Toward Solving a Puzzle of Fragmented Archeological Textiles

Archaeological bone materials record characteristic markers of life in prehistoric times (dating, climate, environment, diet, human migration) in their isotopic and chemical composition in addition to palaeontological, archaeozoological, anthropological and palaeogenetic information. Thus, the discovery and conservation of archaeological bone materials is of great importance to get access to this information. However, archaeological materials are altered by different postmortem processes and it appears necessary to estimate if the archaeological information is still reliable or if it has been modified during burial. As archaeological bone materials present a high structural hierarchy at the micro- and nanoscale, changes induced by diagenetic phenomena have to be observed at these scales. One method for revealing post mortem changes of the bone structure and composition at the microscale is synchrotron radiation micro-FTIR imaging (SR micro-FTIR). Thus, thin sections of about 5,000-year-old archaeological bones have been analysed in transmission mode at the IRIS beamline (BESSY II, HZB Berlin) to determine markers of the state of bone preservation at the microscale. The archaeological bone material comes from station 19 of the Neolithic site of the Chalain Lake. By using SR micro-FTIR it was possible to image characteristic bone structures, e.g. osteons (the constitutive histological unit of cortical bone), using the absorption band ratios corresponding to different chemical bone constituents (collagen content and quality, phosphate crystallinity, carbonate content). These data allow us to precisely evaluate the state of preservation of a 5,000-year-old bone at the histological level.

Archaeomagnetism is generally defined as the study and interpretation of the magnetic properties of archaeological baked materials. It is an interdisciplinary topic that particularly requires the expertise of specialists from earth sciences and archaeology. It relies on the ability of certain archaeological materials, heated to high temperatures, to acquire a stable thermoremanent magnetization parallel and proportional to the Earth's magnetic field present at the time of cooling. This provides a tool for geophysicists to study the spatiotemporal variability of the geomagnetic field prior to direct observations (i.e., the last four centuries). Conversely, knowledge of the past fluctuation of the Earth's magnetic field in a particular region offers a dating technique applicable to baked archaeological materials. In addition, the study of the magnetic properties of archaeological materials can provide a wealth of information including insight into their composition, provenance and paleofiring conditions.

The rapid progression of DNA technology allows for the application of recently developed techniques to an ever-growing body of archaeological and environmental material recovered from submerged archaeological sites. As NGS and DNA Capture replace PCR as the predominant method used to characterise DNA present within an archaeological sample, it is necessary to consider how this effects the possibilities for future research, but also gives cause to reconsider the findings of previously published work from PCR experiments on archaeological material from submerged sites. In this review, the pitfalls, promise, and future directions of ancient DNA research on archaeological material from coastal and maritime sites are discussed. Here, it is argued that a common stumbling block in past research has been a lack of characterisation of the deposition environment, and that this has obscured our understanding of DNA identified at submerged sites. Unique aspects of the marine environment may present further complications in our attempts to authenticate ancient DNA. Overcoming these challenges will significantly enhance our ability to confidently assign an archaeological origin to DNA isolated in artefacts, organic remains, and sediments from submerged archaeological sites.

The article is devoted to the analysis of the archaeological materials available today on the history of Novgorod-Siversky in the 13th – 17th centuries. Based on the comparison of written sources and the results of recent archaeological research, a new perspective on the current state of archaeological research on the topic is proposed. As a result of the study, the fact is stated that archaeological materials allow us to take a new look at the settlement and functioning of the city in the corresponding period. The aim of the work is to determine the state of archaeological research of the period from the 13th to the 17th centuries, the city of Novgorod-Siversky. The methodological basis of the study is based on the analysis and verification of previous scientific conclusions with the materials of recent archaeological research. The scientific novelty of the study lies in the fact that on the basis of recent archaeological materials, promising directions, periods and tasks for further research are determined in the work. Conclusions. Archaeological research materials indicate the continuation of life in the city after the Mongol invasion, however, further research should reveal the issues of the functioning of fortifications, the number and nature of the population and the economy. Materials from the 14th – 16th centuries, although occasionally encountered during excavations, do not currently represent the surviving complexes and do not provide an opportunity to fully illustrate this period of the city's life. Instead, the 17th century is widely covered both in written sources and in archaeologically illustrated series of complexes. Future research should be devoted to an attempt to link the mentioned periods stratigraphically and significantly expand knowledge about the 14th – 16th centuries.

The aims of this work were to: (i) microscopically analyse the pre- and post-Columbian archaeological textiles using Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (SEM-EDX); (ii) microbiologically analyse the archaeological textiles (from the Southern Andean Area, La Plata Museum); (iii) determine the ability of Pseudomonas sp. isolates from archaeological textiles to biofilm formation by SEM; (iv) assess the anti-biofilm properties of AgNPs protecting cotton against Pseudomonas sp. Results showed the presence of bacteria with proteolytic and lipolytic activities on archaeological textiles, including Clostridium sp. and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Two nucleotide sequences of 16S ribosomal RNA gene of P. aeruginosa strains were deposited in GeneBank NCBI database with accession numbers: KP842564 (strain 1) and KP842565 (strain 2). Those strains exhibited different morphological and growth characteristics: strain 1 with ability to form biofilms on archaeological textiles was rod-shaped, produced bluish-green pigment, and smaller than strain 2; and strain 2 was pleomorphic and produced brown pigment. The use of silver nanoparticles (90 ppm, φ 10–80 nm) allowed to protecting textiles against P. aeruginosa growth by 63%–97%, depending on the strain and exposition time.

Research on manors is not a new phenomenon in Lithuanian historiography. The formation of manor estates and landholdings in Lithuania has mostly been analyzed from the historical, economic, architectural, art-historical, and heritage conservation perspectives. These studies can be complemented by archaeological material, which has been significantly accumulated over the past three decades, but the importance of which in the study of manor development has not been sufficiently acknowledged. More intensive archaeological research on manors began only in the 1990s. During this period, exploratory surveys were particularly common, gathering initial information about the state of preservation of manor estates, dating them, and defining protected areas. Over the past two decades, the number of archaeological investigations conducted at manor sites has grown significantly. As of 2023, more than 200 manor estates and manor sites in Lithuania have undergone archaeological research. The best-studied sites include the manors and manor locations of Anykščiai, Dubingiai, Kairėnai, Kelmė, Kretinga, Kurtuvėnai, Mantagailiškis, Plungė, Rietavas, Rokiškis, Siesikai, Skaruliai, Stabatiškė, and Šiauliai. The archaeological research material from Lithuanian manor estates has been only sparsely published in detail, and comprehensive works summarizing the collected data are still lacking. This article aims to review the archaeological investigations of manor estates and manor sites carried out in Lithuania, examining their dynamics and scope.

This study investigates the residual chemical composition of waterlogged archaeological lignocellulosic material found in Greece. Hazelnut pericarps and oak wood found in a 16th‐century wreck, along with endocarps of olives dated at 300 bc, were examined. 13C CP/MAS NMR was applied to compare fresh and waterlogged archaeological materials. Results show qualitative alterations in their composition. The virtual absence of peaks at ~21 ppm and ~173 ppm, corresponding to hemicelluloses in all archaeological materials, indicates that these constituents can be an important indicator in assessing the type and degree of deterioration.

Ararat Valley – the largest plain of the Armenian Highlands, at least since the stage of Chalcolithic takes up the role of the economic and cultural centre of the mentioned region. This phenomenon was the naturally determined result of the climatic and orographic characteristics of the valley and particularly its communicative characteristics. The latter was mostly based on the river-lines of the valley itself, as well as the network of adjacent river drainages and the accessible mountain passes. In course of time these natural ‘channels’ had facilitated the formation of roads at the axis of South-North and East-West (Arax – Hrazdan – Akhurian – Arpa – Vorotan – Kotur; Aghstev – Kur – Aragvi; Euphrates and Tigris water drainages etc.). In these aspects the interconnection of the societies with those of the neighboring regions is proven by the corresponding archaeological materials, which confirm both the facts of import and export. The economic, social and other processes of the following centuries resulted in the development of stable communication routes of the highlands and their active operation. Since at least the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, along with the establishment of unitary statehood on the territory of the Armenian Highlands (Urartu), the system of trade routes develops greatly, with Ararat Valley as one of its most important hubs. This route system has been inherited and enlarged by Armenian kingdoms of the subsequent, Classical period (Ervandid, Artaxian, Arsacid). Since the 6th century BC the trade routes of Armenia, and particularly the Ararat Valley, are tightly integrated into the road networks of the Near East, Central Asia and the Eastern Mediterranean. Thus, the following routes went through Ararat Valley: roads leading to the North – to the Eastern shore of the Black Sea and the mountain passes of the Caucasus; roads leading to the East, South and West – Iran, Mesopotamia, Syria and Asia Minor. The constant and active exploitation of all the mentioned routes finds its reflection both in narrative sources, as well as archaeological and numismatic materials. The same sources confirm the fact that the communication routes of the valley were also incorporated into the network of the Great Silk Road since the 2nd century BC up to the late Middle Ages. The fact that five of the six capitals of Classical and Early Medieval Armenia (Armavir, Ervandashat, Artashat, Vagharshapat, Dvin) have been located in Ararat Valley is the clear illustration of the economic, communicational, cultural and at last political importance of this sub-region of the Armenian Highland. The contemporary methods of Roadology, basing on the complex research of the geographic, narrative, archaeological and other data, provide an opportunity of revealing the line of these routes, the dynamics of their exploitation, the role of the trading centres located along these routes, the details of import and export etc.

This paper examines computer graphic simulations of archaeological environments and materials, and explores their formal and informal uses as a means to model archaeological data and archaeological thinking. The paper's main contribution is its focus on the perspective of the model-maker rather than upon the consumer, through an understanding of models both as “constructions of past lifeways” and as “‘thinking spaces.” These concepts are explored through two case studies. The first employs models as modes for re-engaging with archaeological material, where the perception of modeled past environments is taken analogically to inform an understanding of the past as imagined. Questions such as the relationship between digital model experience and a former, unattainable past reality are introduced, alongside the potentials and dangers of a model that may become perceptually indistinguishable from reality. In the second case study, models provide new forms of space within which to build interpretations: they are active vessels for interpretation and debate in the present. The case study considers the relationship between presence and the development of interpretation, and considers the agency of digital objects and the possibilities of virtual collaboration. Model building is explored biographically and the paper concludes by placing archaeological graphical models in the broader context of visualization and as tools for interpretation rather than static outputs or modes of dissemination.

Most archaeological lithic raw material studies depend upon a macroscopic classification. However, since the human eye is a limited tool, some inconsistencies in classification may arise. Thus, a process for evaluating and increasing the reliability of macroscopic classification is needed. We present the results of a blind test designed to evaluate consistency in macroscopic lithic materials analysis, based on archaeological material taken from the Acheulo‐Yabrudian site Qesem Cave (Israel), focusing on interobserver error, aimed at identifying consistencies and weaknesses within our own study scheme. Twelve students, with various degrees of experience and familiarity with the Qesem material, sorted 100 randomly selected flint pieces into flint types, based on a previously established database, after a brief tutorial process. In addition, the authors, LW and AA, performed the same test. We then compared the results, using LW's results as an anchor. Our results show that experience affects the consistency in classification, demonstrating that it is an acquired skill. Furthermore, the blind test allowed us to identify weaknesses within the classification scheme. We suggest that blind tests should be regularly used to check accuracy and reproducibility of results and to assess the definitions set by the analyst, allowing fine‐tuning and calibration of the classification process.

The article describes the results of exploration works in the lower reaches of the Ob (Shuryshkarsky district of the YNAO) in 2021. The coastline of the right bank of the Ob was studied in three main areas: near the villages of Khashgort, Kushevat and the Sormas channel. In total, 13 pits and 2 excavation trenches were made with a total area of 70 sq. m. The coastline near the village of Khashgort revealed paleofaunal materials and stone artifacts of the Paleolithic type. The main excavations were carried out at the Kushevat Paleolithic site discovered in 2020. Archaeological and paleofaunal materials were recorded in the alluvial deposits of two excavation trenches with a total area of 44 sq.m at an unnamed inflow of the Ob. The excavations revealed tree bone-bearing layers; stone artifacts, charcoal pieces, and non-utilitarian items were recovered from the lowermost layer. Archaeological materials (2 specimens) are represented by a small spall and an exhausted core of the parallel reduction pattern. The paleofaunal material numbering 110 units (bones, horns, teeth, and fragments) is mainly represented by the remains of a reindeer.Thus, in the field season of 2021, a new locus of the surface occurrence of the Paleolithic materials was identified supporting previous identification of a cultural layer at Kushevat. As a result, taking into account the stratigraphic situation at the site and the preliminary results of radiocarbon dating, the Kushevat site is currently the northernmost and most ancient of the known Paleolithic sites known in the Ob valley. Apparently, the derived data indicate the earliest, pioneering stage of Homo sapiens sapiens habitation of the subarctic zone during MIS3 in the range of 45-30 ka BP.

The architectural appearance of Tobolsk was developing and changing throughout the period of the 17th–19th cc. In the history of the city, there were impeding factors of this process associated with the activity of natural forces. Its lower quarter, located on the alluvial plane, was regularly subjected to the floods of the Irtysh River. They caused substantial physical damage to the city, eroded the loamy riverbank, and damaged roads, structures of the bridges, shops, churches, and residential houses. The upper quarter, on the contrary, suffered from the lack of water, which had to be delivered from the piedmont part. This situa-tion was exasperated by the high overcrowding of the population and timber-housing density. Therefore, fire accidents were a real scourge of Tobolsk. The paper concerns the causes of the regular occurrence of natural disasters in Tobolsk, their influ-ence on the development of its urban-planning structure and formation of adaptation processes with respect to them in the sub-sistence culture of Tobolsk residents. The novelty of the research is due to the fact that the historical and archaeological materi-als are considered in the synthesis. The historical sources contain information on the construction and renovation of the main city buildings, their destruction in the result of fires and floods, and refer to the measures taken by the authorities to counter these events. The archaeological data shows how the residents of Tobolsk were coping with the destructive power of natural elements. The research revealed the measures undertaken by the Tobolsk residents towards the reduction of the fire hazard: police surveillance, street planning, stone building, change of the structural features of ovens, house thermal insulation, building of Nikolsky Vzvoz and a water tower. Protection from snowmelt floods, highwaters and the high level of the ground waters centred around the bank strengthening of the Irtysh and its tributaries by ramming in poles and timber logs with tamping the free space with stone, digging ditches for water diversion, backfilling certain platforms with subsoil, and by building timber houses on subcletions, houses with stone foundation on stilts or ground sills. In general, using the archaeological and histrorical materials, the mechanisms of the adaptation of the Tobolsk population to the natural-climatic environmental conditions have been identified.

Data on the concentrations of K, Ca, Ti, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ga, Rb, Sr and Zr obtained by PIXE and of B, F, Na, Mg, Al, Si and Cu obtained by proton-induced prompt gamma-ray spectrometry were used to characterize archaeological artefacts and source materials by multivariate analysis. The mathematical approaches employed were cluster analysis using nearest-neighbour data, multidimensional scaling and correspondence analysis.

A growing awareness of the problems caused by osteoporosis‐related fractures has led to increased investigation of the condition in past populations. The present study seeks to examine the ways in which osteoporosis‐related fractures may be explored through different approaches; modern clinical information, historical records of fractures and analysis of archaeological bone may provide fuller information on the condition. The three types of fractures upon which this study focuses are fractures of the femoral neck, Colles' fractures and vertebral compression fractures. The results of the investigation clearly demonstrate the way in which the various sources produce a slightly different picture of the condition. The archaeological significance of the different types of fractures was found to be the reverse of that which would be suspected in the light of information derived from historical sources and the clinical literature. To date vertebral crush fractures have been the most commonly found osteoporosis‐related fracture in archaeological material, but their significance to people in the past is likely to have been minimal. In contrast hip fractures have rarely been reported from archaeological bone material, but historical information makes it clear they were well known, and knowledge derived from clinical sources emphasizes the serious consequences of such a fracture for the affected individuals. The results indicate the value of undertaking a multi‐disciplinary approach where possible. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The aim of this study was to investigate primary double teeth in archeological material from the area of Poland and a brief review of the literature on the subject. Two cases of fusion of anterior primary teeth in two infants from past populations living in eastern (8th–9th cent. CE) and southern (15th cent. CE) parts of Poland are presented. A macroscopic as well as a radiographic assessment of the teeth was performed, which, in case 1, included a periapical X‐ray and CBCT imaging (Gendex–USA GXDP‐800) and, in case 2, scanning with a SkyScan micro‐CT scanner, along with reconstruction images made using NRECON SkyScan. In case 1, cross‐section and axial CBCT images showed that the fused teeth were joined by dentin in the lower portion of the crown and had two separate pulp chambers and one wide root canal. In case 2, a cross‐sectional microscan confirmed partial fusion with two distinct crowns, two pulp chambers, and one wide common root canal. The discovery of fused teeth in the remains of children, which are typically poorly preserved, is a rare event. Consequently, the reported first cases of double teeth originating from the 8th–9th and 15th centuries CE, found in Poland in Central Europe, are of great value, as they can be used to map dental anomalies in archaeological populations. 3D imaging technologies are essential to establish the final diagnosis of double teeth.