Hard Past
Multiple injuries and injury recidivism in Milan over 2,000 years
Lucie Biehler-Gomez et al.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, June 2023
Abstract:
Injury recidivism is a clinical term defined as the recurrence of traumatic injuries from temporally distinct events, whereas multiple injuries correspond to skeletal injuries to more than one body region. The analysis of these dynamics can lead to a better understanding of the individual’s way of life and social environment. The present investigation examines the rates of multiple injuries, and in particular their distribution according to sex and age-at-death, as well as their association with stress markers, among 200 skeletons from Milan covering four historical periods (roman, medieval, modern, and contemporary eras), equally divided between sexes. In addition, injury recidivism was investigated in the sample and three cases were identified and detailed as case studies. As a result, multiple injuries were more frequent in the Medieval period (41%), followed by the Contemporary (25%), Roman (19%) and Modern eras (15%). Statistical analyses showed a significant association between multiples injuries and male sex, but not with age-at-death or stress markers. The three cases of recidivism included one female from the modern era and two males from the Medieval period. The analysis of the injuries and their recurrence permitted to improve our understanding of the individuals’ social environment and hypothesize on their causes (accidents/occupational work, and interpersonal violence).
On the Quina side: A Neanderthal bone industry at Chez-Pinaud site, France
Malvina Baumann et al.
PLoS ONE, June 2023
Abstract:
Did Neanderthal produce a bone industry? The recent discovery of a large bone tool assemblage at the Neanderthal site of Chagyrskaya (Altai, Siberia, Russia) and the increasing discoveries of isolated finds of bone tools in various Mousterian sites across Eurasia stimulate the debate. Assuming that the isolate finds may be the tip of the iceberg and that the Siberian occurrence did not result from a local adaptation of easternmost Neanderthals, we looked for evidence of a similar industry in the Western side of their spread area. We assessed the bone tool potential of the Quina bone-bed level currently under excavation at chez Pinaud site (Jonzac, Charente-Maritime, France) and found as many bone tools as flint ones: not only the well-known retouchers but also beveled tools, retouched artifacts and a smooth-ended rib. Their diversity opens a window on a range of activities not expected in a butchering site and not documented by the flint tools, all involved in the carcass processing. The re-use of 20% of the bone blanks, which are mainly from large ungulates among faunal remains largely dominated by reindeer, raises the question of blank procurement and management. From the Altai to the Atlantic shore, through a multitude of sites where only a few objects have been reported so far, evidence of a Neanderthal bone industry is emerging which provides new insights on Middle Paleolithic subsistence strategies.
Counterfeiting activities during the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE) revealed by the special alloy coins in the Chenzhou hoard, Hunan, China
Li Fang et al.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, June 2023
Abstract:
Kaiyuan Tongbao coin was the primary circulation currency during the Tang Dynasty. It defined the Chinese coinage model for over a thousand years afterward. Despite repeated government prohibition, coin counterfeiting prevailed through Tang Dynasty. Such activities resulted in a large amount of counterfeit coins entering the market, which undermined economy and led to social instability. However, as a key to exploring the issue of counterfeiting, information on the alloy composition, provenance and the production mode of the counterfeit coins are not yet clear. This paper presents the first comprehensive scientific study on counterfeit coins from a hoard in Hunan Province in South China (a total of 39 kg and approximately 8000 coins were found). Radiocarbon dating of the bamboo weaving wrapped coins indicated that the hoard dated from 668 to 874 CE (Tang Dynasty). Chemical composition analysis, morphological and metallographic images and lead isotope analysis of 78 hoarded Kaiyuan Tongbao coins had been obtained. Combined with historical records, ore materials probably originated from the local Huangshaping and Baoshan polymetallic deposits in the Nanling metallogenic belt in South China. Results showed that there were 16 types of alloy materials, primarily cast alloys of the Cu-Fe-As system. Most of the coins were minted using a Cu-Pb syngenetic ore rich in many elements from Fe, As, Sb, and Sn. One discovery is the utilizing of a by-product of local ore smelting which was called the speiss. The hoard coins studied in this paper provide the first evidence of the use of speiss for coinage in ancient China. Such material sources and manufacture technique made convenience for coin counterfeiting, which explains repeated failures of central government’s attempts to eliminate coin counterfeiting, especially for those mining areas.
Ancient nomadic corridors and long-run development in the highlands of Asia
Christopher Paik & Keshar Shahi
Explorations in Economic History, forthcoming
Abstract:
In this paper we explore the long-run settlement and economic activities in the highlands of Asia. The highland terrains uniquely determined seasonal migration paths by nomadic pastoralists (so called “nomadic corridors”), along which trade routes and settlements formed. Using simulated nomadic corridors as a proxy for ancient transportation networks, we study how closely contemporary economic activities remain around these routes. We find that in the highlands, the ancient routes are associated with positive economic outcomes in the long run; trade hubs along the routes continued to draw people and are more populated today relative to other areas in the region.
Analyses of queen Hetepheres’ bracelets from her celebrated tomb in Giza reveals new information on silver, metallurgy and trade in Old Kingdom Egypt, c. 2600 BC
Karin Sowada et al.
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, June 2023
Abstract:
Egypt has no domestic silver ore sources and silver is rarely found in the Egyptian archaeological record until the Middle Bronze Age. Bracelets found in the tomb of queen Hetepheres I, mother of pyramid builder king Khufu (date of reign c. 2589–2566 BC), form the largest and most famous collection of silver artefacts from early Egypt, but they have not been analysed for decades. We analysed samples from the collection in the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston using bulk XRF, micro-XRF, SEM-EDS, X-ray diffractometry and MC-ICP-MS to obtain elemental and mineralogical compositions and lead isotope ratios, to understand the nature and metallurgical treatment of the metal and identify the possible ore source. We found that the pieces consist of silver with trace copper, gold, lead and other elements. The minerals are silver, silver chloride and a possible trace of copper chloride. Surprisingly, the lead isotope ratios are consistent with ores from the Cyclades (Aegean islands, Greece), and to a lesser extent from Lavrion (Attica, Greece), and not partitioned from gold or electrum as previously surmised. Sources in Anatolia (Western Asia) can be excluded with a high degree of confidence. Imaging of a cross-section of a bracelet fragment reveals that the metal was repeatedly annealed and cold-hammered during creation of the artefacts. The results provide new information about silver ore sources, commodity exchange networks and metallurgy in Egypt during the Early Bronze Age.
Interactions between Trypillian farmers and North Pontic forager-pastoralists in Eneolithic central Ukraine
Alexey Nikitin et al.
PLoS ONE, June 2023
Abstract:
The establishment of agrarian economy in Eneolithic East Europe is associated with the Pre-Cucuteni-Cucuteni-Trypillia complex (PCCTC). PCCTC farmers interacted with Eneolithic forager-pastoralist groups of the North Pontic steppe as PCCTC extended from the Carpathian foothills to the Dnipro Valley beginning in the late 5th millennium BCE. While the cultural interaction between the two groups is evident through the Cucuteni C pottery style that carries steppe influence, the extent of biological interactions between Trypillian farmers and the steppe remains unclear. Here we report the analysis of artefacts from the late 5th millennium Trypillian settlement at the Kolomiytsiv Yar Tract (KYT) archaeological complex in central Ukraine, focusing on a human bone fragment found in the Trypillian context at KYT. Diet stable isotope ratios obtained from the bone fragment suggest the diet of the KYT individual to be within the range of forager-pastoralists of the North Pontic area. Strontium isotope ratios of the KYT individual are consistent with having originated from contexts of the Serednii Stih (Sredny Stog) culture sites of the Middle Dnipro Valley. Genetic analysis of the KYT individual indicates ancestry derived from a proto-Yamna population such as Serednii Stih. Overall, the KYT archaeological site presents evidence of interactions between Trypillians and Eneolithic Pontic steppe inhabitants of the Serednii Stih horizon and suggests a potential for gene flow between the two groups as early as the beginning of the 4th millennium BCE.
A ceramic kiln of the Early Bronze Age from Tel Lod in the southern Levant: Microarchaeological analyses and technological significance
Amir Golani & Yotam Asscher
Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, June 2023
Abstract:
A two-storey updraft ceramic kiln of mudbrick and clay, dated by associated ceramic finds to the Early Bronze (EB) IB period, and by radiocarbon dating to the end of the 4th millennium BC, has been found adjacent to a large, possibly public structure at Tel Lod. Mineralogical analysis based on Infrared spectroscopy demonstrates that temperatures between 700 and 800 °C were achieved in this installation, and thin sections analysis show that the mudbricks of the walls were intentionally enriched with quartz, a mineral known for its refractory properties. In contrast to open firing or pit kilns known from earlier periods, updraft kilns facilitate better control of the firing process and a more efficient use of fuel, allowing better mass production of durable ceramics of lighter weight that could be more easily transported in larger amounts over longer distances. Proto-Metallic Ware that was found at the site, also associated with the EB IB period, shows variable ranges of temperatures between 500 and 800 °C, indicating that such ceramics could also have been made in this installation. This is one of the earliest examples of this technology in the southern Levant and is observed to coincide with the beginnings of the first urbanization in this region, expressing a growing need for efficient mass production of well-fired ceramics for a market economy.