Montenegro is a land of great history which needs attention and care for a deeper knowledge and its making at the disposal of new generations. It is still a territory to be discovered, studied, and disclosed. It is important to understand how much hidden heritage there is still in this area to explore and exploit, but on the other hand, how much known heritage exists to protect and monitor, preventing its destruction and loss. In this context, Montenegro is heavily investing in the management of cultural heritage through initiatives for identification, protection, preservation, enhancement and fruition of them. In the frame of the knowledge, the use of non-destructive geophysical methods can be helpful for a cognitive investigation immediately in the bud of any archaeological verification project, safeguarded through preventive archaeology operations and the exploration of large areas within archaeological parks. In this paper, the results of geophysical prospections at the Hellenistic-Illyrian site of Mjace, the roman towns of Doclea and Municipium S, the medieval city of Svač, and the Stećci medieval tombstones graveyards of Novakovići, Žugića, and Plužine are presented. The study allowed the reconnaissance of new buried structures in the soil and has provided an updated view of the rich archaeological heritage of Montenegro.
Summary
An archaeomagnetic, rock magnetic and magnetic fabric study has been carried out on seven anthropogenic ash horizons in the Middle Paleolithic sedimentary level XXIV at the rock shelter of Crvena Stijena (‘Red Rock’), Montenegro. The study has multiple goals, including the identification of iron bearing minerals formed during combustion, assessment of the suitability of these combustion features for recording the Earth´s magnetic field direction, revelation of the magnetic fabric and its significance in the characterization of cave (rock shelter) burnt facies, and identification of post-burning alteration processes. Magnetite has been identified as the main ferromagnetic component of the ash. The ash layers exhibit a high thermomagnetic reversibility in contrast to the irreversible behavior of their subjacent burnt black layers which is related to the different temperatures attained. Seven mean archaeomagnetic directions were obtained with acceptable statistical values indicating that these features recorded the field direction at the time of burning. However, some of them are out of the expected range of secular variation for mid-latitude regions suggesting post-burning alterations. The magnetic fabric of the ash was characterized by anisotropy of low field magnetic susceptibility measurements. Statistical analysis (box and whisker plot) of the basic anisotropy parameters, such as foliation, lineation, degree of anisotropy and the shape parameter, along with the alignment of the principal susceptibilities on stereoplots, revealed variation among the ash units. The diverse, oblate to prolate, lineated or strongly foliated, quasi-horizontally and vertically oriented fabrics of the units may indicate different slope processes, such as orientation by gravity, solifluction, run-off water, quasi-vertical migration of groundwater and post-burning/post-depositional alteration of the fabric by rockfall impact. In sum, the magnetic characterization of the ash layers has shown the occurrence of different post-burning alteration processes previously not identified at the site. Alteration processes in prehistoric combustion features are often identified from macroscopic observations but our study demonstrates that multiple processes can affect them and are usually unnoticed because they take place on a microscopic scale. Their identification is critical for a correct chronological and cultural interpretation of a site (e.g.: collection of samples for dating, stratigraphic displacement of remains), especially if significant alterations are involved. Magnetic methods are therefore a powerful but underutilized tool in paleolithic research for the identification and evaluation of taphonomic processes affecting prehistoric fires.
Modeling the subsistence strategies of prehistoric groups depends on the accuracy of the faunal identifications that provide the basis for these models. However, our knowledge remains limited about the reproducibility of published taxonomic identifications and how they accurately reflect the range of species deposited in the archaeological record. This study compares taxonomic identifications at three Paleolithic sites (Saint-Césaire and Le Piage in France, Crvena Stijena in Montenegro) characterized by high levels of fragmentation. Identifications at these sites were derived using two methods: morphological identification and collagen fingerprinting, the latter a peptide-based approach known as ZooMS. Using a double-blind experimental design, we show that the two methods give taxonomic profiles that are statistically indistinguishable at all three sites. However, rare species and parts difficult to identify such as ribs seem more frequently associated with errors of identification. Comparisons with the indeterminate fraction indicate that large game is over-represented in the ZooMS sample at two of the three sites. These differences are possibly an artifact caused by differential fragmentation of elements from large species. Collagen fingerprinting can produce critical insights on the range distribution of animal prey in the past while also contributing to improved models of taphonomic processes and subsistence behavior.
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