Scottish Archaeological Research Framework: Future Thinking on Carved Stones

No abstract available

A possibly Christian burial of the late Roman period discovered in a quarry at Ta' Sannat, Gozo

According to the Museum Annual Report for the years 1928-9, the Police Occurrences Register for the period 20/12/1928- 9/4/1929, and Public Works correspondence for the period 5/9/1928 - 3/4/1929, a burial was discovered in a quarry at Ta' Sannat on 7th January 1929. The report of the discovery was initially received by Mr Edward Borg Cardona, the District Engineer Public Works Department (Gozo). Together with Supt. E. Galea, he immediately visited the site and gave instructions to halt works and for the site to also submitted to the Director of Museums. The burial yielded a small jar, an oenochoe (wine-jug), and a red clay lamp close to a heap of human bones. This is probably what was seen by Prof. Terni Zammit, the Archaeology section curator, when six days later (on 13th January), accompanied by Mr Edward Borg Cardona, he examined the site and the finds that had been lifted from the tomb.peer-reviewe

An Iona of the East : the early-medieval monastery at Portmahomack, Tarbat Ness

A new research programme located on the Tarbat peninsula in north-east Scotland offers the first large-scale exposure of a monastery in the land of the Picts. A case is argued that the settlement at Portmahomack was founded in the 6th century, possibly by Columba himself, and by the 8th century had developed into an important political and industrial centre comparable with Iona. Signs of the monastery's former prominence survive in workshops producing liturgical objects, possibly including books, and in the brilliant art of the Tarbat cross-slabs at Portmahomack, Nigg, Shandwick and Hilton of Cadboll. The monastic institution, which had contacts with Northumbria and beyond, seems to have been expunged by the 11th century, probably in the context of political struggles between Scandinavian, Pictish and Scottish interests

Ancient astronomical instrument from Srubna burial of kurgan field Tavriya-1 (Northern Black Sea Coast)

The article presents the results of analysis of the spatial arrangement of the wells on the unique slab from Srubna burial of kurgan field Tavriya-1 (Rostov region, Russia) by astronomical methods. At the slab revealed two interrelated groups of wells, one of which - in the form of a circle, is proposed to interpret how analemmatic sundial, and second group, consisting of disparate wells, as auxiliary astronomical markers of rising luminaries directions, to correct the position of the gnomon. Simultaneous location of both groups of wells on the same slab is a possible indication of one of the stages of development of the design features analemmatic sundial - setting movable gnomon and technology of measuring time with it. It may point to local origin, as the very idea of analemmatic sundial as well technology measurement of time with them. The article also describes the model analemmatic sundial, hour marks which in many cases coincide with the wells arranged in a circle, particularly in a working range from 6 to 18 hours. In the study proposed a method which can identify moments of solstices and equinoxes in ancient times with the help of the gnomon of analemmatic sundial and mobile gnomons, installed in wells belonging to the second group. The opportunity of use analemmatic sundial as moondial in a full moon night. Slab with two groups of wells is proposed to consider, as the oldest astronomical instrument discovered in the Northern Black Sea coast, which allowed to observe the apparent motion of the Sun and the Moon and allowed measure the time during the day, using analemmatic sundial and at night during the full Moon - with the help of moondial. Keywords: analemmatic sundial, moondial, srubna burial, slab, wells, cupped depressions, gnomon, model, technology, astronomical methods, archaeoastronomy.Comment: Published version of the articl

Buried Ion-Exchanged Glass Wavelengths: Burial-Depth Dependence on Waveguide Width

A detailed theoretical and experimental study of the depth dependence of buried ion-exchanged waveguides on waveguide width is reported. Modeling, which includes the effect of nonhomogeneous time-dependent electric field distribution, agrees well with our experiments showing that burial depth increases linearly with waveguide width. These results may be used in the proper design of integrated optical circuits that need waveguides of different widths at different sections, such as arrayed waveguide gratings

Fault Slip and Exhumation History of the Willard Thrust Sheet, Sevier Fold‐Thrust Belt, Utah: Relations to Wedge Propagation, Hinterland Uplift, and Foreland Basin Sedimentation

Zircon (U‐Th)/He (ZHe) and zircon fission track thermochronometric data for 47 samples spanning the areally extensive Willard thrust sheet within the western part of the Sevier fold‐thrust belt record enhanced cooling and exhumation during major thrust slip spanning approximately 125–90 Ma. ZHe and zircon fission track age‐paleodepth patterns along structural transects and age‐distance relations along stratigraphic‐parallel traverses, combined with thermo‐kinematic modeling, constrain the fault slip history, with estimated slip rates of ~1 km/Myr from 125 to 105 Ma, increasing to ~3 km/Myr from 105 to 92 Ma, and then decreasing as major slip was transferred onto eastern thrusts. Exhumation was concentrated during motion up thrust ramps with estimated erosion rates of ~0.1 to 0.3 km/Myr. Local cooling ages of approximately 160–150 Ma may record a period of regional erosion, or alternatively an early phase of limited... (see full abstract in article)

Episodic slab rollback fosters exhumation of HP—UHP rocks

The burial—exhumation cycle of crustal material in subduction zones can either be driven by the buoyancy of the material, by the surrounding flow, or by both. High pressure and ultrahigh pressure rocks are chiefly exhumed where subduction zones display transient behaviours, which lead to contrasted flow regimes in the subduction mantle wedge. Subduction zones with stationary trenches (mode I) favour the burial of rock units, whereas slab rollback (mode II) moderately induces an upward flow that contributes to the exhumation, a regime that is reinforced when slab dip decreases (mode III). Episodic regimes of subduction that involve different lithospheric units successively activate all three modes and thus greatly favour the exhumation of rock units from mantle depth to the surface without need for fast and sustained erosio

The social origins of cooking and dining in early villages of western Asia

This paper explores social customs of cooking and dining as farming emerged in the earliest villages of Palestine and Jordan (12,650–6850 cal BC). The approach is a spatial analysis of in situ hearths, pits, bins, benches, platforms, activity areas, caches, and ground stone artefacts. Mortars, pestles, and bowls first appear in significant numbers in base camps of semi-sedentary Natufian hunter-gatherers. Elaborate and decorated, these artefacts imply a newly formal social etiquette of food-sharing. They were used within houses, near hearths, and in outdoor areas. The earliest farmers of the Khiamian and Pre-Pottery Neolithic A used simple, mostly undecorated, ground stone tools. One-room houses were often fitted with a hearth and a small mortar in the centre, features that also occur in outdoor areas. In the Early and Middle Pre-Pottery Neolithic B, firepits, milling stations, and storage features were placed on porches and outdoor areas near house doors. These areas formed a transition zone between house and community, where food preparation provided opportunities for social contacts. The most private rooms in houses were supplied with benches, platforms, and decorated hearths, and probably sheltered household meals. In the Late PPNB, when some villages grew to unprecedented sizes, storage, and cooking facilities were placed in constricted, private spaces comparatively hidden from community view. Numerous milling tools and multiple milling stations in individual houses suggest intensification of production of prepared foods. It is argued that adult women bore the brunt of the increased labour and that these activities placed them under new restrictions of daily activity and visibility in relation to village communities.</jats:p

Ion-Exchanged Glass Waveguide Technology: A Review

We review the history and current status of ion exchanged glass waveguide technology. The background of ion exchange in glass and key developments in the first years of research are briefly described. An overview of fabrication, characterization and modeling of waveguides is given and the most important waveguide devices and their applications are discussed. Ion exchanged waveguide technology has served as an available platform for studies of general waveguide properties, integrated optics structures and devices, as well as applications. It is also a commercial fabrication technology for both passive and active waveguide components