Jay Hall

Pre-European coastal settlement and use of the sea: a view from Queensland

The authors draw attention to the fact that important omissions have been made in the chronology of Australian coastal occupation presented by Nicholson and Cane (1994) in their recent review of the subject. They opine that Nicolson and Cane have omitted crucial data concerning Aboriginal use of the Queensland coast though basic literature of the Queensland coast is easily available.

Micro-Attenuated Total Reflection Spectral Imaging in Archaeology: Application to Maya Paint and Plaster Wall Decorations

Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) attenuated total reflection (ATR) imaging has been successfully used to identify individual mineral components of ancient Maya paint. The high spatial resolution of a micro FT-IR-ATR system in combination with a focal plane array detector has allowed individual particles in the paint to be resolved and identified from their spectra. This system has been used in combination with micro-Raman spectroscopy to characterize the paint, which was found to be a mixture of hematite and silicate particles with minor amounts of calcite, carbon, and magnetite particles in a sub-micrometer hematite and calcite matrix. The underlying stucco was also investigated and found to be a combination of calcite with fine carbon particles, making a dark sub-ground for the paint.