Raman and micromorphological characterization of carbonates in plaster-like materials from the Natufian site of Eynan (Ain Mallaha), Israel

The archaeological site of Eynan, located by the spring of Ain Mallaha and on the shores of Lake Hula in the Upper Jordan Valley, Israel, existed for several millennia at the end of the Pleistocene. During the Natufian culture of the Levantine Epipalaeolithic, the site was one of the largest known occupations in the Levant for some millennia (ca. 14,300 - 11,900 cal BP). Remains of Natufian architecture were found, together with evidence of early experimenting with pyrotechnology for the creation of lime plaster. Several features were identified during the excavations as assumed lime plaster installations. Samples investigated by micromorphology methods under the polarizing microscope revealed that while all were composed of calcium carbonate, and some indeed represent anthropogenic burnt lime products, others reflected the results of post-depositional or contemporaneous natural processes rather than technological products. The study of the samples at a molecular level through Raman spectroscopy enables a new methodology for the quick distinction between the features observed by micromorphology

SAGES consensus recommendations on an annotation framework for surgical video

Background: The growing interest in analysis of surgical video through machine learning has led to increased research efforts; however, common methods of annotating video data are lacking. There is a need to establish recommendations on the annotation of surgical video data to enable assessment of algorithms and multi-institutional collaboration. Methods: Four working groups were formed from a pool of participants that included clinicians, engineers, and data scientists. The working groups were focused on four themes: (1) temporal models, (2) actions and tasks, (3) tissue characteristics and general anatomy, and (4) software and data structure. A modified Delphi process was utilized to create a consensus survey based on suggested recommendations from each of the working groups. Results: After three Delphi rounds, consensus was reached on recommendations for annotation within each of these domains. A hierarchy for annotation of temporal events in surgery was established. Conclusions: While additional work remains to achieve accepted standards for video annotation in surgery, the consensus recommendations on a general framework for annotation presented here lay the foundation for standardization. This type of framework is critical to enabling diverse datasets, performance benchmarks, and collaboration

Imports and isotopes: a modern baseline study for interpreting Iron Age and Roman trade in fallow deer antlers

The European Fallow deer (Dama dama dama) became extinct in the British Isles and most of continental Europe at the time of the Last Glacial Maximum, with the species becoming restricted to an Anatolian refugium (Masseti et al. 2008). Human-mediated reintroductions resulted in fallow populations in Rhodes, Sicily, Mallorca, Iberia and other parts of western Europe (Sykes et al. 2013). Eventually, the species was brought to Britain by the Romans during the 1st century AD, with a breeding population being established at Fishbourne Roman Palace (Sykes et al. 2011). The human influence on the present-day distribution of the species makes it particularly interesting from a zooarchaeological perspective. This paper describes my MSc research, as part of the AHRC-funded project Dama International: Fallow Deer and European Society 6000 BC–AD 1600, looking at antlers from Iron Age and Roman sites in Britain for evidence of trade in body parts and whether this can be elucidated by a parallel stable isotope study of modern fallow antlers of known provenance

Caprine mortality profiles from prehistoric cave‐sites of the northern Adriatic: Livestock strategies or natural death?

This paper poses a question on the interpretation of caprine “kill‐off patterns” in some prehistoric sites of the Caput Adriae (northern Adriatic region, Mediterranean area). In particular, caprine kill‐off data from layers 2 (Late Neolithic‐Copper Age) and 2a (Middle Neolithic) of Grotta dell'Edera (Trieste Karst, north‐eastern Italy) are presented here and compared with those from two neighbouring sites. Distribution of age classes of domestic animals (in particular Caprinae) is generally discussed in terms of exploitation strategies adopted by past communities to obtain different products (e.g., milk, meat, and wool). Nevertheless, emphasis is rarely given to the possible meaning of the presence of foetal individuals and to their relation with neonatal ones. In this sense, it needs to be considered that causes of abortion (e.g., infections or ewe malnutrition) often can also lead to lamb mortality. The presence of a high proportion of neonatal (0–2 months old) and foetal sheep/goat individuals in the sites analysed raises an issue about the possible meaning of the mortality profiles: exploitation of dairy products or just premature death of ill individuals? This issue is important not only to better interpret subsistence strategies of past human communities but also to explore animal disease through time

A ritual site with sacrificial wells from the Viking Age at Trelleborg, Denmark

The promontory facing Storebælt with the well-known circular Viking Age military fortress of Trelleborg erected by Harold Bluetooth in AD 980/981 seems to have been an important ceremonial space prior to the erection of the fortress and contemporary with a nearby high status settlement dated to the seventh to the eleventh century. This study presents new cross-disciplinary investigations focusing on three sacrificial well-like structures (47, 50 and 121) from the pre-Christian Viking Age at Trelleborg. Two of the sacrificial wells (47 and 121) included the only skeletal remains of four children hitherto recovered from Danish Viking Age wells. The strontium isotope results of the four children point to local provenance. However, the results of each well seem to pair up in a systematic way pointing to that the children might come from two different key surrounding areas at Trelleborg. Furthermore, the three wells contained animal remains of primarily domestic livestock partly representing consumption waste from either profane or ritual meals deriving from, for example, blót activities. Well 47 produced a young he-goat and well 121 a hindlimb of an above-average-size young horse, a large part of a young cow and a large dog. Altogether intentional offerings deposited while still enfleshed and interpreted to have served as propitiatory sacrifices to honour or appease the gods and to ensure fertility. This research provides new information that enlightens the formation processes underlying accumulation of cultural deposits in features such as ritual wells, in the period prior to Christianity