Artificial Cave Research Articles

Geophysical surveys in archaeological sites in Baucina (Palermo)

Abstract The archaeological site of Monte Carrozza and Monte Falcone dominates in the south and east of the modern town of Baucina. These are two reliefs of modest size, separated by a small hill elongated in an East-West direction where the cliffs stand the necropolis. On these hills, probably in the sixth century. B.C., settled people, sicane that at the end of the century came into contact with the Greek colonies of Himera and the Punic Soluntum, as the research conducted in the last decade have demonstrated. Located in the hinterland, on the watershed between the river San Leonardo and Milicia, the sites are located in a critical point, in an area open to the connections between Palermo, Solunto and Himera. Archaeological excavations are conducted by the Chair of Ancient Topography of the University of Palermo, in agreement and cooperation with the Superintendence of Cultural Heritage of Palermo and with the logistical and financial support of the City of Baucina. Investigations affecting a sector of the cemetery located along the southern slope of Monte Falcone to combat the phenomenon of illegal excavations. For this purpose were undertaken, a series of geophysical surveys were. The survey results showed the presence of various structures, likely archaeological interest. Subsequent excavations made in areas investigated by geophysics have unearthed different funerary structures: burials in graves or nasturtium, cremation within pithoi or amphorae. The dead were accompanied by grave goods of the Greek tradition: skyphoi, achromatic cups, etc. Particular interest is a large tomb in an artificial cave entrance that consists of pillars and lintel plaster. The grave diggers violated by poachers is unique for their monumental architecture. It was reached by a corridor carved in the rock, in whose landfilling and numerous ceramic fragments were recovered a bronze coin.

Daya Tarik Wisata Rohani Gua Kerep Ambarawa

Central Jawa Province obviously one of the tourist destinations in Indonesia either nature or historical and cultural attractions. The existence of Mary Cave Kerep Ambarawa also contributes to tourism in Central Jawa as the attraction of spiritual tourism. The objectives of this research are to acknowledge how to access the location of Mary Cave Kerep Ambarawa as well as to recognize how are the facilities that support Mary Cave Kerep Ambarawa. The methods of research being used are observation, interview and book study. Mary Cave Kerep Ambarawa resides in Jl. Tentara Pelajar, Dusun Kerep, Panjang Sub-district, Ambarawa District, Semarang Regency, Central Jawa Province. Geographically Mary Cave Kerep Ambarawa is located on the south slope hill of Ungaran mountain. The attraction of Mary Cave Kerep Ambarawa appeals from its Mary Cave views. It is the highest Mother Mary statue in the world and its inscriptions. Mary Cave Kerep Ambarawa is shaped in an artificial cave with a stacked stone bonded with cement, sand and lime. The cave overlooks to the east and is shaded by tall trees and lush. From one of the caves, there is a statue of Mother Mary Lourdes style without a crown. Viewed from the access, to object of religious tourism in Mary Cave Keep with an area around 5 hectares or more is not stiff. When leaving the city of Semarang the visitor can be able to grab a Yogyakarta line bus. Vice versa, when leaving from Yogyakarta select bus to Semarang, down to Ambarawa terminal. Similarly, when using personal vehicle travel to Semarang- Yogyakarta route, arrive at Ambarawa terminal bus, there is a signpost for the entrance to the tourist attraction, which is the entrance to the west and down to the ramp about 1KM. The facilities are provided in Mary Cave Keep Ambarawa specifically: hall, transit building, and prayer room, parking lot, shops object spiritual, church, food stalls around the area of the Cave, and accommodation, such as hotels and homestay.

Resin-coated beads in Iberian Late Prehistory (3rd–2nd millennia BCE)

ABSTRACT A group of beads from the artificial cave of La Molina (Lora de Estepa, Sevilla) and Cova del Gegant (Sitges, Barcelona) were made from biogenic raw material and intentionally covered by a layer of resin. This is the first time this type of treatment has been documented on elements of adornment in the Late Prehistory of the Iberian Peninsula. The composition and nature of the coatings are analyzed and the symbolic role of such alterations and imitations of prehistoric adornments is discussed.

Biospeleological notes on fauna in an artificial cave in Përmet (Albania) importance of former military installations for biodiversity

The subterranean fauna of both natural and artificial caves in Albania remains poorly studied. Cave colonisation can be clarified by investigating the same process in artificial underground sites. The existence of such a process can be judged by the composition of specific vertebrate and invertebrate species in every site. The biospeleological study carried out in an artificial cave in Përmet in June 2019 provided the following results: two bat species, i.e. Greater horseshoe bat Rhinolophus ferrumequinum (Schreber, 1774) and Mouse-eared bat Myotis myotis species group, probably M. blythii (Tomes, 1857) were observed, a specimen of the Balkan stream frog Rana graeca Boulenger, 1891, representing the first amphibian record for the Albanian cave, was discovered deep inside the cave, nine invertebrate species were found (7 spiders, 1 harvestman and 1 moth), with three of the spider species, i.e. Ceratinella brevis (Wider, 1834), Hogna radiata (Latreille, 1817) and Trachyzelotes barbatus (L. Koch, 1866), being the first records for Balkan caves. All recorded species, except Myotis blythii/myotis (both were previously known), are new to the study area. The total number of species recorded in this site, including the data available in literature, has increased to 29. This high number of species shows that artificial caves, including military installations, represent biodiversity hotspots, comparable to natural underground sites and demand much more attention and further investigations.

Variability of A Subterranean Prey-Predator Community in Space and Time

Subterranean habitats are characterized by buffered climatic conditions in comparison to contiguous surface environments and, in general, subterranean biological communities are considered to be relatively constant. However, although several studies have described the seasonal variation of subterranean communities, few analyzed their variability over successive years. The present research was conducted inside an artificial cave during seven successive summers, from 2013 to 2019. The parietal faunal community was sampled at regular intervals from outside to 21 m deep inside the cave. The community top predator is the cave salamander Speleomantes strinatii, while invertebrates, mainly adult flies, make up the rest of the faunal assemblage. Our findings indicate that the taxonomic composition and the spatial distribution of this community remained relatively constant over the seven-year study period, supporting previous findings. However, different environmental factors were shaping the distribution of predators and prey along the cave. Invertebrates were mainly affected by the illuminance, while salamanders were influenced by both illuminance and distance from the cave’s entrance. The inter-annual spatial distribution of the salamander population was highly repeatable and age specific, confirming a gradual shift towards the deeper parts of the cave with an increasing age. In general, the spatial distribution along the cave of this prey-predator system remained relatively constant during the seven-year study, suggesting that strong selective constraints were in action, even in this relatively recent subterranean ecosystem.

Carbon and oxygen isotope systematics in cave environments: Lessons from an artificial cave “McMaster Cave”

Understanding carbon and oxygen isotope systematics in cave environments is a prerequisite for the interpretation of stable isotopes in speleothem-based paleoclimate records. Here we present a series of experimental data collected under laboratory conditions with controlled temperature, relative humidity, drip water chemistry, flow rate and cave pCO2, simulating the growth of speleothems in natural cave settings. Drip water with high pCO2 and low calcium concentration (Ca2+ = 2 mmol/L) flowed along a three-step glass path, similar to a stalactite-stalagmite-pool route in natural caves, forming a thin water film that allowed CO2 degassing and CaCO3 precipitation as a result of the pCO2 gradient between the drip water and ambient cave atmosphere. The experiments were conducted at 15, 25 and 32 °C and flow rates of 700, 270 and 125 ml/d.The growth rate of calcite on the stalagmite-like settings increases linearly with increasing flow rate and/or temperature. The δ13CCc and δ18OCc of calcite formed on the stalagmite-like settings increases with decreasing flow rate (corresponding to increasing exposure time of water) at a given temperature, indicating non-equilibrium isotope effects between calcite, water and dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC). Nevertheless, these non-equilibrium isotope effects still display regular temperature dependence under a constant flow rate. This suggests that non-equilibrium isotope effects in natural stalagmites might be used to provide useful qualitative paleoclimate information (such as differentiating wet/dry and warm/cold climate conditions). The non-equilibrium carbon and oxygen isotope effects in the stalagmite-like settings were most likely caused by rapid CO2 degassing and CaCO3 precipitation that rapidly consume the available DIC pool in the thin water film. Furthermore, CO2 exchange between DIC and cave atmosphere quickly amplified the observed non-equilibrium carbon isotope effects in the precipitated calcite.In the pool-like settings, calcite was buffered by oxygen isotope exchange between DIC species and water, and slowly precipitated at or near to oxygen isotopic equilibrium with the temperature dependence of 1000ln18αCc-H2O = 18.33 (103/T) – 33.31 regardless of flow rate. This fractionation relation agrees with that determined by Kim and O’Neil (1997) when a newly recommended value for the acid fractionation factor for calcite is used (i.e., Kim et al., 2015). Carbon isotope fractionation between calcite and bicarbonate was temperature-independent between 15 and 32 °C and the average magnitude was 1000ln13αCc–HCO3− = 1.7 ± 0.7‰. Observed variability of 1000ln18αCc-H2O in modern calcite speleothems from natural cave settings lies in the range predicted by this study, between the predicted maximum non-equilibrium deviation at the stalagmite-like settings and the equilibrium 1000ln18αCc-H2O achieved in the pool-like settings.

Investigation of blood cells of Miniopterus schreibersii (Mammalia: Chiroptera) in Turkey

This research was based on some characteristics of the erythrocyte and leukocyte cells of 9 Miniopterus schreibersii (♀♀) samples collected from Balikesir Province in Turkey between July 2015 and September 2016. Bats were caught from an artificial cave using special nets. Blood was taken in heparinized hematocrit tubes from the forearm or tail membrane in the laboratory and the blood smears were prepared. The erythrocyte and leukocyte counts, hemoglobin concentration, and hematocrit values in the blood were determined. In M. schreibersii, the number of erythrocytes in 1 mm3 of blood was between 7.5 and 10 million, and the mean value was 8.8 million. The diameter values of the erythrocyte, monocyte, lymphocyte, eosinophil, neutrophil, and basophil cells were measured as 5.65, 9.66, 8.4, 8.66, 10, and 8.5 µm, respectively. Blood values of M. schreibersii were recorded for the first time in this study in Anatolia.

KAJIAN DAN PENETAPAN SEBAGAI SITUS CAGAR BUDAYA GUA JEPANG DI TRETES PRIGEN GUNA PELESTARIAN DAN PENCIPTAAN DAYA TARIK WISATA BARU

An artificial cave site that is suspected of being a relic of the Japanese army located in the Tretes, Prigen, Pasuruan, East Java Region has long been known by the public, this Cave is located in a resort and famous tourist destination. But the community tends to leave this site unempowered and covered by bushes or buried in the ground, even though if developed this cave will be a very interesting historical tourism attraction. For this reason, it is necessary to conduct a study, assisted by a team of experts from the Archaeological Center to ensure the authenticity and feasibility of the cave as a cultural heritage site and can be developed as one of the tourist attractions in the Tretes region.
 Keywords : Japanese artificial cave , Tourist attractions, Tourism Development

Amber imitation? Two unusual cases of Pinus resin-coated beads in Iberian Late Prehistory (3rd and 2nd millennia BC).

A group of beads from the artificial cave of La Molina (Lora de Estepa, Sevilla) and Cova del Gegant (Sitges, Barcelona) were made from a biogenic raw material and intentionally covered by a layer of resin. This is the first time this type of treatment has been documented on elements of adornment in the Late Prehistory of the Iberian Peninsula. The composition and nature of the coatings are analysed and the symbolic role of such alterations and imitations of prehistoric adornments is discussed.

Isotopic evidence for the reconstruction of diet and mobility during village formation in the Early Middle Ages: Las Gobas (Burgos, northern Spain)

Strontium, carbon, and nitrogen isotopes of human bone and tooth remains have been used to reconstruct residential mobility and diet of early medieval populations at Las Gobas from the sixth to eleventh centuries. Most non-local individuals correspond to the tenth to eleventh centuries and were mostly women and infants. This residential mobility coincided with the formation of Lano village and the abandonment of artificial cave settlement. Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of bone collagen indicate an omnivorous homogenous diet based on terrestrial plant resources, with few animal-derived proteins from livestock. Millet consumption was restricted to an earlier period of time (seventh to ninth centuries); and in later periods (tenth to eleventh centuries), mainly C3 plants such as wheat and barley were consumed. In general, there were no dietary differences between individuals according to sex or age. Sex-related dietary differences have only been observed in the tenth to eleventh centuries, when females consumed a more vegetarian diet and less animal protein. The higher δ 15N values in infants reflect the weaning effect, while the differences in δ 15N values between young adult men and young adult women can be explained as a physiological factor related to pregnancy or different origins. In a comparison with contemporaneous medieval populations in the northern Iberian Peninsula, both δ 13C and δ 15N values suggest similar foodstuff resources and diet among Christian and Muslim populations.

Carbon isotope exchange between gaseous CO2 and thin solution films: Artificial cave experiments and a complete diffusion-reaction model

Speleothem stable carbon isotope (δ13C) records provide important paleoclimate and paleo-environmental information. However, the interpretation of these records in terms of past climate or environmental change remains challenging because of various processes affecting the δ13C signals. A process that has only been sparsely discussed so far is carbon isotope exchange between the gaseous CO2 of the cave atmosphere and the dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) contained in the thin solution film on the speleothem, which may be particularly important for strongly ventilated caves.Here we present a novel, complete reaction diffusion model describing carbon isotope exchange between gaseous CO2 and the DIC in thin solution films. The model considers all parameters affecting carbon isotope exchange, such as diffusion into, out of and within the film, the chemical reactions occurring within the film as well as the dependence of diffusion and the reaction rates on isotopic mass and temperature. To verify the model, we conducted laboratory experiments under completely controlled, cave-analogue conditions at three different temperatures (10, 20, 30°C). We exposed thin (≈0.1mm) films of a NaHCO3 solution with four different concentrations (1, 2, 5 and 10mmol/l, respectively) to a nitrogen atmosphere containing a specific amount of CO2 (1000 and 3000ppmV). The experimentally observed temporal evolution of the pH and δ13C values of the DIC is in good agreement with the model predictions. The carbon isotope exchange times in our experiments range from ca. 200 to ca. 16,000s and strongly depend on temperature, film thickness, atmospheric pCO2 and the concentration of DIC. For low pCO2 (between 500 and 1000ppmV, as for strongly ventilated caves), our time constants are substantially lower than those derived in a previous study, suggesting a potentially stronger influence of carbon isotope exchange on speleothem δ13C values. However, this process should only have an influence in case of very long drip intervals and slow precipitation rates.

Lagged influence of North Atlantic Oscillation on population dynamics of a Mediterranean terrestrial salamander.

The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) is a large-scale climatic pattern that strongly influences the atmospheric circulation in the northern Hemisphere and by consequence the long-term variability of marine and terrestrial ecosystem over great part of northern Europe and western Mediterranean. In the Mediterranean, the effects of the NAO on vertebrates has been studied mainly on bird populations but was rarely analysed in ectothermic animals, and in particular in amphibians. In this study, we investigated the relationships between winter, spring and summer NAO indexes and the long-term population dynamics of the plethodontid salamander Speleomantes strinatii. This terrestrial salamander was monitored inside an artificial cave in NW Italy for 24 consecutive years. The relationships between seasonal NAO indexes and the salamander dynamics were assessed by cross-correlation function (CCF) analysis, after prewhitening the time series by autoregressive moving average statistical modelling. Results of CCF analyses indicated that the salamander abundance varied in relation to the one-year ahead winter NAO (P = 0.018), while no relationships were found with spring and summer indexes. These results strengthen some previous findings that suggested a high sensitivity of temperate terrestrial amphibians to wintertime climatic conditions.

Potential rapid evolution of foot morphology in Italian plethodontid salamanders (Hydromantes strinatii) following the colonization of an artificial cave.

How organisms respond to environmental change is a long-standing question in evolutionary biology. Species invading novel habitats provide an opportunity to examine contemporary evolution in action and decipher the pace of evolutionary change over short timescales. Here, we characterized phenotypic evolution in the Italian plethodontid salamander, Hydromantes strinatii, following the recent colonization of an artificial cave by a forest floor population. When compared with a nearby and genetically related population in the natural forest floor and a nearby cave population, the artificial cave population displayed significant differences in overall foot shape, with more interdigital webbing relative to the other populations. Further, this population evolved significantly larger feet, which corresponded more closely to those found in other cave populations than to forest floor populations to which the cave population is closely related. Finally, we quantified the rate of evolution for both foot shape and foot area, and found that both traits displayed large and significant evolutionary rates, at levels corresponding to other classic cases of rapid evolution in vertebrates. Together, these findings reveal that the response to novel environmental pressures can be large and rapid and that the anatomical shifts observed in the artificial cave population of H. strinatii may represent a case of rapid evolution in response to novel environmental pressures.

When was the Sun Pyramid Built? Maintaining the Status Quo at Teotihuacan, Mexico

The traditional view based on ceramics is that construction of the Sun Pyramid at Teotihuacan commenced in the first century A .D. Likewise, radiocarbon dates from the artificial cave beneath the Pyramid indicate that it was created at about the same lime. Both Pyramid and cave are seen as having a role in the founding of the city. Recent excavation inside the Pyramid produced radiocarbon dates that cluster in the mid-third century A.D. Members of the Sun Pyramid Project interpreted the dates as representing initial construction of the structure, moving it significantly later in time than previously thought. They also reinterpreted the dates for the construction of the cave, making it contemporaneous with the revised Pyramid construction. This paper adds radiocarbon dates from the cave to the original set and employs Bayesian analysis. The initial interpretation is supported: the dates reflect a cycle of cave creation through termination that began in the midfirst century and lasted about 200 years. I interpret the dates from the Pyramid as reflecting ritual associated with cave termination and a concomitant redefinition of the Pyramid that involved architectural modifications and tunneling. Pyramid and cave dates are reconciled with each other, with ceramics, and with the ceramic chronology. The traditional timing of first century Pyramid construction is maintained, along with its social, political, and economic implications.

Practice, Process, and Social Change in Third Millennium BC Europe: A View from the Sizandro Valley, Portugal

This paper considers the shift from the practice of collective burials to individual (or double) burials in western Europe at the end of the Neolithic/Copper Age, around 2500–2000 BC, through the lens of a particular mortuary site—the artificial cave of Bolores (Torres Vedras, Portugal). It suggests that the practices involved in making and using collective burials played an important role in this transformation towards increasing social differentiation. It explores how a focus on materiality at different scales, both temporal and spatial, might contribute new insights into geographically widespread and relatively co-synchronous social change.

Impact of seasonal variation and feeding on reproductive behavior of fresh water spiny eel Mastacembelus armatus from Cauvery River

Abstract Objective To analyze the effect of seasonal variation and nutritional factors over the fecundity, gonado somatic index (GSI) and sperm motility of fresh water spiny eel Mastacembelus armatus (M. armatus) under artificial cave fitted tanks in laboratory condition. Methods Forty pairs of M. armatus were collected from River Cauvery and are acclimated under lab condition. The fishes were fed with three different feeds like Fresh water prawns, earthworms and fish larvae for 60 days. Fecundity, sperm motility, Length weight relationship and GSI were analysed using standard procedures. Results The fecundity rate was increased when body weight and gonad weight increased. The lograthemic relationship of the fecundity–total length and fecundity–body weight were found to be more correlated than the fecundity–gonad weight relationship. Maximum GSI was recorded in both male and female fishes during the breeding season (June–October). The condition factor (K) was maximum at the non breeding seasons and reduced in peak breeding season of M. armatus. In male fishes the sperm motility was recorded maximum (70%–85%) in the breeding season and regressed gradually to 0–15%. Among the feeding groups earthworm fed group showed higher body weight and fecundity rate than the control group which was statistically significant at P Conclusion The outcome of the present study shows the seasonal variation and feeding increase the reproductive performance. It can be effectively used for the healthy brooder selection, captive breeding and conservation of M. armatus.

Witness of a lost world: Meenoplus roddenberryi sp. n., a new cavernicolous planthopper species (Hemiptera, Fulgoromorpha, Meenoplidae) from Gran Canaria

Meenoplus roddenberryi sp.n., an obligate cavernicolous and highly troglomorphic meenoplid species, is described from an artificial cave on Gran Canaria. Notes on its ecology are given. A key to the cave-dwelling Meenoplidae of the Canary Islands is provided. As Meenoplidae are not part of the present-day epigean fauna of the Canary Islands, the occurrence of cavernicolous species provides testimony of an ancient fauna which is now extinct. Despite their current relict status, it remains equivocal whether evolution of cave Meenoplidae was driven by allopatric speciation, or whether an adaptive shift to exploit a novel food resource triggered the colonization of caves. (© 2012 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

La sepultura de Belmeque (Beja, Bajo Alentejo). Contactos con el Egeo durante el Bronce Final I del suroeste de la Península Ibérica (1625-1425 AC)

The tomb of Belmeque, an artificial cave dug in the rock, it is the richest of all the Bronze Age of the Southwest Iberian Peninsula. Present grave goods with one pottery with a incised vertical decoration, 2 daggers with silver rivets, 1 one-edged bronze knife, 13.8% of tin, with 4 gold rivets and the back cover of a fine gold plate and, finally, 9 silver rivets, perhaps of 2 belts. The knife is an Aegean model, for a sacrifice ritual, that we do not know in other burial of the Bronze Age in the Iberian Peninsula, although it is not necessarily an import. Its better parallel is a one-edged knife of the grave 52 of the necropolis of Prosymna, located in the hillside of the sanctuary of Hera in Argos, the Heraeum , of the Late Helladic I, 1625-1500 BC. The rivets have between 70-75% of gold and 25-30% of white gold or electrum, present in the groups A 3 and A 3 C of Hartmann, that have their better representation in the shaft graves of the Grave Circles of Mycenae in the Middle Helladic III-Late Helladic I. On the another hand, the presence of gilded in the back of the knife of Belmeque has also its better parallels in the shaft graves of the Grave Circles A and B of Mycenae and in the Tholos of Vapheio, Laconia, during the Middle Helladic III-Late Helladic IIA, 1675-1450 BC. The grave goods of the Middle and Late Bronze Age I of Southwest Iberia are very modest, especially in weapons of copper or bronze, with hardly 12 daggers, and some awls. The richest tombs appear from Late Bronze Age I, ca . 1625-1425 BC, with some beads of necklace in gold and blue fayence, that also appear in Ireland and Great Britain, toward 1700‑1550 BC, coincident with the phase Derryniggin. This increase in metallic objects, included the silver and the gold, until then do not know, it can be resulted of the mining of tin in the zone of Neves-Corvo, Lower Alentejo. Its development perhaps explain that will be in this region where appear the stelae of Alentejo and after are concentrated the stelae with the earliest writing of the Southwest, being installed Phoenician settlements as Tavira from the 8th century BC onwards in the coast of the Algarve.

The first record of Spiricoelotes zonatus (Peng & Wang 1997) (Araneae: Amaurobiidae) from Japan

Spiricoelotes zonatus (Peng & Wang 1997) originally described from Hunan Province, China is newly recorded in Japan, and described on the basis of the specimens collected from an artificial cave in Glover Garden, Nagasaki City, Nagasaki Prefecture. The spider is distributed in the eastern part of China and is regarded as a naturalized species in Japan, which was artificially introduced by ships from China.

A Reappraisal of Ancient Maya Cave Mining

Throughout the world caves are often important sacred landmarks whose dark zones tend to be restricted spaces reserved for religious rituals. The function and meaning of activities conducted within these spaces are categorically different than physically similar activities conducted at the surface. Archaeology has been slow to integrate this fact into the analysis of cave features. Recently discovered evidence of extractive activities within Maya caves allows us to reevaluate previous work on cave mines. We suggest that the extraction was always small in scale and that the material extracted was most likely used in ritual. We then examine several surface mines where tunnel mining was used to extract a relatively undifferentiated matrix. Evidence suggests that a prime concern in the excavation was the creation of an artificial cave.