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Abstract
Plant resources have been widely relied upon by past hunter-gatherer societies; their remains uncovered at archaeological sites can serve as precious archives of the lives of past humans. However, while faunal remains are generally well preserved, botanical materials are usually charred, and less commonly preserved under conditions of desiccation, imbibition or freezing. Bonneville Estates Rockshelter (BER), Nevada, was intermittently occupied by humans from the end of the Pleistocene to recent times and has yielded a rich archaeobotanical corpus consisting of both charred and dessicated remains that have been only partially studied. The present work is an analysis of about 2500 wood charcoal fragments recovered from the PaleoIndigenous (ca. 13 000–10 500 cal. BP) and Early Archaic (ca. 8200–4800 cal. BP) strata of the site. We present the plants selected for firewood during different occupations, question whether this selection is related to cultural and/or environmental factors and compare our results with data on current firewood use by the native populations of the arid American West.
Abstract
Wooden ceilings were among the earliest wooden constructions in wooden houses, and stone and brick buildings. In Austria, a special type of wooden ceiling is known as the Riemenbalkendecke. In Waidhofen, in the Ybbs region, these constructions are decorated with chip carvings, year numbers, and letters. There has been no systematic study on this type of ceiling in Austria. In this study, all houses in Waidhofen an der Ybbs built before 1900 were surveyed, and their ceiling constructions described. Riemenbalkendecken decorated with chip carvings and moldings appeared in 1465 CE and lasted for almost 300 years. The number of carved years was verified using dendrochronological dating. Different chip carving patterns were identified. The letters on ten ceilings can be attributed to the initials of the house owners at the time the ceiling was installed. None of the chip carvings can be attributed to ornaments that were common at the time. The art of the chip carvings on the wooden ceilings represents a special language of form.
Abstract
Replicating ancient musical instruments is a method to protect fragile originals from extensive playing. In the case of stringed instruments, replicas are generally realized by luthiers using identical wood species and geometry, according to dimensional surveys. Although this procedure yields a highly similar visual aspect, the intrinsic variability of wood properties does not ensure an identical sound. Therefore, acoustic surveys are a fundamental step in reproducing the sounds of original instruments. In this work, we report the acoustical survey of a late baroque mandolin preserved at Museo degli Strumenti Musicali del Castello Sforzesco di Milano. The survey was conducted using portable equipment and included measurements of the radiated sound spectrum, admittance, monopole mobility, and mode shape assignment. Finite Element Analyses (FEA) enabled the assignment of mode shapes and quantification of the effect of a crack on the structural integrity and acoustics of the instrument. This study has laid the foundation for the creation of a replica that, beyond the visual aspect, would resemble the original instrument in terms of sound to the extent feasible.
Abstract
Timber has regained popularity in construction in recent years due to its ecological benefits. The connection methods used in this study play a vital role in the sustainability of structures and materials. Monomaterial timber connections are sustainable alternatives to metal fasteners and adhesives commonly used in construction. Wood is an anisotropic material with dimensional changes resulting from changes in atmospheric conditions. Understanding and accounting for this property are crucial for the longevity and functionality of wooden structures. The cumulative knowledge of wood´s material characteristics and its use in design, construction, and human culture can be defined as wood culture developed through artists’ and craftsmen’s experiences, science, and industry. The development of various techniques by artisans to leverage the dimensional change in wood to join timber elements is a major contribution to wood culture. In contrast, until now, the timber industry has mainly focused on limiting or controlling these changes in standardized production and has neglected their use for joining timber elements. However, technological advances have changed dramatically. The digital manufacturing and analysis of wood structures have the potential to guide machine tools and may allow the integration of dimensional changes, especially in the design and construction of timber joints. This study explores the state-of-the-art utilization of dimensional changes in timber to join elements in craft, material science, and industrial production. The potential of techniques utilizing this behavior for innovation in modern design and construction and their implications for wood culture were examined. Research gaps and avenues for further research are identified.
Abstract
Along the coast of northwestern Alaska, architectural wood remains are well preserved in the Birnirk and Thule coastal sites of the early 2nd millennium CE. These structural wood elements are unique archives for documenting climatic variations and cultural transformations during this key development period of Inuit culture. Along this treeless Arctic coast, driftwood accumulates from the subarctic forests of interior Alaska. Except for northwestern Alaska, regional tree-ring chronologies are too short (at best 350–400 years) to successfully date archaeological wood remains from Birnirk and Thule coastal sites using conventional dendrochronology. This paper examines the potential of tree-ring derived
Abstract
This study analyzed the morphology of the legs and feet of chairs from the Ming and Qing Dynasties using statistics, and the characteristics were presented in a data-based mode. With furniture samples collected from museums as the research object, the performances of chair legs and feet from different periods were analyzed using cross-analysis and chi-square tests in SPSS 22.0 to find out if statistically significant differences existed. The results show no statistical difference in the morphology of legs and feet of side chairs and armchairs with curved rest from different periods, while significant statistical differences exist in the morphology of the legs and feet of armchairs from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. The results can help people to have a deeper understanding of the legs and feet of chairs from the Ming and Qing Dynasties on a rational cognition level and provide new ideas for the inheritance and innovation of such furniture in modern times.