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New data on the late Neandertals: direct dating of the Belgian Spy fossils.
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In Eurasia, the period between 40,000 and 30,000 BP saw the replacement of Neandertals by anatomically modern humans (AMH) during and after the Middle to Upper Paleolithic transition. The human fossil record for this period is very poorly defined with no overlap between Neandertals and AMH on the basis of direct dates. Four new (14)C dates were obtained on the two adult Neandertals from Spy (Belgium). The results show that Neandertals survived to at least approximately 36,000 BP in Belgium and that the Spy fossils may be associated to the Lincombian-Ranisian-Jerzmanowician, a transitional techno-complex defined in northwest Europe and recognized in the Spy collections. The new data suggest that hypotheses other than Neandertal acculturation by AMH may be considered in this part of Europe.
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Applications of imaging methodologies to paleoanthropology: beneficial results relating to the preservation, management and development of collections
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The limited number of unearthed fossils and their accessibility are factors that hinder paleoanthropological studies. Original remains, but also osteological collections of extant specimens, have to be curated in optimal and adapted environments, and direct manipulation needs to be limited in order to preserve this irreplaceable patrimony. Imaging methodologies have recently provided ways for innovative advances in the preservation of these collections, as well as offering new perspectives to museographic displays and original scientific studies. Here, we describe recent examples of developments obtained from imaging methodologies and discuss methodological and ethical implications of these new “virtual” collections. Undeniably, “virtual anthropology” is an additional tool in our large set of analytical possibilities and for curators, with its specific constraints related to the particular nature of the analysed material. Finally, we suggest some possible guidelines for the optimisation of the preservation, management and development of collections while preserving their scientific exploitation.
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Virtual reconstruction of the Neandertal lower limbs with an estimation of hamstring muscle moment arms
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A major problem of fossil hominid analysis is a lack of complete specimens. Many individual specimens have been damaged by the effects of diagenesis and excavation. Significant advances in the field of three dimensional image processing (3D) have enabled the creation of accurately scaled reconstructions of individual fossil bones using mirrored parts of the same fossil bone or human/fossil hominid equivalents. This study presents, for the first time, a method to reconstruct a 3D virtual model of the lower limb of the Neandertal using different bones from different fossil remains (Spy II, Neandertal 1 and Kebara 2) and integrating them into a single model of the Neandertal lower limb. A biomechanical analysis of the model was performed, including computer graphics visualization of the results, motion displacement graphs and muscle moment arms. The overall method has been implemented into an open-source customized software (lhpFusionBox) developed for the biomechanical study of the musculoskeletal system.
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Surface scanning of anthropological specimens: nominal-actual comparison with low cost laser scanner and high end fringe light projection surface scanning systems.
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We tested three surface scanning Systems: the low cost NextEngine laser scanner, the white light Fringe Projection Breuckmann Smartscan and the white light Fringe Projection Steinbichler COMET V 4M. We evaluate the potential of such Systems for digitalizing original anthropological specimens and compare it with a "nominal" 3D model derived from mCT or CT data. Our results show that surface scanning of teeth is generally problematic even for high end systems. Even though studies of the occlusal surface are possible with high end systems, high resolution mCT still has to be considered the best choice for scientific studies dealing with details of the occlusal surface. However, for general digitalization purposes and recording of dimensions even the NextEngine system is suitable. In our tests, Breuckmann Smartscan produced the best models with the lowest deviation compared to the nominal mCTmodel. The Steinbichler is the fastest system but the quality of the resulting models is slightly lower. NextEngine produces a clearly lower quality than the tested high end systems but if one considers the different price margins of the systems, the proportionally good data provided by NextEngine is remarkable. In the case of bones with a simple geometric structure, this low cost scanner can compete easily with 3D models derived from medical CT for gross morphometric studies.
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Chronostratigraphic context of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition. Recent data from Belgium
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Experiences with low and high cost 3D surface scanner.
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The increasing importance of virtual techniques in archaeology and anthropology puts the question of adequate hardware and software applications for a digitalization of collections for museums and institutions into the focus. Especially the market for mobile 3D scanning developed rapidly during the last years and provides a range of different models suitable for scientific purposes today. As the requirements for archaeological and anthropological applications are very high and differentiated - due to the, in some cases very complex surface morphologies of the objects and the different textures from shiny obsidian to porous bone - the decision for a scanner model is often complicated. The Neanderthal Museum and the Royal Belgian Institute of Sciences have been testing six different surface scanner from four companies during the last months concerning their suitability for archaeological and anthropological objects. Quality of the 3D models was rated by the visibility and exactness of standard attributes used for classification of the object type in archaeology or anthropology. Results are presented here. Generally, all types of archaeological and anthropological objects can be digitalized with surface scanner. If a high end or a low budget model should be used depends on the texture of the object and the intended purpose.
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Wood charcoal and seeds as indicators for animal husbandry in a wetland site during the late mesolithic-early neolithic transition period (Swifterbant culture, ca. 4600-4000 B.C.) in NW Belgium
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Isotopic reconstruction of human diet and animal husbandry practices during the classical-Hellenistic, Imperial and Byzantine periods at Sagalassos, Turkey
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Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratio analysis of freshwater, brackish and marine fish from Belgian archaeological sites (1st and 2nd millennium AD)
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Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios were measured in 157 fish bone collagen samples from 15 different archaeological sites in Belgium which ranged in ages from the 3rd to the 18th c. AD. Due to diagenetic contamination of the burial environment, only 63 specimens produced results with suitable C:N ratios (2.9-3.6). The selected bones encompass a wide spectrum of freshwater, brackish, and marine taxa (N = 18), and this is reflected in the d13C results (-28.2‰ to -12.9‰). The freshwater fish have d13C values that range from -28.2‰ to -20.2‰, while the marine fish cluster between -15.4‰ to -13.0‰. Eel, a catadromous species (mostly living in freshwater but migrating into the sea to spawn), plots between -24.1‰ to -17.7‰, and the anadromous fish (living in marine environments but migrating into freshwater to spawn) show a mix of freshwater and marine isotopic signatures. The d15N results also have a large range (7.2‰ to 16.7‰) indicating that these fish were feeding at many different trophic levels in these diverse aquatic environments. The aim of this research is the isotopic characterization of archaeological fish species (ecology, trophic level, migration patterns) and to determine intra-species variation within and between fish populations differing in time and location. Due to the previous lack of archaeological fish isotope data from Northern Europe and Belgium in particular, these results serve as an important ecological backdrop for the future isotopic reconstruction of the diet of human populations dating from the historical period (1st and 2nd millennium AD), where there is zooarchaeological and historical evidence for an increased consumption of marine fish.
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Palaeolithic big game hunting at HP766 in Wadi Umm Rahau, Northern Sudan
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Abstract. HP766, discovered by the Gdansk Archaeological Museum Expedition in the region immediately upstream the Merowe Dam in North Sudan and now under water, is one of the few palaeolithic sites with animal bone remains in the country. The archaeological deposits, the large size of the site, the lithics and the radiocarbon dates indicate occupation of a silt terrace of the Nile in late MSA and LSA times. Large and very large mammals predominate markedly among the recovered bone remains and it would seem that the palaeolithic hunters focused on such game. They could corner these animals on the site which is partially surrounded by high bed rock outcrops. Moreover swampy conditions after the retreat of the annual Nile flood may have rendered less mobile the prey animals. According to this scenario, HP 766 may testify to the ecological skills and generational memory of archaic modern man in Sudan.
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