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J Archaeol Sci 33 (9)
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Title:
J Archaeol Sci 33 (9)
Series:
Journal of Archaeological Science
Volume:
33 (9)
Publication Type:
Journal
Editor:
Karl W Butzer
John P Grattan
Richard G Klein
Thilo Rehren
Publisher:
Elsevier Science
Year of Publication:
2006
Source:
BIAB (The British & Irish Archaeological Bibliography (BIAB))
Relations:
URI:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/03054403
Created Date:
11 Jun 2007
Article Title
Access Type
Author / Editor
Page Start/End
Abstract
Genetic analysis of archaeological wood remains: first results and prospects
M F Deguilloux
L Bertel
A Celant
M H Pemonge
Laura Sadori
D Magri
R J Petit
1216 - 1227
A total of fifty-one ancient oak wood samples originating from various European archaeological sites, dating from the Neolithic period to the eighteenth century, were assayed for the presence of reproducible chloroplast (cp) DNA sequences. Five polymorphic chloroplast fragments were targeted. Only five of the samples could be fully genetically characterised, revealing four different oak cpDNA haplotypes. In all cases, the haplotypes detected on ancient woods and the haplotypes characterised from fresh samples from the same localities matched. Overall, this congruence is consistent with a genetic continuity between ancient and modern European oaks, confirming the hypothesis that the mapped genetic patterns largely reflect the original structure that established during the post-glacial. This stability of the genetic structure implies that, in the future, the technique could be used to infer or confirm the transport of wood by man, providing interesting perspectives for the genetic analysis of ancient woods.
Identifying bilateral pairs of deer (Odocoileus sp.) bones: how symmetrical is symmetrical enough?
R L Lyman
1256 - 1265
Identifying bilaterally paired bones in zooarchaeological collections rests on the assumption that left and right skeletal elements from the same organism will be symmetrical. Bilaterally paired bones in an individual are, however, typically asymmetrical to some degree, demanding that the question ``How symmetrical is symmetrical enough to identify a bilateral pair?'' be answered with control data. The degree of symmetry chosen, or tolerance, will influence both how many true pairs in an archaeological collection are not identified (type I error) and how many false pairs are identified (type II error). Bivariate measures of sixty pairs of astragali and forty-eight pairs of distal humeri of deer (Odocoileus virginianus and O. hemionus) indicate that both sorts of error are frequent even when a conservative level of tolerance (≤average asymmetry) is used. Simulation of an archaeological collection indicates that as sample size increases, frequencies of both kinds of error increase. Application of the matching criteria and tolerance level to an archaeological collection underscores that the analytical requirements of identifying paired bones are steep.
The composition of the soda-rich and mixed alkali plant ashes used in the production of glass
M S Tite
Andrew J Shortland
Yannis Maniatis
D Kavoussanaki
Stephen A Harris
1284 - 1292
Previously published data for soda-rich plant ashes used in the production of glass and faience are brought together and re-assessed, and new analytical data are presented for ashes produced from plants collected in Egypt, Greece and the UK. In the production of these ashes, the plants of interest are salt resistant, halophytic plants of the Chenopodiaceae family, growing in coastal, salt marsh and desert regions. A primary criterion in selecting ashes for glass and faience production is that the alkalis are predominantly in the form of carbonates, bicarbonates and hydroxides rather than either chlorides or sulphates. For the ashes produced from Salsola kali plants collected from Greece and the UK, the soda to potash ratios (0.3--1.8) do not show any systematic differences between the regions in which the plant was growing, but instead reflect the fact that this species favours the accumulation of K+ over Na+ ions. Further, the results suggest that S. kali could have been the source of the mixed alkali ashes used in western Europe, if the ashes had first been treated in some way in order to reduce their lime-plus-magnesia contents.
