Search publications of the members of the Royal Belgian institute of natural Sciences
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Excavations at Hierakonpolis
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The Tree Shelter, a Holocene Site in the Red Sea Mountains
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The Chaîne de Gobnangou , SE Burkina Faso : archaeological, archaeobotanical, archaeozoological and geomorphological studies
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Osteological evidence for the draught exploitation of cattle: First applications of a new methodology
- Although the aetiology of bone pathologies in cattle is poorly documented, various deformations in the skeleton have been attributed to draught exploitation in the archaeozoological literature. This paper summarizes the results of an osteological study that was undertaken on the feet of modern draught oxen. This led to the definition of a series of draught-related anomalies. In an attempt to describe the pathologies in a more consistent and quantitative way, a scoring scale for each individual bone pathology was established. The developed method is applied to cattle remains from four Roman and one late medieval site. The distribution of the observed pathological indices (PIs) on the first phalanges is interpreted in terms of the age structure of the cattle populations, and the possible modes of cattle exploitation and meat consumption in various settlement types.
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Evidence for banana cultivation and animal husbandry during the first millennium BC in the forest of southern Cameroon
- The faunal and botanical data from the first millennium site of Nkang, Southern Cameroon, are presented in this paper. The analysed material, retrieved from refuse pits, comprises charcoal, phytoliths, molluscs and animal bones, which allow a reconstruction of the former environment. In addition, the site provides new insights into the emergence of food-producing communities in the African rainforest. Food procurement strategies at the site involved gathering, hunting, fishing, as well as small livestock keeping and banana cultivation. This is the earliest evidence for such practices in Central Africa.
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Fischreste aus den neuen Grabungen in Troia (1989-1999)
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First inland records of the euryhaline goby Knipowitschia caucasica from lakes in Anatolia, Turkey
- Knipowitschia caucasica, a euryhaline Ponto–Caspian–Aegean gobiid fish, is recorded for the first time from Lakes Egirdir, Eber and Demirköprü (Anatolia). Its presence in these lakes is probably due to involuntary introduction with common carp from hatcheries in the Edirne–Ipsala region, Thrace, the European part of Turkey.
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Reconstructing age distribution, season of capture and growth rate of fish from archaeological sites based on otoliths and vertebrae
- The growth increments of otoliths and vertebrae of plaice (Pleuronectes platessa) derived from a 15th century single depositional event at Raversijde (Belgium) are analysed with the aim of reconstructing (a) the age distribution of the population, (b) the season of capture, and (c) the growth rate. Otoliths and vertebrae give slightly different age distributions but it is possible to arrive at similar seasonality estimations in both structures when information from the literature and our own data from monthly captures of plaice from the North Sea are taken into account. These modern data show that the timing of annulus formation in otoliths and vertebrae is more or less similar. Back-calculations on vertebrae and otoliths yield similar growth curves. The age distribution, the edge condition of both vertebrae and otoliths, and the growth rate obtained on the material from Raversijde all show that the plaice from the studied assemblage were captured during spring in the southern part of the North Sea. Vertebrae are commonly preserved in archaeological sites whereas otoliths rarely survive. Although they are more difficult to read than otoliths, vertebrae of plaice can be used for growth increment analyses, and the growth rates obtained from vertebrae from archaeological sites can, therefore, be compared in the future to growth data from modern otoliths studied in sea fisheries research. Archaeozoological material predating industrialized fishing since the 19th century can hence serve as a reference in the study of the compensatory response of commercially important species to heavy exploitation.
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The genus Aphanius Nardo 1827 (Pisces: Cyprinodontidae) in Turkey
- The Turkish species of the Cyprinodontiform genus Aphanius Nardo 1827 are described. The naming used follows Wildekamp (1993) (1) as the latest available revision. Information is given on morphology, sexual dimorphism, colouration and distribution, as well as remarks on taxonomy, nomenclature, distribution, variability and conservation. Comments are given on the Lazara (1995) (2) revalidation of Lebias as a distinct genus. It is shown that Valenciennes (1846) (3) is the first revisor of Lebias, and not Lazara, and that Aphanius should be maintained as a genus. The taxon Aphanius chantrei (Galliard 1895) is regarded as a junior synonym of Aphanius danfordii (Boulenger 1890), a lectotype for A. danfordii is designated and a more detailed type locality is given.
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Contribution to the archaeozoology of the Brandberg, Namibia
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Man and environment in the territory of Sagalassos, a classical city in SW Turkey
- Since 1990 archaeological research by the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) has been carried out at the ancient site of Sagalassos (Aǧlasun, Burdur province, Southwestern Turkey). At first, research focused on the excavation of the city and the study of the immediate vicinity which provided it with raw materials. The main objective was to obtain a clear picture of the history and development of the city. Since 1993 research has also incorporated a study of the territory of the Roman city, from prehistoric to modern times, in order to understand why the site was selected for settlement, why it developed into a middle-sized town, its economy and subsistence, how it affected and exploited the environment, its decline, and what changes have taken place in the district subsequently. The focus has now shifted towards obtaining a better understanding of the linkages between human and environment systems so that inter-relations between the two can be more readily understood. As a result, a number of environmental topics concerning the territory of the Roman city are presently being studied. This territory extended from Lake Burdur in the West to the Aksu canyon in the East, from the Aǧlasun Daǧlari in the North to Mt. Kestel in the South. Interdisciplinary research revealed that for the early Neolithic and the Roman period there was a slightly warmer climate, a richer vegetation and more fertile soils for agricultural practice.
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Mahgar Dendera 2 (Haute Egypte), un site d’occupation badarien
- The site of Mahgar Dendera 2, in Upper Egypt, is the only new Badarian site excavated for over 50 years. It features a seasonal campsite, dating to about 4100 BC. The faunal remains indicate that that people arrived at the site with their flocks at the moment when the Nile was low. Because the site is located close to the Nile, this allowed them to herd their animals when grazing possibilities became scarce in the vicinity of the permanent settlement. Furthermore, they were fishing, probably in the main channel of the Nile. The site was left when the Nile started to rise, and the flooded zones became fordable and work in the fields started again. The lithic material represents a specialised industry, apparently orientated towards working perishable materials such as wood and reed. Pottery was not produced at the site itself and served largely for storage purposes. The occupation features consist of hearths, post holes and storage holes. As an important part of the site was already destroyed at the time of the salvage excavation, it was impossible to identify well defined constructions. This volume contains the final excavation report, illustrated by a large number of drawings and photo's. (text in French with English summary)
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Oostende : Stadvernieuwing en Archeologie. Een balans van 10 jaar archeologisch onderzoek van het Oostendse bodemarchief
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The fauna of Kadero and the arrival of pastoralism in the Nile Valley of Central Sudan
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Exploitation of desert and other wild game in ancient Egypt: the archaeozoological evidence from the Nile Valley
- Bone evidence for wild game found at Late Palaeolithic to New Kingdom sites in the Egyptian Nile Valley is summarised. The compiled data indicate that hartebeest, aurochs and gazelle were the main species hunted during the Late Palaeolithic and Epipalaeolithic. Populations of hartebeest and aurochs were essentially limited to the Nile Valley proper, whereas gazelles could be found in semi-desert and desert environments as well. The population densities of hartebeest and aurochs were probably never very high because of the narrow floodplain, especially in Upper Egypt, and the seasonal effect of the inundations of the Nile. From the Neolithic onwards, domestic livestock took over the role of game as the most important meat provider. Nevertheless, hunting continued to be practiced, and bones of wild game seem to be more important in contexts associated with elite sections of society and/or with ritual activities. Populations of hartebeest and aurochs declined after the Palaeolithic, no doubt because of competition with humans and their flocks. During the Predynastic period, the decline is most clear in Upper Egypt, where from then onwards, the emphasis shifts to gazelles. The Predynastic elite cemetery at Hierakonpolis (locality HK6) yielded the oldest osteological evidence of keeping wild animals in confinement. During the Old to New Kingdom periods, game animals continue to be found in small quantities and from then on, the populations of aurochs and hartebeest may also have started to decline in Lower Egypt. The animals found in the archaeozoological record of the Dynastic period differ from those in the iconographic sources, both quantitatively and qualitatively, except for the gazelles which occur frequently both in the faunal remains and on depictions. The discrepancies can partly be due to the fact that very few ritual, archaeological contexts with fauna are available. The most striking observation from this survey is that true desert animals, such as addax, oryx and ibex, are extremely rare in the archaeozoological record of all periods of the Nile Valley and that the sparse bone finds hence contradict the abundant occurrence and exploitation of these animals suggested by Dynastic iconographical data.
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Les restes de poissons des niveaux du paléolithique moyen et supérieur de la grotte Walou
- Les quelque trois cents restes de poissons trouvés de 1996 à 2004 dans les diverses couches stratigraphiques de la grotte Walou contribuent à une meilleure connaissance des stratégies d’acquisition des ressources alimentaires des groupes paléolithiques qui ont occupé la cavité. Aucune différence écologique diachronique n’a cependant pu être mise en évidence.
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Contexte chronostratigraphique et paléoenvironnemental de la séquence de la grotte Walou : synthèse et perspectives
- Ce chapitre propose une synthèse de l’ensemble des disciplines présentées dans les deux premiers volumes consacrés aux fouilles 1996-2004 à la grotte Walou (volume 1 : sciences de la terre ; volume 2 : sciences de la vie et datations). Il livre un cadre précis aux données archéologiques analysées dans le troisième et dernier volume de cette monographie, ainsi que des perspectives relatives tant aux recherches qui restent à entreprendre à Walou qu’à celles qui concernent les remplissages des autres grottes du bassin mosan.
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Defining ‘natural’ fish communities for fishery management purposes: biological, historical and archaeological approaches
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Fish remains from the Bir Messaouda excavations 2000/2001 and other Carthaginian settlement contexts
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The 1997-1999 surveys of the Anatolian fish fauna and their relevance to the interpretation of trade at Sagalassos
