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Inbook Reference Bird feathers for ceremonial use in Hellenistic times at Tell Beydar, Syria?
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference New archaeozoological evidence for the introduction of the guinea pig to Europe
The remains are described of a guinea pig dated to the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th c. AD. The animal was discovered at a site in Mons, Belgium, and is the first European archaeozoological find dated with certainty on the basis of both the archaeological context and a radiocarbon dating of its bone. This find confirms that the guinea pig was introduced to Europe soon after the conquest of South America. The morphological and metrical analyses performed on the skeletal remains are in agreement with the iconographic and literary sources indicating the domestic status of the animals imported to Europe. While a previous discovery in England suggested that the guinea pig was a prestigious animal, the present study argues that it was accessible to several classes of the population which may be related to the rapid spread of this prolific animal after its introduction in Europe.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Palaeolithic big game hunting at HP766 in Wadi Umm Rahau, Northern Sudan
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.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratio analysis of freshwater, brackish and marine fish from Belgian archaeological sites (1st and 2nd millennium AD)
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.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Isotopic reconstruction of human diet and animal husbandry practices during the classical-Hellenistic, Imperial and Byzantine periods at Sagalassos, Turkey
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference 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
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Chronostratigraphic context of the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic transition. Recent data from Belgium
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Life strategy traits of the liana Sericostachys scandens spreading in the montane forests in the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (DR Congo).
Sericostachys scandens is a monocarpic and heliophilous liana, native in tropical African forests. In the montane forests of the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (KBNP) (East of DR Congo), it has been expanding very strongly for a decade, and is currently considered as having negative impacts on biodiversity conservation. In this paper, we test if S. scandens differs from three co-occurring, native, non spreading lianas (Gouania longispicata, Tacazzea apiculata and Adenia bequaertii) for functional traits which might influence plant expansion. For leaf traits (SLA, dry matter content, nitrogen concentration), S. scandens did not show extreme values compared to those of the three other lianas. In contrast, S. scandens had much higher biomass allocation to sexual reproduction. It also differs from the three other lianas for its reproductive strategy that combines both vegetative propagation and sexual reproduction, and propagule dispersal by wind. Moreover, S. scandens has larger leaves and a greater number of lateral branches per unit stem length. It is argued that the particular combination of functional traits exhibited by S. scandens may in part explain its propensity to behave as an opportunistic weed in the disturbed areas in the montane forests of Kahuzi-Biega.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Potentialités et historique de la collection de squelettes identifiés de Schoten. (Belgique, 1837-1931).
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications
Article Reference Pont-à-Celles/Viesville (Hainaut) : une tombe romaine au sein de la nécropole mérovingienne.
Located in Library / RBINS Staff Publications