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Article Reference Bird bones from Trou de Chaleux and the human exploitation of birds during the late Magdalenian in Belgium
The Trou de Chaleux is a cave site located in Belgium. It delivered a rich late Magdalenian material culture constituted mainly of lithic artefacts but also including bone industries and figurative art. This paper presents the results of the analysis of the large collection of bird remains recovered by E. Dupont in 1865, which was yet unstudied from taphonomical and archaeozoological perspectives. In addition to the taxonomic identification, surface alterations were investigated based on a macro- and microscopic analysis, including an analysis of wear traces and elementary composition. Special attention is devoted to the presence of human modifications such as disarticulation or butchering marks, traces of heating, presence of colourants and traces of bone working. The taphonomic history of the bird assemblage is reconstructed and the use of birds by humans characterized, as well as their importance in past human activities. We also discuss evidence for seasonal exploitation and for reconstructing the local environment and integrate our results with evidence from other Magdalenian assemblages from north-western Europe. At Trou de Chaleux, birds were used for food, as raw material for bone working and for symbolic purposes. The exploitation of avian products was intense, and species have been used for several purposes such as the raven and snowy owl having been exploited both for food and for symbolic reasons. Large bird bones were used as raw material to produce artefacts, but the use-wear analysis did not evidence unambiguous traces related to the use of the objects produced. Despite several limiting factors, the bird material from Trou de Chaleux considerably increases the knowledge of past human exploitation of birds during the late Magdalenian in north-western Europe.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Archaeological structures as factors affecting bird abundance and spectra in archaeological contexts from medieval and modern Belgium
The present study aims to evaluate the effect of archaeological structures in the preservation and recovery of bird remains, in particular by considering the overall shape, open or enclosed, of the structure. Indeed, hollow structures, sometimes of an enclosed shape that may be constructed in masonry, are supposed to have a protective effect on the fragile bones of birds. This is evaluated by considering different variables, such as the ratio of bird remains compared to those of the main domestic mammals used as meat suppliers, the number of bird taxa, or the identification rates for different types of archaeological structures. In a second step, once the impact of the type of structure is evaluated, the same variables are examined according to the social status, to verify their relevance to document this aspect. It transpires that the bird to mammal remains ratio is strongly influenced by the type of structure, as it is higher in enclosed structures. However, some open structures also deliver high bird ratios, in particular at high status sites. In contrast, the bird identification rate is lower in enclosed structures, but this is probably related to the recovery method. Finally, the number of taxa seems more affected by the social status of the consumers responsible for the accumulation of an archaeological assemblage than by the kind of archaeological structure the faunal assemblage was discarded into. This has implications for sampling strategies since open structures, when sieved, sometimes yield high bird to mammal ratios as well as a high number of bird taxa. Therefore, more systematic sieving of large samples of sediment should be applied not only to enclosed structures but also to open contexts such as refuse layers or floors, especially in sites of (potentially) high social status.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference Validating the probabilistic sex diagnosis (DSP) method with a special test case on Pre-Columbian mummies (including the famous Rascar Capac)
Many museums have either one or more mummies in their collections. The Royal Museums of Art and History in Brussels is no exception and houses several Pre-Columbian mummies, including the one that inspired Hergé, author of the Tintin comics, to create the character of ‘Rascar Capac’. The accurate identification of the sex of a particular mummy is important for testing hypotheses about social structures in ancient societies. Sexing of mummies is mostly based on visual analysis from CT and MRI scans and macroscopic examination from the skeletal tissue such as genitalia and breasts, although skeletal tissue is not always well preserved. Probabilistic Sex Diagnosis (DSP: Diagnose Sexuelle Probabiliste) is a sex estimation method which has recently proved to be highly effective on different modern human and ancient European populations. The aim of this study was to see if it was possible to apply and validate virtual DSP on a study of four ancient Pre-Columbian mummies from South America (which are outside the reference population of DSP). Virtual DSP was performed in the software ‘lhpFusionBox’. All mummies were CT scanned, 3D models were created and virtual DSP was performed. Sex was determined with a probability of 99.9% or over in all cases (DSP determined one male and three females). Preserved skeletal tissue remains confirmed DSP results in half of the mummies. A Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was performed on the DSP results of the mummies and a modern human (MH) population. Half of the mummies were outside the 95% range of the DSP values of MH, largely due to their smaller size. When size was accounted for, they were within the MH range. The unknown sex mummies identified as females by DSP were found to be grouped with the known sex female mummy and the MH females. Similarly, the unknown sex mummy identified as male by DSP was also found to be grouped with MH males. The use of PCA analysis on DSP results is an effective tool to validate DSP results, even with individuals outside of the reference population. Despite differences in size from ancient to modern humans, DSP was found to be accurate and can be used with mummies and other ancient populations from different countries around the world.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Article Reference First record of the terrestrial nemertean Geonemertes pelaensis Semper, 1863 (Hoplonemertea: Prosorhochmidae) for Cuba
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2020
Inbook Reference A Late Period fish deposit at Oxyrhynchus (el-Bahnasa, Egypt)
We describe the abundant faunal remains that were found in an extensive ritual deposit discovered in 2012 at Oxyrhynchus. This site in Middle Egypt has been famous since the first millennium BC for the mormyrid fish that were worshipped there and after which the town was named. The role played by these fish has already been amply documented through textual evidence, bronze statuettes and paintings, but until now, no remains and no mummies of these fish had been found. We first describe the ritual deposit as a whole, with emphasis on its extent, its stratigraphy and its relationship to the surrounding structures, which, together with a very specific artefact, allow the layers to be dated to the Late Period. The fish remains, as well as the sparse mammal bones, are quantified using both number of identified specimens (NISP) and minimum number of individuals (MNI). Body length reconstructions of the mormyrid fish are carried out using newly derived regression equations. Because of the large quantity of material, we performed the taxonomic identifications and size reconstructions on subsamples from which estimates were then made for the total number of fish that may have been present in the entire deposit. Attention was given to the way in which the fish bundles were prepared, a process that involved both the use of textiles and halfa grass, and to how the deposit was organised. We discuss the species spectrum in relation to both the Egyptian fish cult and evidence from written sources. Finally, we attempt to reconstruct the different events that may have taken place between the capture of the fish and their final deposition at the site, using a combination of both zoological/ecological and papyrological evidence.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2019
Article Reference A checklist of Lecithoceridae (Lepidoptera: Gelechioidea) of the Afrotropical Region
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications 2021
Article Reference The Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Selection of flint nodules, first step of the chaîne opératoire: data from ST6 Neolithic mine (Spiennes, Belgium)
Shaft ST6, exploited during the Middle Neolithic II (4200-3600 BCE), is the last extraction feature of flint excavated according to the most recent planned research at Petit-Spiennes. The objectives of this study are to determine the criteria used by Neolithic miners to select blocks in shaft ST6. It also aims to estimate the impact of flaws in raw material on the selection process (in particular extensional fractures), as well as any variability between the beds mined. Furthermore, the presence of hammer-stones, flakes and some roughouts in the underground mining works raises the question as to whether any knapping was carried out in these levels.
Located in Associated publications / … / ANTHROPOLOGICA ET PREHISTORICA / Bibliographic references
Article Reference Accompagner les morts : l’activité de fossoyeur de la Révolution à l’Empire à Reims
A person who acts behind the scenes of funerals, the gravedigger generally suffers from a bad image. Although his role is essential to the proper conduct of funeral practices, his missions and status are poorly known. The municipal and community archives of the city of Reims offer the opportunity to outline the activity of the gravedigger during the post-revolutionary period. Although the available bundles only allow us to understand the activity of the gravediggers over a short period of time, the information they provide constitutes the first milestones of a more global development of a «history of gravediggers».
Located in Associated publications / … / ANTHROPOLOGICA ET PREHISTORICA / Bibliographic references
Article Reference Étude ostéologique de deux crémations provenant du site de Postel (Province d’Anvers, âge du Bronze)
Two cremations dating from the Bronze Age were discovered in the 1950s in a burial mound in Postel in the province of Antwerp. The colour of the skeletal remains indicates a homogeneous cremation with a temperature of at least 800°C. The most ancient individual (dated to phase I of the construction of the burial mound) is the most complete: about ¾ of its remains, which belong to all anatomical categories, were transferred from the pyre to the grave. The osteological study reveals that it was probably an adult male who was at least 25 years of age. The second subject is more recent (dated to Phase III) and is thought to have been an individual of undetermined sex, under 20 years old. The smaller quantity of remains and the absence of some anatomical categories, including fragile and small bones, that this was a deliberate sorting made by the cremation officiant. This type of selection has already been seen in other Belgian sites dating from the Bronze Age and later.
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