Browsing by Author "Gur-Arieh, Shira"
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- Shell we cook it? An experimental approach to the microarchaeological record of shellfish roastingPublication . Aldeias, Vera; Gur-Arieh, Shira; Maria, Raquel; Monteiro, Patricia; Cura, PedroIn this paper, we investigate the microarchaeological traces and archaeological visibility of shellfish cooking activities through a series of experimental procedures with direct roasting using wood-fueled fires and controlled heating in a muffle furnace. An interdisciplinary geoarchacological approach, combining micromorphology, FTIR (in transmission and ATR collection modes), TGA and XRD, was used to establish a baseline on the mineralogical transformation of heated shells from aragonite to calcite and diagnostic sedimentary traces produced by roasting fire features. Our experimental design focused on three main types of roasting procedures: the construction of shallow depressions with heated rocks (pebble cuvette experiments), placing shellfish on top of hot embers and ashes (fire below experiment), and by kindling short-lived fires on top of shellfish (fire above experiments). Our results suggest that similar shellfish roasting procedures will largely create microstratigraphic signatures of anthropogenically reworked combusted material spatially "disconnected" from the actual combustion locus. The construction of shallow earth ovens might entail an increased archaeological visibility, and some diagnostic signatures of in situ hearths can be obtained by fire below roasting activities. We also show that macroscopic visual modifications and mineralogical characterization of discarded shellfish might be indicative of specific cooking activities versus secondary burning.
- Unravelling the formation processes and depositional histories of the middle palaeolithic Ararat-1 cave, Armenia: a multiscalar and multiproxy geoarchaeological approachPublication . Oikonomou, Ioannis A.K.; Karampaglidis, Theodoros; Fenn, Kaja; Gur-Arieh, Shira; Cabrita Nora, David André; Sánchez-Romero, Laura; Rogall, Dominik L.; Vettese, Delphine; Gasparyan, Boris; Petrosyan, Artur; Malinsky-Buller, ArielThe sedimentary sequence of Ararat-1 Cave encapsulates an intricate depositional archive (Marine Isotope Stage 3), crucial for our understanding of the Middle Palaeolithic in the Armenian Highlands and beyond. The study of this record is accomplished through the use of a multi-proxy geoarchaeological framework of analysis, incor porating stratigraphical, micromorphological, sedimentological, mineralogical, chemical, magnetic, micro archaeological and geochronological methods. These analyses demonstrate the predominance of geogenic pro cesses, including rockfalls, grain and debris flows, interbedded with aeolian sedimentation, as well as localised pyroclastic material in-wash events. Post-depositional alterations are primarily linked to intense bioturbation, as well as minimal karst-induced cementation and minor phosphate diagenesis. The study of the anthropogenic and biogenic records indicates dynamic human-animal habitation histories. Human visits, associated with combus tion and consumption activities, were infrequent and short-lived, representing brief occupation episodes in a cave habitually visited by carnivores and herbivores. This high-resolution reconstruction of Ararat-1 Cave for mation histories improves our understanding of regional settlement and mobility patterns, highlighting the presence of Middle Palaeolithic groups that temporarily camped in the Ararat Depression.