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Article Reference Early Byzantine fish consumption and trade revealed by archaeoichthyology and isotopic analysis at Sagalassos, Turkey
We document the dietary and economic role of fish at Sagalassos, a town in ancient Pisidia (southwest Turkey) for the Early Byzantine period (c. 550 – 700 CE) through a detailed analysis of animal bones and stable isotopes. The role of fish in the diet is quantified, for the first time, based on large samples of sieved remains retrieved during the excavation of a number of spaces in an urban residence. The table and kitchen refuse from the mansion shows that fish was a regular part of the diet. However, past isotopic work focused on human individuals excavated in the city’s necropolises, slightly postdating the faunal remains examined, did not reflect this consumption of aquatic food. The studied assemblage comprises at least 12 different fish taxa, including five marine species, a Nilotic fish and six Anatolian freshwater species. Since the origin of the freshwater fishes could not be unambiguously determined by zoogeography alone, we analyzed carbon, nitrogen and sulphur stable isotope ratios in archaeological fish bones from Sagalassos as well as in bones of modern fish collected at different sites in Turkey. We show that most freshwater fish, i.e., all cyprinid species, came from Lake Eğirdir. No evidence was found for fish from the local Aksu River basin. The exact origin of pike, which account for 3% of all freshwater fish, could not be directly determined due to a shortage of modern comparative data. Using the data obtained on the provenance of the fish, the ancient trade routes possibly used in the Early Byzantine period are reconstructed using a combination of archaeological, numismatic and historical data on past commercial relations.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference 3D subsurface characterisation of the Belgian Continental Shelf: a new voxel modelling approach
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference Validating a biophysical dispersal model with the early life-history traits of common sole (Solea solea L.)
Larval dispersal and juvenile survival are crucial in determining variation in recruitment, stock size and adult distribution of commercially important fish. This study investigates the dispersal of early-life stages of common sole (Solea solea L.) in the southern North Sea, both empirically and through modeling. Age at different life-history events of juvenile flatfish sampled along the coasts of Belgium, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in 2013, 2014 and 2016, was determined through the counting of daily growth rings in the otoliths. Juveniles captured between August and October were estimated to be on average 140 days old with an average pelagic larval duration of 34 days. The hatching period was estimated between early April and mid-May followed by arrival and settlement in the nurseries between May and mid-June. Growth rates were higher off the Belgian coast than in the other nursery areas, especially in 2013, possibly due to a post-settlement differentiation. Empirical pelagic larval duration and settlement distributions were compared with the LARVAE&CO larval dispersal model, which combines local hydrodynamics in the North Sea with sole larval behavior. Yearly predicted and observed settlement matched partially, but the model estimated a longer pelagic phase. The observations fitted even better with the modelled average (1995–2015) distribution curves. Aberrant results for the small juvenile sole sampled along the UK coast in March 2016, led to the hypothesis of a winter disruption in the deposition of daily growth rings, potentially related to starvation and lower food availability. The similarities between measured and modelled distribution curves cross-validated both types of estimations and accredited daily ageing of juveniles as a useful method to calibrate biophysical models and to understand early-life history of fish, both important tools in support of efficient fisheries management strategies.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Economic plants from medieval and post-medieval Brussels (Belgium), an overview of the archaeobotanical records.
Archaeobotanical research in the city centre of Brussels is still in its infancy. However, the increasing amount of carpological data collected during the last two decades permits a first review. In this paper a synthesis of identified seeds and fruits of economic plants from ten sites in Brussels is presented. It comprises data from 53 archaeological features, dated between the 8th and 20th century. The majority of the remains are preserved through waterlogging and were found during archaeological rescue excavations in the Senne alluvial valley. Charred remains were regularly found as well, but in smaller quantities. They are the most abundantly identified remains in the topographically higher parts of Brussels. Some mineralized plant remains are also determined, mainly found in cesspits. Diachronic and local differences in the archaeobotanical assemblages are discussed. Plant remains from the pre-urban phase (before 1200 AD) show a variety of different cereal species and shed light on some locally cultivated pulses, vegetables, fruits and kitchen herbs. In the late medieval phase (13th e15th c.) the economic plant spectrum enlarges, with exotic imports from Africa, Asia and southern Europe. From the 17th century onwards introductions from America appear.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference How whales used to filter: exceptionally preserved baleen in a Miocene cetotheriid
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2017
Article Reference A heavyweight early whale pushes the boundaries of vertebrate morphology
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Effects of extreme meteorological conditions on coastal dynamics near a submarine canyon.
A 3-D hydrodynamic model is applied to assess shelf/slope exchanges in the Calvi Canyon region (Corsica, NW Mediterranean) during the violent storm that affected the Western Europe in December 1999. Simulations are carried out using high-frequency sampling meteorological data to take into account the short-term variability of the atmospheric conditions. It is shown that the combined effects of canyon topography and of the wind forcing during the storm are responsible for a large increase of both cross-shore and vertical transports in the area. Strong downwelling motion is simulated all along the continental slope with vertical velocities up to 2 cm s−1 within the canyon. High turbulent diffusion levels are obtained leading to the complete mixing of the water column within the canyon. Results suggest that increased turbulent diffusion and downwelling circulation in the canyon during the storm should result in a large transport of coastal water towards the abyssal plain.
Located in Library / No RBINS Staff publications
Article Reference Assimilation de données dans un modèle d'écosystème marin de la mer Ligure.
The objective is to explore the potentialities of sequential statistical estimation methods to assimilate observations in a primary production biological model coupled to a vertical 1D hydrodynamical model characterised by a k–l turbulent closure. The assimilation method is derived from the SEEK filter (Singular Evolutive Extended Kalman filter), which uses an error subspace represented by multivariate empirical orthogonal functions (EOFs). Real data assimilation experiments collected at sea have been realised to reconstruct the variability of the Ligurian Sea ecosystem during the FRONTAL field experiment.
Located in Library / No RBINS Staff publications
Article Reference A scanning electron microscope technique for studying the sclerites of Cichlidogyrus
The genus Cichlidogyrus (Monogenea: Ancyrocephalidae) includes more than 90 species, most of which are gill parasites of African cichlid fishes. Cichlidogyrus has been studied extensively in recent years, but scanning electron microscope (SEM) investigations of the isolated hard parts have not yet been undertaken. In this paper, we describe a method for isolating and scanning the sclerites of individual Cichlidogyrus worms. Twenty-year old, formol-fixed specimens of Cichlidogyrus casuarinus were subjected to proteinase K digestion in order to release the sclerites from the surrounding soft tissues. SEM micrographs of the haptoral sclerites and the male copulatory organ are presented. The ability to digest formol-fixed specimens makes this method a useful tool for the study of historical museum collections.
Located in Library / No RBINS Staff publications
Article Reference Cirripedes (Thoracica, Crustacea) from the Maastrichtian of Kalaat Senan, Tunisia
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021