Earthquake damage as a catalyst to abandonment of a Middle Bronze Age settlement: Tel Kabri, Israel.

For years there has been much speculation surrounding the abandonment of the Middle Bronze Age IIB palace of Tel Kabri, ca. 1700 BCE. There are no weapons, hoards of money and jewelry, or visible evidence for fire, which rules out hostile attack or conquest. There are also no indications of drought or environmental degradation that might have forced the inhabitants to vacate the site, nor mass graveyards to indicate a pandemic. The current study uses micro-geoarchaeological methods to show that the demise of the palace was rapid, with walls and ceilings collapsing at once prior to abandonment. Macroscopic data (stratigraphic and structural) from five excavation seasons were reexamined, showing that at least nine Potential Earthquake Archaeological Effects (PEAEs) are found and associated with the last occupation phase of the site's palace. All lines of evidence point to the possibility that an earthquake damaged the palace, possibly to a point where it was no longer economically viable to repair. This conclusion is compounded by the discovery of a 1-3 m wide trench that cuts through the palace for 30 m, which may be the result of ground shaking or liquefaction caused by an earthquake. This study shows the importance of combining macro- and micro-archaeological methods for the identification of ancient earthquakes, together with the need to evaluate alternative scenarios of climatic, environmental, and economic collapse, as well as human-induced destruction before a seismic event scenario can be proposed.

Evolved Gas Analysis-Mass Spectrometry to Identify the Earliest Organic Binder in Aegean Style Wall Paintings.

An organic binder was identified in the painted fragments from the Canaanite palace of Tel Kabri, Israel. Recently dated to the late 18th century B.C.E. by 14 C, Tel Kabri is the most ancient of the Eastern Mediterranean sites in which Aegean style paintings have been found. The application of pigments was suspected to be using an organic binding medium, particularly for the Egyptian Blue pigment. Samples of blue paint were examined using evolved gas analysis-mass spectrometry (EGA-MS) in order to overcome the analytical challenges imposed by highly degraded aged proteinaceous materials. Egg was identified as the binder based on the presence of hexadecanonitrile and octadecanonitrile, confirming the use of a secco painting technique. Lysozyme C from Gallus gallus was detected by proteomics analysis, confirming the presence of egg. To our knowledge, this is the earliest use of egg as a binder in Aegean style wall paintings.

A Simple Planting Technique for Re-establishing Trees Where Frequent Inundation Occurs.

Many of the Everglades tree islands have lost elevation over the past century and most of their trees have died such that they are now covered with herbaceous plants. This protocol describes a simple, cost-effective tree planting technique needed for restoring degraded Everglade tree islands. The design is patterned after a natural Everglades process that creates floating peat islands, which allows tree survival and growth in flooded conditions and often leads to the development of tree islands. Commercially available peat bags were used as the medium for the growth and establishment of potted native tree saplings. The pop-up configuration floated initially and provided additional elevation to minimize inundation, with a single native tree species sapling and a single tree fertilizer spike. During a 3 year study involving 105 pop-ups, most plants survived (80%) and many thrived. Determining whether this technique can establish trees on a degraded tree island will require longer studies and extensive field tests.

Characterizing a Middle Bronze palatial wine cellar from Tel Kabri, Israel.

Scholars have for generations recognized the importance of wine production, distribution, and consumption in relation to second millennium BC palatial complexes in the Mediterranean and Near East. However, direct archaeological evidence has rarely been offered, despite the prominence of ancient viticulture in administrative clay tablets, visual media, and various forms of documentation. Tartaric and syringic acids, along with evidence for resination, have been identified in ancient ceramics, but until now the archaeological contexts behind these sporadic discoveries had been uneven and vague, precluding definitive conclusions about the nature of ancient viticulture. The situation has now changed. During the 2013 excavation season of the Kabri Archaeological Project, a rare opportunity materialized when forty large storage vessels were found in situ in an enclosed room located to the west of the central courtyard within the Middle Bronze Age Canaanite palace. A comprehensive program of organic residue analysis has now revealed that all of the relatively uniform jars contain evidence for wine. Furthermore, the enclosed context inherent to a singular intact wine cellar presented an unprecedented opportunity for a scientifically intensive study, allowing for the detection of subtle differences in the ingredients or additives within similar wine jars of apparently the same vintage. Additives seem to have included honey, storax resin, terebinth resin, cedar oil, cyperus, juniper, and perhaps even mint, myrtle, or cinnamon, all or most of which are attested in the 18th century BC Mari texts from Mesopotamia and the 15th century BC Ebers Papyrus from Egypt. These additives suggest a sophisticated understanding of the botanical landscape and the pharmacopeic skills necessary to produce a complex beverage that balanced preservation, palatability, and psychoactivity. This new study has resulted in insights unachievable in the past, which contribute to a greater understanding not only of ancient viticulture but also of Canaanite palatial economy.

Discovery of 5-aryloxy-2,4-thiazolidinediones as potent GPR40 agonists.

Systematic structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies of a screening lead led to the discovery of a series of thiazolidinediones (TZDs) as potent GPR40 agonists. Among them, compound C demonstrated an acute mechanism-based glucose-lowering in an intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (IPGTT) in lean mice, while no effects were observed in GPR40 knock-out mice.

Structure-activity correlations among iridium(III) photosensitizers in a robust water-reducing system.

A photocatalytic water-reducing system utilizing a bis-cyclometalated bipyridyl iridium(III) photosensitizer (PS) and a platinum or palladium heterogeneous catalyst was used to identify systematic property-activity correlations among a library of structural derivatives of [Ir(ppy)(2)(bpy)](+). A heterogeneous Pd catalyst proved to be more durable than its previously reported Pt-based counterpart, allowing for more reliable photosensitizer study. The deliberate steric and electronic variations of the ppy and bpy moieties resulted in a dramatic decrease of the degradation rates observed with selected photosensitizers when compared to the more substitution-labile [Ir(ppy)(2)(bpy)](+) parent compound. An improved photosensitizer structure with a Pd catalyst in a nonligating solvent exhibited a 150-fold increase in catalyst turnover numbers compared to the system using [Ir(ppy)(2)(bpy)](+) and a Pt catalyst. Furthermore, photocatalytic and photophysical studies at varied temperatures provided information on the rate-limiting step of the photocatalytic process, which is shown to be dependent on both the PS and the Pt or Pd catalytic species.

Homogeneous catalytic system for photoinduced hydrogen production utilizing iridium and rhodium complexes.

An efficient homogeneous catalytic system for the visible-light-induced production of hydrogen from water utilizing cyclometalated iridium(III) and tris-2,2'-bipyridyl rhodium(III) complexes is described. Synthetic modification of the photosensitizer Ir(C--N) 2(N--N) (+) and water reduction catalyst Rh(N--N) 3 (3+) creates a family of catalysts with diverse photophysical and electrochemical properties. Parallel screening of the various catalyst combinations and photoreaction conditions allows the rapid development of an optimized photocatalytic system that achieves over 5000 turnovers with quantum yields ( (1)/ 2 H 2 per photon absorbed) greater than 34%. Photophysical and electrochemical characterization of the optimized system reveals that the reductive quenching pathway provides the necessary driving force for the formation of [Rh(N--N) 2] (0), the active catalytic species for the reduction of water to produce hydrogen. Tests for system poisoning with mercury or CS 2 provide strong evidence that the system is a true homogeneous system for photocatalytic hydrogen production.

Synthesis and Bergman cyclization of a beta-extended porphyrenediyne.

Condensation of a porphyrin-2,3-dione with a 1,2-diaminoarenediyne affords a [small beta]-extended porphyrinic-enediyne: upon thermal Bergman cyclization the quinoxaline spacer positioned between the macrocycle and the enediyne prevents tandem radical cyclization to a picenoporphyrin.