Search results for "ancien"

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…

Discovery of indigoid-containing clay pellets from La Blanca: significance with regard to the preparation and use of Maya Blue

2014

Analytical studies using extraction/liquid chromatography, pyrolysis–silylation gas chromatography–mass spectrometry, visible and infrared spectroscopies, solid state voltammetry and electron microscopy on a set of spherical greenish pellets discovered in the Structure 4H1 of the ancient Maya site of La Blanca (Peten Department, Guatemala), dated in the Terminal Classic period, confirm the presence of indigoids (dehydroindigo, indigo) associated to palygorskite. The appearance of such pieces, whose origin and function is uncertain, but most likely correspond to residuals of a decorative plaster, can be considered as indicative of the use of Maya Blue in a quotidian context, thus suggesting …

Environmental drivers and abrupt changes of phytoplankton community in temperate lake Lielais Svētiņu, Eastern Latvia, over the last Post-Glacial per…

2021

Understanding the long-term dynamics of ecological communities on the centuries-to-millennia scale is important for explaining the emergence of present-day biodiversity patterns and for predicting possible future scenarios. Fossil pigments and ancient DNA present in various sedimentary deposits can be analysed to study long-term changes in ecological communities. We analysed recent compilations of data, including fossil pigments, microfossils, and molecular inventories from the sedimentary archives, to understand the impact of gradual versus abrupt climate changes on the ecosystem status of a regional model lake over the last ~14.5 kyr. Such long and complete paleo-archives are scarce in No…

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...

Exploring the “Cozy Cabal of Academics, Dealers and Collectors” through the Schøyen Collection

2020

In the wake of the trade in ancient materials, several ethical and political issues arise that merit concern: The decimation of the cultural heritage of war-torn countries, proliferation of corruption, ideological connotations of orientalism, financial support of terrorism, and participation in networks involved in money laundering, weapon sales, human trafficking and drugs. Moreover, trafficking and trading also have a harmful effect on the fabric of academia itself. This study uses open sources to track the history of the private Sch&oslash

Central Italian Coin with “Dionysus / Panther” Types from Hispania Ulterior

2017

Book review

2013

The Use of Facial Characteristics as Engendering Strategies in Phoenician-Punic Studies

2016

Facial characteristics such as discs on cheeks or exaggerated chins have been traditionally used to interpret Phoenician-Punic materials as representing either females or males. Beards and pointed chins, for instance, have been considered male attributes for terracotta masks, while disks have been interpreted as feminine makeup when present on figurines and ostrich eggshells. However, problems and even paradoxes of interpretation emerge when such characteristics appear on objects already (and perhaps arbitrarily) alternately gendered male or female. Thus, the cosmetic disks on “feminine” figurines become “warts” and “astral symbols” when appearing on “male” masks. Such conundrums show how s…

The Eulau eulogy: Bioarchaeological interpretation of lethal violence in Corded Ware multiple burials from Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

2009

The Corded Ware is one of the major archaeological traditions of Late Neolithic Europe. Its burial customs are characterized by single graves but multiple burials also occur. We present a detailed study of antemortem and perimortem trauma in a group of Corded Ware skeletons from four multiple graves and give the most probable interpretation of the site, based upon all available bioarchaeological evidence. The pattern of observed injuries in male, female, and subadult skeletons, including cranial trauma, arrow wounds, and fractures of the forearm and hands points towards a violent event that resulted in the death of all individuals, most probably a raid. In contrast to comparable Neolithic r…

The ‘grave of the Court Pit’, A rediscovered Bronze Age tomb from Carchemish

2014

This paper examines the British Museum unpublished records related to an Early Bronze (EB) Age pithos burial uncovered a century ago in the Inner Town at Carchemish. The grave, cursorily cited and variously dated (Chalcolithic, EB or even LBA) in the final reports, was described in some detail by Hogarth and Thompson; a precise dating is, however, possible today thanks to the information of paramount importance given by T. E. Lawrence who identified and took a picture of the associated finds, which was recently rediscovered in the Carchemish Archives. The pithos can be now ascribed to the third quarter of the third millennium BC and helps to confirm the recent theory according to which the …