Excavation Techniques Research Articles

Bioarchaeology and funerary practices at the Syriac Orthodox cemetery of Mor Yaqub churchyard, Nusaybin, Turkey

The Syriacs have been, until recently, an important part of the socio-cultural life in the Mardin region. This study evaluates the burial customs of the Syriac Orthodox from the human skeletal remains found during excavations at the Mor Yaqub churchyard cemetery in Nusaybin, in south-east Turkey. The excavations were carried out in 2013, directed by the Mardin Archaeological Museum as part of its Culture and Faith Park Project. As part of the project the burial traditions of the Syriac community from the past to the present were investigated. Macroscopic bioarchaeological excavation techniques were followed and 33 graves were unearthed. There appear to be 66 individuals: 43 adults, 23 infants and juveniles. Of the adults: 11 are female; 14 are male; the remaining 18 are unsexed. Multiple burial customs have been observed from the graves examined. This study illustrates that the burial customs of the Syriac Orthodox have passed from generation to generation, surviving even until today.

How to Intervene in the Root Caries Process? Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses

The aim of this review as part of the preparation for a workshop organized by the European Federation of Conservative Dentistry (EFCD) in conjunction with the European Organisation for Caries Research (ORCA) was to systematically analyze available evidence of non-, micro- as well as invasive interventions for root caries lesions (RCLs). For each treatment strategy, a separate systematic review was either performed (micro-invasive and choice of restorative material) or updated (non-invasive and excavation technique) each of them following PRISMA guidelines, and if possible meta-analyses were performed. Besides the general advice to improve tooth brushing with fluoride toothpaste main findings for non-invasive interventions in RCLs, the use of dentifrices containing 5,000 ppm F^– as well as professionally applied chlorhexidine varnish or silver diamine fluoride seemed to be more efficacious to arrest root caries compared to conventional fluoride toothpaste or placebo respectively. However, this conclusion is based only on a few randomized clinical trials. For micro-invasive treatments, only 2 studies focusing on sealants were available without clear conclusions. A recent review on the comparison of atraumatic restorative treatment compared with conventional treatment concluded that there is insufficient data to clearly rule out if any difference with regard to restoration longevity between both techniques exists. When restoring coventionally, composites performed better than resin-modified and glass ionomer cements. However, all materials showed rather high annual failure rates in the majority of the studies and evidence is based on a low number of prospective studies with a rather high risk of bias.

Tunneling in Squeezing Ground: Effect of the Excavation Method

Tunnel excavation in squeezing ground exhibits large time-dependent and often anisotropic deformation. Within the context of the Frejus road tunnel and its safety gallery excavated under the Alps between France and Italy, an interesting configuration of two parallel tunnels under squeezing ground conditions is observed. The special feature of this case study lies in the fact that both tunnels have been excavated in similar geotechnical conditions but with different excavation techniques. The road tunnel was excavated with conventional drill and blast methods in the 70s, whereas the safety gallery was excavated between 2009 and 2016 with a single-shield tunnel boring machine (TBM). This paper presents monitoring data processing and numerical simulations of both tunnels with the aim of studying the influence of the excavation method on the time-dependent tunnel response. A calibration of a visco-elasto-plastic anisotropic constitutive model based on the back-analysis of convergence measurements retrieved during the excavation of the Frejus road tunnel is carried out. The identified ground behavior can be extrapolated to the parallel zones of the safety gallery. In particular, we are interested in the prediction of the stress state in the segmental lining of the gallery during its excavation and the comparison with in situ measurements. It is shown that the time-dependent behavior of the ground is affected by the excavation technique. Finally, an attempt to predict the long-term response of both tunnels is proposed.

Innovative excavation and support techniques for deep large foundations in soft ground

The Suzhou Taihu New City major underground space development was one of the largest and most complex foundation projects in China. It had a footprint area of 93 000 m2 with a depth of 18 m into soft ground. The complexity was increased further by its proximity to existing sensitive assets, which include a metro station and flood defence structure. These challenges were overcome by using multiple innovative excavation and support techniques, including mini-pits, reserved soil berms, compartmentalised excavations, composite slope stabilisation, the observational method and a ‘time–space effect’.

WITHDRAWN: Operative caries management in adults and children.

WITHDRAWN: Operative caries management in adults and children.

Deciphering archeological contexts from the magnetic map: Determination of daub distribution and mass of Chalcolithic house remains

The unique size and development of prehistoric megasites of the north Pontic Cucuteni-Tripolye Chalcolithic groups (4100–3600 BCE) challenge modern archeology and paleoecology. The extremely large number of houses (approximately 3000, mostly burned) necessitates the development of multidisciplinary technologies to gain a holistic understanding of such sites. In this contribution, we introduce a novel geophysical methodology and a detailed analysis of magnetic data – including evolved modeling techniques – to provide critical information about the setup of findings, enabling a thorough understanding of the settlement dynamics, apart from invasive excavation techniques. The case study is based on data from magnetic field maps and distribution maps of the daub and pottery find categories. This information is used to infer magnetic models for each find category to numerically calculate their magnetic fields for comparison with the archeological data. The comparison quantifies the sensitivity of the magnetic measurements with respect to the distribution of the different find categories. Next, via inversion computation, the characteristic depth functions of soil magnetization are used to generate maps of magnetization from the measured magnetic field maps. To validate the inverted soil magnetization maps, the magnetic excavation models are used, providing an interpretational frame for the application to magnetic anomalies outside excavated areas. This joint magnetic and archeological methodology allows estimating the find density and testing hypotheses about the burning processes of the houses. In this paper, we show internal patterns of burned houses, comparable to archeological house models, and their calculated masses as examples of the methodology. An application of the new approach to complete megasites has the potential to enable a better understanding of the settlement structure and its evolution, improve the quality of population estimations, and thus calculate the human impact on the forest steppe environment and address questions of resilience and carrying capacity.

Three thousand years of wild capuchin stone tool use.

The human archaeological record changes over time. Finding such change in other animals requires similar evidence, namely, a long-term sequence of material culture. Here, we apply archaeological excavation, dating and analytical techniques to a wild capuchin monkey (Sapajus libidinosus) site in Serra da Capivara National Park, Brazil. We identify monkey stone tools between 2,400 and 3,000 years old and, on the basis of metric and damage patterns, demonstrate that capuchin food processing changed between ~2,400 and 300 years ago, and between ~100 years ago and the present day. We present the first example of long-term tool-use variation outside of the human lineage, and discuss possible mechanisms of extended behavioural change.

The Excavation of high Arctic, Late Jurassic - Early Cretaceous marine reptiles and their virtual and manual preparation

Abstract: The recent excavation of nearly 60 marine reptile specimens from the Slottsm�ya Member, central Spitsbergen (Svalbard, Norway) straddling the Late Jurassic- early Cretaceous boundary, has led to the testing of numerous novel excavation techniques in the field and developed preparatory methods in the laboratory. Key results of this laboratory work show that the use of the adhesive Mowilith, a polyvinylacetate dissolved in alcohol, represents a good alternative to paraloid-type adhesives for temporarily stabilizing extremely fractured material during preparation. Permanent cyanoacryoloid adhesives used on the material in the laboratory have successfully stabilized the specimens from further deterioration, although thorough cleaning prior to the application is required for a lasting effect. Finally, we present the case study of a plesiosaur skull, where computed tomography is utilised to support further preparation of the specimen. Computed tomography images were used as aid to locate the borders of the bone material, allowing for more of the surrounding matrix to be removed without causing damage to the specimen. We show utilisation of computer tomography provides a virtual preparation alternative for particularly fragile specimens.

Identifying and Analyzing Agricultural Landscapes Using Metal-Detector Survey and Nail-Batch Analysis

Ephemeral agricultural outbuildings and landscape elements that were integral to the management and production of Virginia plantations, such as barns, sheds, pens, and fence lines, are often difficult to locate and analyze using traditional archaeological survey and excavation techniques. The archaeological signatures of these types of sites are usually characterized by a relatively light scatter of nails, which can be efficiently found and preliminarily interpreted using a combination of metal-detector survey and nail-batch analysis. Drawing upon the historic Montpelier plantation as a case study, this study shows how these survey-level data can help archaeologists begin to interpret how outbuildings were located, constructed, deconstructed, and used in the 18th and 19th centuries. Using these easily replicated methodologies, archaeological data relating to ephemeral rural landscapes from a variety of regions and time periods can be recovered and examined, allowing for more holistic understandings of spaces and places in the past.

Top-down excavation of an underpass linking two large-scale basements in sandy soil

Demands for underground space (e.g., metro stations, deep basements, and underpass) in congested urban areas have been increasingly growing in recent years. The top-down excavation technique becomes an attractive alternative compared to the conventional cut-and-cover construction method, as the ground traffic can be disrupted for a much shorter period. In this investigation, an underpass project linking two large-scale basements under heavy ground traffic constructed by the top-down approach is introduced. The specialty of the project is that the geometry in plane is irregular, which makes the excavation challenging since all empirical design criteria cannot be applied directly. The lateral supports are not applied all around the perimeter of the excavation (only two short sides are constrained by lateral supports). Finite element simulations are conducted to optimize the construction procedure. A comprehensive field monitoring program is implemented to the project, which is excavated using the optimal solution obtained from numerical analyses. Field measurements demonstrate that the top-down technique is effective in minimizing differential settlement and lateral displacement of columns and piles.

The Zooarchaeology of Israelite Religion: Methods and Practice

This essay aims to provide a methodological framework for the application of zooarchaeology to the study of Israelite religion for the purpose of providing an overview of this growing subfield for the non-specialist and for inviting further conversation among practitioners. Definitions of “zooarchaeology” and “Israelite religion” are explored and the aim of reconstructing practices of Yahweh-centric religion is described. A methodology is suggested through a series of questions that may be applied to explorations of faunal remains, including those related to context, excavation technique and analysis, and engagement with the Hebrew Bible. The essay concludes with an illustration from Tel Dan and affirmation of integrated methodologies that critically engage archaeological and textual data to form new syntheses.

Passive Earth Pressures on Retaining Walls for Pit-in-Pit Excavations

The technique of pit-in-pit excavations is increasingly used in China to provide an efficient solution of maximizing the utilization of underground space while minimizing the amount of solid waste due to excavations. One of the critical steps toward the successful implementation of the pit-in-pit excavation technique is to rationally estimate the passive earth pressure, which is typically done using approaches such as numerical modeling, field monitoring, or traditional Coulomb or Rankine earth pressure theories. This paper presents a simplified approach for computing passive earth pressures for pit-in-pit excavations. A trapezoidal-shaped failure wedge is formed between two levels of retaining walls. A complete symmetric soil arch is used to describe the stress field of soils in the rectangular zone, whereas a half arch with one base acting on the wall and another base acting on the inclined shear surface is proposed for soils in the triangular zone. The soil arching effect is explicitly considered to derive the earth pressure for both cohesionless and cohesive soils at any intermediate passive state. A parametric study is conducted to demonstrate that the mobilized passive earth pressure increases nonlinearly with the magnitude of wall movement and soil shear strength parameters. The allowable spacing between two walls is also defined to produce a design chart. In the end, the proposed model is assessed against experimental measurements from model-scale tests.

Ricerche nell’area della villa di Teoderico a Galeata (FC): un dialogo fra nuove tecnologie e tradizionali metodi di scavo

The villa-complex of Theodoric in Galeata is one of the latest examples, at least within the Italian peninsula, of the great private residences of late antiquity. The site is multi-layered and has evidence of seventeen centuries of occupation, from the 6th century BC to the 12th century AD Important new knowledge of the pre-Roman (a settlement of the Late Iron age) and Roman (a large villa) phases of the site has been acquired. The most significant results, however, concern the late antiquity phase. The excavations, in fact, have led to a new interpretation of the complex known as the ‘Palace’ or villa of the Goth king Theodoric. In this long-running excavation it has been possible to test the transformations of excavation methods and techniques, which have evolved over the years.

Revisiter le chantier-école de fouilles d’Arcy-sur-Cure (Yonne), 1946-1963 : essai (paléo-)ethnologique d’histoire des techniques et des pratiques de la préhistoire contemporaine

Revisiter le chantier-école de fouilles d’Arcy-sur-Cure (Yonne), 1946-1963 : essai (paléo-)ethnologique d’histoire des techniques et des pratiques de la préhistoire contemporaine

Novel Excavation and Construction Method for a Deep Shaft Excavation in Ultrathick Aquifers

Dewatering using the dewatering systems composed of diaphragm walls and pumping wells is commonly adopted for deep excavations that are undertaken in deep aquifers. However, dewatering can sometimes induce environmental problems, especially when diaphragm walls cannot effectively cut off the aquifers. This paper mainly presents an innovative excavation technique combining dewatering excavation and underwater excavation without drainage, which is employed for a deep shaft excavation in ultrathick aquifers (up to 60–70 m thick aquifer) in Fuzhou, China. The shaft excavation with the depth of 41.6 m below the ground surface (BGS) is divided into two major phases, that is, (1) the first part of the excavation (the depth of 23.6 m BGS) is conducted by the way of conventional dewatering and braced excavation (Phase I) and (2) the second excavation with the depth of 23.6 m to 41.6 m BGS is carried out by the novel underwater excavation without drainage technique (Phase II). Field monitoring results show that the ratios of maximum ground surface settlement δvm to the excavation depth He in this case ranged from 0.03% to 0.1%. Most of the ratios of maximum lateral wall deflection δhm to excavation depth He are less than 0.1%. All these results are lesser than that predicted by empirical methods, which also confirmed the applicability of this innovative excavation. Thus, this innovative solution can be applicable to other deep excavations that are undertaken in ultrathick aquifers, especially for the excavation of coarse sediments with high permeability.

The Thickness and Scale of Late-stage Basalts in Oceanus Procellarumtwo

Oceanus Procellarum, the largest lunar mare, is distributed with a large area of the late-stage (Eratosthenian) basalts. Research on the thickness, volume, and eruption flux of the late-stage basalts is essential for understanding the late thermal evolution of Oceanus Procellarum, even the Moon. The Eratosthenian basalts are rich in olivine and ilmenite, while the underlying Imbrian basalts are rich in pyroxene. Their significant spectral differences are easy to be distinguished using the hyperspectral data. We determine whether a crater has penetrated the overlying basalt layer by the data of Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), and estimate the thickness of Eratosthenian basalts in the Oceanus Procellarum region by using a crater excavation technique. A high-resolution thickness distribution map of the last-stage basalts within the Oceanus Procellarum has been acquired. The results show that the averaged thickness of Eratosthenian basalts in the Oceanus Procellarum region varies from (24±2) m to (88±2) m. Among them, the thickness of Eratosthenian basalts in the western Aristarchus is the greatest (>60m), whereas the southernmost area of the study has a minimum thickness of about 28–31m. The basalt thickness at the Chang’e-5 potential landing site Mons Rümker is about 31–38m. The thickness of Eratosthenian basalts in the east of Marius is about 35–45m, which is much smaller than the value of 100∼300m estimated by Weider et al. The total volume of Eratosthenian basalts is estimated to be ∼1.39×104km3, which is only about 1.6% of total basalts in Oceanus Procellarum. This indicates that the magmatism in the Eratosthenian period has been greatly weakened compared to the Imbrian period.

Current trends in the conservative treatment of deep-caries lesion with risk of pulp exposure

Objetivo: apresentar uma revisão da literatura sobre o estado atual da técnica de intervenção mínima e conservação de tecidos duros e vitalidade pulpar em dentes com lesão profunda de cárie e risco de exposição pulpar. Material e Métodos: foram pesquisadas as bases de dados PubMed e SCOPUS, utilizando os descritores cárie dentária em dentina, lesão cariosa profunda e tratamento conservador, entre 1960 e 2018. Resultados: dos 888 artigos inicialmente identificados, 52 foram selecionados após a inclusão e critérios de exclusão. Conclusão: há evidências de que as técnicas conservadoras atuais de escavação gradual e remoção seletiva de cáries impedem a exposição e mantém a vitalidade da polpa, melhorando assim o prognóstico desses dentes. Entretanto, por serem técnicas inovadoras, apesar de apresentarem suporte científico na literatura inglesa, não foram encontrados artigos na língua portuguesa, dificultando o acesso e aumentando o uso dessas técnicas como rotina por dentistas no Brasil.

PENELITIAN BARU ARKEOMETALURGI DI INDONESIA JEJAK PENGERJAAN LOGAM KUNO DI HULU SUNGAI BARITO KALIMANTAN TENGAH

Archaeometallurgy research and data related to ancient metals working in Kalimantan are limited , even never doing research for archaeometallurgy. This paper will discuss the ancient metalworking traces in the upper Barito watershed (Montalat River and Teweh River), and how are the ancient metalworking techniques carried out by the people in the Barito upstream and their relation to the blacksmith's tradition? This aims to find out the evidence of ancient metal work and explain the metalworking techniques carried out by the people in the Barito upstream in the past and its relationship to the blacksmith. Data collection in the field is carried out by survey and excavation techniques, with artefactual analysis, mineral nalysis with X-RF (X-Ray Fluorescence), and ethnoarchaeological approaches. This research had result evidence of metalworking activities buren toponymies , raw material, slag, furnace, and tuyere. Ancient metalworking techniques began with the search for iron ore, preparing materials, melting iron ore to separate raw materials and slag, and finally forge iron to be tools. Iron smelting has been abandoned four generations ago. Now, there is a blacksmith who is the final part of metal working. Keywords : iron, buren, slag, bloomery furnace

Middle Paleolithic variability in Central Asia: Lithic assemblage of Sel’Ungur cave

Since the beginning of 21st century, a new stage began in investigations of the Central Asian Palaeolithic. The main concern is to re-study the key regional sites, applying modern excavation techniques and up-to-date laboratory methods (including chronometric dating) in order to clarify the rationale and chronology of the local cultural sequences. This research allowed some crucial corrections about the chronological and cultural interpretations of the lithic industries in western Central Asia. This paper presents the first results obtained during our reexcavation of Sel’Ungur cave – usually assumed to be one of the earliest Paleolithic sites in Central Asia, described in the late 1980s as belonging to the early Acheulian technocomplex. Sel’Ungur cave is among the most important pre-Upper Palaeolithic site for our understanding of the Pleistocene inhabitants of Central Asia, as did not only yield rich lithic collections found stratified context but also numerous fossil faunal and even some hominin remains. Re-started at 2014, the new excavations at the site have provided enough evidence to refuse an Acheulian interpretation of site's assemblages. Based on detailed technological and typological analyses of the new lithic collection we argue that Sel’Ungurian complex fits better into the early stage of the regional Middle Paleolithic cultural variability. The previously available U-series date of around 126 ka (albeit without a reliable stratigraphic and spatial context), the new TL date 112 ± 19 ka establishing the lower limit, paleontological analyses of newly obtained material as well as the re-examination of the available information on macro- and microfaunal remains excavated in the earlier excavations, as well as the re-study of the anthropological finds support this assessment.

Bonding Capacity of a Universal Adhesive in Different Etching Modes to Caries Affected Dentin Prepared by Two Caries Excavation Techniques

Objectives: The aim of the present study was to evaluate and compare the microtensile bondstrength (μTBS) and resin penetration into caries affected dentin (CAD), of a universal adhesivesapplied into two different etching modes (i.e. self-etch or etch-and-rinse), after caries excavationwith two methods, Round tungsten carbid bur CB or Carisolv chemomecanical caries removal(CMCR). Materials and Methods: Fourty human third molar teeth with moderate occlusal cariouslesions were collected. The selected teeth were cut parallel to the occlusal surface of the tooth toexpose the carious lesion. Teeth were divided into two groups (n=20) relative to the caries excavationmethods i.e. Group1: Carisolv CMCR and group 2: round (CB). Each group was subdivided intotwo subgroups (n=10) relative to the applied adhesive mode i.e. subgroup a: the adhesive systemwas applied in a self-etch mode (SE), while in subgroup b: the adhesive system was used in theetch & rinse mode (E & R). Following the application of the adhesive, Filtek Z350 XT resincomposite was applied incrementally onto the CAD. The bonded specimens were thermocycledfor 5000 cycles. The restored teeth were sectioned longitudinally to obtain bonded beams forμTBS. Beams were mounted into the universal testing machine. Bond strength, for each subgroup,was calculated and statistically analyzed. After debonding the beams, the fracture surfaces wereexamined under stereomicroscope to detect the failure modes. One beam, from the area of CAD,from each subgroup was selected for SEM examination. Results: Two-way ANOVA indicated highsignificances for caries excavation and adhesive modes factors (p <.0001). The highest mean valueof μTBS was recorded with CMCR , bonded with E & R mode , followed by CB method, bondedwith E & R mode, CMCR bonded with SE and CB and bonded with SE adhesive; respectively.Tukey’s test displayed that there is no significant difference in the μTBS between the groups bondedwith E & R adhesives, while CB method bonded with SE mode showed significant decrease in theμTBS value (p < 0.05), with all test groups. All the tested groups showed cohesive failure mode indentin rather than adhesive. In contrast, CB excavation method with SE mode displayed increasedadhesive mode of failure rather than the cohesive and mixed modes. Removal of the caries withboth methods and bonding with E & R adhesive resulted in relatively thin hybrid layer, but thickerwith CMCR, with moderate distribution of resin tags. SE mode of adhesion showed a relativelythick hybrid layer with short conical shaped resin tags. The dentinal tubules were at most occludedwith smear blugs and calcfic precipitates. Conclusions: Based on the limitation of this study, theresults showed that the use of Carisolv CMCR does improve the μTBS of universal adhesives toCAD, either in SE or E & R modes.