Search results for "History and Archaeology"
showing 10 items of 716 documents
The production of traditional building materials in Oristano (Sardinia, Italy)
2016
The study of ceramic-making communities which employ traditional practices can provide insights into the raw materials and techniques used over the centuries in a particular territory. The archaeometric study of ceramic products and of the raw materials used in their production is an effective complement to the existing ethnographic information. This paper focuses on the brick and tile making tradition of Oristano, a town in Central-Western Sardinia (Italy). Applying a combination of techniques, it includes an extensive analysis of traditional handmade and early industrial bricks and tiles, and a study of the local clays that may have been used as raw materials. Although we were unable to s…
Isotopic Anthropology of Rural German Medieval Diet: Intra- and Inter-population Variability
2016
This study investigates the diet of an eleventh century CE parish community located in northwestern Germany. We assessed the isotopic compositions of human (n = 24) and faunal (n = 17) bone collagen (δ 13Ccol, δ 15Ncol) and human structural carbonate (δ 13Csc) using skeletal material recovered from the Dalheim cemetery. Traditional interpretation of the isotopic data indicates that Dalheim residents likely relied on a C3 plant-based diet and consumed some terrestrial animal products without evidence of marine resource input in the diet. Bivariate and multivariate models used as an additional means to assess diet indicate minor consumption of C4 plant foods in this community. The multivariat…
A multi-isotope analysis of Neolithic human groups in the Yonne valley, Northern France: insights into dietary patterns and social structure
2019
With the arrival of the Neolithic to Europe, new ways of life and new subsistence strategies emerged. In the Paris Basin (northern France), the appearance of some monumental funerary structures during the Middle Neolithic highlights in particular the increasing complexity of the social organisation. At the same time, several sites, such as open-air cemeteries, do not display any evidence of such arrangement. In the southeast of this area, the two primary routes of neolithisation meet. Several funerary parameters attest to the diverse influence received from other surrounding cultures. In order to assess potential differences in diet, and therefore on purported social distinctions at the int…
Consolidation of earthen building materials: a comparative study
2019
The consolidation and protection of mud bricks are a challenge in the field of conservation of archeological sites. One of the solutions is represented by the coverage of the entire excavation that assures a protection against mud dissolution. Unfortunately, this is not always feasible, both for economical and practical issues. For these reasons, alternative solutions are needed. In this work, laboratory experimentation has been carried out in order to test the efficacy of some products to slow down the dissolution process and increase the brick toughness. Three typologies of raw materials taken from different outcrops (one from the Republic of Azerbaijan and two from Calabria region, Italy…
Rethinking the perishable: Identifying organic remains in metal objects at the Iron Age site of La Bastida de les Alcusses (Moixent, Spain)
2019
Abstract The use of certain perishable materials for handicraft, such as wood, has been underestimated in archaeological investigation due to their poor preservation. Its study through indirect evidence (other non-perishable materials, ethnographic sources) is partial, and does not account for the real importance of wood in domestic, craft and ritual contexts in past societies. In this review we reclaim the use of wood as a co-constitutive material of objects by focusing on Iron Age tools, weapons and carpentry elements from a case-study in the Western Mediterranean. We also suggest the adoption of protocols for sampling and analysing the remains of wood adhered to metal objects, which may …
Evidence for “Celtic migrations”? Strontium isotope analysis at the early La Tène (LT B) cemeteries of Nebringen (Germany) and Monte Bibele (Italy)
2013
Abstract Strontium isotope analysis on human remains from the Iron Age (4th/3rd century BC) cemeteries of Nebringen, Germany and Monte Bibele, Italy were carried out to investigate the role of residential changes during the period of the historic “Celtic migrations”. From an archaeological perspective, the location of the cemeteries in the Celtic core (Nebringen) and expansion area (Monte Bibele), and the distinctive development of their material culture, suggest that the buried populations had differing mobility rates. On the contrary, the strontium results indicate that only few individuals were mobile or non-local. There is, however, a difference in variation of strontium isotope ratios …
The past distribution of Abies nebrodensis (Lojac.) Mattei: results of a multidisciplinary study
2019
The present study provides a critical review of the available historical data on the distribution of Abies nebrodensis, a fir tree endemic to Sicily. The only (somewhat ambiguous) references to its occurrence on Mount Etna date back to the 1st century bc and refer back to the 3rd century bc. Although the botanical and forestry literature and the very few surviving herbarium specimens do not prove that A. nebrodensis grew outside the Madonie mountain range, several indications suggest its past occurrence on other Sicilian mountain ranges such as the Erei, Nebrodi, and probably also Sicani mountains. The results of the most recent pollen investigations (still ongoing) point to the disappearan…
The Sicilian Countryside in the Early Middle Ages: Human–Environment Interactions at Contrada Castro
2021
Within the project ‘Harvesting Memories: Ecology and Archaeology of Monti Sicani Landscapes’, this paper aims to reconstruct human–environment interactions in the inland areas of Western Sicily during the Early Middle Ages through a comparative analysis of environmental archaeological data. We analyse carpological and anthracological finds and faunal remains originating from different layers of the rural settlement of Contrada Castro (Corleone, Palermo), excavated in 2017–2019. The site was mainly occupied between the Byzantine and Islamic periods (late 8th to 11th c. AD). The examination of wood charcoal enabled the identification of plant species selected and exploited in the landscape of…
Personal body ornamentation on the Southern Iberian Meseta: An archaeomineralogical study
2016
Beads and pendants from the Castillejo del Bonete (Terrinches, Ciudad Real) and Cerro Ortega (Villanueva de la Fuente, Ciudad Real) burials were analysed using XRD, micro-Raman and XRF in order to contribute to the current distribution map of green bead body ornament pieces on the Iberian Peninsula which, so far, remain undetailed for many regions. XRD, micro-Raman and XRF analyses showed that most of the beads from Castillejo del Bonete (Late 3rd millennium cal. BC) were made from variscite or green phyllosilicates, while Cerro Ortega's (Late 4th millennium cal. BC) beads were made out of fossil wood or Clinochlore. Significantly enough, while XRD pointed to variscite as the main crystallo…
Chemical and mineralogical analyses on stones from Sagunto Castle (Spain)
2019
Abstract For the first time, an archaeometric study was carried out on the carbonate rock ashlars of the Sagunto Castle. The studied site is one of the most important and best preserved Spanish archaeological and architectural monuments, characterized by different construction phases from the Roman period to Modern Ages. Forty samples collected from thirteen different structures of Sagunto Castle and two quarries, located in the Sagunto's hill were used for comparative purposes. The samples were analyzed by X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence and inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to determine their mineralogical and elemental composition. The obtained data show similar chemical…