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Two fragments of millipedes, referred to the genus Archispirostreptus, are reported from an archaeological site in the Tadrart Acacus region of southwestern Libya. Radiocarbon dating of the specimens shows that one of them dates to between ca. 9100 and 8800 years ago, and the other one between 6400 and 6300 years ago (calibrated dates). The site lies far from known present-day occurrences of spirostreptid millipedes, and the Libyan subfossils probably, like other isolated occurrences of Archispirostreptus species in the Sahara and the Middle East, represent geographical relicts of a former, continuous distribution. The millipedes were probably able to survive at the Libyan site during the early and middle Holocene periods thanks to the more humid conditions, and may descend from animals that initially colonised the area during the even more humid, and longer, last interglacial period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents carbon and nitrogen isotopic results from several Swiss freshwater fish (Esox lucius, Perca fluviatilis, Barbus barbus, Rutilus rutilusand other Cyprinidae) in order to provide information about their trophic level, feeding habits and provenance. Freshwater fish remains are regularly recovered from archaeological contexts in Switzerland, which attests to the importance of these aquatic food resources to past communities. However, it can be difficult to determine the effect of freshwater fish consumption in human bone isotope signatures by stable isotope ratio analysis. Therefore, an establishment of baseline isotope signatures of freshwater fish by region and time is necessary. Additionally, freshwater fish isotope analysis can serve as a backdrop for research on former aquatic isotopic ecology. We measured carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of 140 freshwater fish bone samples from sites dating between the 11th and 19th centuries AD. Suitable C:N ratios (2·9–3·6) were obtained from 56 of the samples, a rather low success rate that may be the result of diagenetic contamination and insufficient sample weight (<20 mg). A high inter- and intraspecies variability of freshwater fish isotope signature was observed. Theδ15N results indicate a size and age-related trophic level effect. Heterogeneous carbon isotope signatures from samples from the same site could indicate spatial variation in isotope values within a single ecosystem or alternatively represent the use of different fishing grounds. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Socio-economic organisation, subsistence strategies and environmental exploitation still remain largely open questions for the Late Chalcolithic period (ca. 4500-3500 BC) in southern Caucasus even though they are of prime importance for understanding the development of post-Neolithic societies in these semi-arid and mountainous areas. Interdisciplinary bioarchaeological research can, however, provide valuable new insights into these issues. In the Late Chalcolithic occupation layers at Ovçular Tepesi (Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Azerbaijan), the fills of pits, composed mainly of domestic refuse, proved to contain the richest and most diverse assemblages of biological remains at the site. These remains, retrieved by the use of flotation and sieving techniques, therefore constitute ideal assemblages for understanding subsistence strategies and the exploitation of natural resources. It is shown here that the agricultural economy at Late Chalcolithic Ovçular Tepesi was based mainly on the cultivation of cereals and pulses and the herding of sheep and goat. The river and its surroundings provided wood fuel and fish. The results of the bioarchaeological study further suggest that the Late Chalcolithic village was occupied permanently as shown by the development of commensal populations of small mammals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At Doel, in the lower basin of the river Scheldt, excavations have revealed camp sites of the Swifterbant culture dating back to the second half of the fifth millennium BC. They document the transition period from the Late Mesolithic to the Early Neolithic in Sandy Flanders (NW Belgium). The sites were situated on the top of sandy ridges which were covered with an alluvial hardwood forest vegetation and surrounded by wetlands. Only burnt animal remains survived at the sites, illustrating (seasonal) fishing and hunting. In addition, botanical evidence indicates the herding of domestic mammals. The finds are of importance for the reconstruction of the chronological development of the food economy of the Swifterbant culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bioarchaeological studies of animal dung from arid environments provide valuable information on various aspects of life in ancient societies relating to land use and environmental change, and from the Neolithic onwards to the animal husbandry and the use of animals as markers of status and wealth. In this study we present the archaeobotanical analysis of animal gut contents from burials in the elite Predynastic cemetery HK6 at Hierakonpolis, Upper Egypt. The study involved analysis of plant macrofossils, phytoliths and pollen applied on samples from two elephants, a hartebeest, an aurochs and five domestic cattle. The study showed that most probably the elephants were given fodder containing emmer spikelets (dehusking by-products) before the animals death. Most of the other animals were also foddered with cereal chaff, but were mainly allowed to browse and graze in the settlement area and near the Nile. The diet of some contained only wild growing plants. The variety of plant remains identified in the stomach contents indicates that the food plants for the animals were obtained from three possible habitats near the site: the river banks, the low desert and the cultivated/anthropogenically modified areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The material remains and environmental data recovered during a rescue excavation in 2002–03 in the castle of the new town of Middelburg-in-Flanders throw light on the site, region and landscape in wartime. The paper discusses the historical context at the turn of the 16th century, the excavation of the castle, the taphonomy of the chutes, the analysis of the artefacts and ecological data recovered from two garderobe chutes in the upper court, and concludes with a synthesis focussing on the interpretation of the excavated record in the historically attested natural and socio-economic disruption caused by the Spanish-Dutch War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the El Gouna (Hurghada) area on the Red Sea of Egypt, a Middle Holocene shell mound from around 5800 B.P. (uncalibrated radiocarbon years before A.D. 1950) has been tested by a restricted excavation. Collection of shellfish on the Red Sea shore provided subsistence opportunities for Middle Holocene groups coeval with the Early Predynastic Tasian of the Nile Valley. The El Gouna site demonstrates for the first time that prehistoric shell mounds exist near the Egyptian Red Sea shore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]