Humans and fire: changing relations in early agricultural and built environments in the Zagros, Iran, Iraq

Fire-centred studies have recently been highlighted as powerful avenues for investigation of energy flows and relations between humans, materials, environments and other species. The aim in this paper is to evaluate this potential first by reviewing the diverse theories and methods that can be applied to investigate the ecological and social significance of anthropogenic fire, and second by applying these to new and existing data sets in archaeology. This paper examines how fire-centred approaches can inform on one of the most significant step-changes in human lifeways and inter-relations with environment and other species – the transition from mobile hunting-gathering to more sedentary agriculture in a key heartland of change, the Zagros region of Iraq and Iran, c. 12,000–8,000 BP. In the review and case studies multiple links are investigated between human fire use and environment, ecology, energy use, technology, the built environment, health, social roles and relations, cultural practices and catastrophic event

Past and present, traditional and scientific: the conservation and management of rock art sites in Australia

Rock-art conservation and the management of rock-art sites have developed in a somewhat reactionary way in Australia-methods and techniques have often changed as a result of the emergence of issues affecting sites. These issues include the arrival of unexpected visitors to sites (from the time of European colonization of Australia to the tourists who are now exploring the country, searching for sites with GPS locations from fellow travel bloggers); the identification and assessment of conservation issues within sites relating to natural impacts (such as water damage and disturbance by animals) and the subsequent development of techniques to deal with these; and the identification, assessment, and emergence of mitigation strategies for human impacts to sites (relating to everything from mining, road creation, and industrial development to tourism and the ability to manage numbers so as to minimize impact on sites).No Full Tex

Visions of Dynamic power: archaic rock-paintings, Altered states of Consciousness and 'clever men' in western Arnhem Land (NT), Australia.

The Dynamic figures are a distinctive component in the earlier rock-art of western Arnhem Land, north Australia. They include therianthropic (hybrid human–animal) images. Recent vision experience ethnographically known in the region, and the wider pattern of Altered States of Consciousness (ASC) in hunter-gatherer societies, are consistent with elements of the Dynamics. One key feature is the use of dots and dashes in the Dynamic images, explicable as a depiction of some intangible power, of a character comparable with that in the ‘clever men's knowledge’ of modern Arnhem Land. Tropical Australia thereby is added to the number of regions where a visionary element is identified in rock-art; the specific circumstances in Arnhem Land, permitting the use together of formal and of informed methods, provide unusually strong evidence.Arts, Education and LawNo Full Tex

Extraordinary engraved bird track from North Australia: extinct fauna, Dreaming Being and/or aesthetic masterpiece?

An extraordinary engraved bird track was located in the Weaber Range of the Keep River region of Northern Territory, Australia, in July 2000. This engraved track is dissimilar to most other examples in Australian rock-art, differing in shape, size and detail from the thousands of engraved, painted or beeswax depictions of bird tracks known from sites across the continent. Importantly, it also differs in technique from other engraved tracks in the Keep River region, having been rubbed and abraded to a smooth finish. We explore three approaches to the engraved track's significance, that it: a) depicts the track of an extinct bird species; b) relates to Aboriginal beliefs regarding Dreaming Beings; and c) is a powerful aesthetic achievement that reflects rare observation of emu tracks. We conclude that the Weaber bird track engraving most probably represents a relatively recent visual expression of ancient Aboriginal thoughts that have been transmitted through the centuries via story-telling and rock-art. This discussion highlights problems of assigning identification and meaning to ancient art but also suggests that aspects of history may be passed across generations for much longer than is commonly realized.No Full Tex

Comparison of Sedimentation and Occupation Histories Inside and Outside Rock Shelters, Keep-River Region, Northwestern Australia

No Full Tex

Analysis of the Preserved Amino Acid Bias in Peptide Profiles of Iron Age Teeth from a Tropical Environment Enable Sexing of Individuals Using Amelogenin MRM

The first dental proteomic profile of Iron Age individuals (ca. 2000–1000 years B.P.), collected from the site of Long Long Rak rock shelter in northwest Thailand is described. A bias toward the preservation of the positively charged aromatic, and polar amino acids is observed. It is evident that the 212 proteins identified (2 peptide, FDR <1%) comprise a palimpsest of alterations that occurred both ante-mortem and post-mortem. Conservation of amino acids within the taphonomically resistant crystalline matrix enabled the identification of both X and Y chromosome linked amelogenin peptides. A novel multiple reaction monitoring method using the sex specific amelogenin protein isoforms is described and indicate the teeth are of male origin. Functional analysis shows an enrichment of pathways associated with metabolic disorders and shows a capacity for harboring these conditions prior to death. Stable isotope analysis using carbon isotopes highlights the strongly C 3 based (≈80%) diet of the Long Long Rak cemetery people, which probably comprised rice combined with protein from freshwater fish among other food items. The combination of proteomics and stable isotope analysis provides a complementary strategy for assessing the demography, diet, lifestyle, and possible diseases experienced by ancient populations

Further geological and palaeoanthropological investigations at the Maludong hominin site, Yunnan Province, Southwest China

Three-dimensional mapping and section work undertaken by us in 2008 have identified 11 stratigraphic units at Maludong site. AMS radiocarbon dating of charcoal established an accurate and internally consistent age profile for the sequence of 17.8±0.2 ka to 13.2±0.1 ka. Archaeomagnetic analysis showed changes in externally derived pedogenically enhanced material consistent with a warming in climate between the cold period of Henrich Event 1 and the Bølling-Allerød interstadial. Human remains recovered during the 1989 excavation were derived from a deposit dating to this interstadial, or between 14.3±0.3 ka and 13.5±0.1 ka. Anthropogenic features, including burnt rocks, baked sediment and thick charcoal and ash layers, were identified and examined through archaeomagnetic analysis. Two monkey fossils are described here, one of them being reassigned from Macaca robustus to M. aff. M. assamensis. They confirm the young age of the site and also show signs of anthropogenic alteration in the form of burning. Additional human cranial remains are reported for the first time and new data are provided for some specimens described previously. A range of new features is identified that strengthen the affinities of the Maludong remains to archaic humans. The presence of this globally unique mosaic of archaic and modern features raises important questions about human evolutionary history in East Asia during the Late Upper Pleistocene. </p