Collagen glue has been used for nearly two centuries to consolidate bone material, although its prevalence in museum collections is only now becoming visible. Identifying and removing collagen glue ...is crucial before the execution of any geochemical or molecular analyses. Palaeolithic bone objects from old excavations intended for radiocarbon dating were first analysed using ZooMS (Zooarchaeology by Mass Spectrometry) to identify the animal species, however peaks characteristic of both cattle and whale were discovered. Two extraction methods for ZooMS were tested to identify the authentic animal species of these objects, which revealed that these were originally whale bone objects that had been consolidated with cattle collagen glue. This is the first time animal collagen glue has been identified in archaeological remains with ZooMS, illustrating again the incredible versatility of this technique. Another technique, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy in Attenuated Total Reflectance mode (FTIR-ATR), was also tested if it could rapidly identify the presence of collagen glue in archaeological bone material, which was not the case. Two other cleaning methods were tested to remove bone glue contamination prior to radiocarbon dating, along with two modified collagen extraction methods for ZooMS. These methods were applied to bone blank samples (FmC = 0.0031 ± 0.0002, (n = 219), 47 336 ± 277 yr BP) that were experimentally consolidated with collagen glue and to the Palaeolithic bone material (ca. 15 000 and 12 000 yr BP). The experimental bone blanks produced excellent
C ages, suggesting the cleaning methods were successful, however the
C ages for some of the Palaeolithic material remained too young considering their contextual age, suggesting that the collagen glue contamination had most likely cross-linked to the authentic collagen molecule. More research is needed in order to gain a deeper understanding of the occurrence and elimination of cross-linked collagen-based glues in material from museum collections.
Coastal adaptations of Palaeolithic foragers along the north Atlantic seaboard have received renewed attention in the last decade and include growing evidence for exploitation of whale bone by Late ...Glacial Magdalenian groups to the north of the Pyrenees. Here we present a systematic revision of Magdalenian osseous industries from the Cantabrian region designed to explore whether this phenomenon was more widely shared by hunter-gatherer groups along the Atlantic coast of the northern Iberian Peninsula. Fifty-four whale bone objects were identified from 12 of the 64 sampled sites. Essentially represented by large, finished weapon elements (projectile points), these objects are primarily associated with the middle phase of the Cantabrian Magdalenian, and overlap slightly with the beginning its upper and probably the end of its lower phases. More broadly, the circulation of these objects evinces regular, long-distance (ca. 600 km) communication networks operating on both sides of the current French and Spanish Basque Country between 17.8 and 15 cal ka BP. The structure of this network poses interesting questions concerning potential social and/or economic interactions between Magdalenian groups from the Pyrenees and neighbouring Cantabrian region. We suggest that the use of whale bone by these particularly mobile hunter-gatherer groups for the production of hunting weapons was connected to the longer use-life afforded by the large size of this particular raw material. This choice potentially reflects attempts to offset raw material transport costs by privileging their regular maintenance rather than the replacement of hunting weaponry. This growing body of evidence for the exploitation of marine resources during the Magdalenian further reinforces the Bay of Biscay being the backdrop to the emergence of the first regular, diversified and organized coastal economies at the end of the Last Glaciation.
•The earliest evidence for whale bone artefacts in the Iberian Peninsula.•Long-distance, structured Magdalenian social networks across the Pyreneo-Cantabrian region.•Confirmation that the earliest coastal economies emerged in the Bay of Biscay.•Magdalenian foragers used whale bone for its unique properties.
Museum collections are extremely valuable sources of material for ongoing research, although the conservation history of some objects is not always recorded, which can be problematic for chemical ...analyses. While most contamination is removed using the acid-base-acid treatment, this may not be the case for cross-linked contamination. The XAD resin protocol was implemented at the radiocarbon (14C) laboratory in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, and the setup was tested using known age bone samples and a consolidated Palaeolithic bone. Known age samples were consolidated with shellac or Paraloid, aged for a month, treated with or without the XAD resin and 14C dated. Bone blank results showed that XAD resin was able to remove shellac, which was not the case for the ABA-only method. Results from VIRI I were more variable and VIRI F was possibly too young to show the effects of the consolidants. Two 14C dates on the Palaeolithic bone after XAD treatment are statistically the same, while a sample without XAD treatment was significantly older, suggesting that the contaminant was not fully removed by the ABA-only treatment. This study demonstrates the potential of the XAD treatment to clean heritage bone samples stored in museums prior to geochemical analyses.
Interactions between prehistoric foragers and reindeer at the end of the Pleistocene are still poorly documented in northern Iberia, particularly the reasons and means by which their antlers were ...collected, processed and circulated. Here we review the main osseous industries dated to between 21 and 13 cal ka BP, focusing on the use and circulation of reindeer antler as a raw material for the production of weapons and tools by Magdalenian foragers. Thirty-six reindeer antler artefacts were identified from 11 Iberian sites that are located at either end of the Pyrenees: the Cantabrian region to the west, and to a lesser extent, in Catalonia to the east. Despite biases in the identification of production objectives (end-products), a detailed techno-typological, chronological and geographical analysis of these assemblages reveals both the existence of a consistent reindeer antler industry in northern Iberia and long-distance connections between the Cantabrian region and the Pyrenees. The integration of contemporary macrofaunal data makes it possible to explore the extension of the reindeer's ecological niche in northern Iberia, as well as strategies for the acquisition and circulation of reindeer antler in the peninsula. Assuming that some reindeer assemblages result from the import of raw materials to supply manufacturing activities, we propose a scenario where the acquisition of reindeer antlers may have been organised at a local scale in the Basque region, and potentially in the neighbouring territories of Navarre, Cantabria and Asturias. On the other hand, in Catalonia, the combination of both faunal and technological data supports the hypothesis that reindeer antlers were imported (along with pelts) over longer distances, probably from the northern Pyrenees.
•Magdalenian foragers from northern Iberia regularly used reindeer antler for the manufacture of weapons and tools.•First extensive database of Magdalenian antler technology in northern Spain.•Common cultural traditions and long-distance connections within the Pyrenean-Cantabrian region.•First map on the extension of the ecological niche of the reindeer in northern Iberia at the end of the Pleistocene.•Introduction of reindeer antlers (along with pelts) from the northern Pyrenees into Catalonia.
The evolution of antlerworking technology in Paleolithic and Mesolithic Europe, especially the production of splinters, is usually described as a cumulative process. A progressive increase in blank ...standardization and productivity was prompted by the application of a key technical process, the groove and splinter technique (GST). The Badegoulian, however, appears as an interruption in this continuum. According to the original definition of this post-Solutrean, pre-Magdalenian archeological culture, one of its distinctive features is the absence of the GST and the manufacture of antler blanks by knapping only. However, this conception has been recently questioned, leading to an alternative hypothesis suggesting that both GST and knapping were used during the Badegoulian. In this article, we present new evidence from several sites in southwest France, which sheds new light on the issue of Badegoulian antlerworking and the transition with the subsequent Lower Magdalenian. Our study is based on two complementary methods: the technological analysis of antler assemblages well-dated to the Badegoulian (Le Cuzoul de Vers) or to the Lower Magdalenian (La Grotte des Scilles, Saint-Germain-la-Rivière), and the direct 14C dating of specific antler artifacts from mixed or problematic contexts (Cap-Blanc, Reverdit and Lassac). The results firmly establish that, in southwest France, knapping is the only method used for the production of antler splinters during the Badegoulian, before ca. 20,500 cal BP (calibrated years before present), and that it is rapidly replaced by the GST at the beginning of the Lower Magdalenian, after ca. 20,500 cal BP. This technical shift is not linked to an influx of new human populations, environmental change or the supposed economic advantages of the GST. Instead, it must be understood as one of the expressions of a broader reconfiguration of the technical world that starts to take shape in the middle of the Last Glacial Maximum.
Recent reexamination of osseous material from the Magdalenian layers of the Isturitz cave (Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France) by the author and F. Poplin has shown that several artifacts once considered ...to be made of antler have now been identified deriving from cetacean bone, most probably whale bone. These artifacts demonstrate the existence of technical exploitation of whale bone, proving that the now submerged seashore was also a place where Paleolithic people gathered specific materials for producing weapons and tools.
•Classifying organisms has a wide use and a long history in ecology.•We provide a critical overview of the existing classifications used for soil fauna.•We propose semantic clarifications and ...alternatives to current practices.•We suggest a common framework to define classifications based on functional traits.
Classifying organisms has a wide use and a long history in ecology. However, the meaning of a ‘group of organisms’ and how to group organisms is still the subject of much theoretical and empirical work. Achieving this long quest requires simplifying the complexity of species niches for which relevant morphological, behavioural, biochemical or life-history traits are often used as relevant proxies. Soil fauna is highly diverse and many classifications have been proposed to synthesize both the response of soil organisms to their environment and their effect on soil functioning. Here, we provide a critical overview of the characteristics and limitations of the existing classifications in soil ecology, and propose clarifications and alternatives to current practices. We summarise the similarities and differences in how classifications have been created and used in soil ecology. We propose a harmonization of the current concepts by properly defining ‘guilds’, ‘functional groups’ and ‘trophic groups’ as subcategories of ‘ecological groups’, with different purposes and distinguishing criteria. Finally, based on these concepts, we suggest a common framework to define classifications based on functional traits that allows a better and unified understanding of changes in soil biodiversity and ecosystem functioning.
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