Settlement Survey Research Articles

Mediterranean valleys revisited: Linking soil erosion, land use and climate variability in the Northern Levant

This paper presents results of geomorphological and archaeological investigations undertaken in several small drainage basins in the Jebel al-Aqra region of southern Turkey. By focusing intensive archaeological settlement survey in basins where securely dated sequences of sedimentary valley fills have been recorded, spatially and temporally linked, high-resolution records of land use and soil erosion have been generated. Sedimentary data show that throughout most of the Holocene, floodplains remained rather stable, allowing deep soils to form. But in the past two millennia, probably from AD 150–700, a phase of severe soil erosion was initiated and resulted in the deposition of 3.5–5.0 m of alluvial sediments on valley floors. Archaeological and historical evidence suggest that while these areas were occupied by agrarian communities since at least 2800 BC, nearly three millennia of cultivation during the Bronze and Iron Ages had relatively little effect on soil erosion. The intensification of settlement throughout the region and the conversion of upland areas to intensive agricultural production during the Hellenistic, Roman and late Roman periods (300 BC–AD 650), however, created the necessary preconditions for severe soil erosion to occur. These data are compared against modern and paleoclimate studies of the eastern Mediterranean, which show an extremely variable precipitation regime and the effects that it can have on erosion. A 400-year lag between the initial settlement of upland areas and the first evidence of soil erosion suggest that it may have been the intersection of extreme precipitation events with particular land use conditions of the Roman and late Roman periods which worked together to drive soil erosion.

Prehispanic Settlement in the Cuauhtémoc Region of the Soconusco, Chiapas, Mexico

This paper presents the results of a 28 sq km, 100% coverage settlement survey undertaken on the Pacific coast of southern Chiapas, Mexico in a region known since Aztec times as the Soconusco. The Soconusco has always been one of the richest agricultural regions in Mesoamerica, and the survey zone is now covered by industrial-scale fruit cultivation. This agricultural practice results in a grid of trenches and allows a high level of confidence in the surface/subsurface correspondence of cultural materials. Detailed descriptions of the survey methods and the substantive results of 80 new sites recorded from 860 systematically collected surface units are presented. Three and a half millennia of Prehispanic occupation were documented, from some of the earliest ceramic-using Barra phase villages at approximately 1900 CAL. B.C. to the Late Postclassic settlements of the early 16th century A.D. The results from this small survey zone are related to what is known from other surveys of settlement changes along the Pacific coast of southern Chiapas and northern Guatemala.

Settlement Pattern Study and the Search of the Origin of Chinese Civilization

1. Settlement pattern study is one of the important areas in archaeology. I propose to define “settlement pattern” as “the housing arrangement of a human group.” Settlement is not an isolated house. It is the form in which a group of people of variable number living in close proximity. That is to say, it is the making of a settlement or the making of a group of settlements in a region by a human group. Settlement pattern is analogous to a mirror. It reflects the social organization and structure of the society that constitutes the settlements. Changes in settlement pattern are pertained to the development of human society and the changes in the organization and structure of the society. The archaeological study of settlement pattern is also called “settlement archaeology.” According to my understanding, the goal of archaeological study of settlement pattern is to monitor the social relationship of the past. It is a study of the past social organization and structure and the relationship between human group and environment. It provides important clues to the development of past societies through the study of the background and factors leading to the changes in settlement pattern. 2. The earliest settlement pattern study in China can be traced back to the excavations at Yinxu 殷墟 site in Anyang 安阳 in the 1930s and the excavations at Banpo 半坡 Neolithic settlement site in Xi’an 西安 in the first half of 1950s. To date, settlement sites that have been more-or-less completely excavated include Jiangzhai 姜 寨 at Lintong 临潼 and Xinglongwa 兴隆洼 at Aohan 敖汉 Banner, Inner Mongolia. Before the early half of 1990s, settlement pattern study in China was limited to the study of single settlement site. These studies concentrated on the questions of relative chronology and cultural characteristics of the site. They were inadequate in the pursuits of settlement plan and inter-settlement relationship. This weakness was attributable to the lack of the understanding of the importance of settlement clusters and the deficiency of in-depth settlement survey information. In recent years, Chinese archaeologists in collaboration with colleagues from other countries, have conducted full-coverage settlement surveys in the Huanhe 洹河 river valley, the Yi-Luo 伊洛 river valley and the Yinghe 颖河 river valley in Henan 河南, southeastern Shandong 山东 and Juxian 莒县 in Shandong, the Banzhijian 半枝箭 river valley in southeastern Inner Mongolia. They have revealed a large number of archaeological sites. The newly discovered sites in some of these areas increase the number of previously known sites in the same areas by several times! This is an indication of the importance of systematic and detailed settlement surveys. They lay the foundation for settlement pattern study. Settlement pattern study can be divided into synchronic and diachronic studies. Each of these categories can be further partitioned into microscopic and macroscopic studies.

Rural Settlement and Soil Erosion from the Late Roman Period through the Medieval Islamic Period in the Lower Alentejo of Portugal

This article presents the results of a site survey of Late Roman period and Medieval Islamic period rural settlements in the Lower Alentejo of southern Portugal, and of geoarchaeological investigations that evaluate the role of human activity and environmental change in the pattern of settlement growth, decline, and abandonment documented by the survey. The survey revealed that some time after the dissolution of Roman control of Iberia in the 5th century A.D., small hamlets and villages began to appear in the study area. Over the next 500 years, and particularly following the Muslim invasion of A.D. 711, settlement density increased sixfold over what it had been during the Roman period. The most salient transformations in settlement patterning and material culture that occurred during this period, however, coincided with the consolidation of the Umayyad Caliphate in Cordoba in the mid-10th century, rather than the Arab and Berber invasion of A.D. 711. Subsequently, during the mid-12th century, the majority of rural villages were abandoned, nearly a century before the Christian Reconquista in A.D. 1238. The region remained largely depopulated until the mid-late 1400s, and settlement density in the region was never again as high as it was during the later Medieval Islamic period. Geoarchaeological evidence of widespread erosion and soil loss suggests that overuse of the land may have been a factor in the abandonment.

The survey of ground surface settlement caused by cut and cover tunnel excavation in Tabriz subway

The ground surface settlement is one of the most important events caused by excavation that has been studied by many international researches in order to control and limit its effect. This article investigates the effect of excavation for cut and cover tunnels on surface settlement of adjacent ground in Tabriz subway. At the first this article discuses about theories based on experimental results concerned the similar studies carried at the various projects in big cities. Then measurements of ground settlement in part of Tabriz subway that was obtained from local surveys was shown. Later with comparison of the analytical results with plaxis and in-situe data, the property of the soil has been obtained. The precise level, which was obtained from regional organization, was used for measurement of ground settlement. According to the obtained results from measurements, maximum settlement of taken points was 9.95mm. The calculated amount of settlement from plaxis was more than results of local surveys, which could be due to lack of reliance on laboratorial parameters of soil. At the end of article soil real parameters with use of back analysis has been obtained. Measured settlement values are in the range of the other researchers results. (A) This paper was presented at Safety in the underground space - Proceedings of the ITA-AITES 2006 World Tunnel Congress and the 32nd ITA General Assembly, Seoul, Korea, 22-27 April 2006. For the covering abstract see ITRD E129148. Reprinted with permission from Elsevier.

Socio-Economic Transformations: Settlement Survey in the Tehran Plain and Excavations at Tepe Pardis

ABSTRACTAn archaeological survey of the plain of Tehran was begun in August 2003, marking the initiation of the second phase of collaborative research between Durham University, the University of Bradford, the University of Leicester, the University of Tehran and the Iranian Cultural Heritage and Tourism Organisation (ICHTO). The survey was launched with three main aims. Firstly, to pilot the collection of data regarding the frequency, distribution, density and condition of sites from the terminal Palaeolithic c. 8000 B.C., through the Late Chalcolithic c. 3000 B.C. to the present. Secondly, to provide a basis from which to select prehistoric sites for detailed survey and test excavation in order to enhance the absolute chronology of the Tehran plain. Finally, to begin to assess the archaeological landscape background to these changes in the light of geomorpho- logical analysis. In the summer of 2004, we continued this work during a second season and recorded a total of 123 archaeological sites, including 14 previously unknown Chalcolithic sites. One of the larger Chalcolithic sites to be identified in our first season, Tepe Pardis, was also excavated in 2004 in order to enhance the absolute chronology for the plain, and has generated dates of c. 5300 B.C. for the Late Neolithic/Transitional Chalcolithic interface (Fig. 1). Finally, our new survey data has reconfirmed our earlier findings that this non-renewable cultural resource is under substantial pressure from farming, building and illicit excavations.

Top-down or bottom-up: rural settlement and raised field agriculture in the Lake Titicaca Basin, Bolivia

Differing interpretations regarding the organization of past intensive farming are often distinguished as “top-down” or “bottom-up” perspectives. The development of intensive farming and its social organization are attributed to either nascent states and centralized governments or the incremental work of local communities or kin-based groups. We address the social organization of raised field farming in one region of the Lake Titicaca Basin of the Andean altiplano, Bolivia. We evaluate past research in the Katari Valley, including our own, based on recent settlement survey, excavation, and a variety of analyses. Taking a long-term perspective covering 2500 years, we find that relations of production and rural organization changed greatly over time in relation to changing sociopolitical conditions. Local communities played dynamic roles in the development and organization of raised field farming, yet its intensification and ultimate recession were keyed to the consolidation and decline of the Tiwanaku state. We conclude that the top-down/bottom-up dichotomy is overdrawn. Local communities and their productive practices never operated in a political or economic vacuum but both shaped and were transfigured by regional processes of state formation, consolidation, and fragmentation.

Getechnical monitoring by digital precise photogrammetry

Monitoring is a key element of observation design and construction method in civil engineering structures. In the case of tunnel measurement, convergence measure and electro-optical distance measuring instruments are usually used for inner displacement survey and crown settlement survey, respectively. As for slope measurement, a borehole displacement meter or an electro-optical distance measuring instrument has thus far been used for displacement survey. These methods, however, are weighed down by many disadvantages. Therefore, a new method must be developed. In this paper, a new geotechnical monitoring system by digital precis e photogrammetry is proposed as a monitoring method for observational design and construction method in civil engineering structures. Then the model experiment of the geotechnical monitoring system by digital precise photogrammetry developed by author was carried out in the laboratory. Based on measurement result obtained, it can be concluded that there is substantial potential for the exploitation of digital precise photogrammetry technique in civil engineering measurement. This study also demonstrated that the proposed methodology is routinely capable of achieving object displacement accuracy well in survey in civil and geotechnical engineering applications.

MULTISCALAR MODEL OF RURAL HOUSEHOLDS AND COMMUNITIES IN LATE CLASSIC COPAN MAYA SOCIETY

A variety of models contribute to our understanding of Classic Maya sociopolitical structure. Few, however, consider the variability that existed within Maya systems, and the temporal and spatial scales of analysis have often been limited, especially with respect to the commoner segment of society. One model that has focused attention on this component of the Maya is thesian otot, described by Charles Wisdom (1940The Chorti Indians of Guatemala. University of Chicago Press) and introduced for the Copan Maya by William Fash (1983 Deducing Social Organization from Classic Maya Settlement Patterns: A Case Study from the Copan Valley. InCivilization in the Ancient Americas: Essays in Honor of Gordon R. Willey. University of New Mexico Press and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University). Based on data from a 135-km2regional settlement survey and excavations of the Copan Valley in Honduras, it is argued that this model, in conjunction with other, broader models of Classic Maya society, offers a useful perspective from which to construct a multiscalar model of ancient Copan social organization. The variability amongsian otot, particularly in terms of economic production, is considered. The ceramic data from Copan suggest that ceramic production among commoner units was communal, and the possibility for community cooperatives is raised. Finally, the dynamic scale and productive relations among the commoners are considered in light of broader sociopolitical changes in the processual history of the Copan polity. It is concluded that the intersection of social, political, and economic institutional frameworks needs to be more comprehensively investigated from varied scales, both temporal and settlement, to appreciate fully the diversity of Maya social organization during the Late Classic/Terminal Classic transition.

Ridge-Top Storage and Defensive Sites: New Evidence of Conflict in Northern British Columbia

Regional settlement survey at Kitwancool Lake in northern British Columbia has indicated that food storage features (cache pits) tend to be situated in steep ridge-top locations, as are a lookout site and small pithouse settlement. The positioning of these sites provides evidence of perceived threats and fits a pattern of regional conflict emerging from other ethnohistoric and archaeological data. The motives for conflict are briefly considered in terms of the lake's rich salmon resources and its position near the interior frontier of the Northwest Coast culture area, but the main focus is upon contextualizing a ubiquitous but under-emphasized site type—cache pits.

Natural catastrophes in Arctic populations: the 1878–1880 famine on Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska

This study draws on data from recent settlement surveys and new demographic data derived from repatriation-related assessments of human remains in museums to examine the circumstances of the 1878–1880 famine on Saint Lawrence Island, Alaska. The human data consist of a biased sample of individuals dying at these settlements. We compare this sample to an Arctic-specific model of population structure in order to identify and estimate segments of the population missing from the sample. The settlement-specific population estimates from the human remains are combined with population estimates derived from settlement data to give an island-wide population projection. The pre-famine population estimates indicate that the 1878–1880 famine mortality was over 90%. This tragic reduction in human population necessitated adoption of new hunting strategies that changed settlement patterns on the island. Migration of Yup’ik families from the Chukotka Peninsula after the famine is correlated with changes in house designs. This study suggests that cultural change was a significant feature of recovery from the famine and is an important factor in understanding cultural change in the archaeological record in the arctic.

A Holistic Approach for Providing Affordable Housing to the Urban Poor of Nepal

Housing is basic human need for civilized living but it has become one of the complex problems for the low-income urban dwellers even to afford a modest house in Nepal. This paper thus aims at analyzing housing problems, government policies as well as the prevailing methods adopted and their shortcomings. It investigates existing housing, demographic and socio-economic situation of urban poor and their voices regarding problems and possible solutions through questionnaire survey of Banshi Ghat squatter settlement, selecting it from the 61 such settlements of the Kathmandu city. The findings are analyzed and formulated the concept of a Holistic Approach1 to provide the affordable housing to all income groups with special consideration for low income people. This concept creates the mixed community consisting of employment opportunity of primary, secondary and tertiary activities with active collaboration of 3P's (People, Public organizations and Private organizations) and supports the vision of the Human Settlement Section of UN ESCAP2. Finally, it compares the Holistic Approach with prevailing method showing its supremacy.

Settlements and social work education: Absorption and accommodation

A multitude of influences have affected the development of social work education, one of the earliest of which was the settlement movement in British inner cities. This article explores the early impact of the settlements on social work education and presents the results of a survey of current settlements and their relationship with UK social work. Ideas from the settlement movement have continued to fertilise British social policy and community development practice but their numbers and influence have waned. In contrast, British social work and social services organisations exert a major influence on settlements both directly and indirectly. As part of the longest established sections of the voluntary sector within the UK, the settlement movement's survival may also offer suggestions about the organic development of welfare organisations which are of wider relevance in a rapidly changing social environment.

Settlement dynamics in Co Meath: the kingdom of Lóegaire

This paper is a survey of settlement in the Meath petty kingdom of Lóegaire, secular and ecclesiastical, early medieval, Norman, and early modern, based on archaeological field surveys and such historical sources as annals, genealogies and hagiography. Enclosed and unenclosed secular sites and ecclesiastical sites are discussed. Known ringforts remain scare (eleven certain instances and several dubious ones in the core area), among them a multivallate on the Hill of Ward that commanded the NW border. Their distribution and morphology is discussed. The chronology of most church sites, difficult to establish without excavation, remains undetermined but Trim, to which many other churches were subject, was an early foundation of St Lommán, later subject to Armagh. Main lines of communication ran through Lóegaire—Slige Assail, Rót na cCarpat, Slige Mór and others routes as well as the rivers Boyne and Blackwater, and these opened up Lóegaire to Viking activity. Possible sites and artifacts related to the Vikings are discussed. Special atention is paid to sites such as Odba and Navan in early and later medieval times.

The Ave Valley, northern Portugal: an archaeological survey of Iron Age and Roman settlement

The article presents the results of the HRB-funded survey of a sample of the Ave valley undertaken between 1994 and 1998. Introductory sections describe the geographical background and summarise the approaches followed. The field-walking results are then presented with especial emphasis on the ceramics. The field-walking evidence is used to identify a series of newly discovered sites which are assessed. The results of geophysical surveys of several of these sites are also presented. Information about the settlement patterns is presented based on a GIS analysis of both previously known sites and the results of the field-walking. Patterns in the changing distribution of settlement are discussed in relation to local social dynamics and the Roman annexation and exploitation of the region. The article is supported by databases which present the results of the field-walking and ceramic analyses. The article is jointly authored by: Martin Millett, Francisco Queiroga (Universidade Fernando Pessao, Porto), Kris Strutt, Jeremy Taylor and Steven Willis. The nature of a field-walking survey which produces a sequence of related databases (for field and finds) attached to a sequence of maps is particularly appropriate for electronic publication. Attempting such a publication in electronic form seems a worthwhile project in itself aside from the importance of the results.

Intertidal barnacle distribution:a case study using multiple working hypotheses

The roles of larval supply, selection of habitat, availability of space, larval physiological condition, and early post-settlement mortality in determining vertical distribution patterns of the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides (L.) were simultaneously examined in Passamaquoddy Bay, New Brunswick, Canada. Pump samples and settlement surveys showed that about 60% of planktonic cyprids were collected from 1.5 to 4.0 m depth, while over 90% of newly settled cyprids colonized low intertidal levels. Selection of habitat by cyprids and patterns of settlement were studied using precolonized planks that had been previously placed to obtain various periphyton gradients. These planks precolonized at the low, mid-, and high intertidal levels and placed in different orientations, induced variations in the distribution of newly settled cyprids. For example, vertical planks turned upside down had fewer settlers at low intertidal levels compared to surfaces maintained in the same orientation at the same level. When placed horizontally at the same level, sections precolonized at the low intertidal level collected more larvae than sections initially placed at the high and mid-intertidal levels. We used the triacylglycerol/cholesterol ratio (TAG/CHOL) as a measure of physiological condition in planktonic and newly settled cyprids, and newly metamorphosed spat. The TAG/CHOL ratio in planktonic cyprids decreased over the sampling period, but there was no variability with position in the water column. For newly settled cyprids and newly metamorphosed spat, the TAG/CHOL ratio increased with decreasing intertidal level. Quadrats freed of conspecific adults were colonized by more cyprids than were uncleared controls. Early post-settlement mortality was greater in uncleared than in cleared quadrats, but this effect varied with intertidal level. Early post-settlement mortality increased with increasing intertidal level in cleared quadrats, while it did not significantly vary in uncleared controls. The present study shows that the vertical distribution of S, balanoides on the shore results from a complex relationship involving larval supply, selection of habitat, availability of space, and early post-settlement mortality. We also present the first evidence of correlations between larval physiological condition and early vertical distribution in S. balanoides.

Transformation of the traditional settlements of southwest Saudi Arabia

This study presents an exploration of the transformation of the built form in traditional settlements in southwestern Saudi Arabia. A survey of several settlements of the southwest of Saudi Arabia was undertaken, looking at the irregular built forms of several traditional settlements in order to extract an urban pattern or a rationale from what may appear as capricious disorder. The investigation revealed that these built forms emerged from a complex mix of considerations, including climate, security, economic, political, socio-cultural factors and religious precepts. The study begins with an examination of the arrangement of the settlements and shows that this evolves largely from traditions which provide a foundation for the underlying structure of the built environment. By understanding this foundation, one can observe how the transformation adapts or assimilates change in the various physical components. In order to maintain a built environment which is responsive to the needs of its residents in a rapidly changing society like Saudi Arabia, a balance between modernization and traditional values is required. The examples in the survey hold valuable lessons for contemporary planners, urban designers and architects hoping to achieve a similar balance.

Origin and Collapse of Complex Societies in Oaxaca (Mexico): Evaluating the Era from 1965 to the Present

I summarize recent archaeological work in Oaxaca, Mexico, with a focus on questions central to world prehistory: the origin and collapse of complex societies. Monte Alban was the capital of an emerging civilization in the southern highlands of Mexico during the second half of the first millennium B.C. Soon after the foundation of the ancient city, there is evidence for state formation and a political expansion into regions outside the Valley of Oaxaca. Centuries later, Monte Alban went into decline, giving way to the competing small polities found throughout Oaxaca at the time of the Spanish conquest. Since the late 1960s, our knowledge of these changes has been transformed by study of Oaxaca's pre–Monte Alban past, regional settlement surveys, and processual model building. Evolutionary and historical perspectives allow for significant refinement of current debates surrounding the rise and fall of complex societies in Oaxaca.

Leskernick: Stone Worlds; Alternative Narratives; Nested Landscapes

The first season of an on-going project focused on Leskernick Hill, north-west Bodmin Moor, Cornwall, entailed a preliminary settlement survey and limited excavation of a stone row terminal. Leskernick comprises a western and a southern settlement situated on the lower, stony slopes of the hill and including 51 circular stone houses constructed using a variety of building techniques. Walled fields associated with these houses vary in size from 0.25–1 ha and appear to have accreted in a curvilinear fashion from a number of centres. Five smal burial mounds and a cist are associated with the southern settlement, all but one lying around the periphery of the field system. The western settlement includes ‘cairn-like’ piles of stones within and between some houses and some hut circles may have been converted into cairns. The settlements may have been built sequentially but the layout of each adheres to a coherent design suggesting a common broad phase of use. The southern settlement overlooks a stone-free plain containing a ceremonial complex.The paper presents a narrative account of the work and considers not only the form, function, and chronology of the sites at Leskernick but also seeks to explore the relationships between people and the landscape they inhabit; the prehistoric symbolic continuum from house to field to stone row etc, and to investigate the relationship between archaeology as a discourse on the past and archaeology as practice in the present. It considers how the daily process of excavation generates alternative site histories which are subsequently abandoned, forgotten, perpetuated or transformed.

Társadalmi folyamatok Budapest közigazgatási határának két oldalán

In accordance with Act XXVI of 1949, 23 settlements (7 towns and 16 villages) were joined up with the area of Budapest. Having lost the independence of self goverment, these settlements started to develop along a completely new course, as a consequence of wich they have become an integral part of the capital over the past decades. At the same time, due to the local goverment reforms of 1950, 25 settlements (4 towns and 21 villages) became immediate neighbours of the capital.Along both sides of the current local goverment boundaries, an unusual zone can be found. The inner parts consist of areas which before 1950 were independent and lay in in the shadow of the capital, whereas today they constitute whole districts or parts of districts of the capital itself. On the other side of the border the settlements are in a similar situation to those that were independent before 1950.Surveys of settlements are usually adapted to local goverment boundaries. A boundary on the other hand is not on every case a dividing line, it often links neighbouring areas. The survey of the capital's border settlements and the presentation of the dividing and joining qualities of the boundaries is also necessary in the study of the capital's agglomeration. The three "model" areas (the north-west, north east and south east) have been demonstrating diverse trends of development in the various social and socio-geographic tendencies adapt to boundaries. Is the local goverment boundary a real "living" boundary, and do the individual social patterns adapt to artificial frontiers?