Pioneer Settlement Research Articles

Investigating Temporal and Spatial Variations of Nutrient and Trace Metal Loading in Utah Lake (Utah, USA)

Utah Lake is one of the largest freshwater bodies in the West and a valuable resource for agricultural and recreational activities in the region. However, it has suffered elevated trace metal and nutrient levels since the pioneer settlement in 1847. The objectives of this project were as follows: (1) investigate the temporal and spatial variations of trace metal and nutrient concentrations in Utah Lake and its tributaries; (2) model trace metal and nutrient concentrations across the lake using GIS spatial analysis techniques. We collected floc layer sediment samples quarterly as well as monthly water samples for trace metal and nutrient analyses at designated sites. GIS spatial analysis techniques were used to model the trace metal and nutrient concentrations in the lake. Elevated trace metal concentrations in river and lake water samples have been detected, especially in the month of June. The GIS modeling revealed that the highest trace metal and nutrient concentrations were located at the deepest part of the lake and near the Spanish Fork River inlet, respectively. Moreover, the results indicate that Utah Lake is not well mixed horizontally but well mixed vertically. Our findings can help state agencies address issues in water quality and management related to human–environment interactions.

The Kushevat Site and the Paleogeographic Context of the Initial Peopling of Northern Urals

On the basis of new materials excavated in 2019–2021 from the Upper Paleolithic site of Kushevat, this study addresses the problem of initial human occupation of the Subpolar Urals. Geological and geomorphological fi ndings are presented along with new chronological and paleogeographical data. Archaeological and faunal materials are described, and result s of the traceological analysis of reindeer antlers with cut and chop marks are presented. The fi ndings suggest that Kushevat was a pioneer settlement of the northern Ob region. The obtained luminescence and radiocarbon ages suggest that the peopling of the Lower Ob region occurred prior to 30 ka BP. Climatic conditions during the fi rst half of the Upper Paleolithic (55–25 ka BP) were favorable for humans in the subpolar zone. Geological and geomorphological situation at the Upper Paleolithic sites of northwestern Urals (the Pechora and Kama basins) can be used as a paleogeographic analogue of the conditions in the Lower Ob region during the Pleistocene. The principal Upper Paleolithic sites in the region are associated with accumulations of megafaunal remains in the mouths of ancient gullies. Archaeological sites apparently consisted of two areas differing in location, economic specialization, and toolkit. Areas of the fi rst type include residential zones on leveled areas of the second river terraces adjacent to the ravines. Those of the second type are estuarine zones of modern valleys of streams and rivers, where huge accumulations of megafaunal remains are preserved at the bottoms of ancient ravines.

Effects of Cattle Traffic on Sclerocactus wrightiae

Cattle grazing has been a historic use of rangelands in Utah since pioneer settlement in the mid-1800’s. Wright fishhook cactus is a small globose cactus endemic to an area of 280,000 ha in south–central Utah and was listed as endangered in October of 1979, by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). By 2010, concerns were expressed that soil compaction in proximity to the cactus posed a threat to this species, though there were no empirical data to support such concerns. In order to assess the impact of cattle traffic on Wright fishhook cactus, we used an imprint device to simulate a cow track’s impact. We applied a treatment of either zero, one, or four hoof imprints within 15 cm evenly of 146 cacti within the same population cluster on the same day. We monitored subsequent plant survival as well as reproductive success. Each cactus in the study was visited multiple times and all developed seed was collected. We found that cattle traffic of any amount had no effect on plant survival or seed production and, therefore, concluded that cattle traffic poses no threat to Wright fishhook cactus. The status of this cactus yields no justification for changing the historic land management use of cattle grazing on these rangelands.

The greening ashore.

More than half a billion years ago a streptophyte algal lineage began terraforming the terrestrial habitat and the Earth's atmosphere. This pioneering step enabled the subsequent evolution of all complex life on land, and the past decade has uncovered that many traits, both morphological and genetic, once thought to be unique to land plants, are conserved across some streptophyte algae. They provided the common ancestor of land plants with a repertoire of genes, of which many were adapted to overcome the new biotic and abiotic challenges. Exploring these molecular adaptations in non-tracheophyte species may help us to better prepare all green life, including our crops, for the challenges precipitated by the climate change of the Anthropocene because the challenges mostly differ by the speed with which they are now being met.

The Old Toponymy and New Topography of Zion: Utah, Photography, and Daniel George's Series God to Go West

The Old Toponymy and New Topography of Zion: Utah, Photography, and Daniel George's Series <i>God to Go West</i>

Bound to the Land: Cove Fort in Kesler Family History and Memory

Bound to the Land: Cove Fort in Kesler Family History and Memory

Pioneer settlement of the cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus (Esper, 1794) on plastic

Larval settlement is a critical step for sessile benthic species such as corals, whose ability to thrive on diverse natural and anthropogenic substrates may lead to a competitive advantage in the colonization of new environments with respect to a narrow tolerance for a specific kind of substratum. Plastic debris, widespread in marine waters, provides a large, motile, and solid substratum supporting a highly diverse biological community. Here we present the first observation of a floating plastic bottle colonized by the deep-sea coral Desmophyllum dianthus. The density pattern and co-occurring species composition suggest a pioneer behavior of this coral species, whose peculiar morphologic plasticity response when interacting with the plastic substrate (i.e., low density polyethylene) has not been observed before. The tolerance of D. dianthus for such plastic substrate may affect ecological processes in deep water environments, disrupting interspecific substrate competition in the benthic community.

Roasting Pits as Social Space: The Organisation of Outdoor Activities on an Early Mesolithic Settlement Site in Northern Sweden

The interior of northern Sweden was thc last area in Europe to become icefree and pioneer settlers arrived soon aftcr deglaciation. Early Mesolithic settlement sites in the Arjeplog area, Sweden, provide evidence of rapid colonization. This paper highlights the significance of the overall site arena as an interpretative unit for analyses of social life among the pioneer settlers in interior Northern Sweden. Results from the excavation of the Dumpokjauratj site dating to c. 8,600 BP (9,600 cal BP) are presented. The distinct spatial outline implies conformity in cultural codes during the initial phase of occupation reflecting an underlying principle of duality.

Buried Daggers, Furious Queens, and Mythic Disruptions: Kentucky Reconstruction Intrigue in Elizabeth Madox Roberts’ “Record at Oak Hill”

Kentucky writer Elizabeth Madox Roberts (1881–1941) has been lauded mainly for her novels covering the sweep of white pioneer settlement in the Bluegrass State, where she lived most of her life. Th...

Population characteristics of the regionally rare species Chamaerion dodonaei (Vill.) Holub. in Kamyanets Transdnistria

The phytodiversity protection problem at the regional level is a very relevant and necessary direction of modern sozology. After an inventory of vascular plants flora, conducted by L.H. Lubinska and L.S. Yuglichek the list of regionally rare species includes 168 species. The aim of this study is to research the features of the regionally rare species Chamaerion dodonaei (Vill.) Holub. The researched territory is located near the village of Sakhkamin, KamenetsPodilskyi district, Khmelnytskyi region and it is a ridge of calcite heaps which were formed as a result of calcite excavation. The age of the technogenic ecotopes under study is from one to 50 years, and the length is two km. Duration of the research is — 2012–2019. The study area includes significant species richness. 61 species of 24 families and divisions of Pinophyta and Magnoliophyta are growing here. The most numerous are the families Asteraceae and Rosaceae, and 12 families are represented by one species. According to dependence on calcium, we separated four environmental groups. Chamaerion dodonae is hypercarbonatophilus, biomorphic by shrub with long, thick and fleshy underground shoots. The species is common in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Chemerovetskyi, Dunaievetskyi districts of the Khmelnytsky region. The reasons for the change in numbers are the destruction of ecotopes.We have investigated ontomorphogenic statuses for Chamaerion dodonaei. The seedlings appear after fertilization and into the juvenile and immature statuses by the end of the growing season. The following vegetative year, the plants are in a status of immaturity. During the third year of development, in a virgin status, a life form is formed — a hemisphere. The ontogenic statuses of the species population are analyzed and the predominance of immature individuals is revealed. The population characterizes the pioneer settlement. For Chamerion dodonaei there is a posibility of an increase in territory and number of individuals in the population. But the ecotope is technogenic and, if necessary, can be devastated by industrial use. The population is at risk of death. Under natural conditions, this species is not found. Therefore, our proposal is to leave these heaps and create a reserve, despite the fact that it is a technogenic ecotope, and the regulation of the conditions for the growth of the species will ensure its existence.

Ørnfløya 1. En pionertidslokalitet fra tidlig eldre steinalder på yttersida av Kvaløya i Troms.

Ørnfløya 1. An early Older Stone Age pioneer locality on the outer coast of Kvaløya, Troms. During the past couple of decades both research projects and rescue excavations have contributed considerably to our understanding of the early Older Stone Age pioneer settlement along the entire Norwegian coast. However, understanding of the pioneers along the coast between northern Nordland and Finnmark counties is still rather limited. Excavations have largely taken place on sites within the middle and inner reaches of the fjord systems. The excavation of Ørnfløya 1 in 2013–14 offers new insights into the pioneer settlement on the outer coast facing the North Atlantic. The topographical and environmental settings of the site at the time of occupation are described, followed by a discussion of the excavation, chronology, raw material use, the artifacts, a possible dwelling, and the spatial organization of activities. The site is then interpreted in its regional, economic and settlement system setting, and in its national context.

Profile of Clark Spencer Larsen

The Ohio State University biological anthropologist Clark Spencer Larsen has conducted pioneering research on biocultural adaptation that occurred during the last 10,000 years of human evolution. He was among the first to apply multidisciplinary approaches to the study of temporal trends in diet, health, mobility, and interpersonal conflict. Elected to the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) in 2016, Larsen was part of a 25-year project at Catalhoyuk, a site in south-central Turkey that was continuously occupied for more than 1,150 years (7100–5950 BC). Larsen’s Inaugural Article (1) synthesizes his team’s bioarchaeological findings. These findings shed light on how early farming affected Catalhoyuk’s Neolithic societies and others, with impacts continuing to the present. Clark Spencer Larsen. Image courtesy of John Nixon (photographer). Larsen grew up in Beatrice, Nebraska. Near this town is the national monument and associated museum for the initial homestead following President Abraham Lincoln’s signing of the Homestead Act of 1863. “In my family’s first of many visits to the Homestead National Monument, my parents, Leon and Patricia Larsen, showed me artifacts associated with early pioneer settlement,” Larsen says. “As an 8-year-old, I was enthralled with what I was seeing. Ever since, I have continued to be interested in earlier people, especially those documented and interpreted by archaeologists and paleontologists.” By his early teens, Larsen decided that archaeology was to be his life’s work. Larsen’s mother facilitated a meeting at their home with late archaeologist R. Clark Mallam, who was teaching at the University of Nebraska. He advised Larsen to get fieldwork experience and to apply to Kansas State University (KSU). Larsen followed Mallam’s guidance. Days after graduating from Beatrice Senior High School, Larsen worked on an excavation project at Nebraska’s Fort Atkinson before attending KSU. As a KSU freshman, Larsen took a human osteology course taught by biological …

An Industrial Heritage Case Study in Ayvalik: Ertem Olive Oil Factory

Ayvalik is a pioneer settlement in the West Anatolia with an olive-based industry since its establishment. However, due to fast technological developments and changes in production systems, there is a large stock of derelict industrial buildings within the city centre. In addition, a few of them are restored under poor conditions as a result of financial profits. This situation puts Ayvalik’s olive industrial heritage which constitutes the identity of the town at critical risk of extinction. Ertem Olive Oil Factory is one of the industrial heritage buildings in Ayvalik dating back to 1910 which is a typical well preserved-medium scale 19th-century olive oil factory including both olive oil and soap productions. The aim of this paper is to discuss a conservation approach for the industrial settlement of Ayvalik by assessing the factory and its close environment through values, problems and potentials. The paper thus begins with a brief history of Ayvalik and the effects of industrialization on the city. It continues with theoretical principles of adaptive re-use through contemporary literature and general evaluation of adaptive re-use examples in Ayvalik according to these principles. The third part focuses on the general characteristics of Ertem Olive Oil Factory and its close environment. The final part discusses the conservation approach for the adaptive re-use through values, problems and potentials of the building and Ayvalik.

Cyanobacterial diversity in the algal–bacterial consortia from Subarctic regions: new insights from the rock baths at White Sea Coast

Cyanobacteria characterized by exceptional tolerance to environmental stresses often become pioneer settlers in habitats with harsh conditions. There, they can constitute the core of microbial communities. The taxonomic composition of the cyanobacterial component of algal–bacterial consortia dwelling in a habitat with particularly harsh conditions (rock baths at the coast of Kandalaksha Bay of the White Sea) has been elucidated for the first time. Two workflows of the taxonomic analysis of the cyanobacteria were tested including the combinations of two programs and two databases (QIIME+Greengenes and Usearch+NCBI GenBank). Our results obviated the need of the using of a complex approach combining morphological and metagenomic analyses for revealing the taxonomic structure of cyanobacteria in natural habitats. Our results show that the cyanobacterial component of the consortia from the habitats with harsh and highly volatile environmental conditions is enriched with non-diazotrophic and diazotrophic non-branched filamentous cyanobacteria.

The life and botany of Edward Macarthur Bowman (1826–1872)

Edward Macarthur Bowman was one of a select group of pioneer settlers in Queensland who had a strong scientific interest in native plants, and attempted to make a living from collecting plant specimens and seeds. In this he was unsuccessful, but recently located letters and newspaper articles, transcribed here for the first time, give an insight into Bowman’s motivations, his connections to other collectors and botanists, and also the remarkably successful botanical exploring excursions that he was able to make despite his limited means.

The impact of environmental change on Palaeolithic and Mesolithic plant use and the transition to agriculture at Franchthi Cave, Greece.

The multi-period (~38,000–6000 cal BP) site of Franchthi Cave, located in the Argolid peninsula of southern mainland Greece, is unique in the Eastern Mediterranean for preserving a long archaeological sequence extending from the Upper Palaeolithic through to the end of the Neolithic period. In this paper, we present new anthracological (carbonized fuel wood waste) evidence from Franchthi Cave with which we reconstruct the changing ecology of woodland vegetation in its environs during the late Pleistocene and the early-mid Holocene. The integrated archaeobotanical record (charred wood and non-wood macro-remains) demonstrates that in the Lateglacial the now-submerged coastal shelf of the southern Argolid peninsula was covered by steppe grassland vegetation dominated by junipers, almonds, cereals and legumes. The rapid climatic amelioration that marked the start of the Holocene brought about the disappearance of juniper and the expansion of deciduous woodland, cereals and lentils. This woodland-grassland biome bears no analogues in the modern and historical vegetation ecology of the Aegean basin. Instead, it is directly comparable to the steppe woodland biomes exploited by late Pleistocene and early Holocene hunter-gatherers in Southwest Asia, and points to the convergent evolution of late Pleistocene and early Holocene plant exploitation strategies between the two regions. Continuous sea-level rise during the early Holocene led to the gradual extinction of this unique palaeohabitat, which acted as the catalyst for the selective introduction of domesticated cereal crops at Franchthi Cave in the early 9th millennium cal BP. Our meta-analysis of the non-wood archaeobotanical data puts into question the concept of the wholesale introduction of a crop “package” by pioneer settler groups arriving from the East. It is proposed instead that selective cereal crop introduction formed part of a complex pattern of sociocultural interactions that brought together indigenous and immigrant groups into new communities.

Re-enacting the sequence: combined digital methods to study a prehistoric cave

This contribution seeks to demonstrate how recently developed 3D GIS platforms can help archeologists in relating to the original context legacy data that can be employed to digitally reconstruct the sequence of arbitrary layers as it was observed and then excavated in the end of the nineteenth century. This research has been conducted on the prehistoric cave of Stora Förvar, located on the small island of Stora Karlsö, in South-Eastern Sweden. As a part of a research project titled “The pioneer settlements of Gotland,” this line of enquiry has sought to combine 3D-based digital acquisition techniques, Geographical Information Systems (GIS), and old archival material (hand-made drawings, artifacts lists, historical pictures) in order to virtually reconstruct the original sequence as it was excavated through the method of arbitrary layers. At a later stage, the reconstructed sequence has been employed to re-contextualize and analyze the distribution of artifacts so as to detect any possible pattern that could have been useful for defining the chronological boundaries of the Mesolithic phase of habitation of the cave. In brief, three main objectives can be defined: (a) to re-create a spatial connection between the artifacts retrieved at the time of the excavation and the sequence of layers, (b) to define density maps showing the relationship between volumes of layers and categories of artifacts belonging to the sequence, and (c) to further our knowledge about the Mesolithic habitation of the cave, not only vertically (chronologically) but also horizontally.

Viable Systems Analysis of the Wardley IT Evolution Framework

AbstractIn enterprise technology a perennial challenge is reconciliation of “Slow” IT with “Fast” IT. Slow IT is focused on an organization's reliability, stability, and control. Fast IT is driven by innovation, exploration, and adaptation. Tension between Slow IT and Fast IT is inherent to technology, but accelerating business disruptions increase that tension and its consequences. This paper leverages the Viable Systems Model (VSM) to evaluate an IT delivery approach for integrating Slow IT with Fast IT: the Wardley Pioneer Settler Town Planner (PST) trimodal structure. This paper first reviews challenges in enterprise technology management, and the effects of current and emerging disruptions. It then reviews the Viable Systems Model as a tool for analysis of enterprise IT models. Potential obstacles to VSM use are considered, specifically regarding the practical application to enterprise IT management. Then Wardley PST is decomposed using VSM and analyzed to assess its impact on enterprise IT system viability. The VSM proves effective for analyzing future organizational health, and enables us to conclude that the Wardley PST trimodal framework is a viable system that can integrate Slow IT with Fast IT.

‘How our forebears lived’: the modern nation, its folklore and ‘living’ heritage in twentieth-century Australia

ABSTRACTThis article examines the creation of the Swan Hill Folk Museum, which opened in 1966 following an upsurge of interest in Australia’s pioneer and environmental history and heritage. Initially designed by the modernist architect Roy Grounds in collaboration with Eric Westbrook, the director of the National Gallery of Victoria, the Folk Museum offered an innovative interpretation of the past aimed to bolster regional development and tourism. We examine the genesis of the Folk Museum, later renamed the Swan Hill Pioneer Settlement, as a negotiation between local, regional and national narratives about the cultural, environmental and historical impacts of settler colonialism in Australia. The economic success of the Swan Hill Folk Museum in the 1960s and 1970s would inform the creation of numerous open-air pioneer museums throughout Australia during the second half of the twentieth century, and these shaped understandings of the histories, geographies and heritages of rural Australia.

Early Holocene human population events on the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea (9200-3800 cal. BP)

The summed probability distribution of 162 radiocarbon dates from Gotland was analysed with reference to archaeological and environmental data in order to evaluate possible variations in settlement intensity on the island. The data indicated variations in demographic development on the island, with probably several different colonization events and external influences; the pioneer settlement reached the island around 9200 cal. BP. After the initial colonization, the radiocarbon dates were rather evenly distributed until around 7700–7600 cal. BP, then there was a drop in the number of dates between 8300 and 8000 cal. BP that may be associated with the 8200 cold event. A marked decline in the number of dates between 7600 and 6000 cal. BP may be associated initially with the Littorina I transgression, but this transgression cannot explain why the Late Mesolithic period is not well represented on Gotland: the climatic development was favourable but did not result in increased human activity. The number of radiocarbon dates indicated that the population size remained low until around 6000 cal. BP, after which there was a gradual increase that reached a first ‘threshold’ after 5600 cal. BP and a second ‘threshold’ after 4500 cal. BP. The first apparent population increase was associated with the appearance of the Funnel Beaker Culture (FBC) and the second with Pitted Ware Culture (PWC) complexes. A decline in the number of dates occurred after 4300 cal. BP, i.e. towards the Late Neolithic. There was an association between the frequency distributions of the radiocarbon dates and the number of stray finds from different time periods but any correlation was not straightforward.