Identifying and Discovering Curve Pattern Designs from Fragments of Pottery

The surface of many cultural heritage objects, such as pottery sherds found in the Southeastern Woodlands, were embellished with curve patterns. The original full designs of these patterns reflect rich historical and cultural information. However, in practice, most objects are fragmentary, making the complete underlying designs unknowable at the scale of the sherd fragment. The challenge to reconstruct and study complete designs is stymied because 1) most pottery sherds contain only a small portion of the underlying full design, 2) curve patterns detected on a sherd are usually incomplete and noisy, and 3) in the case of a stamping application, the same design may be applied multiple times with spatial overlap on pottery, resulting in a composite pattern. Our study aims to address these challenges and better identify and discover the full designs from fragmented pottery sherds. In this research, we study two important computer vision problems: design identification that identifies a sherd underlying design and sherd identification that clusters unidentified sherds to discover unknown designs. We focus both problems on curve patterns, where the underlying full design and the partial pattern on the sherd are curve structures, and develop new algorithms to address them. For design identification, we formulate this problem as matching: a binary curve pattern image segmented from a sherd depth image is matched to each known full design, and the best matching proposes its underlying design. We develop two curvepattern matching algorithms for this purpose. First, we develop a new curve matching method by extending Chamfer matching, which decomposes a composite pattern into multiple candidate components as long as these components match a partial design. The optimal combination of these components defines a new matching cost. Second, we develop a new patch-based curve pattern matching method to locate the most similar regions between the sherd and the considered full design. Specifically, we apply uniform sampling for constructing patches and employ a learning-based curve feature descriptor to derive a heatmap for the local similarity between the sherd and the design. With this heatmap, we locate the best matching portions by region growing and define a new matching cost considering the overall similarity of these portions. For sherd identification, we develop a new clustering algorithm to identify and group sherds with the same design. Given the segmented curve-pattern images of a collection of sherds, we first conduct patch-based pairwise matching between each pair of sherds to construct a similarity matrix. The pairwise matching is based on the best-matched patches between the two sherds to handle possible composite patterns. We build a fully connected graph based on this similarity matrix and partition the graph into subgraphs/clusters by adaptive thresholding. An iterative cluster refining strategy is developed, with curve-pattern stitching in the iteration, for identifying and refining the sherd clustering. We collect a set of pottery sherds from the heartland of the paddle-stamping tradition with a subset of available paddle-stamped designs from southeastern North America to evaluate the developed algorithms. Moreover, we developed the Snowvision, a computer-aid system that includes sherd digitization, preservation, curve structure segmentation from a digitized sherd depth image, design identification, and sherd identification based on the developed algorithms

A 3D Digital Approach to the Stylistic and Typo-Technological Study of Small Figurines from Ayia Irini, Cyprus

The thesis aims to develop a 3D digital approach to the stylistic and typo-technological study of coroplastic, focusing on small figurines. The case study to test the method is a sample of terracotta statuettes from an assemblage of approximately 2000 statues and figurines found at the beginning of the 20th century in a rural open-air sanctuary at Ayia Irini (Cyprus) by the archaeologists of the Swedish Cyprus Expedition. The excavators identified continuity of worship at the sanctuary from the Late Cypriot III (circa 1200 BC) to the end of the Cypro-Archaic II period (ca. 475 BC). They attributed the small figurines to the Cypro-Archaic I-II. Although the excavation was one of the first performed through the newly established stratigraphic method, the archaeologists studied the site and its material following a traditional, merely qualitative approach. Theanalysis of the published results identified a classification of the material with no-clear-cut criteria, and their overlap between types highlights ambiguities in creating groups and classes. Similarly, stratigraphic arguments and different opinions among archaeologists highlight the need for revising. Moreover, pastlegislation allowed the excavators to export half of the excavated antiquities, creating a dispersion of the assemblage. Today, the assemblage is still partly exhibited at the Cyprus Museum in Nicosia and in four different museums in Sweden. Such a setting prevents to study, analyse and interpret the assemblageholistically. This research proposes a 3D chaîne opératoire methodology to study the collection’s small terracotta figurines, aiming to understand the context’s function and social role as reflected by the classification obtained with the 3D digital approach. The integration proposed in this research of traditional archaeological studies, and computer-assisted investigation based on quantitative criteria, identified and defined with 3D measurements and analytical investigations, is adopted as a solution to the biases of a solely qualitative approach. The 3D geometric analysis of the figurines focuses on the objects’ shape and components, mode of manufacture, level of expertise, specialisation or skills of the craftsman and production techniques. The analysis leads to the creation of classes of artefacts which allow archaeologists to formulate hypotheses on the production process, identify a common production (e.g., same hand, same workshop) and establish a relative chronological sequence. 3D reconstruction of the excavation’s area contributes to the virtual re-unification of the assemblage for its holistic study, the relative chronological dating of the figurines and the interpretation of their social and ritual purposes. The results obtained from the selected sample prove the efficacy of the proposed 3D approach and support the expansion of the analysis to the whole assemblage, and possibly initiate quantitative and systematic studies on Cypriot coroplastic production

Ancient Households of the Americas

Several different cultures — Iroquois, Coosa, Anasazi, Hohokam, San Agustín, Wankarani, Formative Gulf Coast Mexico, and Formative, Classic, Colonial, and contemporary Maya — are analyzed through the lens of household archaeology in concrete, data-driven case studies. "This excellent book should be heavily used by anyone with an interest in household archaeology." —North American Archaeologist "There are a number of excellent studies that scholars interested in household archaeology will find highly useful." —Journal of Anthropological Research "This collection underscores the importance of household archaeology to the study of social dynamics." —Choice "This volume is an impressive one. . . . In an era in which household archaeology has become essential to archaeological praxis, this volume is indeed essential reading." —Cambridge Archaeological Journa

Ancient Households of the Americas

Several different cultures — Iroquois, Coosa, Anasazi, Hohokam, San Agustín, Wankarani, Formative Gulf Coast Mexico, and Formative, Classic, Colonial, and contemporary Maya — are analyzed through the lens of household archaeology in concrete, data-driven case studies. "This excellent book should be heavily used by anyone with an interest in household archaeology." —North American Archaeologist "There are a number of excellent studies that scholars interested in household archaeology will find highly useful." —Journal of Anthropological Research "This collection underscores the importance of household archaeology to the study of social dynamics." —Choice "This volume is an impressive one. . . . In an era in which household archaeology has become essential to archaeological praxis, this volume is indeed essential reading." —Cambridge Archaeological Journa

Ways and Capacity in Archaeological Data Management in Serbia

Over the past year and due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire world has witnessed inequalities across borders and societies. They also include access to archaeological resources, both physical and digital. Both archaeological data creators and users spent a lot of time working from their homes, away from artefact collections and research data. However, this was the perfect moment to understand the importance of making data freely and openly available, both nationally and internationally. This is why the authors of this paper chose to make a selection of data bases from various institutions responsible for preservation and protection of cultural heritage, in order to understand their policies regarding accessibility and usage of the data they keep. This will be done by simple visits to various web-sites or data bases. They intend to check on the volume and content, but also importance of the offered archaeological heritage. In addition, the authors will estimate whether the heritage has adequately been classified and described and also check whether data is available in foreign languages. It needs to be seen whether it is possible to access digital objects (documents and the accompanying metadata), whether access is opened for all users or it requires a certain hierarchy access, what is the policy of usage, reusage and distribution etc. It remains to be seen whether there are public API or whether it is possible to collect data through API. In case that there is a public API, one needs to check whether datasets are interoperable or messy, requiring data cleaning. After having visited a certain number of web-sites, the authors expect to collect enough data to make a satisfactory conclusion about accessibility and usage of Serbian archaeological data web bases

Neolithic land-use in the Dutch wetlands: estimating the land-use implications of resource exploitation strategies in the Middle Swifterbant Culture (4600-3900 BCE)

The Dutch wetlands witness the gradual adoption of Neolithic novelties by foraging societies during the Swifterbant period. Recent analyses provide new insights into the subsistence palette of Middle Swifterbant societies. Small-scale livestock herding and cultivation are in evidence at this time, but their importance if unclear. Within the framework of PAGES Land-use at 6000BP project, we aim to translate the information on resource exploitation into information on land-use that can be incorporated into global climate modelling efforts, with attention for the importance of agriculture. A reconstruction of patterns of resource exploitation and their land-use dimensions is complicated by methodological issues in comparing the results of varied recent investigations. Analyses of organic residues in ceramics have attested to the cooking of aquatic foods, ruminant meat, porcine meat, as well as rare cases of dairy. In terms of vegetative matter, some ceramics exclusively yielded evidence of wild plants, while others preserve cereal remains. Elevated δ15N values of human were interpreted as demonstrating an important aquatic component of the diet well into the 4th millennium BC. Yet recent assays on livestock remains suggest grazing on salt marshes partly accounts for the human values. Finally, renewed archaeozoological investigations have shown the early presence of domestic animals to be more limited than previously thought. We discuss the relative importance of exploited resources to produce a best-fit interpretation of changing patterns of land-use during the Middle Swifterbant phase. Our review combines recent archaeological data with wider data on anthropogenic influence on the landscape. Combining the results of plant macroremains, information from pollen cores about vegetation development, the structure of faunal assemblages, and finds of arable fields and dairy residue, we suggest the most parsimonious interpretation is one of a limited land-use footprint of cultivation and livestock keeping in Dutch wetlands between 4600 and 3900 BCE.NWOVidi 276-60-004Human Origin

Taphonomy, environment or human plant exploitation strategies?: Deciphering changes in Pleistocene-Holocene plant representation at Umhlatuzana rockshelter, South Africa

The period between ~40 and 20 ka BP encompassing the Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Later Stone Age (LSA) transition has long been of interest because of the associated technological change. Understanding this transition in southern Africa is complicated by the paucity of archaeological sites that span this period. With its occupation sequence spanning the last ~70,000 years, Umhlatuzana Rock Shelter is one of the few sites that record this transition. Umhlatuzana thus offers a great opportunity to study past environmental dynamics from the Late Pleistocene (MIS 4) to the Late Holocene, and past human subsistence strategies, their social organisation, technological and symbolic innovations. Although organic preservation is poor (bones, seeds, and charcoal) at the site, silica phytoliths preserve generally well throughout the sequence. These microscopic silica particles can identify different plant types that are no longer visible at the site because of decomposition or burning to a reliable taxonomical level. Thus, to trace site occupation, plant resource use, and in turn reconstruct past vegetation, we applied phytolith analyses to sediment samples of the newly excavated Umhlatuzana sequence. We present results of the phytolith assemblage variability to determine change in plant use from the Pleistocene to the Holocene and discuss them in relation to taphonomical processes and human plant gathering strategies and activities. This study ultimately seeks to provide a palaeoenvironmental context for modes of occupation and will shed light on past human-environmental interactions in eastern South Africa.NWOVidi 276-60-004Human Origin

Israel's Kin Across the Jordan: A Social History of the Ammonites in the Iron Age II (1000-500 BCE).

The Hebrew Bible portrays the origins of the “sons of Ammon” or “Ammonites” in the hoary past, the product of incestuous relations between Abraham’s nephew Lot and his younger daughter (Genesis 19). The biblical book of Judges, traditionally thought to represent events of the twelfth century BCE, portrays the Ammonites with a king before Israel (Judges 11). On the other hand, extant primary sources—Neo-Assyrian texts, Ammonite epigraphs, and archaeological finds—refocus attention on the eighth through sixth centuries BCE as the main period of Ammonite sociopolitical and economic growth and complexity. This dissertation investigates the social history of the ancient Ammonites during the Iron Age II (ca. 1000–500 BCE) with a focus on the transformative role that the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires played in Ammonite sociopolitical and economic development. In addition to the biblical texts, this study examines the growing body of archaeological remains, Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian texts, and Ammonite epigraphs. Furthermore, this study reflects on the practices of the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires in administering and controlling the Levant, and cites cross-cultural examples of how empires affect peripheral societies in order to understand changes among the Ammonites. During this period, the area saw growth in the number of elite items, growth in the use of writing for administrative and display purposes, growth in sedentary settlement, and a growth in the number of imported items. This period also brought the first secure references to Ammonite kings and their officials. Taken together in the light of imperial domination, one can explain the changes visible among the Ammonites as the product of several identifiable factors. In the ninth century, the need for security against Israel, Damascus, and the re-emerging Neo-Assyrian Empire provoked military organization. As time went on, other factors grew in importance, including: 1) the elites’ increasing access to wealth through long-distance trade; 2) elite access to and appropriation of internationally recognizable markers of status, authority, and power; 3) the elites’ role in securing and fructifying the Amman Plateau for their own needs and in order to supply the needs of the Assyrian military.Ph.D.Near Eastern StudiesUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86256/1/ctyson_1.pd