Ring Ditches Research Articles

Landscape-scale spatial variations of pre-Columbian anthropogenic disturbances at three ring ditch sites in French Guiana.

In the past two decades, repeated discoveries of numerous geometric earthworks in interfluvial regions of Amazonia have shed new light onto the territorial extent and the long-term impact of pre-Columbian populations on contemporary landscapes. In particular, the recent development of LiDAR imagery has accelerated the discovery of earthworks in densely forested hinterlands throughout the Amazon basin and the Guiana Shield. This study aimed to evaluate the extent and landscape-scale spatial variations of pre-Columbian disturbances at three ring ditch sites in the French Guiana hinterland. We carried out extensive soil surveys along approximately 1 km-long transects spanning from ring ditches through the surrounding landscapes, and drawn upon multiple indicators, including archaeological artifacts, macro- and micro-charcoals, soil colorimetry, and physicochemical properties to retrace the pre-Columbian history of these sites in terms of occupation periods, anthropogenic soil alteration, and ancient land use. Our results revealed a perennial occupation of these sites over long periods ranging from the 5th and 15th centuries CE, with local enrichments in chemical indicators (Corg, N, Mg, K, Ca) both within the enclosures of ring ditches and in the surrounding landscapes. Physicochemical properties variations were accompanied by variations in soil colorimetry, with darker soils within the enclosure of ring ditches in terra-firme areas. Interestingly however, soil properties did not meet all the characteristics of the so-called Amazonian Dark Earths, thus advocating a paradigm shift towards a better integration of Amazonian Brown Earths into the definition of anthropogenic soils in Amazonia. Soil disturbances were also associated to local enrichments in macro- and micro-charcoals that support in situ fire management that could be attributed to forest clearance and/or slash-and-burn cultivation. Taken together, our results support the idea that pre-Columbian societies made extensive use of their landscapes in the interfluvial regions of the French Guiana hinterlands.

호서지역 청동기~초기철기시대 환호 검토

This paper attempts to classify the types of ring ditches from the Bronze Age to the Early Iron Age in the region called Hoseo today. In addition, it examines their features and how they have been changed.
 A total of five types are identified: Type Ⅰ, which has multiple rows, a flat irregular shape, and residential areas inside; Type Ⅱ, which has a single row, a flat circle or oval shape, and a vacant lot inside, but only a ring ditch is constructed; Type Ⅲ, also similar to Type Ⅱ, which is adjacent to residential space outside; Type Ⅳ, which has a single row, a flat oval shape, and including living relics inside; Type Ⅴ, similar to Type Ⅵ, but no relics existed inside the ring ditch.
 Type Ⅰ has separated residential groups according to ring ditch. Therefore, it could guess that it was a means that indicates hierarchies within a village. In terms of Type Ⅱ~Ⅴ, they are strongly considered ceremonial uses because of the following reasons. First of all, their ring ditches surround the top of the hill. Secondly, places separated by ring ditches are a vacant lot or have a few habitations found inside of them. The last one is the presence of entrances to them. Despite the types having a lot in common, they also show significant differences in the scale. The Type Ⅳ·Ⅴ seems that more labour was put into its construction because of its relatively large scale compared to the Type Ⅱ·Ⅲ. Furthermore, it is presumed that it played a role not only in the ceremony but also in making their community strengthen.
 When it comes to time, in the Hoseo area, Type Ⅰ first appeared in the early period of the Bronze Age, then followed by Type Ⅱ and Type Ⅲ. Afterwards, Type Ⅳ newly appeared in the latter period. Eventually, in the Early Iron Age, Type Ⅳ and Type Ⅴ coexisted, and Type Ⅱ·Ⅲ has not been longer identified.
 Since the result that estimated the scope of ritual ceremony illustrates that there are a number of remains in the visible areas of Type Ⅱ rather than Type Ⅲ, Type Ⅱ would have been a communal place that encompassed much more groups. Moreover, the number of remains in the visible areas is the same in the case of Type Ⅳ and Type Ⅴ in spite of their scale difference. It could lead to the possibility that Type Ⅳ, relatively large, did not cover the wider community. Thus, the Type Ⅳ could be the ring ditch managed by a similar scale of community to the Type Ⅴ.

Fra grænselandet mellem to kulturer

Fra grænselandet mellem to kulturer

Au pied du Camp de Recoux, le Champ des Rochers à Soyaux (Charente) : de l'occupation néolithique au complexe funéraire et/ou cultuel de la fin de l'âge du Bronze et de l'âge du Fer

À quelques kilomètres à l’est d’Angoulême, en Charente, le plateau de Recoux, à Soyaux, occupé du Néolithique moyen à l’âge du Fer, était protégé jusqu’au XIXe siècle par un rempart de pierres sèches. C’est à ses pieds qu’une fouille, réalisée en 2007, a permis de mettre au jour un niveau d’occupation du Néolithique final implanté sur l’ancienne berge de la Font Noire, ainsi qu’un remarquable ensemble de vingt-deux enclos circulaires protohistoriques sans sépultures, et trois inhumations du second âge du Fer. Si, entre 2800 et 2500 ans av. J.-C., la berge de la Font Noire ne semble avoir connu qu’une occupation domestique en lien avec celle du site fortifié qui la surplombe, il en va différemment entre le ixe et le IIe siècle av. J.-C. Les enclos s’organisent en deux principaux groupes, distants d’un peu plus d’une centaine de mètres. Leur datation n’est pas toujours aisée, mais le plus ancien (enclos 16), doté d’une palissade de poteaux placée dans la zone enclose, est vraisemblablement implanté dans le courant du ixe siècle. Un second (enclos 1), accompagné de trois enclos satellites en fer à cheval, lui est un peu postérieur, implanté dans le courant du VIIIe siècle. La datation de ceux du second groupe, plus haut sur le versant, est plus délicate, mais l’utilisation de ceux-ci est avérée au moins jusqu’au vie siècle et vraisemblablement au-delà. Certains de ces enclos présentent des pierres déposées en couronne dans les comblements finaux des fossés, parmi lesquelles au moins deux stèles en calcaire, fragmentées. Malgré la fouille manuelle et intégrale des structures, aucun fragment d’os humain n’a été retrouvé ni dans les comblements des fossés ni à l’extérieur. Cette absence de sépulture, ces couronnes de pierres, cette palissade questionnent quant à la fonction de ces ensembles d’enclos. D’autant plus qu’au IIe siècle av. J.-C., trois petites fosses parfaitement alignées et espacées sont creusées et accueillent trois inhumés, placés tous trois en position assise et le regard tourné vers l’est et la vallée de la Font Noire.

Excavation of Four Barrows, and a Middle Bronze Age Cremation Cemetery, at Heatherstone Grange, Bransgore, Hampshire

Excavation at Heatherstone Grange, Bransgore, Hampshire, investigated features identified in a previous evaluation. Area A included ring ditches representing two barrows. Barrow 1.1 held 40 secondary pits, including 34 cremation-related deposits of Middle Bronze Age date, and Barrow 1.2 had five inserted pits, including three cremation graves, one of which dated to the earlier Bronze Age, and was found with an accessory cup. A number of pits, not all associated with cremation burials, contained well-preserved urns of the regional Deverel-Rimbury tradition and occasional sherds from similar vessels, which produced a closely-clustered range of eight radiocarbon dates centred around 1300 BC. Of ten pits in Area C, three were cremation graves, of which one was radiocarbon-dated to the Early Bronze Age and associated with a collared urn, while four contained only pyre debris. Barrow 1.3, in Area E, to the south, enclosed five pits, including one associated with a beaker vessel, and was surrounded by a timber circle. Area F, further to the south-west, included two pits of domestic character with charcoal-rich fills and the remains of pottery vessels, together with the probable remains of a ditched enclosure and two sets of paired postholes. Area H, located to the north-west of Area E, partly revealed a ring ditch (Barrow 1.4), which enclosed two pits with charcoal-rich fills, one with a single Late Bronze Age/Early Iron Age potsherd, and the other burnt and worked flint. A further undated pit was situated to the east of Barrow 1.4. The cremation cemetery inserted into Barrow 1.1 represents a substantial addition to the regional record of Middle Bronze Age cremation burials, and demonstrates important affinities with the contemporary cemeteries of the Stour Valley to the west, and sites on Cranborne Chase, to the north-west.

Unraveling the Occupation History of the Cremation Cemetery at Wijnegem/Blikstraat (Belgium)

ABSTRACTRecently a cremation cemetery was excavated at the site of Wijnegem where 29 cremation graves and 9 funerary monuments were uncovered. Thirty radiocarbon (14C) dates were carried out, mostly on cremated bone but also 10 charcoal samples were dated. Twenty-four cremations were studied. Four ring ditches were dated by charcoal samples from the infill of the ditch. The 14C dates showed an interesting long-term occupation of the cemetery. Different phases were ascertained. The history of the cemetery starts in the northern part of the site around a circular funerary monument. Two cremations were dated at the transition of the Early to Middle Bronze Ages. Two other graves represent the transition from the Middle to the Late Bronze Ages. The main occupation period dates between the end of the Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age. Finally, an isolated cremation grave marks the definite abandonment of the site during the Late Iron Age.

A Bronze Age Round Barrow Cemetery, Pit Alignments, Iron Age Burials, Iron Age Copper Working, and Later Activity at Four Crosses, Llandysilio, Powys

Excavation undertaken at the Upper Severn valley round barrow cemetery at Four Crosses, Llandysilio, Powys, between 2004 and 2006 has increased the known barrows and ring ditches to some twenty-seven monuments within this complex, and revealed additional burials. Based on limited dating evidence, and the data from earlier excavations, the majority of the barrows are thought to be constructed in the Bronze Age. The barrows are considered part of a larger linear cemetery. The landscape setting and wider significance of this linear barrow cemetery are explored within this report. Dating suggests two barrows were later, Iron Age additions. The excavation also investigated Iron Age and undated pit alignments, Middle Iron Age copper working and a small Romano-British inhumation cemetery and field systems. Much of this evidence reflects the continuing importance of the site for ritual and funerary activity.

Amazonian Dark Earths in Bolivia? A soil study of anthropogenic ring ditches near Baures (eastern Llanos de Mojos)

tinise the importance of soil fertility. Therefore, various methods such as interviews, field surveys, soil profile discussions and laboratory analyses were applied. Results show that soils tend to have particular characteristics at ring ditches in contrast to surrounding areas. The combination of distinctively elevated phosphorus values, darker soil colour and the occurrence of potsherds indicate the presence of the Amazonian Dark Earth type Terra Mulata at ring ditch sites. Interviews reveal that local farmers are aware of the increased soil fertility of Tierras Negras within ring ditches. Nevertheless, incentives for using those soils are low due to the limited land use pressure and generally more favourable reference soils in contrast to central Amazonian Ferralsols. We finally discuss integrative approaches covering aspects of both physical and social science as pursued within the presented work in context of the dichotomy between human and physical geography. Zusammenfassung: Archaologische, bodenkundliche und ethnobotanische Forschungen der vergangenen Jahrzehnte brachten neue Anstose zur Betrachtung der Mensch-Umweltbeziehung in Amazonien. In diesem Kontext untersuchen wir mogliche Zusammenhange zwischen Terras Pretas do Indio (Amazonian Dark Earths), welche bislang vor allem im zentralen Amazonasbecken Brasiliens verortet werden, mit prakolumbianischen Erdwerken (Earthsworks, Rundgrabenanlagen) der Llanos de Mojos Boliviens. Dabei berucksichtigen wir ebenfalls die Wahrnehmung von Boden durch die lokale Bevolke rung und den allgemeinen Stellenwert von Bodenfruchtbarkeit. Hierfur wurden unterschiedliche Methoden angewandt, welche Interviews und Feldbegehungen sowie Profilansprachen und Laboranalysen umfassen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Boden an Rundgrabenanlagen bestimmte Eigenschaften im Vergleich zu Referenzflachen aufweisen. Die Kombination aus deutlich erhohten Phosphorwerten, dunkler Oberbodenfarbe und der Prasenz von Tonscherben deutet auf den anth ropogenen Schwarzerdetyp „Tierra Mulata. Interviews zeigen, dass die erhohte Fruchtbarkeit der „Tierra Negra an den Rundgrabenanlagen durch die lokale Bevolkerung wahrgenommen wird. Jedoch sind Anreize zur besonderen Nutzung dieser Boden auf Grund des niedrigen Landnutzungsdrucks kaum vorhanden. Auch sind die Referenzboden im Vergleich zu den Ferralsolen von Zentralamazonien allgemein fruchtbarer. Integrative Ansatze, wie in dieser Studie verfolgt, werden abschliesend im Kontext der Dichotomie zwischen Humangeographie und der Physischen Geographie diskutiert.

Amazonian Dark Earth and Ring Ditches in the Central Llanos de Mojos, Bolivia

Forest islands in the Llanos de Mojos, Bolivia, have distinctive soils that fit published definitions of terra mulata, a kind of Amazonian Dark Earth (ADE). The same soils also contain ceramics and burned clay. ADE is widely distributed in Amazonia, and Mojos is an important comparative case because ADE is found far from the floodplains of the major Amazonian tributaries, alongside and within agricultural earthworks. Although Mojos soils differ from Brazilian examples, they are relevant to larger discussions of ADE. In this particular case, ADE seems to be the product of dense settlement associated with ring ditches, which may have included intensively managed kitchen gardens. Pre-Columbian Mojeños used other strategies (such as raised fields) to improve soils for cultivation. Modern Bolivian farmers cultivate those improved soils intensively. Creation, maintenance, and use of ADE were part of a wide range of agricultural ways of life in pre-Columbian Mojos. Relationships between modern farmers and Amazonian soils are framed by these agricultural systems.

The Transformation of Environment into Landscape: The Historical Ecology of Monumental Earthwork Construction in the Bolivian Amazon

Although the Neotropics are recognized as a region rich in biological diversity, the origin, evolution, and maintenance of this phenomenon continues to be debated. Historical ecologists and landscape archaeologists point out that the Neotropics have a long, complex human history that may have been a key factor in the creation, shaping, and management of present day biodiversity. The construction of monumental earthworks referred to as ring ditches of the Bolivian Amazon and surrounding regions in late prehistory had considerable impact on the fauna, flora, soils, and topography of forest islands. Patterned landscape features, historical documents, energetics, and historical ecology are used to understand the transformation of forest islands into anthropogenic built environments.

Pre-Columbian Ring Ditches along the Yacuma and Rapulo Rivers, Beni, Bolivia: A Preliminary Review

Pre-Columbian farmers built a variety of earthworks in the Llanos de Mojos, part of the Bolivian Amazon. Raised fields, canals, causeways, and mounds of various types in this region date to ca. 800 B.C.–A.D. 1600. In central Mojos, archaeological work was carried out along the Yacuma, a large west-bank tributary of the Mamoré River. Four ring ditches and two areas of associated raised agricultural fields were mapped. The Global Positioning System was used to document earthworks under the forest canopy which were analyzed within a Geographic Information System. Ceramic evidence is also included. The ring ditches in this study expand the known range of such earthworks in Mojos by 200 km. This revised distribution of ring ditches changes interpretations of the long-term history of Arawak speakers in Mojos and throughout Amazonia. While earthworks in Mojos clearly represent systems of intensive agriculture, they cannot be associated only with Arawak speakers or with Arawak languages.

La Nécropole de l'Age du Bronze de "La Croix de la Mission" à Marolles-sur-Seine (Seine-et-Marne)

Abstract The Bronze Age burial ground " La Croix de la Mission " at Marolles-sur-Seine presents a group of 13 ring ditches, 9 burials and 32 cremations of the Late Bronze Age. Two skeletons were dated by Carbon 14 : the first, buried in the central area of the largest ring ditch, confirmed the founding of the necropolis during the Early Bronze Age. The second, buried in the ditch of another of the monuments with a small collection of flint blades and flakes, dates to the Late Bronze Age and corresponds to the last phase of use of the necropolis. The Late Bronze Age cremations can be divided into different categories : cremations with a simple funerary urn or perishable container, complex burials consisting of a funerary urn accompanied by other vessels, or monumental burials. Anthropological studies raise new questions concerning burial rites of this period : recurrent manipulations reveal a wide variety of funerary practices.

Optimization of oxygen transfer in clean water by fine bubble diffused air system and separate mixing in aeration ditches

The influence of design parameters on the transfer of oxygen was studied in different ring ditches equipped with fine bubble membrane air diffusers and separate mixing. The results produced evidence that the oxygen transfer efficiency (OTE) decreases when the air flow rate per diffuser increases. OTE increases asymptotically with the horizontal water flow (50% for velocity up to 0.5 m/sec). It increases also when the diffuser modules are brought closer together. Theoretical analysis enabled ranking of the impact of the design parameters on which the oxygen transfer is dependent, namely the interfacial area (a) and the oxygen transfer coefficient (Kl). The increase in the air flow rate per diffuser essentially reduces the interfacial area by an increase in the diameter of the initial air bubbles and by a reduction of the contact time due to an acceleration of the “spiral flows” (vertical rotation of water flow). The horizontal rotation of water increases the interfacial area most probably by decreasing the diameter of the initial air bubbles and by a lengthening of the contact time resulting from a reduction in the large spiral flows. Bringing the diffuser modules closer together makes longer the contact time by a reduction in the large spiral flows.

Optimization of oxygen transfer in clean water by fine bubble diffused air system and separate mixing in aeration ditches

The influence of design parameters on the transfer of oxygen was studied in different ring ditches equipped with fine bubble membrane air diffusers and separate mixing. The results produced evidence that the oxygen transfer efficiency (OTE) decreases when the air flow rate per diffuser increases. OTE increases asymptotically with the horizontal water flow (50% for velocity up to 0.5 m/sec). It increases also when the diffuser modules are brought closer together. Theoretical analysis enabled ranking of the impact of the design parameters on which the oxygen transfer is dependent, namely the interfacial area (a) and the oxygen transfer coefficient (Kl). The increase in the air flow rate per diffuser essentially reduces the interfacial area by an increase in the diameter of the initial air bubbles and by a reduction of the contact time due to an acceleration of the “spiral flows” (vertical rotation of water flow). The horizontal rotation of water increases the interfacial area most probably by decreasing the diameter of the initial air bubbles and by a lengthening of the contact time resulting from a reduction in the large spiral flows. Bringing the diffuser modules closer together makes longer the contact time by a reduction in the large spiral flows.

Excavations in the Neolithic and Bronze Age Complex at Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, 1947–1952 and 1981

From 1946 to 1952. excavations were undertaken in advance of destruction by gravel workings of a series of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age monuments at Dorchester-on-Thames, Oxon. These included a long enclosure, a cursus, a double ditched henge, pit circles and ring ditches with primary and secondary cremation burials and a notable Beaker burial. Sites I, II, IV, V and VI, all pit circles or ring ditches, were published in 1951. This report describes sites III, VIII, IX, XI, XII, XIII and XIV. By the early 1950s much of the Neolithic complex had been quarried for gravel, and other adjacent areas subsequently were dug away. In 1981 the construction of a bypass led to the excavation of further surviving parts of the complex: site 1, a long D-shaped enclosure incorporated in the southern end of the cursus, and sites 2, 3 and 4.Both sets of sites are presented together, largely following the chronological scheme proposed for the complex by Bradley and Chambers (1988). Site VIII and site 1 are long enclosures of Earlier Neolithic date, with human remains. The latter site has a calibrated date of 3773–3378 BC. Site III is a cursus at least 1600 m long which cuts site VIII and incorporates site 1. A date of 3360–3040 BC was obtained from the primary fill of its ditch. Site XI is a three-phase ring ditch, perhaps successive enlargements of a barrow, but its innermost ditch is cut by a pit circle with cremations. There are Ebbsfleet sherds in the outermost ditch, and dates of 3037–2788 and 3024–2908 BC from the innermost, perhaps primary, ditch. Site XIV is a ring ditch succeeded by the Big Rings henge. Site 3 is a post circle between the ditches of the southern part of the cursus, with some secondary cremations. It has dates from the outer wood of its posts of 2890–2499, 2886–2491 and 2872–2470 BC; dates on charcoal associated with secondary cremations were 2880–2470, 2870–2460 and 2123–1740 BC. Site 2 is a penannular ring ditch with a primary date of 2912–2705 BC, and secondary cremations. Site XII is a notable Beaker burial within a two-phase ring ditch. An adult man was laid crouched on a bier and was accompanied by a fine W/MR beaker, a stone bracer, a tanged copper knife and a small riveted knife with at least one rivet of tin bronze. Traces of a stretcher-like feature were found in an adjacent pit which cuts the inner ring ditch. Site XIII, the Big Rings, is a large double ditched enclosure with central bank and opposed entrances. There was Beaker pottery in the primary fill of the inner ditch, but very little material was found in either ditch, and there were minimal features in the interior, part of which was stripped. Site 4 consists of two conjoined ring ditches within the southern end of the cursus. It encloses cremation burials. One, accompanied by an awl and Collared Urn, has a date of 2290–1910 BC. Traces of a ditched field system (originally referred to as a droveway, site IX) of later Bronze Age date were found cutting sites III, VIII and XIII, and paired ditches on site 1 may be related.The complex is related to its local and regional context, and the sequence of development is discussed. A timescale measured in generations is advocated, with phases of continuity and episodes of little activity both represented. Several aspects of monuments are considered: their differing scales including the monumental, their ability to endure and create tradition, and finally the choice of designs, from the locally customary to the exotic.

Les enclos funéraires de l'Âge du Bronze de Coquelles « RN 1 » (Pas-de-Calais)

ABSTRACT Five closed ring ditches ond two others partially revealed have been excavated at the Bronze Age site of Coquelles. Four incinerations and one inhumation, heavely eroded, were found in the upper layer of the ditch fillig as well as in the interior part of the cercles. The chronological attribution of the site to the middle Bronze age is based on I4C dates, because of the poverty of the archaeological finds.

Henge Monuments: Reappraisal or Reductionism?

Classification has been a fundamental tool in archaeology since the birth of the discipline, particularly in artefactual analysis. All artefacts, including field monuments, have a limitless variety of characteristics and their reduction into a system of classification necessitates the selection, summarization and simplification of those characteristics regarded as diagnostic in order to clarify groupings of related monuments which might otherwise be obscured by concentration on detail. While some doubt has been cast on the value of the classification of henge monuments as an internally coherent group (and the discovery of many more sites has certainly done little to consolidate that coherence) it can still be argued that a strictly defined class of henge is a useful contribution to our understanding (Harding 1987). Other classes of monument of the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC which seem to have ceremonial/funerary functions have also been defined, such as enclosed cremation cemeteries, recumbent stone circles, postcircles, ring cairns, ring ditches and so on. It is widely agreed that there are complex relationships between these various types and their myriad hybrids, or at least that comparisons can be made between various constructional elements.

Towards a reappraisal of henge monuments: origins, evolution and hierarchies

A simple derivation of henges from causewayed camps is rejected. Attention is also drawn to a range of neolithic structures, some covered by a mound, some not. Though interpreted as mortuary structures, they have affinities to henges. Henges may thus best be derived from a broad tradition of neolithic structures; this may in turn have been part of a more widely distributed north-west European tradition of both ritual and domestic structures. Within Britain, similarities of form and function suggest that henges should be seen as a parallel development to ring banks, ring ditches and stone circles. Regional preferences rather than distinct regional types of monuments emerged. Later survival of henge traditions into the first millennium is also discussed.

Flint Distribution, Ring Ditches and Bronze Age Settlement Patterns in the Great Ouse Valley

The current Bronze Age settlement model for the middle and upper Great Ouse valley is based on the distribution of ring ditches from aerial photography, their excavation and the occurrence of stray finds. This settlement study, which is part of a broader survey programme, has initially concentrated on obtaining flint distribution patterns by field walking to see in what ways these could amplify and perhaps solve the problems posed by present evidence. It was also intended to assess its value as a tool for problem solving in the context of landscape archaeology and settlement studies. Although the areas examined were small and selective, the flint distribution patterns, when considered with other evidence suggested that ring ditches were part of complex and extensive settlement locations. However it was evident that the ring ditches were set away from the main habitation foci.