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Archaeological Research (archaeological + research)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	70%

Selected Abstracts

ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH AT THE INSTITUTE OF NUCLEAR TECHNIQUES, BUDAPEST UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND ECONOMICS: SCHOLARLY ACHIEVEMENTS OF A PROSPEROUS LONG-TERM COLLABORATION

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 2 2007
M. BALLA
The laboratory is part of a university institute with a nuclear reactor on the premises. NAA of archaeological materials started in the early 1980s, and has found continuous interest since then. Site-specific characteristics of the NAA procedure are the long irradiation and counting times, due to the relatively low neutron flux, the single comparator method of standardization and the use of reference materials for quality control. The main research interest focuses on provenance studies of potteries; 90% of the analysed samples are ceramic materials. Most of the projects concentrate on the investigation of pottery finds from Roman Pannonia, and from different archaeological sites in Israel. The Qumran pottery project is presented as a typical example. [source]

The horse, the Kyrgyz horse and the ,Kyrgyz horse'

ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY, Issue 1 2009
Rebecca Cassidy
Ethnographic material gathered among horse owners in Kyrgyzstan, as part of a multi disciplinary project based at the McDonald Institute of Archaeological Research is used to explore diverse ideas about horse breeding. [source]

Book review: Colouring the Past,On colour in archaeological research

COLOR RESEARCH & APPLICATION, Issue 4 2008
Karin Fridell Anter
Abstract The book, Colouring the Past. The Significance of Colour in Archaeological Research, is an anthology discussing various aspects of colour from an archaeological viewpoint. This article presents some of its main topics and discusses a few issues more in length. One starting point for this is the criticism on Berlin and Kay's theory of basic color terms and the Munsell Book of Colors that is launched in some of the articles in the book. The article concludes in summing up some areas where archaeologists and color researchers from other fields could have a mutual interest of further exchange. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 33, 327,334, 2008. [source]

WATER CONTROL AND CEREAL MANAGEMENT ON THE BRONZE AGE IBERIAN PENINSULA: LA MOTILLA DEL AZUER

OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 3 2008
GONZALO ARANDA
Summary. Archaeological research conducted in the La Mancha region (central area of the Iberian Peninsula) has made it possible to identify motillas. This specific type of archaeological site consists of a central fortification surrounded by an inhabited area. They appear in high densities throughout the plains of this area, distributed at regular intervals and located in places where the phreatic level is closest to the surface and the water has low salinity. The strong relationship between sites and water has subsequently been supported by fieldwork, especially in the Motilla del Azuer settlement, where a complex well that was cut into the natural terrace to reach the phreatic level has been documented. Research has also demonstrated that the large-scale storage of cereals was another significant function. The quantity and capacity of the different storage systems documented in two large enclosures suggest that these sites were engaged in the control and management of cereals. [source]

Archeology and written sources on eighth- to tenth-century Bohemia

EARLY MEDIEVAL EUROPE, Issue 3 2009
'a Profantová
This article examines the contribution of archaeology to our understanding of the history of Bohemia in the early Middle Ages. In a period for which only scarce information is available from written sources, archaeology is able to verify information from legend and confirm the scanty written evidence. The results of archaeological research, however, also strongly suggest that relations between Bohemians and Magyars were much more complex than the evidence of the written sources has until now led many to believe. [source]

Place, Landscape, and Environment: Anthropological Archaeology in 2009

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 2 2010
Christopher Rodning
ABSTRACT, Topics of current interest to anthropological archaeologists include the relationships between people and place, interactions between people and past environments, and responses by past societies to changes in the natural environment. In this article, I focus on recent considerations of past landscapes and the built environment. This research concentrates on such topics as architecture, the utilization of different environmental zones, and transitions from foraging to farming, one of the long-standing topics of interest to anthropological archaeology. Recent archaeological research also emphasizes climate change and warfare, topics that have relevance to current events and conditions in the modern world. [source]

A Conflicted Legacy: Paul Sidney Martin as Museum Archaeologist, 1925,38

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 1 2010
Stephen E. Nash
ABSTRACT, Paul Sidney Martin excavated archaeological sites in southwestern Colorado for the State Historical Society of Colorado and the Field Museum of Natural History between 1927 and 1938, although he began working for museums in 1925. His work in three realms,research, exhibition and outreach, and collections,helped redefine the role of the museum anthropologist at a time when archaeological research, particularly that based in museums, was in transition away from the search for exhibition-quality objects and toward research-driven expeditions. With data gleaned from relevant archives, in this article I present previously unpublished details of Martin's work to suggest that Martin leaves behind a conflicted legacy from an important era in the development of North American archaeology. [source]

Domesticating Imperialism: Sexual Politics and the Archaeology of Empire

AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 2 2008
BARBARA L. VOSS
ABSTRACT, The archaeology of empire is permeated by sexual narratives. This has been especially true of archaeological research on the Spanish Americas, where the material remains of colonial settlements have often been interpreted as products of a literal and figurative marriage between two cultures. However, investigating colonization as a consensual domestic arrangement has masked the ways in which imperial projects relied on the exercise of power, including sexual regulations and sexual coercion. Recent archaeological and ethnohistoric research at the Spanish-colonial military settlement of El Presidio de San Francisco affords a different perspective, one in which the public and institutional exercise of sexual control was central to the imperial project. [source]

The Impact of Commercial Exploitation on the Preservation of Underwater Cultural Heritage

MUSEUM INTERNATIONAL, Issue 4 2008
Tatiana Villegas Zamora
It is impossible to talk about underwater cultural heritage and not reflect upon the problem of the commercial exploitation of submerged archaeological sites. The romantic notion of the search for lost treasure embodied in books and popular movies such as the Indiana Jones series takes on a different aspect when we consider that treasure hunting has become one of the most dangerous and devastating threats to the preservation of underwater cultural heritage. Fishing communities, irresponsible sport divers collecting souvenirs or modern-day salvors often equipped with high technology are destroying this newly accessible and rich heritage. Their sole motivation is commercial profit without any concern for archaeological research, preservation of cultural and historical values or the potential for sustainable development involving cultural tourism for the benefit of coastal populations. This article will try to present an overview of the scope of site destruction by commercial exploitation, the loss of scientific information and the strategies used to convince governments and deceive public opinion. [source]

CONNECTING THE DOTS: TOWARDS ARCHAEOLOGICAL NETWORK ANALYSIS

OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 3 2010
TOM BRUGHMANS
Summary In recent years network analysis has been applied in archaeological research to examine the structure of archaeological relationships of whatever sort. However, these archaeological applications share a number of issues concerning 1) the role of archaeological data in networks; 2) the diversity of network structures, their consequences and their interpretation; 3) the critical use of quantitative tools; and 4) the influence of other disciplines, especially sociology. This article concerns a deconstruction of past archaeological methods for examining networks. Through a case study of Roman table wares in the eastern Mediterranean, the article highlights a number of issues with network analysis as a method for archaeology. It urges caution regarding the uncritical application of network analysis methods developed in other disciplines and applied to archaeology. However, it stresses the potential benefits of network analysis for the archaeological discipline and acknowledges the need for specifically archaeological network analysis, which should be based on relational thinking and can be expanded with an archaeological toolset for quantitative analysis. [source]

Chihr de l'encens (Yémen)

ARABIAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY, Issue 1 2010
Claire Hardy-Guilbert
Frankincense burners found in al-Shihr's excavations in Yemen, a frankincense harbour during the Islamic period, represent a rare corpus of this type, which is an indication of both specific use and goods from South Arabia. Although associated with the pre-Islamic South Arabian kingdoms, the frankincense burner evolved throughout the Islamic period. This is proved by the long chronological sequence of the al-Shihr site (780,1996). Texts quoting the presence of frankincense, its use and its trade in al-Shihr are cited in this article to support the reputation of this harbour-town, which is part of the maritime trade networks of medieval Islam. The aim of this article is to create a renewal of interest in future archaeological research about this object, which is so often neglected in spite of its importance as a testimony of the customs and exchanges that are deeply rooted in Arabian civilisation. [source]

Out of anonymity,A central location for ,peripheral' places through people: the contributions made by Karen Frifelt and Beatrice de Cardi to an understanding of the archaeology of the United Arab Emirates

ARABIAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND EPIGRAPHY, Issue 1 2004
Soren Blau
This paper documents the contributions made by Karen Frifelt and Beatrice de Cardi to the history of archaeological research in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The events leading up to their study of the material culture from the UAE is reviewed and the effects of working in a Muslim, predominantly male society are discussed. ,We are no longer obsessed with the facts of the evidence as some kind of solid factual bedrock beyond dispute, but we put more emphasis on the manner in which material culture is ,,read'' by the archaeologist or appropriated in her or his discourse' (1). [source]

Providing an archaeological bird's-eye view , an overall picture of ground-based means to execute low-altitude aerial photography (LAAP) in Archaeology

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION, Issue 4 2009
Geert J. J. Verhoeven
Abstract Since the beginning of aerial photography, researchers have used all kinds of devices ranging from pigeons, kites, poles and balloons to rockets in order to take cameras aloft and remotely gather aerial data needed for a combination of research goals. To date, many of these unmanned devices are still used, mainly to gather archaeologically relevant information from relatively low altitudes, enabling so-called low-altitude aerial photography (LAAP). Besides providing a concise overview of the unmanned LAAP platforms commonly used in archaeological research, this paper considers the drawbacks and advantages of every device and provides an extensive reference list. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Geoarchaeology of the Milfield Basin, northern England; towards an integrated archaeological prospection, research and management framework

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION, Issue 2 2002
David G. Passmore
Abstract This paper presents the results of geoarchaeological investigations undertaken on the valley floor of the Milfield Basin in Northumberland, northern England. The area has a regionally and nationally important archaeological record, including a series of major neolithic and Anglian settlements, but has hitherto lacked archaeological assessment and management guidelines appropriate to the wide range of late-glacial and post-glacial environmental settings in the basin. This project has used geomorphological techniques to delimit and classify a total of nine valley floor landform elements in terms of their geomorphology and their known and potential archaeological and palaeoenvironmental associations. Terraced glaciodeltaic and glaciofluvial sand and gravel landforms comprise the oldest landform elements described here and have formed the primary regional focus for prehistoric and early historic settlement and associated subsistence and ritual activity. These landforms have experienced little post-glacial geomorphological activity, but their multiperiod archaeological landscapes lie beneath a shallow soil cover and are vulnerable to land-use activities that disturb terrace soils and underlying sediments. A second group of landform elements are of Holocene age and include localized surface peats, alluvial fans, colluvial deposits and extensive deposits of terraced alluvium. Archaeological landscapes in these environments may lie buried intact and unrecorded beneath protective covers of sediment although locally they may have been subject to erosion and reworking by fluvial and slope processes. Holocene alluviation may account, at least in part, for the paucity of recorded archaeology in these parts of the basin. However, peat and organic-rich sedimentary sequences identified here (including four 14C dated peat sequences) offer an opportunity to elucidate the environmental context and land-use histories of local prehistoric and early historic communities in the basin, and hence also should be regarded as an archaeological resource. Discussion of landform elements and their archaeological associations is followed by a brief outline of evaluation criteria developed with the aim of ensuring effective long-term management of archaeological and palaeoenvironmental resources. It is concluded that geoarchaeological analysis of landform elements may be considered central to development of frameworks intended to underpin future programmes of archaeological research and the development of cultural resource management and evaluation strategies. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Mapping the roots of agriculture in southern Arabia: the application of satellite remote sensing, global positioning system and geographic information system technologies

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION, Issue 1 2002
M. Harrower
Abstract Satellite remote sensing, global positioning system (GPS) and geographical information system (GIS) technologies form a powerful methodological and analytical triad for archaeological research, particularly in remote regions where few large-scale maps are available. This paper outlines the application of these technologies as a component of the Roots of Agriculture in Southern Arabia (RASA) research project and provides a review for archaeologists interested in potential applications, particularly in arid and semi-arid environments. We used LANDSAT satellite imagery and GPS data to construct a GIS and provide a foundation for the management and analysis of archaeological, geomorphological and palaeoecological evidence of middle Holocene environmental conditions and human land-use in the remote highlands of southern Yemen. Using both supervized and unsupervized multispectral landscape classification procedures we categorized the landscape into seven classes based on landform and sedimentary cover characteristics. The resulting GIS helps us evaluate the relationship between landscape characteristics, site location, site preservation, and investigate associations with sociocultural and environmental variables. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Preliminary Provenance Research on Chinese Neolithic Pottery: Huating (Xinyi County) and Three Yellow River Valley Sites

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 1 2001
Anwu Xu
Instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) was applied to sherds from the important site of Huating and, for comparison, several Neolithic sites in the valley of the Yellow River. We hoped to compare the compositions of two stylistically different ceramics found at Huating, and to evaluate the degree of compositional clustering and inter-site resolution that could be expected in an area that is noted for its extensive, and possibly very homogeneous, loess deposits. In addition, pottery sherds from Huating have been examined by microscopic petrography. All of these results will provide needed input in the planning of research towards the formation of a Neolithic/Shang Dynasty ceramic database for future use in archaeological research in China. [source]