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Science in Scottish Archaeology: Scarf Panel Report

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Science in Scottish Archaeology: Scarf Panel Report Science in Scottish Archaeology: ScARF Panel Report Images © as noted in the text ScARF Summary Science Panel Document June 2012 ScARF Science in Scottish Archaeology Panel Karen Milek and Richard Jones (eds) With contributions from: Richard Bates, Paul Bishop, Kate Britton, Graeme Cavers, Ruby Ceron-Carrasco, Matthew Collins, Gordon Cook, Dave Cowley, Anne Crone, Alastair Dawson, Sue Dawson, Ian J. Fairchild, Oliver Craig, Andy Dugmore, Richard Jones, Peter Langdon, Roderick McCullagh, Kathleen McSweeney, Ingrid Mainland, Karen Milek, Anthony Newton, Sue Ovenden, Eva Panagiotakopulu, Ed Schofield, Marian Scott, Finlay Stuart, Scott Timpany, Richard Tipping, Lyn Wilson, Rob Wilson Abbreviations ED-XRF Energy-dispersive XRF FT IR Fourier Transform Infra Red spectrometry ICP-ES (MS) Inductively coupled emission spectrometry (mass spectrometry) NAA Neutron activation analysis ORA Organic residue analysis SAGES Scottish Alliance for Geosciences and Society SEM Scanning electron microscope SEM-EDAX SEM with energy-dispersive X-ray analysis XRD X-ray diffraction XRF X-ray fluorescence spectrometry Science in Scottish Archaeology Contents Executive Summary Introduction .................................................................................................................................i 1. Chronology ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Radiocarbon dating ................................................................................................... 2 1.3 Cosmogenic nuclide and Ar/Ar dating techniques and facilities in Scotland ............ 7 1.4 Luminescence dating in archaeology ...................................................................... 10 1.5 Dendrochronology in Scotland ................................................................................ 12 1.6 Amino acid racemization dating ................................................................................... 14 1.7 Tephrochronology ......................................................................................................... 14 1.8 Archaeomagnetism ................................................................................................. 16 1.9 Chronology recommendations ................................................................................ 19 2. Human and animal sciences ........................................................................................... 20 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 20 2.2 Human Remains ...................................................................................................... 20 2.3 DNA .......................................................................................................................... 29 2.4 Isotope Analysis ....................................................................................................... 29 2.5 Microarchaeological sampling for proteins ............................................................. 35 2.6 Human and animal sciences recommendations ..................................................... 37 3. Understanding materials ................................................................................................ 39 3.1 Introduction: Materials analysis .............................................................................. 39 3.2 Techniques of analysis ............................................................................................ 42 3.3 Methods of examination ......................................................................................... 47 3.4 Ceramics .................................................................................................................. 50 3.5 Metals ...................................................................................................................... 54 3.6 Lithics ....................................................................................................................... 55 3.7 Vitreous materials ................................................................................................... 57 3.8 Other materials........................................................................................................ 58 iii Science in Scottish Archaeology 3.9 Conservation science .............................................................................................. 59 3.10 Understanding materials recommendations .......................................................... 62 In addition, the following comprise potential opportunities .............................................. 62 4. People and the Environment .......................................................................................... 64 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 64 4.2 Geoarchaeology ....................................................................................................... 65 4.3 Archaeobotany ........................................................................................................ 69 4.4 Vertebrate Archaeozoology .................................................................................... 73 4.5 Archaeoentomology in Scotland: Background and Potential ................................. 82 4.6 Pollen Analysis ......................................................................................................... 84 4.7 Landscape-scale Geomorphology and Sedimentology ........................................... 87 4.8 Palaeoclimatology ................................................................................................... 91 4.9 People and the environment recommendations .................................................... 98 5. Detecting and Imaging Heritage Assets .......................................................................... 99 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................. 99 5.2 Aerial reconnaissance and photographs ............................................................... 101 5.3 Geophysical Survey ................................................................................................ 109 5.4 Underwater Surface Mapping ............................................................................... 117 5.5 Laser Scanning ....................................................................................................... 119 5.6 Visualisation .......................................................................................................... 121 5.7 Detecting and imaging heritage assets recommendations ................................... 122 6. Statistical modelling in archaeological applications ........................................................ 123 7. The Vision for Science in Scottish Archaeology ............................................................ 127 Bibliography ........................................................................................................................... 129 iv List of Figures Figure 1: Graphical representation of the calibration of radiocarbon results for carbonised residues from Perth, Scotland in Hall et al. (2007).. ................................................................. 7 Figure 2: Sampling underway in the roof of the Mansion House, Drum Castle, Aberdeenshire, © AOC Archaeology Group. .................................................................................................... 13 Figure 3: The distribution of the archaeomagnetic dates produced on Scottish material, ©Cathy Batt. ............................................................................................................................ 18 Figure 4: Body of thoracic vertebra with depression in the bone surface , © K McSweeney 23 Figure 5: The chapel in Ensay © Wikimedia commons. .......................................................... 27 Figure 6: Free amino acids (FAA) vs Total hydrolysable amino acids (THAA) from Demarchi et al.(2010) .................................................................................................................................. 35 Figure 7: ZooMS discrimination of animals from bone collagen peptides. Data replotted from Buckley et al. 2009. ................................................................................................................. 37 Figure 8: Selection of the Lewis chessmen, ©NMS ................................................................ 39 Figure 9: pXRF of Egyptian sarcophagus, © Glasgow Museums ............................................. 43 Figure 10: 16thc Asian bronze buddah ©Glasgow Museums ................................................. 43 Figure 11: FTIR microscope in use at NMS Collection Centre, Edinburgh ©NMS ................... 45 Figure 12: CT Image of 17th century pocket watch from shipwreck, revealing maker’s signature ©NMS ...................................................................................................................... 48 Figure 13: PC plot showing the classification of ICP-ES compositions of ceramic material .... 49 Figure 14: Four chemical chemically-defined groups, each of them in this case representing likely production sites of
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