AMS 14C dating

The article presents five gold artifacts from the Chalcolithic (fifth millennium BC) layer at tell Yunatsite, southern Bulgaria. The analyses focus on the technology of manufacture, chronology and provenance of the gold. The stratigraphic position, pottery assemblage and 14 C dates attest that the earliest one precedes the famous Varna I "golden" cemetery and is among the few earliest known gold artifacts in the world. The study of the main chemical composition and trace elements (using LA-ICPMS) of the objects and placer gold from the nearby Topolnitsa and Luda Yana rivers suggest the use of local sources, probably placer gold, and the functioning of a local goldsmith center in the western part of the Upper Thracian Plain, possibly even in or around tell Yunatsite.

Ancient Chinese documents-ranging from oracle bone scripts and bamboo slip writings to paper-based Dunhuang manuscripts-represent a rich cultural and linguistic heritage that spans millennia. Their diverse materials (bone, silk, bamboo, and paper), wide-ranging calligraphic styles, and centuries of environmental wear introduce numerous challenges to preservation and analysis. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the cutting-edge techniques employed to enhance and analyze these documents, covering critical areas such as optical character recognition (OCR) for archaic scripts, layout detection for non-standard page structures, image restoration for faded or damaged texts, and natural language processing (NLP) strategies addressing historic lexicons and script variations. We highlight recent advancements in deep learning, computer vision, and large-scale digitization that tackle irregular handwriting, non-linear textual layouts, and fragmented or incomplete artifacts-common hurdles in oracle bone and Dunhuang manuscript studies. By identifying existing research gaps, such as limited annotated datasets for less-studied scripts, and by proposing future directions-ranging from domain-specific OCR models to deeper integration of cultural and historical context-we underscore the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration among fields like archaeology, paleography, and digital humanities. Ultimately, this review emphasizes the urgent need for cohesive efforts that leverage both technological innovation and scholarly expertise to ensure broad and enduring access to China's invaluable documentary legacy.

This study of beads from the site of Barikot, Pakistan provides new perspectives on the typological and tech
nological methods of bead production in use during the mid-3rd BCE – 1st century CE. Through the analysis of
raw materials and bead types it also opens a window on the socio-economic and technological aspects of the
Early Historic Period in the north-western subcontinent, specifically on the Greco-Bactrian, Indo-Greek and
Saka-Parthian periods. This approach will also provide, by extension, important perspectives on adornment
practises in use at Barikot. The site of Barikot has been stratigraphically excavated by the ISMEO Italian
Archaeological Mission in Pakistan and is one of the few sites from this time period that has a chronology
supported with numerous radiocarbon dates.

The fifth season of excavations of Oponice Castle in 2020 was located in the lower castle’s courtyard. The research led to discovery of an original clay floor being heavily burned with charred plank and a rectangular stone-brick construction. The construction has collapsed upper part with a fallen low brick arch. The whole area was covered with numerous stove tiles and one clay mold for the production of stove tiles. The construction was identified as a pottery kiln dated to the second half of the 16th until the first half of the 17th century AD by the findings from excavated layer identified to the kiln destruction. Also, written sources mention a large fire in 1645 which destroyed the castle. The aim of this article is to use different methods of dating and refine the chronology of the context through microarchaeology and Bayesian modeling. For these purposes different types of samples were collected. The sampling focused on site formation process determination of pottery kiln use and the way of its destruction. Applying Bayesian analysis improved overall dating, through modeled time interval of the three individual sequences and helped recreated historical events during the period, when the calibration curve fluctuates.

Compared to the increasing number of radiocarbon dates from the Early and Middle Bronze Age in the Carpathian Basin, 14 C measurements published from the Transdanubian region are particularly underrepresented, and there was a maximum of nine dates per single site from this period. Conventional radiocarbon dates, often made of charcoal, indicated a coincidence between the dating of the Kisapostag culture (or earliest Transdanubian Encrusted Pottery) of the end of the Early Bronze Age and the early Tumulus culture of the final phase of the Middle Bronze Age, between 2000-1600 BC in Western Hungary. In this context, it is particularly relevant to summarise and analyse 16 AMS data from the Győr-Ménfőcsanak-Széles-földek site in Northwestern Transdanubia. Based on the Bayesian analysis of the 14 C data from the site, the turn of Early Bronze Age 3 and Middle Bronze Age 1 Period in Hungary can be dated between 1985-1830 cal BC. Furthermore, there is a coeval development of the Kisapostag/Encrusted Pottery and the Gáta-Wieselburg/Aunjetitz pottery between 2000-1750 BC on the site. The 2σ probability calibrated AMS data from Ménfőcsanak, however, confirm that communities of early Tumulus culture could have been appeared in the Transdanubian region before 1600 BC. A more precise absolute chronology can be outlined in the future on the basis of considerably more AMS data from the same site, preferably stratified in relation to each other.

El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo dar a conocer los primeros resultados obtenidos a partir de dos métodos de análisis térmicos —Calorimetría Diferencial de Barrido (DSC) y Termogravimetría
(TGA)— en fragmentos cerámicos recuperados de contextos de cazadores recolectores del bajo Sarmiento, en el centro-sur de la provincia del Chubut

A detector find of a Tréboult type spearhead from Twist (West-Friesland) is discussed. It is dated by its wooden ash (Fraxinus) shaft preserved to to c. 1867-1542 BCE. The composition of the alloy was determined with pXRF analysis of the outside patina and a drilled core sample. The alloy fits well within the corpus of other Dutch Tréboul spearheads. Like other examples, the Twisk Tréboul spearhead is created from a tin-copper bronze, with other elements represented in minor quantities. After tin (c. 9.9 %wt), arsenic is the most prominent element (c. 0.45 %wt), with nickel (c. 0.29 %wt) as the only other element above 0.1 %wt. Antimony (c. 0.07 %wt), silver (c. 0.03 %wt) and lead (c. 0.02 %) are rare. Presumably, the Great Orme mine in Wales supplied the base ores. We suggest that this spearhead ended up in Twisk as part of the exchange systems upheld by (near)coastal communities in the northwestern Netherlands (and not overland from a Meuse-river / eastern coversand landscape origin). The decidedly non-local appearance of the Twisk and other Tréboul spearheads from the Netherlands, will have been an immediate and visual reminder of the ways in which local communities such as the Bronze Age farmers of Twisk were integrated into a much bigger supra-regional collective.

This study presents new (n=32) and previously published (n=35) human bone 14C AMS dates from 54 individuals interred in 50 burials in the Plinkaigalis cemetery (3rd-7th century AD, Lithuania). The aim of this study is to establish duration of use and identify temporal subgroups within the cemetery. Individuals in group burials were assessed for temporal agreement across individuals and the dates for individuals with multiple dates were combined using OxCal. The Sum command, Interval command, and two Bayesian models (overlapping and abutting periods of use) were used to approximate the use of the site over time and evaluate the chronology of dated burials. An IDW (inverse distance weighted) model was employed to visualize median radiocarbon dates across the cemetery for comparison to earlier IDW interpolations of time at Plinkaigalis. While the two models cannot be distinguished at this time, it can be determined that the site was likely in continuous use from 200-600 cal AD (Sum), 230-560 cal AD (Model 1), 220-550 cal AD (Model 2), or cal 283-508 AD (IDW). The area of the cemetery associated with earliest use shifted east when the IDW model was compared to original data. There was also poor agreement in some group burials and burials with multiple dates. The models generally agree on assignment of burials to phases, but disparate phase assignment was noted across the IDW and Bayesian models. Temporal subgroups cannot be confidently reclassified beyond early/later periods of use based on these models without additional sampling and refinement of the IDW modeling method.

The site has been known since 1871 from an archaeological perspective, thanks to the information provided by F. Rómer, the father of Hungarian archaeology. The first excavations, made by A.D. Alexandrescu and M. Rusu in 1954, established the significance of this settlement for reconstructing the realities of the Bronze Age in the Crișurilor Basin. In a scientific research project conducted between 2014-2017 and 2022-2023 this multi-layered site was investigated using both classical and non-invasive methods. The aim of the research was to establish the chronological position of this site in relation to the nearest Bronze Age tell, located approximately 7 km away in a straight line, at Toboliu. Archaeological research in the tell sites has demonstrated that they are contemporary, evolving during the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 1900-1600 BC).

Results of R adiocarbon A ges from Previous Excavations in Košice-Barca I and Košice-Barca II
Pits and other associated features found at sites along Hornád Valley of Eastern Slovakia have been put forth as examples of early settlement features associated with the early Upper Palaeolithic in Europe. To verify this, we radiocarbon dated charcoal samples from pits found at Košice-Barca I and Košice-Barca II that were recovered during the 1951 – 1954
excavations of F. Prošek. From the Košice-Barca I site, charcoals from Pit 1 with an associated Mesolithic industry were dated. The measured age of 8536 – 8389 cal BP corresponded to the presumed age of the lithic industry assigned to the Atlantic period.
From the Košice-Barca II site, charcoal samples from three parts of Palaeolithic Pit 7 (complex II), in which the Bronze Age cremation graves of the Piliny culture were embedded, were dated. The dating results yielded ages for the graves of the Piliny culture (3450 – 3354 cal BP). A charcoal from Pit 7 was additionally dated to the Mesolithic (8600 – 8449 cal BP) and
part to the Late Iron Age (2295 – 2000 cal BP). The charcoal from Pit 10 was dated to the Late Palaeolithic 11 465 ±45 BP. There is no evidence for occupation of Košice-Barca II in the periods mentioned above. We conclude that the early Upper Palaeolithic nature of these features is unverified and that the charcoals embedded within them stem from either later occupations or environmental fires.

Los Tolmos, en Caracena, provincia de Soria, es un yacimiento de referencia para el estudio del Bronce Medio en la Meseta Norte. Su excavación durante las décadas de los 70 y los 80 del pasado siglo conllevó el hallazgo de varias tumbas de inhumación y de dos cabañas derribadas que se atribuyeron al grupo arqueológico de Cogotas i. El objetivo del presente artículo es valorar la pertenencia de este sitio clave en su clásica adscripción a la fase Proto-Cogotas i. Se ha tratado de reconsiderar los materiales arqueológicos depositados en el Museo Numantino de Soria que corresponden a los niveles de las cabañas y de una inhumación, así como al estrato situado  inmediatamente  sobre  ellos  del  Sector  a.  Todo  ello  ha  sido  analizado  de  forma  crítica  y  recurriendo  a  técnicas  actuales  que  incluyen  el  estudio  bioarqueológico  y  la  datación  radiométrica  de  los  restos  humanos  previamente documentados, así como de otro fragmento errático, localizado por azar. Estos resultados, junto con el estudio de la cerámica, de la relectura de los materiales publicados y la revisión de los inventarios disponibles, han permitido reubicar la construcción, el mantenimiento y el derrumbe de las cabañas en el tránsito del iii al ii milenio a. C. y enriquecer su interpretación social.

The Mesolithic burial site Groß Fredenwalde, NE-Germany, discovered in 1962, had remained a poorly understood part of the Mesolithic burial record for decades. Since 2012, the site has been under reinvestigation. New discoveries confirm the presence of several single and multiple inhumation graves. Groß Fredenwalde stands out as the largest and one of the oldest Mesolithic cemeteries in North-central Europe. Its use period can be separated into two phases: a main phase in the late seventh millennium cal BC to the early sixth millennium cal BC and a later single burial c. 4900 cal BC. Here the state of research on the site is presented and selected characteristics are discussed in the context of early cemeteries of Northern and Northeastern Europe.

New research at the Mesolithic burial site Groß Fredenwalde, NE-Germany,
has yielded exceptional evidence of Late Mesolithic burial ritual
in north-central Europe. Besides newly discovered graves from around
the main phase of the cemetery c. 6000 cal BC, the place was used for
the last time c. 1000 years later for a unique burial of a c. 25 year-old
man. The multi-step burial process included interring the man in upright
position, leaving the pit open for some time, and finally sealing
the grave with a fire. Around the time of his death, early Linear Pottery
culture farmers already settled fertile soils only c. 10–20 km away from
the site. However, no indication of Neolithic influence is present in the
ritual and grave goods. The individual was equipped with large flint
blades and bone tools. Here we present the burial and grave goods in
a broader context.

We review the initiation of palisade enclosed village communities in central southwestern Ontario, using data from a series of related early Late Woodland sites that we interpret as showing an east to west settlement sequence. New AMS dates based on samples of carbonized maize provide a revised chronology for the origin of village life, which began in the twelfth century. We show how villages developed alongside community pattern and ceramic attribute trends into the fourteenth-century middle Late Woodland period. A suite of dates from the most westerly site in the sequence on the Norfolk sand plain document the timing of an abrupt change in community pattern during the late fourteenth century.

Qu a rtä r In te rn a tio na le s J a hrbu c h z u r Eis z e ita lte r-u nd Ste C and OSL dating, as well as for malacological, micromorphology, microtephra and magnetic susceptibility analyses were collected from the entire stratigraphy. The excavations show that find-bearing areas are still preserved throughout the Willendorf II sequence.

El Cierro Cave (Ribadesella, Asturias, Spain) possesses one of the most complete Upper Palaeolithic stratigraphic sequences
in northern Spain. Magdalenian occupations, particularly the lower Magdalenian, are well represented in its full sequence.
This article presents the zooarchaeological analysis of the levels Cierro G1, Cierro G and Cierro F, dated by 14C to between
20,000 and 17,000 cal BP. The remains correspond to vertebrates (mainly large mammals and to a lesser extent fish and birds)
and invertebrates (almost exclusively marine molluscs). The taphonomic analysis of the bones and shells has determined
the role that the different animal resources played in the diet of the Magdalenian hunter-gatherers at El Cierro. The results
obtained in each level of the sequence are compared and included in their regional context. This study also considers the
way in which the Magdalenian groups at El Cierro processed the meat and fat of the different animal species and establishes
the operational chain in the strategies of procurement, preparation and consumption of the prey.

To build an understanding of meat consumption during the failed Luna expedition, I sent a cow tooth sample to be Strontium tested and radiocarbon dated. In getting both radiocarbon dates and  Strontium levels, we are able to pinpoint where the cow grew up and when it most likely shed the tooth. Due to radiocarbon dates from the Luna Site coming back inclusive, the Sr testing allowed us to narrow down the radiocarbon date, which in turn helps in understanding the effect of pedoturbation across the site.

El Cierro Cave (Ribadesella, Asturias, Spain) possesses one of the most complete Upper Palaeolithic stratigraphic sequences in northern Spain. Magdalenian occupations, particularly the lower Magdalenian, are well represented in its full sequence. This article presents the zooarchaeological analysis of the levels Cierro G1, Cierro G and Cierro F, dated by 14 C to between 20,000 and 17,000 cal BP. The remains correspond to vertebrates (mainly large mammals and to a lesser extent fish and birds) and invertebrates (almost exclusively marine molluscs). The taphonomic analysis of the bones and shells has determined the role that the different animal resources played in the diet of the Magdalenian hunter-gatherers at El Cierro. The results obtained in each level of the sequence are compared and included in their regional context. This study also considers the way in which the Magdalenian groups at El Cierro processed the meat and fat of the different animal species and establishes the operational chain in the strategies of procurement, preparation and consumption of the prey.

The method of determining the biobased carbon content in liquid fuel samples is standardized, but different laboratories use different protocols during sample preparation and perform the measurements using different machines. The accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) laboratories use different combustion, preparation, and graphitization methods for the graphite production for the spectrometric measurements. As a result, the intercomparison between the laboratories is inevitable to prove precision and accuracy and to demonstrate that the results are comparable. In this study, we present the results of an intercomparison campaign involving three 14 C accelerator mass spectrometry laboratories. Five samples were used in the measurement campaign, including two biocomponents (fatty acid methyl ester, hydrotreated vegetable oil), one fossil component (fossil diesel), and two blends (mixtures of fossil and biocomponent with 90-10% mixing ratio) in the laboratories of CEDAD (Italy), ETH (Switzerland), and INTERACT (Hungary). The results presented by the laboratories are comparable, and all three laboratories could determine the biobased carbon content of the samples within 1% relative uncertainty, which is acceptable in the scientific, economic, and industrial fields for biocomponent determination.

ABSTRACTThe method of determining the biobased carbon content in liquid fuel samples is standardized, but different laboratories use different protocols during sample preparation and perform the measurements using different machines. The accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) laboratories use different combustion, preparation, and graphitization methods for the graphite production for the spectrometric measurements. As a result, the intercomparison between the laboratories is inevitable to prove precision and accuracy and to demonstrate that the results are comparable. In this study, we present the results of an intercomparison campaign involving three 14C accelerator mass spectrometry laboratories. Five samples were used in the measurement campaign, including two biocomponents (fatty acid methyl ester, hydrotreated vegetable oil), one fossil component (fossil diesel), and two blends (mixtures of fossil and biocomponent with 90–10% mixing ratio) in the laboratories of CEDAD (Italy), ET...

ABSTRACTA coupled accelerator mass spectrometer–gas interface system has been successfully operating at the Hertelendi Laboratory of Environmental Studies, Debrecen, Hungary, since 2013. Over the last 6 years more than 500 gas targets were measured below 100 µg carbon content for carbon isotopic composition. The system was tested with blanks, OxII, IAEA-C1, IAEA-C2, and IAEA-C7 standards. The performance of our instrumentation shows good agreement with other published gas-interface system data and also shows a quite good agreement with the nominal value of international standard samples. There is a measurable but quite small memory effect after modern samples, but this does not significantly affect the final results. Typical ion currents at the low energy side were between 10–15 µA with a 5% CO2 in He mixing ratio. The relative errors average ±6% for samples greater than or equal to 10 µgC sample with mean count rates of 300 counts per microgram C for OxII. The blank is comparable w...

The chemical diagenesis and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of the Palaeolithic sequence of Theopetra Cave have been studied extensively, but little information is available regarding the details of its combustion structures. The cave is characterized by extensive beds of multi-sequence combustion layers dated between 140 and 50 ka BP, and thick, often stratigraphically complex bodies of ash and charred remains dated between 16 and 13 ka BP. All combustion features contain large amounts of charred and partially charred fibrous organic matter of non-wood plant material and very little charcoal. The structure, fabric, composition, and chemistry of these remains suggest that a mixture of peat and dung was used as a fuel, occasionally enriched with amounts of wood fuel. The integrity of the sequence of combustion structures precludes the possibility that dung was produced by animals inside the cave as their traffic on its wet substrate would have destroyed the burnt layers and homogenized the sediment. The mixture of peat and dung was most likely collected from peatlands associated with swamps of the former so called Karditsa Lake that probably existed in the area until the beginning of the Holocene. Peat and dung were used as a fuel when wood fuel was not available, during the relatively cold intervals of the glacial periods, but also during the last interglacial when the area close to the cave was wooded. Of great interest is that this same fuel was used during both the Middle and the Upper Palaeolithic, presumably by different human species. Although Theopetra appears to be the first site that peat and dung was used as a fuel during the Middle Palaeolithic, it is suggested that other sites may have used this fuel as well. This has important consequences in understanding the evolution of human pyrotechnology particularly during glacial periods.

The open-air archaeological site of Konjevrate-Groblje was discovered in 1988 and subsequently partly excavated in four campaigns. In preliminary reports, the site was interpreted as being a Neolithic Impressed Ware settlement. Several thousand chippedstone artifacts were initially attributed to the same Neolithic phase and interpreted as the remains of a lithic “workshop” within the village. Recently, the collected assemblage was revisited and re-examined: analyses of the pottery confirmed its Early Neolithic date, but surprisingly, most of the lithic assemblage showed characteristics of the Epigravettian industry. A new excavation campaign was conducted in 2018 to further investigate the chronological sequence of Konjevrate and determine whether an Epigravettian date could be corroborated. The results of this investigation demonstrated that the two cultural-chronological occupation episodes that were suggested for the assemblage can also be clearly distinguished stratigraphically in situ. Moreover, the excavation results, combined with the accidental and surface finds collected in the vicinity, suggested that the site’s occupation sequence spanned a part of the Upper Paleolithic, throughout the Neolithic and possibly into the early Copper Age. As such, the case of the Konjevrate-Groblje site serves as a good example of the importance of revisiting archaeological assemblages in museum collections and shows how, based on the high level of specialization of researchers’ expertise in archaeology today, revisiting old assemblages can shed new light on a site’s complexities and importance

Extended, completed review of the theses of the PhD dissertation completed under the supervision of Tivadar Vida and submitted to the Archaeological Doctoral Programme, Doctoral School of History, ELTE Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, in 2023.
The dissertation’s primary objective was to investigate the origins of the population that settled in the Trans-Tisza region in the 6th–7th centuries AD. According to prior studies, these populations, unlike the ‘Inner Asian Avars’, may have arrived in the Carpathian Basin from the Eastern European steppe. My research focused on burial practices, comparing the graves discovered in the two regions using quantitative and qualitative methods. The dissertation also includes a comprehensive presentation and analysis of the East European steppe material from the second half of the 5th to the middle third of the 7th century AD.

encompasses 2.5m east-west by 3.1m north-south and contains three steps (U.5-7) that ascend from south-to-north in increments of 0.22m, 0.2m, and 0.14m from bottom to top. These risers are 0.73m, 0.78m, and 1.31m wide, the broadest example being U.7, the uppermost step. Room 1 terminates on the north in a 0.16m-tall step-up to the summit (U.13). Unit 13 was traced for 0.28m below U.7's tread and it likely served as an anchor onto which the highest risers were appended. Room 1's west and east sides are bordered by walls (U.3 and 4) that are 0.14-0.37m tall. Unit 3 on the west is 0.35m wide while its eastern counterpart (U.4) measures 1.2m across. The latter is sufficiently broad that, with a length of 3m north-south, it might have doubled as a bench facing into Room 3 on the east. The latter enclosure covers 1.55m east-west by an estimated 3.5m north south (its northern limit was not found). Room 2, which flanks Room 1 on the west, encompasses 2.4m by 3.45m and lacks built-in furniture. Rooms 1-3 may have been open on the south where they look out over U.2. The southern stairs lead to the summit which is divided among two known compartments (Rooms 4 and 5) by a 0.4m-high by 0.43m-wide stone foundation (U.16) that runs the full exposed eastwest width of the superstructure (the eastern third of the summit was not cleared). Room 4 on the south measures 1.96m north-south by 4.35m east-west. It is bordered by a 0.55m-tall footing on the east (U.23) and a 0.5m-high by 0.54m-wide wall (U.18) on the west; at this point, the compartment was apparently open on the south. A 0.22m-tall, L-shaped stone-faced bench (U.14) takes up much of Room 4's west side. This construction projects 1.4m south from the U.16 cross-wall and extends 1.6m east from U.18. A 0.5m-wide (north-south) segment of U.14 extends 1.2m east from U.14's southeast corner. Room 5, north of U.16, encompasses 1.73m north-south by at least 4.5m east-west (its east edge was not identified). The enclosure is bordered on the west by a 0.2m-high by 0.4m-wide foundation (U.19) that extends 1m north from U.16's west end. Unit 12, 0.2m high where it looks south into Room 5, borders that enclosure and the superstructure on the north. At a distance of 0.35-0.5m east of Str. 202-2-1 st 's western basal facing (U.9) a wall that is 0.35m tall and wide (U.20) runs for 1.6m north-south roughly paralleling U.9. Unit 20 steps out 0.15m to the west at a point 1m north of its southern terminus. On the north U.20 intersects U.21, a 0.45m-high by 0.4m-wide wall that was traced for 0.5m to the west when excavations ceased. It appears that U.20 continued west over and running past U.9. Most likely these constructions define the east and north sides of a room that was erected atop the construction that links Str. 202-2-1 st to Str. 202-6 on the west. The east-west dimensions of this compartment were not determined though it was apparently open on the south. Structure 202-2-1 st was, at the end of TS.2, a sizable platform ascended on the south by a stonefaced outset above which rose four steps to the summit. The superstructure consists of five rooms. Rooms 1-3 are set in an east-west line on the building's south side, the central compartment (Room 1; 7.8m2) containing the three uppermost risers in the staircase and thus serving as a means of accessing the northern portion of the summit. The two flanking enclosures (Rooms 2, 8.3m2, and 3, 5.4m2) are open on the south and their earthen floors are about 0.5m below the surface of the northern rooms. The only built-in furniture identified in the southern compartments, apart from the steps, is a 0.3m-high by 1.2m-wide by 3m-long bench that occupies the west side of the eastern enclosure (Room 3). Room 4 overlooks the southern steps and covers 8.5m2. A 0.22m-tall, stone-faced, L-shaped bench fills much of the compartment's western half, encompassing 2.8m2. Room 5 lies immediately north of Room 4, measures at least 7.8m2, and lacks built-in furniture. Another compartment might have been built immediately west of Rooms 4 and 5 atop construction linking Str. 202-2-1 st to Str. 202-6. Architectural units raised now were fashioned primarily of river cobbles, the flatter aspects of which were directed outwards. Faced blocks, seemingly of tuff, were noted in U.13, 14, 15, and 18 while angular rocks are mixed with the rounded in cobbles in many of the walls. All of the stones are set in a mud mortar. Time Span 3 During this interval, Str. 202-2-1 st 's basic form and orientation remained unchanged. The southern outset (U.1) was replaced by a 0.61m-tall construction (U.28) that overrode U.1 and now extended for the platform's full east-west width. Units 8 and 9, the edifice's east and west basal facings, were extended 1.6m south to join up with the addition. The earlier southern basal wall (U.2) continued to project about 0.25m above the top of the earthen surface backing U.28. A 0.27m-tall terrace (U.22) now extends 1.63 south of U.28. This construction runs for 5.5m east-west over which distance it parallels U.28. Unit 22 contains a fill composed of tightly packed small to medium-size rocks that are embedded in a fine-textured, hard-compacted, brown soil (U.24). No trace was fund of the east and west facings that might have run back north from U.22 to link the latter to U.28 and thereby contain the U.24 fill. If such constructions existed, the U.22 terrace would have intersected U.28 at 0.5m east and 2m west of the latter's southwest and southeast corners, respectively. A level of burnt earth (F.2) was recorded extending 0.6m from the inner (northern) face of U.22 at a level equivalent to the top of that construction. Whether F.2 resulted from the intentional burning the terrace's surface or was a consequence of an accidental, if intense, conflagration is unclear. Within Room 2, the western compartment in the southern east-west line, a 0.3m-high by 0.25mwide wall (U.25) now extends 1.4m west from the enclosure's east wall (U.3). Unit 25 intersects U.3 at a point 1.3m south from Room 2's northeast interior corner. One result of U.25's construction is the division Room 2 into two distinct spaces, one measuring 1.2x2.4m north of the wall and the other encompassing 2x2.4m south of it. The 1m-wide gap between U.25 and Room 2's western wall would have provided for passage between these two areas. In Room 3, the eastern compartment in the triad, a comparable wall (U.26) spans the enclosure's full east-west width (1.55m). The erection of U.26 divided Room 3 into two spaces, one covering 1.55x2.4m on the north and other measuring 1.1x1.55m on the south. The remaining renovations were made to the northern summit (Rooms 4 and 5). A 0.2m-high by 0.3m-wide addition (U.17) was now built atop the summit step-up (U.13). Unit 17 is 1.4m long-eastwest and is 0.7m west of U.29. This gap directly overlooks the southern steps and might have been the doorway through which Rooms 4 and 5 were reached. In fact, U.17 might have been introduced to narrow that passage from the previous more expansive entry provided by the, minimally, 1.5m between the U.14 bench on the west and the estimated location of Room 4's east wall (that wall was not identified). Unit 29, as noted, borders the putative southern door on the east. It stands 0.28m tall, measures 0.4m across, and runs 0.9m north from the U.13 step-up at which point it corners with U.30. That wall is 0.28m tall, 0.35m wide, and was followed for 1m to the east before excavations ceased. Almost certainly U.29 was built in part to define the east side of Room 4's southern door. What other purposes U.29 and 30 served are unknown. Unit 31, a 0.1m-high by 0.15m-wide wall, projects 1m west from its abutment with Room 4's east wall (U.23). The former construction lies 0.15m north of U.30 and runs parallel to the latter and to Room 4's north foundation (U.16), 0.4m to the north. Unit 31 stops at a point even with the U.29/30 corner and so would not have obstructed the southern portal. Why this low, narrow wall was raised is unclear. A 0.15m-tall stone-faced, L-shaped bench (U.33) was built against the west side of Room 5. The main body of U.33 measures 0.65m north-south by 1.7m east-west. A projection covering 0.85m eastwest extends 0.35m north from the bench's west end, encountering Room 5's north wall (U.12), filling the compartment's northwest interior corner. A 0.1m-tall by 0.2m-wide wall (U.32) now spans the 0.65m between U.16 and 33. This wall, together with U.33, create a new enclosure (Room 6) that lies immediately west of Room 5. Room 6 is bordered by U.19 on the west, U.12 on the north, and encompasses 1x1.5m. A gap of ca. 0.5m between the north end of U.19 and U.12 might have provided passage between Room 6 and the elevated construction that connected Str. 202-2-1 st to Strs. 202-6 on the west and 202-1 on the north. By the end of TS.3, Str. 202-2-1 st had been expanded 1.63m to the south, the platform now encompassing 13.23m north-south; its east-west width remained the same. The southern outset was raised 0.21m and expanded east and west so that it now ran the full width of Str. 202-2-1 st 's south flank. The three southern rooms were still in the use during this interval, the central enclosure (Room 1) continuing to provide access to the northern summit via the three steps located within it. Rooms 2 and 3 on the west and east of Room 1 were each now divided into northern and southern compartments through the construction of low walls that cut across them running east-west. In Room 2 on the west the northern sector covers 2.9m2 and the southern 4.8m2; a 1m-wide door provided passage between these areas. The northern part of Room 3 on the east measures 3.7m2 while its southern counterpart encompasses 1.7m2. The U.4 bench still seems to have run the north-south length of Room 3. The southern door leading to Room 4, the southernmost enclosure on the northern summit, was narrowed to 0.7m across. Otherwise Room 4 appears...

Preparation of bone material for radiocarbon dating is still a subject of several investigations. Development of preparative methods requires sufficient amounts of bone material, proper sample pre-treatment methods as well as the possibility of verification of the gained ages. Here we document a chemical procedure and some results on international and inner comparison samples at the Hertelendi Laboratory of Environmental Studies (HEKAL), Debrecen. We also show results using the new MICADAS system and compare these results to internationallyrecognized standards and internal blank materials. The results of 14 C measurements of comparison samples are not only suggestive for the reliability of the sample preparation system at HEKAL Lab but also good performance of the Environ MICADAS 14 C system.

An automatic water sampling unit was developed to monitor the radioactive emission (radiocarbon and other corrosion and fission products) from nuclear facilities into the groundwater. Automatic sampling is based on the principal of ion exchange using built-in resin columns in the submerging samplers. In this way, even the short-term emissions can be detected. According to our experiments, the 14C activity concentrations and the δ13C values of the samples made by the ion exchange method are systematically underestimated compared to the real values. The carbonate adsorption feature of the sampling unit was studied under laboratory and field conditions. For this purpose, a test method was developed. The observed sampling efficiencies and additionally some carbon contamination for the sampling method itself have to be taken into consideration when we estimate the amount of 14C contamination introduced into the groundwater from a nuclear facility. Therefore, a correction factor should be...

Coímbre cave (Peñamellera Alta, Asturias) is an Upper Palaeolithic site in Northern Spain, spanning an occupation sequence from the Gravettian to the Magdalenian periods. The upper layers-layer I and II-, corresponding to the Upper Magdalenian, register the highest intensity of human activity. In this paper, we analyse raw material functionality at the site through the study of cut-marks found on bone remains. At Coímbre, we have documented mainly quartzite, followed by flint; other raw materials are found in very low frequencies. There are several types of local quartzite that appear mainly as flaking debitage and stone tools such as burins and scrappers. On the other hand, flint is mainly knapped to elaborate blades and bladelets, as well as specialised implements, such as different types of side scrappers. Retouched flakes on flint are relatively more abundant than those made on quartzite. In this paper we employ the use of photogrammetry, geometric morphometrics and statistics to analyse the cut-marks from the Upper Magdalenian assemblage of Coímbre cave. Our aim is to determine the lithic raw material preferentially used for carcass processing at the site. .

Skelettfunde aus der Jungsteinzeit fehlen im Rheinland erhaltungsbedingt fast völlig. So können Fragen, die naturwissenschaftliche Untersuchung erfordern, wie zum Beispiel zur individuellen Mobilität und Ernährung, kaum beantwortet werden. Daher war es ein Glücksfall, dass bei Grabungen in Müddersheim, Kreis Düren, fünf solche Bestattungen dokumentiert wurden. Anlässlich der archäologischen Landesausstellung Nordrhein-Westfalen ›Revolution Jungsteinzeit‹ sowie eines Forschungsprojektes zur Mobilität und Ernährung neolithischer Gesellschaften in Mitteleuropa1 wurden diese mit modernen naturwissenschaftlichen Methoden analysiert. Hierzu gehörten anthropologische Untersuchungen, AMS-Datierungen sowie Isotopenanalysen zu Ernährung und Mobilität. Die Ergebnisse datieren überraschend sicher die ersten Bestattungen des Bischheimer Horizontes im Rheinland und leisten damit auch einen übergeordneten Beitrag
zum Verständnis dieser wenig erforschten Periode. (Silviane Scharl)

Skelettfunde aus der Jungsteinzeit fehlen im Rheinland erhaltungsbedingt fast völlig. So können Fragen, die naturwissenschaftliche Untersuchung erfordern, wie zum Beispiel zur individuellen Mobilität und Ernährung, kaum beantwortet werden. Daher war es ein Glücksfall, dass bei Grabungen in Müddersheim, Kreis Düren, fünf solche Bestattungen dokumentiert wurden. Anlässlich der archäologischen Landesausstellung Nordrhein-Westfalen ›Revolution Jungsteinzeit‹ sowie eines Forschungsprojektes zur Mobilität und Ernährung neolithischer Gesellschaften in Mitteleuropa wurden diese mit modernen naturwissenschaftlichen Methoden analysiert. Hierzu gehörten anthropologische Untersuchungen, AMS-Datierungen sowie Isotopenanalysen zu Ernährung und Mobilität. Die Ergebnisse datieren überraschend sicher die ersten Bestattungen des Bischheimer Horizontes im Rheinland und leisten damit auch einen übergeordneten Beitrag
zum Verständnis dieser wenig erforschten Periode. (Silviane Scharl)

Resümee. In der bandkeramischen Siedlung von Müddersheim wurden 1955–1959 fünf Bestattungen dokumentiert. Die drei Hockerbestattungen werden nun anhand neuer Radiokarbondaten in die Bandkeramik, die beiden Streckerbestattungen in die Zeit der Bischheimer Kultur datiert. Damit liegen erstmals bischheimzeitliche Bestattungen aus dem Rheinland vor. Isotopenanalytische Untersuchungen zur Ernährung zeigten Unterschiede zwischen beiden Gruppen. Die Analyse der Strontium- und Sauerstoffisotope ergibt für die bandkeramischen Individuen regionstypische
Werte, für die bischheimzeitlichen ortsfremde. Diese Interpretation wird gestützt
durch ein Gefäß aus Grab 2 mit Vergleichen in Süddeutschland.

Conclusion. Five burials were documented in 1955–1959 in the Linear Pottery settlement of Müddersheim. On the basis of new radiocarbon data, the three crouched burials are dated to the Linear Pottery Culture, and the two stretched burials to the time of the Bischheim culture, the first ones known from the Rhineland. Isotope analysis shows differences in diet between the two groups. The analysis of the strontium and oxygen isotopes shows values typical of the region for the linear pottery individuals and non-local values for the Bischheim period. This interpretation is supported by a vessel from grave 2 with comparisons in southern Germany.

Résumé. Cinq sépultures ont été documentées en 1955–1959 dans le site de la Culture rubanée de Müddersheim. Les nouvelles données radiocarbones ont permis de dater les trois individus en position fléchis de la Culture rubanée, et les deux individus inhumés sur le dos de l’époque de la culture de Bischheim. Il s’agit des premières sépultures de la culture de Bischheim en Rhénanie. L’analyse isotopique sur l’alimentation a montré des différences entre les deux groupes. L’analyse
des isotopes du strontium et de l’oxygène montre des signatures typiques de la région pour les individus de la Culture rubanée et des valeurs non locales pour ceux de l’époque de Bischheim. Cette interprétation est étayée par un navire de la tombe 2 avec des comparaisons dans le sud de l’Allemagne.

Archaeological investigations in the Iron Gates reach of the Lower Danube Valley between 1964 and 1984 revealed an important concentration of Stone Age sites, which together provide the most detailed record of Mesolithic and Early Neolithic settlement from any area of southeastern Europe. Over 425 human burials were excavated from 15 sites. Of these, less than one-fifth have been directly dated. This article presents 37 new AMS dates on human bone from five sites in the Iron Gates, together with the corresponding δ 13 C and δ 15 N values. They include the first dates on human bone from two sites, Icoana and Velesnica. The results are important for the chronology of Stone Age mortuary practices in the Iron Gates and the timing of the Mesolithic-Neolithic transition in the region.

This study presents the results of stable isotope analyses performed on human tooth enamel (δ 13 C), bone collagen (δ 13 C and δ 15 N), and animal bone and tooth dentine collagen (δ 13 C and δ 15 N). We sampled archaeological material from Late Roman and Early Migration period settlement and burial sites in western Lithuania. Stable isotope analysis of human teeth demonstrated that human diet was primarily based on herbivorous and omnivorous domestic animals and C 3 plants. Also, we established that social stratification was not reflected in the isotopic data. Finally, the data presented in this paper revealed that human diet remained extremely uniform during the Late Roman and Early Migration periods.

El Palacio magazine. ISSN: 0031-0158.

Petroglyphs
Pueblo textile fabrics
Pajarito Plateau (N.M.)
Bandelier National Monument (N.M.)
Rito de los Frijoles (N.M.)
Lectures
Speeches, addresses, etc.
New Mexico Association of Science (November 23, 1915 : Albuquerque, N.M.)

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) measurements were made on individual, sand-sized grains of quartz from Middle Palaeolithic deposits at three sites (Pech de l' Azé I, II and IV) located close to one another in the Dordogne region of southwest France. We were able to calculate OSL ages for 69 samples collected from these three sites. These ages reveal periods of occupation between about 180 and 50 thousand years ago. Our singlegrain OSL chronologies largely support previous age estimates obtained by thermoluminescence dating of burnt flints at Pech IV, electron spin resonance dating of tooth enamel at Pech I, II and IV and radiocarbon dating of bone at Pech I and IV, but provide a more complete picture due to the ubiquitous presence of sandsized quartz grains used in OSL dating. These complete chronologies for the three sites have allowed us to compare the single-grain ages for similar lithic assemblages among the three sites, to test the correlations among them previously proposed by Bordes in the 1970s, and to construct our own correlative chronological framework for the three sites. This shows that similar lithic assemblages occur at around the same time, and that where a lithic assemblage is unique to one or found at two of the Pech sites, there are no deposits of chronologically equivalent age at the other Pech site(s). We interpret this to mean that, at least for these Pech de l' Azé sites, the Mousterian variants show temporal ordering. Whether or not this conclusion applies to the wider region and beyond, the hypothesis that Mousterian industrial variation is temporally ordered cannot be refuted at this time.

This manuscript explores the potential of macro-X-ray fluorescence (MA-XRF) for the non-invasive analysis of heritage textiles. XRF, especially with the portable instruments, is a well-known technique for the non-destructive examination of various cultural heritage objects. It allows analysis of elemental composition based on single-point measurements. However, large, or complex textiles require numerous analysis points to identify the materials used and correctly interpret the spectra. MA-XRF takes this type of research to the next level, as it is possible to visualise the element distribution over an entire mapped area. In this paper, we discuss the application of this technique to the study of complex and multi-layered textile objects from exceptional Belgian heritage collections, including two mitres attributed to Bishop Jacques de Vitry, dating between twelfth and thirteenth century, and two of the seven extremely fine medieval reliquary purses from Namur. These are very fragil...

Cet article rend compte d'avancement du projet GeoDOAD, qui associe une cartographie dynamique a une courbe statistique pour des datations d'objets de fouilles issues notamment de fouilles preventives. Le projet, assez bref (octobre 2018 - janvier 2020) est en bonne voie de realisation.

Modern humans replaced Neandertals ∼40,000 y ago. Close to the time of replacement, Neandertals show behaviors similar to those of the modern humans arriving into Europe, including the use of specialized bone tools, body ornaments, and small blades. It is highly debated whether these modern behaviors developed before or as a result of contact with modern humans. Here we report the identification of a type of specialized bone tool, lissoir , previously only associated with modern humans. The microwear preserved on one of these lissoir is consistent with the use of lissoir in modern times to obtain supple, lustrous, and more impermeable hides. These tools are from a Neandertal context proceeding the replacement period and are the oldest specialized bone tools in Europe. As such, they are either a demonstration of independent invention by Neandertals or an indication that modern humans started influencing European Neandertals much earlier than previously believed. Because these finds c...

A more developed and modern technology replaced the old radiocarbon measuring methods in Hungary, based on isotope separation by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and not on activity measurements. In summer 2011, the EnvironMICADAS was successfully installed in the Laboratory of HEKAL, Debrecen, Hungary. In this project, a multipurpose gas-handling system was developed for the gas ion source of EnvironMICADAS at ETH Zürich, designed for the measurement of small environmental origin samples (<50 g carbon) with moderate precision requirements. The ultimate aim is an automated device for high sample throughput. Since its final installation and first year of operation, over 2000 graphite targets were analyzed. Long-term stability of the instrument is confirmed through measurements of the Ox-II standard and processed blank targets during the first half of 2012.

The Late Upper Palaeolithic (Epigravettian) sequence at Badanj has yielded an important dataset about the occupation of the hinterland of the Eastern Adriatic catchment zone in the late Pleniglacial. The site also harbors one of the rare occurrences of Upper Palaeolithic parietal “art” in southeastern Europe in the form of a large rock engraving. Another notable aspect of the site is the presence of engravings on portable objects made from bone. The first excavations at Badanj, conducted in 1976–1979 in the zone around the engraved rock, yielded a surprisingly large number of personal ornaments (over 1000 specimens) from a variety of primarily marine gastropods, scaphopods, and bivalves, and red deer canines. Here we review what is currently known about the site and report our preliminary findings from the study of the collection of personal ornaments as well as osseous tools, some of which were marked by regular incisions forming decorative motifs. We also report two new direct accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) dates on antler barbed points.

A collection of 141 bone and antler tools and debitage pieces recovered from the River Užava at the village of Sise constitutes the largest Mesolithic osseous assemblage in western Latvia. Radiocarbon dating of 12 pieces suggests that most of this collection dates from the 6th millennium calBC. We present a general analysis, highlighting typical and unique tool forms, ornamented and sculpted pieces, and assess the corpus in a wider geographical context. Predominant in this rich and diverse collection are heavy duty antler tools: various forms of adzes, axes and hammers as well as sleeves, made either from shed antler or antler of hunted animals. They include two pieces classifiable as T-axes. Spear- and arrowheads as well as daggers are also present, along with chisels, wedges, awls and other tools. Artistic representations include five sculpted and engraved objects. The heavy duty red deer antler tools have parallels in the region south of the Baltic Sea, whereas the bone projectil...