Timorese archaeobotany : an anthracological pilot study at the late Holocene Lepu-Kina rockshelter, Atauro Island, East Timor

This paper details an anthracological pilot study for the Lepu-Kina rockshelter site (AT-7), located on Atauro Island, East Timor and considers the implications of the preliminary results for the archaeology of the region. Archaeological wood charcoal analysis can reveal aspects of fuel selection, human landscape modifications and management of vegetal resources. The difficulties inherent in tropical archaeobotany have, however, constrained anthracological research in Island Southeast Asia. This study is therefore principally an attempt to assess the potential for future anthracological investigations to address archaeological questions related to vegetation resource uses and horticultural practices in Island Southeast Asia. Results reveal that the occupants of the Lepu-Kina rockshelter 2500 years ago had access to abundant semi-evergreen tropical forests and savannah. The presence of Artocarpus, identified as either breadnut or breadfruit (A. cf. altilis/camansi) is also recorded. These results confirm that a more expansive anthracological investigation of the Lepu-Kina rockshelter, accompanied by a local or regional reference collection and wood anatomy resource, has significant potential to expand on these initial observations

Putting new francophone archaeology on the Pacific map: Current work of early-career researchers in “archéologie océaniste”

On 24 November 2016, an international workshop bringing together francophone early-career researchers and practitioners currently active in the field of Pacific archaeology was organised at The Australian National University. As access to opportunities for transnational exchange and representation of their work is not always easy for this group, the aim was to provide an occasion for the ECRs to present their work in English to the Australia-based academic audience of Pacific scholars.Currently, anglophone research is dominant in the region, in both academic centres of the Pacific rim and local institutions, where the methods and approaches advocated stem from a common tradition, while training and dissemination of research results use the shared language of English. Nonetheless, although less frequent, francophone approaches to Pacific archaeology have been present since the very early days of the discipline at the end of the nineteenth century, along with other non-anglophone traditions. Given the history of French colonial presence in the region, this tradition has endured, but indeed evolved and did not always remain in isolation. In particular, some members of the generation that emerged in the 1980s and 1990s, following José Garanger's footsteps, have progressively managed to engage in several international projects and to get their research widely exposed and recognised.After several years without the arrival of new graduates, the past 10 years has seen an influx of newly qualified francophone archaeologists working in the Pacific, bringing fresh perspectives and changing the profile of practitioners in the field (Figure 1). Indeed, while the history of the discipline had been dominated by men and by French metropolitan archaeologists, the new cohort includes as many women as men and almost half of the group originates from the Pacific Islands. Most of them are also able to work within local institutions and to participate directly in the sociocultural contributions of archaeology in the islands. In an effort to promote a better integration of this group in the regional research sphere, this paper consists of short reports focusing on one aspect of the ECRs current work

Microscopic Charcoal Signal in Archaeological Contexts

The recovery of archaeological wood charcoals from combustion features provides insights into the exploitation and use of wood fuel resources and past landscapes. The quality of our interpretation based on wood charcoals, however, depends on reliable information about the charcoal assemblages resulting from taphonomy. Charcoal is very fragile in comparison to other combustion residues such as burnt bones. In archaeological contexts, charcoal can easily be fragmented into small pieces (<0.25 mm) due to their fragile property. The investigation of small fragments and particles is particularly important for the interpretation of combustion residues when large pieces of charcoal are rare or apparently absent in archaeological sites, which is mainly true for many European Palaeolithic sites. Here, archaeologists get incomplete information when only the largest pieces and fragments are considered. In this chapter, we present a method for extracting and quantifying charcoal pieces, fragments, and particles. This approach can be considered as a strategy to minimize the impact of sample incompleteness and biases related to combustion residues in archaeological contexts. We further provide (1) a definition of what the charcoal signal means in an archaeological context; (2) an overview of taphonomy that causes charcoal fragmentation; (3) a review of charcoal sampling, extraction, observation and quantification protocols; (4) a manual (pictures and descriptions) for the observation of charcoal, from large pieces to the smallest particles; and (5) a discussion about why the charcoal signal is useful for archaeologists. By taking into account the consequences of taphonomy, the microscopic charcoal analysis in archaeological contexts provides a reliable assessment of firewood and fuel management practices and the related resilience of societies through time. The microscopic charcoal analysis can further offer additional information about the intensity of taphonomical processes and dating