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Papers by Quan Hua
Antiquity, 2019
Iron-production sites of the early historic period in Mainland Southeast Asia (fifth to fifteenth... more Iron-production sites of the early historic period in Mainland Southeast Asia (fifth to fifteenth centuries AD) are rare. Recent excavations at the Tonle Bak site in central Cambodia now provide the first evidence for furnace technology, metallurgical characteristics of slag concentrations and evidence for the organisation of local smelting communities and ritual practices during the peak of the Angkorian Khmer Empire. The results demonstrate that the smelters were directly integrated with Angkorian state-exchange networks. They also raise questions about the use of ethnohistorical records for understanding the identity and organisation of these early metalworkers.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2014
ABSTRACT The Industries of Angkor Project (INDAP) is the first scientific study combining investi... more ABSTRACT The Industries of Angkor Project (INDAP) is the first scientific study combining investigation of the chronology, supply network and technology of raw and finished iron within Angkorian (9th to 15th c. AD), Middle Period (15th to 19th c. AD) and Colonial (1863–1953) Cambodia. This paper is concerned with the production technology employed at five iron smelting sites in the northern province of Preah Vihear, three loci within the enclosure walls of the Angkorian Preah Khan complex and two, c. 30 km east, near Phnom Dek or ‘Iron Mountain’. The Phnom Dek area is a historic homeland of the ethnic minority Kuay people, who continued to smelt iron from local mineral sources into the 1940s. With the aim of testing a previously proposed ‘Angkorian Kuay’ hypothesis, that Kuay ancestors were responsible for Angkorian period iron smelting at Preah Khan of Kompong Svay (Preah Khan), the objective of this preliminary study was to establish whether any technological continuity could be detected across a 1200 year old industrial landscape, and thus if any socio-culturally homologous relations could be proposed for the ironmakers respectively responsible. Our preliminary results suggest that the iron smelting remains at Preah Khan date from Angkor's terminal phase and into the subsequent Middle Period, whereas as the two studied production sites near Phnom Dek range from the 9th–11th c. AD and to the 19th/20th c. AD. Preah Khan and Phnom Dek production systems appear to have used different iron ore sources but, in the absence of well-preserved furnace remains, statistical analysis of slag chemistry indicates a technological conservatism spanning more than a millennium. At this stage the ‘Angkorian Kuay’ model can be neither rejected nor sustained but the complexity of Preah Vihear province's settlement and industrial history is becoming increasingly apparent and will only become clearer with further excavation and study of chronologically and geographically intermediate sites.
Nature, 1998
The Jinmium rock shelter is located in the Kimberley region of northern Australia. Claims for anc... more The Jinmium rock shelter is located in the Kimberley region of northern Australia. Claims for ancient rock art and an early human presence at this site 1 were based on thermoluminescence ages of 5075 thousand years (kyr) for quartz sands associated with buried circular engravings ...
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2015
Accurate radiocarbon dating of marine samples requires knowledge of the marine radiocarbon reserv... more Accurate radiocarbon dating of marine samples requires knowledge of the marine radiocarbon reservoir effect. This effect for a particular site/region is generally assumed constant through time when calibrating marine 14C ages. However, recent studies have shown large temporal variations of several hundred to a couple of thousand years in this effect for a number of regions during the late Quaternary and Holocene. Here we report marine radiocarbon reservoir correction (R) for Heron Reef and Moreton Bay in southwestern (SW) Pacific for the last 8 ka derived from 14C analysis of 230Th-dated corals. Most of our Rfor the last ∼5.4ka agree well with their modern value, but large Rvariability of ∼410yr (from trough to peak) with possible decadal/centennial fluctuations is evident for the period ∼5.4–8ka. The latter time interval also has significant variations with similar features in previously published Rvalues for other sites in the Pacific, including southern Peru–northern Chile in southeastern (SE) Pacific, the South China Sea, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea, with the largest magnitude of ∼920yr from SE Pacific. The mechanisms for these large Rvariations across the Pacific during the mid-Holocene are complex processes involving (1) changes in the quantity and 14C content of upwelled waters in tropical east Pacific (TEP) (frequency and intensity of ocean upwelling in the TEP, and contribution of Subantarctic Mode Water to the upwelled waters, which is influenced by the intensity and position of southern westerly winds), and (2) variations in ocean circulation associated with climate change (La Niña/El Niño conditions, intensity of easterly trade winds, positions of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and the South Pacific Convergence Zone), which control the spreading of the older upwelled surface waters in the TEP to the western sites. Our results imply the need for employing temporal changes in Rvalues, instead of constant (modern) values, for age calibration of Holocene marine samples not only for the SW Pacific sites but also for other tropical and subtropical sites in the Pacific.
The Ottoman reoccupation of the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük (Kırşehir Province, Turkey) apparently oc... more The Ottoman reoccupation of the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük (Kırşehir Province, Turkey) apparently occurred sometime during the fifteenth century CE, a time of massive territorial and administrative transformation in the Empire. A rich suite of archaeobotanical material recovered from the site offers a potentially invaluable source of information on Ottoman-era Anatolian agroeconomy, especially since historiographic research on the topic has uniformly ignored archaeological perspectives. Here we present results of a multi-proxy analysis aimed at establishing an absolute multiphasic chronology for Kaman-Kalehöyük’s Ottoman occupation, founded upon Bayesian statistical modelling of high-precision radiocarbon dates from cereal remains. We use the new chronology to position Kaman-Kalehöyük’s resettlement within a historical context, allowing a new perspective on settlement responses to large-scale Ottoman sociopolitical change in Anatolia.
An enormous earthquake in L’Aquila in 2009 brought to light human bodies buried in the undergroun... more An enormous earthquake in L’Aquila in 2009 brought to light human bodies buried in the underground rooms of the medieval St. John the Evangelist church (Casentino, Central Italy). Among the remains, we discovered a human fetus, whose post-cranial bones were wrapped in bandages and cranial bones were reallocated inside a sort of hood. Anthropometrical investigation revealed an age at death of 29± 2 weeks of pregnancy for the little mummy. Radiograph analysis of the fetus showed that the skull was dissected and disconnected from the vertebral column, and the post-cranial bones were completely disarticulated from the axial skeleton. The body was reassembled in a way of anatomic connection at a later stage. This mummified fetus dated to AD 1840 showed paleopathological evidence of a possible embryotomy and could be a rare and unquestionable case of embryotomy in archaeological context.
We have little knowledge of the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age landscape surrounding the Central A... more We have little knowledge of the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age landscape surrounding the Central Anatolian site of Kaman-Kalehöyük. Pollen proxies do assist somewhat in providing regional level data. However, pollen data is of both poor spatial and poor temporal resolution. This pilot study incorporates wood charcoal analysis and stable isotope analysis to further understand local woodland and climate changes from the Middle Bronze Age and Iron Age at Kaman-Kalehöyük. The preliminary results indicate a decrease in woodland diversity and increase in the use of pine at the site. The stable isotope data indicate subtle changes in water uptake in oak during the period under investigation.
Very little is known of the extant woodland of the Bronze and Iron Age in Central Anatolia other ... more Very little is known of the extant woodland of the Bronze and Iron Age in Central Anatolia other than that revealed by regional pollen data and modern analogues. Today the region is a treeless steppe, a product of millennia of agricultural and pastoral use. Yet regional pollen data indicate a climax woodland cover consisting of open oak woodlands existed in the Bronze and Iron Age periods. This study utilises wood charcoal data of the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük in the heart of Central Anatolia to assess whether the local woodland surrounding the site matches that indicated by the pollen data during the Bronze and Iron Ages and what, if any, changes in woodland composition occurred. The results of wood charcoal identification and statistical analyses of over 24,000 fragments from 168 contexts are reported in this paper along with the first comprehensive absolute dating of the site. The results indicate both dramatic and more subtle and nuanced changes in the local woodland vegetation co...
This poster outlines the results of a detailed stable isotope analysis and wood charcoal analysis... more This poster outlines the results of a detailed stable isotope analysis and wood charcoal analysis from the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük, Central Anatolia, Turkey. Generalised and multi-episodic contexts such as pits have been utilised in conjunction with multiple proxies such as pollen data, plant macrofossil assemblages, geomorphological data, ethnobotanical, ethnohistorical, and ecological analogues to reconstruct the ancient woodland landscape surrounding the site. This diachronic study encompasses occupation at the site from the Transitional Early Bronze Age (c. 2000 B.C.) to the Late Iron Age (c. 300 B.C.). However, emphasis is placed upon the Middle to Late Bronze Age periods which encompass the Hittite occupation of the site with the aim of first determining the extant woodland vegetation prior to Hittite arrival and then further investigating whether deforestation of the climax woodland vegetation occurred during or after the Hittite occupation phase. The results of the wood char...
This poster outlines the results of a detailed stable isotope analysis and wood charcoal analysis... more This poster outlines the results of a detailed stable isotope analysis and wood charcoal analysis from the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük, Central Anatolia, Turkey. Generalised and multi-episodic contexts such as pits have been utilised in conjunction with multiple proxies such as pollen data, plant macrofossil assemblages, geomorphological data, ethnobotanical, ethnohistorical, and ecological analogues to reconstruct the ancient woodland landscape surrounding the site. This diachronic study encompasses occupation at the site from the Transitional Early Bronze Age (c. 2000 B.C.) to the Late Iron Age (c. 300 B.C.). However, emphasis is placed upon the Middle to Late Bronze Age periods which encompass the Hittite occupation of the site with the aim of first determining the extant woodland vegetation prior to Hittite arrival and then further investigating whether deforestation of the climax woodland vegetation occurred during or after the Hittite occupation phase. The results of the wood char...
Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods, 2013
ABSTRACT DefinitionContaminant: Carbon-containing materials that do not originally belong to the ... more ABSTRACT DefinitionContaminant: Carbon-containing materials that do not originally belong to the sample.Pretreatment: A process applying physical and chemical treatments to remove contaminants.Contamination and Sample PretreatmentMarine carbonates such as shells and corals mainly consist of aragonite. Before samples are processed for radiocarbon dating, all contaminants must be removed; otherwise the determination of correct radiocarbon ages may not be achieved. Contaminants are derived from the surrounding environment if samples were buried in soils or sediments (e.g., secondary carbonates derived from groundwater and recrystallization of sample carbonate due to chemical exchange between the sample and the surrounding environment). These carbonate contaminants are mostly in the form of calcite. Contaminants can also be conservation materials in the case of museum specimens. Contamination cannot always be seen by naked eye. In such cases, samples should be screened for secondary carbonates and ...
Australian Journal of Botany, 2011
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 1994
Quaternary Geochronology, 2009
Antiquity, 2019
Iron-production sites of the early historic period in Mainland Southeast Asia (fifth to fifteenth... more Iron-production sites of the early historic period in Mainland Southeast Asia (fifth to fifteenth centuries AD) are rare. Recent excavations at the Tonle Bak site in central Cambodia now provide the first evidence for furnace technology, metallurgical characteristics of slag concentrations and evidence for the organisation of local smelting communities and ritual practices during the peak of the Angkorian Khmer Empire. The results demonstrate that the smelters were directly integrated with Angkorian state-exchange networks. They also raise questions about the use of ethnohistorical records for understanding the identity and organisation of these early metalworkers.
Journal of Archaeological Science, 2014
ABSTRACT The Industries of Angkor Project (INDAP) is the first scientific study combining investi... more ABSTRACT The Industries of Angkor Project (INDAP) is the first scientific study combining investigation of the chronology, supply network and technology of raw and finished iron within Angkorian (9th to 15th c. AD), Middle Period (15th to 19th c. AD) and Colonial (1863–1953) Cambodia. This paper is concerned with the production technology employed at five iron smelting sites in the northern province of Preah Vihear, three loci within the enclosure walls of the Angkorian Preah Khan complex and two, c. 30 km east, near Phnom Dek or ‘Iron Mountain’. The Phnom Dek area is a historic homeland of the ethnic minority Kuay people, who continued to smelt iron from local mineral sources into the 1940s. With the aim of testing a previously proposed ‘Angkorian Kuay’ hypothesis, that Kuay ancestors were responsible for Angkorian period iron smelting at Preah Khan of Kompong Svay (Preah Khan), the objective of this preliminary study was to establish whether any technological continuity could be detected across a 1200 year old industrial landscape, and thus if any socio-culturally homologous relations could be proposed for the ironmakers respectively responsible. Our preliminary results suggest that the iron smelting remains at Preah Khan date from Angkor's terminal phase and into the subsequent Middle Period, whereas as the two studied production sites near Phnom Dek range from the 9th–11th c. AD and to the 19th/20th c. AD. Preah Khan and Phnom Dek production systems appear to have used different iron ore sources but, in the absence of well-preserved furnace remains, statistical analysis of slag chemistry indicates a technological conservatism spanning more than a millennium. At this stage the ‘Angkorian Kuay’ model can be neither rejected nor sustained but the complexity of Preah Vihear province's settlement and industrial history is becoming increasingly apparent and will only become clearer with further excavation and study of chronologically and geographically intermediate sites.
Nature, 1998
The Jinmium rock shelter is located in the Kimberley region of northern Australia. Claims for anc... more The Jinmium rock shelter is located in the Kimberley region of northern Australia. Claims for ancient rock art and an early human presence at this site 1 were based on thermoluminescence ages of 5075 thousand years (kyr) for quartz sands associated with buried circular engravings ...
Earth and Planetary Science Letters, 2015
Accurate radiocarbon dating of marine samples requires knowledge of the marine radiocarbon reserv... more Accurate radiocarbon dating of marine samples requires knowledge of the marine radiocarbon reservoir effect. This effect for a particular site/region is generally assumed constant through time when calibrating marine 14C ages. However, recent studies have shown large temporal variations of several hundred to a couple of thousand years in this effect for a number of regions during the late Quaternary and Holocene. Here we report marine radiocarbon reservoir correction (R) for Heron Reef and Moreton Bay in southwestern (SW) Pacific for the last 8 ka derived from 14C analysis of 230Th-dated corals. Most of our Rfor the last ∼5.4ka agree well with their modern value, but large Rvariability of ∼410yr (from trough to peak) with possible decadal/centennial fluctuations is evident for the period ∼5.4–8ka. The latter time interval also has significant variations with similar features in previously published Rvalues for other sites in the Pacific, including southern Peru–northern Chile in southeastern (SE) Pacific, the South China Sea, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea, with the largest magnitude of ∼920yr from SE Pacific. The mechanisms for these large Rvariations across the Pacific during the mid-Holocene are complex processes involving (1) changes in the quantity and 14C content of upwelled waters in tropical east Pacific (TEP) (frequency and intensity of ocean upwelling in the TEP, and contribution of Subantarctic Mode Water to the upwelled waters, which is influenced by the intensity and position of southern westerly winds), and (2) variations in ocean circulation associated with climate change (La Niña/El Niño conditions, intensity of easterly trade winds, positions of the Intertropical Convergence Zone and the South Pacific Convergence Zone), which control the spreading of the older upwelled surface waters in the TEP to the western sites. Our results imply the need for employing temporal changes in Rvalues, instead of constant (modern) values, for age calibration of Holocene marine samples not only for the SW Pacific sites but also for other tropical and subtropical sites in the Pacific.
The Ottoman reoccupation of the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük (Kırşehir Province, Turkey) apparently oc... more The Ottoman reoccupation of the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük (Kırşehir Province, Turkey) apparently occurred sometime during the fifteenth century CE, a time of massive territorial and administrative transformation in the Empire. A rich suite of archaeobotanical material recovered from the site offers a potentially invaluable source of information on Ottoman-era Anatolian agroeconomy, especially since historiographic research on the topic has uniformly ignored archaeological perspectives. Here we present results of a multi-proxy analysis aimed at establishing an absolute multiphasic chronology for Kaman-Kalehöyük’s Ottoman occupation, founded upon Bayesian statistical modelling of high-precision radiocarbon dates from cereal remains. We use the new chronology to position Kaman-Kalehöyük’s resettlement within a historical context, allowing a new perspective on settlement responses to large-scale Ottoman sociopolitical change in Anatolia.
An enormous earthquake in L’Aquila in 2009 brought to light human bodies buried in the undergroun... more An enormous earthquake in L’Aquila in 2009 brought to light human bodies buried in the underground rooms of the medieval St. John the Evangelist church (Casentino, Central Italy). Among the remains, we discovered a human fetus, whose post-cranial bones were wrapped in bandages and cranial bones were reallocated inside a sort of hood. Anthropometrical investigation revealed an age at death of 29± 2 weeks of pregnancy for the little mummy. Radiograph analysis of the fetus showed that the skull was dissected and disconnected from the vertebral column, and the post-cranial bones were completely disarticulated from the axial skeleton. The body was reassembled in a way of anatomic connection at a later stage. This mummified fetus dated to AD 1840 showed paleopathological evidence of a possible embryotomy and could be a rare and unquestionable case of embryotomy in archaeological context.
We have little knowledge of the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age landscape surrounding the Central A... more We have little knowledge of the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age landscape surrounding the Central Anatolian site of Kaman-Kalehöyük. Pollen proxies do assist somewhat in providing regional level data. However, pollen data is of both poor spatial and poor temporal resolution. This pilot study incorporates wood charcoal analysis and stable isotope analysis to further understand local woodland and climate changes from the Middle Bronze Age and Iron Age at Kaman-Kalehöyük. The preliminary results indicate a decrease in woodland diversity and increase in the use of pine at the site. The stable isotope data indicate subtle changes in water uptake in oak during the period under investigation.
Very little is known of the extant woodland of the Bronze and Iron Age in Central Anatolia other ... more Very little is known of the extant woodland of the Bronze and Iron Age in Central Anatolia other than that revealed by regional pollen data and modern analogues. Today the region is a treeless steppe, a product of millennia of agricultural and pastoral use. Yet regional pollen data indicate a climax woodland cover consisting of open oak woodlands existed in the Bronze and Iron Age periods. This study utilises wood charcoal data of the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük in the heart of Central Anatolia to assess whether the local woodland surrounding the site matches that indicated by the pollen data during the Bronze and Iron Ages and what, if any, changes in woodland composition occurred. The results of wood charcoal identification and statistical analyses of over 24,000 fragments from 168 contexts are reported in this paper along with the first comprehensive absolute dating of the site. The results indicate both dramatic and more subtle and nuanced changes in the local woodland vegetation co...
This poster outlines the results of a detailed stable isotope analysis and wood charcoal analysis... more This poster outlines the results of a detailed stable isotope analysis and wood charcoal analysis from the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük, Central Anatolia, Turkey. Generalised and multi-episodic contexts such as pits have been utilised in conjunction with multiple proxies such as pollen data, plant macrofossil assemblages, geomorphological data, ethnobotanical, ethnohistorical, and ecological analogues to reconstruct the ancient woodland landscape surrounding the site. This diachronic study encompasses occupation at the site from the Transitional Early Bronze Age (c. 2000 B.C.) to the Late Iron Age (c. 300 B.C.). However, emphasis is placed upon the Middle to Late Bronze Age periods which encompass the Hittite occupation of the site with the aim of first determining the extant woodland vegetation prior to Hittite arrival and then further investigating whether deforestation of the climax woodland vegetation occurred during or after the Hittite occupation phase. The results of the wood char...
This poster outlines the results of a detailed stable isotope analysis and wood charcoal analysis... more This poster outlines the results of a detailed stable isotope analysis and wood charcoal analysis from the site of Kaman-Kalehöyük, Central Anatolia, Turkey. Generalised and multi-episodic contexts such as pits have been utilised in conjunction with multiple proxies such as pollen data, plant macrofossil assemblages, geomorphological data, ethnobotanical, ethnohistorical, and ecological analogues to reconstruct the ancient woodland landscape surrounding the site. This diachronic study encompasses occupation at the site from the Transitional Early Bronze Age (c. 2000 B.C.) to the Late Iron Age (c. 300 B.C.). However, emphasis is placed upon the Middle to Late Bronze Age periods which encompass the Hittite occupation of the site with the aim of first determining the extant woodland vegetation prior to Hittite arrival and then further investigating whether deforestation of the climax woodland vegetation occurred during or after the Hittite occupation phase. The results of the wood char...
Encyclopedia of Scientific Dating Methods, 2013
ABSTRACT DefinitionContaminant: Carbon-containing materials that do not originally belong to the ... more ABSTRACT DefinitionContaminant: Carbon-containing materials that do not originally belong to the sample.Pretreatment: A process applying physical and chemical treatments to remove contaminants.Contamination and Sample PretreatmentMarine carbonates such as shells and corals mainly consist of aragonite. Before samples are processed for radiocarbon dating, all contaminants must be removed; otherwise the determination of correct radiocarbon ages may not be achieved. Contaminants are derived from the surrounding environment if samples were buried in soils or sediments (e.g., secondary carbonates derived from groundwater and recrystallization of sample carbonate due to chemical exchange between the sample and the surrounding environment). These carbonate contaminants are mostly in the form of calcite. Contaminants can also be conservation materials in the case of museum specimens. Contamination cannot always be seen by naked eye. In such cases, samples should be screened for secondary carbonates and ...
Australian Journal of Botany, 2011
Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section B: Beam Interactions with Materials and Atoms, 1994
Quaternary Geochronology, 2009
This article presents the first radiocarbon (14C) results from the Late Bronze Age levels of Tel ... more This article presents the first radiocarbon (14C) results from the Late Bronze Age levels of Tel Azekah (Israel). The results testify to the long and prosperous occupation of the site during this period, commencing at least in LB IIA and ending with a severe destruction at the close of LB III. In the extra-mural quarter (Area S2), a premonumental building phase (S2-6) dates to the 14th or early 13th century BCE. Two sub-phases of a public building constructed above this yielded dates in the second half of the 13th century and first two-thirds of the 12th century BCE, suggesting that occupation persisted through the “Crisis Years” of the eastern Mediterranean region. On the top of the mound, in Area T2, the destruction of the final LB III level (T2-3) most likely occurred near the end of the 12th century BCE. The preliminary Azekah results are in good agreement with existing data from Lachish and Megiddo, but seem at odds with results from nearby Tel es-Safi/Gath.