scholarly journals Obsidian from the Site of Piano dei Cardoni, Ustica (Palermo, Italy): Preliminary Results on the First Occupation of the Island

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 273-290
Author(s):  
Claudia Speciale ◽  
Kyle P. Freund ◽  
Sandro de Vita ◽  
Nunzia Larosa ◽  
Vincenza Forgia ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Raw Material ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Material Sources ◽  
Southern Side ◽  
Ams Dating ◽  
First Time ◽  
Xrf Analyses

Abstract New investigations on Ustica (Palermo, Sicily) originated from the need to improve our knowledge of the island’s archaeological and environmental heritage. Through field surveys, particular attention was paid to human occupation in the Neolithic phases and focused on the less investigated southern side of the island. The systematic survey of the area of Piano dei Cardoni in 2018 brought to light a new Middle/Late Neolithic site, already partially documented in the literature. The island was settled for the first time during these phases, as also testified from the area of Punta Spalmatore. The presence of Serra d’Alto, incised dark burnished, and Diana styles suggests that the site and the archaeological assemblage dates from the mid to late 5th millennium BC, as confirmed by AMS dating. In addition to pottery, obsidian artifacts were also recovered, and a preliminary study of these materials is presented here. Portable XRF analyses on a sample of 41 obsidian artifacts, representing a high percentage of the lithic assemblage compared to chert tools, show that the provenance of the raw material is Gabellotto Gorge (Lipari) and Balata dei Turchi (Pantelleria). These results provide new insight into broader regional debates about obsidian technology and its exchange during the Neolithic and open an important consideration for sites that are far from the raw material sources.

scholarly journals New challenges in the study of lithic raw materials in central Italy at the dawn of metal working societies: La Pietra and other radiolarite quarry-workshops in Tuscany

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sem Scaramucci ◽  
Vanessa Volpi ◽  
Armando Costantini ◽  
Marco Giamello ◽  
Alessandro Donati ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Central Italy ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Copper Age ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Archaeological Data ◽  
Geochemical Analyses ◽  
First Time ◽  
Non Destructive

In central-southern Tuscany radiolarite has been used as a lithic raw material throughout prehistory. During the Copper Age it was selected for the local production of leaf-shaped artefacts. In the area considered, the Copper Age record is almost totally restricted to burials and virtually no settlements have been investigated so far. Radiolarite artefacts are found mostly as refined arrow and, possibly javelin, heads used as grave goods.Within this context, the discovery and recent investigation of the large radiolarite quarry of La Pietra (Roccastrada, Grosseto) and of the related workshops is of great interest. Our aim here is to integrate the record from this site with other contemporary evidence of radiolarite exploitation. A programme of surveys has thus begun on the other radiolarite outcrops of the area in order to verify the existence of further rock quarrying or working. The discovery of a previously unknown quarry-workshop and two previously unknown workshops on radiolarite outcrops is presented here for the first time. The geological and archaeological data coming from the quarry-workshops will be used, in a future stage of research, to source the radiolarite artefacts found in Copper Age graves of Central Italy. The Copper age armatures are valuable artefacts mostly kept in museums and fully non-destructive analyses must be applied to them. To tackle these challenges, we followed a methodological approach which integrates field surveys, the individuation of petrographic markers of the most exploited radiolarite horizons and geochemical analyses. For geochemical characterization, we made use of pXRF portable spectrometer and here we present some preliminary results in the light of current methodological debate.In conclusion, even if some methodological questions remain open, we verified the feasibility of this programme of geographical, geological and geochemical characterizations and need now to increase our dataset in order to reconstruct a viable picture of Copper age lithic economy in central-southern Tuscany.

scholarly journals The hunter-gatherer site BES II (Jacaré-Guaçu River low terraces, central Sao Paulo state, Brazil): Interface with geomorphical and environmental fluctuations of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Fabio Grossi Santos ◽  
Pedro Michelutti Cheliz
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Archaeological Site ◽  
Large River ◽  
Structure Study ◽  
Sao Paulo ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
São Paulo ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Ephemeral Channels

The lithic site Boa Esperança II (BES II), in the São Paulo segment of the Brazilian Plateau, next to the boundary between the cities of Araraquara (SP) and Boa Esperança do Sul (SP), presents a collection of almost 2,000 lithic artifacts (predominantly chert and sandstone), being interpreted as a settlement of diversified functions with possibly continuous or successive occupation. In this work, we approach the site based on interface of its insertion in the regional physical-environmental context - with emphasis on the interface with relief frames, surface structure study and estimated geomorphic sequences of the alluvial plain of Jacaré-Guaçu river - and techno-typological analysis. It was verified that the BES II artifacts are distributed along vertical profiles and relief pictures lined by records that mark the transition from semi-arid conditions to others of increasing humidity, successive oscillations of base levels and modifications of fluvial regimes (ephemeral channels passing to perennial channels of different hydrological meandrings patterns), indicating that human occupation has dealt with conditions of quite distinct landscapes between the Late Pleistocene and the Holocene. Local lithic industry would have taken advantage of attributes derived from these modifications in the landscape over time - in particular the exposure of gravels of large river pebbles deposited by torrential ephemeral channels. The past  abundance of raw material of fluvial origin would have contributed to the location of the site in the regional geomorphological context, as well as for a lithic assemblage based on the production of large unipolar flakes. We observed in the correlations between the position of artifacts, geomorphical and pedological data, OSL and Carbone-14 dates at archaeological levels, elements that allow us to discuss considering BES II as an archaeological site to integrate the interval of the Pleistocene-Holocene transition and to had interfaces with the geomorphological and environmental changes of such time. The archaeological implications of the issue and the fact that only one dating of photoluminescence has been reported from the deepest level of the site (basal gravel layer) emphasize the need for new, denser and more diversified studies.

scholarly journals Stone Tools in the High Molise Mountains (Italy): a first Report

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Vittorio Mironti ◽  
Melissa Vilmercati ◽  
Enrico Lucci ◽  
Rachele Modesto
Keyword(s):  
Bronze Age ◽  
Southern Italy ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Material Procurement ◽  
Mountainous Landscape ◽  
Molise Region ◽  
University Of Rome

In the last decades, several researches focused on the inland areas of Molise Region (Central-Southern Italy) to investigate the occupation and exploitation of this environment during Pleistocene and Holocene. The “Molise Survey Project” started in 2015 with the aim to explore, through systematic surveys, an area of 60 square kilometres, chiefly characterized by a mountainous landscape and part of the Central-Southern Italy Apennines. The project seeks to investigate the patterns of human occupation in the mountainous landscape between the provinces of Campobasso and Isernia. The surveys, carried out during the last four years, allowed the identification of 19 prehistoric sites ranging from Palaeolithic to Bronze Age: the archaeological materials belonging to the latter period are being studied by the team of “Paletnologia” of Sapienza University of Rome. This work aims to show the preliminary results of the analysis of the lithic assemblage acquired during the summer of 2016 surveys, focusing on raw material procurement and the related chaîne opératoire, also considering post-depositional agents. The obtained data allowed to reassess the human presence over inland and high-altitude areas of Molise during prehistoric times, stressing a seasonal use of the territory, from Palaeolithic to Late Prehistory, with different patterns of occupation and exploitation.

scholarly journals The Neolithic Site of San Martino — Sicily: Working and Circulation of Obsidian from Lipari

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-82
Author(s):  
Tania Quero ◽  
Maria Clara Martinelli ◽  
Letterio Giordano
Keyword(s):  
Raw Material ◽  
Northern Coast ◽  
Tyrrhenian Sea ◽  
Neolithic Period ◽  
Late Neolithic ◽  
Neolithic Site ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Hill Slope ◽  
Strategic Location ◽  
The City

AbstractThe settlement of San Martino was found in 2008 on the Northern coast of Sicily (near the city of Spadafora — Messina). It is located on a hill slope about 4 km from the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, near an ancient river which is no longer present today. The stratigraphy included two Neolithic levels: the oldest one belonged to the Stentinello culture (middle Neolithic — 6th-5th millennium BC cal) and the later one belonged to the Diana culture (Late Neolithic — 4th millennium BC cal). The San Martino lithic assemblage consists of a very significant amount of obsidian knapping products that have allowed us to examine the procurement, exploitation and circulation of this raw material, from the source on the island off the coast of Sicily, during the Neolithic period. Considering its strategic location and some analogies with other settlements nearby, the site of San Martino was probably part of the Lipari obsidian networks of exchange.

An Early Holocene Lithic Assemblage from Dibé Rockshelter, South-Central Ethiopia

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Hila Ashkenazy ◽  
Yonatan Sahle
Keyword(s):  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Early Holocene ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Similar Reduction ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Radiocarbon Dates ◽  
Lithic Assemblage ◽  
Material Sources ◽  
South Central ◽  
Siliceous Rocks

Abstract The dearth of securely dated assemblages in the Horn of Africa limits a comprehensive understanding of human adaptation across the Early Holocene. This paper presents results from initial analyses of lithic material from Dibé rockshelter in the Arsi lowlands, Ethiopia. Radiocarbon dates confirm occupation of Dibé rockshelter by hunter-gatherers directly following improved climatic conditions marking the onset of the Holocene. Microliths dominate both the surface and excavated sub-assemblages. Micro-burins and Levallois items are present, although more frequent as surface finds. Regionally available siliceous rocks were extensively exploited, with greater variety in the older occupation layers signifying differential access to raw material sources and/or wider foraging ranges. Largely similar reduction patterns and toolkits across the sampled sequence imply continuity in lithic tradition. This, coupled with the total absence of finds commonly associated with early food production, suggests that Dibé was abandoned during one of the abrupt arid episodes of the Early/Mid-Holocene.

Calculation of the Glaze Recipe for Porcelain Feldspar Products Based on their Molecular Formula Rationalization

2008 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-134
Author(s):  
Ion Teoreanu ◽  
Roxana Lucia Dumitrache ◽  
Stefania Stoleriu
Keyword(s):  
Raw Materials ◽  
Computer Programs ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Easy Access ◽  
Molecular Formula ◽  
Design Equation ◽  
Material Sources

Any change of the raw material sources for glazes, economically, ecologically motivated, and also from the glaze quality point of view, is conditioned by the molecular formula rationalization and by the variation limits of the molecular formula, respectively. The proper glaze compositions are placed within their limit variation intervals with optimized processing and utilization properties. For this purpose, the rationalization criteria and procedures of molecular formulas are summarized in the present paper, as well as the results referring to their rationalization obtained in the authors� previous work. Thus, one starts from a base of raw materials that are selected, usable and also accessible for the design and producing of the glazes. On these bases the groundwork and the design equation for the glaze recipes are developed, exemplified for a single glaze. For an easy access to results, computer programs are used for an easy access to results.

Colour and Directional Symbolism in Ancestral Pueblo Radial Offerings from Chaco Canyon

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Hannah V. Mattson
Keyword(s):  
American Southwest ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Chaco Canyon ◽  
Assemblage Theory ◽  
Ancestral Pueblo ◽  
Landscape Features ◽  
Material Sources ◽  
Regional System ◽  
Roof Support

Dedicatory offerings of small colourful objects are often found in pre-Hispanic architectural contexts in the Ancestral Pueblo region of the American Southwest. These deposits are particularly numerous in the roof support pillars of circular ritual structures (kivas) at the site of Pueblo Bonito, Chaco Canyon, which served as the ceremonial hub of the Chacoan regional system between the tenth and twelfth centuries ce. Based on the importance of directionality and colour in traditional Pueblo worldviews, archaeologists speculate that the contents of these radial offerings may likewise reference significant Chacoan cosmographic elements. In this paper, I explore this idea by examining the distribution of colours and materials in kiva pilaster repositories in relation to directional quadrants, prominent landscape features, and raw material sources. I discuss the results in the context of Pueblo cosmology and assemblage theory, arguing that particular colours were polyvalent and relational, deriving their meanings from their positions within interacting and heterogenous assemblages.

scholarly journals Environmental evolution, faunal and human occupation since 2 Ma in the Anagni basin, central Italy

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Florindo ◽  
Fabrizio Marra ◽  
Diego E. Angelucci ◽  
Italo Biddittu ◽  
Luciano Bruni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Central Italy ◽  
Time Frame ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Time Interval ◽  
Human Occupation ◽  
Environmental Evolution ◽  
Entire Interval ◽  
Field Surveys ◽  
Sedimentary Succession ◽  
Favorable Conditions

AbstractWe present the study of a composite, yet continuous sedimentary succession covering the time interval spanning 2.6–0.36 Ma in the intramontane basin of Anagni (central Italy) through a dedicated borecore, field surveys, and the review of previous data at the three palaeontological and archaeological sites of Colle Marino, Coste San Giacomo and Fontana Ranuccio. By combining the magneto- and chronostratigraphic data with sedimentologic and biostratigraphic analysis, we describe the palaeogeographic and tectonic evolution of this region during this entire interval. In this time frame, starting from 0.8 Ma, the progressive shallowing and temporary emersion of the large lacustrine basins and alluvial plains created favorable conditions for early hominin occupation of the area, as attested by abundant tool industry occurrences and fossils. This study provides new constraints to better interpret the hominin migratory dynamics and the factors that influenced the location and spatial distribution during the early occupation of this region.

scholarly journals Determination of Essential Oil Bioactive Components and Rosmarinic Acid of Salvia officinalis Cultivated under Different Intra-row Spacing

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 198-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad ABU DARWISH ◽  
Ezz Al-Dein AL-RAMAMNEH ◽  
Ivan SALAMON ◽  
Ziad ABU-DIEYEH ◽  
Mohamed AL NAWAISEH ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Essential Oil ◽  
Essential Oils ◽  
Rosmarinic Acid ◽  
Plant Density ◽  
Salvia Officinalis ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Row Spacing ◽  
Human Disorders ◽  
Tea Production ◽  
First Time

Salvia officinalis, known also as sage, is a medicinal plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family that spreads all over the word in several countries. The demand for the raw material and extracts of this plant is increasing due to its numerous applications in pharmacy, food and herbal tea production. The present study investigated for the first time the effect of 15, 30 and 45 cm intra-row spacing (plant density) on the main constituents of sage essential oils and rosmarinic acid content. The highest content of essential oils (2.7%) and rosmarinic acid (2.0%) were obtained in plants grown using 15 cm planting space. Likewise, close spacing resulted also in a substantial content of 1,8-cineole (47-50%, GC/FID; 55-60%, GC/MS). This work indicated that 1,8-cineole chemotype was a dominant character of cultivated S. officinalis in south of Jordan. In general, the percent of α-thujone in essential oil was not affected by intra-row spacing. However, the percent of β-thujone decreased from (2-3%, GC/MS) in plants grown using 15 cm intra-row spacing to (1-2%, GC/MS) in plants grown using 30 and 45 cm intra-row spacing. The highest content of α-and β-pinene was recorded in plants grown using 45 cm planting space (8-10%, GC/FID; 5-6% GC/MS). Based on GC/MS, camphor compound was enriched (9-10%) in sage plants grown under 15 cm spacing and greater than in plants grown under 30 (6-7%) or 45 cm (5-6%) spacing. The results make the potential use of sage extracts in the treatment of some human disorders or illness an area of further research.

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