Wrappings of power: a woman’s burial in cattle hide at Langwell Farm, Strath Oykel

A well-preserved burial, discovered during peat clearing on Langwell Farm in Strath Oykel, Easter Ross, consisted of a stone cist that held the skeleton of a woman who had died in 2200–1960 cal BC. Although the cist contents were disturbed and partly removed before archaeological investigation took place, the burial rite can be interpreted to some extent. The woman, who died in her late 20s, had been wrapped in brown cattle hide, and wooden and woven objects were placed with her body. Periodic waterlogging created conditions that allowed the rare, partial preservation of the organic materials. Analysis of bone histology indicated that decay of the human remains had been arrested, either by deliberate mummification or waterlogging. The cist had been set into a low knoll on the valley floor and it may have been covered with a low cairn or barrow. This spot had been the site of a fire several hundred years earlier, and it may have been a node on a cross-country route linking east and west coasts in the Early Bronze Age. The use of animal hide suggests the creation and use of particular identities, linking the dead to ancestors and to powerful spiritual properties attributed to the natural world. The work was carried out for Historic Scotland under the Human Remains Call-off Contract

Provenancing Archaeological Wool Textiles from Medieval Northern Europe by Light Stable Isotope Analysis (δ13C, δ15N, δ2H)

We investigate the origin of archaeological wool textiles preserved by anoxic waterlogging from seven medieval archaeological deposits in north-western Europe (c. 700-1600 AD), using geospatial patterning in carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N) and non-exchangeable hydrogen (δ2H) composition of modern and ancient sheep proteins. δ13C, δ15N and δ2H values from archaeological wool keratin (n = 83) and bone collagen (n = 59) from four sites were interpreted with reference to the composition of modern sheep wool from the same regions. The isotopic composition of wool and bone collagen samples clustered strongly by settlement; inter-regional relationships were largely parallel in modern and ancient samples, though landscape change was also significant. Degradation in archaeological wool samples, examined by elemental and amino acid composition, was greater in samples from Iceland (Reykholt) than in samples from north-east England (York, Newcastle) or northern Germany (Hessens). A nominal assignment approach was used to classify textiles into local/non-local at each site, based on maximal estimates of isotopic variability in modern sheep wool. Light element stable isotope analysis provided new insights into the origins of wool textiles, and demonstrates that isotopic provenancing of keratin preserved in anoxic waterlogged contexts is feasible. We also demonstrate the utility of δ2H analysis to understand the location of origin of archaeological protein samples

Mapping Hansard Impression Management Strategies through Time and Space

Impolite behaviour is thought to be easier to investigate than polite or politic behaviour in diachronic contexts, because of attracting more evaluative comment. But an approach based on such metapragmatic commentary can miss a lot of facework strategies in contexts such as the UK parliament (modern and historical). In this paper, I draw on Historic Hansard datasets (1812–2003) to demonstrate how a (semi)automatic method involving contiguous searches of two-to-four features can better reveal the nuances of these MPs’ facework strategies than a focus on metapragmatic terms has afforded hitherto. The (semi)automatic method uses the recently created Historic Thesaurus Semantic Tagger (HTST) to search for meaning constellations (Archer and Malory 2017). Meaning constellations relating to facework are made up of sequences of semantic fields and/or parts-of-speech which, when organised in certain ways, achieve im/politeness, politic behaviour, strategic ambiguity, a combination of face enhancement and face threat, etc. This paper discusses a number of these meaning constellations, with a particular focus on those which engage in both face enhancement and face aggravation simultaneously (whilst nonetheless avoiding the label, “unparliamentary language”)

The genetic architecture of the human cerebral cortex

The cerebral cortex underlies our complex cognitive capabilities, yet little is known about the specific genetic loci that influence human cortical structure. To identify genetic variants that affect cortical structure, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging data from 51,665 individuals. We analyzed the surface area and average thickness of the whole cortex and 34 regions with known functional specializations. We identified 199 significant loci and found significant enrichment for loci influencing total surface area within regulatory elements that are active during prenatal cortical development, supporting the radial unit hypothesis. Loci that affect regional surface area cluster near genes in Wnt signaling pathways, which influence progenitor expansion and areal identity. Variation in cortical structure is genetically correlated with cognitive function, Parkinson's disease, insomnia, depression, neuroticism, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Textiles and Cordage from Walraversijde (Ostend, West-Flanders, Belgium).

Textiel en touw uit Walraversijde (Oostende, Prov. West-Vlaanderen). In deze eerste studie over textiel en touw uit Walraversijde worden 15 stukken textiel en een stuk touw behandeld. Deze kleine collectie is van belang omdat nog maar weinig textiel uit opgravingen in België is bestudeerd. Het textiel uit Walraversijde dateert uit de 15de eeuw, een periode waarin de grote stedelijke lakennijverheid reeds op zijn terugweg was maar waarin de linnennijverheid in volle opmars was, vooral op het platteland. Deze studie geeft een beeld van een deel van het textiel dat in gebruik was in een vissersdorp langs de Noordzeekust in een regio die over gans Europa gekend was voor zijn textiel. De site leverde zowel textiel op in linnen als in wol, een eerder uitzonderlijk gegeven daar beide stoffen uiteenlopende eisen stellen aan het bewarend milieu

Cloth and Clothing in Early Anglo-Saxon England, AD 450-700

This database has been extracted from a much larger collection of data compiled by staff and volunteers at The Anglo-Saxon Laboratory (which incorporates Textile Research). The extract covers the period AD 450-700 and includes 3802 records of textiles from 162 Anglo-Saxon cemeteries. It has been made available as part of the Cloth and Clothing in Early Anglo-Saxon England project, funded by English Heritage, and it forms the basis of the book: Penelope Walton Rogers, Cloth and Clothing in Early Anglo-Saxon England, AD 450-700, published CBA, York, 2007

Creature Comforts at Vindolanda:Two Unique Wool Mats with Knotted Pile

ABSTRACTFragments of two robust wool textiles with an unusual knotted blue pile were recovered from a Period I (late Flavian) fort ditch at Vindolanda. Their knotted structure — unknown hitherto in the western Roman provinces and only partially paralleled in the eastern — is discussed, together with questions about their possible production centre and actual function. The Supplementary Material available online (https://doi.org/10.1017/S0068113X18000259) contains technical details of the textiles, an investigation of the raw materials and a comparison of the wools used.</jats:p

A mysterious little piece: a compound-weave textile incorporating sea silk from the Natural History Museum, London

Sea silk, derived from the beard of the Pinna nobilis clam, has often been described in historical sources, but only rarely identified scientifically in extant textiles. This paper describes the microscopy of the fibres in a textile held in the Cuming Collection at the Natural History Museum in London. The textile is a compound weave that incorporates yarns made of sea silk, ordinary cultivated silk and a fine animal coat fibre. The fibres were identified by a combination of transmitted-light, polarised-light and scanning electron microscopy. There is little documentation concerning the origin of the piece, but it is likely to be18th-century Italian and may have come from a waistcoat

Metalwork from the 2011 excavations: razor and its associated sheath from Urn 5 [5. The hill of Tuach, Kintore, Aberdeenshire].

The study of stone circles has long played a major role in British and Irish archaeology, and for Scotland most attention has been focused on the large monuments of Orkney and the Western Isles. Several decades of fieldwork have shown how these major structures are likely to be of early date and recognised that that smaller settings of monoliths had a more extended history. Many of the structures in Northern Britain were reused during the later Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the early medieval period. A series of problems demand further investigation including: when were the last stone circles built? How did they differ from earlier constructions? How were they related to henge monuments, especially those of Bronze Age date? How frequently were these places reused, and did this secondary activity change the character of those sites? This major new assessment first presents the results of fieldwork undertaken at the Scottish recumbent stone circle of Hillhead; the stone circles of Waulkmill and Croftmoraig, the stone circle and henge at Hill of Tuach at Kintore; and the small ring cairn at Laikenbuie in Inverness-shire. Part 2 brings together the results of these five projects and puts forward a chronology for the construction and primary use of stone circles, particularly the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age examples. It considers the reuse of stone circles, long after they were built, and discusses four neighbouring stone circles in Aberdeenshire which display both similarites and contrasts in their architecture, use of raw materials, associated artefacts and structural sequences. Finally, a reassessment and reinterpretation of Croftmoraig and its sequence is presented: the new interpretation drawing attention to ways of thinking about these monuments which have still to fulfil their potential