Fungal stromata were recently discovered in association with charcoal and burnt soil aggregates during an archaeological survey in the Châtillon-sur-Seine forest massif. The wood and soil in the samples were dated to the medieval period (between 738 and 1411 AD). Light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy revealed that a few of the stromatal fragments still contained ascospores. Their macromorphological characters were described and secondary metabolite profiles were generated using high performance liquid chromatography with diode array and mass spectrometric detection (HPLC-DAD/MS). The combination of these two data lines then allowed species identification. Most of the fragments were assigned to Hypoxylon fragiforme, the type species of the Hypoxylaceae (Xylariales). Two further species whose stromata grew on the fossil charcoal could be tentatively identified as Jackrogersella cohaerens and (more tentatively) as Hypoxylon vogesiacum. These three species are still commonly encountered in the forests of Central Europe today. Furthermore, the HPLC-HRMS data of H. fragiforme suggested the presence of unknown azaphilone dimers and of further new pigments. These archaeological compounds were compared to fresh stromata of H. fragiforme collected in Germany and subjected to the same analytical protocol. While the major components in both samples were identified as the known mitorubrin type azaphilones and orsellinic acid, the chemical structures of seven novel complex azaphilone pigments, for which we propose the trivial names rutilins C-D and fragirubrins A-E, were elucidated using spectral methods (NMR and CD spectroscopy, high resolution mass spectrometry). It appears that these pigments had indeed persisted for millennia in the fossil stromata.
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Depuis plus de dix ans, des recherches sur les ensembles de structures en pierre sous forêt sont menées dans la forêt du Châtillonnais (Côte-d'Or, France). Les prospections réalisées jusqu'à ce jour consistaient en un relevé GNSS systématique des structures. Ces prospections ont été complétées en 2012 par une acquisition LiDAR sur 400 km² réalisée par les Parcs Nationaux de France (PNF). Cet article a pour objectif de présenter la démarche développée au sein du projet, pour traiter et enregistrer les données archéologiques détectées par le LiDAR. L'enjeu de celle-ci est d'harmoniser la saisie et les modalités d'enregistrement des structures identifiées (à partir des jeux d'images dérivées des données LiDAR) par les différents chercheurs. Pour la mise en place de cette méthode, un test de vectorisation a été réalisé sur un même secteur par huit chercheurs afin d'identifier les biais de vectorisation puis de proposer un processus méthodologique associant les indices de visualisation utilisés, la nature des vestiges à détecter et leur implantation topographique et des techniques d'enregistrement (base de données spatiales, outils de vectorisation, etc.) connectées aux méthodes de relevés de terrain.
The identification of controlled fires in ancient agricultural systems is important for understanding how past societies managed the landscape. Although the use of fire in agriculture is documented in recent historical records, and combustion markers can persist in soils over a long time scale, this is a complex issue because combustion traits in general are ubiquitous. Archaeopedological surveys undertaken in an ancient forest in Burgundy (France) have led to the recovery of several red indurated nodules scattered in the soils. Gallo-Roman housing structures and parcels were recognized using light detection and ranging mapping, stimulating questions about the understanding of the nature of these nodules. Elemental and structural analyses by X-ray fluorescence and X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the local origin of these features by comparing their composition with on-site sediments, and thermoluminescence dating placed the samples in the Medieval period. The results cast light on the nature of the nodules and how they can be related to controlled fires used in agricultural practices. Even though questions remain about which processes lead to the formation of the nodules, the firing temperature estimated via XRD analysis seems to be in agreement with that used in the "paring-and-burning" technique. The present study provides new information about medieval agriculture practices from the 10th to the 12th centuries CE and shows how past societies managed the opening and maintenance of agricultural fields using natural resources and "archaeological" remains from the antique period.
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