Archaeology

In the poster about Horta do Jacinto we discuss how different bodies and artefacts entailed different space organizations. By considering the relationships between, what is put inside the pit and its internal configuration, it seems that, once we look at the feature as architecture, then the shape of the pit is, as important as what is inside of it, and not just as a way to think about functionality, but to understand it as an architectural device. Structure 1 is constituted from actions that bring together soil, sculpted shape and bodies. Furthermore, the distribution of fragments of objects keeps memory at work in these spaces: they create a material tension between how things were and how things are now. Architecture here, is not just a building activity, it constructs other possibilities for, how humans, animals and artefacts relate to each other in the world.

Este trabajo está centrado en el estudio de una de las primeras formas de manejo ganadero de la época colonial en la Banda Oriental. Aborda específicamente el análisis de un conjunto de corrales de palmas ubicados en el sureste del Uruguay, en la frontera con Brasil. Está basado en un enfoque interdisciplinar en el que se combinó el trabajo con la población local, el análisis historiográfico, la prospección remota y sobre el terreno, el análisis morfométrico de la totalidad de los corrales y las palmas que los componen, y el análisis fisicoquímico del sedimento (análisis de fosfatos y partículas biosilíceas). El artículo propone que estas estructuras son uno de los cerramientos ganaderos más antiguos (siglos diecisiete y dieciocho) de la Banda Oriental, vinculados a formas indígenas de manejo vegetal y animal que se fueron reajustando durante la colonización europea de este sector fronterizo del Cono Sur de América.

... doi:10.1016/j.quaint.2009.12.004 | How to Cite or Link Using DOI Copyright © 2009 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA ... 4. Assemblage composition according to raw material type. ... that, at both sites, large mammal bones often show fractures that were made on fresh bone (Martínez Navarro ...

X-Radiography technique has been used effectively for decades to evaluate and identify differences in homogeneities in samples. It is a simple, fast and non-destructive technique that provides a view of internal structure helping investigating manufacturing details of archaeological ceramics. Characteristics of the paste used in the matrix composition can be derived using PIXE technique through the determination of the major elemental composition allowing the calculation of its expected density. Combining this information with x-ray images is possible to check for differences in the average density of material indicating the presence of homogeneously distributed porosity or temper. The present work evaluates the porosity in a set of native Brazilian pottery sherds that were collected in the Aldeia Lalima archaeological site, located at Mato Grosso do Sul State.

The complementary use of various archaeological prospection data sets offers a series of new possibilities for the investigation of prehistoric settlements. In addition to the separate interpretations of the single methods, the implementation of image fusion provides an additional tool to obtain an even higher degree of data integration during the interpretation process. To investigate some possibilities and risks of image fusion, a procedure frequently used in the medical field but rarely applied in archaeology, various algorithms inside a dedicated MATLAB toolbox TAIFU (Toolbox for Archaeological Image FUsion) were tested on the geophysical prospection data from an Iron Age settlement near Vesterager in West Jutland, Denmark. The Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Archaeological Prospection and Virtual Archaeology had conducted large-scale, high-resolution ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and magnetometry surveys at the site in 2014, based on its discovery by the Ringkøbing Museum through aerial photos and the results of a follow-up excavation in 2009. The aim was to determine if, and to what extent, geophysical prospection together with a novel integrative interpretational approach was able to add more detailed information to an already known prehistoric settlement. Results yielded a variety of deeper insights into the separate farms (dated to around AD 400), including the discovery of several new structures and more information about the construction of the longhouses, as well as a first suggestion on how to implement image fusion into the process of analysis and archaeological interpretation of geophysical data sets.

Traditionally, ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) measurements for near‐surface geophysical archaeological prospection are conducted with single‐channel systems using GPR antennae mounted in a cart similar to a pushchair, or towed like a sledge behind the operator. The spatial data sampling of such GPR devices for the non‐invasive detection and investigation of buried cultural heritage was, with very few exceptions, at best 25 cm in cross‐line direction of the measurement. With two or three persons participating in the fieldwork, coverage rates between a quarter hectare and half a hectare per day are common, while frequently considerably smaller survey areas at often coarse measurement spacing have been reported. Over the past years, the advent of novel multi‐channel GPR antenna array systems has permitted an enormous increase in survey efficiency and spatial sampling resolution. Using GPR antenna arrays with up to 16 channels operating in parallel, in combination with automatic positioning solutions based on real‐time kinematic global navigation satellite systems or robotic total‐stations, it has become possible to map several hectares per day with as little as 8 cm cross‐line and 4 cm in‐line GPR trace spacing. While this dramatic increase in coverage rate has a positive effect on the reduction of costs of GPR surveys, and thus its more widespread use in archaeology, the increased spatial sampling for the first time allows for the high‐resolution imaging of relatively small archaeological structures, such as for example 25 cm wide post‐holes of Iron Age buildings or the brick pillars of Roman floor heating systems, permitting much improved archaeological interpretations of the collected data. We present the state‐of‐the‐art in large‐scale high‐resolution archaeological GPR prospection, covering hardware and software technology and fieldwork methodology as well as the closely related issues of processing and interpretation of the huge data sets. Application examples from selected European archaeological sites illustrate the progress made.

Large-scale, high-resolution geophysical data sets offer new possibilities for the comprehensive study of archaeological landscapes. In addition to the mere archaeological component, these data sets carry palaeoenvironmental information about the study area. Such information was known but rarely used in conventional geophysical surveys, which is mainly due to methodological issues. The Viking Age site of Gokstad in the Norwegian Province of Vestfold was chosen as a pilot study in order to perform a palaeoenvironmental analysis of large-scale, high-resolution ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and magnetometry data sets. The aim was to investigate how much palaeoenvironmental information is contained in such data sets, how this information can be extracted and analysed and whether it is relevant for the archaeological interpretation. Results yielded a variety of different palaeoenvironmental aspects including characteristics of the Viking Age shoreline, traces of former topography as well as insights into the palaeohydrology of the study area.

Landscape geophysical survey around the small upland ‘henge’ at Yarnbury, Grassington, North Yorkshire revealed few anthropogenic features around the enclosure but did identify a small rectangular structure in the same field. Sample trenching of this feature, radiocarbon and archaeomagnetic dating proved it to be an earlier Neolithic post and wattle structure of a type that is being increasingly recognised in Ireland and the west of Britain. It is the first to be recognised in the Yorkshire Dales and it is argued that the Dales may have been pivotal in the Neolithic for east–west trade as well as pastoral upland agriculture.

... other Dismal River sites in southwest Nebras ka and western Kansas (Gunnerson 1960 ... Alibates agatized dolomite (62.5%) followed by Kay County chert (7.4%), obsidian (7.3%), Ed ... Because geologists and archaeologists feel fairly confident about the source localities for most ...

A five day conference on Apachean ceramics was held at the University of Colorado, Boulder from July 29 through August 2, 1985. The format of this conference consisted of a workshop with a series of open discussions rather than formal papers. Results of this conference included a reorganization of Brugge's (1982) Apachean ceramic taxonomy. The participants concluded that more than one source was responsible for the development of Southern Athapaskan ceramics. Furthermore, the development of this technology occurred, in most cases, as a complex in conjunction with a horticultural and/or pastoralist system.

Abstract. Local and Imported Mediums of Exchange in Papua . This paper reveals the forms, values, and functions of the mediums of exchange, which were used in trade transactions in the past in Papua. The purpose is to show the monetary system of Papua citizens since hundreds of years ago; in fact it is still being used as the apparatus of traditional ceremonies and social gatherings in some ethnic groups until today. Based on archaeological survey method and ethno-archaeological approach, it is known that the presence of the mediums of exchange in inland and coastal areas of Papua was introduced within trade alliances. Stone axes, currency, shells, dog’s tooth, and earthenware were the mediums of exchange that were first developed independently in Papua. The trade in 14th – 20th Centuries also introduced luxury items as imported mediums of exchange in coastal area, such as beads, porcelains, Timor fabrics, iron tools of iron, and coins or banknotes. It can be concluded that not all ...

Archaeologists working in Northwestern Morocco (former Roman province of Mauritania Tingitania) were often struck by the ubiquitous association of pre-Islamic archaeological sites and Muslim shrines. Although several studies have been devoted to maraboutism as a form of popular piety in Morocco, Muslim shrines found at archaeological sites were rarely if ever studied in connection to their archaeological context. This research ) revisits saints and sainthood in Morocco, and more importantly, ) examines six case studies in Northwestern Morocco (Lixus, Zilil, Thamusida, Chella, Banasa and Hajar al-Nasr) in order to shed light on how the active devotional layer, i.e. the shrines, relates spatially and architecturally to the archaeological remains beneath and around them.