Refuse Pit Research Articles

Differential pollen preservation in a seventeenth-century refuse pit, Jamestown Island, Virginia

Pollen that falls on soil surfaces is moved down through the deposit by percolating groundwater. As it moves, the pollen is progressively destroyed by oxygen in the groundwater and by aerobic fungi. In the Chesapeake Bay region, the deepest pollen in unsheltered archaeological site profiles is about 100 years old. A comparative study of a stratigraphic pollen profile exposed to the elements at the surface and a series of pollen samples sheltered by artifacts was conducted with materials from a 17th-century refuse pit at Jamestown, Virginia. Pollen was recovered both from under rocks and artifacts lying flat or concave side down and from around iron objects. The shallowest pollen spectrum recovered from under an artifact was 25 cm below the deepest pollen preserved in the exposed stratigraphic profile. No pollen was found in unsheltered pollen samples at the same depths as the artifacts. The distributions demonstrate that the pollen associated with the 17th-century artifacts is contemporaneous with those artifacts; it did not percolate down from later deposits. The artifact pollen spectra were arranged by depth into an artificial profile and appear to record a series of edaphic changes in the pit and a landclearance episode in the Jamestown area.

Durchlässigkeitsuntersuchungen zur Erkundung des Untergrundes von Deponien und Altlasten in der Herforder Lias-Mulde

Durchlässigkeitsuntersuchungen zur Erkundung des Untergrundes von Deponien und Altlasten in der Herforder Lias-Mulde

Excavations at Heslerton, North Yorkshire 1978–82

This report describes the excavations of a 4ha multi-period site situated in the parish of Heslerton, North Yorkshire, on the southern edge of the Vale of Pickering. The site came to light in 1977 and a rescue excavation project, sponsored by the Department of the Environment through North Yorkshire County Council, continued on a seasonal basis from 1978 until December 1982.Occupation at the site began during the late Mesolithic with a flint knapping area, which was also used during the Neolithic and early Bronze Age. During the Late Neolithic a series of shallow gullies may represent the first attempts to establish a field system, and domestic activity may be indicated by two pairs of refuse pits. Other pits of this period demonstrate the presence of an ill-defined avenue of very large post pits running across part of the site. During the early Bronze Age two barrow cemeteries were present. The excavation of Barrow Cemetery 1, besides providing an important series of stratified carbon 14 dates, has produ...

Observations sur trois fosses du Bronze Final 3 découvertes au Puy Saint-André de Busséol (Puy-de-Dôme) / Observations following the discovery of three Late Bronze Age 3 pits from Puy Saint-André de Busséol (Puy-de-Dôme)

Rescue excavation on the peak of Saint-André at Busséol was undertaken in advance of the extension of a basalt quarry. Three protohistoric pits were studied. Their original function is unknown but it seems likely that they were used as refuse pits in their final phase. Pottery of Late Bronze Age 3 b can be linked to that produced in eastern and west-central France. The study of palaeo-environmental material — bone, charcoal, pollen and sediments — allows us to place the deposits in their bio geographical context. The occupation of volcanic knolls situated on the periphery of the Limagne plain and along the river Allier, dating from Late Bronze Age 3, seems to result from a previous knowledge of the surrounding area and its complementary attributes.

Community participation in the control of trachoma in Gazankulu

Groups of villagers, the care groups, are involved in prevention and treatment of trachoma within their own communities. The effect of the scheme on standards of hygiene and prevalence of trachoma has been evaluated by randomised cluster sampling methods. The number of households who were digging refuse pits, acquired individual face cloths and were aware of the role of good hygiene in the prevention of trachoma exceeded significantly those in (control) villages without a care group, in contrast the acquisition of pit latrines showed an insignificant increase. The prevalence and intensity of active trachoma was found to be significantly reduced as a result of the intervention of the care groups. This scheme has been totally integrated into the primary health care system of the area.

History of a Refuse Pit:Interpreting Plains Camp Activities at a Microcosmic Level

History of a Refuse Pit:Interpreting Plains Camp Activities at a Microcosmic Level

Den ældre jernalders bebyggelse på Fyn

Den ældre jernalders bebyggelse på Fyn

Clay Ear Spools from the Aztalan Site, Wisconsin

In the months of July and August, 1950, excavation at the Aztalan Village site was carried on by the Wisconsin Archaeological Survey under the field supervision of Chandler W. Rowe. Additional information was gathered concerning this Middle Mississippi village; this information is being prepared for publication. However, it seems advisable to record the peculiar situation encountered in three of the refuse pits (features 76, 74 and 83) in the hope that correlative information may be forthcoming.

A Bronze Age Refuse Pit at Swanwick, Hants.

The Bursledon Brick Company's works are situated on rising ground north-east of the Southern Railway's branch line from Southampton to Fareham, and some 600 yards east of the tidal river Hamble, as shown on the plan (fig. 1). The geological formation is London clay; the beds have been exposed here to a depth of 40 ft, the section showing 1½ ft. of humus on an upper stratum of brownish-red clay resting on a bed of grey clay. The country immediately around supports oak, hazel, and alder.