theolduvaigorge:

600-year-old body find in Fermanagh crannog site sparks murder mystery

• by David Young

“A 600-year-old body found by archaeologists excavating the crannog site in Co Fermanagh may have been the victim of an ancient murder mystery.

The fact the woman, who was in her late teens when she died, was not buried in either a recognised graveyard or in traditional manner has led archaeologists to consider foul play.

Excavation director Dr Nora Bermingham dated the teenager’s death to around the 15th or 16th centuries.

“The skeleton of a young woman, probably around 18 or 19 with very bad teeth, was found in the upper layers of the crannog,” she said.

The expert described the burial as “irregular” but said the cause of death may only be discovered when the remains are examined by a bones specialist.

“All we can say at the moment was that the burial itself was in slight disarray, it was slightly disarticulated, which means that it wasn’t a normal internment,” she said.

“This person wasn’t laid out on their back in an east-west direction, which is normal for a Christian burial.

“The body seems to have been bundled into the position it was buried in.”

Considering whether the young woman may have been killed, Dr Bermingham added:

“It’s not uncommon for people who have either committed crimes or people who have been murdered or what not to have been buried in this fashion.”

Dr John O’Keeffe, principal inspector of historic monuments with Stormont’s Department of the Environment, also believes something other than natural causes may have been a factor.

“I very much suspect it was somebody who probably died suddenly and tragically at the site and rather than being brought to a grave yard they were buried there,” he said.

“I don’t know if that was clandestine or what.”

The skull of the woman has sustained damage, but archaeologists are not sure if that happened prior to death or by disruption of the site in the centuries since.

While the woman may be over half a millennium old, she would have lived at a time when the crannog was coming to the end of its period of habitation.

Carbon dating has confirmed that some of the site’s earliest homes were built in and around 670AD.

As the dig through century upon century of crannog life got closer to the initial foundations, archaeologists knew there was a possibility of finding more human remains.

“At other crannogs that were excavated in the 1930s there were people’s heads lying about the bottom,” said Dr O’Keeffe, noting that some skeletons were also found in manacles and chains.

“It may have been an element of conquest, saying, ‘Right, this is mine now boys, we are going to consecrate it with the blood of your ancestors’.” “

***Not palaeo, but we don’t get many Irish bones around here and I’m partial. 

(Source: Belfast Telegraph).

theolduvaigorge:

How Skeletal Remains Can Teach Us About Prehistoric Organic Technologies

• by Michelle C. Langley
• Based on the article Interproximal grooving of lower second molars in WLH 4 by Arthur Durband, Michael Westaway and Daniel Rayner published in AA75. 

“Stone tools, called ‘lithics’ by archaeologists, are the ‘bread and butter’ of researchers interested in human evolution and/or the various hunter-gatherer cultures which comprise human prehistory (including those in the ethnographic present). Lithic technology has been around some 2.6 million years, and in many cases, remains the only evidence for human behaviour which has survived the multitudes of natural and cultural processes which can destroy sites over the thousands of years they lie on or in the ground.

Despite the early appearance and prevalence of stone technology in the archaeological record worldwide, it is likely that the first tools used by our ancestors were organic– being made from either wood, grass, bone or any other natural raw material which decomposes and disintegrates long before the archaeologist begins to investigate the place in which they were made, used and discarded. Consequently, the oldest organic tools to have been recovered are much younger than their stone counterparts and have only survived through exceptional circumstances of preservation. An example is the 400,000 year old wooden spears recovered from the site of Schöningen (Germany), which were preserved only because they rested in an anaerobic (no oxygen) environment in which natural decay was prevented. These weapons were used to hunt horses, and along with the lithic tools used to butcher the captured animals, allowed archaeologists to learn about the subsistence (food gathering and processing) activities of the early humans who inhabited the area. An Australian example of organic projectile weaponry surviving through exceptional preservation circumstances are the Wyrie Swamp (southeast Australia) finds. Here, 25 artefacts made from sheoak including digging sticks,boomerangs, one-piece spears with points or barbs and pointed stakes were recovered and dated to 11,796–9114 years BP. This site provides clear evidence that boomerangs have an antiquity of at least 10,000 years!

Furthermore, archaeological and ethnographic research has demonstrated that in many regions of the world, tools manufactured from organic raw materials make up the majority of a communities material culture (their tools, clothing, artwork, housing etc). Thus, the survival of only stone technology plus a handful of organic items in many ancient archaeological sites means that the diversity and complexity of hunter-gatherer technology is difficult to investigate in depth. In other words, we are having to build our interpretations of the past from only a small sample of what was originally made and used byPleistocene (before 10,000 years ago) populations, though certain sites such as Blombos Cave (South Africa) and Grotte des Pigeons (Taforalt, Morocco) have provided artefacts made from marine shell which have changed the way we understand our earliest African ancestors” (read more).

(Source: Australian Archaeological Association)

theolduvaigorge:

NEUTRON TOMOGRAPHIC ASSESSMENT OF INCISIONS ON PREHISTORIC STONE SLABS: A CASE STUDY FROM WONDERWERK CAVE, SOUTH AFRICA

• by L. JACOBSON, F.C. DE BEER, R. NSHIMIRIMANA, L. K. HORWITZ and M. CHAZAN

“This study presents the application of neutron tomography to the analysis of ironstone slabs found in a late Earlier Stone Age context (Fauresmith industry) at the back of Wonderwerk Cave, Northern Cape Province, South Africa. These slabs have markings on the surface that might be anthropogenic, and thus significant to understanding the emergence of human symbolic behaviour. Neutron tomography proved to be an effective tool for distinguishing surface incisions from lines that are the expression of internal fissures in the rock. In recent years, a range of non-destructive imaging techniques based on penetrating radiation has been developed for the non-invasive three-dimensional (3D) study of the internal structure of objects. Imaging with penetrating radiation entails the set-up geometry of source–sample–detector. Radiation from the source is collimated towards the sample and detector. As the radiation passes through the sample, it is attenuated (absorbed and/or scattered) to a higher or lesser degree due to characteristics related to the type of radiation used, as well as characteristics of the sample’s composition. A two-dimensional (2D) ‘shadow image’ of the sample is cast on the detector (in electronic and digital format), from where the image (2D-radiograph) is relayed for inspection and observation on a PC monitor. Among these methods, neutron tomography (NT) has established itself as an important diagnostic tool for non-destructive examination and analysis of historical, archaeological and fossil objects (e.g., Schillinger et al. 1996; Schwarz et al. 2005; Rant et al. 2005, Fiori et al. 2006; Kardjilov et al. 2006; Kusche et al. 2007; Banhart 2008; de Beer et al. 2009). NT is a radiation-based analytical imaging technique that shares many features with other tomographic imaging methods: it uses serial slices and facilitates virtual reconstruction of both the internal and external structure of 3D objects on a 2D or 3D scale. That it is non-invasive is a critical factor, since many of the samples studied may be rare or unique, or alternatively breaking/cutting them will undermine the goals of the investigation (Rant et al. 2005).

The specific importance of NT lies in the ability of neutrons to penetrate many materials, including metals, which other imaging techniques cannot (Johansen 2005). Moreover, NT has proved especially successful in providing high-resolution images, in the order of magnitude of tenths of a millimetre, for features within a rock sample that is several centimetres in size, and also of imaging hidden interior features that X-ray and gamma-ray imaging have failed to reveal (Schillinger et al. 1996). Although most applications of NT have focused on metals, several studies have centred on imaging the internal composition of geological samples (e.g., Winkler et al. 2002; Vontobel et al. 2005; de Beer et al. 2007; Longridge et al. 2009). Indeed, NT has proved to be an important complement to X-ray tomography in determining or validating existing data concerning some of the important physical properties of rock” (read more).

(Source: Archaeometry 55:1-13, 2013)

prettysweetlemons:

A fantastic and easy visual mnemonic to help you learn your primates! All credit to Tdadamemd on Wikipedia for this beauty.

No prizes for guessing who’s revising for their Human Origins course.

”This image is a hand mnemonic used to help students learn a categorization of primates. The right hand (held palm upward) correlates to the apes, including the great apes and lesser apes. Humans are distinct from that group as the thumb is distinct from the other four digits of the hand. Apes are distinct from other primates in that they evolved to be tailless. Old world monkeys have a family name that means “tailed ape” and are indicated on the left thumb that points toward the right hand of apes. Old world monkeys are grouped with all of the apes in the parvorder called Catarrhini. New world monkeys on the left index finger form their own parvorder called Platyrrhini (meaning “flat nosed”). These are the only monkeys with prehensile tails. The group of simians (higher primates) are all apes and monkeys, so includes all of the above (Catarrhini and Platyrrhini). The three remaining digits on the left hand form the group of prosimians (lower primates).

The hand phalanges are not to be mistaken for a phylogeny as the branching geometry is not accurate. And the ten hand digits do not correspond to any single particular level of taxonomy. The specific correspondence of digits is:

• right thumb = genus Homo => 1 species: homo sapiens,
• right index = genus Pan => 2 species: common chimpanzees (4 subspecies) and bonobos,
• right middle = subfamily Gorillinae => genus Gorilla => 2 species: western gorillas (2 subspecies) and eastern gorillas (2 subspecies),
• right ring = subfamily Ponginae => genus Pongo => 2 species: Bornean orangutans (3 subspecies) and Sumatran orangutans,
• right pinky = family Hylobatidae => 4 genera of gibbons => nearly twenty species in total, including siamangs, lar gibbons and hoolock gibbons,
  
  
  
• left thumb = superfamily Cercopithecoidea (old world monkeys) => well over one hundred species including baboons and macaques,
• left index = parvorder Platyrrhini => superfamily Ceboidea (new world monkeys) => well over one hundred species including marmosets, tamarins, titis, howlers and squirrel monkeys,
• left middle = infraorder of tarsiers,
• left ring = superfamily of lemurs,
• left pinky = superfamily of lorisoids.

Categorization of humans has not been without controversy. One position is that homo sapiens are above apes and that it is improper to categorize the species as one of the great apes. The opposite extreme is the view that humans are “the third chimpanzee”, based upon the very high percentage of genetic commonality between the species. This image follows a convention found between these two positions.

All primates are mammals. The word ‘mammal’ emphasizes the mother-offspring bond established through breastfeeding (mammary gland feeding > mammals). Humans are unique among primates and mammals, and the name ‘man’ can be understood as an emphasis of the exceptional human ability to manage and control our environment through manipulation with manual labor using our hands. The words ‘manual’, ‘manipulate’ and ‘manage’ are from the root ‘manus’ which is Latin for ‘hand’ (manus/hand control over nature > man). The term ‘primate’ means ‘first rank’, similar to the word ‘prime’. An objection could be made that this is an entirely human-centric bias and is lacking in due consideration for other highly evolved species such as dolphins and elephants. It is conceivable that when humanity achieves the ability to fully step away from an ego-center-of-the-universe attitude, a replacement blanket term for this order will be used instead of ‘primate’.”

The original page can be found here.

pitchforking:

For years, few were interested in unearthing what lay beneath old gallows and scaffolds. But, in Germany, growing interest in “execution site archaeology” is throwing much light on how the executed died and the executors lived.

(via Germany Sees Rising Interest in Execution Site Archaeology - SPIEGEL ONLINE)

archaeoprehistorica:

Latest research! Six papers on Australopithecus Sediba

museumably:

“Hobbit” brains could have been bigger than initially postulated

Check it out here: http://news.yahoo.com/real-hobbit-had-larger-brain-thought-230545891.html

mucholderthen:

CUEVA DE LAS MAN0S
SOUTH AMERICAN PALEOLITHIC CAVE ART
Santa Cruz province, Argentina  [Patagonia]

This archaeological site in the canyon of Río Pinturas contains an exceptional amount of cave art, created between 13,000 and 9,500 years ago.  

The name - “cave of the hands” - derives from the countless stenciled outlines of human hands in the cave, but there are also many depictions of animals, as well as hunting scenes, and geometric designs.

The people responsible for the paintings may have been the ancestors of the historic hunter-gatherer communities of Patagonia found by European settlers in the 19th century.

( x )  and ( x )
[source of images]
See also wikipedia.

theolduvaigorge:

Paleoanthropologically significant South African sea caves dated to 1.1–1.0 million years using a combination of U–Pb, TT-OSL and palaeomagnetism

• by Robyn Pickering, Zenobia Jacobs, Andy I.R. Herries, Panagiotis Karkanas, Miryam Bar-Matthews, Jon D. Woodhead, Peter Kappen, Erich Fisher and Curtis W. Marean

“Deposits in sea caves found along the southern coastline of South Africa have produced a rich and detailed archaeological record of early modern humans. There is, however, little evidence for coastal cave deposits and human occupation older than MIS5e (∼120 ka). Based on the correlation of four different chronological methods we present evidence for remnant cave deposits of 1.1–1.0 Ma from the quartzite sea cliff of Pinnacle Point, near Mossel Bay. Initial uranium–thorium ages at isotopic equilibrium indicated an age of >500 ka for two flowstone layers, confirmed by uranium–lead dating of these flowstones from 1.099 ± 0.012 to 1.047 ± 0.011 Ma. TT-OSL (thermally transferred optically stimulated luminescence) provides an age of 1.02 ± 0.088 Ma for the sand grains imbedded in the tufa underlying the flowstone and 0.720 ± 0.066 to 0.665 ± 0.056 for the overlying beach sediments, producing an internally consistent age sequence centring on 1.0–1.1 Ma. The normal palaeomagnetic signal of the younger section of the flowstone is interpreted to represent the Jaramillo between 1.07 and 0.99 Ma. There is a clear hiatus in the middle of this flowstone, leading us to interpret the lower normal signal as the Punaruu event at ∼1.115–1.1051 Ma. Together these four techniques point to an age of 1.1–1.0 Ma for these cave deposits at Pinnacle Point, far older than anticipated. The persistent presence of these 1.1–1.0 Ma deposits means that the enigmatic lack of Earlier Stone Age (Acheulean) artefacts in the sea caves along this coastal region can no longer be explained entirely by the age of the caves or through removal of sediments by previous sea level highstands. We believe that these and other coastal caves from this region, if located high enough above sea level, may contain deposits of great antiquity, which could provide outstanding records of climate, environment, sea level change, and human occupation back into the early to middle Pleistocene.

► Four chronological methods date South African coastal caves to 1.1–1.0 Ma. ► First internally consistent U–Pb and TT-OSL data set of this age. ► Palaeomagnetic reversal data are consistent with the ∼1 Ma age. ► Caves far older than anticipated, ancient cycles of formation, filling and erosion. ► Lack of ESA artefacts now cannot be explained by purely geological processes” (read more).

(Source: Quaternary Science Reviews 65:39-52, 2013)

bluedodi:

Pottery Reveals Ice Age Hunter-Gatherers’ Taste for Fish

Hunter-gatherers living in glacial conditions produced pots for cooking fish, according to the findings of a pioneering new study led by the University of York, which reports the earliest direct evidence for the use of ceramic vessels.
Scientists carried out chemical analysis of food residues in pottery up to 15,000 years old from the late glacial period - the oldest pottery so far investigated. The team was able to determine the use of a range of hunter-gatherer ‘Jomon’ ceramic vessels through chemical analysis of organic compounds extracted from charred surface deposits. The samples analysed are some of the earliest found in Japan - one of the first centres for ceramic innovation - and date to the end of the Late Pleistocene, at a time when humans were adjusting to changing climates and new environments.
Until quite recently ceramic container technologies have been associated with the arrival of farming, but we now know they were a much earlier hunter-gatherer adaptation. The first ceramic containers must have provided attractive new ways for processing and consuming foods, but until now virtually nothing was known of how early pots were used.
According to research leader Doctor Oliver Craig, “Perhaps most interesting is that this fundamental adaptation emerged over a period of severe climate change.” This initial phase of ceramic production probably paved the way for further intensification in the warmer climate of the Holocene when we see much more pottery on Japanese sites. Doctor Craig continues: “It opens the way for further study of hunter-gatherer pottery from later periods to clarify the development of what was a revolutionary technology.”