Journal of Archaeological Science最新文献

{"title":"Crafting excellence: reconstructing the mould technology of Shang period bronze ritual vessels at Anyang, China","authors":"Shirui Lin ,&nbsp;Patrick Sean Quinn ,&nbsp;Deming Kong ,&nbsp;Weipeng Kong ,&nbsp;Jianli Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106382","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106382","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The renowned Anyang moulds from the late Shang period represent the pinnacle of piece-mould technology in ancient China. This research examines recently excavated mould materials from the Xindian site in Anyang. A combination of archaeological, geological, and targeted experimental samples has been used to systematically reconstruct the <em>chaîne opératoire</em> using OM, SEM-EDS, micro-CT scanning, FTIR and Raman spectroscopy. Ancient craftspeople intentionally prepared four distinct pastes for specific components of the mould assembly, employing varied raw material selection and processing strategies. Diverse finishing techniques were used to refine the decoration on outer moulds. Outer moulds and inner cores were fired at different temperatures and then reassembled, possibly undergoing preheating before casting. Coatings serving as releasing agents and sealing materials were identified. The technological choices made by ancient craftspeople indicate extensive knowledge and expertise, balancing stringent performance requirements with efficient production. The high level of craftsmanship applied to the Anyang moulds provided a foundation for the extraordinary artistic and stylistic achievements in bronze production during the late Shang period.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106382"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145097810","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 periphery to borderland: Yelang metallurgy and Han imperial governance of Southwest China","authors":"Dongyi Yang ,&nbsp;Xiaotong Wu ,&nbsp;Herong Zhang ,&nbsp;Kui Li ,&nbsp;Li Tao ,&nbsp;Xingxiang Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106368","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106368","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The Bronze Age cultures of Southwest China were marked by remarkable diversity and vibrancy. As the Han Empire (202 BCE–220 CE) expanded into the region and established governance, indigenous polities gradually disintegrated. Existing research paradigms that interpret archaeological materials primarily through historical texts are limited in explanatory power. Studies on the interactions between the Han Empire and its southwestern periphery must now prioritize the cultural agency of indigenous groups. By integrating archaeometallurgical data with historical textual evidence, this study explores the subtle process by which the Han Empire gradually infiltrated Guizhou.</div><div>Metallurgical analyses indicate that western Guizhou, the core of the Yelang culture, experienced a technological evolution from unalloyed copper to tin bronze and then to lead-tin bronze between the 5th and 1st centuries BCE. Lead isotope data from Hezhang suggest four distinct lead sources. Copper and Type B lead were likely local to the Yunnan–Guizhou region. Type C lead may have come from northern China, and Type D appears to be a mixture of common local lead and highly radiogenic lead from northeastern Yunnan. Type A lead, matching isotopic signatures from Xiaoqinling in western Henan, was introduced into northwestern Guizhou under Han cultural influence.</div><div>These findings suggest that Han influence reached northwestern Guizhou before the mid-Western Han. Even prior to Emperor Wu's campaigns, Han artifacts, technologies, and mineral resources had already permeated the region. Resource exploitation drove Han expansion into the southwest, while both local and external forces shaped the integration of Yelang. Subjected to multifaceted cultural influences, Yelang underwent gradual transformation, accelerating the Sinicization process in the Guizhou region. In its early engagement with the Southwest, the Han empire adopted a low resistance strategy of infiltration and control rather than outright replacement. Through the gradual introduction of goods, technology, and raw materials, it steadily penetrated Guizhou, reflecting the power structure when the Han Empire initially encountered the highlands of Southwest China.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106368"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145097750","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":"Points, patterns, and predictions in archaeological settlement data: site-environment relationships of Paracas and Nasca communities in the Peruvian Andes","authors":"Giacomo Bilotti ,&nbsp;Markus Reindel ,&nbsp;Johny Isla ,&nbsp;Christian Mader","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106385","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106385","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper provides a framework for studying settlement patterns during pre-Inka times in the western Andes, using Point Pattern Analysis (PPA). The technique has found limited application in the Andean region, partly due to data availability and historical research trajectories. This study aims to fill this gap and employs PPA to analyze settlement patterns and site-environment relationships in the Palpa valleys of the western Andes during the Paracas (800–160 BCE) and Nasca (160 BCE–620 CE) periods. Our analysis examines the spatial structure of prehispanic settlements in relation to landscape features, identifying factors influencing site location choices and their evolution over time. Furthermore, we use the results from PPA to predict site intensity in nearby regions that were only marginally investigated archaeologically in order to identify the most relevant areas for future research activity. The performance of the model proposed here is tested at different levels in order to improve our knowledge and increase the fit of the final model. The results show changes over time in the occupation of the landscape, most of which were directed towards optimizing agricultural production. However, we have also detected a strong impact of mobility during certain periods and inter-site interaction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106385"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145268636","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":"Ochre use during the Upper Palaeolithic: a continuous record from Finca Doña Martina and Abrigo de la Boja rock-shelters, Mula, Murcia, Spain","authors":"Daniela Eugenia Rosso ,&nbsp;Àfrica Pitarch Martí ,&nbsp;François Orange ,&nbsp;Josefina Zapata ,&nbsp;João Zilhão","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106342","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106342","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The use of colour is a common feature in Upper Palaeolithic sites. However, the analysis of ochre assemblages recovered in residential contexts is rarely the object of systematic analyses. Here we analyse two ochre assemblages, recovered in the Upper Palaeolithic levels of two sites, Abrigo de la Boja and Finca Doña Martina, located in Mula, Spain: 407 and 35 ochre pieces respectively, spanning the entire Upper Palaeolithic. We combined a technological analysis with an elemental and mineralogical characterisation of the archaeological ochre and natural ochre pieces collected in nearby outcrops. Our findings suggest that the inhabitants of the sites collected ochre of different compositions, from different proveniences. They consistently processed ochre using the same techniques throughout, probably to produce large quantities of powder and for a variety of purposes of a symbolic or functional nature.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106342"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145363574","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":"Iron in copper metallurgy at the dawn of the Iron Age: Insights on iron invention from a mining and smelting site in the Caucasus","authors":"Nathaniel L. Erb-Satullo,&nbsp;Bobbi W. Klymchuk","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106338","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106338","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite enormous interest in the origins of the iron, the world's quintessential industrial metal, the technological foundations of the invention and innovation of extractive iron metallurgy remain unclear. While fundamental aspects of geology and thermodynamics favor a model for the invention of iron by copper smelters, empirical archaeological evidence to support this model is lacking. Reanalysis of the smelting workshop at Kvemo Bolnisi, originally published as an iron smelting site in the 1960s and dated to the late 2nd millennium BC, offers insights by which copper smelters recognized and experimented with iron oxides. Chemical and microscopic analysis of slags and minerals samples via optical microscopy and SEM-EDS conclusively shows that metalworkers at the site were smelting copper rather than iron. However, our analyses, coupled with a reassessment of the excavation report, show that iron oxides were deliberately stockpiled and added to the furnace as a separate component of the charge to flux the silica-rich host rock. These discoveries make Kvemo Bolnisi arguably the earliest unequivocal example of the deliberate use iron oxide fluxes in copper metallurgy. The knowledge and behaviors reflected in the Kvemo Bolnisi copper smelting technology have important implications for theories about the invention of iron metallurgy by copper smelters.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106338"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145363576","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 comprehensive dataset of key domesticated faunal remains from China spanning the early Neolithic to the Han Dynasty","authors":"Litong Liu ,&nbsp;Caihui Wang ,&nbsp;Yutian Yang,&nbsp;Yue Zhou,&nbsp;Jie Yang,&nbsp;Xue Ling,&nbsp;Ming Zhang","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106395","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106395","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>As one of the earliest domestication centers of plants and animals globally, zooarchaeological studies in China provide key insights into the relationship between domestication processes and socioeconomic development. Despite recent growth in Chinese zooarchaeological research, a comprehensive synthesis is lacking. To address this gap, we systematically compiled a dataset of 2,913 zooarchaeological records from published literature and archaeological reports across China, covering the early Neolithic to the Han Dynasty (approximately 12-1.8 thousand years before present). The dataset reveals significant spatial disparities in the distribution of six key domesticated species (pigs, dogs, cattle, sheep, goats, and horses), with 87.68 % of the total faunal remains concentrated in Northern China and 12.32 % in Southern China. Pigs (<em>Sus scrofa domesticus</em>) and dogs (<em>Canis lupus familiaris</em>), both native to East Asia, constituted the most abundant species. This dataset provides a comprehensive overview of Chinese zooarchaeological research, enhances its international visibility, and establishes a foundation for future integrated studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106395"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145268637","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 methodological centrality of geo-archaeological surveys in ceramic provenance analysis: A re-assessment of El Argar pottery production and circulation","authors":"Carla Garrido-García ,&nbsp;David Gómez-Gras ,&nbsp;Marta Roigé ,&nbsp;Adrià Moreno Gil ,&nbsp;Roberto Risch","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106394","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106394","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The abundance and variety of clay sources found in many parts of the world make the issue of prehistoric pottery provenance and circulation more complex than what purely petrographic characterisation studies often suggest. In this study we use a specific combination of petrographic analysis, geoarchaeological survey, and spatial analysis to determine the origin of the clays used in pottery production. Specifically, we focus on pottery production within the core area of El Argar, an archaeological entity that developed during the Early Bronze Age (2200-1550 BCE) in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula. Following the analysis of the natural conditions under which the identified El Argar clays had formed, an archaeological survey was conducted, locating the raw materials within geographically confined sedimentary deposits of the Inner Betic mountain range. By examining the distance between clay deposits and Early Bronze Age settlements, we conclude that the majority of El Argar ceramics were not produced locally. The spatial analysis strongly supports the idea of a specialized production, likely concentrated around specific clay deposits, with a high degree of productive standardisation. These patterns align more with regional and supra-regional political systems and exchange networks, than with a domestic mode of production. The proposed investigation shows how the combination of petrographic optical microscope analysis, systematic geological and geomorphological survey, and spatial modeling aided by GIS provides a powerful tool for identifying forms of economic and political organization of pottery manufacture and circulation.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106394"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145268635","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":"Testing the use of southern France and Cyprus mouflons as a reference to reconstruct birth season in sheep from oxygen isotope analysis in teeth","authors":"Eléa Gutierrez ,&nbsp;Angelos Hadjikoumis ,&nbsp;Eleftherios Hadjisterkotis ,&nbsp;Jean-Denis Vigne ,&nbsp;Fabien Dewilde ,&nbsp;Denis Fiorillo ,&nbsp;Lionel Gourichon ,&nbsp;Marie Balasse","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106381","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106381","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reconstructing past sheep birth seasons relies on oxygen isotope analysis in dental enamel, using modern reference datasets with known birth seasons for comparison. However, the comparability of dental growth calendar between modern and ancient sheep remains uncertain. The current mouflons in Europe, descended from Neolithic domestic sheep that later became feral in Corsica, Sardinia, and Cyprus, are amongst the closest living relatives of Neolithic sheep. Their suitability as references for the estimation of the birth season was explored by analysing the third molar of individuals from two populations giving birth in the spring: Cyprus mouflons (<em>n</em> = 7) and Mediterranean mouflons from southern France (<em>n</em> = 10). Results from oxygen isotope analysis of dental enamel reflect environmental and management differences (e.g., wild <em>vs.</em> captive conditions, local climate and seasonal temperature fluctuations). Isotopic sequence modelling indicated a good agreement between the Mediterranean mouflons from southern France and previously published western European sheep references. However, a radical shift in the record of the <em>δ</em>¹⁸O values of the seasonal cycle between the Cyprus mouflon and the sheep references has been observed.</div><div>This divergence suggests distinct dental growth calendars between the Cyprus mouflons and the remaining <em>Ovis</em> included in the study, which may be attributed to a different genetic lineage, reduced genetic diversity in Cyprus mouflons due to one or more founder events—potentially leading to the expression of traits not present or rarely present in the source population—and/or long-term isolation resulting in phylogenetic drift.</div><div>These findings suggest that Mediterranean mouflons from southern France are as suitable as modern sheep breeds as references for reconstructing past birth seasons in Western Europe. In contrast, the use of the Cyprus mouflons as a reference requires further investigation, both in the context of Cyprus and more broadly across the Near East.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106381"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145097749","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 walking moai hypothesis: Archaeological evidence, experimental validation, and response to critics","authors":"Carl P. Lipo ,&nbsp;Terry L. Hunt","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106383","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106383","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The transport of Rapa Nui's (Easter Island) monumental <em>moai</em> statues has been debated for over a century. Based on a systematic analysis of 962 <em>moai</em>, with a focus on 62 road statues, combined with 3D modeling and experimental trials, we demonstrate that these multi-ton megaliths were designed for transport vertically in a controlled \"walking\" motion facilitated by their carved shapes. Our evidence includes distinctive morphological features of road <em>moai</em> (wide, D-shaped bases and forward lean), archaeological road characteristics (4.5m wide, concave cross-sections), non-random breakage patterns, and successful experimental validation using a precisely-scaled 4.35 metric ton replica based on road <em>moai</em> morphology. Our experiments revealed that the forward-leaning design enabled efficient transport, covering 100 m in 40 min with a team of 18 people—a significant improvement over earlier vertical transport attempts that used incorrectly proportioned <em>ahu moai</em> forms. Statistical analysis of the road <em>moai</em> distribution reveals patterns that are strongly consistent with transport failure: 51.6 % concentrate within 2 km of the Rano Raraku quarry, following an exponential decay pattern expected from mechanical failure processes rather than deliberate ceremonial placement. Despite empirical support, several scholars have challenged the walking hypothesis. We systematically address critiques regarding terrain constraints, rope availability, weathering patterns, and alternative transport mechanisms, demonstrating how objections fail to account for the comprehensive archaeological evidence supporting vertical transport. The walking method required minimal resources and labor compared to horizontal transport hypotheses, revealing sophisticated engineering rather than environmental destruction, and aligning with Rapa Nui oral traditions that describe <em>moai</em> \"walking\" from the quarry.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106383"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145242025","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":"Phytoliths on Fire – Experimental production of heated phytoliths for analysis of archaeological sediments","authors":"Dagmar Fritzsch ,&nbsp;Astrid Röpke","doi":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106367","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jas.2025.106367","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In thin sections from archaeological sediments, slag-like glassy components are very common. They can refer to differently heated materials, but most of them are considered to be phytoliths (amorphous, biogenic silicon dioxide (SiO₂)) of grasses. In order to gain more detailed knowledge about the combustion conditions of phytoliths, we carried out burning experiments with four typical cereals that are frequently found in archaeological contexts. The segmented plant parts leaf, husk and stem were burnt from 250 °C up to 800 °C. The main recognized heat-induced alterations are colouration, deformation, glassy phytolith slags and pseudo-crystallisation. Our results indicate that high temperatures are not necessarily required to produce heat-altered phytoliths from cereals, as they form at around 450 °C or, in some cases, even at lower temperatures. Glassy phytolith slags already occur at 600 °C. This temperature is typical for fireplaces, which are very common at archaeological sites. They could therefore be an important source for the frequent occurrence of glassy phytolith slags. At 800 °C pseudo-crystallisation occurs, but according to Raman spectroscopy silica remains amorphous. Furthermore, the plant parts stem, leaf and husk react differently to heat. The stem, particularly the parenchyma, shows first alterations at 250 °C and distinct deformations at 450 °C. In contrast, most phytoliths of leaves and husks are still identifiable at 600 °C. This implies that stems are more sensitive to heat and might be underrepresented in the archaeological record. As this part of the plant, commonly referred to as straw, was used extensively as building material, matting and fuel, their under-representation could be relevant to the reconstruction of archaeological sites.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":50254,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Archaeological Science","volume":"183 ","pages":"Article 106367"},"PeriodicalIF":2.5,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145097751","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}