Regional Settlement Research Articles

Understanding the Intellectual Approaches of the Archaeology of ‘Rōhaṇa’ from the 1840s to 1960s: A Literature Review

The archaeology of Rōhaṇa entails a focus on comprehending ‘Rōhaṇa’ from material perspectives. Originating in the mid-19th century CE, this approach evolved with diverse theoretical, methodological, and technological dimensions in alignment with the scholarly context of its time. This paper constitutes an investigation into the available sources explaining the progression of archaeological studies on Rōhaṇa from the 1840s to the 1960s, highlighting the contributions of individuals often identified as British Colonial Officers, Antiquarians, and Archaeologists. While extant research has predominantly centred on elucidating Rōhaṇa, it has overlooked an exploration of the intellectual practices of the scholars involved. Consequently, this paper aims to comprehend the intellectual approaches employed in existing scholarly works on Rōhaṇa. This study uses qualitative methods in secondary research to analyse sources such as published accounts and reports by British officers, archaeological field reports and other significant studies by local scholars. Examining the methodologies, findings, and conclusions of these selected studies reveals their collective contribution to the intellectual understanding of Rōhaṇa from a material perspective. In conclusion, antiquarian methods initially identified Rōhaṇa as the southern administrative division, with Māgama serving as its capital. Subsequently, archaeological initiatives expanded this knowledge through field methods, providing insights into regional settlement patterns. Over time, inquiries into the historicity of Rōhaṇa emerged, evolving the understanding of this region by the mid-20th century.

IRON AGE LEVANTINE POLITIES AND THEIR MATERIAL CULTURE, WITH A CASE STUDY FROM TEL REḤOV, NORTHERN ISRAEL

SummaryThe following article deals with the possible association of political entities with specific material culture. By referring to a test case from the southern Levant – that of Late Iron IIA (late tenth–ninth centuries BC) Tel Reḥov and its political affiliation within the context of the regional settlement system, this article discusses the methodological caveats and prospects pertinent in any attempt to archaeologically identify political entities. It further demonstrates how settlement patterns and material culture may reveal the underlying social complexity of the Iron Age Levantine territorial polities, and the ways in which political hegemony was practised among diverse communities.

Consolidation of unsaturated composite foundation reinforced by T-shaped deep cement mixing piles

T-shaped deep cement mixing piles are variable section piles designed to reinforce unsaturated composite foundation under the embankment loading, which can effectively reduce regional settlement and construction costs. However, how to calculate the consolidation settlement of the reinforced ground is unclear when considering the T-shaped deep cement mixing piles. To investigate the consolidation process, the governing equations for unsaturated composite foundation with T-shaped deep cement mixing piles are firstly derived under the equal strain assumption. Then, semi-analytical solutions for settlement and excess pore pressures are obtained using Laplace transform and transfer matrix methods, and Crump’s method is employed to get analytical solutions in the time domain. The accuracy of the proposed solutions is verified by comparing them with existing ones. Finally, the analysis of the parameters is conducted to explore the consolidation characteristics of unsaturated composite foundation with T-shaped deep cement mixing and deep cement mixing piles. The findings indicate that accounting for the enlarged pile cap leads to a quicker dissipation of excess pore pressures, resulting in a notable reduction in foundation settlement. As the height of the enlarged pile cap and the area replacement ratio increase, the settlement decreases markedly because the enlarged pile cap carries more load.

Changing with the times: From agricultural potential to spatially explicit reconstructions of past land use

Past land-use reconstructions are a key tool for studying long-term human ecodynamics and addressing pressing questions about the origins and evolutionary dynamics of the Anthropocene. In particular, agricultural landcover reconstructions are vital for understanding long-term human-environment dynamics. Most past agricultural land-use models, however, rely heavily on modelling assumptions, make limited use of known archaeological site locations to constrain or inform their estimates and tend to be limited to general estimates of percentages of plant types within catchments around pollen trapping lakes. The lack of information outside catchment areas and low spatial resolution even within catchments constrain the utility of these models. To address this problem, we propose a new approach that combines archaeological predictive modelling with pollen-based agricultural landcover reconstructions to produce more accurate, spatially explicit past landcover estimates. Here, we present the results of a case study deploying the new approach to produce improved past landcover maps for a region in the Western Taurus Mountains, southwestern Turkey. The study area surrounds Sagalassos, an antique urban centre with a regional settlement history encompassing nine millennia. We produced five archaeological predictive models for the study region using the ‘Locally Adaptive Models of Archaeological Potential’ (LAMAP) method spanning the Hellenistic through Late Ottoman period. We then combined those predictive surfaces with ‘Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites’ (REVEALS) pollen landcover reconstructions for the same periods based on pollen from sediment cores extracted from three catchments within the study area. Lastly, we compared the resulting hybrid landcover models to the archaeological record using data not used to make the predictions. We found that the hybrid landcover model aligned very well with the known extents of agricultural land-use from the study area. These results indicate that the proposed approach is a viable way to combine pollen-based landcover models with archaeological data and produce more accurate, empirically-based landcover reconstructions reflecting real human activity in the past.

Emerging Spatio-temporal Hot Spot Analysis of Beijing Subsidence Trend Detection Based on PS-InSAR

Abstract. Scholars have done a lot of research on urban settlement, but it is difficult to give consideration to the temporal and spatial attributes of settlement at the same time in its display and analysis. Most of them focused on the analysis of regional settlement, single point settlement curve and settlement rate map at a certain time, but few combined time and space for collaborative analysis. Therefore, in this paper, 32 scenes Sentinel-1B SAR data are used to obtain settlement data of Beijing via PS-InSAR method. Secondly, combined with the temporal and spatial attributes of settlement results, the subsidence law revealed by using spatio-temporal cube slicing and attribute filtering. Finally, subsidence development trend and the detection of abnormal subsidence are explored by emerging hot spots (ESH) analysis. The experimental results show that the settlement funnel center in Beijing is mainly concentrated near the junction of Chaoyang district and Tongzhou district. The settlement range tends to expand. There are several local continuous subsidence areas in the settlement oscillating area. Spatio-temporal analysis makes the development trend of urban settlement more intuitive. Emerging hotspot analysis combined with Getis-Ord Gi* statistics and Mann-Kendall trend test could more effectively analyze the settlement trend of the study area and detect new potential settlement centers, so that to provide auxiliary decision-making for urban safety early warning and city development.

Sticky places for regional immigrant settlement: A literature review

AbstractSince 1996, migration‐related schemes have directed new immigrants, refugees and humanitarian entrants to regional Australia to mitigate the need for skills and declining population growth in these locations. However, a key concern of these schemes is the uncertainty of long‐term immigrant retention in regional locations beyond the stipulated visa category period. We draw on the metaphor of stickiness: the ability of geographic clusters to attract and retain to examine Australian regional settlement literature and identify factors and processes associated with immigrant settlement and retention. Through a systematic and rigorous review process, we identify seven interconnected factors and processes nestled amongst three core themes of sticky factors and processes that attract, enable and impede settlement and retention contributing to the growing knowledge regarding regional immigrant settlement and retention.

Holocene overbank sedimentation in Central Europe between natural and human drivers - The Weiße Elster River (Central Germany)

Up to several meters thick fine-grained Holocene overbank deposits are ubiquitously found in most Western and Central European lowland floodplains. However, despite their large importance for the geomorphological and geoecological floodplain properties, the interplay of different possible causes for their formation are not well understood yet. Most authors suggest human-induced deforestation as the main precondition for sediment mobilization and transport from the slopes to the floodplain, whereas others suggest a stronger influence of climatic factors. This current research gap is caused by often missing well-resolved fluvial chronostratigraphies and spatio-temporal information about former human activity within the studied catchments. To fill this gap we exemplarily studied Holocene overbank sedimentation and possible human or natural drivers in the meso-scale Weiße Elster catchment in Central Germany. To do so, we applied numerical dating as well as sedimentological and micromorphological analyses to Holocene fluvial sediments along three floodplain transects. Furthermore, we built up an unprecedented systematic spatio-temporal database of former human activity within the catchment from the Neolithic until the Early Modern Ages. Together with published paleoclimatic data, this database allowed an unprecedented, systematic comparison of Holocene overbank sedimentation phases with possible external controls. Our data show that some overbank sedimentation phases were directly linked with human activities in the affected site sub-catchments, whereas others were not. Instead, all phases seemed to be linked with natural factors. This difference with most former studies could possibly be explained by previously often limited numerical dating of the fluvial sediments and by largely missing spatio-temporally well-resolved regional settlement records, hindering a precise temporal link of fluvial sedimentation with former human settlement. Furthermore, this difference could possibly also be explained by a relatively high natural sensitivity of the landscape dynamics in the Central German lowlands, showing a subcontinental climate, towards climatic external controls.

Theoretical model of "smart" urban planning as a cyber-physical complex

A theoretical model of "smart" urban planning is presented. The model demonstrates the possibility of integrating modern universal and specialized information platforms with appropriate planning programs and methods, "digital twins", and modeling automation technologies into the methodology of advanced spatial planning of complex urban systems. The methodology of strategic urban planning for regions and macroregions is based on a system of laws and principles of dialectical unity in goal-setting, forecasting, programming, and design and implementation of solutions for their development. In total, ten paired groups of principles are presented, taking into account five patterns, each of which includes three principles. Within the framework of this study, a synthesis of specialized concepts is used in the areas of strategic urban planning and information planning and modeling, and the notion of strong artificial urban intelligence is defined. The composition of urban planning information platforms includes heuristic, simulation, software, design, and implementation automonitoring platforms, as well as their most important modeling functions based on the "digital twin" of the object planned, introduction of appropriate advanced scientific and technological knowledge, integration of successful practices, and mechanisms for diagnosing and monitoring the implementation of solutions for the development of regional settlement systems. The theoretical and diagnostic structure of criteria for assessing the territorial and spatial development of regions is demonstrated.

Study of the peculiarities of social and spatial relations in the settlement system of Chernivtsi region

The article analyzes the compliance of the actual formation and functioning of territorial communities with the methodological recommendations. Using territorial communities as an example, the text highlights both the successes and shortcomings of meeting the fundamental social requirements of the local population, such as educational, healthcare, and administrative services. It identifies disparities in the arrangement of social and spatial connections within the Chernivtsi region's communities. Indeed, some communities do not meet the territorial and demographic requirements for formation, and certain social infrastructure institutions may not function as intended, which is not addressed in the languages of the TCs. Consequently, we must acknowledge that administrative-territorial reform will cause changes in the structure of local and regional settlement systems. The driving force behind these structural modifications is the socio-spatial connections. Keywords: administrative-territorial structure, decentralization, settlement systems, socio-spatial relations, territorial accessibility.

Design of E-Monitoring Application for Construction Project Program Evaluation Website Based

A construction project is a series of interrelated activities to achieve certain goals (building/construction) within certain time, cost and quality limits. Rehabilitation and Reconstruction is one of the post-disaster disaster management projects. The success of a project can not only be seen from the completion time and final results of the project, but one important factor is the project progress report which is always monitored. E-monitoring is the supervision and monitoring of work processes through the use of information technology. In this research, the system development method used is the waterfall method and the system testing method uses black box testing. The monitoring and evaluation system for construction projects in rehabilitation and reconstruction at the Central Sulawesi Regional Settlement Infrastructure Center can display information about the progress of construction projects for rehabilitation and reconstruction at the Central Sulawesi Regional Settlement Infrastructure Center. This system can also speed up data searches, data processing and can process data

Changes in regional settlement systems in Poland

Abstract This article is an attempt to identify regularities in changes in regional settlement systems in Poland with an indication of the elements that showed the highest population dynamics (growth or decline) in particular periods, thus contributing to changes in the structure of these systems. In order to show similarities and differences in the course of the analyzed changes, univariate statistical measures (median, quartiles) were used. This allowed for presenting a dynamic typology of these changes in order to show their cyclical nature and spatial diversity. The results show that these processes do not occur in a similar direction in all regions. The model of consistent changes in the size structure of cities concerns the settlement core of the country (Mazowieckie, Wielkopolskie, Małopolskie), while the resequential changes generally took place in the agricultural peripheries of the country (Podlaskie, Warmińsko-mazurskie), which were drained from the demographic potential by the migration outflow of the population the earliest, as well as in industrial regions (Śląskie, Łódzkie), where the political and economic transformation significantly affected population processes.

Coordinating settlement (im)mobilities: exploring secondary migration patterns and settlement geographies among refugee-humanitarian migrants in regional Australia

ABSTRACT International migrants play an important role in addressing the social and economic challenges associated with population ageing and fertility decline that are keenly felt in regional Australia. In a policy arena where the attraction and retention of migrants remains a challenge, large numbers of refugee-humanitarian migrants have, without any direct government policy intervention, independently gravitated towards unplanned regional settlement locations. However, these secondary migration patterns, often regarded as ‘organic’ or informal, are not well understood. We present new insights into their mobility in regional Australia using secondary datasets and primary research. Using Institutional Ethnographic methods, we highlight how their movements are not as ‘organic’ as imagined. Simultaneously, through the 'new mobilities' paradigm, we highlight the link between international and internal migration of refugee-humanitarian migrants. We tease out the relational element by drawing attention to how immobility of family members, structured by immigration policies that delay and deny family reunification, is intertwined with secondary migration patterns in Australia. As regional communities embrace the benefits of the secondary migration of refugee-humanitarian migrants, we show that these benefits are perversely supported by punitive family reunification policies that can have implications for the successful integration of refugee-humanitarian migrants.

Need of Integrated Regional Planning Approach for the Decentralisation and Optimisation of Renewable Energy Based Electric Vehicle Infrastructure: A Comprehensive Visualisation

The existing research narrates avenues in the regional and thematic area preconditions set via the framework and institutional mechanism towards energy decentralisation (ED). Moreover, with the entrant stakeholders and inclusive energy policy, the researchers find potential in local resources and capacity towards the decarbonisation of the economy. Consequently, governments around the globe emphasise multi-level sectoral economic support packages to buffer the immediate to medium-term gap and subsequently investigate their implementation in infrastructure and technology. The present review attempts to focus on the conditions of energy transformation in enabling a policy and regulatory framework. As such an integrated regional spatial framework focuses to identify support packages across urban and rural planning, transportation, renewable energy, infrastructure, environment and climate change and sustainability. Moreover, the present review revolves its thematic focus around the transport sector to strategize the energy decentralisation of the local potential in the ongoing electric vehicle (EV) transportation. The presented review toils on EV users’ struggle to orient to the need of the hour in the inadequacies of refill/charging infrastructure. Thus, it is imperative to review parameters such as availability and access to charge, depending on the source of energy in the charging infrastructure, facilities and services at the regional level. The presented review investigates under categoric and key search across conceptual regional settlement hierarchy to strategize the development of the Renewable Energy based Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (REEVI) package under system, support and services (SSS). Conclusively, the review study brings out a tentative regional settlement hierarchical integrated methodology for REEVI-SSS in the missing linkages and gaps of spatial planning to ease medium and long trip EV transportation challenges faced at the inter-city–rural, i.e., regional level.

Employment, income, and skill alignment of humanitarian migrants in the Australian labour market: Metropolitan and regional contexts, 2000–2016

AbstractHumanitarian migration to Australia has reached new levels, accompanied by unprecedented complexity and diversity. Little is known about labour market integration for these newcomers, nor about how well their skills match those required for or relevant to their employment. Here we analyse how labour force engagement and skill alignment are influenced by migration status, including migration scheme, region of birthplace, applicant status, year of arrival, citizenship, and internal migration after settlement, and metropolitan versus regional geographic location of settlement. In particular, we focus on employed humanitarian visa holders who arrived between 2000 and 2016. Using the 2016 Australian Census and Migrants Integrated Dataset (ACMID) for quantitative analysis, our modelling established that they were not as likely to be in the labour force as skilled visa holders. Similarly, humanitarian visa holders who were employed were less likely to be in jobs that matched their skills and more likely to have lower income levels. Moreover, there were significant differences in skill alignment between those settling in metropolitan and in regional areas. The relative probability of being over‐skilled was correlated with migration scheme, origin, duration since arrival, internal movement in the year preceding the census, proficiency in spoken English, family status, and gender. Labour market outcomes varied by visa subtype and by metropolitan versus regional settlement. We conclude that the design of migration policy requires further important consideration, both to improve the outlook for this vulnerable population and to address chronic skill shortages in Australia.

Novel B2 mitogenomes from Continental southern Patagonia's Late Holocene: New insights into the peopling of the Southern Cone.

The main aim of this study is to discuss the migratory processes and peopling dynamics that shaped the genetic variability of populations during the settlement of the Southern Cone, through the analysis of complete mitogenomes of individuals from southern Patagonia. Complete mitogenomes were sequenced through massively parallel sequencing from two late Holocene individuals (SAC 1-1-3 and SAC 1-1-4) buried in the same chenque at Salitroso Lake Basin (Santa Cruz province, Argentina). To evaluate matrilineal phylogenetic affinities with other haplotypes, maximum likelihood and Bayesian phylogenetic reconstructions were performed, as well as a haplotype median-joining network. The mitogenomes were assigned to haplogroups B2 and B2b, exhibiting an average depth of 54X and 89X (≥1X coverage of 98.6% and 100%), and a high number of nucleotide differences among them. The phylogenetic analyses showed a relatively close relationship between the haplotype found in SAC 1-1-4 and those retrieved from a Middle Holocene individual from Laguna Chica (Buenos Aires province), and from a group of individuals from the Peruvian coast. For the SAC 1-1-3, no clear affiliations to any other haplotype were established. The large divergence between the haplotypes presented in this study suggests either a highly variable founder gene pool, or a later enrichment by frequent biological contact with other populations. Our results underline the persistence of genetic signals related to the first waves of peopling in South America, suggesting that the regional settlement of the southern end of the continent has been much more complex than initially thought.

Explaining population booms and busts in Mid-Holocene Europe

Archaeological evidence suggests that the population dynamics of Mid-Holocene (Late Mesolithic to Initial Bronze Age, ca. 7000–3000 BCE) Europe are characterized by recurrent booms and busts of regional settlement and occupation density. These boom-bust patterns are documented in the temporal distribution of 14C dates and in archaeological settlement data from regional studies. We test two competing hypotheses attempting to explain these dynamics: climate forcing and social dynamics leading to inter-group conflict. Using the framework of spatially-explicit agent-based models, we translated these hypotheses into a suite of explicit computational models, derived quantitative predictions for population fluctuations, and compared these predictions to data. We demonstrate that climate variation during the European Mid-Holocene is unable to explain the quantitative features (average periodicities and amplitudes) of observed boom-bust dynamics. In contrast, scenarios with social dynamics encompassing density-dependent conflict produce population patterns with time scales and amplitudes similar to those observed in the data. These results suggest that social processes, including violent conflict, played a crucial role in the shaping of population dynamics of European Mid-Holocene societies.

PIDHIRTSI GROUP OF SITES OF THE KYIV DNIPRO REGION OF SCYTHIAN AGE

The paper reveals the issue of population switch in the Kyiv Dnipro region which occurred gradually from the end of the 7th to the 5th centuries BCE. It is related to the origin of the Pidhirtsi group of sites. In historiography since 1950—1960s two hypotheses on this topic have been developed: the integration version based on the diffusion of forest-steppe and Mylograd cultural elements and autochthonous one. Nowadays, after the discovery of new archaeological sites and revision of the chronology, the more progressive research direction is processual migration archeology. The design of the approach is multidisciplinary. The population switch phenomenon is connected to the climate caused migrations of the forest population of Mylograd culture to the Upper and Middle Dnipro regions. In such circumstances with a range of cross-cultural contacts, the Pidhirtsi group of sites was formed.
 The settlement structure reconstructed on the basis of the material culture changes in correlation with geo informational analysis of the sites for two chronological periods. The impulses of the Mylograd population were caused by the economic crisis and paleoclimatic situation, in fact cooling and increasing humidity. The first diffusion occurred at the end of 7th century BCE and traced after burial complexes. The peak of population switch took place in the end of 6th — beginning 5th centuries BCE. As an example of material culture change were revised the materials of Bortnychi settlement explored in the 1950s. In the area of the Mylograd culture was observed decreasing of the anthropogenic activity. The forest steppe population inhabited the Left Bank Dnipro — Don region.
 Reconstruction of the cultural and historical context on the forest and forest-steppe frontier is a necessary approach for understanding the regional settlement system. Long-range interdisciplinary paleoclimatic studies of the Kyiv Dnipro region are a prospective direction for future research.

Regional Resettlement of Refugees: rethinking ‘secondary migration’

ABSTRACT Regional settlement of refugees is a federal, state and often also local government agenda in Australia. It is increasingly welcomed by regional employers seeking to plug labour shortages and by non-government organisations facilitating their refugee clients’ relocation from cities. This paper investigates the role of secondary movements in refugee settlement and the tensions between a dominant vision of regional settlement as the final destination, which frames retention as settlement success and problematises secondary migration, and an alternative understanding as a stage in a social and spatial trajectory that includes mobility. Drawing on former refugees’ own reflections on their regional settlement in qualitative interviews, we investigate four themes: tensions between local interests in refugee retention and refugee interests in mobility; navigating the freedom of movement and settlement dreams and objectives over time and space; making sense of barriers in regional places and in the wider Australian society (including racism and discrimination); and considering place and mobility in the context of family and community. We conclude that the success of regional refugee settlement policies in Australia will depend on taking seriously former refugees’ right to be mobile, their search for happiness and their resourcefulness, as well as racism and discrimination.

Spatiotemporal pattern of Neolithic-Bronze Age settlements and its driving mechanisms in Northern Haidai Region, China: Natural environment, social organization, and subsistence strategies

The spatiotemporal distribution of settlements and their environmental context since the Neolithic is one of the vital components for exploring past changes in human-land relations. However, little attention has been paid to the relationship between the evolution of the social organization, settlement patterns, and the corresponding environmental settings. In this study, the spatiotemporal distribution and rank-size of settlements revealed crucial aspects of the hydrogeomorphic conditions, cultural inheritance, and social evolution in northern Shandong Province based on the GIS analytical methods. The prehistoric settlements were primarily distributed in the pre-mountain plains and low mountain hills due to the change of water volume of big rivers and sea level fluctuations until the expansion to the northern plains during the Longshan period. Determined cultural sequences were demonstrated to be accompanied by different settlement development patterns. Most settlements in an older period were abandoned in the subsequently younger period except the Shang-Zhou period, indicating poor inheritance. The emergence of a middle and high-rank regional settlement system in the Dawenkou-Longshan period suggests a fundamental change in social organization, reflecting the transition from complex chiefdoms to early city-state kingdoms. Such a regional social stratification was intensified during the Shang-Zhou periods when a four-tier settlement system emerged. In addition, the solid cultural importation from the Dawenkou-Longshan period to the central and southern regions brought about the exchange and advancement of production technologies, which once established a solid position in agriculture. However, this was broken by drought and cold climatic events, and the complexity of the Yueshi cultural settlement system that subsequently emerged was substantially weakened. As an important area of Haidai culture, the natural driving force and social organization of ancient culture development from the Neolithic Age to the Bronze Age are of great significance for understanding the interrelationship between the origin and process of Chinese civilization and environmental evolution.

Migrant and Refugee Retention in Regional Australia at the Intersection of Structure and Agency

This article examines the question of migrant and refugee retention in small and medium-sized towns referred to as ‘regional towns’ in Australia as a problem at the intersection of structure and agency in migration and settlement processes. Regional settlement pathways typically occur in the context of business interests in a reliable labour supply, government efforts of migration management and, importantly, migrants’ and refugees’ socially embedded life courses that are shaped by aspirations, opportunities and constraints. Rather than reducing the question of retention to one of migrant and refugee choice, this article explores the question whether people with migration backgrounds remain in regional locations through the conceptual lens of structuration and situated learning. Based on an analysis of key policies that have shaped regional migration and settlement in Australia and an analysis of qualitative interviews with migrants in different visa categories in regional Victoria, conducted over the last ten years, the article will explore three key factors influencing retention: migration policies, employment experiences in the context of settlement and migrants and refugees’ situated knowledge emerging from these experiences over time. In conclusion, I will argue that unpacking the policy quandary of migrant and refugee retention sociologically can contribute to advancing both an understanding of mobility and immobility as integral to migration processes and the development of sustainable regional migration policies.