Search

Con el objetivo de profundizar en el estudio de las pinturas murales del singular salón de planta octogonal que aparece en la villa romana de Almenara de Adaja-Puras (Valladolid, España) hemos recurrido a la técnica de espectroscopía Raman. Se han realizado 521 análisis a 50 muestras extraídas de 5 paneles representativos de la decoración de la zona media y superior de la pared. Los colores estudiados han sido amarillo, azul, blanco, beige, negro, gris, rojo, rosa y verde. Para cada uno de ellos se ha podido determinar cuáles fueron los compuestos utilizados en su fabricación, así como las mezclas utilizadas tanto para oscurecer o para aclarar el tono, o también para conseguir una mayor gama cromática., With the aim of deepening the study of wall-painting belonging to a singular octagonal-shape lounge, from the Roman villa of Almenara de Adaja-Puras (Valladolid, Spain), we have used the Raman spectroscopy technique. 521 analyzes were performed on 50 samples taken from 5 panels representative of the decoration of the middle and upper part of the wall. The colours studied have been yellow, blue, white, beige, black, gray, red, pink and green. For each of them it has been possible to determine which were the compounds used in their manufacture as well as the mixtures used both to darken or to lighten the tone, or also to achieve a greater chromatic range.

In the Neolithic Gavà mines, variscite and turquoise were exploited for ornaments manufacturing, although some prospective pits and tunnels were dug on other similar greenish minerals such as smectite or kandite. A 3D study of the distribution of mineral phases allows us to determine the parameters involved in variscite colours. Methods are comprised of quantitative colourimetry, thin section petrography, SEM-BSE-EDS, EMPA, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and 57Fe Mössbauer spectrometry. Mapping of the mines indicates that colour is not directly dependent on depth. Although variscite from Gavà is poor in Cr3+ and V+3 compared with gemmy variscite from other localities, the deep green samples content has the highest values of Cr3+. In the case of cryptocrystalline mixtures with jarosite, phosphosiderite, or goethite, variscite tends to acquire a greenish brown to olivaceous hue. If white minerals such as quartz, kandite, crandallite, or alunite are involved in the mixtures, variscite and turquoise colours become paler.

In the Neolithic Gavà mines, variscite and turquoise were exploited for ornaments manufacturing, although some prospective pits and tunnels were dug on other similar greenish minerals such as smectite or kandite. A 3D study of the distribution of mineral phases allows us to determine the parameters involved in variscite colours. Methods are comprised of quantitative colourimetry, thin section petrography, SEM-BSE-EDS, EMPA, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and 57Fe Mössbauer spectrometry. Mapping of the mines indicates that colour is not directly dependent on depth. Although variscite from Gavà is poor in Cr3+ and V+3 compared with gemmy variscite from other localities, the deep green samples content has the highest values of Cr3+. In the case of cryptocrystalline mixtures with jarosite, phosphosiderite, or goethite, variscite tends to acquire a greenish brown to olivaceous hue. If white minerals such as quartz, kandite, crandallite, or alunite are involved in the mixtures, variscite and turquoise colours become paler.

In the Neolithic Gavà mines, variscite and turquoise were exploited for ornaments manufacturing, although some prospective pits and tunnels were dug on other similar greenish minerals such as smectite or kandite. A 3D study of the distribution of mineral phases allows us to determine the parameters involved in variscite colours. Methods are comprised of quantitative colourimetry, thin section petrography, SEM-BSE-EDS, EMPA, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and57Fe Mössbauer spectrometry. Mapping of the mines indicates that colour is not directly dependent on depth. Although variscite from Gavà is poor in Cr3+ and V+3 compared with gemmy variscite from other localities, the deep green samples content has the highest values of Cr3+. In the case of cryptocrystalline mixtures with jarosite, phosphosiderite, or goethite, variscite tends to acquire a greenish brown to olivaceous hue. If white minerals such as quartz, kandite, crandallite, or alunite are involved in the mixtures, variscite and turquoise colours become paler.

Cremation is a widespread funerary practice that aims to burn the body and create a new appearance of human remains. It has been interpreted as a ritual transition that includes a sequence of acts and processes aimed at commemorating the dead on an individual and collective scale. In the Near East, fire-induced manipulation or cremation was not a usual burial practice during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic. In this contribution, we present the geochemical (X-ray fluorescence), mineralogical (X-ray Diffraction) and spectroscopic (Raman spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and (Electron Paramagnetic Resonance) analysis of bones from a Late Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (ca. 9000 yr cal BP) burial in Kharaysin site (Quneya, Zarqa) in northwest Jordan. We discuss the data obtained by the different analytical methods reviewing the state of the art of each analytical method to infer bone burning palaeotemperatures. Finally, it is demonstrated the burned character of the analysed bones, confirming the earliest presence of cremated human bones in a funerary context of the Pre-Pottery Neolithic of the Near East in Kharaysin. This fact provides a new insight into the complexity and variability of burial customs within the Pre-Pottery Neolithic in Levant.

The essential role of Critical Elements (CE) in 21st century economy has led to an increasing demand of these metals and promotes the exploration of non-conventional deposits such as weathering profiles. The present work is focused on the study of a weathering profile located at the Archaeological Park of the Gavà Neolithic Mines, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. In the Gavà deposit, acid and oxidising meteoric fluids generated intense weathering during the early Pleistocene, affecting series of Llandoverian black shales and associated syn-sedimentary phosphates. The circulation of these acid fluids at deeper levels of the profile generated supergene vein-like mineralisations comprised of secondary phosphates (e.g., variscite, perhamite, crandallite, phosphosiderite) and sulphates (e.g., jarosite, alunite). This supergene mineralisation is significantly enriched in certain CE (e.g., Ga, Sc, REE, In, Co and Sb) that were mobilised from host rock components and later hosted in the crystal lattice of supergene minerals. Weathering processes and corresponding supergene enrichment of CE at the Gavà deposit could be used as an example to determine exploration guidelines of CE in weathering profiles and associated supergene phosphates worldwide. Keywords: critical elements; weathering; supergene mineralisation; phosphates; Gavà, The essential role of Critical Elements (CE) in 21st century economy has led to an increasing demand of these metals and promotes the exploration of non-conventional deposits such as weathering profiles. The present work is focused on the study of a weathering profile located at the Archaeological Park of the Gavà Neolithic Mines, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. In the Gavà deposit, acid and oxidising meteoric fluids generated intense weathering during the early Pleistocene, affecting series of Llandoverian black shales and associated syn-sedimentary phosphates. The circulation of these acid fluids at deeper levels of the profile generated supergene vein-like mineralisations comprised of secondary phosphates (e.g., variscite, perhamite, crandallite, phosphosiderite) and sulphates (e.g., jarosite, alunite). This supergene mineralisation is significantly enriched in certain CE (e.g., Ga, Sc, REE, In, Co and Sb) that were mobilised from host rock components and later hosted in the crystal lattice of supergene minerals. Weathering processes and corresponding supergene enrichment of CE at the Gavà deposit could be used as an example to determine exploration guidelines of CE in weathering profiles and associated supergene phosphates worldwide. Keywords: critical elements; weathering; supergene mineralisation; phosphates; Gavà, The essential role of Critical Elements (CE) in 21st century economy has led to an increasing demand of these metals and promotes the exploration of non-conventional deposits such as weathering profiles. The present work is focused on the study of a weathering profile located at the Archaeological Park of the Gavà Neolithic Mines, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. In the Gavà deposit, acid and oxidising meteoric fluids generated intense weathering during the early Pleistocene, affecting series of Llandoverian black shales and associated syn-sedimentary phosphates. The circulation of these acid fluids at deeper levels of the profile generated supergene vein-like mineralisations comprised of secondary phosphates (e.g., variscite, perhamite, crandallite, phosphosiderite) and sulphates (e.g., jarosite, alunite). This supergene mineralisation is significantly enriched in certain CE (e.g., Ga, Sc, REE, In, Co and Sb) that were mobilised from host rock components and later hosted in the crystal lattice of supergene minerals. Weathering processes and corresponding supergene enrichment of CE at the Gavà deposit could be used as an example to determine exploration guidelines of CE in weathering profiles and associated supergene phosphates worldwide. Keywords: critical elements; weathering; supergene mineralisation; phosphates; Gavà

For most of its history, archaeology has too often taken an indulgent attitude toward looting and antiquities trafficking. The primary response to these dangers has been to publish the main findings made outside of academia. As a result of this approach and the prominent role played by police techniques in investigating such crimes, investigations are primarily based on documentary research. This approach makes it harder to determine such essential factors in this field as an object’s collecting history or discovery date. This paper proposes new ways of studying collecting history, drawing on research projects on the use of archaeometry to shed light on cases of looting or trafficking involving police, court, or government intervention; hence, its qualification as “forensic”. Although the current state of knowledge does not enable the presentation of novel research, we believe that researchers and interested institutions should be made aware of the advisability of using archaeometry more directly in the fight against these scourges., Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN), Depto. de Prehistoria, Historia Antigua y Arqueología, Fac. de Ciencias Políticas y Sociología, Fac. de Geografía e Historia, TRUE, pub

Raman spectroscopy is a valuable analytical technique for the identification of biomolecules and minerals in natural samples, which involves little or minimal sample manipulation. In this paper, we evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of this technique applied to the study of extremophiles. Furthermore, we provide a review of the results published, up to the present point in time, of the bio- and geo-strategies adopted by different types of extremophile colonies of microorganisms. We also show the characteristic Raman signatures for the identification of pigments and minerals, which appear in those complex samples

A list of lichen biomolecules detected by Raman spectroscopy has been compiled and their appearance has been correlated with the environmental conditions operating in lichen habitats around the world. The adaptative climatic strategies of lichens have been analysed as a whole and some interesting and contradictory conclusions arise with regard to other research conclusions reported in the literature, such as the presence of hydrated calcium oxalates and their relationship with desiccated environments or the correlation between climatic conditions and protective pigments or pigment mixtures. The results of this exercise will be useful for our understanding of the biochemical synthetic strategies being employed for the survival of the lichen colonies in hostile terrestrial environments and the prediction of Raman spectral data for extremophiles in a range of novel hot and cold desert conditions. Additionally, a database of all key lichen biomolecules identified by Raman spectroscopy and their characteristic Raman wavenumbers are given for further unambiguous identification.

Estado actual del conocimiento de la Sima del complejo kárstico de Palomas. Se ha presentado su enmarque geográfico y geológico y se ha valorado la historia de las investigaciones desarrolladas. Se han expuesto las actividades y tareas arqueológicas desarrolladas, así como una serie de analíticas científicas que ha realizado un equipo amplio de investigadores españoles y alemanes de diversas universidades y centros de investigación.