Reconstructing Ancient Israel: Integrating Macro- and Micro-archaeology

Finkelstein, Israel; Evian, Shirly Ben Dor; Cabanes, Dan; Cabanes, Maria-Teresa; Eliyahu-Behar, Adi; Faigenbaum, Shira; Gadot, Yuval; Langgut, Dafna; Martin, Mario A. S.; Meiri, Meirav; Namdar, Dvora; Sapir‐Hen, Lidar; Shahack‐Gross, Ruth; Shaus, Arie; Sober, Barak; Toffolo, Michael B.; Yahalom-Mack, Naama; Zapassky, Lina; Weiner, Steve

doi:10.1628/219222712801608531

Cited by 6 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 10 publications

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“…The preserved archaeological record represents only a small portion of what was deposited at a site during its occupation. The ability to determine what components have disappeared during burial in sediments is of paramount importance in the reconstruction of past human activities, especially at the microscopic scale (Finkelstein et al, 2012; Karkanas, 2010; Karkanas, Bar‐Yosef, Goldberg, & Weiner, 2000). Since minerals are the main component of archaeological deposits (including artifacts), most of the information about the missing record can be obtained from minerals.…”

Section: Archaeological Significancementioning

confidence: 99%

The significance of aragonite in the interpretation of the microscopic archaeological record

Toffolo

2020

Geoarchaeology

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Aragonite is one of the metastable polymorphs of calcium carbonate and is commonly found at archaeological sites in the form of mollusk shells and speleothems. Other occurrences include corals, fish otoliths, seed endocarps, wood ash, and lime plaster. These materials contain microscopic embedded information of fundamental importance for the assessment of the state of preservation of the archaeological record, the reconstruction of paleoenvironments, the identification of pyrotechnological processes, and the establishment of absolute chronologies. However, this information can be used only if the aragonite found at archaeological sites preserves its pristine structure and chemistry. Aragonite is metastable at ambient conditions and tends to dissolve and recrystallize into secondary aragonite or calcite, a process that entails the loss of its original elemental and isotopic signature. Therefore, well‐grounded archaeological interpretations depend on the correct identification of aragonite and the careful characterization of its basic properties. This article reviews the dissolution processes of different types of aragonite, the methods used for their identification, and the archaeological information that can be extracted. Particular emphasis is given to the discussion of key issues regarding absolute dating and postdepositional processes of archaeological sediments, and to a detailed overview of the recently observed pyrogenic aragonite.

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Section: Archaeological Significancementioning

confidence: 99%