Lithic Residue Survival and Characterisation at Star Carr: a burial experiment
Lithic Residue Survival and Characterisation at Star Carr: a burial experiment
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卡尔星的岩屑残留生存和表征：埋葬实验
DOI：
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发表时间：
2016
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
N. Milner
中科院分区：
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作者：
S. Croft;G. Monnier;A. Radini;Aimée Little;N. Milner
设计了一项现代埋葬实验，以测试中石器时代早期星星卡尔遗址（英国北约克郡）和附近对照地点的酸性泥炭和微酸性粘土中微观残留物的存活情况。该实验解决了关于残留物分析在不同埋葬环境中的适用性的问题，特别是在高酸性考古条件下。燧石片（n= 78，包括空白对照）用于12种植物，动物和矿物材料，以产生残留物，然后掩埋。在掩埋后1个月和11个月检查残留物。一个未掩埋的参考收集包含相同的12个残留物类型在一个新鲜的状态进行了比较，埋藏的残留物，以评估成岩作用。在所有掩埋条件和时间间隔下存活的残留物类型为：软木组织、树树脂、鸟羽毛、松鼠毛和红赭石。
在显微镜分析过程中，很明显，许多残留物缺乏诊断特征，因此对每种残留物的可识别程度进行了评估。用可变压力扫描电子显微镜（SEM）进一步研究了能够识别残留物的程度。将参考残留物的SEM图像与相同残留物的反射VLM显微照片进行比较，这在某些情况下改善了表征。在视觉表征指南中，将残留物分为三类（诊断性、独特性和非独特性）。我们的原位显微镜分析表明，很少有残留物类型的诊断特征，使他们能够明确地确定，因此，进一步的表征技术往往是必需的。
A modern burial experiment was devised to test microscopic residue survival in acidic peat and slightly acidic clay soils at the Early Mesolithic site of Star Carr (North Yorkshire, UK), and at nearby control location. The experiment addresses concerns regarding the applicability of residue analysis in varied burial environments, and particularly in highly acidic archaeological conditions. Flint flakes (n= 78, including blank controls) were used on twelve plant, animal, and mineral materials to create residues and then buried. The residues were examined 1 month and 11 months after burial. An unburied reference collection containing the same twelve residue types in a fresh state was compared to the buried residues to assess diagenesis. The residue types that survived across all burial conditions and time intervals were: softwood tissue, tree resin, bird feathers, squirrel hair, and red ochre.
During microscopic analysis, it became clear that many residues lack diagnostic traits, and thus an assessment of the extent to which each residue can be identified was conducted. The degree to which residues were able to be identified was further investigated with a variable pressure scanning electron microscope (SEM). SEM images of the reference residues were compared to the reflected VLM micrographs of the same residues, which improved characterisation in some cases. Residues were grouped into three categories (diagnostic, distinctive, and non-distinctive) within a visual characterisation guide. Our in situ microscopic analyses indicated that few residue types have diagnostic traits that allow them to be identified unambiguously, and thus further characterisation techniques are often required.