JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.Small depressions are a frequent landscape feature in the northeast Pete'n and northwestern Belize. Although generally considered the remains of seasonal ancient Maya water cisterns, they have not been subject to systematic study. Excavation of 16 depressions in northwestern Belize showed that these features are either natural sinkholes (dolines) or quarried cavities. In three depressions, quarrying for construction materials and mining for clay was evident and two depressions are the remains of collapsed chultuns. Depressions probably also served as areas where household activities were carried out, they may have played a role as gardens, and were used as trash dumps. For one quarter of the sample, a water storage function was established. Water input-output calculations showed that these features could have held water year round and thus theoretically could have played a much more important role in supplying water than commonly assumed. The study indicates that Classic Maya population could have relied on decentralized water sources and suggests that hypotheses of centralized water management in the central Maya lowlands should be critically reviewed.En el noreste del Peten y noroeste de Belice, el paisaje se caracteriza por la abundancia de pequenas depresiones. Aunque gene ralmente se conside ran restos de antiguos estanques de agua estacionales, todavia no han sido estudiadas de modo s istema tico. Excavaciones en 16 depresiones pequenas llevadas a cabo en el noroeste de Belice mostraron que estas estructuras son tanto de origen natural del karst (dolinas) como cavidades excavadas. Cinco depresiones con fondo de roca madre dura y bajas densidades ceramicas y lfticas son interpretadas como naturales. Tres depresiones en las cuales se hallo sascab muyfino, barro y cortes en la roca madre probablemente formaron sascaberas, minas y canteras. Las dos depresiones mas pequenas resultaron ser chultunes derrumbados. Para un cuarto de la muestra se considero que la funcion era el almacenamiento de agua. Esta evaluacion se basa en la presencia de a'rea de recogida de tamano apreciable, sistemas de encauce y un substrato gris, muy duro, sobre la roca madre. Dicho substrato se interpreta como los restos destruidos de un antiguo sello. Algunas depresiones fueron usadas para diferentes actividades secuenciales no relacionadas. Una depresion probablemente sirvio como area de produccion domestica, otra pudiera haber sido usada para cultivo. Dos depresiones probablemente fueron empleadas como basureros. Algunos investigadores han cuestionado la capacidad de depresiones pequenas para funcionar como fuentes abastecedoras permanentes. Se realizaron calculos teoricos de uso y evaporacion de agua, u...
Recent technological advances have broadened the application of palaeoradiology for non-destructive investigation of ancient remains. X-ray microtomography (microCT) in particular is increasingly used as an alternative to histological bone sections for interpreting pathological alterations, trauma, microstructure, and, more recently, bioerosion with direct or ancillary use of histological indices. However, no systematic attempt has been made to confirm the reliability of microCT for histotaphonomic analysis of archaeological bone. The objective of this study is therefore to compare thin sections of human femora rated with the Oxford Histological Index to microCT sections using the newly developed Virtual Histological Index in order to provide an accessible methodology for the evaluation of bioerosion in archaeological bone. We provide detailed descriptions of virtual sections and assess the efficacy of the method on cranial and postcranial elements, cremated long bones, and faunal samples. The traditional histological and virtual methods showed a strong correlation, providing the first systematic data substantiating lab-based microCT as a suitable alternative tool for reconstructing post-mortem history in the archaeological record, and for the reliable, non-destructive screening of samples for further analyses.
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