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This study presents the results of integrated mineralogical, petrographic and chemical analyses of different ceramic assemblages and local sediments from Sai Island, northern Sudan, dating to between the seventh and the third millennium bc, and highlights a significant variability in the raw materials and technology of these productions. Although archaeometric analyses of ceramics are widely employed in many parts of the world, a lamentable scientific gap exists for African pottery, which this paper aims to bridge with new and compelling results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes the application of digital image processing of plane‐ and cross‐polarized light photomicrographs to textural and morphometric analysis as an extension of routine petrographic characterization. The aim is to answer questions on the provenance and technology of quartz‐ and calcite‐bearing potsherds from the Takarkori rock shelter (Libyan Sahara, from around 8900 to 4200 uncal. years bp). Specific processing algorithms run on image analysis freeware (ImageJ) isolate quartz and calcite inclusions to obtain quantitative textural and morphometric data that are useful in identifying different local fluvial and swampy sedimentary environments as sources of sandy clays for pottery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obsidian archaeological artifacts from the Holocene occupation sequences at the contemporary sites of Mochena Borago and Yabello, southern Ethiopia, have been characterized using electron microprobe analysis. Results show the artifacts of each site were partially procured from two separate but known sources, Bantu and Chebe. The inhabitants of both sites also seem to have used obsidian from another, as yet unknown, source. This is interesting as the inhabitants of each site pursued different life ways: one entirely dependent on wild animals and the other incorporating domestic fauna. In spite of the analysis of many geological sources in the Ethiopian Rift System, the unknown sources cannot yet be determined. Despite erupting from several vents, one of the sources, Chebe, has uniform elemental chemistry, representing an exception to the widely held assumption that every eruptive sequence has unique chemistry, the archaeological significance of which should be further explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Linking the stone raw material of a lithic artifact to its original outcrop is an important endeavor that facilitates archaeologists' understanding of prehistoric mobility, trade, economics, and land use. Based on macroscopic identification, archaeologists' presume that prehistoric Holocene occupants of the Welling Site, Ohio, made use of the locally available Upper Mercer chert for the majority of their projectile points. Here we apply visible derivative spectroscopy (VDS) to quantitatively assess this claim by examining 55 projectile points from the site. VDS identified 85%, whereas macroscopic analysis found 73% of the projectile points examined derived from the Upper Mercer Chert. These proportions are not statistically different given the sample size. Although the VDS analysis supported the hypothesis that Welling's Holocene projectile points were predominately produced from Upper Mercer chert, discrepancies between the results of macroscopic versus VDS chert identification point to future avenues of research including an expansion of VDS analyzed hand samples and comparison of VDS to other sourcing methods. Nevertheless, we propose that VDS has much promise and should be researched further so that archaeologists' can add another tool to their lithic artifact raw material sourcing toolbox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stable oxygen isotopes from estuarine bivalve carbonate from Saxidomus gigantea were analysed combined with high-resolution sclerochronology from modern and archaeological shells from British Columbia, Canada, to determine the seasonality of shellfish collection from the archaeological site of Namu. The combination of high-resolution sclerochronology and a micro-milled sampling strategy for δ18O analysis permits a precise estimate of archaeological seasonality, because seasonal freshwater influxes and changes in temperature have dual effects on the δ18O value of the shell. Sclerochronological analysis identifies the timing and duration of growth that is temporally aligned to stable oxygen isotope results, since δ18Oshell appears to be strongly influenced by seasonal inputs of very low δ18O snowmelt-water from adjacent coastal mountain ranges. The results show that shellfish were collected year-round at this site over a 4000-year period, and these data combined with other zooarchaeological lines of evidence support the interpretation of year-round occupation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sixty-four sherds and seven natural clays from prehistoric sites in northwestern Sudan have been submitted to petrological and chemical analysis using XRF spectrometry, EMPA and ICP–MS. According to their texture, the sherds form five different groups. The high contents of P2O5 (more than 0.5 wt%) discerned in 19 samples and the variation of the P2O5 content in two samples of the same vessel can be explained by post-depositional processes or by the ancient organic contents (e.g., milk) of the vessel. Chemical classification of the pottery bulk suggests that vessels were made locally, as only sherds from the same area show homogeneity of data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]