Search Results (25)

The possibility of collecting new archaeological elements useful in reconstructing the dynamics of population, production and commercial activities in the Bronze Age at the edge of the central-southern Venice Lagoon was provided between 2023 and 2024 thanks to an intervention of rescue archaeology planned during some water restoration works in the Giare–Mira area. Three small excavations revealed, approximately one meter below the current surface and covered by alluvial sediments, a rather complex palimpsest dated to the late Recent and the early Final Bronze Age. Three large circular pits containing exclusively purified grey/blue clay and very rare inclusions of vegetable fibres, and many large, fired clay vessels’ bases, walls and rims clustered in concentrated assemblages and random deposits point to potential on-site production. Two pyro-technological structures, one characterised by a sub-circular combustion chamber and a long inlet channel/praefurnium, and the second one with a sub-rectangular shape with arched niches along its southern side, complete the exceptional context here discovered. To analyse the relationship between the site and the natural sedimentary succession and to evaluate the possible extension of this site, three electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) and low-frequency electromagnetic (FDEM) measurements were collected. Several manual core drillings associated with remote sensing integrated the geophysical data in the analysis of the geomorphological evolution of this area, clearly related to different phases of fluvial activity, in a framework of continuous relative sea level rise. The typology and chronology of the archaeological structures and materials, currently undergoing further analyses, support the interpretation of the site as a late Recent/early Final Bronze Age productive site. Geophysical and geomorphological data provide information on the palaeoenvironmental setting, suggesting that the site was located on a fine-grained, stable alluvial plain at a distance of a few kilometres from the lagoon shore to the south-east and the course of the Brenta River to the north. The archaeological site was buried by fine-grained floodplain deposits attributed to the Brenta River. The good preservation of the archaeological structures buried by fluvial sediments suggests that the site was abandoned soon before sedimentation started. Full article

Ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Lawson & C. Lawson) forests in the western United States have experienced reduced fire frequency since Euro-American settlement, usually because of successful fire suppression policies and even without such human impacts at remote sites in the Great Basin and Mojave Deserts. In an effort to improve our understanding of long-term environmental dynamics in sky-island ecosystems, we developed tree-ring chronologies from ponderosa pines located in the Sheep Mountain Range of southern Nevada, inside the Desert National Wildlife Refuge (DNWR). After comparing those dendrochronological records with other ones available for the south-central Great Basin, we analyzed their climatic response using station-recorded monthly precipitation and air temperature data from 1950 to 2024. The main climatic signal was December through May total precipitation, which was then reconstructed at annual resolution over the past five centuries, from 1490 to 2011 CE. The mean episode duration was 2.6 years, and the maximum drought duration was 11 years (1924–1934; the “Dust Bowl” period), while the longest episode, 19 years (1905–1923), is known throughout North America as the “early 1900s pluvial”. By quantifying multi-annual dry and wet episodes, the period since DNWR establishment was placed in a long-term dendroclimatic framework, allowing us to estimate the potential drought resilience of its unique, tree-dominated environments. Full article

Phosphorus is a key element for identifying past human activity. Recently, phosphorus analyses have been extended to archaeological objects, aiming at distinguishing how depositional contexts contribute to its enrichment. In archaeological pottery, phosphorus might depend on several manufacturing and postdepositional processes (i.e., addition of organic temper, pigments, diagenetic incorporation). We analyzed by XRD, XRF, and mid-infrared (FTIR-ATR) spectroscopy 178 pots from eight NW Spain archaeological sites. These sites encompass different chronologies, contexts, and local geology. The phosphorus content was highly variable (224–27,722 mg kg⁻¹) overall but also between archeological sites (1644 ± 487 to 13,635 ± 6623 mg kg⁻¹) and within archaeological sites (4–36, max/min ratio). No phosphate minerals were identified by XRD nor FTIR-ATR, but correlations between phosphorus content and MIR absorbances showed maxima at 1515 and 980 cm⁻¹, suggesting the presence of two sources: one organic (i.e., phosphorylated aromatic compounds) and another inorganic (i.e., albite and K-feldspar). Phosphorylated aromatics were most likely formed during pottery firing and were preserved due to their high resistance to temperature and oxidation. Meanwhile, albite and K-feldspar are among the P-bearing minerals with higher P concentrations. Our results suggest that P content is related to intentional and non-intentional actions taken in the pottery production process. Full article

This study aimed to uncover the chronology and production technologies of ancient bricks unearthed from various locations in Upper Assam, Northeast India. To achieve this goal, complementary spectroscopic techniques such as Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) coupled with Energy Dispersive Spectrometer (EDS), as well as Thermoluminescence (TL) and Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL/IRSL) dating, were applied. FTIR and XRD analyses revealed the presence of quartz, feldspar (microcline, orthoclase, albite), kaolinite, chlorite, cerussite, palygorskite, magnetite, hematite, and organic carbon. The mineralogical composition indicates two distinct groups with firing temperatures below 650 °C and above ~800 °C. These two groups could be the first indication of the presence of two civilizations or at least two different production technologies involving different firing temperatures and kiln atmospheric conditions. Further, the SEM-EDS study suggests that both calcareous and non-calcareous clays were used in brick making, which have low and high refractory properties, respectively. The internal morphology of the samples shows the existence of micropores and microfractures, indicating the influence of higher-temperature firing. Absolute dating techniques associate the two brick groups with different age ranges: a firing temperature above ~800 °C indicates a superior technology corresponding to a production period between the 7th and 10th centuries CE. In contrast, a temperature below 650 °C indicates a technologically less advanced group of people, with the age group dated between the 11th and 14th centuries CE. Full article

The 2012 satellite ASTER geoscience maps of Australia were designed to provide public, web-accessible, and spatially comprehensive surface mineralogy for improved mapping and solutions to geoscience challenges. However, a number of the 2012 products were clearly compromised by variable green and/or dry vegetation cover. Here, we show a strategy to first estimate and then unmix the contributions of both these vegetation components to leave, as residual, the target surface mineralogy. The success of this unmixing process is validated by (i) visual suppression/removal of the regional climate and/or local fire-scar vegetation patterns; and (ii) pixel values more closely matching field sample data. In this process, we also found that the 2012 spectral indices used to gauge the AlOH content, AlOH composition, and water content can be improved. The updated (new indices and vegetation unmixed) maps reveal new geoscience information, including: (i) regional “wet” and “dry” zones that appear to express “deep” geological characters often expressed through thick regolith cover, with one zone over the Yilgarn Craton spatially anti-correlated with Archaean gold deposits; (ii) a ~1000 km wide circular feature over the Lake Eyre region defined by a rim of abundant “muscovite” that appears to coincide with opal deposits; (iii) a N–S zonation across the western half of the continent defined by abundant muscovite in the south and kaolinite in the north, which appears to reflect opposing E ↔ W aeolian sediment transport directions across the high-pressure belt; (iv) various paleo-drainage networks, including those over aeolian sand covered the “lowlands” of the Canning Basin, which are characterized by low AlOH content, as well as those over eroding “uplands”, such as the Yilgarn Craton, which have complicated compositional patterns; and (v) a chronological history of Miocene barrier shorelines, back-beach lagoons, and alluvial fans across the Eucla Basin, which, to date, had proved elusive to map using other techniques, with potential implications for heavy mineral sand exploration. Here, we explore the latter three issues. Full article

Understanding the rate and direction of pyrogenic succession in arid ecosystems, which depends on many factors, including the intensity of grazing and the frequency of pyrogenic expo-sure, will allow for more accurate predictions of the consequences of fire onplant communities, and will assist with better fire management. We studied the vegetation on 55 sites in and near the “Chernye Zemli” Natural Biosphere Reserve that burned at different times or were not affected by fires over the past 35 years and characterized the changes in vegetation cover associated with the impact of wildfire and grazing. The descriptions were grouped into chronological stages according to the time elapsed since the last fire, or into groups according to the frequency of fires. In pairwise comparison of the projective cover of plant species between chronological stages, it correlated most strongly between successive initial stages (for stages 1 and 2, p = 0.003, r = 0.73; for stages 2 and 3, p < 0.001, r = 0.78). Species with an initially higher projective cover were more likely to grow on plots in the first year after the fire: p < 0.03. Plots with rare and frequent fires had similar projective cover of individual species (r = 0.64, p < 0.001). We conclude that in the course of pyrogenic succession, communities are gradually replaced over at least ten years. At the same time, the composition of a plant community at the initial point of succession depends on the prevalence of species in the community before the fire. No fundamental effect of the frequency of fires on the composition of plant communities has been revealed. Full article

The ancient city of Jericho, located at the archaeological site of Tell es-Sultan west of the Jordan River and adjacent to the Ein es-Sultan spring on the edge of modern Jericho, has often been associated with the biblical city of Jericho and the story found in the book of Joshua. The identification of Jericho with Tell es-Sultan is not disputed, and numerous excavation teams have affirmed Tell es-Sultan as Jericho. While excavations have also uncovered the fiery destruction of a walled city at Jericho, the date of the fall of Bronze Age Jericho and the association of this destruction with the narrative in the book of Joshua have been a point of disagreement among archaeologists for more than a century. The first excavations at Jericho (Tell es-Sultan) occurred in 1868 under the direction of Charles Warren, followed by soundings conducted by FJ Bliss in 1894, the expeditions of the years 1907–1909 and 1911 by Ernst Sellin and Carl Watzinger, the excavations of 1930–1936 directed by John Garstang, the 1952–1958 project of Kathleen Kenyon, brief excavations by Shimon Riklin in 1992, and the most recent excavations and restorations by the joint Italian–Palestinian team from 1997 to 2000 under Nicolo Marchetti and Lorenzo Nigro, followed by the 2009–2017 seasons directed by Jehad Yasin, Hamdan Taha, and Lorenzo Nigro. Although there is a significant deviation in views over the exact date of the destruction and abandonment, archaeological analyses of Jericho generally agree on the manner in which the city met its end, including a widespread fire, collapsed mudbrick walls, burning of the stored grain, and abandonment. However, assessing all of the archaeological data from Jericho IVc, both new and old, including pottery wares, Egyptian scarabs, a cuneiform tablet, stratigraphic analysis, and radiocarbon samples, allows a more definitive historical reconstruction concerning the chronology of the destruction of Jericho and its connections to the biblical narratives. Full article

The evolution of the genus Homo can only be understood by considering both of the inheritance systems that interact to shape human nature: biology and culture. While growing intellectual abilities are a key factor of human evolution, they are rarely contrasted with cultural progress. Cranial capacity data of 193 hominin fossils from the last seven million years and artefacts of increasing number and complexity in the archaeological record are used to demonstrate the concordant progression of brain-size increase and cultural development, starting approximately two million years ago. Our biocultural evolution shows a number of quantum leaps along the time axis applying to both domains. At first, humans left the canonical evolutionary pathway, which pertains to all other organisms, by enhancing their fitness using sophisticated tools and fire; secondly, they turned into a symbolic species; and finally, humanity now faces a new challenge: “intentional evolution”. Chronologically, these quantum leaps correspond to cranial capacity data used here as a proxy for cognitive performance. This contribution tries to demonstrate this parallel development and argues for a simple and generalized model of human biocultural evolution. An extrapolation of the model into the future shows that humans, as biological entities, will not necessarily persist. Full article

Pandora moths (Coloradia pandora subsp. davisi Barnes and Benjamin) have been observed to reach epidemic populations on the Kaibab Plateau, resulting in relatively small, localized defoliation events of ponderosa (Pinus ponderosa Lawson). We reconstructed the historical pandora moth outbreak regime using tree rings and forest health records to explore how exogenous factors, climate, and fire, are related to outbreak dynamics close to the driest range of ponderosa pine. We collected eight tree-ring chronologies dating back 400 years, geographically dispersed around the plateau, and inferred past outbreaks by comparison with non-host tree-ring chronologies, weather records, and historical observations. Eleven outbreaks were detected between 1744 and the present, many of them occurring at all the sites. Outbreaks were found to be synchronous, typically lasting 10 years at 25-year intervals. Interruption of the frequent fire regime that prevailed prior to 1880 was associated with a shift to shorter, less frequent outbreaks. Dry to wet oscillations in climate were correlated with outbreak initiations. Pandora moth outbreaks appear to have been an intrinsic part of the Kaibab Plateau’s forest ecosystems, though more research is needed to understand outbreak effects on the ecosystem and future directions of the moth–host relationship under climate warming. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic posed many challenges in epidemiology, health care, and vaccinology. Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies had to develop effective vaccines as soon as possible in order to halt the spread of infection outbreaks and enable the start of the National Vaccination Program. Firstly, medical services and security services (the army, fire brigade, and police), i.e., those most involved in the fight against the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, were included in the aforementioned program. The presented publication analyzes the amount and type of vaccination against COVID-19 and influenza among Polish soldiers. Influenza, like COVID-19, is a viral disease that can vary in its course (from mild to acute and life-threatening). Both coronaviruses and influenza viruses are characterized by high genetic variability, resulting in the need for repeated vaccination during each autumn and winter season. Acquired data comes from the Central Register of Vaccination of Professional Soldiers. The collected material was statistically processed. The average level of the phenomenon was presented as a time series using a chronological average. In the analyzed period (December 2020–December 2021), the lowest vaccinations against COVID-19 were performed in December 2020, which is due to the schedule of the National Vaccination Program in Poland. In contrast, the highest number of vaccinations were administered between April and June 2021, or approximately 70.5% of all vaccines administered. In the case of influenza, there is a clear increase in the number of vaccinations during the autumn and winter seasons, which coincides with peaks in disease during these periods. Between August 2020 and January 2021, there is a noticeable increase in the number of flu injections given, nearly 50% compared to the previous period, which may be related to the simultaneous persistence of the COVID-19 pandemic and greater attention to one’s own health. Non-mandatory vaccination is an important point in the vaccination schedule for soldiers. Numerous public campaigns combating misinformation and raising awareness of the need for immunization will help convince even more people, not only among soldiers but also the civilian population, to vaccinate. Full article

The Mesoamerican Postclassic and Epiclassic were periods of drastic change and transformation related to social, political and economic aspects as well as settlement patterns. Mexico’s northern boundary expansion, rise, and subsequent demise is a matter of debate which remains essentially unsolved. Possible causes include climatic changes, landscape degradation or prolonged bellicose relations with nomadic groups. Still, no consensus exists on why such apparent instability and decline occurred at major archaeological settlements on the northern Mesoamerican border, also known as the septentrional frontier. The scarcity of absolute chronological constraints is definitively a handicap that impedes the assessment of northern Mesoamerica’s development from its apogee to its decline. The archaeomagnetic method has been used during the last decades to analyze burned archaeological artifacts belonging to Mesoamerica’s north and central-west frontiers, including different Mexican states. Namely, high-resolution studies were carried out at Aguascalientes (El Ocote), Guanajuato (El Cóporo, Lo de Juárez and Plazuelas), Jalisco (Cerro de Los Agaves, La Palma and El Palacio de Ocomo) and Zacatecas (La Quemada). It was successfully proved that archaeomagnetic dating might greatly contribute to refining the chronology and development of major pre-Hispanic settlements. These studies were based on available geomagnetic curves at the time of publication. However, global geomagnetic models have experienced substantial improvement with the development of local/regional reference archaeomagnetic curves during the last few years. Hence, the need arises for a critical reassessment of reported age intervals and corresponding chronological contexts. Updated archaeomagnetic ages are recalculated considering the geomagnetic models SHA.DIF.14K and SHAWQ.2K as well as the two regional paleosecular variation curves for Mesoamerica. A bootstrap resampling method is used to obtain an optimal age range for each studied structure. These new absolute chronologies indicate that the last fire exposure of the vast majority of the analyzed artifacts unequivocally corresponds to the Mesoamerican early Postclassic related to the depopulation stage apparently caused by environmental changes. Full article

The Chalcolithic period in the Lisbon region, Portugal, is usually divided into three phases chronologically: the Early Chalcolithic, characterized by cylindrical corrugated cups, Full Chalcolithic by so-called acacia-leaf decoration, and Late Chalcolithic by Bell Beaker pottery. The aim of this research is to determine if Chalcolithic ceramic raw materials and production techniques have remained the same over time and whether the pottery is locally produced. Regarding the Lisbon region, 149 ceramic samples from four Chalcolithic settlements (Vila Nova de São Pedro, Penedo do Lexim, Espargueira and Baútas) were evaluated concerning textural, chemical and mineralogical compositions. Textural analysis was performed using optical microscopy, chemical characterization was achieved using micro-energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and mineralogical characterization was undertaken using X-ray powder diffraction and petrographic microscopy as main techniques. Results suggest that production techniques may have remained similar throughout all the Chalcolithic period, with firing temperatures between 700 and 800 °C. Multivariate analysis of results from chemical and mineralogical analyses suggests that multiple sources of raw materials must have been used in the manufacture of the pottery collected at the four Chalcolithic settlements. Full article

In this paper, we focus on the industrial production of porcelain in the Bordeaux area (France) in the 19th century. Our main objective is to assess the evolution of production technology of the same manufactory over a period of more than 40 years. A multi-analytical approach was used to investigate glazes and bodies of thirty-four sherds of biscuit and porcelain found in an archaeological context. The microstructural, chemical, and mineralogical characterization was performed using a combination of scanning electron microscopy, coupled with energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), particles induced X-ray and gamma emission (PIXE-PIGE), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Results obtained on the characterization of the ceramic production technologies and on the chemical modification over time contributes to investigate this industrial production, which is not well documented by the written archives. The examination of the biscuits, rare artifacts, showed that the porcelain bodies were produced by mixing kaolinitic clays, quartz, and potassium feldspars. The mineralogical analysis of the ceramic supports allowed hypotheses to be put forward on the temperatures of the biscuit firing (around 950 °C) and the second firing (over 1200 °C). Furthermore, the treatment of the compositional data, including both glazes and bodies, using multivariate statistical analysis, revealed different types of production corresponding to the different chronological periods of production at Bordeaux throughout the 19th century. These results will enable us to consider the possibility of authenticating non-stamped and undecorated pieces. Full article

Wildfires are one of the most important environmental factors controlling forest ecosystem physiology and the carbon balance in the permafrost zone of North Siberia. We investigated tree-ring width (TRW) and stable isotope chronologies in tree-ring cellulose (δ¹³C_Cell, δ¹⁸O_Cell) of Larix Gmelinii (Rupr.) Rupr. from a wet (WS) and a dry (DS) site. These sites are characterized by different fire histories (fire in 1852 at the wet and 1896 at the dry sites, respectively). TRW and δ¹⁸OCell are identified to be the most sensitive parameters in the changing tree growth conditions after fire. The differences in the soil seasonal thermal regime of sites after fires are shown in the relationship between the studied parameters. The δ¹³C_Cell values in tree rings from the two sites are positively correlated independently of the fire impact. This fact indicates that δ¹³C_Cell chronologies might be more adequate for climatic reconstruction in the region due to the climate signal consistency. Relationships of δ¹⁸O_Cell values between the two sites are still significantly positive 60 years after the fire impact. Dendroclimatic analysis indicates significant changes in tree-ring growth and isotopic ratio responses to climate due to the increased demand of water for trees during the post-fire period (deeper seasonal subsidence of permafrost). Full article

Transition to the Early Iron Age was marked by the appearance of innovations such as iron technology and changes in the lifestyle of local societies on the territory of the North-Western Pontic Sea region. One of the most interesting sites of this period is the Glinjeni II-La Șanț fortified settlement, located in the Middle Dniester basin (Republic of Moldova). Materials of different cultural traditions belonged to the Cozia-Saharna culture (10th–9th cc. BC) and the Basarabi-Șoldănești culture (8th–beginning of 7th cc. BC) were found on this site. The article presents the results of a multidisciplinary approach to the study of ceramic sherds from these archaeological complexes and cultural layers as well as raw clay sources from this area. The archaeometry analysis, such as the XRF-WD, the thin section analysis, SEM-EDX of ceramics, m-CT of pottery were carried out. The study of ancient pottery through a set of mineralogical and geochemical analytic methods allowed us to obtain new results about ceramic technology in different chronological periods, ceramic paste recipes and firing conditions. Correlation of archaeological and archaeometry data of ceramics from the Glinjeni II-La Șanț site gives us the possibility to differ earlier and later chronological markers in the paste recipes of pottery of 10th–beginning of 7th cc. BC in the region of the Middle Dniester basin. Full article