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Contribution to the history of roofing slate in Southern Brabant: a methodological approach from the Brussels case study (Belgium).
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Roof coverings are crucial elements in the architectural design of any building, from the most rudimentary to the most elaborate, because of the protection against weathering they offer to the buildings. Despite its important role, it remains many gaps or grey areas in our historical and technical knowledge of this stony materials used to make them. In north-western Europe, although roof tiles seem to have attracted the attention of researchers in France, Germany, the Netherlands and Great Britain, it must be said that slate did not benefit from the same interest. In Belgium as well roofing using slate has not been the subject of particular attention for periods r anging from the late medieval period to the 18th century. Situated at the crossroads of archaeology, archaeometry and history, this study aims to take stock of the use of this material in the southern part of the former Duchy of Brabant and more particularly in the Brussels Region. The available bibliography, archival sources and data from the geological analysis of samples from archaeological excavations will be mobilised to address several key questions: the goeographical origin of the roofing slates and, therefore, their transport – the Brussels Region is devoid of slate deposits and is dependent on import trade routes for its supply; the particular uses of slate (social groups, types of building); the question of the organisation of the slate roofers’ trade; the question of costs in relation to other raw material, tiles in particular; and finally, special attention will be paid to the various implementations observed in situ. This last approach will include a reflection on the diverted uses of this stony material in other types of structural work. In short, this contribution will seek to characterise the roofing slate in the history of construction in Brabant and Brussels and will resonate with a major ongoing research project dedicated to the evolution of the Brussels roof frames.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2023
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On a small collection of sea cucumbers from the Mediterranean continental slope with the first record and re-description of Pseudothyone serrifera (Oestergren, 1898) (Holothuroidea: Dendrochirotida), a new species for the Mediterranean Sea
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022 OA
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Dental microwear as a behavioral proxy for distinguishing between canids at the Upper Paleolithic (Gravettian) site of Předmostí, Czech Republic
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Morphological and genetic evidence put dog domestication during the Paleolithic, sometime between 40,000 and 15,000 years ago, with identification of the earliest dogs debated. We predict that these earliest dogs (referred to herein as protodogs), while potentially difficult to distinguish morphologically from wolves, experienced behavioral shifts, including changes in diet. Specifically, protodogs may have consumed more bone and other less desirable scraps within human settlement areas. Here we apply Dental Microwear Texture Analysis (DMTA) to canids from the Gravettian site of Předmostí (approx. 28,500 BP), which were previously assigned to the Paleolithic dog or Pleistocene wolf morphotypes. We test whether these groups separate out significantly by diet-related variation in microwear patterning. Results are consistent with differences in dietary breadth, with the Paleolithic dog morphotype showing evidence of greater durophagy than those assigned to the wolf morphotype. This supports the presence of two morphologically and behaviorally distinct canid types at this middle Upper Paleolithic site. Our primary goal here was to test whether these two morphotypes expressed notable differences in dietary behavior. However, in the context of a major Gravettian settlement, this may also support evidence of early stage dog domestication. Dental microwear is a behavioral signal that may appear generations before morphological changes are established in a population. It shows promise for distinguishing protodogs from wolves in the Pleistocene and domesticated dogs from wolves elsewhere in the archaeological record.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Size of the lower carnassial in the arctic and the red fox from Late Pleistocene in Belgium compared to other ancient and extant populations
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Lengths, widths, and size proportions (length to width) of the lower carnassial were measured in 45 teeth of the arctic fox and 35 teeth of the red fox from Belgium radiocarbon dated to 46 640–14 120 ka BP. Data the Late Pleistocene foxes from Belgium were compared to 20 ancient and extant populations form Europe, Asia, and North America. The Pleistocene arctic fox from Belgium showed larger carnassial than in all recent samples of this species, whereas the Belgian fossil red foxes were characterized by the carnassial size comparable to that of the recent Siberian red foxes. Both fox species from the Pleistocene of Belgium showed the highest index of the carnassials length to width, which means increase in carnivorous adaptation. We conclude that the higher level of carnivorous specialization reached by the Belgian arctic and red foxes at the end of the Late Pleistocene reflected their scavenging on kills of large carnivores and human hunters (remains of megafauna). Harsh environmental conditions of that period and specific composition of ecosystems led to adapting to a more carnivorous food niche in both foxes.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Were ancient foxes far more carnivorous than recent ones? Carnassial morphological evidence
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Crown shape variation of the first lower molar in the arctic (Vulpes lagopus) and red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) was analyzed using five groups of morphotypes. Carnassial morphologies were compared between the species and between spatially and temporally distant populations: one Late Pleistocene (n = 45) and seven modern populations of the arctic fox (n = 259), and one Late Pleistocene (n = 35) and eight modern populations of the red fox (n = 606). The dentition of Holocene red foxes had larger morphotype variability than that of arctic foxes. The lower carnassials of the red fox kept have some primitive characters (additional cusps and stylids, complex shape of transverse cristid), whereas the first lower molars of the arctic fox have undergone crown shape simplification, with the occlusal part of the tooth undergoing a more pronounced adaptation to a more carnivorous diet. From the Late Pleistocene of Belgium to the present days, the arctic fox’s crown shape has been simplified and some primitive characters have disappeared. In the red fox chronological changes in the morphology of the lower carnassials were not clearly identified. The phyletic tree based on morphotype carnassial characteristics indicated the distinctiveness of both foxes: in the arctic fox line, the ancient population from Belgium and recent Greenland made separate branches, whereas in the red foxes the ancient population from Belgium was most similar to modern red foxes from Belgium and Italy.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2020
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Pollen-derived biomes in the Eastern Mediterranean–Black Sea–Caspian-Corridor
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Aim To evaluate the biomization technique for reconstructing past vegetation in the Eastern Mediterranean–Black Sea–Caspian-Corridor using an extensive modern pollen data set and comparing reconstructions to potential vegetation and observed land cover data. Location The region between 28–48°N and 22–62°E. Methods We apply the biomization technique to 1,387 modern pollen samples, representing 1,107 entities, to reconstruct the distribution of 13 broad vegetation categories (biomes). We assess the results using estimates of potential natural vegetation from the European Vegetation Map and the Physico-Geographic Atlas of the World. We test whether anthropogenic disturbance affects reconstruction quality using land use information from the Global Land Cover data set. Results The biomization scheme successfully predicts the broadscale patterns of vegetation across the region, including changes with elevation. The technique discriminates deserts from shrublands, the prevalence of woodlands in moister lowland sites, and the presence of temperate and mixed forests at higher elevations. Quantitative assessment of the reconstructions is less satisfactory: the biome is predicted correctly at 44% of the sites in Europe and 33% of the sites overall. The low success rate is not a reflection of anthropogenic impacts: only 33% of the samples are correctly assigned after the removal of sites in anthropogenically altered environments. Open vegetation is less successfully predicted (33%) than forest types (73%), reflecting the under-representation of herbaceous taxa in pollen assemblages and the impact of long-distance pollen transport into open environments. Samples from small basins (<1 km2) are more likely to be reconstructed accurately, with 58% of the sites in Europe and 66% of all sites correctly predicted, probably because they sample an appropriate pollen source area to reflect regional vegetation patterns in relatively heterogeneous landscapes. While methodological biases exist, the low confidence of the quantitative comparisons should not be over-emphasized because the target maps themselves are not accurate representations of vegetation patterns in this region. Main Conclusions The biomization scheme yields reasonable reconstructions of the broadscale vegetation patterns in the Eastern Mediterranean–Black Sea–Caspian-Corridor, particularly if appropriate-sized sampling sites are used. Our results indicate biomization could be used to reconstruct changing patterns of vegetation in response to past climate changes in this region.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2017
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Anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Temnodontosaurus zetlandicus (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria)
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RBINS Staff Publications 2022
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Molecular composition and ultrastructure of Jurassic paravian feathers
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The Middle-Late Jurassic fossil assemblage found in the Tiaojishan Formation of Liaoning Province in northeastern China has yielded unparalleled evidence on the early evolution of birds1–4. Most importantly, the identification of various feather-like integumental appendages in non-avian and stem avialan theropods has illuminated the diversity and distribution of plumage structures during their adaptive transition towards use in flight4. Epidermal traces in the Tiaojishan Formation are preserved as either faint impressions or phosphatised and carbonised residues4,5. The latter were long thought to be a product of keratin-degrading bacteria6. However, more recent interpretations have favoured fossilised melanosomes; that is, melanin-bearing cellular organelles responsible in part for the colouration of skin and its structural derivatives7. This landmark hypothesis has spawned an entirely new field of exploratory inference into dinosaurian colour5,7–11, behaviour5 and physiology12.
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RBINS collections by external author(s)
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The ecology of infrastructure decommissioning in the North Sea: what we need to know and how to achieve it
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RBINS Staff Publications 2019
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The genus Charcotia Chevreux, 1906 in the Southern Ocean, with the description of a new species (Crustacea, Amphipoda, Lysianassoidea)
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It is demonstrated here that Charcotia Chevreux, 1906 (Amphipoda) has priority over Charcotia Vayssière, 1906 (Gastropoda), and that Waldeckia Chevreux, 1906 has to be treated as an invalid objective junior synonym of Charcotia Chevreux, 1906. An analysis of a part of the mitochondrial COI gene of Charcotia indicates that Charcotia obesa sensu lato, consists of two genetically distant clades that fulfil the criteria of genetic species. Each genetic clade corresponds to a different morphotype. The first one has a low triangular protrusion on the dorsal border of urosomite 1, a strong tooth on epimeron 3, and the posterodistal corner of the basis of pereiopod 7 is regularly rounded. It agrees with the original description of Charcotia obesa Chevreux, 1906. The second one has a protrusion of urosomite 1 prolongated by a sharp and usually long denticle, a small tooth on epimeron 3, and the posterodistal corner of the basis of pereiopod 7 is bluntly angular. The second form is treated herein as a new species, Charcotia amundseni sp. nov., which is described in detail. While the bathymetric distribution of the two Antarctic Charcotia species overlaps (0–300 m for C. obesa and 7–1200 m for C. amundseni sp. nov.), C. obesa largely predominates at depths of less than 150 m, while Charcotia amundseni sp. nov. predominates at greater depths. Both species are widely distributed and presumably circum-Antarctic.
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RBINS Staff Publications 2018
