Archaeological Artefacts Research Articles

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RELICS OF DAK R’LAP DISTRICT, DAK NONG PROVINCE, IN THE REGIONAL PREHISTORIC CONTEXT

This article systematizes the documentation of prehistoric archaeological relics and artifacts from Dak R’lap District, Dak Nong Province. The article also presents the results of investigations, new discoveries, and surveys conducted by the author together with archaeologists from the Vietnam Institute of Archaeology. The author outlines the characteristics, properties, and dates of relics and artifacts; describes the locations, roles, and close relationship of relics and artifacts discovered in Dak R’lap District with the prehistory of Dak Nong in particular and the Central Highlands and Southeast in general. This research provides more data for the construction of prehistoric archaeological maps; facilitates researching, compiling, and educating on local history; and promotes sustainable cultural tourism development in Dak Nong Province in general.

Грифельная доска с надписью ребёнка из Владимира (конец XVIII— начало XIX вв.)

Archaeologists often find children’s things in the cultural layer of the cities in Vladimir-Suzdal land. They are usually represented by toys or everyday items. School supplies are more rare archaeological artifacts. The fragment of a writing slate discovered in Vladimir belongs to this group of artifacts. It preserves a segment of a written exercise on its surface. The child who wrote it was learning the Church Slavonic grammar. It belongs to the category of texts that are not intended to be saved. A combination of circumstances fixed it in time. The inscription consists of only two lines. However, it provides an interesting information about both the spelling of the texts and the educational technologies used in home primary schooling for children of the middle urban estates of Vladimir in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.

Computational techniques for virtual reconstruction of fragmented archaeological textiles

Archaeological artifacts play important role in understanding the past developments of the humanity. However, the artifacts are often highly fragmented and degraded, with many details and parts missing due to centuries’ long degradation. Archaeologists and conservators attempt to reconstruct the original state of the objects either physically or virtually. This process includes characterizing and matching fragments’ features to identify which ones belong together. However, this process currently requires an extensive and tedious manual labor. Recent development in computational techniques gave rise to computer-assisted ways of virtual reconstruction, where the computer suggests solutions to the puzzle of scattered fragments and supplements or fully replaces manual labor. However, the capabilities of computational techniques remain limited in many aspects. This review summarizes the state-of-the-art computational techniques for puzzle and virtual reconstruction problems in cultural heritage applications, in general – with a particular interest in archaeological textiles. We overview existing computational methods, their applications and limitations. Afterward, based on the current knowledge gaps, we discuss where the field should go next.

К ИСТОРИИ ЗАСЕЛЕНИЯ ПЛАТО АБОМЕЙ: ДАННЫЕ УСТНЫХ И АРХЕОЛОГИЧЕСКИХ ИСТОЧНИКОВ

Taking into account the shortage of the written sources for the study of the history of Benin, the use of oral sources, verified through archaeological re-search, became the most effective. The archaeological exploration on the Abomey Plateau, carried out in 2020, was intended to confirm the local inhab-itants’ information previously known and collected during the expedition. The archaeological objects and artifacts found indicate the organization of the in-ternational slave trade, which was conducted by the kingdom of Danxome in the XVII–XIX centuries. The sites recorded include the remains of the an-cient villages, sanctuaries, slave pens and encampments, and archeometallurgi-cal sites. Local ceramics, iron slag, and also imported smoking pipes and beads are found out among the findings. The cultivated plants preserved there also helped to identify the places of the former settlements.

The Long-term Effects of Colonialism on Poorer Nations and What is Owed to Them: Monetary Restitution, Archaeological Artifacts, and climate change

This paper explores the enduring impact of colonialism on global wealth distribution, addressing whether affluent former colonial powers have a moral duty to provide reparations to their impoverished former colonies. It argues for direct payments to affected nations and individuals, repatriation of looted artifacts, and financial support for climate change adaptation. The study highlights historical atrocities, like the Namibian genocide and the British exploitation of India, to emphasize the depth of suffering caused. Ultimately, the research underscores the ethical obligation of wealthier nations to address the persistent legacies of colonial exploitation, encompassing economic, cultural, and climate-related restitutions.

Improving Semantic Segmentation Performance in Underwater Images

Nowadays, semantic segmentation is used increasingly often in exploration by underwater robots. For example, it is used in autonomous navigation so that the robot can recognise the elements of its environment during the mission to avoid collisions. Other applications include the search for archaeological artefacts, the inspection of underwater structures or in species monitoring. Therefore, it is necessary to improve the performance in these tasks as much as possible. To this end, we compare some methods for image quality improvement and data augmentation and test whether higher performance metrics can be achieved with both strategies. The experiments are performed with the SegNet implementation and the SUIM dataset with eight common underwater classes to compare the obtained results with the already known ones. The results obtained with both strategies show that they are beneficial and lead to better performance results by achieving a mean IoU of 56% and an increased overall accuracy of 81.8%. The result for the individual classes shows that there are five classes with an IoU value close to 60% and only one class with an IoU value less than 30%, which is a more reliable result and is easier to use in real contexts.

The Archaeological Distribution of the Cuneiform Corpus

Abstract The present study offers a first comprehensive, quantifiable overview of the geographical extent and scale of the cuneiform corpus. Though one of the oldest and longest-lived scripts in history, the sheer size of this corpus, being among the largest discrete bodies of written source material from the pre-modern world, is seldom properly appreciated. We review and evaluate past quantitative assessments of the corpus and current levels of catalogue digitisation and integration, pointing to gaps in general catalogues and principal issues relating to the quantification and interrogation of textual sources at the corpus-level. Combining a newly developed open access spatial index of c. 600 locations from across Europe, Asia, and Africa where cuneiform texts have been found with a quantitative survey of reported finds from scholarly literature, we then proceed to discuss the formation of the cuneiform corpus as an archaeological artefact. Aided by an extremely broad diachronic and diatopic outlook on a uniquely large body of written source material, this study offers an innovative and novel perspective on written corpora as archaeological artefacts.

Research on Ancient Instrumental Music Performance

As we all know, primitive society is a long historical period. The main expression of primitive music is presented in the rich historical records of mankind, including documentary records, various legends, prehistoric remains and archaeological artifacts, etc. According to various studies, it is not difficult to find out that in the ancient society, poetry, music, and dance are integrated and inseparable from each other, and music occupies a dominant position in them. There are many famous figures about instrumental music performance in ancient times, who had a very positive and far-reaching influence on the development of instrumental music performance in ancient times. This paper discusses the issues related to instrumental music performances in the ancient times.

Sedimentology and stratigraphy of the Jordan River Dureijat archeological site reveal subtle late Pleistocene water-level changes at Lake Hula, Jordan Valley, Israel

AbstractSedimentary records of environmental conditions retrieved from archeological sites provide valuable insight into the milieux of ancient humans and context to understand societal and cultural changes. At Jordan River Dureijat, an open-air site in Israel’s Hula Valley documenting the entire Epipaleolithic period as well as the Early Neolithic, sediments exposed on the walls of the excavation pit reveal a sequence of lacustrine deposits accumulated continuously between c. 21.1 and 11.3 cal ka BP near the southeast margin of Paleolake Hula. Through sediment-grain-size, geochemical, and paleontological analyses, we describe the nature of the Paleolake Hula from the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the start of the Holocene. Until c. 17.2 cal ka BP, Paleolake Hula existed as a relatively large and well-buffered waterbody. A rapid and substantial drawdown of the lake occurred at 17.2 cal ka BP, followed by more frequent changes in the position of the shoreline in a smaller and shallower lake, resulting in the deposition of alternating near-shore and deeper lacustrine facies. Since the LGM, seven beds of structureless, silty sediments preserve archeological artifacts belonging to three Epipaleolithic cultures as well as the Early Neolithic pre-pottery Neolithic A culture. These sediments were deposited during phases of low lake level during which times humans waded into the shallow part of the lake, leaving behind stone and bone tools such as bladelets, lunates and burins, fishing hooks, line weights and net sinkers. Using radiocarbon-dated charcoal and a Bayesian statistical model, we produced a chronostratigraphic model for the archeological site, which enables the comparison of proxy paleoclimate records produced from this site’s sediments with regional archives as well as with global trends and changes in the Northern Hemisphere climate. Periods of low lake stands are correlated with the end of the LGM, Heinrich Event 1, and the beginning of the Younger Dryas Stadial. High water stands occurred contemporaneously with the peak of the LGM and during the Bølling–Allerød interstadial. This new water-level record from Lake Hula confirms that lake-level changes here broadly paralleled those of the Dead Sea and Sea of Galilee during the late Pleistocene, highlighting the importance of northern water sources to the overall water balance of the lakes along the Dead Sea Transform.

Determination of the Mathematical Theorems on Ancient Mosaics

The aim of this research is to examine and evaluate the reflection of mathematical knowledge on examples of ancient mosaic art. As a result of the comparison between history of mathematics and art of mosaics, a connection has been made between the well-known theorems and patterns through the nature of the forms. For this purpose, patterns like swastika, meander, spiral and cube forms, as well as the forms that can be produced from the graph related to the lunar area calculation of Hippocrates of Chios have been analyzed. In addition, analyzes, discussions and evaluations on the identification of the forms similar to the semi-regular solids of Archimedes and the hexagons of Pappus of Alexandria have been presented. It is thought that the methods used and the information obtained in this study will contribute to the research of mosaic art and history of mathematics, the documentation and evaluation of archaeological artifacts, the museology practices and conservation studies.

Getting it Together: Combining information about archaeological sites and artefacts in ARIADNE

This article discusses the situation that exists in several European countries, whereby information about archaeological sites and monuments, and that about finds recorded by members of the public (primarily via metal detecting), is held in entirely separate databases. This prevents heritage management decisions being taken with full awareness of known archaeology, and makes research that seeks to draw on multiple information resources difficult. The article demonstrates how the European ARIADNE e-infrastructure has facilitated the integration of large-scale artefact and site information. Over one million records from the British Museum Portable Antiquities Scheme database and over one million records for English sites, monuments, and grey literature have been integrated in an open access interface for the first time, permitting entirely new research questions to be addressed.

Comparison of semiquantitative methodologies using Raman mapping for corrosion products on iron artifacts

The quantitative determination of corrosion products is essential for evaluating the corrosion state of archeological iron artifacts. This study explored two semiquantitative approaches using Raman mapping technique combined with chemometrics to quantify a binary mixture of magnetite and goethite. The first approach involved establishing quantification models using Raman spectra treated with Principal Components Regression (PCR) and Partial Least Squares (PLS) algorithms. Both the PCR and PLS model showed good predictive ability as indicated by correlation coefficients and root mean square errors (PLS: Rc2=0.9979, Rp2=0.9970, RMSEC=1.93, RMSEP =2.68, RMSECV=3.25). The second approach was based on spectral fitting using non-negative least squares (NNLS) algorithm. This method demonstrated a fair accuracy between the calculated and actual compositions. The absolute value of relative errors was 0.99%∼10.08% for Fe3O4 and 0.81%∼9.71% for α-FeOOH respectively, for compositions greater than 20%. These methods were then applied to quantify the corrosion products on an iron bar excavated from the Nanhai (South China Sea) No. I shipwreck. Compared with XRD quantitative results, Raman results showed that the spectral fitting method was superior to the established PCA and PLS quantification models in both qualitative determination and quantitative accuracy. Compositional maps depicting the distribution of different phases were also generated using spectral fitting method. It was concluded that Raman mapping has significant potential as an accurate quantitative method for the detection of iron corrosion products, and that the spectral fitting method is more suitable for determining iron corrosion compared to the PCR and PLS quantification models in this study.

Haches polies de la Côte d’Ivoire conservées à l’Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire (IFAN)–Dakar : contextes, zones de production et typologie

IntroductionA research work on an overview of polished axes has not been undertaken yet in Ivory Coast. The present study is the very first one, which while intending to correct this shortcoming, analyses 418 polished axes collected in different contexts during the colonial period from 1941 to 1958 and kept at ‘Institut Fondamental d’Afrique Noire’ (IFAN)-Cheikh Anta Diop Dakar. ObjectiveThe idea among other things is first to understand the context of the immergence of these axes all over the country, to measure the importance of their distribution according to the current regions of the country, to soak up the different opinions about their origin and to propose a typology test allowing to have an approach of this lithic industry. MethodsFrom there, a historical but also archaeological approach is necessary in the sense it is based on counting and analyzing letters and monographs of circles produced at the time the axes were collected and their typological study accounted for in the IFAN collection. ResultsIt stems from this study that axes production in Ivory Coast has been governed by two phases, one relating to the preparation of the blanks which is characterized by the size and the other relating to the finishing of the axes which corresponds to polishing parts. The result of these techniques is the massive production of polished axes with mostly converging edges. At the same time, the results of surveys carried out among local populations showed that the polished axes are unknown to local populations. ConclusionThis ignorance of the archaeological artefacts by the local populations is subject to interpretations of a mysterious and often supernatural order linked to their beliefs.

Computational framework for the evaluation of the composition and degradation state of metal heritage assets by deep learning

The accurate assessment of the material constitution and degradation in newly discovered archaeological artefacts is paramount for the decisions surrounding a thorough treatment of the object during the restoration and conservation stages. The laboratories possess competent experts and complex devices to perform this analysis properly. Nevertheless, a timely hint of an artificial intelligence assistant regarding the chemical composition and corrosion compound localization of a metal asset could save additional time and resources. The present paper proposes such a computational framework based on deep learning techniques that, on the base of its automatic determination of the chemical concentration of the predominant metal from a microscope image, can subsequently independently also recognize and delineate the corrosion spots of the products specific to that metal. The experiments have been performed on iron and copper heritage items from the Oltenia Museum, Romania. The results suggest that, even with an economic training information in terms of microscope images and annotations, the artificial intelligence framework can provide on-site support for an early examination of metal heritage assets.

From survey to integrated digital documentation of the cultural heritage of museums: A protocol for the anastylosis of archaeological finds

The conservation, development, and enjoyment of the artefacts in museums can benefit greatly from the application of integrated digital technologies. This topic is of great interest not only to researchers in various disciplines, but also to the managers of this heritage, the producers of technologies, innovative companies and start-ups, and the wider public. However, it does not currently seem to be possible to identify methods and protocols shared between the actors involved for the purpose of managing the phases of acquisition, definition of data models, management of digital content, and its later implementation. “Tailor-made” approaches therefore have direct consequences on the efficacy of the digitalisation processes currently available when applied to conservation and restoration, and to the promotion of cultural heritage. In this paper, we propose a protocol for the digitalisation of archaeological artefacts for the purpose of their display in museums. The method is illustrated with reference to a case study involving very rare artefacts from a wooden throne from the Villanovan Age. Finally, the work is part of the results of a wider project for the definition of protocols for the surveying and modelling of cultural heritage, from the architectural scale down to the scale of artefacts, carried out through public-private partnerships.

Identification Liangan Site: Archeological Predictive Modeling

This research was conducted in Liangan Site, an archeological Hindu temple site situated on the eastern slope of Mt. Sundoro, Temanggung District. The discovery of Liangan Site was in the area of sand mining. This research’s interest is trying to disclose of the spatial component of the site that are important to the history, science and culture. The objectives of this research: Mapping the width of Liangan Site that still has the potential to contain of archaeological artifacts. The method that used for this research analyze the distribution of archaeological remains at the Liangan Site with the scoring method through field surveys. While cultural resource management is done by knowing the predictions of the length area of the site using Archaeological Predictive Modeling. Results from this research include the entire potential zone that contains archaeological remains at the site of 20,71 ha. The zone sensitivity archaeological remains are divided into zones of high sensitivity (3.007 ha), medium sensitivity zones (4.369 ha) and low sensitivity zones (13.34 ha).

Quantitative analysis of copper alloys by means of portable X-ray fluorescence: A comparison between analysis of shavings and surfaces

The investigation of the alloy composition is a key point for studying archaeological and historical metal artefacts. Portable X-ray fluorescence is the most commonly used technique to perform non-invasive alloy analysis. Nevertheless, quantitative results are usually not reliable when metal surface is covered by either corrosion or patination layers. In such cases, micro samples, representative of the bulk alloy, have to be taken. Shavings samples are a good compromise between representativeness and degree of invasiveness when the purpose of the analysis is to obtain accurate quantitative data. This work aims at evaluating and comparing accuracy and precision of X-ray Fluorescence quantitative data obtained by performing analysis on the surface and on shavings of certified reference materials. Results point out that quantitative data obtained from surface and shavings samples have comparable accuracy and precision if a suitable calibration model using certified reference materials in the same form, i.e. surface or shavings, is applied. Repeatability tests were also carried out using the same certified reference materials. Results proved repeatable within 5% for all the detected elements. Uncertainties are slightly higher for shavings with respect to surface measurements. Two case studies concerning an archaeological and a Renaissance bronze artefacts are also discussed.

Application of Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy for Depth Profiling of Multilayer and Graded Materials.

Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has emerged as a powerful analytical method for the elemental mapping and depth profiling of many materials. This review offers insight into the contemporary applications of LIBS for the depth profiling of materials whose elemental composition changes either abruptly (multilayered materials) or continuously (functionally graded or corroded materials). The spectrum of materials is discussed, spanning from laboratory-synthesized model materials to real-world products including materials for fusion reactors, photovoltaic cells, ceramic and galvanic coatings, lithium batteries, historical and archaeological artifacts, and polymeric materials. The nuances of ablation conditions and the resulting crater morphologies, which are instrumental in depth-related studies, are discussed in detail. The challenges of calibration and quantitative profiling using LIBS are also addressed. Finally, the possible directions of the evolution of LIBS applications are commented on.

In the quest for historical Lisbon through 17th century Millefiori glass

Being Lisbon one of the world’s most important trading port and a place where historical documents attest the presence of at least four glass furnaces working between the 16th and 17th centuries, the authors decided to investigate one of the most luxurious coeval glass decorative techniques (millefiori) found in Lisbon to try to understand the trade route and raw-materials provenance of these artefacts.For this work, two Lisbon archaeological contexts were selected: Largo do Chafariz de Dentro (LCD) and Santana Convent (LCS) due to their significant amount of interesting millefiori fragments (eight fragments) and the presence of production waste (one in LCD and three in LCS). The analysis, comparison and discussion of glass production waste (PW) and archaeological glass artefacts will be carried out for the first time.For this work, macroscopic and microscopic observations were combined with the chemical characterization of colourless and coloured glass to make the morphological characterization and to determine which raw materials were employed in its production. The chemical characterization was made by using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) to obtain the major, minor and trace elements composition, including rare earth elements (REE).The chemical composition of the selected samples revealed that all the millefiori glasses are of soda-lime-silica type (part of them made with Levantine ashes and the other part with barilla) while the glass type of PW is was not attributed.Regarding the Lisbon millefiori glass fragments, there is a notable relation between the concentration of major components associated with the silica source, namely SiO2, Al2O3 and TiO2. Moreover, upon analysing the geochemical patterns exhibited by the production waste found in LCS context and comparing it with the pick-up glass fragments, a consistent trend emerges, implying that both were made by using either the identical silica source or, at the very least, a closely related silica source. For this reason, the possibility of a Portuguese local production may be proposed, especially when some decorative patterns are clearly from Portuguese inspiration (e.g. caravel and cross of Christ), while the authors admit that more data analysis is still required to prove this hypothesis.

Archaeological survey near Tsabong, Kgalagadi District, southwestern Botswana

ABSTRACT The importance of the arid interior of southern Africa for human evolution has come into focus in recent years. However, the current distribution of archaeological sites is limited to the southern margin of the Kalahari sediments in South Africa and to the northern part of Botswana. Surface scatters of archaeological artefacts in other parts of the Kalahari have not been studied systematically despite their potential to test human adaptation to marginal environments in the past. We developed a mobile Geographical Information System (GIS) set-up that allows us to record the archaeological potential of Botswana’s southwestern Kgalagadi district in a rapid and standardised manner. This paper describes five archaeological sites identified through our survey in the wider area around the town of Tsabong. Four of these sites, as well as the majority of identified surface archaeology, belong to the Middle Stone Age based on a first assessment of their lithic typology. A pattern is emerging of particular concentration of these sites on or near quartzite outcrops that are located next to pans. Additionally, six test pits confirmed the high potential for further archaeological investigations in this area using a landscape approach.