Direct evidence of heathland management in the early Bronze Age (14th century <Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">b</Emphasis>.<Emphasis Type="SmallCaps">c</Emphasis>.) from the grave-mound Skelhøj in western Denmark

Plant macrofossil analysis of soil samples from the grave-mound Skelhøj, western Jutland in Denmark, showed that heather sods had been used as building material. The original vegetation horizon, which was still preserved within the sods allowed the reconstruction of the original vegetation cover of the Bronze Age landscape. It was therefore possible to determine the land-use systems of the Bronze Age societies there during the 14th century b.c. The sods derived from a dry to medium-dry heathland community previously used as pasture. Many grasses and herbs indicate that it was not a very well developed (or old) heathland that was used for the building material of the mound, but a newly re-established heath cover above an older one that had been burnt some years before the sod-cutting activities took place. Charred finds of roots, twig fragments, flowers and seeds of Calluna vulgaris L. (heather) dominated the plant spectrum. Cuscuta epithymum L. (dodder) was found in 31% of the sod samples. This parasitic plant is known for successfully spreading on burnt heather plants that have started to re-develop with new shoots.     

Postglacial vegetation history in Luxembourg: new charcoal data from the cave of la Karelslé (Waldbillig, eastern Gutland)

The archaeological site of La Karelslé (Waldbillig, Luxembourg) provides the first important charcoal sequence in Luxembourg for the development of Holocene plant cover. During the Pre-boreal, the results show open woodland vegetation dominated by Pinus sylvestris type in association with Betula sp. and Rosaceae. After an important gap covering the Boreal and the early Atlantic, the data reveal the dominance of a deciduous Quercus woodland with Tilia sp., Fraxinus excelsior and Corylus avellana. Finally during the sub-Boreal, the assemblages indicate a cooler and wetter climate and Quercus woods with Fagus sylvatica and Taxus baccata. There is no clear evidence for human impact. Received June 5, 2001 / Accepted December 3, 2001     

Partial purification and characterisation of a 2,4,5-trichlorophenol detoxifying O-glucosyltransferase from wheat

An enzyme preparation with UDP-glucose-dependent O-glucosyltransferase (OGT; EC 2.4.1.-) activity toward 2,4,5-trichlorophenol has been purified 215-fold from wheat shoots. The OGT co-purified with the major extractable glucosylating activity toward the flavonol quercetin and was characterised as a monomeric 53 kDa protein. Among the xenobiotic phenols tested, the purified enzyme preparation showed at least a 10-fold preference for 2,4,5-trichlorophenol. When assayed with flavonoids, the OGT was active toward flavonols and coumestrol, showing a clear preference for 3-hydroxy flavone when incubated with a range of monohydroxylated flavonoids. It was concluded that the major 2,4,5-trichlorophenol-detoxifying OGT in wheat shoots is most probably a flavonol-3-O-glucosytransferase.     

Pike (Esox lucius) could have been an exclusive human introduction to Ireland after all: a comment on Pedreschi et al. (2014)

A recent publication (Pedreschi et al., 2014, Journal of Biogeography, 41 , 548–560) casts doubt over the status of pike (Esox lucius) as a non‐native species in Ireland by reporting two distinct genetic groups of pike present: one a human introduction in the Middle Ages, the other hypothesized to result from natural colonization after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). While the existence of two groups is not disputed, the hypothesized natural colonization scenario conflicts with the sequence in which the islands of Britain and Ireland became isolated from Europe after the LGM. An alternative natural colonization scenario raised herein was rejected, leaving an earlier, two‐phase, human introduction of pike from Britain or Europe to Ireland as a realistic alternative hypothesis explaining the results of Pedreschi et al. (2014). This leaves the debates on human introduction versus natural colonization, introduced versus native species status, and pike management in Ireland wide open.     

Homogénéité ou hétérogénéité dans le métal des dépôts de l’Âge du Bronze : estimations sur leur formation à partir des isotopes du plomb

Lead isotope analysis was applied to three representative Late Bronze Age hoards from the Iberian Peninsula, for all of which compositional analyses are available. Unpublished isotopic evidence from the cave of Muricecs (Lleida) and the settlement of Las Lunas (Toledo) are compared to the published results for weapons from the Ría de Huelva, one of the most important Late Bronze Age hoards from Western Europe. Lead isotope analysis can tell us the sources of the metal used to make the artifacts in each hoard. The limited number of geologic reference points makes it difficult to determine all of the ore sources, but the analyses do give us evidence about the degree of homogeneity of the metal in the artifacts. As a result, one can separate metallic composition from artifact typology and thereby evaluate how the hoards were formed and what their functions were. Elemental analysis is unsuitable for this purpose because Late Bronze Age metals from Iberia are very homogenous and have few impurities.     

甘肃酒泉青铜时代人类骨骼的病理鉴定

本文对甘肃酒泉干骨崖墓地出土的青铜时代人骨进行了X—光病理鉴定,结果表明,我国早在距今4000年前,就有骨包虫病和骨肿瘤病发生的可能。骨质疏松的发病年龄普遍低于现代人。同时发现,该地区古代居民氟骨症较严重。这可能与当地古环境有关。牙齿胚胎发育疾病有待于进一步研究。     

西北不同降水区域新石器至青铜时代人类活动与环境变化的关系

中国西北地区史前人类活动与生存环境变化的关系是学术界关注的热点科学问题。本文通过总结分析西北地区新石器至青铜时代遗址¹⁴C测年、动植物遗存以及人骨碳同位素数据,梳理了不同降水量区域人与环境相互作用的时空特征和变化过程,以及可能的影响因素。研究结果表明,10000-6000 BP,人类活动强度较弱且多分布在降水量大于400 mm的区域,人类活动与气候的关系尚不清楚;6000-4000 BP,粟黍农业的强化促进了人类活动空间向西扩散,显著的气候事件导致人类活动强度下降,人类活动对自然环境的影响开始显现;4000-2200 BP,史前跨大陆文化交流带来的农牧业元素促使不同降水量区域生存资料多样化,人类适应和影响环境的能力进一步加强,但该时期人类活动强度存在时空差异性,对环境的影响仅在区域尺度上呈现。     

克什克腾旗龙头山青铜时代颅骨的人类学研究

本文对内蒙古自治区赤峰市克什克腾旗龙头山青铜时代遗址发掘出土的颅骨进行了人种学研究。１１例男性颅骨和３例女性颅骨的种族特征基本相似,均可归入现代亚洲蒙古人种的东亚人种范畴,某些特征则显示出北亚人种的影响。在若干古代和近代对比组中,龙头山青铜时代居民的体质特征分别与顺山屯青铜时代居民和近代华北居民最为接近。     

New evidence of possible crop introduction to north-eastern Europe during the Stone Age

Long term (from the Mesolithic to the Bronze Age) habitation of the Akali settlement on a clearly defined bog-island in East Estonia is used as an example of transitional development from a prosperous foragers’ habitation centre to a hinterland of established farming cultures, taking place through availability, substitution and consolidation phases of crop farming in the boreal forest zone. The pre-Neolithic finds of Triticum and Cannabis t. pollen at c. 5600 b.c. are interpreted as possible indications of the acquaintance of foragers with farming products, through contacts with central European agrarian tribes during the availability phase. The substitution phase is marked by more or less scattered pollen finds of various cereals and hemp and, at Akali, is connected with Neolithic period 4900–1800 b.c. An increasing importance of crop farming in the economy is characteristic of the consolidation phase, but because natural conditions are unfavourable for arable land-use, a regression of human presence is recorded during the second part of the Neolithic. The settlement was abandoned during the Bronze Age at the time when crop farming become the basis of the economy in Estonia. The re-colonisation of the area, traced to ca. a.d. 1200, took place for political reasons rather than through increasing suitability of the landscape.Editorial responsibility: Felix Bittmann