Soil Chemical Analysis of Ancient Activities in Cerén, El Salvador: A Case Study of a Rapidly Abandoned Site

2002 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jacob Parnell ◽  
Richard E. Terry ◽  
Payson Sheets
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metals ◽  
Chemical Analysis ◽  
El Salvador ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Reasonable Accuracy ◽  
Chemical Signatures ◽  
Chemical Residues ◽  
Activity Areas

Activities performed over long periods of time tend to leave soil chemical residues as evidence of those activities. Some of the questions studied in this paper deal with the interpretive capabilities provided by chemical patterns. Soil samples from Cerén, El Salvador, a well-preserved site, were analyzed for extractable phosphorus and heavy metals. We compared in situ artifacts collected from the site with chemical signatures that indicate activity areas. We found that elevated concentrations of phosphorus were associated with food preparation, consumption, and disposal. Heavy metals were associated with the interior of the structure where pigments and painted gourds were found. In this case, where well-preserved, in situ artifacts were available for analysis, we found that chemical analysis was effective in locating human activity areas. Our findings indicate that chemical analysis can be used to guide interpretation in areas of poor artifact preservation with reasonable accuracy, and in archaeological sites that underwent gradual abandonment.

Portable in practice: investigations using portable instrumentation for materials analysis and mapping of decorated architectural surfaces in the tablinum of the House of the Bicentenary at Herculaneum

MRS Advances ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (33-34) ◽  
pp. 1831-1848
Author(s):  
Kiernan Graves ◽  
David Carson ◽  
Ilaria Catapano ◽  
Giacomo Chiari ◽  
Gianluca Gennarelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Portable Instrumentation ◽  
Collaborative Project ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Roman Painting ◽  
Severe Deterioration ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Multi Disciplinary Team

ABSTRACTThe conservation of the architectural surfaces in the tablinum of the House of the Bicentenary at the ancient Roman site of Herculaneum is a collaborative project of the Getty Conservation Institute, the Herculaneum Conservation Project and the Soprintendenza Pompeii. The tablinum was selected as a case study given the significance, beauty, and severe deterioration of its decorated surfaces. A multi-disciplinary team with a wide range of expertise, comprised of conservators, chemists, geo-physicists, engineers, and conservation scientists, worked in partnership across a number of institutions with the objective to study the wall paintings in the tablinum. Scientists and conservators worked together to test the feasibility of portable techniques and in situ investigations to better understand Roman painting technology; identify previous restoration materials; determine the presence of alteration products; and characterize deterioration mechanisms commonly found on architectural surfaces at archaeological sites of the Vesuvian Region. The collection and interpretation of the instrumental data has been critical to the design and implementation of appropriate passive and remedial interventions to stabilize the architectural surfaces and mitigate deterioration. The paper will present the results of the investigations using portable instrumentation along with a discussion of the capabilities and limitations of each technique and the practical implications of their use for architectural surfaces on archaeological sites.

Field-Based Decisions on the Collection of Archaeological Materials: Monitoring and Ethics

Collections ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 155019062095154
Author(s):  
Ellen Brennan
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Cultural Resource ◽  
Resource Managers ◽  
Archaeological Materials ◽  
Park Service ◽  
Archaeological Artifacts ◽  
Ways Of Life ◽  
Monitoring Information

Cultural resource managers are faced with increasing challenges regarding decisions to collect archaeological artifacts from site contexts. Increased visitation, information sharing through social media, and recreation contribute to challenges to preserving archaeological sites and the undisturbed artifacts they contain. Many National Park Service cultural resource managers and staff are directed to manage archaeological resources in-situ. To our tribal colleagues, archaeological sites and artifacts represent links to their oral histories and their ancestors. To others, artifacts provide insights to past ways of life and add an intangible and irreplaceable quality to archaeological sites. Under normal circumstances materials gathered during data recovery projects are curated as they should be. Grab-samples and artifacts from unexcavated archaeological contexts, that is surface collection, must be carefully evaluated prior to gathering archaeological materials, otherwise we run the risk of storing artifacts for decades that are not analyzed, curated, or used to further our knowledge about the past. This article presents a case study of how monitoring information and field-based decision-making guided the collection, but not the accession, of an archaeological artifact from an in-situ context.

Soilscapes and settlements: remote mapping of activity areas in unexcavated prehistoric farmsteads

Antiquity ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 86 (331) ◽  
pp. 178-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roderick B. Salisbury
Keyword(s):  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Art And Science ◽  
Research Results ◽  
Remote Mapping ◽  
Activity Areas

It is excellent to be able to present this latest achievement in the onward march of remote mapping, the art and science of exploring archaeological sites without digging them. Using a particularly graphic case study in Hungary, the author shows that deposits characterised by geophysical and chemical means can reveal their plans and the emphasis of their activity in some detail. This is not only a rapid and economic means of landscape investigation, but offers striking research results over a broad canvas, indicative of the numerous small dispersed settlements that so often escape the attention of the great excavation campaigns.

A New Method Using Graph and Lattice Theory to Discover Spatially Cohesive Sets of Artifacts and Areas of Organized Activity in Archaeological Sites

2010 ◽  
Vol 75 (3) ◽  
pp. 419-451 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Merrill ◽  
Dwight Read
Keyword(s):  
Lattice Theory ◽  
Heterogeneous Data ◽  
New Method ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Spatial Similarity ◽  
Constituent Elements ◽  
Overlapping Sets ◽  
Habitation Site ◽  
Activity Areas

We propose a new method to analyze spatially cohesive sets of artifacts and relate them to intrasite activity areas using the spatial similarity and cohesion of artifact types. This method can handle heterogeneous data and is able to reveal and deconstruct overlapping areas into their constituent elements. Application to a Mousterian habitation site from the Levant as a case study enables us to distinguish three spatially cohesive yet overlapping sets ("tool kits") of artifact and ecofact types within the boundaries of an excavated 50 m² sub-area of the site.

The Genesis and Internal Dynamics of El Salvador's People's Revolutionary Army, 1970–1976

2014 ◽  
Vol 38 (01) ◽  
pp. 102-129
Author(s):  
ALBERTO MARTÍN ÁLVAREZ ◽  
EUDALD CORTINA ORERO
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
El Salvador ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Left Wing ◽  
Internal Dynamics ◽  
Internal Coherence ◽  
The 1960S

AbstractUsing interviews with former militants and previously unpublished documents, this article traces the genesis and internal dynamics of the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (People's Revolutionary Army, ERP) in El Salvador during the early years of its existence (1970–6). This period was marked by the inability of the ERP to maintain internal coherence or any consensus on revolutionary strategy, which led to a series of splits and internal fights over control of the organisation. The evidence marshalled in this case study sheds new light on the origins of the armed Salvadorean Left and thus contributes to a wider understanding of the processes of formation and internal dynamics of armed left-wing groups that emerged from the 1960s onwards in Latin America.

SenCity – Evaluating Users’ Experiences of Intelligent Lighting for Well-Being in Smart Cities

2018 ◽  
pp. 60-67
Author(s):  
Henrika Pihlajaniemi ◽  
Anna Luusua ◽  
Eveliina Juntunen
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Evaluation Methods ◽  
Data Analyses ◽  
Sense Of Security ◽  
System Data

This paper presents the evaluation of usersХ experiences in three intelligent lighting pilots in Finland. Two of the case studies are related to the use of intelligent lighting in different kinds of traffic areas, having emphasis on aspects of visibility, traffic and movement safety, and sense of security. The last case study presents a more complex view to the experience of intelligent lighting in smart city contexts. The evaluation methods, tailored to each pilot context, include questionnaires, an urban dashboard, in-situ interviews and observations, evaluation probes, and system data analyses. The applicability of the selected and tested methods is discussed reflecting the process and achieved results.

Solid Phase Excitation-Emission Matrix Spectroscopy for In-Situ Chemical Analysis of Combustion Aerosols

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gaurav Mahamuni ◽  
Jiayang He ◽  
Jay Rutherford ◽  
Byron Ockerman ◽  
Edmund Seto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Analysis ◽  
Cigarette Smoke ◽  
Forest Fires ◽  
Solid Phase ◽  
Incident Angle ◽  
Personal Exposure ◽  
Traffic Emission ◽  
Excitation Emission Matrix ◽  
Internal Excitation

<p>Exposure to combustion generated aerosols such as PM from residential woodburning, forest fires, cigarette smoke, and traffic emission have been linked to adverse health outcomes. It is important to assess the chemical composition of PM to examine personal exposure. Excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy has been shown as a sensitive and cost-effective technique for evaluation of combustion PM composition and as a source apportionment tool. However, EEM measurements are hindered by a solvent extraction step and a need for benchtop instrumentation. Here, we present a methodology that eliminates this labor-intensive sample preparation and allows to automate and miniaturize the detection platform. A miniature electrostatic collector deposits PM sample onto transparent polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coated substrate, where PAH components are extracted into solid-phase (SP) solvent and analyzed using EEM spectroscopy in-situ. We evaluated external and internal excitation schemes to optimized signal to noise ratio. Analysis of woodsmoke and cigarette smoke samples showed good agreement with liquid extraction EEM spectra. Internal excitation is hindered by fluorescent interference from PDMS at λ<250nm. The external excitation EEM spectra are dependent on the incident angle; ranges of 30-40⁰ and 55-65⁰ showed the best results. The proposed SP-EEM technique can be used for development of miniaturized sensors for chemical analysis of combustion generated PM. </p>

Site specific agricultural soil management with the use of new technologies

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-67
Keyword(s):  
New Technologies ◽  
Digital Interface ◽  
Appropriate Treatment ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Soil Variation ◽  
Soil Information ◽  
Remote Sensing Techniques ◽  
Agricultural Areas

<p>The Soil Science Institute of Thessaloniki produces new digitized Soil Maps that provide a useful electronic database for the spatial representation of the soil variation within a region, based on in situ soil sampling, laboratory analyses, GIS techniques and plant nutrition mathematical models, coupled with the local land cadastre. The novelty of these studies is that local agronomists have immediate access to a wide range of soil information by clicking on a field parcel shown in this digital interface and, therefore, can suggest an appropriate treatment (e.g. liming, manure incorporation, desalination, application of proper type and quantity of fertilizer) depending on the field conditions and cultivated crops. A specific case study is presented in the current work with regards to the construction of the digitized Soil Map of the regional unit of Kastoria. The potential of this map can easily be realized by the fact that the mapping of the physicochemical properties of the soils in this region provided delineation zones for differential fertilization management. An experiment was also conducted using remote sensing techniques for the enhancement of the fertilization advisory software database, which is a component of the digitized map, and the optimization of nitrogen management in agricultural areas.</p>

A LOOK INTO THE EARTH: EVALUATING THE USE OF MAGNETIC SURVEY IN AFRICAN ARCHAEOLOGY

2004 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlos Magnavita ◽  
Norbert Schleifer
Keyword(s):  
Geophysical Methods ◽  
Field Research ◽  
Archaeological Sites ◽  
Magnetic Survey ◽  
The Past ◽  
Common Technique ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Prehistoric Settlements ◽  
Present Case Study

In the last decades, geophysical methods such as magnetic survey have become a common technique for prospecting archaeological sites. At sub-Saharan archaeological sites, however, magnetic survey and correlated techniques never came into broad use and there are no signs for an immediate change of this situation. This paper examines the magnetic survey undertaken on the Nigerian site of Zilum, a settlement of the Gajiganna Culture (ca 1800-400 BC) located in the Chad Basin and dated to ca 600-400 BC. By means of the present case study, we demonstrate the significance of this particular type of investigation in yielding complementary data for understanding the character of prehistoric settlements. In conclusion, we point out that geophysical methods should play a more important role in modern archaeological field research, as they furnish a class of documentation not achievable by traditional survey and excavation methods, thus creating new perspectives for interpreting the past of African societies.

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