Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear

2nd Luminescence in Archaeology International Symposium (L.A.I.S. 2012)
Free downloaded excellent articles in luminescence from www.maajournal.com

The 2nd Luminescence in Archaeology International Symposium was hosted by the Group of
Applied Geochemistry & Luminescence on Cultural Heritage at IST/ITN, now the Campus Tecnológico
e Nuclear of Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, from the 5th to the 7th of September, 2012. Many thanks are due to all committee members, webmaster and administrative
staff.
L.A.I.S. 2012 Lisbon continued the series of symposia initiated in L.A.I.S. 2009 Delphi. 48 oral and poster presentations by 45 participants from Asia, Africa, North and South America, and across
Europe, represents moderate growth and contributes to the establishment of a fully international conference series, which will continue in L.A.I.S. 2015 Paris.
This special issue MAA 13.3 contains 16 papers: I would like to thank the colleagues who enabled double peer review of each submitted paper. These focus on the testing and development of diverse methodologies for the retrospective evaluation of absorbed dose and dose rate, in the challenging materials and environments encountered in cultural heritage contexts ranging from the art historic
to the Palaeolithic. They represent a valuable union of evidence and ideas aligned with the focus of the L.A.I.S. series of symposia: presentation and exploration of the potentialities and limitations
of luminescence and related analyses, for materials and questions of archaeological and cultural heritage significance.

Christopher I. Burbidge
Guest Editor
President of the Organizing Committee LAIS2012.
C2TN, IST, UL,
Campus Tecnológico e Nuclear,
2695-066 Bobadela-LRS, Portugal.
6th of January, 2014

In this paper we present the results of the studies carried out at La Turquesa prehistoric copper mine, preceded by an introduction to the oldest European mining, that has the role of contextualizing the mine. The results of the archaeological excavations carried out and the research on the structure and mineralogy of the mine (where there is not turquoise) within the framework of its local geological environment are presented. The analysis of the more than one hundred stone mining tools found in the course of the excavations shows their undoubtedly prehistoric nature, as well as their main characteristics  from the point of view of the raw materials used and their manufacturing processes. The archeometallurgical study has focused on two types of characterisation of the ores from the mine: elemental analyses (pXRF and X-ray diffrection) and characterisation by lead isotope analysis to define the isotopic field, allowing comparative studies to be made of the archaeological finds and identification of possible prehistoric objects manufactured using this copper ore. This archaeometallurgical research has shown the affinities between some ores and objects and indicates the use of the copper of La Turquesa mine in the elaboration of some of them. The results of a pioneering research implemented with the aim of verifying the existence of mining operations using the fire-setting technique are also presented. All this allows to establish the period of exploitation of  the mine between the Chalcolithic and the Middle Bronze Age (2,800 to 1,300 BC), helps to know prehistoric mining in Catalonia , the character of the communities that occupied the territory and its relationship with mining and exchange and shows the importance of protecting and investigating the prehistoric mining heritage.

A lacustrine carbonate facies has been investigated in Middle Miocene successions of the western side of the Moura-Marmelar basin, Southern Portugal in order to evaluate paleoenvironments in which carbonates formed, by using geochemistry and mineralogy. The studied formation corresponds to a recent unearthed section of a calcrete with an homogeneous carbonate facies comprising fine, whitish, and powdery material, and the only detected difference is a slightly hardness decrease towards the top, as well as an increase of weathered rock fragments (schist). The calcrete is calcium rich, even some magnesium enrichment was observed at the middle level, which is differentiated by a general depletion of all chemical elements, particularly REE, in both the bulk and clay-size fraction. Regarding the mineralogy, calcite prevails, and dolomite is only present in the middle level of the calcrete, together with a smectite enrichment, suggesting changes to more alkaline and low drainage, lacustrin...

http://blogperso.univ-rennes1.fr/catherine.dupont/index.php/post/2011/04/19/Guti%C3%A9rrez-Zugasti-I.%2C-Andersen-S.H.%2C-Ara%C3%BAjo-A.-C.%2C-Dupont-C.%2C-Milner-N.%2C-Monge-Soares-A.M.%2C-2011-Shell-midden-research-in-Atlantic-Europe%3A-state-of-art%2C-research-problems-and-perspectives-for-the-future.-Quaternary-International.

O desenvolvimento cultural dentro de uma determinada comunidade pré ou proto-histórica poderá ser reconstituído
a partir do registo arqueológico, o qual é, como se sabe, muito parcial em relação à realidade que representa.
Os rituais dessa comunidade, indiciadores do seu desenvolvimento cultural, podem ser vistos como mecanismos
que dão forma às suas crenças, à sua ideologia e à sua identidade ou como fontes de poder para aqueles
que os criaram, que os controlavam ou que tomavam parte neles, podendo revelar bastante acerca dessa comunidade
e da sua dinâmica (KYRIAKIDIS, 2004, 2007).
Existem diversas definições para ritual, as quais estão longe de obter uma aceitação generalizada (RENFREW,
2007; MARCUS, 2007). Na definição de ritual são usados conceitos como estruturado, repetitivo, ordenado, intencional,
raro, não doméstico, os quais são vagos, por vezes paradoxais, mesmo contraditórios (MORRIS & RANDALL,
2008). Ritual é muitas vezes associado exclusivamente a crenças religiosas e espirituais. Os antropólogos sociais
têm, contudo, mostrado que existem muitos diferentes tipos de rituais. Podem ser seculares, religiosos, relacionados
com a classe social ou com o sexo, pessoais, etc. Os arqueólogos, por seu lado, têm, por vezes, utilizado
o termo ritual por duas razões que estão, em geral, estreitamente associadas: quando o artefacto ou contexto se
afasta de uma funcionalidade pragmática do quotidiano ou quando não é compreendido (BRÜCK, 1999). Na
ausência de melhor definição, associaremos o conceito de ritual a realidades do registo arqueológico que possam
traduzir um simbolismo ao nível de crenças e de gestos significantes, tanto na esfera do quotidiano, como na do
mundo funerário.
Esta comunicação, baseada essencialmente nas intervenções arqueológicas de que temos sido responsáveis
em algumas áreas da bacia do Guadiana, abarca um período cronológico balizado pelo denominado Horizonte
de Ferradeira, de um lado, e pelas primeiras manifestações orientalizantes, do outro, integrável naquilo que H.
Schubart (1975) denominou de Bronze do Sudoeste.

A collection of 54 bronze artefacts recovered from the inland settlement of Castro dos Ratinhos (Portugal) and belonging mainly to the 9th–8th centuries BC, was studied by the use of non-invasive and micro analytical techniques. EDXRF, Micro-EDXRF, SEM-EDS and Optical Microscopy were used to determine the alloy composition and to identify the different thermo mechanical operations applied in the production of the artefacts. Results show that the collection is entirely composed of good quality binary bronzes (with an average tin content of 10.1 ± 2.5%). Alloys with higher tin contents were kept in as-cast condition and used in the making of ornaments, while tools were often finished with forging and annealing operations. Despite the existence of some Orientalising features in the Castro dos Ratinhos, e.g. rectangular habitat structures, wheel-turned ware and amphorae, the exclusive use of binary alloys with a narrow range of tin content seems to be associated with an indigenous metallurgical tradition inherited from the Late Bronze Age. This may indicate that the Phoenician interaction within the inland indigenous communities was a slow and selective process, probably dependant on the social-economic and cultural development of local communities.

Nos últimos quatro anos, trabalhos de investigação, conjugados com outros de carácter preventivo, permitiram redefinir
o conhecimento existente sobre o Bronze Final do Sudoeste Peninsular, em particular na área ocupada pela bacia
do Médio Guadiana, em ambas as margens do rio, no território alentejano. De facto, a par do já assinalado povoamento
de altura, com ou sem fortificações, registam-se ocupações de planície, que podem estender-se por vastas áreas. Estes
povoados abertos, embora já identificados noutras regiões peninsulares e conhecidos na bibliografia espanhola como
«campos de hoyos», constituem uma novidade no registo arqueológico do Alentejo. Implantam-se em terrenos férteis,
beneficiando de fontes secundárias, embora permanentes, de água e denotam, nalguns casos, a simbiose do espaço habitacional com o funerário.

O presente artigo pretende dar a conhecer os dados preliminares dos trabalhos de escavação arqueológica desenvolvidos em 2008 no núcleo 1 de Santa Margarida (Serpa), que corresponde a um sítio de planície localizado na margem esquerda do Guadiana.
Os trabalhos de campo permitiram identificar um conjunto de estruturas negativas enquadráveis no Bronze Final e 5 sepulturas tardo-romanas e/ou islâmicas. O conjunto artefactual recolhido é genericamente enquadrável no Bronze Final do Sudoeste peninsular, com destaque para a colecção de cerâmicas de ornatos brunidos.

This paper discusses the preliminary results from the archaeological excavations undertaken at Santa Margarida (Serpa), an archaeological site, apparently an open Late Bronze Age settlement, located on the plain at the left bank of the Guadiana river.
The field work identified a set of negative structures ascribed to the Late Bronze Age and some Late Roman and/or Islamic graves. The uncovered material culture is mainly framed in the Southwestern Late Bronze Age, with emphasis on the large set of shards of pattern-burnished pottery.

"The settlement of Passo Alto is located in south‐western Portugal near Vila Verde de Ficalho (Serpa). It extends atop a small hill near the confluence of two rivers, and is formed by two loci 250 m apart. Archaeological finds, namely pattern‐burnished pottery collected during several archaeological surveys and excavations carried out at the settlement, and radiocarbon dates indicate that a Late Bronze Age chronology must be assigned to the first human
occupation of this archaeological site. The good natural defences of the settlement are complemented with a rampart along the easiest northern approach to the settlement. Outside the rampart, a broad band of chevaux‐de‐frise and a ditch provide additional lines of defence around what most probably was the main entrance‐way. In one of the loci, in a restricted area, that first human occupation is superposed by an Early Iron Age rural settlement which consists of a building with a simple architecture – small rectangular rooms (with stone walls) placed in a row, very similar to other buildings of the same broad chronology known from the south‐western Iberian Peninsula. Anthracological analysis of charcoal remains collected during archaeological excavations show the use of cork and of
heath, strawberry‐tree, (wild)olive, wild‐pear and a leguminosae wood, testifying the regional presence of mediterranean sclerophyllous highscrubs, semi‐natural heathlands and lowscrubs. Archaeological artefacts, namely ceramic ware point out to a chronology that can be ascribed to the 6th century BC."

This work analyses the material and stratigraphic evidences recorded at the archaeological site of Cabeço Redondo (Moura), which result from archaeological excavations and the study of decontextualized artifacts recovered after the destruction of the site. Data confirm the presence of a rural occupation and an edified space profoundly remodeled along several constructive phases. The stratigraphic data and the analysis of the artifacts reveal a chronology which covers the whole 5th century B.C., with the possibility that the occupation started at the late 6th century B.C. At the same time, it was possible to confirm the presence of a singular and monumental building on the Portuguese left bank of the Guadiana River, parallelizable with the ones existing on the Spanish Medium Guadiana bank.

The archaeological site of Cabeço Redondo is located in Herdade do Metum, municipality of Moura. It was partially destroyed in 1990, being the subject of an archaeological survey of diagnosis in 2011. The recovered data allows assigning a chronology for the occupation of this site focused in the 5th century BC. Two elements of potter's wheel were recovered during the destruction of 1990, consisting of a stone base (diorite) and a bronze axle. Elemental analysis allowed to determine that the wheel axle was manufactured with a leaded bronze. The dormant also presents evidence of contact with a bronze axle. These artefacts support the very likely existence of pottery production at Cabeço Redondo.

The OMEX core CD110 W90, retrieved from the Douro Mud Patch (DMP) off the River Douro in the north of Portugal, records the period since the beginning of Little Ice Age (LIA). The core chronology is based upon the data attributes for 210Pb, 137Cs and a 14C dating from a level near the core base. Geochemical, granulometric, microfaunal (benthic foraminifera) and compositional data suggest the occurrence of precipitation changes which may have been, at least partially, influenced by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), that contributes to the regulation of the ocean–atmosphere dynamics in the North Atlantic.Southwesterly Atlantic storm track is associated with the negative phases of the NAO, when the Azores High is anomalously weak, higher oceanographic hydrodynamism, downwelling events and increased rainfall generally occurs. Prevalence of these characteristics during the LIA left a record that corresponds to phases of major floods. During these phases the DMP received a higher contribution of relatively coarse-grained terrigenous sediments, enriched in quartz particles, which diluted the contribution of other minerals, as indicated by reduced concentrations of several lithogenic chemical elements such as: Al, As, Ba, Ce, Co, Cu, Fe, K, La, Li, Mg, Mn, Mo, Na, Ni, P, Rb, Sc, Sn, Th, V and Y. The presence of biogenic carbonate particles also underwent dilution, as revealed by the smaller abundance of foraminifera and correlative lower concentrations of Ca and Sr. During this period, the DMP also received an increased contribution of organic matter, indicated by higher values of lignin remains and a benthic foraminifera high productivity index, or BFHP, which gave rise to early diagenetic changes with pyrite formation. Since the beginning of the 20th century this contribution diminished, probably due to several drier periods and the impact of human activities in the river basins, e.g. construction of dams, or, on the littoral areas, construction of hard-engineering structures and sand extraction activities.During the first half of the 20th century mainly positive phases of the NAO prevailed, caused by the above normal strengthening of the subtropical high pressure centre of the Azores and the deepening of the low pressure centre in Iceland. These phases may have contributed to the reduction in the supply of both terrigenous sediments and organic matter from shallow water to the DMP. During the positive phases of the NAO, sedimentation became finer.The development of mining and industrial activities during the 20th century is marked, in this core, by higher concentrations of Pb. Furthermore, the erosion of heaps resulting from wolfram exploitation leaves its signature as a peak of W concentrations recorded in the sediments of the DMP deposited between the 1960s and the 1990s. Wolfram exploitation was an important activity in the middle part of the 20th century, particularly during the period of the Second World War.► Sedimentary Processes on the NW Iberian Continental Shelf. ► Occurrence of precipitation changes linked with North Atlantic Oscillation since Little Ice Age. ► Anthropic influence since the Industrial Revolution. ► Early diagenetic changes.