Palaeoproteomics gives new insight into early southern African pastoralism.

The advent of domestication is a major step that transformed the subsistence strategies of past human societies. In Africa, domestic caprines (sheep and goat) were introduced in the north-eastern part of the continent from the Near East more than 9000 years ago. However, their diffusion southwards was slow.

Tracking the Near Eastern origins and European dispersal of the western house mouse.

The house mouse (Mus musculus) represents the extreme of globalization of invasive mammals. However, the timing and basis of its origin and early phases of dispersal remain poorly documented. To track its synanthropisation and subsequent invasive spread during the develoment of complex human societies, we analyzed 829 Mus specimens from 43 archaeological contexts in Southwestern Asia and Southeastern Europe, between 40,000 and 3,000 cal.

Cluster TOF-SIMS imaging of human skin remains: analysis of a South-Andean mummy sample.

A skin sample from a South-Andean mummy dating back from the XI(th) century was analyzed using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry imaging using cluster primary ion beams (cluster-TOF-SIMS). For the first time on a mummy, skin dermis and epidermis could be chemically differentiated using mass spectrometry imaging. Differences in amino-acid composition between keratin and collagen, the two major proteins of skin tissue, could indeed be exploited.

Cavitation in heavy water and other liquids.

We report on measurements of the cavitation pressure in several liquids subjected to tension in an acoustic wave and compare the results to classical nucleation theory (CNT). This study is motivated by the sizable discrepancy between the acoustic cavitation threshold measured in water and the value predicted by CNT. We find that the same discrepancy is present for heavy water, whereas the agreement is better for ethanol and heptane and intermediate in the case of dimethyl sulfoxide.

Unexpected materials in a Rembrandt painting characterized by high spatial resolution cluster-TOF-SIMS imaging.

The painting materials of the Portrait of Nicolaes van Bambeeck (Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels, inv. 155) painted by Rembrandt van Rijn in 1641 has been studied using high resolution cluster-TOF-SIMS imaging. In the first step, a moderate spatial resolution (2 μm) was used to characterize the layer structure and the chemical composition of each layer on account of a high mass resolution.