Search results for "Planetary Science"
showing 10 items of 4367 documents
Carbonates from the ancient world's longest aqueduct:A testament of Byzantine water management
2021
The fourth‐ and fifth‐century aqueduct system of Constantinople is, at 426 km, the longest water supply line of the ancient world. Carbonate deposits in the aqueduct system provide an archive of both archaeological developments and palaeo‐environmental conditions during the depositional period. The 246‐km‐long aqueduct line from the fourth century used springs from a small aquifer, whereas a 180‐km‐long fifth‐century extension to the west tapped a larger aquifer. Although historical records testify at least 700 years of aqueduct activity, carbonate deposits in the aqueduct system display less than 27 years of operation. This implies that the entire system must have been cleaned of carbonate…
Ivory in the Chalcolithic enclosure of Perdigões (South Portugal): the social role of an exotic raw material
2015
AbstractThis article discusses the social role played by ivory and ivory articles in the Perdigoes enclosures (South Portugal) during the Chalcolithic (third millennium bc), in the context of the emergence and development of social complexity on the Iberian Peninsula. Perdigoes is a Portuguese prehistoric site with some of the highest concentrations of ivory objects known in Iberia and with the greatest variety. The contexts, almost exclusively funerary, are discussed along with the results of provenance studies. Comparing the different contexts and the categories of objects made of ivory makes it possible to distinguishing a variety of active social dimensions (such as individual status, g…
The first colonization of Ibiza and Formentera (Balearic Islands, Spain): Some more islands out of the stream?
1995
Abstract The Balearic Islands, off the east coast of Spain, have provided a focus of interest in investigations of the earliest colonization of the Mediterranean islands, because of the relatively late date of their oldest sites. Mallorca was visited in the fifth millennium BC and inhabited by the third, and Menorca was colonized during the closing centuries of the third millennium; this therefore makes Ibiza and Formentera special cases of isolation, since they were evidently not occupied until about 2000 BC and moreover were essentially deserted between roughly the thirteenth and seventh centuries BC. The paper presents all the currently available data relevant to this question, particula…
Facing the face – the construction of the frontal face in prehistoric and ancient two- and three-dimensional images
2020
Interpersonal communication depends to a large extent on the human face, with its many sensory organs, easily recognizable features and expression capacities. This is clearly evidenced by the abund...
The production cycle of lime-based plasters in the Late Roman settlement of Scauri, on the island of Pantelleria, Italy
2018
This paper deals with the archaeometric study of lime-based plasters found in the archaeological settlement of Scauri, located in the homonymous bay in the south-western part of Pantelleria Island. Since 1999, archaeological surveys have led to the recovery of the huge remains of a Late Roman settlement dating back to the fourth-fifth century AD. It is well known that the island of Pantelleria is entirely composed of volcanic rocks. Accordingly, the production of quicklime required calcareous rocks to be imported. Also, the selection criteria of the sandy aggregate are relevant and of interest to this study, to evaluate the achieved technological level. Within this context, a mineralogical …
Illuminating Intcal During the Younger Dryas
2020
As the worldwide standard for radiocarbon (14C) dating over the past ca. 50,000 years, the International Calibration Curve (IntCal) is continuously improving towards higher resolution and replication. Tree-ring-based 14C measurements provide absolute dating throughout most of the Holocene, although high-precision data are limited for the Younger Dryas interval and farther back in time. Here, we describe the dendrochronological characteristics of 1448 new 14C dates, between ~11,950 and 13,160 cal BP, from 13 pines that were growing in Switzerland. Significantly enhancing the ongoing IntCal update (IntCal20), this Late Glacial (LG) compilation contains more annually precise 14C dates than any…
Detection and localization of chamber tombs in the environs of ancient Olympia, Peloponnese, Greece, based on a combination of archaeological survey …
2019
The Mediterranean Sea and the Gulf of Cadiz as a natural laboratory for paleotsunami research: Recent advancements
2021
International audience; After the 2004 Indian Ocean (IOT) and the 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunamis, new research in tsunami-related fields was strongly stimulated worldwide and also in the Mediterranean. This research growth yields substantial advancements in tsunami knowledge.Among these advancements is the “Paleotsunami” research that has marked particular progress on the reconstruction of the tsunami history of a region. As an integration of the historical documentation available in the Mediterranean and the Gulf of Cadiz areas, geological and geoarchaeological records provide the insights to define the occurrence, characteristics, and impact of tsunamis of the past. Here, we present the recent …
Music, gender and rituals in the Ancient Mediterranean: revisiting the Punic evidence
2012
Abstract Music, playing instruments and performing rituals are bodily activities and as such they can be studied stressing their corporeal features. Music and sounds are usually essential elements in rites, and bodies play an essential role in bringing together music and rituals. We explore these issues focusing on Punic terracotta figurines playing musical instruments recovered from the island of Ibiza (fifth to third centuries bc).
Funerary traditions and death worship in the church of the Borgia in Gandía: interpretations from archaeology
2008
The study of funerary customs in antiquity has enjoyed a long tradition in archaeology. By contrast, there has been little research of such a kind from the late Middle Ages onwards. This paper attempts to demonstrate what archaeology can contribute to the knowledge of funerary and death-worship practices, by analysing practices undertaken between the thirteenth and eighteenth century in the collegiate church and cemetery apud ecclesiam of Gandia in Valencia.