Correlation of gravimetric and satellite geodetic data Interim progress report, 11 Sep. 1967 - 29 Feb. 1968

Gravimetric and geodetic data correlation for satellite position prediction accuracy with error analysi

Tell Shiyukh Tahtani, Syria Report of the 2006-09 Seasons

The Italian excavations at Shiyukh Tahtani have recently resumed, revealing a long occupation sequence on the mound’s eastern slope (Area CD). In Trench D23, on the summit, an Iron Age level II building contained a rich array of pottery, sheep knuckle bones, clay ‘bobbins’ and an unstratified Egyptian scarab of Menkheperre. An earlier massive building (LBA ?) was also excavated below the Iron Age II occupation. Halfway down the slope the lower level of a large burnt complex of Middle Bronze I date contained rich finds and various burials characterized by peculiar rituals. Finally, in a deep trench down below the slope, EB I-II remains included niched mud-brick architecture of fine Mesopotamian tradition as well as many pot burials of the Carchemish ‘champagne-­cup culture’. All these finds enhance the knowledge about the Bronze and Iron Age civilization of the Syrian Euphrates

Correlation of gravimetric and satellite geodetic data, part 2 Interim scientific report, 11 Sep. 1967 - 29 Feb. 1968

Graphical output from computer correlated gravimetric and satellite geodetic dat

An interdisciplinary approach to the study of kiln firing: a case study from the Campus Galli open-air museum (southern Germany)

Pottery kilns are a common feature in the archaeological record of different periods. However, these pyrotechnological installations are still seldom the target of interdisciplinary investigations. To fill this gap in our knowledge, an updraft kiln firing experiment was run at the Campus Galli open-air museum (southern Germany) by a team consisting of experimental archaeologists, material scientists, geoarchaeologists, and palaeobotanists. The entire process from the preparation of the raw materials to the firing and opening of the kiln was carefully recorded with a particular focus on the study of the raw materials used for pottery making, as well as on fuel usage. The temperatures were monitored by thermocouples placed at different positions in the combustion and firing chambers. In addition, thermocouples were installed within the kiln wall to measure the temperature distribution inside the structure itself. Unfired raw materials as well as controlled and experimentally thermally altered ceramic samples were then characterised with an integrated analysis including ceramic petrography, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF). Our work provides data about mineralogical and microstructural developments in both pottery kiln structures and the ceramics produced in this type of installations. This is helpful to discuss the limits and potential of various scientific analyses commonly used in ancient ceramic pyrotechnological studies. Overall, our work contributes to a better understanding of updraft kiln technology and offers guidelines on how to address the study of this type of pyrotechnological installations using interdisciplinary research strategies

GSK-3 Activity Is Critical for the Orientation of the Cortical Microtubules and the Dorsoventral Axis Determination in Zebrafish Embryos

The formation of dorsal-ventral (D–V) axis is the earliest event that breaks the radial symmetry and determines the bilateral body plan of a vertebrate embryo, however, the maternal control of this process is not fully understood. Here, we discovered a new dorsalizing window of acute lithium treatment, which covers only less than 10 minutes after fertilization. Lithium treatment in this window was not able to reverse the ventralized phenotype in tokkeabi (tkk) mutant embryos, and its dorsalizing activity on wild-type embryos was inhibited by nocodazole co-treatment. These evidences indicate that the underlying mechanism is independent of a direct activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling, but depends on the upstream level of the microtubule mediated dorsal determinant transport. In order to identify the target of lithium in this newly discovered sensitive window, GSK-3 inhibitor IX as well as the IMPase inhibitor L690, 330 treatments were performed. We found that only GSK-3 inhibitor IX treatment mimicked the lithium treatment in the dorsalizing activity. Further study showed that the parallel pattern of cortical microtubules in the vegetal pole region and the directed migration of the Wnt8a mRNA were randomized by either lithium or GSK-3 inhibitor IX treatment. These results thus revealed an early and critical role of GSK-3 activity that regulates the orientation of the cortical microtubules and the directed transport of the dorsal determinants in zebrafish embryos

Bronze Age pottery from the Carchemish region at the British Museum. The Woolley-Lawrence collection. Report

(not requested

Tell el-'Abd II. Pottery and Potmarks at an Early Urban Settlement of the Middle Euphrates River Valley, Syria. Final Reports of the Syrian-German excavations at Tel el-’Abd

The monograph investigates the breakdown of the Uruk world-system towards the end of the 4th millennium BCE, and the roots of secondary state formation in the Middle Euphrates region through the analysis of continuity and change in the Early Bronze ceramic material from the site of Tell el-‘Abd (Tabqa Dam, Syria). This analysis fills a chronological gap for the early third millennium, a period poorly known in the district downstream from Carchemish. It further includes the study of over 1300 potter’s marks, thus offering new insight into the intra- and inter-site organization of pottery production and into a complex and variegated system of visual communication active at a regional level before the use and diffusion of writing in Syria

An Early Bronze Age tomb group from Tell Alawiyeh in the British Museum

(not requested

Nuovi dati dalla necropoli arcaica di Mozia (campagne 2013-2017)

È passato oltre un secolo da quando Joseph Whitaker, pioniere dell’archeologia fenicia in Sicilia, dava inizio alle prime indagini nell’area della cosiddetta ‘necropoli arcaica’ sull’isola di Mozia/San Pantaleo. Negli anni a venire varie altre imprese archeologiche si sono ivi succedute portando alla luce un totale di circa 350 sepolture (soprattutto cremazioni secondarie) e facendo di quest’area cimiteriale uno dei migliori ritrovamenti per lo studio della cultura funeraria fenicia in Sicilia e nel Mediterraneo centrale. Gli scavi condotti nell’ultimo quinquennio dalla Missione dell’Università di Palermo offrono interessanti dati ricavati da un gruppo di oltre 100 nuove sepolture che coprono un arco cronologico che va dalla fondazione della colonia fenicia fino al momento in cui l’isola venne fortificata (fine VIII-VI secolo a.C.). L’analisi stratigrafica e crono-tipologica dei corredi, integrata da approfonditi studi di tipo paleo-antropologico e paleo-botanico, hanno permesso di riconoscere l’esistenza di una ritualità e performance funeraria complessa e variegata, nonché di una grande fluidità del rapporto con la morte. Tale variabilità trova espressione nella scelta del rito (cremazione versus inumazione), dello spazio funerario e/o della tipologia tombale, come pure nella disposizione e nella scelta dei corredi. In tale scenario il rituale dell’inumazione, prima quasi sconosciuto o non riconosciuto – a parte un gruppo di sarcofagi rinvenuti da Whitaker, e la scoperta di un settore della necropoli dedicato quasi esclusivamente alle deposizioni infantili giocano un ruolo di primo piano. L’area funeraria sembra inoltre essere caratterizzata, – almeno in alcune fasi, da una marcata visibilità (presenza di cippi e segnacoli) come pure da tracce di un’assidua frequentazione da parte della comunità dei vivi.Ha transcurrido más de un siglo desde que, Joseph Whitaker, pionero de la arqueología fenicia en Sicilia, dió el impulso a las primeras investigaciones de la llamada “necrópolis arcaica” de la isla de Mozia/San Pantaleo. En los años siguientes otras investigaciones arqueológicas se han sucedido llevando a la luz aproximadamente un total de 350 sepulturas (sobretodo de cremaciones segundarias) cuyos hallazgos pueden considerarse un paradigma para el estudio de la cultura funeraria fenicia tanto en Sicilia como en el Mediterráneo central. Las excavaciones llevadas a cabo en los últimos cinco años de parte de la Misión de la Università degli Studi di Palermo proporcionan unos importantes datos procedentes de un grupo de más de 100 nuevas sepulturas que abarcan una cronología correspondiente a un arco temporal entre la fundación de la colonia fenicia y la realización de las fortificaciones, es decir entra el final del siglo VIII y el siglo VI a.C. El análisis estratigráfico y crono-tipológico de los ajuares se integran a unos profundizados estudios de tipo paleo-antropológicos e paleo-botánicos han permitido reconocer la existencia de una ritualidad y unas prácticas funerarias complejas e articuladas junto a una grande fluidez en la relación con la muerte. Esta variabilidad se expresa tanto en la elección de un ritual (cremación vs inhumación), del espacio funerario y/o de la tipología tumbal como de la composición e selección de los ajuares. Debido a estas premisas, el ritual de inhumación, anteriormente casi desconocido o no reconocido en las interpretaciones, junto la presencia de un sector de la necrópolis dedicado casi exclusivamente a las deposiciones infantiles juegan un papel fundamental. La área funeraria aparece caracterizada – al menos en algunas fases – tanto por una marcada visibilidad (cipos y “segnacula” funerarios) como por testigos de una asidua frecuentación por parte de la comunidad de los vivos