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Settlements and dwellings related to pastoral communities in mountainous areas speak to the adaptation strategies of people to this specific environment. This paper describes unprecedented archaeological features found in the Nuratau Mountains of Uzbekistan, dated between the 18th-early 20th centuries AD, and interpreted as living places of pastoralist groups. Preliminary statistical and spatial analyses provide information on the intra- and inter-site organization and the settlement patterns of these communities. We document some variability in patterns of social and spatial organization of the dwellings and campsites and we discuss the interweaving of the ecological and cultural factors governing the settlement systems. When studied as both physical structures and social spaces, the Nuratau campsites contribute to highlight the choices made by pastoral communities in the past and to investigate the integration of human activities in mountain landscapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The application of digital technologies to museum heritage is increasingly widespread. • Digital anastylosis processes can aid the conservation of museum finds. • Digital anastylosis requires standardised digital survey protocols. • Integrated digital technologies can foster knowledge of fragile cultural heritage. The conservation, development, and enjoyment of the artefacts in museums can benefit greatly from the application of integrated digital technologies. This topic is of great interest not only to researchers in various disciplines, but also to the managers of this heritage, the producers of technologies, innovative companies and start-ups, and the wider public. However, it does not currently seem to be possible to identify methods and protocols shared between the actors involved for the purpose of managing the phases of acquisition, definition of data models, management of digital content, and its later implementation. "Tailor-made" approaches therefore have direct consequences on the efficacy of the digitalisation processes currently available when applied to conservation and restoration, and to the promotion of cultural heritage. In this paper, we propose a protocol for the digitalisation of archaeological artefacts for the purpose of their display in museums. The method is illustrated with reference to a case study involving very rare artefacts from a wooden throne from the Villanovan Age. Finally, the work is part of the results of a wider project for the definition of protocols for the surveying and modelling of cultural heritage, from the architectural scale down to the scale of artefacts, carried out through public-private partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to understand the paleogeographic evolution of Viedma Lake (252 masl) sedimentary sequences with glaciolacustrine and lacustrine strata between 307 masl and 266 masl and bathymetric fluctuations between 27 ka. and 2.4 ka. were identified. The paleoenvironmental interpretation of the stratigraphic profiles was carried out based on the analysis of facies and their associations. The oldest age was recorded at 301 masl (27 ka) and the youngest corresponds to 266 masl (2.4 ka). The record of 27 ka was compared with another dated record of the Tar-San Martin Lakes basin showing that Viedma – Tar-San Martín Lakes were formed at similar ages. Taking into account that the deposits of Bahía Túnel are located at 266 masl and that the level of the lake would be above this height, it is proposed that this lake level would have restricted the movement of hunter-gatherer populations along the coast and to the west. From 2.4 ka on a new space started to be available for these populations broadening the wintering grounds (≤400 masl). The chronology of the archaeological record found in this new space fits the proposed paleogeographic evolution. This paper complements the research on the evolution of lacustrine systems in the Patagonian Mountain range and broadens the discussion of human mobility in the Viedma Lake basin during the Holocene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a common case that archaeological finds are frequently found in fragments and cannot always be reassembled in their entirety. Additionally, the completion of their shape and volume is sometimes costly and occasionally requires a lot of manual work, in particular for exhibition purposes. As a first step, improving the geometry of the fragments could potentially help the archaeological conservators in the assembling process. In this direction, in this paper we propose an end-to-end hybrid approach (i.e. point clouds to benefit from the limited complexity and creating results in mesh benefiting from their visualization capabilities) for the digital auto-completion of fragmented archaeological artifacts with missing parts in combination with a novel self-supervised data augmentation scheme in order to address a significant limitation in the archaeological domain (i.e. limited available observations and absence of the complete object). Our approach uses only 5 fragments of a partly preserved archaeological object for training. As a first step, an object (i.e artifact fragment) in mesh representation is converted to point cloud, from which more fragments of the incomplete original object are artificially generated, with the help of 3D surfaces, to augment the dataset. This dataset is then passed in a GAN-based Cascaded refinement network for generating a complete output, which is, finally, converted back to a mesh. Our experiments showed that the proposed hybrid approach, can be successfully used to complete and restore the geometry of a partly preserved archaeological object without having ever seen the complete form of it. However, due to the complexity of the fragments, such methods in most cases cannot generate their fine decorative and surface details. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of the attribution of approximately 1700 artifacts, from Italian, Central European and South American sites to the geological obsidian sources. The provenance was determined using the non-destructive X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analytical method, based on the secondary X-ray intensity proposed by Crisci et al. (1994) and optimized by De Francesco et al. (2008). In the first phase of the research, to test the non-destructive XRF method, the analysis on entire obsidian fragments (similar to archaeological waste) was initially carried out on 60 samples representative of all the geological outcrops in the Mediterranean region. The secondary X-ray intensities obtained by non-destructive XRF on whole pieces were compared with the results using the XRF method on powders, carried out on the same samples (major elements, and selected trace elements, such as Nb, Y, Zr, Rb and Sr) as exhaustively described in De Francesco et al. (2008). These five trace elements were sufficient to characterize (by both methods) the different places of obsidian origin, because they are particularly indicative of the genetic processes that produced obsidian. The provenance of the obsidian artifacts was determined by comparing the X-rays intensity ratios of the selected elements with those obtained on the entire fragments of the obsidian sources in the Mediterranean. The purpose of this paper is to show the results obtained in almost two decades of the application of the non-destructive XRF method. About 1700 archaeological obsidian fragments, from numerous Italian, Corsican, central European (Romanian) and South American (Central-western Argentina and Central Chile) archaeological sites, have been analyzed by non-destructive XRF, and assigned to obsidian sources. The provenance of 97% of the obsidian artifacts was successfully determined. The results demonstrate that the non-destructive XRF method - thanks to its sensitivity, low cost, and high speed - is an extremely valuable tool for the attribution of the provenance of archaeological obsidian in the areas under consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis (EDXRF) is a very useful method of elemental analysis in the study of works of art and archaeological finds, allowing the simultaneous non-destructive identification of a number of elements. A certain problem, if samples are not to be extracted from the investigated artifact, is its small depth range. However, this is not a serious drawback when it comes to the analysis of thin layers, such as plating or painting. In our laboratory, XRF was gradually developed and the equipment improved, with one of the main goals being the study of archaeological finds and works of art for the purposes of learning about the cultural heritage and restoration works. The presented paper aims to compare the possibilities of different macro- and micro-XRF instrumental arrangements in the study of paintings, from fast orientational measurement with a compact hand-held device through 2D scanning with a collimated beam to 3D analysis with collimated X-ray optics. Attention is paid to both the advantages and limitations of individual arrangements. A small painting by A. Piepenhagen, a typical representative of 19th century romantic landscape painting, was chosen as the object on which the possibilities of individual XRF variants are demonstrated. • X-ray fluorescence analysis as a tool to study images. • Comparison of individual EDXRF variants in terms of information content. • Possibilities, advantages and disadvantages of different approaches to XRF analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since July 2013, the project D4 of the Collaborative Research Centre 806 at the University of Cologne has dealt with the Mesolithic in western Germany. During the first phase of this research, the primary tasks were to establish a regional chronology for the Middle Stone Age on the one hand, and the mapping of all known sites in the Rhineland and Westphalia regarding the different Mesolithic phases on the other. Since July 2017, the project has focused on mobility, cultural exchange, and human-environment interactions during the Final Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic in Central Europe. Due to the poor conditions of preservation, numerous Palaeolithic and Mesolithic assemblages only contain lithic artefacts. Communication networks and mobility patterns of the hunter-gatherer groups can be deduced from the raw material of these finds for a considerable number of sites. Apart from pottery, lithic artefacts and their resources also illustrate the social and economic networks during the Neolithic. The raw material of knapped artefacts and their potential geological sources offer important information relating to the project's goals. A map of the potential raw material sources for knapped artefacts in comparison with the archaeological finds is the basis for any suggestion about mobility patterns and communication networks. In general, information on geological lithic sources and the archaeological inventories in western Central Europe is far more detailed than for other regions. These data and all the information gathered on lithic raw material sources for western Germany and the Benelux countries allow us to provide a GIS-database using the software QGIS in the form of several maps and data tables with geological and archaeological information as well as detailed descriptions and references. One important result of this paper addresses the reconstruction of lithic raw material catchment areas. Three examples from younger Mesolithic sites show that the more precise petrographic method for identifying lithic raw materials results in much larger catchment areas than traditional macroscopic identification, leading to new considerations for estimating population densities during the later Middle Stone Age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes some results of the research undertaken over the Brown Bank area during recent (2018/2019) geoarchaeological surveys in the North Sea which included seismic imaging, shallow (vibro)coring and dredging. It examines the benefits of simultaneous high-resolution (0.5 – 1 m) and ultra-high-resolution (10–20 cm) seismic survey techniques and a staged approach to resolving the submerged Holocene landscape in the highest possible detail for the purpose of targeted prospecting for archaeological material from the Mesolithic landscape of Doggerland. The materials recovered from such surveys offer significantly greater information due to an enhanced understanding of the context in which they were recovered. The importance of this information cannot be understated archaeologically, as few locations on land provide the opportunity to recover archaeological finds in situ within preserved landscapes. Moreover, it allows offshore areas of potential human activity to be prospected with some certainty of success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents a study of proteins found in artistic and archaeological objects based on analytical pyrolysis. Proteins (mainly egg yolk and/or egg white, casein, animal glue and collagen) have been extensively used as paint binders, adhesives and varnishes in mural and easel paintings, and they can be found in archaeological findings, such as bones and skin tissues. In order to overcome limitations of wet chemical methods arising from the reduced solubility of aged proteins in samples of cultural heritage, a combination of analytical pyrolysis techniques was used to characterise reference materials, paint reconstructions and samples from different historical periods (2nd century BC-20th century AD) and geographical origins, which were collected from paintings and archaeological findings. In particular evolved gas analysis mass spectrometry (EGA/MS), pyrolysis coupled with gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py/GC/MS) and double shot pyrolysis/gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (DSP/GC/MS) were used. This analytical approach allowed us to characterise and differentiate the proteinaceous media, investigate their thermal behaviour and evidence changes occurring with ageing. Data clearly indicate that egg, casein and animal glue can be identified and distinguished in a sample of unknown composition using each of the analytical pyrolysis techniques used. With time though differences tend to disappear to the extent that extremely degraded samples present pyrolytic profiles extremely similar to each other, irrespective of the nature of the proteins present. The data also indicate that proteins tend to become more thermally stable with ageing, suggesting that extensive intramolecular and intermolecular aggregation, and/or covalent cross-linking occur with time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we analyze cave and portable graphic expressions of Tito Bustillo cave (Asturias, Spain) in relation to their archaeological context. We use an integrative approach that considers graphic expressions, archaeological objects and organized underground spaces as integrative parts of the Upper Palaeolithic human behaviors in the caves. We conclude that Tito Bustillo is an outstanding case of humanized cave, in which the underground space was humanized through graphic expressions, permanent structures, topographic marking systems and other daily-life activities since the beginnings of the Upper Palaeolithic. During the Middle and Upper Magdalenian this process of humanization significantly increased, as shown by the development of a large living site sharing spaces with the most decorated areas of the cave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the use of El Abrigo de la Castañera (Cantabria, Spain) as a stable during the Chalcolithic. Several lines of archaeological evidence support the use of the rock shelter as a corral. First, in the stratigraphy several fumiers were identified, which were composed of several lenses of gray and black ashes, rich in charcoal and organic matter and accumulated between 3000 and 2200 cal BP. Second, within those fumiers a rich macrofaunal assemblage was recovered. The results of the zooarchaeology study indicate that cattle was the most common species exploited at that time, followed by pigs, while Ovis/Capra are relatively scarce. This particular livestock composition is relatively uncommon within the Iberian context. However, a comparative study with other contemporaneous European sites has shown that the changes in animal exploitation depend on the particular climatic conditions on the Cantabrian region, more similar to the Atlantic ones than the Mediterranean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Haua Fteah cave, situated between the Mediterranean coast and the Gebel Akhdar of northeast Libya, preserves rich Middle Stone Age (MSA) and Late Stone Age (LSA) cultural horizons. Excavated in the 1950s and more recently, the richness and time-depth of the cave's archaeological record are unsurpassed by any other site in northern Cyrenaica. As a result, the Haua Fteah sequence has long been used to represent the culture history of the region as a whole. Recent geoarchaeological surveys of the Gebel Akhdar, as well as pre-desert and desert biomes further to the south, have resulted in the discovery of numerous MSA and LSA sites. The vast majority of these sites consist of surface lithics that cannot be dated currently. In contrast, parts of the Haua Fteah sequence have been dated using various chronometric methods. Using data collected through lithic attribute analysis, coupled with various statistical approaches (including Discriminant Function Analysis, or DFA), this paper explores variation in core reduction strategies within Haua Fteah from the early MSA to early LSA. Collections of cores from various sites located throughout the landscape are contrasted against those from Haua Fteah. By comparing undated cores from the landscape with those from different occupation phases at Haua Fteah, DFA classification is tested as a method for imparting an approximate chronology to the former. The results indicate notable variation in reduction strategies within the MSA at Haua Fteah, and notable similarities between early MSA (“Pre-Aurignacian”) and early LSA (“early Dabban”) core morphologies and technologies. Because of the latter in particular, together with several other factors that may be underpinning spatio-temporal variability in core reduction strategies, caution is recommended in loosely assigning approximate chronologies to surface lithic sites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New excavations at the Abri du Maras, located in the southeast of France, have yielded Middle Palaeolithic assemblages with evidence of rock shelter occupations in a cold climatic context contemporaneous with MIS 4. Few MIS 4 sites are known in this part of France and especially in this state of preservation. The paper is focused on one sedimentological layer divided into two archaeological levels (sub-levels 4.1 and 4.2). Our goal was to examine the Middle Palaeolithic lithic assemblage of these two levels by interdisciplinary approaches (technology, origin of flint and functional analysis of stone tools) in order to identify the technical strategies and the land-use patterns in a specific environmental context. The two occupations do not show differences in behaviours. The technical strategies applied to flint and other stones indicate a fragmentation of the reduction processes in a local and semi-local perimeter around the site. The main core technology is Levallois, generally on flint cortical cores on flakes. Flint flakes, blades and points are the main components of the series and the technological aims of the debitage. Due to the small size of the flakes used for flaking, large flint flakes, blades (Levallois or cortical) and Levallois points were produced elsewhere, to the north and south of the site (up to 20–30 km) according to the geological study, and then brought to the shelter. Flakes in other lithic materials (quartz, quartzite) were also knapped elsewhere before being transported to the shelter. Some of the large flint flakes, but also nodules and fragments of slabs, were then used for onsite flaking. Flake-tools are very rare. Evidence of impact fractures and TCSA/TCSPs values of the corpus of unretouched Levallois points suggest that some points, brought or prepared on the site, could have been used as projectile tips. The lithics attest to management of local and semi-local stones in a perimeter of 30 km around the site (possibly more due to some unidentified flint) and an anticipation of domestic needs in relation to reindeer hunting, the predominant activity. Imported artefacts and artefacts made on the site were used for the same diversity of activities and materials (butchery, plant and woodworking). The technological strategies and the type of management differ slightly from those from cave assemblages in the same area located in valleys and on low plateaux near the Rhône corridor, possibly due to the type of the site, a vast shelter. Data from the Abri du Maras are compared to data from the other Middle Palaeolithic sites of the region and the role of the topographic aspect of the site on the type of occupations is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a rich archaeological record, northwest Europe (Belgium, the Netherlands, western, northern and eastern France) is often not included in detailed debates on Middle Palaeolithic lithic variability. This is, in part, related to a lack of contextual information for some assemblages, but also to a scarcity of widely accessible publications, especially in relation to early 20th century excavations. However, it is clear that across Europe, including in this northwest region, the late Middle Palaeolithic (here MIS 5d–3, ∼115–35 ka) is characterised by an increase in the use of bifacial technologies, and this paper provides a wider, integrative perspective on late Middle Palaeolithic bifacial tool variability in northwest Europe. Primary data from seven key assemblages (Oosthoven, Grotte du Docteur, Sint-Geertruid, Saint-Just en Chaussée, Saint-Julien de la Liègue, Bois-du-Rocher and Champlost) is integrated with published data from an additional 45 assemblages, allowing for an extensive assessment of the characteristics of these biface-rich assemblages. Results suggest a large amount of typo-technological variability, as expressed through the varying nature of several technological attributes (raw material, blank type, cortex remnant, cross section and edge angles), as well as through the presence of different bifacial tool concepts and bifacial tool types. The limited chronostratigraphic information available suggests the presence of bifacial tools in northwest Europe throughout the warm phases of both MIS 5 and MIS 3. Furthermore, a detailed regional overview identifies common ground within many of these northwest European late Middle Palaeolithic assemblages. Rather than a series of region-specific entities, this research proposes that a larger-scale distinction can be made between assemblages dominated by classic handaxes, and assemblages characterised by the generalised application of bifacial retouch. The latter contain a wider variety of bifacial tools and it is, therefore, suggested to group these assemblages under the overarching label of ‘Mousterian with Bifacial Tools’ (MBT). Detailed studies of new, well-contextualised assemblages are needed to fully unravel the causal factors and behavioural intricacies underlying this bifacial tool variability and the MBT entity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Later Middle Paleolithic lithic archaeological record for the East Mediterranean Levant has been invoked to support competing and contradictory models for the evolutionary relationships between Homo sapiens and Homo neanderthalensis . The lithic evidence has not helped paleoanthropology achieve a conclusive resolution about this issue because archaeologists continue to structure inter-assemblage lithic variability in terms of stone tool industries such as the “Mousterian”. This paper explores the problems that na med s tone t ool i ndustri es (or “NASTIES”) cause for Paleolithic archaeology, and it explores alternatives to them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the best known places on Earth where volcanology meets archaeology and history is the volcanic island of Santorini (Thíra), Greece. It is famous for the cataclysmic Late Bronze Age (Minoan) Plinian eruption which destroyed the Minoan culture that flourished on the island. Hosting a central, flooded caldera bay and, within that, the active islands of Palaea and Nea Kameni, Santorini volcano has been the focus of international research efforts for over one and a half centuries. In this paper, we summarize recent findings and related ideas about the Minoan physiography of the island, also known as Strongyli, from a volcanological, geomorphological and archaeological point of view. As proposed as early as the 1980s, a central caldera bay existed prior to the Late Bronze Age. Probably characterised by a smaller size and located in the northern part of the present-day caldera, this earlier caldera bay was formed during the previous Plinian eruption – called Cape Riva eruption – c. 22,000 years ago. Within the caldera bay, a central island, Pre-Kameni, existed, named after the present-day Kameni Islands. High-precision radioisotopic dating revealed that Pre-Kameni started to grow c. 20,000 years ago. Whereas volcanologists have accepted and refined the caldera concept, archaeologists have generally favoured the theory of an exploded central cone instead of a pre-existing central caldera. However, analysis of the Flotilla Fresco, one of the wall paintings found in the Bronze Age settlement of Akrotiri, reveals the interior of a Late Bronze Age caldera that may be interpreted as a realistic landscape. Approximately 3600 years ago, the island of Strongyli was destroyed during the explosive VEI = 7 Minoan eruption. Pre-Kameni was lost by this eruption, but its scattered fragments, together with other parts of Strongyli, can be recovered as lithic clasts from the Minoan tuffs. On the basis of photo-statistics and granulometry of the lithic clasts contained in the Minoan tuffs, complemented by volumetric assessment of the erupted tephra and digital elevation model (DEM) analysis of alternative models for the pre-eruptive topography, the volume of Pre-Kameni can be constrained between 1.6 and 3.0 km3, whereas the volume of the destroyed portion of the ring island of Strongyli between 9.1 and 17.1 km3. Of these, the larger values are considered more realistic, and imply that most of the destroyed part of Strongyli was incorporated as lithic components in the Minoan tuffs, whereas up to 3 km3 of Strongyli might have been downfaulted and sunken during caldera formation and is not accounted for in the lithics. • The topography of Late Bronze Age (Minoan) Santorini has been assessed quantitatively. • DEM reconstruction considers the lithic content and volume of the Minoan tuffs. • Our reconstruction is in agreement with a small caldera prior to the Minoan eruption. • The Flotilla Fresco is suggested to depict a landscape with this pre-existing caldera. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]