Garman Harbottle

Turquoise Sources and Source Analysis: Mesoamerica and the Southwestern U.S.A.

Publisher Summary This chapter reviews turquoise sources and their analysis in Mesoamerica and the southwestern US context. As civilizations expand, the demand for rare resources becomes more systematized. Systematic demands are concomitant with systematic acquisition techniques. Mesoamerica, viewed as an ancient world system, certainly had such demands. Rare resource source areas eventually became so heavily exploited by Mesoamericans that province formation and/or colonization was finally reached in some cases. The term turquoise is used in two quite different manners: (1) the narrow definition, which is a chemical one, and (2) a broader designation, a cultural term embracing a whole range of blue and blue–green stones. The cultural term would not only include chemical turquoise but also certain types of malachite, azurites, chrysocollas, a green garnet, and several other copper-bearing minerals not yet fully identified. The turquoises appear to have been the second Teotihuacan luxury rare resource enterprise. Evidence suggests that Teotihuacan was trading for turquoises before attempts to control the rare resource province more directly were made.

Organic storage of CO2 on the continental slope off the mid-Atlantic bight, the southeastern Bering Sea, and the Peru Coast

A comparison is made of organic content, sedimentation rates derived from 14C and 210Pb analyses, 13C and 15N isotope ratios, amorphous silica, particle size, and calcium carbonate within sediments from slopes off the mid-Atlantic bight, the southeastern Bering Sea, and the Peru coast. These sediments are mainly marine, diatom-rich, and about one-third of the organic carbon is recent, reflecting a possible transient of shelf export in response to mans increased activities since the industrial revolution. Using a combination of sedimentation and mixing rates of carbon, the C:N ratio of sediments within the upper 50 cm, and the amount of nitrogen thought to be released from the coastal zone, independent estimates suggest a carbon loading to world slopes of ∼0.3 to 0.5 × 109 tons C y−1. The Bering slope exhibits no anthropogenic transients, however, while increased carbon loading may have occurred off Peru in response to overfishing and off the mid-Atlantic bight in response to eutrophication. The generality of our results depends on which of the three systems is most representative of world slopes.

Long-living lotus: germination and soil γ-irradiation of centuries-old fruits, and cultivation, growth, and phenotypic abnormalities of offspring

Sacred lotus (Nelumbo nucifera) has been cultivated as a crop in Asia for thousands of years. An ∼1300-yr-old lotus fruit, recovered from an originally cultivated but now dry lakebed in northeastern China, is the oldest germinated and directly (14)C-dated fruit known. In 1996, we traveled to the dry lake at Xipaozi Village, China, the source of the old viable fruits. We identified all of the landmarks recorded by botanist Ichiro Ohga some 80 yr ago when he first studied the deposit, but found that the fruits are now rare. We (1) cataloged a total of 60 lotus fruits; (2) germinated four fruits having physical ages of 200-500 yr by (14)C dating; (3) measured the rapid germination of the old fruits and the initially fast growth and short dormancy of their seedlings; (4) recorded abnormal phenotypes in their leaves, stalks, roots, and rhizomes; (5) determined γ-radiation of ∼2.0 mGy/yr in the lotus-bearing beds; and (6) measured stratigraphic sequences of the lakebed strata. The total γ-irradiation of the old fruits of 0.1-3 Gy (gray, the unit of absorbed dosage defined as 1 joule/kg; 1 Gy = 100 rad), evidently resulting in certain of the abnormal phenotypes noted in their seedlings, represents the longest natural radiobiology experiment yet recorded. Most of the lotus abnormalities resemble those of chronically irradiated plants exposed to much higher irradiances. Though the chronic exposure of the old fruits to low-dose γ-radiation may be responsible in part for the notably weak growth and mutant phenotypes of the seedlings, it has not affected seed viability. All seeds presumably repair cellular damage before germination. Understanding of repair mechanisms in the old lotus seeds may provide insight to the aging process applicable also to other organisms.

Oldest playable musical instruments found at Jiahu early Neolithic site in China

Excavations at the early Neolithic site of Jiahu in Henan Province, China have produced what may be the earliest complete, playable, tightly-dated multinote musical instruments. Jiahu was occupied from 7000 BC to 5700 BC, considerably antedating the well known Peiligang culture. Here we describe six exquisitely made complete flutes which were found in radiocarbon-dated excavation layers, along with fragments of perhaps 30 more. The flutes are made from the ulnae of the red-crowned crane (Grus japonensis Millen) and have 5, 6, 7 and 8 holes. The best preserved flute has been played and tonally analysed. In addition to early musical artefacts, the archaeological record at Jiahu contains important information on the very foundations of Chinese society. We describe the archaeological characteristics of the Jiahu site, details concerning its dating, its place in the prehistory of the Chinese Neolithic, the ethnicity of its population and the results of a tonal analysis of a nearly 9,000-year-old musical instrument found there.

Szilard‐Chalmers Reaction in Crystalline Compounds of Chromium

The Szilard‐Chalmers reaction has been observed in a number of crystalline compounds of tri‐ and hexavalent chromium. The effect of neutron and external gamma irradiation has also been investigated. It was found that in a series of alkali chromates and dichromates the retention varied from 50 to 90 percent, while ammonium chromate and dichromate were much lower. The results are interpreted in terms of hotatom reactions of the recoil fragments in the crystal, and hydrolysis and reduction reactions taking place on dissolution of the crystals.

Studies of radioactivity and heavy metals in phosphate fertilizer

The enormous utilization of phosphate rock and super phosphate derived from it have the potential of being an important factor in the contamination of aquifers with alpha emitting radionuclides and heavy metals. Both rock phosphate and super phosphate contain substantial levels of natural uranium, amounting to hundreds of ppm. Our study has shown that whereas the uranium series in phosphate rock is nearly in secular equilibrium, in super phosphate the226Ra and its progeny are depleted by 60–70%. This is a result of the chemical processing of the rock phosphate. On the other hand the super phosphate is much more soluble and can be expected to release its radionuclides to the environment more rapidly than rock phosphate. The present study explores the release of radioisotopes and heavy metals from phosphate fertilizers. Extensive analytical use has been made of a germanium well-detector/Compton suppression system.

The Role of Turquoises in the Ancient Mesoamerican Trade Structure

Mineral procurement is an enduring theme in both northwestern Mexico and the southwestern United States. Mining and mining settlements have given this great area much of its distinctive historical and cultural character (see, for example, West 1949; Spicer 1962; Bakewell 1976; Mecham 1927; Powell 1975). The popular mind forcefully associates mining with these signatures: the vivid imagery of field rushes; unstable social situations; transitory populations; quick flowerings and equally fast declines of settlements; and hardship. But much of what we regard as Colonial period mining activity appears to have had deeper roots. It is our contention that mineral exploitation and procurement was in fact one of the organizing postulates in the formation of the ancient Mesoamerican trade structure and that this activity was important, in select areas, at many or all levels of economic organization (a la Braudel 1972 and 1982). Within this context of early mineral procurement, we deal in this chapter with turquoise and its particular role in the Mesoamerican trade structure.

Use of synchrotron radiation in archaeometry

Abstract A synchrotron X-ray producing device such as the National Synchrotron Light Source at Brookhaven National Laboratory will present the research worker in the field of archaeometry with a number of new possibilities. These derive from the fundamental characteristics of the extracted X-ray beam: (a) its extraordinary intensity, four to five orders of magnitude greater than that of bremsstrahlung produced by X-ray tubes, (b) its polarization in the plane of the synchrotron ring and, (c) its energy tunability. Among the archaeometric applications one may readily identify: (a) very fast, sensitive, bulk analyses of materials such as ceramic and stone, for provenance research, (b) spot (microprobe) analytical capability, for obtaining structural information on artifacts, (c) scanning applications leading to images of the distributions of particular elements and, (d) element speciation on a micro scale. There is every reason to believe that this instrument will quickly take a prominent place in archaeometric research.

Carbon-14 dating of small samples by proportional counting

Conventional carbon-14 dating by means of gas proportional counters has been extended to samples containing as little as 10 milligrams of carbon. The accuracy of the dating procedure has been checked by dating sequoia tree-ring samples of the 1st century A.D. and B.C. and an oak tree-ring sample of the 19th century A.D.

The Szilard-Chalmers Reaction in Solids

Publisher Summary The chemical effect of a nuclear transformation was observed by Ssilard and Chalmers in 1934. They irradiated liquid ethyl iodide with neutrons and found that radioactive iodine could be extracted into water. The effect was attributed to the rupture of the carbon-iodine bond by the mechanical recoil imparted to the iodine nucleus by the incident neutron. Subsequently, Fermi et al. showed that the recoil energy given to the nucleus by the emission of gamma rays following thermal neutron capture was sufficient to break the bonds holding the capturing atom to the remainder of the molecule. The chemical behavior of the atoms that have undergone nuclear transformations are as yet imperfectly understood. Numerous investigations have shown that the radioisotope produced by thermal neutron irradiation of a compound in dilute solution or in the gas phase is usually obtained in chemical form other than that of the capturing molecule.