Field Archaeology

Archaeological sites at Affad (Sudan) are the only ones in northeastern Africa providing ostological remains of both African aurochs (Bos primigenius), dated to 50 kya, and domestic cattle, dated to 7–6 kya. The evidence enables studies of behavioral diversity between taurids. Strontium isotope analyses of the tooth enamel of both Pleistocene and Holocene ruminants suggest the local origin of these animals. The archaeozoological analysis reveals the temporal variability of environmental conditions was linked to a humid climate during the Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS3), which was more humid than the dry fluctuations during the African Humid Period. In addition, changes in the phenotype of cattle indicate that humans influenced domesticated animal behavior in the sub-Saharan region.

Recent critiques of neo-evolutionary formulations that focus primarily on the development of powerful hierarchies have called for a broadening of the empirical base for complex society studies. Redressing the neglect of sub-Saharan examples in comparative discussions on complex society, this book considers how case material from the subcontinent can enhance our understanding of the nature, origins, and development of complexity. The archaeological, historical, and anthropological case materials are relevant to a number of recent concerns, revealing how complexity has emerged and developed in a variety of ways. Contributors engage important theoretical issues, including the continuing influence of deeply embedded evolutionary notions in archaeological concepts of complexity, the importance of alternative modes of complex organization-such as flexible hierarchies, multiple overlapping hierarchies, and horizontal differentiation-and the significance of different forms of power. The distinguished list of contributors includes historians, archaeologists, and anthropologists. susan keech mcintosh is Professor of Anthropology at Rice University, USA. She has conducted archaeological research in Mali, Senegal, and Ghana, and is coauthor of two monographs on Jenné-jeno, Mali, widely recognized as the earliest urban site documented in sub-Saharan Africa.

Bhitargarh is located about 16 km northeast of Panchagarh town in Amarkhana union under Panchagarh Sadar upazila in Panchagarh, the northernmost administrative district of Bangladesh. It is the largest fortified settlement in Bangladesh so far discovered, extending over an area of about 25 square km. Interestingly, the site is actually transnational because portions of its outer enclosures on the north and the northern parts of the west and east lie in Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, India. The first systematic archaeological investigation at Bhitargarh is being carried out by the present author as the Director of the excavation team since 2008. This paper is a preliminary report on the findings of the archaeological investigations at Bhitargarh conducted by the present author from 2008 to 2017.

Authors: Wang Tao and Peter Ucko. Wang Tao and Peter Ucko 2007: 'Early Archaeological Fieldwork Practice and Syllabuses in China and England,' in From Concepts of the Past to Practical Strategies: The Teaching of Archaeological Field Techniques, London: Saffron 2007.  ISBN 9781872843704, London: Saffron Books.  Peter Ucko, Editor-in-Chief Qin Ling and Jane Hubert Editors. Commissioning Editor and General Editor: Sajid Rizvi. [Preamble] To some extent this chapter in the book can be seen as complementary to Shennan’s (Chapter 1) analysis of changing questions and attitudes towards archaeology in a historic dimension, and also as a link to those following chapters which deal with situations of training for fieldwork in many parts of the world as they exist currently. It also follows on from the experience of one of us, namely that training in fieldwork methods is often disguised by what happens in reality. … Follow links for further info on this book.

ISBN 9781872843704. Authors/editors: Peter Ucko, Qin Ling and Jane Hubert with Contributors Zhao Hui and Stephen Shennan, Wang Tao, Luan Fengshi, Zhang Chi, C A Folorunso, J  O Aleru and  B J Tubosun, Seonbok Yi, Marta Luciani, Dominic Perring, Sarah Colley, Brigitte Cech, Dorian Q Fuller, Zhao Zhijun, Gustav Milne, Gamini Wijesuriya, Mike Parker Pearson, Timothy D Maxwell and Rafael Cruz Antillón, Arkadiusz Marciniak, Innocent Pikirayi, Surapol Natapintu. Commissioning editor/general editor: Sajid Rizvi. Follow http://www.saffronbooksandart.net and other links for further information. For permissions contact [email protected]. Additional materials will be uploaded here, please revisit or Follow.

The work is a dissertation summited to Deccan College, Pune, department of AIHC and Archaeology in partial fulfillment of MA degree. The research is primarily intended to provide an overview of the application of photography in the discipline of archaeology. It's essentially a manual for individuals who needs to know the basic principles of photography and the extent of its relation with this field.  photography's role in various archaeological methodologies and processes is significant, as it can effectively preserve visuals in digital forms.  Technological improvements have left behind the conventional and traditional photography in numerous ways.  As a result, while undertaking any field work, an archaeologist is needed to have a thorough understanding of conventional archaeology as well as camera fundamentals and photographic techniques. The works's purpose is to develop a knowledge of how photography may be utilized in archaeological fieldwork, as well as to present the concepts, techniques, and procedures of essential equipment, such as sophisticated lenses and cameras, in a variety of settings and scenarios.

Mary Stiner uses ecological niche theory to analyze and interpret several Middle Paleolithic archaeological and paleontological sites in southern Europe. Her concern is with how the hunting, scavenging and foraging behavior of Neandertals compared and contrasted with the subsistence ...

Schmidt has written an important synthesis of two decades work on the iron technology of the Haya people of Tanzania. His investigation of the rich symbolism surrounding traditional methods of iron production sheds light on the history of iron technology and reveals its central cultural role." Iron technology in East Africa: symbolism, science, and archeology.

A közösségi régészet egyik legfőbb területe a civil - múzeumbarát - fémkeresősök bekapcsolódása a kutatásokba. A terület nem csupán a fémkereső megítélése, de a törvényi háttér, illetve az együttműködési lehetőségek szempontjából is fontos kérdéseket vet fel a régész szakma számára. Tanulmányunk ezeket a kérdéseket járja körbe.

The archaeological site at Bhitargarh is an ancient fort-city having a well-secured fortification in Panchagarh region, Bangladesh. The site can throw ample light on the history of Bangladesh. In the absence of any previous systemic archaeological investigation in the area, the present work should be seen as a preliminary endeavor. The aim of this work is to understand the town planning of the fort-city as well as the nature of urbanization in this region. However, employment of sampling and other intensive survey techniques was beyond the scope of the present researcher in terms of time and resources. Therefore, it was decided to survey the area by undertaking intensive walking across the landscape with GPS using judgmental sampling. Surface survey was undertaken for about 400 person-hours spanning 7 seasons (2003-2009).

FRANCESCA CECI L'intensa e aggressiva politica urbanistica attuata nell'ultimo decennio nelle zone periferiche di Roma, lì dove ancora sopravvivevano spazi verdi, ha comportato, tra le scarse conseguenze benefi che, la scoperta di numerosi siti archeologici tra cui quello oggetto di questa comunicazione, situato nel settore orientale della città in via del Casale di Redicicoli (

St. Mary's Abbey, Museum Gardens, York (SE 59941 52176). Improvements to the accessibility of parts of the Museum Gardens, York (under the management of York Museums Trust) in 2014–15 necessitated three watching briefs (consisting of a total of five trenches undertaken in March, April and November 2015) in the Abbey Church. These excavations encountered in situ architectural remains previously unrecorded by modern archaeological techniques and a range of relevant, albeit residual, small finds.

The Pass at Thermopylae, Greece John C. Kraft University of Delaware Newark, Delaware George Rapp, Jr. University of Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota George J. Szemler Loyola University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois Christos Tziavos National Centre for Marine Research ...

An introductory guide to the methods used in the post-excavation analysis of archaeological human skeletal remains, focussing on both macroscopic and microscopic techniques. Written for the Institute for Archaeologists Diggers Forum newsletter.

Il presente articolo tratta in dettaglio del significato iconografico dei "preti-uccello" zoroastriani rinvenuti durante gli scavi del "Complesso Cerimoniale" del sito corasmio di Akchakhankala. Queste figure, rappresentanti Parōdarsh, epifania animale del sacerdote aiutante dello yazata Sraosha, sono ascrivibili con precisione, assieme al loro contesto archeologico, a un periodo compreso tra il I secolo a.C. e il I secolo d.C., epoca in cui furono dipinte sul muro di fondo dell'ampia aula colonnata del complesso. Il "prete-uccello" corasmio, essere ibrido dato dall'associazione di uomo e gallo, precede di svariati secoli le sue ben note rappresentazioni d'ambito sogdiano in Asia centrale e Cina. In genere, se da un lato l'arte pittorica di Akchakhan-kala mostra l'utilizzo di straordinari archetipi iconografici persiano-achemenidi, dall'altro testimonia l'ingresso nella regione di elementi a essa contemporanei elaborati dall'ellenismo orientale. La posizione del motivo del "prete-uccello" rispetto a questo contesto storico-artistico, e un'ipotesi sulla sua originale elaborazione, sono puntualizzati nel presente articolo. Vista la scarsità di materiale pittorico in Asia centrale in epoca storica, è inoltre osservato come l'analisi dell'arte della Corasmia antica possa contribuire allo studio di questioni più generali, e rilevanti per la storia dell'arte dell'Asia, come la diffusione, trasmissione e ricezione di repertori iconografici tra mondo iranico, India ed ellenismo orientale. * This paper is a modified version of a conference paper presented at the K.R. Cama Oriental Institute in 2018. It was originally intended to be published in 2019. 1 Also known in older publications as Kazakly-yatkan and alternatively spelled Akshakhan-kala. For a full description of the site, see (most recently) Betts et al. 2016b; Minardi, Betts, Khozhaniyazov 2017. 2 Helms et al. 2001 with references. The KAE is a joint project of the University of Sydney and the Research Institute for the Humanities, Academy of Science of Uzbekistan, Karakalpak branch, Nukus, codirected by A.V.G. Betts and G. Khozhaniyazov. The writer joined the team in 2010. 81 [1] 3 On the radiocarbon dating, see Betts et al. 2016b: 127, 154, fig. 6; finds at Akchakhan-kala confirm this chronology. For instance, no Kushan coins have been found during the excavations at the site, unlike at Toprak-kala, the following (regional?) capital of Chorasmia (for further details and information on the dating of Toprak-kala, see Minardi 2018; 2020a with references). 4 For details on the chronology and periodization of the polity, see Minardi 2015a; on the earliest phases and the data on the Achaemenid domination in the area, see Minardi forthcoming b with references to previous work. 5 Minardi 2020a with references. 82 [2] 6 On the dragon/ketos/makara, see Minardi 2016a with references. 7 For further details on the hypostyle hall of Akchakhan-kala and on its functions as an elite space, see Minardi, Betts, Khozhaniyazov 2017. 8 The "portraits" are more likely representations of the fravashis than members of the royal clan stricto sensu (Minardi 2018); this interpretation, supported by new evidence, is further sustained and detailed in Minardi et al. 2020.

This book is a catalogue of more than sixty structures that can be found in the excavation of sites from prehistoric times. It seeks to define elements that enable us to identify the function of the structures. It is a multidisciplinary study combining data from agronomy, ethnography and archaeology.
Aquest llibre és un catàleg de més de seixanta estructures que ens podem trobar en una excavació de la prehistòria, on es busquen aquells elements que permeten identificar la funció que tenien.

The in-situ three-dimensional (3D) digitisation of human remains is significant for bioarchaeological study, providing accurate integrated digital records, and is increasingly applied in fieldwork. This chapter summarises advances in computer vision which enabled the creation of 3D models from two-dimensional (2D) images using passive optical methods such as SfM-MVS. This explores the development of research projects applying these methods to build models of in-situ remains integrated with site data, including at Ridgeway, UK, Uppåkra, Sweden, Çatalhöyük, Turkey and Abreu and Garcia, Brazil. The case studies reveal that this method can support improved visualisation and data integration with rapidly created, accurate records, but requires consideration of issues relating to interpretation and objectivity, contextualisation, storage and ethical treatment of human remains. To fulfil the potential of in-situ 3D digitisation for human remains, researchers should consider the purpose of the application in project design, and when developing digital archaeological frameworks, should aim to improve integration, interoperability and provide critically considered, data-rich and contextualised outputs.

Keywords: Digital Archaeology; Bioarchaeology; Funerary Taphonomy; Virtual Taphonomy; Structure from Motion (SfM); Multi-View Stereo (MVS); Photogrammetry; Digital Image-Based Modelling

Ulguim, P. F. 2017. Recording In Situ Human Remains in Three Dimensions. In Thompson, T. J. U. Errickson, D. Human Remains: Another Dimension. Academic Press: London. p 71-92. DOI: 10.1016/b978-0-12-804602-9.00007-2