Birch bark tar in early Medieval England:continuity of tradition or technological revival?

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Eastern Europe’s “Transitional Industry”? : Deconstructing the Early Streletskian

Acknowledgements We are very grateful to many friends and colleagues for discussions and various help, including Yuri Demindenko, Evgeny Giria, Brad Gravina, Anton Lada, Sergei Lisitsyn and Alexander Otcherednoy. Needless to say, they may or may not agree with our conclusions. We are also thankful to Jesse Davies and Craig Williams for the help with the illustrations and figures. Ekaterina Petrova kindly helped with ID’ing some of the sampled bones. We thank the staff of the Oxford Radiocarbon Accelerator Unit at the University of Oxford for their support with the chemical preparation and the measurement of the samples. We are also grateful to the three anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful and constructive comments, which helped improve the paper. This paper is a contribution to Leverhulme Trust project RPG-2012-800. The research leading to some of our radiocarbon results received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013); ERC grant 324139 “PalaeoChron” awarded to Professor Tom Higham. AB and AS acknowledge Russian Science Foundation grant number 20-78-10151 and Russian Foundation of Basic Research grant numbers 18-39-20009 and 20-09-00233 for support of their work. We also acknowledge the participation of IHMC RAS (state assignment 0184-2019-0001) and ZIN RAS (state assignment АААА-А19-119032590102-7).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Un cercueil antique en plomb découvert à Évreux (Eure) : étude pluridisciplinaire

International audienceThe Roman cemetery of le Clos au Duc in Évreux (Eure) lasted from the 1st to the 4th c. AD. The most common funerary practice in the 1st c. AD was cremation. From the beginning of the 2nd c. AD this rapidly gave place to inhumation burials. By the end of the 3rd c. lead coffins could be found in burials, but it remained a minority practice reserved for an elite. The 2010 excavation in Évreux allowed the recovery of an example of these. It was incomplete, but the good preservation of its remains made a multidisciplinary study possible. Apart from the bones of a young woman, the lead coffin contained coins, textile, fur, calcite (CaCO3) and insects. These results make it possible to retrace the sequence of events between the exhibiting of the body and its burial.La nécropole antique du Clos au Duc à Évreux (Eure) a perduré du Ier au IVe s. La pratique funéraire la plus répandue au Ier s. apr. J. C. est la crémation. Rapidement, dès le début du IIe s., elle a cédé sa place aux sépultures à inhumation. à la fin du IIIe s., l’inhumation en cercueil en plomb a été usitée, mais cette pratique reste marginale, réservée à une élite. L’intervention réalisée en 2010 à Évreux a permis d’en exhumer un exemplaire. Bien qu’incomplet, la bonne conservation des vestiges a permis une approche pluridisciplinaire. La cuve en plomb a livré, outre les ossements d’une jeune femme, des pièces de monnaie, du textile, de la fourrure, de la calcite (CaCO3) et des insectes. Ces résultats permettent de retracer la chaîne opératoire entre l’exposition du corps et sa mise en terre

Six centuries of adaptation to a challenging island environment: AMS 14C dating and stable isotopic analysis of pre-Columbian human remains from the Bahamian archipelago reveal dietary trends

The limestone islands of the Bahamian archipelago provide a challenging environment for human settlement, one that was not taken up until after AD 700. The analysis of human skeletal remains offers new insights into how this challenge was met. A substantial program of AMS 14C dating on pre-Columbian humans (n = 66) provides a robust chronological framework for the period ca. AD 1000–1600, with the latter date suggesting the possible persistence of an indigenous Lucayan presence on the islands for some decades later than previously thought. Associated stable carbon (δ13C) and nitrogen (δ15N) isotope analyses imply an early focus on near-shore marine resources that seems to have rapidly led to their local over-exploitation, resulting in a shift towards horticulture based mainly on root crops. The Medieval Warm Period is very likely to have been a factor in the initial settlement of the islands; the impact of the Little Ice Age is less clear, with no marked changes in either δ13C or δ15N. Strontium isotope results are consistent with an origin of most individuals within the archipelago, with a limited (but potentially important for maintaining connections) presence of incomers from the Greater Antilles, and perhaps even further afield. Despite the relatively short history of pre-Columbian occupation, Lucayan adaptations to the Bahamian archipelago were dynamic and demonstrate resilience in the face of both human resource depletion and climate change

Nouvelles datations radiocarbone du Magdalénien de la Chaire-à-Calvin (Mouthiers-sur-Boëme, charente)

Le gisement magdalénien de La Chaire-à-Calvin (Charente) est connu de longue date. Toutefois, après 150 ans de recherche, les interprétations chrono-stratigraphiques, avancées par plusieurs générations de chercheurs, ne s’accordent pas entre elles, ni avec les deux datations radiocarbone disponibles. Dans ce contexte, un nouveau programme de mesures radiométriques du remplissage a abouti à trois nouvelles dates. La présente note expose ces résultats et en discute la validité au sein de la séquence du site.The Magdalenian site of La Chaire-à-Calvin (Charente) has been known of for a long time. However, after 150 years of research, the many chrono-stratigraphic interpretations put forward by generations of scholars do not concur with each other nor with the two available radiocarbon dates. A new program of radiometric measurements of the filling has provided three new dates. The present note details these results and discusses their value within the archaeological sequence of the site.Der magdalénienzeitliche Fundplatz von La Chaire-à-Calvin (Mouthiers-sur-Boëme, Charente) ist seit langer Zeit bekannt. Jetzt, nach rund 150 Jahren archäologischer Forschungen, ist festzustellen, dass die chronostratigraphischen Interpretationen verschiedener Forschergenerationen weder untereinander korrespondieren noch mit den beiden vorliegenden Radiokarbondatierungen in Übereinstimmung zu bringen sind. Vor diesem Hintergrund hat ein neu gestartetes Programm von Radiokarbondatierungen an der Schichtenfolge drei neue Daten erbracht. Dieser Beitrag stellt die neu erzielten Datierungsergebnisse vor und diskutiert die daraus abzuleitenden Schlussfolgerungen in Bezug auf die archäologische Stratigraphie des Fundplatzes

A multi-analytical approach using FTIR, GC/MS and Py-GC/MS revealed early evidence of embalming practices in Roman catacomb

International audienceA multi-analytical approach using FTIR, GC/MS and Py-GC/MS revealed early evidence of embalming practices in Roman catacom

A multi-analytical approach using FTIR, GC/MS and Py-GC/MS revealed early evidence of embalming practices in Roman catacomb

International audienceA multi-analytical approach using FTIR, GC/MS and Py-GC/MS revealed early evidence of embalming practices in Roman catacom

Diachronic and geographic diversity of the femoral structure in Neanderthals

International audienceNeanderthal femora exhibit documented morphological differences compared to those of other Homo [1-2], including Homo sapiens, particularly in the internal structure of their diaphysis. However, comprehending the intra-specific diversity of femoralstructure among Neanderthals is crucial for elucidating the broader diversity within the Homo genus throughout the Middle and Late Pleistocene. This study aims to comprehensively document the diversity of femoral structure among Neanderthals, both chronologically and geographically.We conducted an analysis of the internal structure of femoral diaphyses of Neanderthal individuals from the Levant and Northern, Central, and Western Europe. The study incorporates both previously published and newly acquired micro-CT data spanning from MIS 7 to MIS 3, as well as one Middle Pleistocene Homo specimen. Using the morphomap R routine [3], we evaluated the diaphyseal structure by using traditional cross-sectional properties and applied a 2D landmark-based geometric morphometricapproach to delve into the endosteal, periosteal, and cross-sectional shape characteristics. These analyses were conducted at three distinct locations along the femoral diaphysis—subtrochanteric (80% of biomechanical length from the distal end), midshaft (50%), and mid-distal (35%).While conventional measurements of cross-sectional properties did not reveal clear trends among chronological and geographical groupings, multivariate analysis from the morphometric approach to cross-sectional shape allows us to define distinctclusters. Late Neanderthals of MIS 4 to 3 from Western and Northern Europe appear to differentiate from earlier specimens of Middle Pleistocene Homo and MIS 7 to 5 Neandertals. These differences result in Late Neandertals having more circular cross-sections in the proximal diaphysis and a medial buttress that is both more developed at midshaft and emerges from the mid-distal diaphysis.The present study therefore reveals clear chronological diversity in the structural patterns of Neanderthal femora. Few specimens from Northern Europe also exhibit deviations from the seemingly homogeneous pattern observed among LateNeanderthals, raising the possibility that these are idiosyncratic variations or regional differences