1,720,961 research outputs found
Breglia F., Caricola I., Larocca F., Marcrolithic tools for mining and primary processing of metal ores from the site of Grotta della Monaca (Calabria, Italy), in journal lithic studies
No full textGrotta della Monaca is a karst cave located in Calabria, the southernmost region of the Italian peninsula. About half a kilometre deep, the cavern has drawn the attention of man since Paleolithic because of the abundance of metal ores in it (mainly iron hydroxides but also copper carbonates). These easily reachable minerals have been exploited during prehistory and especially between the late Neolithic and the early Copper Age.
Research conducted within the site from 2000 to 2012 has allowed us to understand various aspects of the ancient mining activities and, at the same time, to reconstruct the basic steps of the operational chain connected to the procurement and to the first processing of such resources: from the choice of tools to the various extractive techniques adopted, from the disposal of mining debris to the early operations of ore processing.
In this paper we focus on two categories of macrolithic tools: those used to extract minerals and those used for their first processing. The first group is composed by 51 artefacts divided into axes, hammers and pickaxes with central groove, found in the deeper areas of the cave corresponding to mining areas. Their morphological and dimensional variability indicates a significant functional diversification; furthermore, the choice of different very hard metamorphic rocks implies a high awareness in the selection of the raw materials used for making this implements. The second group includes 22 tools with different functions – mainly made of sandstone – classified as querns and grinder/crusher. They were found in an underground area adjacent to the entrance, characterized by large and comfortable spaces, with the widespread presence of natural light. A recent traceological study has clarified the function of such artefacts, used to grind mined blocks of iron hydroxides to obtain a powder. The multidisciplinary approach in studying mining tools from Grotta della Monaca (such as petrography, archaeological typology and traceology) has allowed us to gain important knowledge about their general characteristics
Several wood for several uses. Exploitation and selection at the pile-dwelling cave settlement Grotta di Pertosa
No full textGrotte di Pertosa is a natural karst cave located on the northeastern slopes of the Alburni Mountains in Campania (Southern Italy). This cave housed a pile-dwelling settlement
during the Middle and Late Bronze Age. A peculiar aspect of this archaeological site is the preservation of the protohistoric wooden structures thanks to the waters of the underground
stream flowing in the cave.
The most impressive evidence comprises the floors of two different pile-dwelling levels, which were first excavated in the late nineteenth century by Patroni and Carucci. These
scholars published data concerning both the structures and the wooden artifacts discovered. Therefore, in this paper, a review of the inferred archaeobotanical data from their
studies is provided.
Fortunately, several wooden poles have been preserved in the riverbed area; they are still accessible and represent the main subject of this work. So far 86 poles, still deeply
driven into the riverbed, have been identified and registered.
Microscopic wood analysis has been conducted on 46 samples taken from as many poles during the 2009-2013 research campaigns; furthermore 20 wood samples of uncertain
attribution, found in a rich organic material layer, have also been analyzed as well as charcoal preserved in the same archaeological stratum.
A first result from this study is related to paleoenvironmental issues. The comparison between the archaeobotanical assemblages and the modern surrounding vegetation, in light
of the paleoclimatic data available in the literature, allowed us to elaborate on a preliminary paleoenvironmental reconstruction and to speculate about the catchment areas of
wood exploited. The archaeobotanical study provided also information about wood used for different purposes: building material, fuel and craft-activities
A RADIOCARBON CHRONOLOGY FOR "GROTTE DI PERTOSA" IN CAMPANIA, SOUTHERN ITALY
No full textThe Pertosa Caves, today also known as the Pertosa-Auletta Caves, constitute an important karst system in the Campania region (southern Italy). Crossed by the waters of a river that re-emerges on the surface, they have an overall development of about 3 km. Thanks to the width of the entrance, the excellent location along a natural communication route through the mountains and the natural availability of water directly on the site, the initial part of the cavity was frequented by humans, without interruption, from prehistoric times to the Middle Ages. During the protohistory, in particular, the moment of most marked human presence is recorded in the cave. In this phase an extensive pile dwelling system was built on the waters of the underground river. The system was probably created to make the location, subject to frequent flooding, suitable for human settlement. This structure today constitutes an archaeological unicum not only in Italy but throughout Europe. We briefly analyze its general characteristics providing the results of a radiocarbon dating campaign which allowed to assess the occupation phases of the different contexts and the life span of the wooden artifacts, which came to us in a very good state of preservation. Radiocarbon data allowed to assess the chronological range of the human frequentation of the caves and to date the exceptionally well preserved underground pile dwelling system
Grape Exploitation in the Roman Villa at Villamagna (Regio V – Picenum): Implication from Biometrical and Morphological Approaches Analysing Ancient Grape Pips
No full text
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Prehistoric exploitation of minerals resources. Experimentation and use-wear analysis of grooved stone tools from Grotta della Monaca (Calabria, Italy)
Full text linkThe Calabria region of Southern Italy is rich in mineralisation. Unfortunately, no consistent data are available about mineral exploitation in the later prehistoric periods. The Grotta della Monaca mine in Calabria is a prehistoric site that is characterised by the mineralisation of iron ores (such as goethite) and copper carbonates (malachite and azurite). For this reason, the site provides an exceptional opportunity to study a prehistoric mine in which several minerals were exploited during the late Neolithic and early Chalcolithic. In this study, we present the results of an experimental protocol and use-wear analysis conducted using macro-lithic tool replicas to extract mineral resources. The experimental test aimed at reconstructing the function of grooved stone tools found at Grotta della Monaca. Use-wear observation, through a combined low- and high-power approach on experimental and archaeological objects, allowed us to define different extraction techniques and methods of mineral treatments. These data enhance our understanding and reconstruction of the chaîne opératoires, economic choices, and cultural aspects that characterised prehistoric miners in Southern Italy
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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