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The fossils of Hamipterus tianshanensis (Wang et al. in Curr Biol 24:1323–1330, 2014) and their eggs have important scientific significance because they can provide unique information about the reproduction, development, and evolution of pterosaurs. The fossils and the rock surrounding them have, however, been weathered, which including powdering and flaking, since they were relocated from Xinjiang to Beijing. The high content of soluble salts is a significant factor in fossil deterioration because the dissolution–recrystallization process can generate tremendous pressure and lead to decreased mechanical strength. This study evaluated the electrokinetic desalination performance for the fossils, and two types of poultices employed including paper pulp from Bioline® and CKS121 (cellulose: kaolin: sand = 1:2:1, w/w). Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ion chromatography (IC), and other methods were applied to evaluate the desalination effect. The surface salt content reduction by applied direct current (DC) was about 70%, and the inner salt content reduction was about 80%. The experimental results suggest that the electrokinetic method is a promising way to desalinate fossils. Nonetheless, cracks appeared in the surrounding rock crack after electrokinetic desalination, which can be explained by the montmorillonite swelling-induced stresses. Pre-consolidation, especially for electro-chemical method may solve the cracking problem for the clay-rich sandstone desalination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies of ancient jade using portable X-ray fluorescence (pXRF) have mostly focused on mineral identification, alteration status and provenance determination. It is usually used as an auxiliary instrument for spectroscopic detection with finer resolution. However, there is no substitute for the efficiency and stability of pXRF in-situ non-destructive analysis, which is less affected by the test environment. The scale of the data from the pXRF analysis did not allow for a more in-depth interpretation of ancient jade in the past. In this study, pXRF has been carried out for a total of 112 pieces of nephrite artifacts unearthed from the Yuehe tomb No.1 in Nanyang City, Henan Province, Central China. Certain patterns become clearer as the size of the data increases. The coefficient of variation, cluster analysis and correlation analysis can be used to separate elements into different assemblages, revealing whether the elements are from the primary and impurity minerals of nephrite itself, from the burial microenvironment in the soil, or even from other specific sources. In addition, most of the secondary whitening occurring in the batch of nephrite are accompanied by an increase in Ca content, confirming the previously refuted theory of calcification. More importantly, the principal component analysis of the twin nephrite artifacts suggests visually indistinguishable elemental changes caused by secondary changes, which may lead to misjudgment of ancient nephrite provenance using elemental data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterization of ancient food remains could reflect how people exploited biological resources and interacted with different cultures in antiquity. In this study, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), starch grain, phytolith, stable isotope analysis and proteomics were adopted to characterize the composition of the food remains including three cereal foodstuffs, some meat strips and a kebab discovered at the Changle Cemetery (202 BCE–220 CE), Ningxia, northwest China, a key area on the Silk Road. The results show that the cereal foods were baked cakes, primarily made from foxtail millet (Setaria italica). One cake was simply made of millet grains, the others were more elaborately comprised of millet flour with the addition of barley flour and meat from cattle (Bos taurus) and chicken (Gallus gallus). These findings indicate that grinding and baking technologies, which were considered as the culinary tradition in western Eurasia, had been adopted at the latest by the inhabitants in Ningxia region at that time. The large-scale migration from central China to Ningxia and the opening up of the Silk Road during the Han Dynasty gave rise to the diet communication and assimilation in this border area. Moreover, the meat strips were identified as dried beef, and the kebab was likely to be made from sheep/goat meat, wherein the latter is the earliest scientific evidence of mutton kebab in ancient China up to our knowledge. The analytical strategy could be widely applied in characterizing ancient visible food remains in order to better understand their preparation methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bronze mou was an important artifact commonly used in the Ba-Shu region (now in Chongqing and Sichuan Province) during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Han Dynasty. Although extensive archaeological study of the bronze mou has been conducted, scientific analysis of the bronze mou has been limited, and no organic residue analysis has been performed on the bronze mou. In this study, four bronze mous dated to the Han dynasty (206 BC–220 AD) with organic residues unearthed in three archaeological sites in Wushan, Chongqing, were selected for analysis by portable X-ray fluorescent spectrometer (P-XRF) and liquid chromatograph-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS). The results of the alloy composition indicated that all the samples are copper-tin-lead ternary alloys. The proteomic analysis results confirmed that the bronze mou had been used as cooking utensils or containers. At the Tuchengpo Cemetery, soybeans were found in both bronze mou M32:27 and M38:39, and vigna was discovered in M32:27. No useful protein was discovered in the bronze mou from the Shennvmiao Cemetery. Proteins of ginkgo and chicken were found in M16:12 at the Gaotangguan Cemetery. The discovery indicated that residents in Wushan, Chongqing, had access to a diverse range of food sources around 2000 years ago. Furthermore, this study demonstrates that proteomic analysis is highly effective in studying archaeological organic residues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As one of the world's earliest pottery origins in Eurasia, the role of pottery during Neolithic period in South China remains unclear. Here, we present a new understanding on the utilization pattern of early pottery from the Neolithic sites of Dayan, Dingsishan and Zengpiyan in Guangxi province, China. Compound-specific stable isotope analysis of pottery and bone lipids show that a persistent use of terrestrial C3 and C4 resources throughout the pottery utilization history highlight the culinary practice and terrestrial exploitation during Neolithic period. Contrary to the traditional view that the primary use of these pottery was closely linked with aquatic resource processing, no aquatic biomarkers were found in the potsherds, yet these compounds were detected in the cooking experiments in this study, indicating that aquatic resources in these sites were probably processed or consumed in other ways. Moreover, a remarkable diachronic change from extensive use of C3 and C4 resources to the intensive use of certain kinds of C3 resources in different Neolithic stages, further indicating that an ecological tradition rooted in the subtropical and tropical environments as well as the Neolithic social evolution exerted great influence upon the initial production and the subsequent utilization of early pottery in prehistoric South China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The provenance of nephrite excavated from the capital of the late Shang dynasty is an important concern. Some nephrites with yellow-green color might have the same provenance. In this study, the provenance of three nephrite artifacts with yellow-green hue was determined by nondestructive multispectral imaging. The results show that they are very similar to nephrite from Xiuyan in northeastern China, suggesting that the Shang dynasty had some connection to regional cultures more than a thousand kilometers away. Of particular importance is the fact that the multispectral imaging method opens a new avenue for the study of the ancient jade circulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pterosaur eggs can offer information about pterosaur reproductive strategies and are extremely precious because only a small number of specimens have been discovered. Previous studies have mainly focused on morphological descriptions of pterosaur eggs and their embryos while the chemical composition of pterosaur eggs has received little attention. The conventional view believed that the eggshell was composed of calcite. However, previous SEM–EDS results for Hamipterus tianshanensis showed that the eggshell contains phosphorus. Therefore, the object of this research is to determine the mineral composition of the eggshell of H. tianshanensis. Two eggs were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM–EDS) and Raman spectroscopy. The SEM–EDS results show that both surface and cross section are porous and characterized by small irregularly shaped particulates. Moreover, the distribution of Ca and P has a strict coincidence in the cross-section of eggshells. Furthermore, neither the intense peaks of calcite nor organic peaks can be observed by Raman spectroscopy in eggshells. Meanwhile, the Raman spectroscopy mapping analysis result shows a sharp and intense peak at approximately 966 cm−1 among the white eggshell, which can be hard evidence that H. tianshanensis eggs are mainly composed of calcium phosphate. Combined with the present of F in the eggshell, it can be inferred that fluorapatite Ca5(PO4)3F is the main mineral. The fluorapatite eggshell can be interpreted in two ways. One explanation is that H. tianshanensis laid apatite-shelled eggs, similar to living Salvator merianae, and the bioapatite transformed to fluorapatite over geological time. Another possible explanation is that the fluorapatite comes from the result of phosphatization of soft egg membrane tissues through taphonomic processes, indicating that H. tianshanensis might have laid soft eggs. Regardless, the results show that fluorapatite, rather than calcite is the main preserved mineral composition of H. tianshanensis eggshell, correcting the previous view. This study contributes to the present understanding of the mineral composition of pterosaur eggshells and may offer some insight into the pterosaur reproduction pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The inkstone is a specific writing implement in China that was popularized since the Han Dynasty (202 BC-AD 220). A rectangular/round grinding plate accompanied with a grinding stone is considered as a kind of proto-inkstone. However, little scientific investigation has been performed to support this hypothesis. In this paper, a micro-destructive approach, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC-MS), were employed to analyse the black residues on a grinding plate and a grinding stone excavated from the Changle Cemetery (202 BC-AD 8) in northwestern China. The FTIR and Raman analyses indicated that the residues were ancient ink. GC-MS analysis further identified that the residues were pine-soot ink, based on the relative abundances of the main polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, as well as the detection of conifer biomarkers. The trace of animal glue was not detected in the residues; thus, the ink was possibly formed as small pellets and the small grinding stone was necessary to assist during the ink-grinding process. This study confirms that this set of stone implements is indeed an early type of inkstone, and offers some insight into the co-evolution relationship between ink production and inkstone shapes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]