Search results for "CULTURA"
showing 10 items of 14525 documents
The Solutrean - Magdalenian Transition: a view from Iberia
2012
The paper examines the Upper SolutreaneArchaic Magdalenian/Badegoulian succession on the base of lithic and bone tool production, chrono-stratigraphic data and radiocarbon dates from the Cantabrian and Mediterranean regions of Iberia, mainly the areas of Asturias and Valencia (Spain). The discussion considers a reduced number of variables (characteristic stone tools, bone points and decoration techniques) and highlights the elements in common. The analysis concerning the transformation of lithic production at Cova del Parpallo provides new data for the Upper SolutreaneArchaic Magdalenian/ Badegoulian transition.
Ancient DNA from European early neolithic farmers reveals their near eastern affinities.
2010
The first farmers from Central Europe reveal a genetic affinity to modern-day populations from the Near East and Anatolia, which suggests a significant demographic input from this area during the early Neolithic.
First discovery of orichalcum ingots from the remains of a 6th century BC shipwreck near Gela (Sicily) seabed
2017
Ingots recently recovered from the seabed near Gela, a major harbour of Sicily, reveal an unexpected side of ancient metallurgy. The ingots were found near remains of a ship and earthenware dated around the end of the VI century BC and probably coming from the eastern Mediterranean and the Aegean sea. The ingots were analysed by means of X-Ray Fluorescence spectroscopy via a portable spectrometer. Results indicate that they are mostly consist of copper and zinc although many of them have a significant amount of lead. This alloy is nowday called brass, but in ancient time it was know as orichalcum, one of the rarest and most precious alloy along with gold and silver. Only small items of oric…
New results in ancient Maya rituals researches: The study of human painted bones fragments from Calakmul archaeological site (Mexico)
2020
Abstract The funeral chambers of the ancient city of Calakmul (Mexico) and the individuals who were buried in them have brought in recent decades new knowledge about the beliefs and funeral customs of the pre-Hispanic Maya. Tombs and bodies were prepared as part of the rituals that should favor the return of ch'ulel to the Underworld, known as Xibalba by the ancient Maya. The ch'ulel is one of the two anemic entities that inhabit the individual, equivalent to our concept of the soul. Bodies preparation included coloured scented body ointments application, with a deep symbolic connotation and probably also a conservative purpose. The aim of this research was to characterize pigments and bind…
Changing Plant-based Subsistence Practices among Early and Middle Holocene Communities in Eastern Maghreb
2020
The eastern Maghreb is a key area for understanding environmental and cultural dynamics during the early and middle Holocene. Capsian populations from around 10000–7500 cal BP were among the last foragers in the region. Capsian sites are known as escargotières (land shell middens), and locally called rammadiyat (meaning ashy mound). As taphonomic conditions in Capsian open-air sites generally favour the preservation of resistant materials such as shells and bones rather than fragile plant remains, this study integrates macro-botanical and microfossil evidence from phytoliths, calcitic wood ash pseudomorphs and dung spherulites, since each is influenced by different formation and post-deposi…
Palaeoenvironmental evidence for the impact of the crusades on the local and regional environment of medieval (13th–16th century) northern Latvia, ea…
2015
This paper evaluates the impact of the crusades on the landscape and environment of northern Latvia between the 13th–16th centuries (medieval Livonia). The crusades replaced tribal societies in the eastern Baltic with a religious state (Ordenstaat) run by the military orders and their allies, accompanied by significant social, cultural and economic developments. These changes have previously received little consideration in palaeoenvironmental studies of past land use in the eastern Baltic region, but are fundamental to understanding the development and expansion of a European Christian identity. Sediment cores from Lake Trikāta, located adjacent to a medieval castle and settlement, were s…
Quantifying Cereal-Reaping Microwear On Flint Tools: An Experimental Approach
2015
From the earliest Neolithic in the Near East to the last Chalcolithic cultures in Western Europe, certain flint tools have been used as sickles to harvest cereals. Such harvesting tools can be identified through use-wear analyses, because cutting herbaceous plants produces specific wear-traces on the working edge of flint blades. The aim of this work is to explore harvesting-driven microwear variability and, more particularly, intensity of use as a governing factor. To achieve this objective, an experiment was designed consisting in the production of flint replicas to be used as harvesting tools, in various controlled conditions. A simple, cost-effective method of quantifying wear-traces by…
Bodegas, lagares y almazaras en el territorio de Kelin (siglos V-III a. C.): el caso de la Rambla de la Alcantarilla (Requena, Valencia)
2016
Archaeological evidences date the expansion of grape vineyards in the territory of the Iberian Iron Age city of Kelin from the 5th to 3rd centuries BC; although the origins are documented in the 7th BC. One of the singularities of this territory is the existence of outdoors stone structures for the production of wine and oil. All are located in a specific area of the territory (la Alcantarilla and Los Morenos ravines) (Requena, Valencia), and are associated with archaeological materials that allow date them as Iberian. In this paper we approach the rural settlement pattern in la Alcantarilla ravine and we present in detail the archaeological sites of Rambla de la Alcantarilla and Solana de …
Connecting Gien Castle to its Landscape: Faunal, Environmental and Buildings Analyses (Loiret, France)
2021
International audience; Gien castle is a listed monument of French architectural heritage. Today it houses the National Museum of Hunting and its collection. Organised visits to the site have traditionally lacked any clear mention of the castle’s historical background. Recently, however, archaeological excavations and building analysis in 2011–2015 produced a wealth of new knowledge about the castle’s medieval origins and history, and about its relationship to its landscape. During the ninth and tenth centuries and then in the fifteenth century the castle occupied a strategically exceptional position reflecting the connection with its environment, notably the strong connection between the c…
Sierra del Colmenar 1A, a new late Messinian (Late Miocene) locality in the Bajo Segura Basin (SE Spain): biostratigraphic and palaeoenvironmental im…
2017
In this paper, we have studied a new micromammal site from the Sierra del Colmenar section (Elche, SE Spain), named Sierra del Colmenar 1A (SCO-1A), representing the uppermost levels of Messinian age of the Bajo Segura Basin. The sedimentary context of this locality corresponds to a costal lagoon with marine influence. The fossil site has yielded remains of Apodemus aff. gorafensis, Paraethomys meini, Apocricetus alberti, Occitanomys alcalai, Ruscinomys sp., Eliomys cf. truci, Muscardinus sp., Parasorex ibericus, Prolagus michauxi and Soricidae indet. Based on this assemblage, we propose a Late Miocene age (MN13) for the locality SCO-1A, matching the previously inferred age for the stratigr…