Geoarchaeological Investigations Research Articles

Geoarchaeological investigations at Akko, Israel: New insights into landscape changes and related anchorage locations since the Bronze Age

AbstractSince the first archaeological excavations undertaken in the 1970s/1980s, Tel Akko is known to have been an important trade city from the early 2nd millennium B.C. onwards. Even if the site has been intensively excavated, no paleoenvironmental studies looking to understand coastal changes near the tell since the Bronze Age had been undertaken until recently. Our research is based on the study of sediment cores drilled at the foot of the tell and in the Old City of Akko, 1,500 m west of the tell. We validate the coastal changes, already proposed by previous studies, while clarifying the chronology of these changes. We propose that the southern anchorage was located in the river mouth of the Na'aman until the early Persian period. This anchorage shifted to the “open” western coast of the tell during the Persian period before its subsequent relocation to the rocky promontory of Akko in Hellenistic times. We attempted to locate the Hellenistic harbor of Akko by coring in the Old City, in proximity to the modern harbor. At that time, a harbor lay in a semi‐protected pocket beach at the foot of the promontory.

Environmental conditions of settlement in the vicinity of the mediaeval capital of the Cherven Towns (Czermno site, Hrubieszów Basin, Eastern Poland)

Based on the results of geoarchaeological investigations carried out at the Czermno site (eastern Poland), which is associated with Cherven, i.e. the mediaeval capital of the Cherven Towns, we reconstructed the main stages of environmental changes and human impact in the surroundings of the site. The site is of great archaeological importance due to its historical context that is essential to identify the conditions of settlement formation in the Polish-Rus’ borderland in the Middle Ages. The present study combines palaeoenvironmental and archaeological knowledge with chronostratigraphic data to infer the main stages of settlement, connected with the outset, functioning and collapse of the mediaeval capital of the Cherven Towns. The location of the site was analysed in the context of geological, geomorphological, climatic, hydrological and soil conditions as well as changes of the natural vegetation. An assessment was made of the anthropogenic transformation of the land relief and hydrological regime, which made it possible to reconstruct these components of the geographic environment in the period preceding the construction of the stronghold and the adjacent settlements. The results of our investigations show that, in the Middle Ages, (1) the climate was relatively cold and dry in the 7th-8th century AD, when settlement activity started in the vicinity of the site (as affirmed by chronostratigraphic data) (2) intensive transformations of the landscape (i.e. adaptation for settlement), were carried out on a large scale during the subsequent seven centuries (land levelling, reorganization of drainage, i.e. the construction of moats, ramparts and a log-paved roads), (3) the human impact on the environment was particularly strong (as indicated by reliable multi-proxy data) in the mid-9th century AD, at the end of the 10th and turn of the 11th century AD, and in the second half of the 12th century AD, (4) all these settlement phases were connected with a relatively warm and humid climate.

Ecology and hydrology of early rice farming: geoarchaeological and palaeo-ecological evidence from the Late Holocene paddy field site at Maoshan, the Lower Yangtze

The well-preserved Maoshan paddy fields (4700–4300 bp) were built on an intermediate landscape between the foothills and alluvial plain of the Lower Yangtze River. Despite several interdisciplinary research, there has been a lack of detailed environmental and ecological data to contextualise the reconstructed rice farming practices within a wider paleo-environmental background. Our research provides key information on the chronology, vegetation, and long-term hydrological fluctuations at and surrounding the paddy fields. Our 14C and OSL dates show that the initial occupation began at around 5740 ± 140 cal. bp, and the paddy fields were built at around 4675 ± 145 cal. bp and were in use continuously until around 4000 cal. bp. Our pollen, diatom and phytolith data shows that whilst the vegetation in the field was sensitive to changes caused by water management and rice farming, the ecological system surrounding the fields was relatively stable. We suggest that this high frequency of in-field vegetation changes was closely related to intensifying water management for rice farming. This thesis is supported by our geophysical and geochemical analyses of bulk sediments, which shows that the steady build-up of the alluvial sequence was punctuated by several short-term episodes of high-energy surface runoff, including strong flushing in of sandy sediments into the fields perhaps through irrigation activities. Our paleo-ecological and geoarchaeological investigation at Maoshan permits an overview of the development of rice farming and intensifying water management practices in a wider environmental context and offers significant insights to the ongoing debate on the wet-dry dichotomy of early rice farming.

Geoarchaeological Investigation of Site Formation and Depositional Environments at the Middle Palaeolithic Open-Air Site of ‘Ein Qashish, Israel

‘Ein Qashish is a Middle Palaeolithic open-air site in the southern Levant, encompassing an excavated area of several hundred square meters and a 4.5-m thick stratigraphic section. Its placement within a fluvial system, combined with the presence of Neanderthal skeletal remains and diverse material culture finds, presents possibilities for understanding human behaviour on the open landscape during the late Middle Palaeolithic. The aim of this study is to investigate the depositional and post-depositional processes at ‘Ein Qashish, based on the stratigraphic section exposed in the 2013 excavation season. We employed field observations, sedimentology, micromorphology, mineralogy, elemental and isotopic analyses. Our results indicate that the sedimentary sequence, including four archaeological occupation levels, accumulated in a generally low-energy alluvial environment with evidence for syn-depositional localised seasonal water bodies. On-going post-depositional processes related to wetting and drying cycles include shrink-swell and calcite and gypsum pedofeatures. Bone mineral is relatively well preserved. The data suggest limited fluvial and argilliturbation reworking of artefacts, indicating that spatial patterning of lithic and bone assemblages is rather well preserved in some areas. The current analyses do not indicate the presence of combustion features or fire-related residues at the site, although burned lithics occur in low frequencies. The absence of combustion features in the large excavated area and deep stratigraphy contrasts with patterns observed in Middle Palaeolithic cave occupations in the region, adding nuance to a dataset that will enable a better understanding of human activities under sheltered and open-air conditions.

Elemental, isotopic, and geochronological variability in Mogollon‐Datil volcanic province archaeological obsidian, southwestern USA: Solving issues of intersource discrimination

AbstractSolving issues of intersource discrimination in archaeological obsidian is a recurring problem in geoarchaeological investigation, particularly since the number of known sources of archaeological obsidian worldwide has grown nearly exponentially in the last few decades, and the complexity of archaeological questions asked has grown equally so. These two parallel aspects of archaeological investigation have required more exacting understanding of the geological relationship between sources and the more accurate analysis of these sources of archaeological obsidian. This is particularly the case in the North American Southwest where the frequency of archaeological investigation is some of the highest in the world, and the theory and method used to interpret that record has become increasingly nuanced. Here, we attempt to unravel the elemental similarity of archaeological obsidian in the Mogollon‐Datil volcanic province of southwestern New Mexico where some of the most important and extensively distributed sources are located and the elemental similarity between the sources is great even though the distance between the sources is large. Uniting elemental, isotopic, and geochronological analyses as an intensive pilot study, we unpack this complexity to provide greater understanding of these important sources of archaeological obsidian.

Geoarchaeological study of abandoned Roman urban and suburban contexts from central Adriatic Italy

AbstractOver the past 15 years the Potenza Valley Survey project investigated Iron Age to Medieval settlement dynamics in the Central Adriatic Potenza Valley. Part of this research focuses on the Roman abandoned towns of Potentia and Trea by performing an integrated geoarchaeological study of their townscape. This largely noninvasive research consists of remote sensing analysis, geophysical surveys (magnetometry, electrical resistivity, and ground‐penetrating radar), and geomorphological fieldwork such as microtopographic measurements and hand augering. The chosen techniques depend on the nature of each town and are integrated with more traditionally achieved research data. This paper presents the main interdisciplinary results of work on these two Roman towns and highlights the importance of obtaining complementary data and performing hand augering as a stratigraphic control of the remote sensing and geophysical results. Insights into the character and layout of the cities, the structural influence on the surrounding area, and the human‐environment interactions and dynamics through time of both Roman cities could be achieved. Moreover, the results offer guidelines for conservation strategies of these abandoned towns and their suburbium, which are necessary to protect them from present‐day threats such as agriculture and tourism. In this way the paper offers an insight in the tremendous potential of well‐integrated geoarchaeological investigations of partly or fully abandoned urban contexts in the Mediterranean area and beyond.

Geoarchaeological evidence of marshland destruction in the area of Rungholt, present-day Wadden Sea around Hallig Südfall (North Frisia, Germany), by the Grote Mandrenke in 1362 AD

Geophysical and geoarchaeological investigations were carried out in the Wadden Sea of North Frisia (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) to elucidate major environmental changes that considerably altered the coastal landscape since medieval times. Between the 12th and 14th cent. AD, the present-day tidal flats around the marsh island Hallig Südfall belonged to the historical Edomsharde district and its main settlement Rungholt. For North Frisia, it is well known that during medieval and early modern times, extreme storm surges caused major land losses associated with a massive landward shift of the coastline. Today, cultural traces like remains of dikes, drainage ditches, terps or even plough marks are still visible in the Wadden Sea and provide evidence of the once cultivated marshland.Based on a multi-proxy analysis of sediment cores retrieved from the tidal flat zone around Hallig Südfall and from the Hallig itself, we identified a late medieval paleosol associated with the formerly cultivated marshland most probably belonging to the Edomsharde and local trade centre of Rungholt. Around Hallig Südfall, remains of medieval marsh deposits were found partly eroded and covered by a coarse-grained high-energy deposit including abundant shell debris and artefacts. Based on sedimentological, micropaleontological, geochemical and geochronological data, we conclude that these deposits are associated with the 1st Grote Mandrenke (or St. Marcellus’ flood), an extreme storm surge event in 1362 AD. Our results, for the first time, provide geological evidence of this 1362 AD storm surge for the Wadden Sea of North Frisia. Moreover, marshland on Hallig Südfall dating to the 17th-18th cent. AD was found covered by a thick layer of storm surge sand and shell debris which seems to be associated with one of the major storm event that hit the German North Sea coast in modern times, e.g. the 2nd Grote Mandrenke (or Burchardi flood) in 1634 AD or the Christmas flood in 1717 AD.

Geoarchaeology and paleoecology of the deeply stratified Richard Beene site, Medina River valley, South-Central Texas, USA

A geoarchaeological investigation that included soil-stratigraphic and paleoecological analyses was conducted at Richard Beene, a deeply stratified open-air site associated with an alluvial terrace of the Medina River in south-central Texas. The sequence of cultural and alluvial deposits at the site is one of the most complete records of Holocene human occupation and sedimentation documented in North America, and is very important to the interpretation of the cultural history of the Inner Gulf Coastal Plain and adjacent areas of the Southern Plains. The most salient ecological characteristics of the site are its riparian setting and location in the ecotone between North America's western grasslands and eastern woodlands. The cultural record spans the past 10,000 years and is buried in 14 m of fine-grained flood deposits with multiple buried paleosols. Excavations totaling 730 m2 sampled 20 stratigraphically distinct archaeological components in valley fill beneath the Applewhite terrace, yielding more than 80,000 artifacts, including flakes, tools, bones, mussel shells, and fire-cracked rocks left by Archaic and Late Pre-Columbian hunter-gatherers. Seven primary stratigraphic units and five laterally traceable buried paleosols were identified at the site. The oldest stratigraphic unit consists of coarse-grained channel deposits that accumulated soon before 33,000 14C yr B.P. Most of the units, however, consist of fine-grained alluvium that accumulated between ca. 10,000 and 1000 14C yr B.P. The δ13C values of organic matter from the site's soil-stratigraphic sequence indicate increased C4 production during the Younger Dryas (11,000–10,000 14C yr B.P.), and C4 productivity generally increased throughout the Holocene, culminating in peak warm intervals at ca. 5000 and 2000 14C yr B.P. Although during relatively dry periods grasses expanded at the expense of trees, a mosaic of trees and grasses (i.e., a savannah) typical of a grassland-forest ecotone prevailed at the site throughout the Holocene. Such a food-rich environment characterized by an abundance of deer and geophytes, as well as mussels from the Medina River accounts for repetitive human occupation spanning at least 10,000 years.

Early evidence of irrigation technology in the North China Plain: Geoarchaeological investigations at the Anshang Site, Neihuang County, Henan Province, China

ABSTRACTThe development of irrigation is a politically important technology that enabled agricultural societies to intensify agricultural production. In the North China Plain, the historical record suggests a long tradition of irrigation, but archaeologists have found scant evidence of these technologies outside of urban areas. In 2012, 2015, and 2016, our excavations at the Anshang site, Neihuang County, Henan Province, China, revealed several archaeological features that we interpret as evidence of Late Shang dynasty (ca. 1200–1046 B.C.) canal construction in a nonurban context. By using a range of geological methods, including particle size, loss on ignition, magnetic susceptibility, and micromorphology, we suggest that these ancient canals and the subsequent construction phases found at Anshang not only influenced the development of local geomorphic conditions, but also were part of early dynastic attempts to restructure the natural landscape to facilitate agricultural productivity. These irrigation canals found at Anshang may be representative of broader trends of human‐environmental interactions in the North China Plain.

Visualising scales of process: Multi-scalar geoarchaeological investigations of microstratigraphy and diagenesis at hominin bearing sites in South African karst

Multi-scalar geoarchaeological investigations were conducted on several samples of sediment (dolomite cave sediments, ferricrete ridge, speleothem, tufa and tufa cave sediments) from four early hominin fossil-bearing sites (Taung Type Site, Haasgat, Drimolen Main Quarry, Elandsfontein) in different South African karst environments. The study was designed to test the value of geoarchaeological techniques for identifying and characterising environments of deposition and diagenetic processes involved in site formation within different mediums and different karst environments. The traditional petrographic method is weighed against two relatively new methodological contributions to site formation and diagenesis: Computed Tomography (CT) and automated Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals using Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (QEM-EDS), employing QEMSCAN® technology. An integrated micro-sampling approach is outlined for successful cross-correlation between techniques. The study demonstrates that different analyses vary in their ability to visualise different types of process – primary and secondary. Thin section petrography remains the ‘gold standard’ for analyses conducted at the micro-scale, while QEM-EDS and CT offer exciting potential to perform meso-scale analyses and are best utilised as complementary rather than alternative techniques to petrography.

Geoarchaeological investigations of a prominent quay wall in ancient Corcyra – Implications for harbour development, palaeoenvironmental changes and tectonic geomorphology of Corfu Island (Ionian Islands, Greece)

In antiquity, the harbour-city of Corcyra (modern: Corfu) was a prevailing naval power in the Mediterranean and had several harbours to host a considerable fleet. Today, these harbours are totally or partly silted and concealed under modern urban infrastructure. Comprehensive geoarchaeological studies were conducted on the northeastern fringe of the Analipsis Peninsula where excavations have revealed the archaeological remains of a massive quay wall (Pierri and Arion sites). These remains are located east of known ancient harbour structures that belong to the Alkinoos Harbour. Our study aimed to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental setting of the harbour facilities at the Pierri site, including the analysis of the local sedimentary record in order to detect and differentiate natural and man-made triggers that caused environmental shifts. At the Pierri site, we found geoarchaeological evidence for an ancient harbour basin related to the prominent quay wall. Associated harbour sediments indicate a protected harbour which was developed from an open shallow marine environment, most probably by the construction of breakwaters. Harbour deposits were dated using radiocarbon analyses and diagnostic ceramic fragments to the 4th to 3rd cent. BC. This is in good agreement with the age of the harbour installations as such archaeologically assigned to the Classical and Hellenistic period. The Pierri site was possibly in function as a harbour facility even before the 4th cent. BC. In any case, it was strongly hit by an earthquake and associated tsunami event during Classical to Hellenistic times. By this event, the harbour was uplifted and covered by event deposits so that it was not usable any more. It was subsequently buried by anthropogenic and colluvial sediments. Overall, the Pierri coastal archive allowed to identify three distinct tsunami landfall events, namely before 2483–2400 cal BC (event I), after 2483–2400 cal BC and before 370–214 cal BC (event II), and during Classical to Hellenistic times, most probably between the 4th and 3rd cent. BC (event III). Another tsunami event (event IV) potentially hit the site when it was dry land. Ages of tsunami events I–II and candidate tsunami IV are consistent with tsunamis known from the coasts of western Greece and southern Italy and where thus classified as supra-regional tele-events. Event III was identified as associated to a local earthquake and tsunami by which Corfu Island was uplifted and, at the same time, tilted with a vertical offset of 1.74 m from W to E.

Dynamics of Celtic fields—A geoarchaeological investigation of Øster Lem Hede, Western Jutland, Denmark

AbstractCeltic fields are the most widespread type of prehistoric field systems in northwestern Europe. Many questions remain regarding their formation and use, but these may potentially be answered through geoarchaeological investigations. The aim of this study is to contribute to the understanding of the formation of the field systems, the formation of the banks and lynchets demarcating the fields, and the prehistoric land use through geoarchaeological investigations of Øster Lem Hede, one of the best preserved Celtic fields in Denmark. Four trenches dug through selected field boundaries were sampled for geochemical, particle size, thin section, and pollen analyses, as well as radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. OSL dates show that the investigated banks were formed in the late Bronze Age/early Iron Age (oldest dates: c. 600 ± 140 B.C.), but cultivation predating the field system is also indicated. Particle size and multielement analyses indicate that the banks formed through accumulation of soil from the fields. Dynamic alterations of the layout and field boundaries in the form of added banks and temporarily discontinued boundaries were identified. Geochemistry, pollen, and microscopic inclusions in the soil indicate that the fields were amended with household waste, animal manure, and material from wetlands and heathland. Several different crops were grown including barley, flax, and spurry but also rye appears to have been present in the 2.500‐year‐old fields.

Site formation processes and Late Natufian domestic spaces at Baaz Rockshelter, Syria: A micromorphological perspective

Geoarchaeological research at Baaz Rockshelter focuses on reconstructing geogenic and anthropogenic formation processes at the site and examining post-depositional alterations of the archaeological record. Baaz is set in a rockshelter at the base of a limestone cliff and its archaeological sequence includes seven layers documenting the repeated use of the site during the Upper Paleolithic and Late Natufian, including a Late Natufian house, as well as several phases of Neolithic occupation. Based on lithic, faunal, and botanical analysis, Upper Paleolithic people used the site sporadically and centered their activities on hunting. During the Late Natufian and Neolithic, occupations were also short term, but more intense. Here, we present results of a geoarchaeological investigation of the deposits and the first systematic micromorphological study of a constructed, Late Natufian floor. Throughout the sequence, the main formation process is the weathering of limestone, in addition to minor but regular aeolian input of silt-sized quartz grains and mica. Post-depositional processes are rare and include minor secondary gypsum formation in all horizons and bioturbation that is most pronounced in the upper two layers. Anthropogenic processes vary in type and intensity. The Upper Paleolithic deposits contain mostly geogenic components with rare, microscopic anthropogenic components, supporting the argument for sporadic site use during this time. The Late Natufian deposits contain the remains of a house that exhibits some characteristics typical of structures from this time period, including an artificially lowered surface, a wall, the round shape of the house and a constructed floor. The floor is composed of silty clay and shows microscopic structural alterations resulting from intensive use. The house also shows unconventional features for the Late Natufian, such as a built-in mortar, built-in hearth, and a possible ash dump. The uppermost deposits with Late Natufian and Neolithic occupation have a mixed appearance and contain pits and lenses of herbivore dung.

Sediments, soils, and the expansion of farmers into a forager's world: A geoarchaeological study of the mid-to-late Holocene in Hwange National Park, Zimbabwe

The transition from foraging to food production in interior southern Africa is still not well understood, despite being central to hypothesized migration and diffusion routes connecting the earliest agropastoralist sites in central Africa with the southern African subcontinent. Hwange National Park (14,650 sq. km), Zimbabwe is located along these proposed routes and has both Late Stone Age and Early Iron Age sites that can address this transition.To better understand this change in lifeways and any environmental and/or topographic factors that influenced it, geoarchaeological investigations characterized the soils, sediments, and landforms in six different areas of the park. Forty-eight stratigraphic sections varying from two to four m thick were described, six of which are detailed here. These stratigraphic sections include dated material that allows correlation between basins of different substrates and comparisons of carbon isotopic signatures to reveal whether conditions were locally favorable to grasses (hot/dry) or woodlands (cool/wet) through time.Examined river cuts and augered samples show that some river basins have sediment textures, soil types, and topographic relief that should have been attractive to farmers. However, radiocarbon ages reveal variable potential for finding remains of any early farmers from basin-to-basin, with some bedrock-constrained valleys having no preserved deposits of appropriate age. The repeated scouring of these river basins testifies to sometimes volatile conditions that would have challenged sustained food production.In fact, in the study area landscape instability and variable environmental conditions were commonplace during the past three millennia. Drought between ca. 2.8 and 2.6 ka may have lessened the risk of disease vectors for the earliest agropastoralists that arrived during more mesic conditions between 1.9 and 1.65 ka. At this time basins began to accumulate fill and soil development suggests landscape stability even in headland basins. Changes in soil carbon isotope values imply relatively hot/dry conditions prevailed around 0.73 ka and 0.41 ka and cool/wet conditions around 0.53 ka, but much information has been lost due to the numerous erosional events that wiped away swaths of sediments during intervening droughts. The landscape in Hwange National Park continues to change rapidly as reflected by several meters of river downcutting in response to recent man-made disturbance and/or drought. This downcutting both reveals and endangers the few remaining archaeological sites that are critical to understanding the first food producers in the region.

Geoarchaeology and paleoseismology blend to define the Fucino active normal fault slip history, central Italy

We first describe the late Holocene slip history of one of the major segments of the Fucino active normal fault, in central Italy, by combining geoarchaeological investigations with paleoseismological trenching. The Fucino fault system released a Mw 7 earthquake in 1915 (with many other events with decimetre and/or metre-size palaeoseismic slip events in the past), that is the strongest seismic shock occurred in this portion of the Italian territory over at least the past millennium. We dug trenches across the investigated tectonic structure; then, the sedimentary sequence and its relation with the exposed fault planes have been analysed “vertically”, as typically made in paleoseismological investigations, but also “horizontally”, by deepening the excavations “step-by-step” while digging, i.e. performing archaeological-type stratigraphic excavations. Such a procedure permitted the recognition of different displacement events of the fault, and the progressive surveying of different cultural levels, since the Neolithic Period, interposed with or cut into natural levels. The reconstruction of the interplay between human occupation of the site and the local geomorphic evolution – framed by the late Holocene climatic changes – permitted us to gain reliable chronological data for constraining the fault slip history in the last 5500 yr. Our analyses also confirmed that the investigated structure activated during the 1915 earthquake. Four previous displacement events were recognised: a first event, prior to the 1915 one, occurred slightly after the Roman Period (probably during the 5th–6th century AD); two preceding events occurred between the Late Neolithic and the Roman period, the older of the two during the late Neolithic, while the later during the Late Bronze Age-Early Iron Age. The oldest event predates the Neolithic Period. No evidence of a Late Middle Ages faulting event found by others researchers along another branch of the Fucino fault was found in our trenches. From a methodological viewpoint, the results of our study mark the effectiveness of adopting joint geoarchaeological/paleoseismological approach in terms of chronological constraints for active faulting studies in such contexts where long human occupation took place, where the natural and “human” events rhythmically interplay.

A new device to mount portable energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometers (p-ED-XRF) for semi-continuous analyses of split (sediment) cores and solid samples

Abstract. Portable energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometers (p-ED-XRF) have become increasingly popular in sedimentary laboratories to quantify the chemical composition of a range of materials such as sediments, soils, solid samples, and artefacts. Here, we introduce a low-cost, clearly arranged unit that functions as a sample chamber (German industrial property rights no. 20 2014 106 048.0) for p-ED-XRF devices to facilitate economic, non-destructive, fast, and semi-continuous analysis of (sediment) cores or other solid samples. The spatial resolution of the measurements is limited to the specifications of the applied p-ED-XRF device – in our case a Thermo Scientific Niton XL3t p-ED-XRF spectrometer with a maximum spatial resolution of 0.3 cm and equipped with a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera to document the measurement spot. We demonstrate the strength of combining p-ED-XRF analyses with this new sample chamber to identify Holocene facies changes (e.g. marine vs. terrestrial sedimentary facies) using a sediment core from an estuarine environment in the context of a geoarchaeological investigation at the Atlantic coast of southern Spain.

Anglo-Saxon Economy and Ecology by a Downland Stream: A Waterlogged Sequence from the Anglo-Saxon Royal Settlement at Lyminge, Kent

ABSTRACTPalaeoecological and geoarchaeological investigations which cover the Anglo-Saxon period are rare, particularly in chalk downland landscapes which are considered to have limited palaeoenvironmental potential. The present study explores a sequence which can be directly related to the occupation history of the major Anglo-Saxon settlement at Lyminge, Kent. This work demonstrated a sequence of palaeochannels and organic deposits associated with the latter part of an archaeological sequence which spans the 5th to the 11th centuries AD. A range of evidence for the environment and economic activity is presented which suggests landscape continuity, possibly stretching back as far as the Romano-British period. The sequence revealed worked wood and evidence for livestock management and cereal cultivation, some of which is contemporary with the final phases of occupation of a 7th century ‘great hall complex’ and its subsequent transformation into a royal monastery. Agricultural activity following the abandonment of the pre-monastic settlement area caused this stream margin to become gradually buried by ploughwash which displaced the channel over time and sealed the organic deposits. It is incredibly rare to find such organic preservation in direct association with an Anglo-Saxon downland rural settlement and this is the first time that such a sequence has been analysed in association with the latter phases of a known Anglo-Saxon royal and monastic centre.

Historical sea level changes and effects on the coasts of Sorrento Peninsula (Gulf of Naples): New constrains from recent geoarchaeological investigations

This paper describes the results of a multidisciplinary study of four geoarchaeological sites on the Sorrento Peninsula coast (Italy) where the submerged ruins of Roman buildings have enabled the ancient position of both the sea level and the coastline to be reconstructed. The results highlight that the sea level in Roman times, deduced from the submersion measurement of archaeological markers, did not exceed 1.2m±0.30m, except for Seiano whose submerged remains and surrounding area were heavily damaged by extreme events following the 79CE Vesuvius eruption. The comparison of these results with the eustatic sea-level curve in Roman times together with the submersion of the tectonically stable site on the Tyrrhenian coast of Italy (Torre Astura, with a well-preserved Roman fishpond) demonstrate that the Sorrento Peninsula has been tectonically stable over the last two millennia. This behaviour started many thousands of years ago, not later than the last interglacial, while the nearby plain of Pompeii and probably the bottom of the adjacent Gulf of Naples have been subsiding at rates of 1 or more mm per year. In the same time span, two of the investigated coastal sectors (Capo di Sorrento and Punta Campanella) have not suffered any significant changes because their sea cliffs are cut in hard limestone. The tufa sea cliff of the Sorrento plain on the other hand, has been retreating by several metres. On the Marina di Equa (Seiano) alluvial coastal plain, which suffered the effects of the 79CE eruption, the debris and hyperconcentrated flow produced a progradation of >200m, which has been totally dismantled over three centuries.

Buried in ashes: Site formation processes at Lapa do Santo rockshelter, east-central Brazil

Few archaeological sites in the Americas contain high concentrations of human burials dating back to the early Holocene. The tropical karstic region of Lagoa Santa, in central Brazil (state of Minas Gerais) is one of the richest bioanthropological records available to study the behaviors and funerary practices of early Holocene South Americans, with more than 200 skeletons found so far. One of the key locations to examine the history of human settlement in Lagoa Santa is the site of Lapa do Santo, a rockshelter known to contain the oldest rock art and the earliest evidence of funerary complexity in the continent. In this geoarchaeological investigation we focus on the early Holocene settlement at Lapa do Santo (7.9–12.7 cal kyBP) applying high-resolution geoarchaeological techniques, such as micromorphology, organic petrology and μFTIR, on both archaeological, modern reference and experimental samples. This is the first time that a micro-contextual approach integrated with experimental geoarchaeology has been applied to study the formation of rockshelter deposits in a tropical setting. Our results show that the stratigraphic sequence formed under the dual influence of anthropogenic sedimentation—through continuous combustion activities—and geogenic sedimentation in the form of oxisol aggregates which fell from above the limestone cliff into the rockshelter. Intact hearths and remobilized combustion debris, possibly hearth rake-out, are close to the graves suggesting repeated burning activities as part of the ritual behavior of early Holocene South Americans. Large amounts of ash are intermixed with heated and unheated oxisol aggregates. Heated termite mound fragments were also found mixed within the sediments. Post-depositional alteration of the site includes limited bioturbation and localized, low energy surface water and sub-surface concentrations of moisture, leading to precipitation of dense, secondary carbonates. The age inversions can be attributed to the human action of reworking the ashy sediments and not to post-abandonment processes. Despite this, the overall preservation of the sediments is good and most human burials can be considered to be in primary context.

Sediments or soils? Multi-scale geoarchaeological investigations of stratigraphy and early cultivation practices at Kuk Swamp, highlands of Papua New Guinea

Kuk Swamp is a globally significant archaeological site of early agriculture in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Mixed-method and multi-scalar investigations of the stratigraphy and selected feature fills at Kuk were instrumental in determining the character of plant exploitation and agricultural practices there during the early and mid Holocene. In this paper, macro-scale (field recording), meso-scale (X-radiography) and micro-scale (thin section micromorphology) analyses are presented in summary form for a stratigraphic column, as well as for a palaeochannel and palaeosurfaces associated with plant exploitation at c.10,000 cal BP and cultivation at 7000–6400 cal BP. Major and minor stratigraphic units have been characterised, primary and secondary formation processes differentiated, and the anthropic associations of specific stratigraphic units determined, especially in regards to cultivation. The Kuk research highlights several methodological problems with the investigation of early cultivation on allophane-rich soils in tropical environments.