Environmental Archaeology - Science topic

Farmers, advisors and policymakers are faced with complex choices. They are faced with a wide range of technologies that are either available or under development; they must deal with the uncertainties of both the effects these new technologies will have throughout the agri-food chain and the impact that a whole range of policies will have on the sustainability of farming systems. In addition, there is increasing pressure on agricultural research and advisory budgets that must be accommodated.

Kiel University

ممكن اعرف الحقبة التاريخية لهذا العصر الذي اشرت اليه

You may think of studying palaeo-environment and how human have affected the same in yours study area, may be identified/ shortlisted base don previous literature. Similarly, in identified study area, you may study how climate change has taken place and further how man or more precisely anthropogenic activities have affected its pace.

Developing International Geoarchaeology (DIG) is held every other year. https://www.developinginternationalgeoarchaeology.org/ The next conference is in 2021.

The Association for Environmental Archaeology (AEA) conference is held every year; see link in answer by Niklas Hausmann.

The European Geosciences Union (EGU) annual conference always has several sessions dedicated to geoarchaeology and quaternary environments. EGU 2020 will be held in Vienna, Austria. https://www.egu2020.eu/

The 2020 Landscape Archaeology Conference (LAC) will be held in Madrid. https://lac2020.cchs.csic.es/

By studying the TIME FACTOR of soil genesis. There are factors that accelerate and those that retard soil profile development. Investigation of resistant and non-resistant parent materials can also give insights on past pedogenic activities.

No is not difficult

Prof. Dr. Roberto Risch (Autonomous University of Barcelona)

Currently we are working on dehesa in Andalusia (see attached). Further, for your consideration a somewhat older article from dehesa in Extremadura and the most recent historical overview I have come across.

Evidently, we are interest in your experience with P. cinnamomi in dehesa or otherwise in oak, if any.

Great thanks Guillermo, do you know of any similar studies for the Bering sea Alaska coast?

Here in Germany there is an ongoing project on the archaeology of karstic features in gypsum in middle Franconia. Quite a few articles have appeared but alas nearly exclusively in German. You can find the homepages with bibliography of the project (yes, in German again) under the links below.

Indeed it looks like Anomozamites. Is it from the Shemshak Fm or Alburz moutain ? Anomozamites has been repeatdely reported from there. There is plenty of literature about the palaeobotany of this formation.

María, many years ago I processed as student every literary mention at that time accessible about wood use in central Europe prehistory (it is my unpublished thesis in archaeology from 1984). I thing some objects are made from Ilex wood, but I have to check it. I am in field this month...you can send me email at benes.jaromir@gmail.com I beginning of October I will be back in my office and I can send you reference.

Dear Dr Abed

I will send you details within a month.

SKS

Thank you very much for your answers. I didn't say it in the question but I'm working on the Iberian peninsula.

I think that Phil is right, looking at pollen assembly is the best thing I can do for reconstructing a quantitative proxy for humidity. In fact, I have found a paper where this issue is somewhat adressed. I give you the reference just in case someone is interested: Fletcher et al. Clim. Past. 6, 245-264, 2010.

Mario.

What are you looking for when you wish to inventorise the "characteristics of the archaeological and paleontological heritage?" Are you trying to classify sites/place or are trying to classify constituent components (artefacts/single fossils)?

Thanks Erik and James! I appreciate you taking the time to look into this. This is all very interesting and good food for thought. It certainly explains why it is so hard to find examples in the literature.

Hi Frank

Maybe this will be useful:

M. Piotrowski, G. Dąbrowski 2007; Krzesiwa i krzesaki - przyczynek do badań nad krzesaniem ognia w starożytności oraz średniowieczu (na marginesie badań archeologicznych na stan. 22 w Łukawicy, pow. lubaczowski), "Archeologia Polski Środkowowschodniej", 9: 231-242.

Best Regards

Maciej Wawrzczak

Depending on the quality of the LiDAR point cloud (i.e., how many of the points within a square meter are acual ground points) it is possible to build models at resolutions of 0.5x0.5m, or even more finegrained. A couple of examples from Northern Norway. Based on a set with a resolution of 3-5 points on the ground pr square meters we have built a model with a resolution of 0.25x0.25m where we are able to spot even quite vague structures. In another area we used a dataset with 5-8 points on the qround to build a 0.25x0.25m model as well as several smaller models as finegrained as 0.125x0.125m. The last example is an area with 10+points on the ground pr square meter, a density that has allowed building all the above mentioned resolutions as well as a test of a small area 0.06x0.06m. It is important to be aware that as the resolution gets ever more finegrained, the resulting model size grows exponentionally. building models of large areas with a very fine resolution is therefore computationally more intensive, and at some point becomes a pointless exercise unless smaller areas area picked for more finegrained analysis. The 0.25x0.25m models mentioned can be considered our "standard" resolution when building models of a new dataset/area. It is useful to get a quick overview, is able to spot hunting pits, most housegrounds, etc. Depending on the number of points on the ground of the original dataset, it can even be used to spot some vaguer structures. For datasets with many points on the ground the more finegrained models can even be used to see very vague structures like graves and early stone age housegrounds.

An alternative approach that does not necessarily require more finegrained models is to use methods other than hillshade such as Sky View Factor (very useful to spot any structure with a depression) or Openness positive/negative (good at spotting raised features). There is a tool called Relief Visualization Toolbox available from:

This can perform the mentioned analysis using DEMs - as well as hillshades etc. It is freely downloadable, and there is also a lot of documentation available.

all the best, Jan Ingolf

Hello Luigi you might also try 'Pop Up Parks' which could help strengthen your research on pocket parks because it shows the topic opening for the need of these little parks to help out the neighborhood and communities around it.  Inhabitat has a list of through the years. The book Pocket Parks and finally Pinterest shows a few examples with some links to articles.

If you are interested in firing conditions you should have a read of Maniatis and Tite 1981. Technological examination of Neolithic-Bronze Age pottery from central and southeast Europe and from the Near East. J. of Archaeological Science 8, 59-76. If you are interested in painting technology, I would suggest looking up the work doen by Eleni Aloupi and Maniatis, also by Vassilis Kilikoglou. If you are interested in mechanical properties of ancient pottery look up the work of Anno Hein and also that of Noémi Müller who works mainly on mechanics of cooking pottery through mineralogy, chemical composition and microstructure.

Well said, Alicia: Each pictograph or petroglyph must be evaluated for possible dating on its own merits. I chose micro-stratigraphy because most people can do it with very simple equipment. Bryan.

 Thanks everyone, I appreciate all your comments and suggestions. As most of archaeologists I assumed this "something" to be the trace of organic material (wood/charcoal), which would be the most logical explanation regarding finding context - iron smelting site. And many of them really are, but wood or charcoal have different pattern. After visual and microscopy inspection the version of organic material was rejected by researchers on wooden material and dendrochronology. The organic material is too soft to leave defined traces like these. Wooden material would leave less regular undefined pattern, which is more similar to fiber or tuft. The item under consideration displays very regular linear texture with strictly paralell lines streaching on both sides of "stem". I added more images of items with similar pattern and also added one which is identified as potential trace of organic (wooden?) material. They look different. Meantime, my latest explanation of this "something" is non-organic material used as flux, potentially some kind of invertebrates? Unfortunately, I haven't seen anything like this.  

thank you Massih

Thanks Vivi Vajda. If possible please provide the reference

 For military refs, search the Britannia volumes. You could also try contacting Mike Bishop. For small finds, have you tried checking references in

Life in the limes : studies of the people and objects of the Roman frontiers presented to Lindsay Allason-Jones on the occasion of her birthday and retirement, eds Rob Collins and F Mackintosh, Oxbow Books, 2014.

Better still, join the Roman Finds Group - Lindsay Allason-Jones, Hilary Cool or Birgitte Hofmann, for instance, might help.

Regards, Margaret

I would suggest post-IR IRSL K-feldspar dating: worked fine for the Middle to Late Pleistocene Rhine in The Netherlands. 

More info on the technique can also be found at: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jakob_Wallinga

If by 'protection program' is meant coordinated efforts to preserve submerged heritage, I would suggest you refer to the professional societies, such as the Council on Underwater Archaeology - see http://sha.org/underwater/

Hello Yvette! You are working on a very interesting problem. As other colleagues have already explained, the matter is very complex and you need to put together data from various disciplines - geology, pedology, climatology, archaeology, chemistry... I have conducted a multi-elemental analysis of soil chemistry in central Europe and in the Mediterranean and increased levels of P are often clearly related to archaeological sites even millenia after their abandonment. But P can be introduced into soil also by other paths than by the past human activities, so a careful analysis of local conditions is always needed. An evaluation of P values together with other elements is usually very helpful and a range of geoarchaeological methods can bring additional facts important for the most plausible interpretation. If your project will continue in the next year we could even offer you assistance with the field survey, detailed mapping of soil chemistry, analysis of data etc. It would be interesting for us to compare results from diverse environmental and cultural settings.

Good luck with your project!

Ladislav

Yes, I agree. The geology department at your university may already have one, and if they don't I'm sure they will know where to get one.  I realise that ordering things from the States might be tricky from Pakistan, but I've seen these for sale in India, so they should be too hard to find. Perhaps try the large construction company suppliers in Islamabad or Rawalpindi.

Hi Peter:

Try this publication in the USGS Library. I think you will find what you are looking for in Figure 1.

Past, Present, and Future Sea Level Rise and Effects on Coasts Under Changing Global Climate (Chapter C of Sand Resources, Regional Geology, and Coastal Processes of the Chandeleur Islands Coastal System: an Evaluation of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge). Scientific Investigations report 2009-5252.

Bonjour Nicolas,

Nous avons les résines d'Elisabeth Dodinet mais la provenance de sa résine de styrax officinalis est sujette à caution. Quelques autres échantillons seront utilisables car bien identifiés. J'ai d'autres pistes pour avoir de la résine botaniquement prouvée et faire la corrélation avec l'échantillon archéologique.

Cordialement

Jacques

Dear Veerle,

I have not yet contacted Bruker, but that's my next step if the RG community is also unable to help me with this problem :). Thanks for your suggestion.

The issue, as I detailed above, is not that they instruments are yielding different results in terms of elemental counts (same elements are being detected), this is to be expected. But that I was told that you can either expand the channels or compress them to make data collected on two different instruments comparable. But this is just not working out. I have tried making the old data comparable to the new by expanding its spectrum channel from 1024 to 2048 and have tried the reverse and neither work.

Again, thanks for  your suggestion!

Dear Cristi,

I think you already know the lioness clay figurine from Goljamo Delcevo tell settlement (Bulgaria), belonging to KGK VI cultural complex, published by  Fol, A., J. Lichardus (eds.). 1988. Macht, Herrschaft und Gold: das Graberfeld von Varna (Bulgarien) und die Anfänge einer neuen europäischen Zivilisation. Saarbrücken, Moderne Galerie des Saarland-Museums.

This figurine was republished by  H. Manhart 1998, Vorgeschichtliche Fauna Bulgariens. Die vorgeschichtliche Tierwelt von Koprivec und Durankulak und anderen prähistorischen Fundplätzen in Bulgarien aufgrund von Knochenfunden aus archäologischen Ausgrabungen. Documenta Naturae 116: 3-353 (also with additional data about lion bones in Neolithic and Eneolithic periods from SE Europe) and  N.R. Thomas 2004, The Early Mycenaean Lion up to Date. In: Anne P. Chapin (ed.), Xάρις. Essays in Honor of Sara A. Immerwahr, Hesperia Supplement 33: 161-206 (see attach).

Best wishes,

Catalin

Really peanats?

History

The domesticated peanut is an amphidiploid or allotetraploid, meaning that it has two sets of chromosomes from two different species, thought to be A. duranensis and A. ipaensis. These probably combined in the wild to form the tetraploid species A. monticola, which gave rise to the domesticated peanut.[4] This domestication might have taken place in Paraguay or Bolivia, where the wildest strains grow today. Many pre-Columbian cultures, such as the Moche, depicted peanuts in their art.[5]

Archeologists have dated the oldest specimens to about 7,600 years, found in Peru.[6] Cultivation spread as far as Mesoamerica, where the Spanish conquistadors found the tlalcacahuatl (the plant's Nahuatl name, whence Mexican Spanish cacahuate, Castillian Spanish "cacahuete," and French cacahuète) being offered for sale in the marketplace of Tenochtitlan (Mexico City). The peanut was later spread worldwide by European traders.

Or do you actually mean Bambara groundnut?

In West Africa farmers were already cultivating a plant from the same family, the Bambara groundnut, which also grows its seed pods underground. Vigna subterranea (also known by its common names Bambara groundnut, Bambara-bean,[2] Congo goober,[2] earth pea,[3] ground-bean,[2] or hog-peanut[2]) is a member of the family Fabaceae. 

I am working on the carbonization of the seeds, to get good results you can burn the seeds on the ground. The important thing is to cover it with two or three inches of the ground seeds and light the fire above, at least 6 hours of fire. I get excellent results for comparison.

Another system is the muffle furnace, but the space is small and you can only burn few seeds.

If you are talking truly ancient times, next to none. First 'emeralds' in the ancient world could also be peridot just as 'sapphire' also could mean lapis. Second If you are looking for the origin say of Cleopatra's Emeralds (the famous Cleopatra as there were lots of them) both the dark green peridot from the Afghani region and Indian emerald are the leading candidates. Both were known to be mined at the time and would make far more sense than anything from the New World.

the ICOMOS methodology for conservation of all heritage places is the Burra Charter, which, in brief, applies 4 different conservation methodologies:

Adaptation--making limited changes to existing fabric which guarantee survival of the heritage place put to a new use

Restoration--repairing deteriorated parts of existing heritage fabric

Reconstruction--replacing missing parts of heritage fabric that once existed

Preservation--maintaining heritage fabric in exactly the existing state (and guarding it from further deterioration or destruction)

Each responds to the definition of Significance for a heritage place.  So, which method you choose, and there may be more than one depends on what you have to do with the place.

This was developed in South Australia or Victoria (cannot remember which) to embrace the heritage places of all cultures, including aboriginal Australian ones which are profoundly old by world standards and do not engage much construction or urban settlements any longer.

if you google ICOMOS or Burra Charter you can get details.

good luck

There is a variety of studies. Some of the past 10 years:

Regards,

Joachim

Yes, it is. Why not? To us what important is to explain how the city ( earliest civilization) interact with the geomorphic, climatic, sea level environment, and in what way.

Virupaxa's comments are on point. It occurred to me after my previous answer, that it may be possible to combine mineralogy (ag vs. underlying/overlying non-ag horizons) with N (illite fixed ammonium) and C (organic matter) isotopic data to get some kind of a handle on when and what was going on, then perhaps get at why (from perspective of folks in those times).

A caution on interpreting too much from C isotopic data. Though there seems to be some changes underway, there has been a long-standing general assumption that organic matter is relatively stable and that C-dating is therefore reliable. My work has indicated, and I apologize none has been published except in my original MS thesis and PhD dissertation, that organic matter stability is actually quite dynamic, with most organic matter being very labile when exposed to underground plant activity whether agricultural or not. In fact, exposure to an active microbiota in the presence of appropriate other substrates can result in remarkable levels of alteration of organic matter that has traditionally been assumed to be stable. My point here is, use considerable caution when interpreting organic matter C isotope data if the profile indicates any periods of substantial biological soil activity, whether agricultural or natural, after agricultural utilization ended. The difficulty this presents is further complicated by the structural status and mineralogy of the soil, which are also impacted by ag vs. natural plant activity. In general, natural vegetation promotes better structure and increased organic matter dynamics, while agriculture tends to burn OM down to its most stable components and substitute, in effect, highly comminuted (microscopic particles), minimally decomposed plant residues. That may be a useful soil diagnostic in some fashion for your purposes. As the amount of those minimally decomposed residues increases, crop yields drop, no matter how favorable the visual and physical appearance of the soil may seem -- unless, of course, there is access to substantial amounts of nutrients from an external source. Fixed ammonium in illites can apparently serve such a nutrient-source role, but those too will eventually deplete. Under agricultural conditions of 2000-8000 years ago, an illitic soil site would presumably sustain productive sedentary agriculture longer than a similar site without a substantial illitic mineralogy.

Which raises another interesting point with regard to your question. I recall that a satisfying (for a soil scientist anyway) explanation of the westward expansion of the original European colonies in the North America (U.S.) was depletion of soils. The mostly upland forest soils along the eastern coast were apparently good for about 20 years of productive farming, at which point they would be abandoned with an associated move westward to a new site with still undisturbed soils. As I recall the standard was when the tree stumps left from clearing the forest were gone from the farm fields, it was time to move on. Illitic soils would probably allow some greater or lesser extension of that kind of time frame, depending on flood cycles, animal management or other factors that might have provided some nutrient recharge of the illites (and organic matter level recovery). In the end, however, even those soils would almost certainly eventually be depleted to the point crop yields became too low to sustain the culture/community.