La Tène Research Articles

"Chained by her destiny” : The Grave of a female with a toddler at the La Tène cemetery in Nitra-Mlynárce

"Chained by her destiny” : The Grave of a female with a toddler at the La Tène cemetery in Nitra-Mlynárce

W sprawie wytwórczości szklarskiej w celtyckim oppidum w Starym Hradisku na Morawach

Discussion presented in the article is based upon analysis of glass fragments from the late La Tene oppidum. Existence of the jewellery manufacture workshop in Stare Hradisko, producing bracelets and possibly also beads of dark-blue, dark-yellow and green glass of external origin, is speculated based upon chemical composition of 5 fragments as well as morphological analysis. Further complex studies are postulated, which will facilitate unequivocal testing of the speculation about existence of glass works in StareHradisko. Analysed samples revealed presence of the soda-calcium-aluminium-silicon as well as the soda-calcium-lead-aluminium-silicon glass.

Au[sbnd]Cu[sbnd]Ag mineralization controlled by brittle structures in Lavras do Sul Mining District and Seival Mine deposits, Camaquã Basin, southern Brazil

The mineralization of the Lavras do Sul Mining District and Seival Mine are controlled by brittle structures associated with the emplacement of the volcanogenic rocks and granitoids located in Lavras do Sul region, southernmost Brazil. This magmatism is associated with the evolution of the Camaquã Basin, an Ediacaran basin generated during the post–collisional stage of development of the Dom Feliciano Belt. The regional tectonic process has led to the activation of a large–scale high–angle shear zones and intense fracturing in the brittle to brittle–ductile regime. The relative chronology of structures and stress–field variations were recognized through remote sensing and structural data. The ore–deposits are controlled by extensional fractures and normal fault systems with a N70°W/70–85°NE direction in Lavras do Sul and a N40–60°E/70–88°NW direction in Seival and are disseminated or occur associated with quartz and calcite veins, respectively. We made a comparison of structures going from regional scale to smaller mineralized areas. The structural analysis of remote sensing and geophysical images (aeromagnetometry and aerogamma–spectrometry) integrated with structural data allowed us to reconstruct the paleostress tensor that generated the main fault systems and associated fractures of the host rock, which enabled the hydrothermal fluid circulation and the ore deposition. The integration of structural data such as fault slip planes, slickenlines, shear fractures systems, extensional fractures and kinematic indicators with the stratigraphic data allowed us to reconstruct the main directions of the tectonic efforts associated with the emplacement of the mineralizing magmas. The mineralization is associated with the sinistral N70°W/80–88°NE oriented Palma–Jacques Fault in the Lavras do Sul Mining District as well as the sinistral N50°E/80–88°SE oriented Cabritos–Perau Fault and the sinistral N20°E/80–88°SW oriented Segredo Fault in Seival Mine region. Their maximum compressional stresses are subhorizontal and NW–SE oriented, while a late subhorizontal and NE–SW oriented compressional stress affected only the rocks of the Seival Mine. These two main compressive stresses are associated with the development of a transcurrent (escape) tectonics during the final evolution of the Dom Feliciano Belt, constrained by UPb zircon geochronology between 600 and 580 Ma. Transcurrent and normal NE–SW oriented faults are more expressive in volcanogenic rocks of the Seival Mine area, while extensional vein–type NW–SE oriented fractures are the most important structures in the Lavras do Sul area. We suggested that N70°W/70–88°NE oriented monzonitic dikes in Lavras do Sul and N50°E/70–88°NW oriented andesitic to trachyandesitic dikes in Seival area are probably the source of the mineralization.

Settlement activity in later prehistory: invisible in the archaeological record but documented by pollen and sedimentary evidence

The paper deals with landscape and settlement development between ca. 300 BC and AD 600 in a defined area of the northern Czech Republic. Despite favourable natural conditions, human occupation of the area did not begin until the end of the first millennium BC. Natural soil and vegetation development therefore lasted longer than in the traditionally settled lowland areas. Initial settlement activity from the La Tene period caused substantial erosion of deforested luvisols and retisols, well-documented by an accumulation of eroded soil horizons in a local wetland. The erosion process continued for more than 500 years following the end of the La Tene settlement, despite the fact that archaeological research revealed no reliable evidence of occupation prior to the twelfth century AD. Pollen and sedimentary records from the wetland, however, clearly indicate the existence of settlement activity during the “archaeologically invisible” Roman and Migration periods. This case is not unique and underlines the importance of environmental analysis for the detection of settlement history, particularly during periods of poor archaeological visibility or in places that are difficult to research using standard archaeological methods. The change in conditions after the first deforestation and subsequent late prehistoric settlement triggered the degradation of the deforested luvisols and retisols and led to the diversification of the soil cover, which now also includes regosols, gleysols, and truncated luvisols and retisols.

Understanding Mesolithic mobility systems: the Pont-Glas rock shelter at Plounéour-Ménez (Finistère)

In an economy based on hunting and gathering in temperate domains, collective mobility appears to be an essential facet of economic behaviour for humans during Prehistory. In order to contribute to the definition of the archaeological forms of collective mobility in the scope of a programme on the functioning of Mesolithic societies in Brittany, it seemed essential to record a rock shelter occupation, liable to offer a different spectrum of activities to the large, now well-known sites. The Pont-Glas rock shelter at Plouneour-Menez (Finistere) provides good conditions for assessing this question. Two granite blocks leaning against each other protect a surface of about twenty square metres, forming a cavity of about fifteen square metres with two (east and west) entrances. A recently fallen granite block initially closed the shelter and facilitated the installation of a cover. This shelter was discovered and surveyed by M. Le Goffic in 1987, who recognized a reworked level containing flint from the Final Mesolithic and Gallic pottery, above stones described as “paving”. In 2007 and 2008, the whole shelter was excavated. The very narrow western entrance does not contain any traces of human occupations or circulation, but the shelter itself contains a carefully paved hearth with eroded edges (structure 1), then about fifteen centimetres lower down, a spread of charcoal probably corresponding to a flat hearth (structure 2). In the same place, but in another Mesolithic SU lower down, the substratum is directly affected by trampling, indicating another zone of human occupation (structure 3). This sequence only extends over a thickness of half a metre and contains various disturbances. However, after the spatial analysis of the remains, it appears clear that the base of the arenaceous SU (lower SU 5.3, 5.6, 5.9) corresponds to the Mesolithic occupation, with hardly any traces of protohistoric disturbances. The spatial analysis of the remains reveals several interesting insights, in spite of the very marked disturbance of the site by humans and burrowing animals. We observe a concentration of lithic objects under block 2, with a partial time lag between the early and recent Mesolithic elements. Surprisingly, this distinction is also perceptible from a vertical perspective, with a lot of interference linked to reworking. In the same way, the La Tene pottery is confined to the upper SU, if we exclude the intrusions along blocks resulting from wall effects. The lithic material consists of 998 elements and includes an early component from the 8th millennium with narrow scalene triangles, narrow backed bladelets and points with retouched bases, and a recent component with symmetric trapezes. The latter dates from the second half of the sixth millennium before our era, as confirmed by a date on charcoal from the last level. A small pick in microquartzite from Forest-Landerneau evokes the Mesolithic groups from Lower Normandy and from the Paris Basin from the 8th millennium before our era; this is the first prismatic tool discovered in Brittany. The analysis of the chaines operatoires shows a wide diversity of rocks and the rarity of the initial debitage phases, whereas arrow head repair phases are very well represented. The anthracological analysis focused on four stratigraphic units: SU 5.6, 5.10/6 and 5.11, attributed to the Mesolithic, and the upper part of SU 5.3 dating from the Second Iron Age. The environment contemporaneous with the occupations of the rock shelter is an acidophile oak stand with holly. However, the observed taxonomic associations reveal incursions in other types of environments. It thus seems likely that the wood was selected for specific uses. In the Mesolithic stratigraphic units, the observation of small charcoals with a last growth ring made up solely of initial wood points to a springtime occupation of the shelter. Although the low sedimentary dynamics of a shelter beneath a granite block by no means ensure the integral conservation of occupations, the results obtained are particularly important for understanding the last hunter-gatherer societies. Indeed, it is the first time in the West that fractioned chaines operatoires in time and space have been observed for the Mesolithic. In addition, the number of armatures destroyed by use is far higher than for large regional Mesolithic settlements. On the basis of these two parameters, Pont-Glas is a unique example of a temporary hunting halt, where several individuals came to repair their arms, before leaving again with their cores and knapped tools.

Landscape Archaeology of the Late La Tène in South Pannonia: Perspectives and Possibilities of Stable Isotope Analyses

In the long tradition of research into the La Tene period in the region of South Pannonia many questions have been raised, but economic activity, especially agriculture and cattle-breeding, have not received due attention. The existing archaeological data permit the hypothesis that both settlement and agriculture intensified during this period, and these activities may have induced changes in the landscape. However, apart from sporadic comments, this topic has not been the object of research. The development of landscape archaeology and stable isotope analyses have made possible a better understanding of the ways people moved through landscape, used and changed it. It should be borne in mind that landscapes are not only spaces out of which humans derive resources in the most rational way, but also a product, medium, and a reflexion of various individual and collective experiences on social, symbolic and historical levels. The paper discusses the possibilities and perspectives of application of stable isotope analyses of carbon and strontium in animal bones retrieved from the late La Tene settlements in South Pannonia, with the aim of verifying the existing hypotheses and formulating new ones concerning economic practices and socio-political circumstances.

The Manching Zoo

Summary While the significance of the bird and animal world in the imagery of La Tene art is clear, the opportunity is taken here to bring together a number of pieces, both well-known and recent, from the major site of Manching. Noting associations where these can be ascertained, it is argued that the animal figures seem to underline the significance of Manching as a cultic centre.

Post-collisional magmatism and ore-forming systems in the Menderes massif: new constraints from the Miocene porphyry Mo–Cu Pınarbaşı system, Gediz–Kütahya, western Turkey

The Pinarbasi Mo–Cu prospect is hosted within the Pinarbasi intrusion, which is exposed together with the NW–SE-trending Koyunoba, Egrigoz, and Baklan plutons along the northeastern border of the Menderes massif. The Pinarbasi intrusion predominantly comprises monzonite, porphyritic granite, and monzodiorite. All units of the Pinarbasi intrusion have sharp intrusive contacts with each other. The principal mineralization style at the Pinarbasi prospect is a porphyry-type Mo–Cu mineralization hosted predominantly by monzonite and porphyritic granite. The porphyry type Mo–Cu mineralization consists mostly of stockwork and NE- and EW-striking sub-vertical quartz veins. Stockwork-type quartz veins hosted by the upper parts of the porphyritic granite within the monzonite, are typically enriched in chalcopyrite, molybdenite, pyrite, and limonite. The late NE- and EW-striking normal faults cut the stockwork vein system and control the quartz–molybdenite–chalcopyrite–sphalerite–fahlore–galena veins, as well as molybdenite–hematite-bearing silicified zones. Lithogeochemical and whole-rock radiogenic isotope data (Sr, Nd and Pb) of the host rocks, together with Re-Os molybdenite ages (18.3 ± 0.1 Ma – 18.2 ± 0.1 Ma) reveal that the monzonitic and granitic rocks of the Pinarbasi intrusion were derived from an enriched lithospheric mantle-lower crust during Oligo–Miocene post-collisional magmatism. The lithospheric mantle was metasomatised by fluids and subducted sediments, and the mantle-derived melts interacted with lower crust at 35-40 km depth. This mechanism explains the Mo and Cu enrichments of the Pinarbasi intrusion during back-arc magmatism. We conclude that the melt of the Pinarbasi intrusion could have rapidly ascended to mid-crustal levels, with only limited crustal assimilation along major trans-lithospheric faults as a result of thinning of the middle to upper crust during regional extension, and resulted in the development of porphyry-style mineralization during the early Miocene (∼18 Ma). The subsequent exhumation history of the Mo–Cu-bearing Pinarbasi intrusion is attributed to regional-scale uplift, and further exhumation along detachment faults of the associated core complexes during the middle to late Miocene.

Phosphate: a neglected argument in studies of ancient glass technology

The phosphate content of ancient alkali-glass has been tested as an indicator for biogenic ash, used in glass production. The living tissue of plants and vertebrates accumulates phosphate that remains in native ash as a main component (1 to over 10 wt%) forming together with biologically essential element oxides a complex chemical fingerprint that characterises any glass made with it. If, instead of native plant ash its alkali extract is used, soluble oxides are concentrated in the extract whilst insoluble oxides get depleted, leading to a different elemental fingerprint of the glass. Geogenic raw-materials for glass production like quartz-rich sand, evaporitic natron, or limestone are virtually phosphate free (below detection limit up to ≈0.15 wt%). Several collections of ancient glass stemming from different archaeological excavations, regions and times have been analysed by instrumental methods (WD-XFA, ED-XFA, thermal techniques), i.e. flat- and hollow K–Ca glass dated 1699/1714 N = 340, Na–Ca glass 13th/14th cy N = 94, Na–Ca glass 7th/9th cy N = 110, and alkali-Ca glass La Tene N = 395. Although the phosphate content of native alkali plant ash gets diluted with quartz sand by a factor of roughly two in glass production, it remains a main component of the product glass. Wood-ash glass contains 1–3 wt% phosphate, whilst glass manufactured from halophyte ash contains around 0.2–1 wt%. When processed wood-ash is used, the phosphate content in glass sinks below 1 wt%, the depletion factor amounting to roughly 8–15. Glass made from evaporitic soda displays phosphate contents below 0.2 wt% in the cases examined. The phosphate content of ancient alkali glass thus indicates whether virtually phosphate-free evaporitic soda has been used as a flux, or native ash of halophile plants. Ternary melting diagrams reveal at least three groups of alkali glass: Naturally coloured forest glass displays a broad distributional pattern with minimum melting temperatures ranging from 1200 to ≥1450 °C, colourless potash-extract glass from 900 to ≈1200 °C, and the typical, tight cluster of Roman sodium-calcium glass ranges from 800 to ≈900 °C. The wide-spread sodium-lime glass made with native halophytic ash, contains besides Na2O as the chemical main component always some K2O, and melting temperatures range from 800 to ≈1000 °C.

New data regarding the question of interregional contacts in the Iron Age. Results of a surface survey in Czechy, Kraków district

Surface surveys on a newly, accidentally discovered site in Czechy, Krakow district, yielded a large series of finds associated with the Przeworsk culture settlement. Its chronology ranged from the younger Pre-Roman Iron Age all the way to the early Migration Period. The detailed surface survey revealed numerous imports from the Celtic and Dacian settlement zones, as well as items of a provincial Roman origin. The finds presented in the paper indicate that the most intensive contacts with areas south of the Carpathians might be dated to the final stage of the La Tene period and the turn of the early and late Roman Iron Age

Alamares metálicos: un sistema de cierre para correajes ecuestres en la protohistoria de la Península Ibérica

There’s a group of metallic fits which are present in many Iberian Iron Age contexts that are being usually interpreted as horse bits by the Spanish research. However, neither their morphology, nor their archaeological contexts make credible these interpretation. In addition, there are a lot of European similar findings, mainly from chariot tombs from the Hallstatt and La Tene Cultures, which are interpreted as closing yoke pieces (toggles) and which can indicate the true function for these Spanish findings. Some iconographical evidence from a horse stone sculpture coming from Andalusia could confirm this use in the Late Iberian Iron Age.

Changes in crop cultivation during the last five centuries before the Roman conquest: archaeobotanical investigation in the Clermont-Ferrand basin, Massif Central, France

For several decades, a growing number of protohistoric sites in Auvergne (Massif Central, France) - mostly excavated through preventive archaeology - have been subject to the collection of archaeobotanical analysis. This study presents the archaeobotanical results from ten La Tene sites dating from the last five centuries before the Roman conquest. In addition to providing an inventory of taxa, this paper concerns crops and crop cultivation methods. These results are interpreted in a wider context, dealing with crop husbandry, arable farming, storage and consumption practices. The sites are located in the Limagne plain within a fifty kilometre radius around the city of Clermont-Ferrand. A total of 23,579 carpological remains were identified from 163 sediment samples totalizing a volume of 1096 liters. Comparable to other sites in Gaul, the spectrum of cereals and pulses is restricted. Spelt (Triticum spelta), einkorn (Triticum monococcum) and foxtail millet (Setaria italica) are disappearing or become rare. A better control of agricultural techniques and increased yields are supposed during the ca. five centuries of the La Tene period. Mixed cultivation is hereby replaced by the sowing of monocrops. At the beginning of this period, farming systems are dominated by a polyculture of cereals and pulses. They become more specialized during the last two centuries before the Roman conquest; diversity of cereals and pulses is decreased.

Land use, economy and cult in late Iron Age ritual centres: an archaeobotanical study of the La Tène site at Sandberg-Roseldorf, Lower Austria

Sandberg-Roseldorf—one of the largest known lowland La Tene settlements in central Europe—is located in a very fertile area favouring cereal cultivation. The site is remarkable for its temple districts and its possible religious significance. A total of 27,252 charred plant remains have been analysed from Temple District 1 and a section of the settlement area, including a burnt granary. Altogether 14 crop plant species have been identified, some of them pointing to contacts with the Mediterranean. The 136 recorded wild plant taxa originate from major habitat types around the settlement, including arable fields, ruderal sites, steppe grassland on loess, dry grassland on acidic soils, mesic grassland on moist valley bottoms, as well as woods and forest steppe complexes. Land use seems to have been quite intensive around Roseldorf. Palaeoeconomic calculations show that the exceptionally rich agrarian environment could have easily supported a sizeable human population, only parts of which had to devote themselves to food production. Ritual contexts yielded rich and some exceptional plant material.

Geochemical and isotopic constraints on the evolution of Late Paleozoic dyke swarms in West Junggar, Xinjiang, China

There are two sets (NW and NE trending) of basic to intermediate dykes emplaced into both the Carboniferous volcanic-sedimentary strata and undeformed plutons in the West Junggar, northern Xinjiang, China. The Early to Middle Permian NW trending dykes are mainly diorite and diorite porphyrite characterized by moderate Mg# (55–66.1) belonging to calc-alkaline series. The Late Permian NE trending dykes are diabase and diabase porphyritic belonging to tholeiitic series with low Mg# (41.4–58.3). Both sets of dykes exhibit enriched LILEs, depleted Nb, Ta, HREEs and highly depleted isotopic signatures (εNd=5.1–8.1, ISr=0.70379–0.70675). Trace element and isotopic data indicate that the NW trending dykes were generated by partial melting of a recently metasomatized subducted cold lithospheric mantle (SCLM) coupled with variable assimilation of juvenile crustal materials, whereas the NE trending dykes were derived from the partial melting of a similar SCLM with lower degree of metasomatism than the NW trending dykes which were subsequently subjected to magma modification by the fractional crystallization of olivine, pyroxene and/or plagioclase. The arc signatures exhibited by the trace element patterns of both sets of dykes in North Xinjiang imply a recently metasomated mantle in this region formed during subduction prior to Late Paleozoic. The mafic dyke swarms in this region are the products of Phanerozoic continental growth in North Xinjiang indicating widespread lithospheric extension.

Climate change and decadal to centennial-scale periodicities recorded in a late Holocene NE Pacific marine record: Examining the role of solar forcing

We present a decadal-scale late Holocene climate record based on diatoms, biogenic silica, and grain size from a 12-m sediment core (VEC02A04) obtained from Frederick Sound in the Seymour-Belize Inlet Complex of British Columbia, Canada. Sediments are characterized by graded, massive, and laminated intervals. Laminated intervals are most common between c. 2948–2708cal. yr BP and c. 1992–1727cal. yr BP. Increased preservation of laminated sediments and diatom assemblage changes at this time suggest that climate became moderately drier and cooler relative to the preceding and succeeding intervals. Spectral and wavelet analyses are used to test for statistically significant periodicities in time series of proxies of primary production (total diatom abundance, biogenic silica) and hydrology (grain size) preserved in the Frederick Sound record. Periodicities of c. 42–53, 60–70, 82–89, 241–243, and 380yrs are present. Results are compared to reconstructed sunspot number data of Solanki et al. (2004) using cross wavelet transform to evaluate the role of solar forcing on NE Pacific climate. Significant common power of periodicities between c. 42–60, 70–89, 241–243, and of 380yrs occur, suggesting that celestial forcing impacted late Holocene climate at Frederick Sound. Replication of the c. 241–243yr periodicity in sunspot time series is most pronounced between c. 2900cal. yr BP and c. 2000cal. yr BP, broadly correlative to the timing of maximum preservation of laminated sedimentary successions and diatom assemblage changes. High solar activity at the Suess/de Vries band may have been manifested as a prolonged westward shift and/or weakening of the Aleutian Low in the mid-late Holocene, which would have diverted fewer North Pacific storms and resulted in the relatively dry conditions reconstructed for the Seymour-Belize Inlet Complex.

Interregional and Multidirectional Contacts of Local Elites: A Case of Scabbards with Crossbars Decorated with Three or More S-Figures in Northern Poland

At the beginning of the Late Pre-Roman Period, various cultural transformations occurred on Polish territory induced by La Tene culture, and, to a lesser extent, by Jastorf culture circle stimuli. As a result of these influences, new cultures appeared: Oksywie culture in the north of Poland, and Przeworsk culture to south of Oksywie culture. Among Oksywie culture sepulchral materials, many imported items can be identified, such as metal scabbards with crossbars decorated with three or more S-figures. These sheaths were found together with items imported from La Tene culture and Roman territories. The article analyses the provenance and distribution of imported items. The authors try to define the origin of the scabbards, and show the interaction between Oksywie culture societies and Celtic cultures. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/ 10.15181/ab.v18i0.65 Key words: Przeworsk culture, Oksywie culture, Pre-Roman Period, Celtic imports, Roman imports, weapons.

Depozyty ze szczątkami mięczaków na stanowiskach kultury łużyckiej z Polski. Charakterystyka i próba określenia ich genezy

For communities of Lusatian culture (the III Bronze Age period – the beginning of the Early La Tene), which occupied Polish lands, one of the basic way of the environment exploitation it was gathering of various plants, small vertebrates and also molluscs. The article contain collected from the literature data of molluscs remains, which have been found at aforementioned culture sites. They were used to characterize shells aggregations and to make an attempt to determine their origin at archaeological sites. Furthermore usefulness of molluscs in reconstruction of the former environment and its changes, and also as a bio-informants of human activities have been shown. A documented diversity of shells deposits allowed the author to make several interpretations. There are reasonable grounds to conclude that some of aggregations have been caused by subsistence economic activities of communities of Lusatian culture (e.g. Kamionka Nadbuzna, site 1). Molluscs could be eaten by human and animals. The shells were probably used as raw material for making utilitarian articles. They were presumably also used to make an amulets and talismans, both categories could be associated with certain beliefs and magical treatments. In this article have been shown that the natural aggregations of molluscs remains, not related to intentional human activity, together with the knowledge on biodiversity and the ecological requirements of individual representatives of the Mollusca type can be used in the interpretation of local environmental conditions in the past.

The ~ 31 ka rhyolitic Plinian to sub-Plinian eruption of Tlaloc Volcano, Sierra Nevada, central Mexico

Tlaloc is a late Pleistocene stratovolcano located NE of México City. It is the northernmost volcano of the N–S Sierra Nevada Volcanic Range, which consists from north to south of Tlaloc, Telapón, Iztaccíhuatl, and Popocatépetl volcanoes. Tlaloc has always been considered the oldest (and extinct) volcano of the Sierra Nevada Volcanic Range. Recent field data revealed that Tlaloc was very active during late Pleistocene through a series of explosive eruptions. One of these eruptions produced the Multilayered White Pumice (MWP) a rhyolitic pyroclastic sequence. The eruption began with a 24-km high Plinian column MWP-F1 that was dispersed to the NE by prevailing winds. It was interrupted by fountaining of the column with the generation of a pyroclastic density current that emplaced MWP-S1 layer. Then, followed five unstable sub-Plinian columns (MWP-F2 to F6) that reached altitudes between 16 and 19km. Fall deposits as a whole are 1m thick at 12km from the vent, cover a minimum area of 577km2 for a total volume of 4.68km3 (DRE 1.58km3). The eruption ejected a total mass of 3.45×1012kg at different mass discharges. The last sub-Plinian column (MWP-F6) collapsed and produced dense pyroclastic density currents that deposited pumiceous pyroclastic flows (MWP-PF) following main ravines to the north and east of the vent. These density currents filled gullies with 23m-thick deposits at a distance of 12km from the vent totaling a minimum DRE volume of 0.2km3. Pyroclastic flow deposits charred tree trunks that yielded an age of 31,490+1995/−1595yrB.P. that closely date the age of the eruption. Rain during this phase of the eruption generated syn-eruptive lahars (MWP-DF). Post-eruptive lahars (MWP-ED) finally swept the volcano flanks.The MWP deposits consist of abundant white pumice (up to 96vol.%), rare gray pumice, cognate lithics, accidental altered lithics, xenocrysts. White and gray pumice clasts contain phenocrysts of quartz, plagioclase, sanidine, biotite, rare Fe–Ti oxides, monazite, zircon and apatite. Xenocrysts are represented by plagioclase, microcline, orthoclase and quartz likely coming from a deeper plutonic body. Both pumices have a rhyolitic composition (74.98±1wt.% SiO2 in water free basis) representing one of the most acidic products of Tlaloc and the entire Sierra Nevada Volcanic Range. The rhyolitic liquid was likely extracted from a mush-like plutonic body reaching the minimum predicted vesicularity values for Plinian fragmentation for which the triggering mechanism of the MWP eruption is attributed to the high viscosity of the magma that provoked overpressure of the magmatic system. The parameters studied suggest that eruption behavior evolved from Plinian to sub-Plinian eruptive columns over time due to conduit dynamics rather than variations in magma properties of the MWP products.

Alloying Elements as Chronotechnological Marker for Second and First Century BC Fibulae from Ancient Pannonia

Fibulae as main the metal elements of people’s costume and clothing vary significantly in form and shape through time, and therefore, they are the perfect chronological markers of periods and time horizons and help archaeologists to date associated finds and stratigraphic units precisely. Five Late La Tene fibulae (150–80 BC) typical of the Western Carpathian Basin were studied in order to achieve information of their composition and manufacture. In particular, the alloy compositions were analyzed to understand if different alloys were used for the bow and the pin of the fibulae, and to establish if Pb and Zn were present. The latter was introduced to the workshops in Gallia and Northern Italy, and reached as imports the southeast Alpine region around 50 BC, creating a chronological horizon interesting for dating. Pb with >5 wt.% also turned out to be a chronological marker of La Tene fibulae. The presence of these alloying elements thus gives an even more detailed technological and chronological picture of the metallurgical advances in the ancient region of Pannonia during the second and beginning of the first century BC.

Studiul comparativ privind prelucrarea materiei dure de origine animală în situl arheologic Feteşti, punctul La Schit, jud. Suceava / A comparative study for the manufacturing of bone and antler tools from the archaeological site of Feteşti -“La schit”, Suceava County

Articolul prezintă obiecte din materie dură de origine animală descoperite în aşezarea de la Feteşti-La Schit (judeţul Suceava). Au fost analizate materialele de origine animală din trei niveluri arheologice : Cucuteni B, Erbiceni-Horodiştea-Folteşti şi La Tène. Dintre acestea, artefactele din nivelul Cucuteni B au fost studiate pe larg şi prezentate în context regional. Fiecare artefact a fost identificat din punct de vedere anatomic şi taxonomic, fiind făcută o descriere tipologică şi una privind folosirea acestora.