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After interviewing surviving soldiers of Hannibal's alpine invasion of Italia and sketching out the Punic Army route, Polybius, a Greek general serving as advisor to Scipio Aemilianus, retraced the Hannibalic invasion of 218 BC, in or about 150 BC. Polybius later recounted Hannibal's route from Cartagena through the Pyrénées and Gaul (France) to the Rhône River, crossing near Arles, north to Orange, Drôme River to the Durance, diversion to the Guil River, and on to the Col de la Traversette. At ~ 3000 m asl, the Traversette provides a vantage point overlooking the Po River and the vaunted, much discussed rockfall, a ~ 250 m wide rubble mass that blocked passage of Hannibal's elephants and horses. Soldiers could pass, but clearing a path for animals took three days to allow the army to recover in the wide valley plain below, prior to exfil onto the lower Po River plains. Polybius probably spent scant time at the rockfall but noted it was a two-stage event, older rock largely eroded, partly superposed by younger rock. This brilliant observation and assessment qualify Polybius as probably the first stratigrapher in history. His separation of rockfall lobes on lichen cover and weathering/tonal contrasts, marked a seminal event in earth science history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mensuration of multi‐elemental concentrations from assorted archaeological materials has always required great care and attention to detail to ensure good‐quality data and their ensuing interpretations. Although most suspect data were generated before the wide use of computers, error‐free data are not still a certainty. This paper presents the geochemical rationale for a proposed chemical data‐assessment process, using a globally dispersed collection of ceramic, sediment and lithic data. It is argued that this process can allow archaeologists and archaeometrists to investigate systematically older and current data sets and, if need be, alter them to the reliable values they were originally intended to include. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Organo-mineral chemical coatings in rock rinds and sands and silts, underappreciated research until recently, offer a wealth of paleoenvironmental records derived from chemical and biomineral weathering over varying time frames. Rock rinds as well as sands and silts in paleosols carry various detailed records ranging from thin weathered films in young (Holocene) samples to thicker, often overprinted records in recycled sands/rinds of Pleistocene and older age, some as old as Miocene and Late Oligocene. Whereas rinds on Earth are confined to the Late Paleogene/Neogene, similar examples on Mars extend into the Noachian (∼4 Ga). New research outlined here shows that coatings tend to produce altered microsurfaces conducive to microbe growth with fossil forms found in a variety of different microenvironments, including extreme polar and tropical locales. Organo-chemical coatings on sands in paleosols reveal a wealth of biomarkers important in paleoenvironmental reconstruction from pole to equator. Rock rinds, revealed here, are shown to carry weathering zones in microcosm that often bear a close similarity to juxtaposed paleosols, the latter carrying mature A/B/C/Cu horizonation, indicating that weathering forces affecting a substrate are fine-tuned to similar kinetic forces acting on clasts in surface deposits. Aeolian and cosmic airburst inputs to rock rinds and chemical reconstruction of Si/Al wreckages leading to clay mineral reconstruction are also found in some rind and paleosol records. Analyses of such coatings using the light microscope, scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive spectrometer, focused ion beam, and secondary ion mass spectrometer offer the prospect of revealing still more secondary organo-mineral compounds, whose relation to primary mineral weathering is of importance to understanding pedogenic and diagenetic processes. The sum total of environmental change over time, written or embedded in rinds and sand/silt coatings, when subjected to high-resolution microscopy offers a novel mineral archive at the nanometer level and above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controversy over the alpine route taken by the Hannibalic Army from the Rhône Basin into Italia in 218 bc (2168 cal bp) has raged amongst classicists for over two millennia. Because Hannibal crossed the Alps, the significance for identifying the route taken by the Punic Army lies more in its potential for identifying sites of historical archaeological significance than a resolution of one of history's most enduring questions. While compelling stratigraphic, geochemical and microbiological evidence has been recovered from an alluvial floodplain mire in the upper Guil Valley, located below the Col de la Traversette (about 3000 masl) on the French–Italian border, it potentially identifies the invasion route as the one originally proposed by Sir Gavin de Beer in 1974. The dated layers in several sections, termed the MAD (mass animal deposition) beds based on disrupted/churned bedding and key/specialized biological components strongly supports de Beer's thesis that Hannibal chose the highest transit col into Italia. In addition to other physical evidence, we present here new physical, geomorphological and stratigraphic evidence, all calibrated by radiocarbon dating, that suggests Hannibal's imprint on the landscape exists in coalescing alluvial fans in the upper Po catchment of northern Italy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detailed microscopic investigations of horizons in a surface paleosol, part of a pedostratigraphic stack of tills at New Mountain, Antarctica, dated to the middle Miocene climatic optimum event (ca. 15 Ma), suggest not only that the paleoclimate history of the continent can be read from stratigraphic layers within paleosols but also that records of cosmic events may lie embedded in coatings on sand clasts resident in paleosols. Recent microscopic and chemical data from sands in the upper horizons of a surface paleosol (Ant-828), adjacent to the Taylor Glacier, contain Fe and Na coatings surfaced with cosmic signatures including welded and shock-melted grains, opaque carbon coatings, microfeature stack of cards, Fe spherules, solubilized grain surfaces with streams of melted skin, a grain carrying an Ir signature, rare earth elements elevated above crustal averages, and slightly elevated Pt/Pd ratios. The projected link to the probable black-mat event of 12.8 ka is reinforced by the presence of fresh opaque carbon and other cosmic signatures on grain surfaces that overlie well-weathered grain features, presumably weathering from middle Miocene time near today. Evidence of CO2 and NOx accumulations dated to 12.9 ka in the Taylor Ice Dome suggest that the black-mat impact/airburst of the same time line as the Younger Dryas boundary may have reached across South America and the Pacific Ocean to the Dry Valley Mountains of Antarctica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controversy over the alpine route that Hannibal of Carthage followed from the Rhône Basin into Italia has raged amongst classicists and ancient historians for over two millennia. The motivation for identifying the route taken by the Punic Army through the Alps lies in its potential for identifying sites of historical archaeological significance and for the resolution of one of history 's most enduring quandaries. Here, we present stratigraphic, geochemical and microbiological evidence recovered from an alluvial floodplain mire located below the Col de la Traversette (~3000 m asl-above sea level) on the French/Italian border that potentially identifies the invasion route as the one originally proposed by Sir Gavin de Beer (de Beer ). The dated layer is termed the MAD bed (mass animal deposition) based on disrupted bedding, greatly increased organic carbon and key/specialized biological components/compounds, the latter reported in Part II of this paper. We propose that the highly abnormal churned up (bioturbated) bed was contaminated by the passage of Hannibal 's animals, possibly thousands, feeding and watering at the site, during the early stage of Hannibal 's invasion of Italia (218 bc). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As discussed in Part I, a large accumulation of mammalian faeces at the mire site in the upper Guil Valley near Mt. Viso, dated to 2168 cal 14C yr., provides the first evidence of the passage of substantial but indeterminate numbers of mammals within the time frame of the Punic invasion of Italia. Specialized organic biomarkers bound up in a highly convoluted and bioturbated bed constitute an unusual anomaly in a histosol comprised of fibric and hemist horizons that are usually expected to display horizontal bedding. The presence of deoxycholic acid and ethylcoprostanol derived from faecal matter, coupled with high relative numbers of Clostridia 16S rRNA genes, suggests a substantial accumulation of mammalian faeces at the site over 2000 years ago. The results reported here constitute the first chemical and biological evidence of the passage of large numbers of mammals, possibly indicating the route of the Hannibalic army at this time. Combined with the geological analysis reported in Part I, these data provide a background supporting the need for further historical archaeological exploration in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clast weathering rinds, formed over varying lengths of time (102-106 years) in terrestrial environments, are measured to provide relative ages for deposits in glacial sequences, specifically to differentiate between glaciations, occasionally within glaciations. Other studies have sought to reveal weathering rates in non-glacial environments using microscopic techniques and isotopes. Recent analyses of clast rinds from tropical, mid-latitude and polar areas reveal an astounding corpus of organic and inorganic paleoenvironmental data derived from atmospheric and biospheric elements active in weathering clasts in glacial deposits over varying lengths of time. In some cases, extreme biochemical products, observed within the rind matrix, are seen to play a role in adjusting redox potentials important in the production of oxides and hydroxides and biominerals with variable compositions. Up to recently, rind analysis has been limited to use of the light microscope and SEM/EDS, which has greatly advanced our understanding of compositional inter-linkages of minerals and biotic elements, but only along horizontal axes within the rind. A test involving rind surface composition using vertical axis nanospaced layer analysis within rinds using focused ion beam (FIB) and TEM/STEM/EDX imagery and chemistry illustrates the power of data acquisition within the three-dimensional weathered archive. SCANNING 38:202-212, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the mechanism associated with rates of weathering and evolution of rocks→sediment→soil→paleosol in alpine environments raises questions related to the impact of microbial mediation versus various diverse abiotic chemical/physical processes, even including the overall effect of cosmic impact/airburst during the early stage of weathering in Late Glacial (LG) deposits. This study is of a chronosequence of soils/paleosols, with an age range that spans the post--Little Ice Age (post-LIA; <150 yr), the Little Ice Age (LIA; AD 1500-1850), the middle Neoglacial (~3 ka)--Younger Dryas (YD; <12.8 ka), and the LG (<15 ka). The goal is to elicit trends in weathering, soil morphogenesis, and related eubacterial population changes over the past 13-15 k.yr. The older LG/YD paleosols in the sequence represent soil morphogenesis that started during the closing stage of Pleistocene glaciation. These are compared with undated soils of mid-to late Neoglacial age, the youngest of LIA and post-LIA age. All profiles formed in a uniform parent material of metabasalt composition and inmoraine, rockfall, protalus, and alluvial fan deposits. Elsewhere in Europe, North America, and Asia, the cosmic impact/airburst event at 12.8 ka often produced a distinctive, carbon-rich "black mat" layer that shows evidence of high-temperature melting. At this alpine site, older profiles of similar LG age contain scorched and melted surface sediments that are otherwise similar in composition to the youngest/thinnest profiles developing in the catchment today. Moreover, microbial analysis of the sediments offers new insight into the genesis of these sediments: the C and Cu (up unweathered) horizons in LG profiles present at 12.8 ka (now Ah/Bw) show bacterial population structures that differ markedly from recent alluvial/protalus sample bacterial populations. We propose here that these differences are, in part, a direct consequence of the age/cosmic impact/weathering processes that have occurred in the chronosequence. Of the several questions that emerge fromthese sequences, perhaps themost important involve the interaction of biotic-mineral factors, which need to be understood if we are to generally fully appreciate the role played bymicrobes in rock weathering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The title of Kuhle and Kuhle's (2012) (hereafter K& K 2012) paper in Archaeometry appears to be mostly a tirade against the Traversette Route of Hannibal's Army, as originally favoured by Sir Gavin de Beer-a man possessed of singular scientific experience and near-singular interest in Carthaginian history-in the mid-part of the last century. The mere fact that Mahaney et al. (2010a,c) added to de Beer's corpus of evidence that Hannibal followed the southern route appears to have brought K& K (2012) to lodge not only a protest, but one of accusatory tone, stating that Mahaney et al. (2010c) had erroneously misinterpreted historical texts to prove the Col de la Traversette as the Punic Army col of passage into Italia. Aside from the fact that the tone of these allegations rises to a curious level, it is the intention of this discussion to put facts where they belong, rooted in what is known of the Hannibalic Invasion and what is inferred by the prevailing scientific evidence. It is important to note that there is not one preferred route as stated by K& K (2012), but three in fact (see Fig. 1 (a) in Mahaney et al. 2010c), and all have been discussed by a legion of historians (see, e.g., Freshfield 1886, 1899; de Beer 1969; Proctor 1971; Prevas 1998; Mahaney 2008). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weathering-rind thicknesses on pebble- and cobble-size sediment have been used for the past half-century, at least, as an age indicator of postdepositional time following a geologic event. In mountainous terrain, rind thickness is taken as a measurement of weathering over time frames of 0.5 m.yr.; variable thicknesses are used to discriminate relative ages of glacial deposits. The effects of chemical and physical weathering that together produce rinds are only rarely considered, and most research objectives have centered on lichen alteration of clast surfaces. Recent microscopic analyses of weathering rinds on volcanic clasts of ∼70.0-ka to ∼2.0-m.yr. age produced new data on weathering products as well as unexpected incorporated biotic materials undergoing diagenesis. The question as to how much physical/ mineral/chemical/biotic paleoenvironmental data might be archived in rinds is discussed. The character and classification of organic materials undergoing diagenesis are also discussed [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The point of Hannibal's departure from New Carthage in Iberia, in 218bc, and his subsequent march along the Mediterranean coast to the Pyrénées and on to the Rhône Basin, has been reconstructed by ancient historians with considerable accuracy. The latter 400-km phase through the Alps, however, has been the subject of some controversy as to whether the Punic Army followed a southern versus a northern invasion route, or some intermediate variant. What is certain from the ancient texts is that Hannibal was trapped by Gallic tribes in a large defile-a gorge large enough to hold the entire army-along the approach to the high col of passage on to the Po River Plains of northern Italia. The entrapment involved an enfilade attack planned by an unknown Gallic commander, a military operation that nearly decimated the Punic Army. Previous arguments as to the location of the defile have hinged on inconclusive topographic, geological and geomorphic assessments. New data from palaeobotanical reconstruction of the northern approach route show the Gorges de la Bourne and the Gorge du Bréda, astride the Isère River, to have been forest covered during the invasion, which would have made the Gallic assault impossible. The existing evidence argues for a southern route, the approach through the narrow defile of the Combe de Queyras, with passage over the Col de la Traversette, as argued by Sir Gavin de Beer nearly a half century ago. Narrowing the approach route focuses on sites worth geoarchaeological exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous small, low volume rockfalls around the crest of the Italian and French Alps, principally formed from calcareous mica schist and metabasalt, have impeded travel across the major cols for millennia. As documented by Polybius and Livy in the ancient literature, Hannibal's Army was blocked by a two-tier rockfall on the lee side of the Alps, a rubble sheet of considerable volume that delayed his exit into the upper Po River Country. An in-depth study of the possible cols reveals that the only such two-tier landform lies below the Col de la Traversette, at ∼2600 m above sea level. In addition, it represents a problem in applied geomorphology, namely, to accurately determine the nature of the surface rubble sheet in Hannibal's time (218bc). A reconstruction of the initial deposit, likely Late Glacial, following the retreat of the Po Glacier, is based upon an analysis of the source rock and geological setting. Further specifications on the geometry of the Neoglacial cover sediment are based on weathering characteristics, lichen cover and soil development. The ‘myth’ that Hannibal fired the rockfall to comminute boulders is plausible given the vegetation records which support tree growth nearby, but is unsubstantiated by the lack of any carbonized rock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We gathered data on the amount, composition, and rate of ingestion of foods and soils by the provisioned Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata fuscata) at Arashiyama, Japan. Behavioral observations spanned one year on 8 adult females, using focal animal sampling. We analyzed a subsample of their foods for nutritional and toxic secondary compound content. We also analyzed soils eaten by the macaques for several physical-chemical properties and tested their adsorption affinity to tannins and alkaloids. Geophagy occurred at a high rate of 2.97 g/indiv./day with an elevated frequency in the afternoon. About two-thirds of their foods (by fresh weight) were provisioned items, which are extremely rich in proteins and soluble carbohydrates. The soils that they ingested were generally poor in mineral elements, the bio-availability of which was low. The soils had a high adsorption capacity for plant alkaloids but were poorly absorptive for tannins. They were rich in clay minerals of proven buffering capacity. Geophagy at Arashiyama may improve the health of macaques via buffering gastric upset. We discuss the results from the viewpoint of several hypotheses on geophagy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]