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Age Settlement (age + settlement)
Selected AbstractsGeoarchaeological and chronostratigraphical investigations of open-air sites in the Geelbek Dunes, South AfricaGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2008M. Fuchs The Geelbek Dunes located north of Cape Town, South Africa, are an active, northward migrating dune field. Interdunal deflation hollows temporarily expose former land surfaces that are associated with archaeological sites. These open-air sites shed light on large-scale patterns of Middle and Later Stone Age settlement and augment the information gained from well-stratified, but spatially limited caves, rock shelters, and coastal shell middens. Based on paleopedological and sedimentological parameters, three former land surfaces were identified and associated with different assemblages. A chronostratigraphy of the various land surfaces was established by applying optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. The youngest former land surface is represented by a dune generation (AD2) which stabilized at a maximum of 5 ka. An older dune generation (AD1) shows a more heterogeneous age pattern where deposition started at ca. 27 ka with a maximum estimated age of stabilization at ca. 10 ka. Both of these dune generations overlie a weathered calcrete complex of Middle to Late Pleistocene age. While the third dune generation (AD0) was observed between underlying calcrete layers, samples taken from this unit could not be dated. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Interpreting the Viking Age to Medieval period transition in Norse Orkney through cultural soil and sediment analysesGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 4 2005Ian A. Simpson The transition from the Viking Age (ca. A.D. 800,1050) to the Medieval period (ca. A.D. 1050,1500) saw the development of widening trade activities that incorporated peripheral North Atlantic polities into mainstream Europe and contributed to the intensification of marineresource exploitation and agricultural production in these localities. As yet, there is only limited understanding of these intensification processes and their interrelationships, particularly at a local, site-based level. Through the micromorphological analysis of cultural soils and sediments at Quoygrew, Westray, Orkney, we explore the characteristics of farming and fishing activity during the Viking Age,Medieval transition period and establish their chronological relationships. The study demonstrates: (1) that intensification took place from ca. A.D. 966,1162 on an already existing Viking Age settlement, (2) that intensification of fishing activity occurred prior to the intensification of arable agriculture, and (3) that the Quoygrew site continued throughout this period as an economically diverse permanent settlement. When viewed in a wider North Atlantic context, these findings indicate that intensification of different economic activities proceeded at different rates and that intensification of specialized economic activities during the transition from the Viking Age to the Medieval period was dependent on existing knowledge of local environments. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Pliocene clays from Aegina (Greece): Reference material for chemical provenance studies on bronze age pottery from the IslandGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 6 2004Anno Hein Normally, the use of clays as reference materials in chemical provenance studies of ancient ceramics is complicated due to the original clay paste processing. The primary mixing and/or refining of raw materials during pottery production makes a straightforward comparison of archaeological ceramics with extant geological materials difficult if not impossible in many cases. However, in the case of Pliocene clays from Aegina (Greece), which were examined chemically and mineralogically and compared with Bronze Age pottery produced on the island, a successful exception can be presented. The chemical composition of a large group of Aeginetan pottery resembles the chemical composition of clays from a deposit in close vicinity to the main Bronze Age settlement of the island. Clays from specific outcrops exhibit considerable chemical and mineralogical homogeneity, and the suitability of those clays for pottery production apparently made substantial clay paste processing unnecessary. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Feasibility and utility of microsatellite markers in archaeological cattle remains from a Viking Age settlement in DublinANIMAL GENETICS, Issue 6 2003C. J. Edwards Summary Nineteen cattle bones from the Viking 10th and early 11th century levels in Dublin were assessed for presence of reliable genotypes from three autosomal markers. Due to the good preservational condition of the samples, it was possible to amplify and type at least two out of three of the microsatellite markers (CSRM60, HEL1 and ILSTS001) in 11 specimens. Full three-loci genotypes were obtained from a subset of seven of these samples. A comparative analysis was performed using data from the same three markers in 11 extant British, Irish and Nordic cattle breeds. Although the medieval remains displayed lower levels of diversity than the modern European breeds, the results fit within the ranges obtained from the extant populations. The results indicate a probable origin for the ancient Irish cattle as the remains group significantly more closely with breeds from the British Isles than with those from Scandinavia. The data collected indicate that microsatellites may be useful for the further study of ancient cattle. [source] Storegga tsunami sand in peat below the Tapes beach ridge at Harøy, western Norway, and its possible relation to an early Stone Age settlementBOREAS, Issue 3 2003STEIN BONDEVIK One of the early problems with the Storegga tsunami deposit was how to distinguish it from deposits of the midHolocene (Tapes) transgression. An excavation on Harøy, an island on the outermost western coast of Norway, shows a distinct, clean sand bed embedded in peat and clearly separated from the overlying Tapes beach deposits. This sand bed continues in the peat landwards of the beach ridge for at least 60 m. Radiocarbon dates of the peat show that the sand was deposited some time between 6900 and 7700 yr BP. The sedimentary structures of the bed, the 14C dates, and the fact that this is the only sand bed in the peat, suggest that the sand bed was deposited by a short-lived event, the Storegga tsunami. On the neighbouring island, Fjørtoft, a Stone Age settlement, dated to 7500 yr BP, was discovered in the early 1970s. The settlement was found underneath a sand bed that later had been covered by the Tapes beach ridge deposits. When discovered, the sand covering the settlement was inferred as eolian sand. However, this investigation shows that the Storegga tsunami deposited a widespread sand bed on the land surface around this time with a similar grain size distribution to eolian sand. It is therefore suggested that the sand bed covering this settlement was deposited from the Storegga tsunami. Both the stratigraphy and 14C dates demonstrate that the Tapes transgression maximum was reached well after the Storegga tsunami on Harøy, between 6500 and 6100 yr BP. [source] Landforms, sediments, soil development, and prehistoric site settings on the Madaba-Dhiban Plateau, JordanGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2005Carlos E. Cordova This paper examines recurrent spatial patterns of prehistoric sites in relation to landforms, alluvial fills, and soil development in the uplands and valleys of the Madaba and Dhiban Plateaus of Jordan. Mousterian lithics (Middle Paleolithic) are largely found on high strath terraces plateaus, where they are associated with red Mediterranean soils. In valleys, Upper Paleolithic sites are often associated with reworked loess deposits of the Dalala allostratigraphic unit. Epipaleolithic occupations are found stratified in deposits of the Thamad Terrace, and Pre-Pottery Neolithic and Pottery Neolithic occupations are associated with colluvium mantling the Thamad Terrace. The Tur al-Abyad Terrace and the Iskanderite alluvial inset are the remnants of middle Holocene floodplains, which were attractive areas for Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age settlements. Sometime around 4000 B.C., stream incision and further lateral erosion destroyed these floodplains. These historic terraces are underlain by alluvial deposits ranging in age from Roman to Early Islamic periods. The sequence of allostratigraphic units, paleosols, and terraces are the basis for reconstructing phases of fluvial aggradation and stream incision during the past 20,000 years. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] Efficient, large-scale archaeological prospection using a true three-dimensional ground-penetrating Radar Array systemARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION, Issue 3 2010Immo Trinks Abstract The Swedish UNESCO World Cultural Heritage site of the Birka and Hovgården Iron Age settlements is well suited for the testing of high-resolution archaeological prospection methods. In May 2006 ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and magnetometer test measurements were conducted at Birka, resulting in data of outstanding quality and new archaeological discoveries, but also demonstrating the need for increased spatial sampling regarding GPR prospection at complex Scandinavian sites. Therefore Birka was selected as a testing ground for a pilot study investigating the suitability of the novel multichannel GPR array system MIRA (MALÅ Imaging Radar Array) for efficient, large-scale GPR surveys with very dense spatial sampling. The study was conducted in May 2008 by MALÅ Geoscience AB in collaboration with the archaeological prospection unit of the Swedish National Heritage Board. The very high-resolution three-dimensional GPR pilot survey demonstrated that it is possible to survey 1,ha and more per day with 8,cm cross-line spacing, mapping archaeological structures in unprecedented resolution, such as postholes of only 25,cm diameter. This paper describes the tested technology and methodology as well as the fieldwork and the results of the study. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Geophysical and geochemical investigations at two early copper age settlements in the Körös River Valley, Southeastern HungaryGEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 8 2007Richard W. Yerkes Geophysical and geochemical analyses conducted at the Early Copper Age [source] | ||||||||||