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Article Reference A new pipid from the Cretaceous of Africa (In Becetèn, Niger) and early evolution of the Pipidae
Pipimorpha and its crown-group Pipidae possess one of the most extensive fossil records among anurans, known since the Early Cretaceous in both Laurasia and Gondwana. Pipimorph diversification may have been driven by the breakup of West Gondwana during the Cretaceous. Numerous fossils from South America have been unearthed in the last decade, documenting this event. Unfortunately, Cretaceous pipimorphs from Africa have been limited to a few wellpreserved taxa from sub-Saharan Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, which hinders our comprehension of pipimorph diversification during this key period. The site of In Becetèn, in south-east Niger, is one of the few mid-Late Cretaceous (Coniacian–Santonian) sites from which a pipid, Pachycentrata taqueti, is known. Here, we describe and name a second pipid from the same locality. This taxon is known by a relatively complete braincase. Phylogenetic analyses confirm its position as a pipid, with pipinomorph affinities. This makes In Becetèn the oldest site with at least two pipids. Phylogenetic results are congruent with recent pipimorph relationships, with the presence of an endemic extinct clade in South America, Shelaniinae. The phylogenetic results also allow us to review the proposed definition for Pipimorpha and its subclades and propose new systematic definitions for them. Temporal calibration of the phylogenetic tree based on the fossil record suggests that pipimorphs diversified in a western Gondwana block and confirms that South America separated from Africa around the mid-Cretaceous. Between these two events, pipids diverged in Africa, giving rise to major extant clades. This study highlights the importance of Africa for early pipid diversification during the Cretaceous and of the opening of the Southern Atlantic Ocean for anuran dispersion and diversification.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023 OA
Article Reference Een zeldzame Otodus obliquus Agassiz, 1843 uit een zand-suppletie op het strand van Dishoek (Walcheren, Nederland)
In this contribution, we describe a tooth of Otodus obliquus Agassiz, 1843, found in sand supplementation material on the beach of Dishoek, Walcheren (The Netherlands). Even though this species has a broad distribution in Paleocene and early Eocene successions in Western Europe, in the Netherlands it was thus far only known to occur reworked in younger strata in the subsurface of the northern part of the country, and has never been described from sand supplementation material. The described specimen was found in material dredged up from the Middeldiep, a trough in the Zeeuwse Banken area. The associated mollusk fauna suggests that the material is derived from the mid-Pleistocene to early Holocene Kreftenheye Formation, in which the described early Eocene tooth likely occurred as reworked. Potentially, it was originally derived from the early Eocene Tielt Formation, outcropping to the south of Brugge, Belgium, and transported by local rivers to the Zeeuwse Banken area during the Pleistocene. Alternatively, flint and chalk material present in the sand supplementation material suggests that the described specimen could also be originated across the North Sea, derived from the early Eocene Harwich and London Clay deposits exposed in Kent and Essex (England) and transported eastwards by the paleo-Thames.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
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 Didelphodus caloris, new species (Mammalia, Cimolesta), from the Wasatchian Wa-0 fauna of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum, Clarks Fork Basin, Wyoming
The Wasatchian Wa-0 mammalian fauna from the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (earliest Eocene) is reasonably well sampled in North America, but mammals of small body size are still poorly known. Here we describe a new species of the insectivore Didelphodus based on a cranial rostrum, both dentaries, and a nearly complete upper and lower dentition, all found by screen-washing. The new species, D. caloris, is the oldest species of the genus known in North America. It differs from later early Eocene Didelphodus in being substantially smaller, in having relatively simple premolars, and in having a more reduced M3 relative to preceding molars. Precursors of Didelphodus are not known with certainty, and the species D. caloris may be an immigrant to mid-continent North America. D. caloris is tentatively interpreted as a dwarfed form like other Wa-0 mammals because of its small size relative to the better-known successor species D. absarokae.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2023
Article Reference Les étrangers dans les inscriptions de Palmyre
This study presents several categories of persons whose status is that of foreigner, which appear in the inscriptions of Palmyra. We can classify them according to their social statuses in the Empire and at Palmyra: emperors, governors, financial officers, soldiers, those without official function, or simply foreigners (slaves, freed persons, and others). The names of emperors or governors are mentioned in Palmyrene epigraphy, but their actual presence at Palmyra is not assured. Other foreigners moved into the town and settled there, either temporarily or permanently. The latter underwent various levels of integration within the city of Palmyra. This study is based on the inscriptions discovered at the city of Palmyra, engraved both in monolingual Greek, Aramaic, and Latin epigraphs, as well as in bi- and trilingual epigraphs. The period covered by this study is limited to the first three centuries CE and the beginning of the fourth
Located in Associated publications / … / ANTHROPOLOGICA ET PREHISTORICA / Bibliographic references
Article Reference Four unpublished plaques from ancient Urkesh (modern Tell Mozan, Syria): Analysis of context and function
The only four terracotta plaques That were found in Urkesh, dating back to the second millennium BC, offer a style variation of the nude woman motif that was extremely popular in Mesopotamia. The main objective of this article is to present these previously unpublished terracotta plaques from Urkesh. The artifacts in question are dealt with from an archaeological point of view, where the descriptive information and archaeological context related to them is provided, before discussing their proposed function that relies to some extent on their imagery and what it represents. The analysis of these plaques, which conform with the domestic nature of other plaques found all over Mesopotamian sites, and the sexualization of woman’s depiction on them and how it relates to some extent to the change in the manufacturing techniques from the freehand molded figurines to the mass production of a mold made plaques, and the interpretation of their function as objects of a domestic nature, are presented in this article in effort to highlight what might be a new proposed function for the plaques of Urkesh, in the light of their archaeological context that might be related to burials
Located in Associated publications / … / ANTHROPOLOGICA ET PREHISTORICA / Bibliographic references
Article Reference Early Bronze Age population substructure in the Khabur basin: preliminary evidence from Tell Brak, Tell Arbid and Tell Barri (Syria)
Bioarchaeological studies of human remains examine past populations through their mortuary, biological, and socio-cultural contexts. Biological distance, or biodistance, analyses use both genetic and phenetic data to investigate biological relatedness. Biodistance studies frequently employ phenotypic characteristics, or the physical expression of genetic traits that can serve as a proxy for aDNA, to understand evolution, migration, kinship and social organisation. We used phenotypic variation in dental morphology to investigate the population history of the Khabur basin in Syria, during an important period of urbanisation in the Early Bronze Age (EBA, circa 3000-2100 BCE) that shaped the political, social, and economic history of ancient Mesopotamia. Non-metric dental traits from three EBA sites, Tell Brak (n=77), Tell Barri (n=16) and Tell Arbid (n=17), were recorded using the Arizona State University Dental Anthropology System (ASUDAS). Individuals from the sites were compared using the Gower distance matrix and Mean Measure of Divergence (MMD) to examine the difference between sites as population groups. The results suggest that while sites were ancestrally similar, the observed heterogeneity between sites and was related to the socio-political nature of the community. The greatest variation was observed for the samples from Tell Brak and Tell Barri, the capital and the second-rank administrative centre, respectively. Although Tell Arbid showed less variability, some population segmentation was observed between different burial loci.
Located in Associated publications / … / ANTHROPOLOGICA ET PREHISTORICA / Bibliographic references
Article Reference Une nouvelle association internationale The International Association for Archaeological Research in Western & Central Asia
Located in Associated publications / … / ANTHROPOLOGICA ET PREHISTORICA / Bibliographic references
Article Reference La pratique de l’inhumation dans des contenants périssables dans la Syrie antique entre le Ier et le VIIe siècle après J.-C.
Cette étude vise à identifier les contenants périssables utilisés pour l’inhumation des morts dans la région de la Syrie antique pendant la période romaine. Le travail inclut l’étude d’environ cent tombes dans neuf espaces funéraires. L’analyse des sépultures a été réalisée soit sur le terrain, à Palmyre et Es-Samra, soit à partir des documentations graphiques et écrites dans les autres sites. Cette analyse est fondée d’une part sur les vestiges disponibles et d’autre part sur l’analyse taphonomique des squelettes. Les données recueillies ont permis de démontrer l’existence de plusieurs types de contenants utilisés pour des sujets immatures et adultes. Elles ont permis aussi d’évoquer le statut social des individus concernés par ces pratiques funéraires.
Located in Associated publications / … / ANTHROPOLOGICA ET PREHISTORICA / Bibliographic references
Article Reference Quelques aspects des pratiques funéraires au Néolithique proche-oriental : la gestion de l’espace à Çatalhöyük
Burials containing men, women and immature individuals have been found below the platforms and fl oors of Neolithic houses in Central Anatolia, in the Northern and Southern Levant, and in Iraqi Djazirah. Inside these burials, the individuals rested individually or together (simultaneously or successively) in a position resembling that of a foetus within the womb. Studies focused on the domestic context of theses burials and their spatial organisation are the main keys to the interpretation of the religious thoughts behind these practices. In this article we will present some aspects of funerary practices in the Near Eastern Neolithic period which mainly focus on the management of the funerary space and its relationship with the living space in Çatalhöyük.
Located in Associated publications / … / ANTHROPOLOGICA ET PREHISTORICA / Bibliographic references