The expansion of Neolithic stable isotope studies in France now allows distinct regional population-scale food patterns to be linked to both local environment influences and specific economic choices. Carbon and nitrogen isotope values of more than 500 humans and of animal samples also permit hypotheses on sex-biased human provenance. To advance population scale research, we here present the first study that draws together carbon (C), nitrogen (N), sulphur (S) and strontium (Sr), dental calculus, aDNA, and palaeoparasitology analysis to infer intra-population patterns of diet and provenance in a Middle Neolithic population from Le Vigneau 2 (human = 40; fauna = 12; 4720-4350 cal. BC) from north-western France. The data of the different studies, such as palaeoparasitology to detect diet and hygiene, CNS isotopes and dental calculus analysis to examine dietary staples, Sr and S isotopes to discriminate non-locals, and aDNA to detect maternal (mtDNA) versus paternal lineages (Y chromosome), were compared to anthropological information of sex and age. Collagen isotope data suggest a similar diet for all individuals except for one child. The provenance isotopic studies suggest no clear differences between sexes, suggesting both males and females used the territory in a similar pattern and had access to foods from the same environments.
This article is a bearing «state of the art» on the mortars containing hydraulic lime and the air lime-based mortars with reactive aggregates : natural and artificial pozzolanas.
The analyses of these last years on the Gallo-Roman lime mortars show a systematic use of air lime, which supposes a selection of the purest limestone in the geological environment. The field of the Gallo-Roman hydraulic mortars consist mainly in lime mortars with brick dust, natural pozzolanas being not very abundant in Gaule. In the terra cotta, the heat treatment of clays involves the formation of reactive glass, as well as that of pozzolanas. It is considered that only the mortars with fine brick dust make possible to obtain mortars rich in pozzolanic compounds. But the mechanical resistance of many concretes with large fragments of brick and tile proves, following the example junctions between sandy mortars and bricks of a masonry, that the contact reactions between lime and the terra cotta reinforce considerably the mechanical properties of the material. The multispectral image processing allows the study of these edge phenomena.
Cements, mortars, and binders form an important class of building materials. They consist of adhesive and cohesive materials that can be used for a variety of construction purposes, including uniting other materials, providing protective surface finishes, and forming decorative elements. Prior to the industrial revolution and the emergence of commercial cement‐based products, mortars were prepared using raw materials essentially derived from locally available resources. Mud, gypsum, and lime were the most common substances employed as binding material; and, judging from the archaeological evidence, builders have quickly controlled their processing and discovered ways to improve their performance and increase their longevity.
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