Cal X Research Articles

6200 years of human activities and environmental change in the northern central Alps

Abstract. In this study, we combine erosion and anthropogenic proxies (Ti, Pb) from calibrated portable XRF with pollen and radiocarbon chronologies in peat from mires of the Kleinwalser Valley (Kleinwalsertal, Vorarlberg, Austria) to reconstruct palaeoenvironmental change and human impact in the northern central Alps. Favoured by a wetter climate, two analysed mires formed 6200 years ago in a densely forested valley. Landscape opening suggests that the first anthropogenic impact emerged around 5700 to 5300 cal BP. Contemporaneously, lead enrichment factors (Pb EFs) indicate metallurgical activities, predating the earliest archaeological evidence in the region. Pollen and erosion proxies show that large-scale deforestation and land use by agro-pastoralists took place from the mid- to late Bronze Age (3500 to 2800 cal BP). This period was directly followed by a prominent peak in Pb EF, pointing to metallurgical activities again. After 200 cal CE, a rising human impact was interrupted by climatic deteriorations in the first half of the 6th century CE, probably linked to the Late Antique Little Ice Age. The use of the characteristic Pb EF pattern of modern pollution as a time marker allows us to draw conclusions about the last centuries. These saw the influence of the Walser people, arriving in the valley after 1300 cal CE. Later, the beginning of tourism is reflected in increased erosion signals after 1950 cal CE. Our study demonstrates that prehistoric humans were intensively shaping the Kleinwalser Valley's landscape, well before the arrival of the Walser people. It also demonstrates the importance of palaeoenvironmental multiproxy studies to fill knowledge gaps where archaeological evidence is lacking.

Rethinking households, communities and status in the southern Brazilian highlands

Disparities in domestic architecture are a potential correlate of emergent status inequality between households. In the southern Brazilian highlands, pit house settlements exhibit significant variations in structure size and site layout. Particularly relevant are the oversized structures whose function has been debated but remained unresolved. Here, I present data from Baggio 1, a large site including an oversized structure (cal CE 1365–1790). I show how the oversized pit house emerged earlier and was distinguished not only by its dimensions, but also by its privileged hilltop position and practices of floor renewal. When the settlement expanded with the addition of smaller pits, some of which were small houses, whereas others were specialized facilities, the precinct around the oversized structure continued to be the focus of activities of the settlement. Based on ethnography of the Jê peoples of Brazil and cross-cultural relationships between household size and status, I argue that the dwellers of the oversized pit house could have derived a higher status from their more numerous kin and connection to the founders of the site. Finally, the appearance of oversized pit houses must be understood in a broader context of landscape and social transformations in southern Brazil after the turn of the second millennium AD, which was also reflected in other material signs of emergent status inequalities.

Origin and Holocene geomorphological evolution of the landslide-dammed basin of la Narse de la Sauvetat (Massif Central, France)

This work is the first geomorphological analysis of La Narse de la Sauvetat, a hydromorphic basin located in the southern Limagne plain (French Massif Central) which had never been studied despite its great palaeoenvironmental interest. We explore the potential of its sedimentary archives to provide valuable data on Holocene geomorphic dynamics and their sensitivity to local and regional hydro-climatic changes. In order to characterize the nature and the morphostratigraphic and pedosedimentary evolution of the basin, we used an integrative approach involving geomorphological mapping, hand auger stratigraphic cross-sections, topographic analysis based on LiDAR data and stereophotogrammetric reconstruction, geophysical prospection and radiocarbon dating. Results revealed a palaeotopography fossilized under 6 m of sedimentary infilling, with a clear shift from fluvial to hydromorphic conditions circa 2800 cal BCE, separated by a level with colluvial and lacustrine features. A detailed analysis of the eastern border of the basin also suggests the existence of a former open valley in place of the current closed depression, now locked in by a topographic threshold forming a dam. The sedimentary aggradation of the basin started with an alluvial phase during the Upper Pleistocene and probably continued into the Middle and Late Holocene, consistently with regional alluvial dynamics. In the early Subboreal, a massive landslide occurred on the western slopes of the Puy-de-Corent volcanic plateau, thereby damming the valley and forming a closed depression. This episode coincided with the mid-Holocene climatic shift and an associated phase of slope instability and increased landslides in Western Europe due to changing climatic conditions. This depression evolved into a hydromorphic basin with several high energy hydro-sedimentary episodes after 2800 cal BCE; however hydro-sedimentary conditions gradually became more stable towards the Late Holocene. Around 500 cal CE, the drainage deteriorated towards palustrine conditions and caused the formation of a marsh and its consequent evolution into a shallow lake throughout the Middle Ages. This lake was drained in the late XVIIIth Century. The long-term sedimentary record of La Narse de la Sauvetat, sensitive to climatic instability periods of the Middle Holocene, makes this landslide-dammed basin a valuable site with an important potential to further development of palaeoenvironmental and geoarchaeological studies.

Variability of lithic tools used in the process of making hand-made pottery in Pre-European Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain)

This article presents a group of unintentionally modified stone tools that served in different phases of the chaînes opératoires of pottery manufacture on the Island of Gran Canaria. The tools were recovered in the cave of La Cerera, a part of a pre-Hispanic settlement spanning the 7th to 12th centuries cal CE. Tool classification was carried out by morphological and use-wear analyses. Data from these observations were contrasted with the ethnoarchaeological results of a project carried out in collaboration with Gran Canaria's last traditional potters. The results identify a series of technical actions undertaken in the different phases of recent pottery manufacture. Furthermore, the project singles out certain indigenous ceramic traditions that have survived until the 20th century, as well as exogenous methods adopted by local productions after Gran Canaria's colonisation in the 15th century. Moreover, the results of this study serve as a reference to assist identifying this category of stone tools in other archaeological contexts.

Extreme waves in the British Virgin Islands during the last centuries before 1500 CE

Extraordinary marine inundation scattered clasts southward on the island of Anegada, 120 km south of the Puerto Rico Trench, sometime between 1200 and 1480 calibrated years (cal yr) CE. Many of these clasts were likely derived from a fringing reef and from the sandy flat that separates the reef from the island’s north shore. The scattered clasts include no fewer than 200 coral boulders, mapped herein for the first time and mainly found hundreds of meters inland. Many of these are complete colonies of the brain coral Diploria strigosa . Other coral species represented include Orbicella (formerly Montastraea ) annu­laris , Porites astreoides , and Acropora palmata . Associated bioclastic carbonate sand locally contains articulated cobble-size valves of the lucine Codakia orbicularis and entire conch shells of Strombus gigas , mollusks that still inhabit the sandy shallows between the island’s north shore and a fringing reef beyond. Imbricated limestone slabs are clustered near some of the coral boulders. In addition, fields of scattered limestone boulders and cobbles near sea level extend mainly southward from limestone sources as much as 1 km inland. Radiocarbon ages have been obtained from 27 coral clasts, 8 lucine valves, and 3 conch shells. All these additional ages predate 1500 cal yr CE, all but 2 are in the range 1000–1500 cal yr CE, and 16 of 22 brain coral ages cluster in the range 1200–1480 cal yr CE. The event marked by these coral and mollusk clasts likely occurred in the last centuries before Columbus (before 1492 CE). The pre-Columbian deposits surpass Anegada’s previously reported evidence for extreme waves in post-Columbian time. The coarsest of the modern storm deposits consist of coral rubble that lines the north shore and sandy fans on the south shore; neither of these storm deposits extends more than 50 m inland. More extensive overwash, perhaps by the 1755 Lisbon tsunami, is marked primarily by a sheet of sand and shells found mainly below sea level beneath the floors of modern salt ponds. This sheet extends more than 1 km southward from the north shore and dates to the interval 1650–1800 cal yr CE. Unlike the pre-Columbian deposits, it lacks coarse clasts from the reef or reef flat; its shell assemblage is instead dominated by cerithid gastropods that were merely stirred up from a marine pond in the island’s interior. In their inland extent and clustered pre-Columbian ages, the coral clasts and associated deposits suggest extreme waves unrivaled in recent millennia at Anegada. Bioclastic sand coats limestone 4 m above sea level in areas 0.7 and 1.3 km from the north shore. A coral boulder of nearly 1 m 3 is 3 km from the north shore by way of an unvegetated path near sea level. As currently understood, the extreme flooding evidenced by these and other clasts represents either an extraordinary storm or a tsunami of nearby origin. The storm would need to have produced tsunami-like bores similar to those of 2013 Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines. Normal faults and a thrust fault provide nearby tsunami sources along the eastern Puerto Rico Trench.

An Early Inupiaq Occupation: Observations on a Thule House From Cape Espenberg, Alaska

AbstractThis paper describes and interprets a well-preserved early Thule semi-subterranean dwelling from Cape Espenberg, Alaska. The house architecture is similar in many respects to other early Thule dwellings with a sub-rectangular main room, long sunken entrance tunnel, and associated kitchen area. However, the presence of narrow side benches and associated flooring differences adds significantly to the variability present in Thule house form. Radiocarbon dates indicate occupations spanning 1300 to 1450 cal CE. Wood analysis suggests that the house underwent at least one rebuilding episode, which seems to have extended the house occupation into the early 15th century. People acquired mostly small seals for their subsistence, but supplemented their diets in the spring and fall with migrating birds, fish, terrestrial mammals, and other marine mammals. This house represents a fairly typical early Thule coastal winter occupation, but careful excavation of a well-preserved house reveals interesting details in house form, wood use, and subsistence patterns.

Narrowing the estimates of species migration rates

news and update ISSN 1948-6596 commentary Narrowing the estimates of species migration rates How fast can species migrate? This continues to be a difficult question to answer, in part due to a gap between answers provided by paleoecology versus modern life history studies (Clark et al. 2004). Paleoecological studies indicate a capacity for rapid migration (but see McLachlan et al. 2005), but inferences are typically made across broad spatial and temporal scales, and for long- lived species such as trees (e.g., Davis 1981). Stud- ies in present-day systems suggest the capacity for rapid migration is much lower, but the short dura- tion of most studies is not ideal for capturing the rare events that might be most important for long -distance dispersal, especially when viewed over the lifetime of a long-lived species (Nathan 2006). A series of recent papers by Lesser and Jack- son combine dendroecological and molecular ap- proaches to quantify the contribution of long- distance dispersal to patterns of population estab- lishment and expansion over the past several hun- dred years (Lesser and Jackson 2012, 2013). Lesser and Jackson analyzed individual trees within four populations at the range margin of Pinus ponder- osa in northern Wyoming, USA. All four popula- tions are separated from the main distribution of the species by 15 km to over 100 km and were probably established via dispersal events from the main population. Lesser and Jackson estimated recruitment dates for at least 84% of the total number of individuals in each population by sam- pling and dating multiple tree cores from each individual (Lesser and Jackson 2012). Analyzing the pattern of recruitment dates across individuals in each population allowed the authors to estimate population growth rates for each population since establishment. The four populations were established from 1531-1655 cal yr CE. Subsequently, populations followed a logis- tic growth pattern, but initial growth was probably slower than predicted due to Allee effects in small populations (decreases in fitness caused by small population size). Climate may have also played a role in slowing initial growth, since particularly favorable climates didn’t occur until one to two centuries after establishment. Having reconstructed a detailed population growth framework, the authors then used mo- lecular tools to estimate the contribution of long- distance dispersal to population establishment and growth (Lesser and Jackson 2013). They geno- typed each individual and performed parentage analysis, which allowed them to infer the relative contributions of local vs long-distance dispersal across the growth trajectory of each population. Following establishment, the lag time to within- population establishment was 290 to 300 years for two populations, and never occurred for the other two populations. Thus, for over 100 years, population growth occurred via long-distance dis- persal alone; even after within-population estab- lishments started to occur, long-distance dispersal continued to significantly contribute to population growth. The authors also found that the popula- tion closest to the range edge (15 km) served as an important source for long-distance dispersal into the three more-distant populations. Lesser and Jackson focus on long-distance dispersal and so don’t explicitly translate their data into estimates of population migration, but back-of-the envelope calculations based on their data 1 show that the rate of population spread is between 125–280 m/yr for one population (slightly higher than molecular-based estimates from McLachlan et al. 2005) but between 350– 3300 m/yr for the other three populations (more in line with estimates from fossil pollen data). While these estimates are very rough, most rates of population migration are less than 500 m/yr, with one fast outlier. A nice complement to these estimates comes from a recent paper by Ordonez and Wil- liams (2013), analyzing shifts in the ‘core distribu- 1 The spread in the estimates comes from calculating the rates of migration based on time of first establishment (faster estimate), time of first population growth, and time of first within-population establishment (slowest estimate). The nearby contiguous population was established by 1500 CE at the latest, so estimates of rates of migration are upper (faster) estimates. Minimum distance from each population to the primary estimated source population was estimated from ImageJ and is thus approximate. frontiers of biogeography 5.3, 2013 — © 2013 the authors; journal compilation © 2013 The International Biogeography Society

Making a stand: five centuries of population growth in colonizing populations ofPinus ponderosa

The processes underlying the development of new populations are important for understanding how species colonize new territory and form viable long-term populations. Life-history-mediated processes such as Allee effects and dispersal capability may interact with climate variability and site-specific factors to govern population success and failure over extended time frames. We studied four disjunct populations of ponderosa pine in the Bighorn Basin of north-central Wyoming to examine population growth spanning more than five centuries. The study populations are separated from continuous ponderosa pine forest by distances ranging from 15 to >100 km. Strong evidence indicates that the initial colonizing individuals are still present, yielding a nearly complete record of population history. All trees in each population were aged using dendroecological techniques. The populations were all founded between 1530 and 1655 cal yr CE. All show logistic growth patterns, with initial exponential growth followed by a slowing during the mid to late 20th century. Initial population growth was slower than expectations from a logistic regression model at all four populations, but increased during the mid-18th century. Initial lags in population growth may have been due to strong Allee effects. A combination of overcoming Allee effects and a transition to favorable climate conditions may have facilitated a mid-18th century pulse in population growth rate.

Peaceful Co-Existence

The long time ex po sure of Chi nese con sum ers to both traditional med i cal treat ments and West ern med i cal pro ce dures leads to ques tions about the de ci sion-mak ing pro cesses in the choice of treatment. This study, based on an exploratory survey of 57 con sum ers in Nanj ing, China, re veals that choices are based on a num ber of fac tors in-clud ing cost, pre sumed ef fee tive ness, and whether the con sumer suffers from a chronic or acute ill ness. A se ries of prop o si tions were also de vel-oped about the decision making pro cess of urban Chi nese con sum ers seek ing health care in a rap idly chang ing eco nomic and so cial en vi ron-ment.

The importance of burn wound size in determining the optimal calorie:nitrogen ratio.

Calorie requirements in hypermetabolic burned patients have been established based on burn size and patient weight. However, the requirement for nitrogen (N), especially with variable open wound sizes, is not clear. Thirty-six adult burned patients were fed with diets containing two different calorie to N (kcal:N) ratios--150:1 (group 1) and 100:1 (group 2)--and N balance was studied with wounds of different sizes. Calorie requirements were calculated with the Curreri formula (25 cal X weight (kg) + 40 Cal X % body surface area [BSA] burned). Daily N balance was calculated from total N intake less total N output (estimated by adding 4 gm to the measured 24-hour urea N production). The data were selected on 233 patient-days when actual calorie intakes were 100% to 150% of the calculated requirement. For a wound size of 1% to 10% BSA, group 1 patients had an N balance of +2.33 gm/day and group 2, +5.54 gm/day. For a wound size of 11% to 30% BSA, N balance was +0.13 and +3.49 gm/day, respectively. For a wound size of 31% to 60% BSA, N balance was -3.38 and +3.88 gm/day, respectively. The traditional 150:1 kcal:N ratio may be adequate for patients with open wounds of less than 10% BSA. Patients with greater than 10% BSA open wounds require a dietary regimen containing a nonprotein kcal: N ratio of 100:1 in order to achieve positive N balance.

XLV. An early method of making a phosphorus, that will imbibe and emit light, like the Bolognian stone; with experiments and observations

Calcine some common oyster shells, by keeping them in a good coal fire for half an hour; let the purest part of the calx be pulverized, and sifted; mix with three parts of this powder one part of the flowers of sulphur; let this mixture be rammed into a crucible of about an inch and a half in depth, till it be almost full; and let it be placed in the middle of the fire, where it must be kept red hot for one hour at least, and then set by to cool: when cold, turn it out of the crucible, and cutting, or breaking it to pieces, scrape off, upon trial, the brightest parts; which, if good phosphorus, will be a white powder; and may be preserved by keeping it in a dry phial with a ground stopple.