The funeral cave of Laang Spean | ល្អា ងបញច្ុះសពនៃស្ថា ៃីយល្អា ងស្ពា ៃ

Discovered in 1965 by Cécile and Roland Mourer in the limestone massifs of the Battambang region in Cambodia, the Lang Spean cave is a karstic cavity with three main chambers with a floor area of about 1000 m2 and a vault height of thirty metres. The archaeological sequence of Laang Spean now includes several meters thick level of ancient activity dated between 71,000 and 26,000 years ago surmounted by a Hoabinhian occupation (11,000-5,000 BP), with a third summit level characterized by Neolithic tombs. Cemeteries and funeral spaces are major sites in Southeast Asia still used to reconstruct the chrono-cultural sequence of the region. However, their studies present a failure to take into account the funerary nature of the studied sites. Archeothanatology, although partly known by colleagues working in Southeast Asian has not been developed sufficiently leading to numerous problems linked to the real nature of the sites. A burial site where individuals chosen by a community have been placed presents an altered vision of the population, whereas a study of funerary gestures and recruitment makes possible to understand these choices. Thus, the discovery of Neolithic burials at Laang Spean was the opportunity to implement an excavation protocol that follows the principles of archeothantology including to determine the positioning of the defunct at the time of burial in order to illustrate the funerary practice carried out by its original population. Despite the fragility of the bones we carried out observations and measurements useful for determining the biological characteristics, including sex, age, stature or pathologies of the individuals uncovered and, direct dating were successful. Finally, the Laang Spean cave appears to be a Neolithic funerary cave according to its dating but showing some characteristics found in the Metal age on the nearby Khorat plateau.

The earliest archaeological materials from excavations of 2013–2014 in the area of Yaroslavovo Dvorishche

This paper considers the archaeological artefacts from the lower horizon of cultural deposits of the site excavated in 2013–2014 at Yaroslavovo Dvorishche in Veliky Novgorod. On the basis of morphological examination of the finds, three chronological groups have been distinguished dating from the mediaeval period (10th–11th century), early Iron Age and the Early Metal Age.

THE CULTURE OF TWO EPOCHS IN THE VOLGA-VYATKA INTERFLUVE.THE PHENOMENON OF THE MAIDAN CULTURE OF THE MIDDLE VOLGA VERSION OF THE VOLOSOVO CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL COMMUNITY. PART 2

The author examines the materials of the developed and late periods of the Maidan culture, the time of the formation of the metal age, the introduction of metal objects made of pure copper into everyday life. The Part 1 is published in the journal of the Samara Scientific Center of RAS (2021. Vol. 3.No. 2.Pp. 86-99).

CULTURE OF TWO EPOCHS IN VOLGA-VYATKA INTERFLUVE. PHENOMENON OF MAIDANSKAYA CULTURE OF MIDDLE VOLGA VERSION OF VOLOSOVO CULTURAL AND HISTORICAL COMMUNITY. PART 1

The article contains the results of many years of research on the debating problems of the “Volosovо culture” raised by scientists since the 1950s. On the extensive materials of the Mari archaeological expedition, we propose the hypothesis of the cultural genesis of an unique kind of society in the territory of the Middle Volga region at the turn of the Stone Age and the beginning of the early metal age; it was the culture of porous ceramics. By the name of the cluster of the investigated sites (Maidanskoe) the culture is called Maidanskaya; it represents one of the variants of the Volovskaya cultural and historical community.

Genesis of Nomadic Cattle Breeding in Mongolia and Southern Trans-Baikal Territory: Prerequisites and Reasons

The article reveals the prerequisites and reasons for development of nomadic cattle breeding in the paleo-economy of the nomadic population of Mongolia and southern Trans-Baikal Territory. The article analyses the changes that occurred in the economic activities of the archaeological cultures of the region during the Bronze Age. The complex type of economy of the Selenga-Daurian culture of the Eneolithic-Early Bronze Age is characterised, which combined the branches of the producing and appropriating economy. The sedentary lifestyle of representatives of the Selenga-Daurian culture is grounded. The nomadic nature of the economy and lifestyle of the population of the culture of tiled graves of the developed Late Bronze Age is shown. The change of cattle breeding in the local type to nomadic cattle breeding is associated with aridisation of the climate which began at the end of the 3rd millennium BC and ended in the middle of 2nd millennium BC. The economic, biological and natural-climatic prerequisites for the transition to nomadism are highlighted including the accumulation of experience in the field of cattle breeding in the Early Metal Age, the adaptive abilities of farm animals for keeping in the open air, changes in the natural environment in the direction of climate aridisation and xerophytisation of vegetation steppes. The reason for the transition to nomadic cattle breeding was the establishment of severe continental climate with hot, dry summers and winters with little snow in the region in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. The arid climate worsened the conditions for farming, hunting, fishing and gathering. The small thickness of the snow cover in winter made it possible to switch to year-round keeping of animals on pasture with periodic change of pastures as they were depleted. As a result, the economy of the steppe population was reorganised into nomadic cattle breeding and a mobile nomadic way of life of the population was formed

An Archaeometric Characterization of Ancient Pottery from Huagangshan Site, Eastern Taiwan

<p>Micro-Raman spectroscopy and petrographic analysis was carried out on ancient potsherds and sediments excavated from the Huagangshan site and river sediments collected from the northern part of eastern Taiwan. The ceramic fragments analyzed, dating back to 1600-2100 B.P., are recognized to be Early Metal Age of Taiwan. The aims of this study are mainly to identify the mineralogical compositions of ceramics, to explore technical processes such as firing temperature and redox state, and to decipher the nature of clays and its raw materials source.</p><p>The results of micro-Raman analysis for ancient potsherds show the presence of 12 minerals. Quartz, anatase, amorphous carbon, hematite, and pyroxenes are the main components of tempers. In addition, amorphous carbon and hematite are the main constitutes for black- and red- hues pottery, respectively. From the point of view of manufacturing techniques, a large amount of amorphous amorphous carbon indicates that the gray-black pottery is fired under a reducing condition. On the contrary, hematite reveals an oxidizing atmosphere for red-hues pottery. The presence of quartz and anatase implies that the firing temperature is estimated to be 750-950°C. A total of 66 samples, containing 23 ceramic fragments (local and imported products) and 6 sediment from cultural strata of archaeological site and 33 river sediments around the site, is implemented by petrographic analysis of thin sections. Petrographic analytic results of 23 potshards show that the proportion of clay is consistent (60.5~69.1%). The inclusions principally include quartz (polycrystalline and monocrystalline quartz), feldspar, muscovite, and volcanic, sedimentary and metamorphic lithic fragments, and quartz is the main component. In addition, the triangle map with ingredients (volcanic lithics+quartz－sedimentary lithics－metamorphic lithics) shows that the raw materials source of local and main stream pottery recognized by archaeologist is not local, but comes from a distance area (the Coastal Range). On the other hand, imported pottery indicates the raw materials source is indeed from the central and southern Central Range (some distance south of the site). The result further illustrates the vigorous exchange and/or trade activities between the populations of eastern Taiwan during the Early Metal Age (1600-2100 B.P.).</p>

DISCUSSION OF THE «NEW ENEOLITHIC» CENTURY IN THE FOREST-STEPPE DON REGION

The article is devoted to the discussion of the processes of interaction between the population of Neolithic and Eneolithic cultures in the Upper and Middle Don basin. A.T. Sinyuk considered these processes within the framework of «Neolithic survival», A.M. Skorobogatov and A.V. Surkov propose to single them out into a special Neo-Eneolithic stage. The use of the new term does not solve the problem and does not contribute to a better understanding of the situation. There are no metal finds on the settlements of Don forest-steppe area, and the studied burials are few. The topography of the Sredny Stog settlements does not differ from the location of local Neolithic sites. The osteological materials from the Upper Don settlements named Vasilyevsky cordon 17 and 27 indicate that the leading place in the Eneolithic economy was occupied by hunting and fishing. And at the Middle Don settlement of Cherkasskaya 5 domestic animals were known already in the Neolithic Age. The layers with Sredny Stog`s pottery are usually found on the same monuments as Neolithic materials. A prerequisite for the conflict-free coexistence of different groups within a limited area is their orientation towards different sources of food, connected with the development of different natural and economic resources. There were no conditions for the parallel development of the population with different economic and social patterns in the Don region. Migrants and aborigines came into close contact with each other, which was reflected in the emergence of hybrid ceramic materials. The processes described above represent a particular case of transition from the stone age to the metal age, the content of which fully corresponds to the definition of Eneolithic.