A dating intercomparison study on Late Stone Age coastal midden deposits,South Africa

The southern and western coastlines of South Africa have an extensive archaeological record with many sites associated with widespread eolian deposits. While much of this rich archaeological record is based on cave sites, evidence of Late Stone Age occupation is additionally preserved in the form of open‐site shell middens. We present here a comparative study of the application of amino acid racemization (AAR), optically stimulated luminescence (OSL), and radiocarbon analyses to three Late Stone Age (LSA) midden sites found within dunes on the southern coastline of South Africa. Preliminary geochronological analyses suggest that middens offer opportunity to fill in gaps in what is still a fragmentary archaeological record. Results show OSL and radiocarbon ages in good agreement, illustrating the potential to date not only the middens but also the surrounding dunes that constituted the dwelling sites. AAR results show increasing ratios with age and also that the application of paired shell and “whole rock” AAR can provide insights into the degree of biogenic sediment recycling at buried midden sites. However, the work also highlights that caution is required when OSL sampling sediment associated with middens which may have undergone human disturbance and that further work is required to improve the regional marine reservoir correction for radiocarbon dating in this part of South Africa. The study also illustrates that AAR will only provide useful data provided that middens have been sufficiently deeply buried to overcome fluctuations in environmental variables that affect the racemization rate and that inter‐genus comparisons should be avoided. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Mineralogical and Geochemical Constraints on the Sediment Sources of Late Stone Age Pottery from the Birimi Site,Northern Ghana

The mineralogy and bulk chemical compositions of 15 Kintampo (Late Stone Age) potsherds from the Birimi site on the Gambaga Escarpment and eight samples of local sediment were determined with the intent of characterizing these wares and identifying the material used in their manufacture. Sediment from clay pits still used by potters north of the escarpment contains iron‐rich laterite clasts (100 × XFeO_t = 100 × FeO_t/[FeO_t + Al₂O₃ + SiO₂] ≥10). Sedimentary clasts in stream sediments are relatively siliceous and iron‐poor (100 × XFeO_t < 10). Bulk geochemical data together with the compositions of lithic clasts (laterite, siltstone/sandstone) link the pottery to sediment sources, including escarpment sediments not presently used by Ghanaian potters. Fresh granite clasts found in some of the sherds were not found in the analyzed sediment samples, although some of their distinctive mineralogical constituents (e.g., variably barian alkali feldspar) are present. The analytical data suggest that pots found at Birimi were made locally by mixing escarpment sediment with clay and stream sediment brought in from below the escarpment. This contrasts with present‐day practice, whereby the pots themselves are imported. The place where Birimi pottery was made and the outcrop source of aluminous sediment (mudstone with an “escarpment” trace element signature) used in these wares, however, remain unidentified. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

中国新石器时代绿松石文化

绿松石在中国文化、文明和传统起源过程中有着某种神秘而特殊的位置.新中国建国以来,数以千万个(次)考古发掘,出土了大量绿松石随葬器,并被视为国家保护文物.文物是历史的见证,是我国文明史的缩影和载体,是一部活生生的史书.这里仅就自数千件文献中收集到的绿松石遗存200余处进行分析.     

Making fire in the Stone Age: flint and pyrite

Flint implements with rounded ends, excavated at several Late Palaeolithic sites in Denmark and the Netherlands, are described and interpreted as strike-a-lights used in combination with pyrites. Experiments were carried out; the use-wear traces on the experimental pieces are similar to those occurring on the prehistoric specimens. It is concluded that the pyrite technique for fire production most probably predated wood-on-wood techniques, both in Europe and Greenland.     

Middle Stone Age starch acquisition in the Niassa Rift, Mozambique

The quest for direct lines of evidence for Paleolithic plant consumption during the African Middle Stone Age has led scientists to study residues and use-wear on flaked stone tools. Past work has established lithic function through multiple lines of evidence and the spatial breakdown of use-wear and microscopic traces on tool surfaces. This paper focuses on the quantitative analysis of starch assemblages and the botanical identification of grains from flake and core tools to learn about human ecology of carbohydrate use around the Niassa woodlands, in the Mozambican Rift. The processing of starchy plant parts is deduced from the occurrence of starch assemblages that presumably got attached to stone tool surfaces by actions associated with extractive or culinary activities. Specifically, we investigate starch grains from stone tools recently excavated in northern Mozambique at the site of Mikuyu; which presumably spans the middle to late Pleistocene and represents similar sites found along the Malawi/Niassa corridor that links East, Southern, and Central Africa. Starch was extracted and processed with a diverse tool kit consisting of scrapers, cores, points, flakes, and other kinds of tools. The microbotanical data suggests consumption of seeds, legumes, caryopses, piths, underground storage organs, nuts, and mesocarps from more than a dozen families. Our data suggest a great antiquity for starch use in Africa as well as an expanded diet and intensification.     

Paleosols,red sediments,and the Old Stone Age in Greece

As elsewhere in the Mediterranean, the Quaternary of Greece stands out by the red color of many of its paleosols and sediments. Both are important, but, in a geoarchaeological context, the distinction between palaeosols and sediments is crucial because they carry different information. Paleosols mature with age, forming a chronosequence that can be studied with simple field methods. The youngest paleosols, some 2000 years old, are at the base of a series of six maturity stages, the most mature of which exceeds 100,000 years in age. Paleosols are useful stratigraphic tools: They identify Palaeolithic land surfaces, correlate regionally variable lithologies, and furnish relative and rough absolute dates for Quaternary sediments and Palaeolithic findspots. Red sediments, on the other hand, are the oxidized residue of limestone weathering that once blanketed large regions where limestone dominates the bedrock. Now mainly redeposited in dissolution basins and closed tectonic troughs of the karst surface, they are the key to water—and wildlife-rich environments valued by Palaeolithic hunter–gatherers and modern farmers. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

川西南晚奥陶世五峰期岩相古地理

通过对川西南汉源—马边—雷波地区典型剖面上奥陶统五峰组沉积岩性特征、充填序列、沉积构造及室内分析等研究,并结合研究区晚奥陶世构造特征,将川西南地区五峰期分为2期,划分为潮坪、浅水陆棚和深水陆棚3种沉积相。指出在晚奥陶世五峰早期,受加里东构造运动影响,扬子与华夏陆块发生构造挤压碰撞,川中、黔中等边缘隆起抬升扩大,上扬子地区由克拉通海相盆地转为被隆起围限的隆后盆地,除川中隆起、川西—滇中隆起周缘沉积潮坪相白云质页岩、泥灰岩和白云质灰岩外,川西南绝大部分面积主要发育深水陆棚相炭质页岩和硅质页岩、含炭粉砂质页岩。五峰晚期,伴随着全球性冰期事件的发生,研究区乃至整个上扬子区发生大规模海退,大面积的深水陆棚相转为浅水陆棚沉积,岩性主要为粉砂质页岩、泥灰岩、钙质炭质页岩和硅质灰岩等,较前期钙质成分明显增多。     

重庆万盛石林的形成时代及发育演化过程

重庆万盛石林位于万盛国家地质公园龙鳞石海景区的核心地质遗迹。构景岩层为奥陶系宝塔组龟裂纹灰岩。与万盛石林所处同一夷平面天门洞内,采集新鲜钙化沉积物样品进行铀系不平衡年龄测定,研究万盛石林开始发育年代在12.9万年以前的中更世中期。同时对成景母岩进行了岩石化学分析,具有抗溶蚀、侵蚀能力弱的特征,为典型的蘑菇状石林形成提供了物质基础;其形成由岩性、构造、气候、水文及土壤生物等条件决定。     

安徽含山县凌家滩遗址新石器时代闪石类玉器研究

对凌家滩遗址出土的闪石类玉器做了矿物成分、结构等方面的研究工作,表明其主要为透闪石玉,为今后考古研究提供了重要依据.     

福建晚中生代兜岭群时代与区域地层对比

中国东部晚中生代广布的陆相火山盆地沉积,由于海相生物化石的匮乏造成与层型地区对比的困难,长期以来该地层时代仅笼统被认为属于晚侏罗世-早白垩世。通过岩石组合、构造层和沉积构造环境的综合对比,确立闽西地区的兜岭群与闽东地区南园群、浙西建德群可以对比,构造不整合面代表区域上由挤压向拉张构造背景转化的相对等时界面。兜岭群的植物群Cupressinocladus --Brachyphyllum 组合可能与北方的Ruffordia --Onychiopsis 植物组合大体相当,叶肢介、介形类、腹足类和双壳类等化石与浙江早白垩世建德生物群、北方的热河生物群均可以对比,时代应为早白垩世欧特里夫期-阿普特期。     

四川盆地晚二叠世吴家坪期岩相古地理

四川盆地上二叠统吴家坪阶岩石类型多样,按岩性及岩相特征的不同,吴家坪阶可划分为4种类 型,即峨眉山玄武岩组火山岩、宣威组陆相碎屑岩,龙潭组海陆过渡相碎屑岩以及吴家坪组海相石灰岩,横向 上岩性变化明显。在对露头和钻井剖面单因素定量及定性资料分析的基础上,采用单因素分析多因素综合作图 法,对四川盆地晚二叠世吴家坪期的岩相古地理进行了研究及编图。吴家坪期总体上自西南向东北依次展布剥 蚀区、冲积平原、碎屑岩台地、碳酸盐岩台地、斜坡(过渡带)和盆地,其中碳酸盐岩台地内局部发育低能生 屑滩。四川盆地吴家坪期成煤环境多样,三角洲、湖-海湾及潮坪相成为煤层发育的主要相带,这些环境中 的暗色泥岩、页岩及煤,为吴家坪阶重要的烃源岩,碳酸盐岩台地环境中的石灰岩也可以作为吴家坪阶主要储 集岩。     

福建永安喀斯特石林形成年代及发育过程

根据对永安石林地区地质、水文地质条件的分析,利用不平衡铀系法,对区内不同高程位置的钙华沉积物岩样进行年龄测定,确定了永安石林形成年代在中更新世以来约25万年。并结合永安地区地质构造历史及闽江流域发育演化过程,分析得出永安石林主要是在第四纪以后大湖盆地处于剥蚀环境下,伴随地壳间歇性抬升运动,石炭纪、二叠纪石灰岩上覆岩层逐渐被风化剥蚀后形成的。     

The accumulation of Stone Age lithic artifacts in rock fragment mulches in northern Ethiopia

Lithic artifacts buried in the soil profile may be transported to the surface during tillage‐induced kinetic sieving, differential erosion, or swell–shrink cycles of clays and become part of a rock fragment mulch. Archaeologically, these manifestations are recognized as surface scatters. Although artifacts at the soil surface are difficult to relate to the local stratigraphic context, surface assemblages may provide information on lithic industries and the archaeological significance of sparsely explored regions. Through in situ investigation of surface material in 60 1 × 1 m² plots in the Tembien district in the northern Ethiopian highlands, we show that rock fragment mulches can contain a significant number of lithic artifacts and we provide evidence for mid‐Pleistocene occupation of a site. Considering that severe rill and gully erosion may be a threat to the archaeological heritage and that well‐dated African Middle Stone Age sites are rare, we conclude that the region deserves more attention for archaeological research. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Lithic raw material usages during the Middle Stone Age at Dakhleh Oasis,Egypt

Dakhleh Oasis, the largest of the Egyptian Western Desert, presents an opportunity for diachronic study of lithic raw material preferences during the Middle Stone Age (MSA) of the Eastern Sahara. Archaeological aggregates and raw material sources are exposed and easily mapped. Diverse and abundant lithic raw materials derive from sandstone, shale, and limestone sources and are also found in secondary geological contexts. Three main raw materials were used, and there was strong preference for one of these: Tarawan chert. Easily available only in the north‐central oasis, this material was transported substantial distances even when other materials that were known and used by MSA peoples could be found closer at hand. There is little evidence for use of raw materials exogenous to Dakhleh Oasis. This pattern of usage does not appear to change from the older MSA units to the Aterian Dakhleh Unit. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Late Stages in the Evolution of the Late Mesozoic East Mongolian Volcanic Areal: Rock Age and Composition

Doklady Earth Sciences - The Mandakh–Mandal–Gobi (MMG) zone of alkali basalt magmatism has been delineated in the Late Mesozoic East Mongolian volcanic areal. It comprises clusters of...     

晚奥陶世五峰期扬子板块沉积模式

本文从沉积相分析及稀土元素地球化学特征来探讨扬子板块在晚奥陶世五峰期的沉积模式,认为五峰期扬子板块南部为古陆,东西北为断续分布的碳酸盐岩台地、生物礁和隆起区所环绕,中部为半封闭的浅水滞流海盆,稀土元素分析表明扬子扳块中部广泛分布的五峰组形成于陆浅海而非深海小洋盆。     

Age and significance of the Late Pleistocene Dawson tephra in eastern Beringia

Dawson tephra, recently recognized in the Klondike area of Yukon Territory, records one of the largest Quaternary volcanic eruptions in Beringia. Its composition is similar to that of Old Crow tephra, indicating a source in the Aleutian arc-Alaska Peninsula region of southwestern Alaska. Its primary thickness in central Yukon is nearly twice that of Old Crow tephra, which has an estimated eruption volume of >50 km³. The distribution of Dawson tephra is still poorly known, but based on its source area and occurrence in central Yukon, it should be widespread across southern Alaska, Yukon and the Gulf of Alaska. New radiocarbon ages indicate the eruption occurred at about 24,000 ¹⁴C yr BP (ca 27,000 cal yr BP). The Dawson tephra is a valuable marker bed for correlating late Pleistocene records across large areas of eastern Beringia and adjacent marine records.     

Post‐excavation deterioration of the Copney Bronze Age Stone Circle Complex: A geomorphological perspective

Post‐excavation deterioration of stones from under blanket peat at the Copney Bronze Age Stone Circle Complex in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland, proceeded through widespread scaling, flaking, and splitting of stones. Investigation showed that prior to burial the porphyritic stones already possessed a complex legacy of geological weaknesses derived from hydrothermal alteration and tectonic deformation. Analysis indicated that significant alteration occurred during approximately 2000 years of burial under acidic peat cover, with development of a secondary porosity, alteration of primary minerals, and the opening of preexisting lines of weakness within the stones. Burial under peat also resulted in “bleaching” the stones so that they appeared white in color following excavation. These alterations during burial left the stones in a significantly weakened state and particularly susceptible to the effects of subaerial weathering processes. Data underline the potential fragility of excavated stonework and highlight the need to plan for its aftercare before complete excavation is undertaken. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Age of the Cutler Dam Alloformation (Late Pleistocene), Bonneville Basin, Utah

Luminescence geochronology, especially infrared stimulated luminescence analyses on marsh mud, shows that a relatively deep lake reached its peak (1340 m above sea level) in the Bonneville basin 59,000±5000 yr ago. The age is consistent with nonfinite ¹⁴C ages and with amino acid geochronology on ostracodes. The Cutler Dam Alloformation was deposited during this lake cycle, which, like the subsequent Bonneville lake cycle, appears to have reached its maximum highstand following the peak of a global glacial stage (marine oxygen-isotope stage 4) but at a time when other records from North America show evidence for cold climate and expanded glacier ice.     

中上扬子地区晚二叠世长兴期岩相古地理

中上扬子地区上二叠统长兴阶岩石类型主要为碳酸盐岩,其次为碎屑岩和硅岩,还有少量煤和火 山碎屑岩;其岩相可归纳为碎屑岩型、碎屑岩-石灰岩型、石灰岩型、石灰岩-硅岩型、硅岩-碎屑岩型等５ 种类型;其生物化石具４个基本生态类型,可划分为５种化石组合。以沉积岩石学理论为指导,以单因素分析 多因素综合作图法为方法论,选取了厚度、海相岩含量、浅水碳酸盐岩含量、具灰泥基质的生屑含量、具亮晶 胶结的生屑含量、生物礁的分布、薄层硅岩含量和深水沉积岩含量等单因素,对中上扬子地区晚二叠世长兴期 岩相古地理进行研究,编制出了单因素图件８幅,岩相古地理图１幅。研究表明,长兴期岩相古地理格局规律 明显,自西向东依次出现剥蚀区、冲积平原、碎屑岩台地、碳酸盐岩台地、斜坡与盆地,其中碳酸盐岩台地中 可以划分出低能生物滩、高能生物滩和生物礁等次一级的古地理单元;沉积环境对烃源岩的发育具有明显的控 制作用,研究区大隆组优质烃源岩发育;长兴阶储集层以礁相储集层为主,环广元-梁平盆地的台地边缘地区 是长兴组潜伏礁型油气藏的最有利勘探区域。