Holocene crustaceans from the Tarioba shell mound, Rio das Ostras, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Crustacean remains from the Tarioba shell mound (Sambaqui da Tarioba) archaeological site were investigated in order to produce a reference inventory of this taxonomic group. Information on past crustacean diversity is important for establishing baselines on biodiversity, as well as recovering paleoenvironmental information and comprehension of evolutionary change patterns for the Brazilian coast. The archaeological site was excavated by delayering the soil by artificial 10 cm sections which revealed five archaeological stratigraphic layers. A sample of mollusk shells for each of these layers was used for dating based on the C14 method. The results show an occupation period of 550 yr for the Tarioba shell mound, with dates ranging between 4,070 cal BP (beginning of occupation) and 3,520 cal BP (occupation ending) and record nine species of crustaceans from the shell mound. However, a reduction of biodiversity over time was found that was not statically significant. Therefore, it seems that patterns of composition, richness and distribution of crustaceans have been stable in the last 4,070 years BP.

Plankton studies in a mangrove environment: VII. size fractionation of the phytoplankton: some studies on methods

A series of experiments on the different methods of measuring the relative uptake of C14, by the various size fractions of the phytoplankton, were carried out in a mangrove swamp of the estuarine type at 25º south latitude. As a complement, some factors which might influence the relative uptake of the different fractions in inshore waters, were studied. These factors are related, mainly, with the increase on the amount of labelled particulate matter during incubation period, the effect of different pressures in the filtration of the size fractions of the phytoplankton, the use of a range of volumes for the incubation of samples, and the effect of formalin on the fixation of samples, after the incubation period. Based on these results, some suggestions are made for the use of the C14 method in inshore waters.

British Archaeology Abroad, 1965

Mr. A. H. S. Megaw, Director of the British School of Archaeology at Athens, reports: Excavation was resumed in the summer of 1965 on all three sites currently assigned to the School for investigation: a Neolithic settlement in the Cyclades (the first such to be systematically excavated), a Minoan settlement in Kythera, and an important Bronze Age site in Euboea which continued in occupation until the Geometric period. At the first two the planned excavations have been completed. At Saliagos, an islet near Antiparos, Professor J. D. Evans (London) and Dr A. C. Renfrew (Cambridge) in their final campaign identified three phases of Neolithic occupation, homogeneous in culture, and, pending confirmation by the C14 method, at present assigned to the early 4th millennium B.C. (PL. XVII~T).h e central building complex of the last phase was found to be enclosed by a perimeter wall, over I m. thick at one corner, to which a semicircular bastion-like structure gave the impression of defensive purpose. Wellstratified deposits exceeding 2 m. in depth yielded more of the characteristic pottery (with usually rectilinear decoration in white paint on a dark burnished surface) and more evidence of a rich chipped stone industry, chiefly of Melian obsidian, Two fragments of marble vessels and a schematic 'violin-idol' are noteworthy local antecedents for the Early Cycladic marble industry. An incomplete marble figurine of a fat seated woman was also found, of the type familiar from finds in Naxos and in mainland Greece. The principal domesticated animal attested was the sheep and there is little evidence of wild species. The preserved grain included emmer, einkorn and two-row barley, while over 40 species of marine molluscs were recorded.