Hidden in plain sight: A microanalytical study of a Middle Stone Age ochre piece trapped inside a micromorphological block sample
Hidden in plain sight: A microanalytical study of a Middle Stone Age ochre piece trapped inside a micromorphological block sample
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DOI：
10.1002/gea.21830
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发表时间：
2020-12-15
影响因子：
1.7
通讯作者：
Henshilwood, Christopher S.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Haaland, Magnus M.;Strauss, Andre M.;Henshilwood, Christopher S.
一个完整的中石器时代的赭石片无意中收集和完全保存在一个微形态块体样品，打算在南非的布隆伯斯洞穴，74 +/- 3 ka的职业层。以前恢复的赭石片从相同的地层背景（仍然湾）显示出复杂的修改模式与显着的行为影响。然而，在被困的赭石的情况下，由于其浸渍状态，直接对其表面进行视觉评估是不可能的。在这项研究中，我们展示了我们如何成功地重建三维和特征块采样赭石片使用高分辨率显微计算机断层扫描扫描加上一系列的微分析技术，包括光学岩相学，显微傅立叶变换红外光谱，显微X射线荧光和显微拉曼光谱。通过对被困赭石的重建表面上的刻痕进行形态测量分析，我们能够评估修改的类型和创建它们的行为的性质。我们的研究结果表明，基于块样品的考古文物的研究，可以全面评估其沉积和microcontextual设置，他们的外部形态和微地形，以及他们的内部纹理和地球化学性质。我们认为，这种类型的上下文敏感，多标量和多学科的调查也可能被证明是有益的，在传统的恢复考古文物的研究。
A complete Middle Stone Age ochre piece was unintentionally collected and fully preserved within a micromorphological block sample intended to characterise a 74 +/- 3 ka occupation horizon at Blombos Cave, South Africa. Previously recovered ochre pieces from the same stratigraphic context (Still Bay) have displayed intricate modification patterns with significant behavioural implications. Yet, in the case of the trapped ochre, a direct visual assessment of its surfaces was impossible due to its impregnated state. In this study, we demonstrate how we successfully reconstructed three-dimensionally and characterised the block-sampled ochre piece using high-resolution microcomputed tomography scanning coupled with a range of microanalytical techniques, including optical petrography, micro-Fourier transform infra-red spectroscopy, micro-X-ray fluorescence and micro-Raman spectroscopy. Through a morphometric analysis of the score marks present on the trapped ochre's reconstructed surface, we were able to assess the types of modifications and the nature of the actions that created them. Our results show that a block sample-based study of archaeological artefacts allows for a comprehensive assessment of their depositional and microcontextual setting, their external morphology and microtopography, as well as their internal texture and geochemical properties. We suggest that this type of context-sensitive, multiscalar and multidisciplinary investigation may also prove beneficial in the study of conventionally recovered archaeological artefacts.