesolithic hearth features. We agree that further research on ant nests as well as on the Mesolithic features would strengthen our case, but this is difficult because of ethical and practical considerations.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"176 ","pages":"Article 106188"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143550891","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 archival historiography to 3D modelling: An accurate reconstruction of the Palaeolithic landscape in El Castillo Cave to explore the spatial dynamics of hand stencil dispersion","authors":"Olga Spaey ,&nbsp;Martin Arriolabengoa ,&nbsp;Iñaki Intxaurbe ,&nbsp;Sergio Salazar ,&nbsp;Antonio Torres ,&nbsp;Aritz Irurtzun ,&nbsp;Diego Garate","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106189","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106189","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We propose a comprehensive approach for the reconstruction of the prehistoric state of El Castillo Cave (Puente Viesgo, Cantabria) that allows a precise spatial analysis of the distribution of its parietal motifs.</div><div>The cave has undergone numerous changes over time due to both geological and anthropic processes, which have altered its original appearance. In the aim of understanding how Palaeolithic societies used the space for creating rock art, we combined the study of historical archival data of different types with modern scanning and 3D modelling techniques.</div><div>We began carrying out field data recollection, as well as archival research, including historical photographs, maps, excavation records and written and oral sources, supplemented by geomorphological analyses to assess natural and anthropic alterations of the cavity. In a second phase, using a 3D modelling software, we developed a three-dimensional model where we virtually removed modern modifications (e.g., staircases and lighting) and restored ancient soil levels, to reconstruct the cave as it likely appeared during the Upper Palaeolithic period. This work served as a basis for spatial analyses of the hand stencil motifs through <em>Geographic Information Systems</em>. This approach provides promising results in terms of interpretation of different types of space by suggesting they are a motif particularly easily accessible for a large viewership, therefore bringing us closer to the apprehension of prehistoric human behaviour and symbolic practices.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"177 ","pages":"Article 106189"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143509013","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":"Unravelling the past of cervid populations on the Pearl Island Archipelago (Panama) through a two dimensional geometric morphometric analysis of the lower third molar","authors":"María Fernanda Martínez-Polanco ,&nbsp;Thomas Ingicco ,&nbsp;Anneke H. van Heteren ,&nbsp;Gertrud E. Rössner ,&nbsp;Iván Rey-Rodríguez ,&nbsp;Sergio Andrés Castro Méndez ,&nbsp;Máximo Jiménez-Acosta ,&nbsp;Juan Guillermo Martín","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106187","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106187","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the evolutionary and morphological divergence of Neotropical cervids across mainland and island populations, integrating size, shape, and ecological data. Three extant cervid species were analyzed: <em>Mazama temama</em>, <em>Odocoileus virginianus</em>, and <em>Passalites nemorivagus</em>, San José Island cervids, alongside extinct archaeological samples from Playa don Bernardo (PdB) on Pedro Gonzalez Island from Pearl Island Archipelago (Central Pacific, Panama). Morphometric analyses of lower third molars (m3) revealed distinct evolutionary trajectories shaped by geographic and ecological isolation. Centroid size analyses reveal significant interspecies differences, with <em>O. virginianus</em> being generally larger than other groups, while PdB cervids exhibit reduced sizes potentially linked to insular dwarfism. Shape analyses, including PCA and Procrustes ANOVA, demonstrate distinct morphological patterns among species, with <em>P. nemorivagus</em> showing unique traits, while PdB cervids cluster closely with <em>O. virginianus</em> and San José Island cervids. Canonical variate analysis (CVA) and phenotypic trees corroborate these relationships, highlighting evolutionary divergence influenced by ecological pressures. Statistical tests reveal significant species-level effects on size and shape, with minimal contributions from sex or species-sex interactions. Procrustes distance comparisons emphasize substantial morphological divergence between <em>P. nemorivagus</em> and other groups, while PdB cervids share closer morphological affinities with San José Island cervids and <em>O. virginianus</em>. These findings suggest a complex evolutionary history shaped by environmental constraints and isolation, underscoring the role of insular environments in driving morphological diversity among Neotropical cervids.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"177 ","pages":"Article 106187"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143509011","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":"Ceramic rehydroxylation dating by infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy","authors":"Christopher M. Stevenson ,&nbsp;Mary Gurnick ,&nbsp;Oleksandr Misiats ,&nbsp;David Hurst Thomas ,&nbsp;Anna M. Semon","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106181","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106181","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We provide a new approach to the method of ceramic dating by tracking the dehydroxylation and rehydroxylation of water species using infrared diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Water bands at 3655 cm⁻¹ (OH/H₂O), 4550 cm⁻¹ (OH), and 5160 cm⁻¹(H₂O) were used to determine the various forms of water absorbed or released from the ceramic surface and the interior, which permitted the calculation of prehistoric hydroxyl gain since the time of manufacture. Ramped temperature rehydroxylation experiments (30–500 °C) were used to establish the activation energy (<em>E</em>) of OH diffusion. This was followed by an isothermal diffusion experiment, which provided a high temperature (240 °C) diffusion coefficient that was extrapolated to archaeological temperature. This new variant of the dating method is an alternative to the conventional mass gain experiments that have been applied in the past. Our ceramic dates are in agreement with associated radiocarbon dates within shell midden deposits created by the 17th century Native Americans on St. Catherines Island, Georgia, USA.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"177 ","pages":"Article 106181"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143474651","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":"Assessing quantitative methods in archaeology via simulated datasets: The Archaeoriddle challenge. Concept, project and motivations","authors":"A. Cortell-Nicolau ,&nbsp;S. Carrignon ,&nbsp;I. Rodíguez-Palomo ,&nbsp;D. Hromada ,&nbsp;R. Kahlenberg ,&nbsp;A. Mes ,&nbsp;D. Priss ,&nbsp;P. Yaworsky ,&nbsp;X. Zhang ,&nbsp;L. Brainerd ,&nbsp;J. Lewis ,&nbsp;D. Redhouse ,&nbsp;C. Simmons ,&nbsp;M. Coto-Sarmiento ,&nbsp;D. Daems ,&nbsp;A. Deb ,&nbsp;D. Lawrence ,&nbsp;M. O'Brien ,&nbsp;F. Riede ,&nbsp;X. Rubio-Campillo ,&nbsp;E. Crema","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106179","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106179","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Compared to what is found in many other scientific disciplines, archaeological data are typically scarce, biased and fragmented. This, coupled with the fact that archaeologists can rarely test their hypotheses using experimental design, makes archaeological inference and our ability to assess the robustness of quantitative methods used to make such inferences challenging.</div><div>Archaeoriddle is a project that was born as an attempt to compare archaeological methods in an artificial scenario where the behaviour to be reconstructed was known. In this project we organised an experiment where a virtual archaeological record generated from a simulated interaction between hunter–gatherers and early farmers in a fictional landscape was shared with interested participants. Three archaeological questions were posed and the participants were challenged to answer them with the data that the developer team made available. The model and the generative processes behind the virtual record were known to the developers of the virtual world (<em>Rabbithole</em>) but not to the participants. Additionally, players were allowed to sample only a subset of the data from <em>Rabbithole</em>, mimicking real-life archaeological research and sampling efforts.</div><div>The long-term aim of the project is to assess how different methods performed under a controlled environment since, in this case, we knew the correct answers to the questions posed. This experience provided us with some insights into (1) how efficient various archaeological methods are in answering complex questions; (2) the degree of interest from archaeologists in improving their analytical techniques; and (3) the potential of archaeological method when free from external constraints (e.g. budget, fieldwork, etc.).</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"177 ","pages":"Article 106179"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143463675","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":"Genomic substructure in Yellow River Basin farmers during the transitional Yangshao-Longshan period","authors":"Hao Ma ,&nbsp;Jizhong Hu ,&nbsp;Rui Wang ,&nbsp;Yu Qiao ,&nbsp;Panming Yang ,&nbsp;Xiaoyang Qiao ,&nbsp;Youwei Pu ,&nbsp;Yawei Zhou ,&nbsp;Yu Xu ,&nbsp;Haodong Chen ,&nbsp;Chuan-Chao Wang ,&nbsp;Zhaohui Yang","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106178","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106178","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Yellow River (YR) Basin is a pivotal region for understanding the origins and evolution of Chinese civilization. Previous genomic data here suggest a temporal shift in population genetics towards southern Chinese profiles, possibly due to the introduction of rice agriculture and climatic shifts in the Holocene. Here, we report the ancient genomes of two individuals from the Dahecun site during the Yangshao and transitional Yangshao-Longshan (Longshanization) periods. We found a genetic homogeneity in the Middle Neolithic YR basin, but we have not detected a southern-related ancestry among YR farmers in our sample of the Longshanization period compared with the Middle Neolithic YR farmers. Our results indicate a genomic substructure in YR Basin farmers during the transitional Yangshao-Longshan periods. The initial introduction of rice farming into the Central Plain might not be always accompanied by demic diffusion. The Neolithic Yellow River farmers were suggested to significantly contribute to the formation of modern Han Chinese.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"176 ","pages":"Article 106178"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143465258","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":"Burnt ant nests and their parallels with Mesolithic charcoal-rich pits: A comment on Huisman et al. (2024)","authors":"Philippe Crombé ,&nbsp;Roger Langohr","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106186","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106186","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This short paper provides arguments against Huisman et al.’s (2024) conclusion that Mesolithic “pit-hearths” are definitely anthropogenic in origin. We believe that this conclusion is insufficiently supported by the presented data and the size of the study, which is limited to two recent ant nests. The main problem resides in the assumption that Humus-iron Podzols pre-date the construction of “pit-hearths” and ant nests contain only little organic remains that are vulnerable to forest fires. In this comment paper we present arguments to the contrary.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"176 ","pages":"Article 106186"},"PeriodicalIF":2.6,"publicationDate":"2025-02-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143550889","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}