A multi-isotope investigation of diet and subsistence amongst island and mainland populations from early medieval western Britain

Objectives: This is the first investigation of dietary practices amongst multiple early medieval populations (AD 500–1000) from Wales and the Isle of Man using carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur isotope analysis. The analysis will illuminate similarities or differences between the diets and subsistence strategies of populations occupying different geographical regions, specifically those living in marginal coastal regions in comparison to inland populations well-connected to ecclesiastical centres and high-status settlements. Materials and Methods: One hundred and two human skeletons were sampled for carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis, and 69 human skeletons were sampled for sulphur isotope analysis from nine cemetery sites from western Britain (Isle of Man = 3, southwest Wales = 4, southeast Wales = 2). Thirteen faunal skeletons from St Patrick's Chapel (southwest Wales) were sampled for carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur isotope analysis. Results: Human δ13C values range from −19.4‰ to −21.2‰ (δ13C mean=−20.4 ±0.4‰, 1σ, n = 86), and δ15N values range from 9.1‰ to 13.8‰ (δ15N mean = 10.8 ± 0.9‰, 1σ, n = 86). δ34S values range from 1.2‰ to 18.4‰ (δ34S mean = 11.6 ± 4.5‰, 1σ, n = 66). Significant differences were noted between the mean δ13C, δ15N and δ34S values according to geographic region: Isle of Man (δ13C = −20.7 ± 0.4‰, δ15N = 11.4 ±0.6‰, n = 13/86; δ34S mean = 17.1 ±0.6, n = 4/66), southwest Wales (δ13C = −20.5 ± 0.4‰, δ15N = 11.0 ±1‰, n = 32/86; δ34S = 16.1 ± 2.1, n = 21/66), and southeast Wales (δ13C =−20.3 ±0.4‰, δ15N = 10.4 ±0.7‰, n = 41/86; δ34S= 8.8 ±3‰, n = 41/66). Faunal δ13C values range from −23.1‰ to −21.2‰ (δ13C mean= −22.1 ±0.5‰, 1σ, n = 13), and δ15N values range from 6.3‰ to 9.8‰ (δ15N mean = 7.3 ± 1.1‰, 1σ, n = 13). δ34S values range from 4.7‰ to 18.4‰ (δ34S mean= 16.3 ± 3.6‰, 1σ, n = 13). Conclusions: The data reveal a reliance on terrestrial protein, however differences are observed between the resource consumption of populations from southwest Wales and the Isle of Man in comparison to the populations from southeast Wales. Populations from the west coast have a marine sulphur signature that reflects their coastal proximity and may also include a reliance on seaweed as a fertiliser/food source. Populations in the southeast were connected to ecclesiastical centres and high-status settlements and had access to inland-grown produce. The data add support to the suggestion that δ34S can be used as a mobility indicator

Vitamin D deficiency rickets in early medieval Wales : a multi-methodological case study

An early medieval cemetery dating to between the eighth and eleventh centuries AD was excavated beneath St Patrick’s Chapel at Whitesands Bay, Pembrokeshire, Wales. The cemetery population includes adult males, females and a large proportion of non-adults below 18 years of age. Osteological analysis revealed a case of vitamin D deficiency rickets in a 2–3 year old child, which was further confirmed through the histological analysis of the first permanent molar tooth. This paper presents the results of the osteological, radiographic and histological analyses, which support the diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency. The research demonstrates the valuable contribution a multi-methodological approach can make to the investigation of non-adult health in the past. The evidence collated here allows further exploration of the possible circumstances that led to this condition, and makes a valuable contribution to an otherwise small number of cases of rickets from early medieval Britain

Evidence of early medieval trade and migration between Wales and the Mediterranean Sea region

Imported Mediterranean pottery recovered from 5th-7th century settlement sites along the south Wales coast indicates that trade and contact between Wales and Byzantium continued following the collapse of the Roman Empire in the early-5th century. It is hypothesised that people as well as pottery continued to travel to Wales from Byzantium, some of whom subsequently settled amongst the local communities. Strontium and oxygen isotope analysis was undertaken on human remains (n=33 individuals) from four early medieval cemeteries from south Wales. The study identified individuals who may not have been local to the British Isles, thus demonstrating that the isotopic analysis of human remains from Wales can further our understanding of migration to Britain during the early medieval period

‘Among his fellows cast’ : a histotaphonomic investigation into the impact of the Black Death in England

The Black Death had a devastating impact on communities living in Europe during the mid-14th century. The devastation wreaked by the epidemic was thought to lead to the disruption of social norms, including those surrounding the burial of the dead. Some scholars have, however, suggested this was not always the case, in particular for those communities living in rural settings (Kacki et al., 2011). Recent excavation at Thornton Abbey in Lincolnshire revealed two burial populations; one associated with the abbey’s medieval hospital, and the other a mass grave that was in use during the Black Death epidemic. Together with the mass grave and post-epidemic burials from East Smithfield, London, these two populations presented an opportunity to explore the early taphonomic histories of the plague dead through the inspection of bone diagenesis associated with bacterial soft tissue decomposition. The histological analysis of 81 skeletons revealed striking differences in the post-mortem treatment of the plague dead in rural Lincolnshire compared to those buried in urban London, and in this paper we explore the possible scenarios that may account for this variability. We also present three cases where the individuals’ status in life may have led to attempts at inhibiting their corporeal decay

Beam Test Performance Studies of CMS Phase-2 Outer Tracker Module Prototypes

International audienceA new tracking detector will be installed as part of the Phase-2 upgrade of the CMS detector for the high-luminosity LHC era. This tracking detector includes the Inner Tracker, equipped with silicon pixel sensor modules, and the Outer Tracker, consisting of modules with two parallel stacked silicon sensors. The Outer Tracker front-end ASICs will be able to correlate hits from charged particles in these two sensors to perform on-module discrimination of transverse momenta $p_\mathrm{T}$. The $p_\mathrm{T}$ information is generated at a frequency of 40 MHz and will be used in the Level-1 trigger decision of CMS. Prototypes of the so-called 2S modules were tested at the Test Beam Facility at DESY Hamburg between 2019 and 2020. These modules use the final front-end ASIC, the CMS Binary Chip (CBC), and for the first time the Concentrator Integrated Circuit (CIC), optical readout and on-module power conversion. In total, seven modules were tested, one of which was assembled with sensors irradiated with protons. An important aspect was to show that it is possible to read out modules synchronously. A cluster hit efficiency of about 99.75% was achieved for all modules. The CBC $p_\mathrm{T}$ discrimination mechanism has been verified to work together with the CIC and optical readout. The measured module performance meets the requirements for operation in the upgraded CMS tracking detector

Measurement of the fractional radiation length of a pixel module for the CMS Phase-2 upgrade via the multiple scattering of positrons

International audienceHigh-luminosity particle collider experiments such as the ones planned at the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider require ever-greater vertexing precision of the tracking detectors, necessitating also reductions in the material budget of the detectors. Traditionally, the fractional radiation length ($x/X_0$) of detectors is either estimated using known properties of the constituent materials, or measured in dedicated runs of the final detector. In this paper, we present a method of direct measurement of the material budget of a CMS prototype module designed for the Phase-2 upgrade of the CMS detector using a 40-65 MeV positron beam. A total of 630 million events were collected at the Paul Scherrer Institut PiE1 experimental area using a three-plane telescope consisting of the prototype module as the central plane, surrounded by two MALTA monolithic pixel detectors. Fractional radiation lengths were extracted from scattering angle distributions using the Highland approximation for multiple scattering. A statistical technique recovered runs suffering from trigger desynchronisation, and several corrections were introduced to compensate for local inefficiencies related to geometric and beam shape constraints. An overall average $x/X_0$ of (0.84 $\pm$ 0.10)% across the surveyed regions was measured, which is compatible with an empirical estimate of 0.825% computed from known material properties. Higher-granularity maps of the fractional radiation length were produced for both rectangular regions and regions of uniform material composition. The results bode well for the CMS Phase-2 upgrade modules, which will play a key role in the minimisation of the material budget of the upgraded detector

Evaluation of HPK n+n^+-pp planar pixel sensors for the CMS Phase-2 upgrade

International audienceTo cope with the challenging environment of the planned high luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), sched-uled to start operation in 2029, CMS will replace its entire tracking system. The requirements for the tracker are largely determinedby the long operation time of 10 years with an instantaneous peak luminosity of up to 7.5 × 1034 cm−2 s−1 in the ultimate perfor-mance scenario. Depending on the radial distance from the interaction point, the silicon sensors will receive a particle fluencecorresponding to a non-ionizing energy loss of up to Φeq = 3.5 × 1016 cm−2. This paper focuses on planar pixel sensor design andqualification up to a fluence of Φeq = 1.4 × 1016 cm−2.For the development of appropriate planar pixel sensors an R&D program was initiated, which includes n+-p sensors on 150 mm(6”) wafers with an active thickness of 150 μm with pixel sizes of 100 × 25 μm2 and 50 × 50 μm2 manufactured by Hamamatsu.Single chip modules with ROC4Sens and RD53A readout chips were made. Irradiation with protons and neutrons, as well was anextensive test beam campaign at DESY were carried out. This paper presents the investigation of various assemblies mainly withROC4Sens readout chips. It demonstrates that multiple designs fulfill the requirements in terms of breakdown voltage, leakagecurrent and efficiency. The single point resolution for 50 × 50 μm2 pixels is measured as 4.0 μm for non-irradiated samples, and6.3 μm after irradiation to Φeq = 7.2 × 1015 cm−2

Beam test performance of a prototype module with Short Strip ASICs for the CMS HL-LHC tracker upgrade

International audienceThe Short Strip ASIC (SSA) is one of the four front-endchips designed for the upgrade of the CMS Outer Tracker for the HighLuminosity LHC. Together with the Macro-Pixel ASIC (MPA) it willinstrument modules containing a strip and a macro-pixel sensorstacked on top of each other. The SSA provides both full readout ofthe strip hit information when triggered, and, together with theMPA, correlated clusters called stubs from the two sensors for useby the CMS Level-1 (L1) trigger system. Results from the firstprototype module consisting of a sensor and two SSA chips arepresented. The prototype module has been characterized at theFermilab Test Beam Facility using a 120 GeV proton beam

Evaluation of HPK n+n^+-pp planar pixel sensors for the CMS Phase-2 upgrade

To cope with the challenging environment of the planned high luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), scheduled to start operation in 2029, CMS will replace its entire tracking system. The requirements for the tracker are largely determined by the long operation time of 10~years with an instantaneous peak luminosity of up to $7.5\times 10^{34}$~cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$ in the ultimate performance scenario. Depending on the radial distance from the interaction point, the silicon sensors will receive a particle fluence corresponding to a non-ionizing energy loss of up to $\Phi_{\text{eq}} = 3.5\times 10^{16}$~cm$^{-2}$. This paper focuses on planar pixel sensor design and qualification up to a fluence of $\Phi_{\text{eq}} = 1.4\times 10^{16}$~cm$^{-2}$. For the development of appropriate planar pixel sensors an R\&D program was initiated, which includes $n^+$-$p$ sensors on 150 mm (6'') wafers with an active thickness of 150~$\mu$m with pixel sizes of $100\times 25$~$\mu$m$^2$ and $50\times 50$~$\mu$m$^2$ manufactured by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K.\ (HPK). Single chip modules with ROC4Sens and RD53A readout chips were made. Irradiation with protons and neutrons, as well was an extensive test beam campaign at DESY were carried out. This paper presents the investigation of various assemblies mainly with ROC4Sens readout chips. It demonstrates that multiple designs fulfill the requirements in terms of breakdown voltage, leakage current and efficiency. The single point resolution for $50\times 50$~$\mu$m$^2$ pixels is measured as 4.0~$\mu$m for non-irradiated samples, and 6.3~$\mu$m after irradiation to $\Phi_{\text{eq}} = 7.2\times 10^{15}$~cm$^{-2}$.To cope with the challenging environment of the planned high luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), sched- uled to start operation in 2029, CMS will replace its entire tracking system. The requirements for the tracker are largely determined by the long operation time of 10 years with an instantaneous peak luminosity of up to 7.5 × 1034 cm−2 s−1 in the ultimate perfor- mance scenario. Depending on the radial distance from the interaction point, the silicon sensors will receive a particle fluence corresponding to a non-ionizing energy loss of up to Φeq = 3.5 × 1016 cm−2. This paper focuses on planar pixel sensor design and qualification up to a fluence of Φeq = 1.4 × 1016 cm−2. For the development of appropriate planar pixel sensors an R&D program was initiated, which includes n+-p sensors on 150 mm (6”) wafers with an active thickness of 150 μm with pixel sizes of 100 × 25 μm2 and 50 × 50 μm2 manufactured by Hamamatsu. Single chip modules with ROC4Sens and RD53A readout chips were made. Irradiation with protons and neutrons, as well was an extensive test beam campaign at DESY were carried out. This paper presents the investigation of various assemblies mainly with ROC4Sens readout chips. It demonstrates that multiple designs fulfill the requirements in terms of breakdown voltage, leakage current and efficiency. The single point resolution for 50 × 50 μm2 pixels is measured as 4.0 μm for non-irradiated samples, and 6.3 μm after irradiation to Φeq = 7.2 × 1015 cm−2.To cope with the challenging environment of the planned high luminosity upgrade of the Large Hadron Collider (HL-LHC), scheduled to start operation in 2029, CMS will replace its entire tracking system. The requirements for the tracker are largely determined by the long operation time of 10 years with an instantaneous peak luminosity of up to 7.5 × 1034cm−2s−1 in the ultimate performance scenario. Depending on the radial distance from the interaction point, the silicon sensors will receive a particle fluence corresponding to a non-ionising energy loss of up to Φeq= 3.5 × 1016cm−2. This paper focuses on planar pixel sensor design and qualification up to a fluence of Φeq = 1.4 × 1016cm−2. For the development of appropriate planar pixel sensors an R&D program was initiated, which includes n+-p sensors on 150mm (6”) wafers with an active thickness of 150µm with pixel sizes of 100×25 µm2 and 50×50 µm2 manufactured by Hamamatsu Photonics K.K. (HPK). Single chip modules with ROC4Sens and RD53A readout chips were made. Irradiation with protons and neutrons, as well was an extensive test beam campaign at DESY were carried out. This paper presents the investigation of various assemblies mainly with ROC4Sens readout chips. It demonstrates that multiple designs fulfil the requirements in terms of breakdown voltage, leakage current and efficiency. The single point resolution for 50×50 µm2 pixels is measured as 4.0µm for non-irradiated samples, and 6.3µm after irradiation to Φeq = 7.2 × 1015cm−2