Neolithic Settlement (neolithic + settlement)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


THE USE OF OXYGEN ISOTOPES IN SHEEP MOLARS TO INVESTIGATE PAST HERDING PRACTICES AT THE NEOLITHIC SETTLEMENT OF ÇATALHÖYÜK, CENTRAL ANATOLIA

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 3 2010
E. HENTON
This paper presents a pilot study designed to test the use of oxygen isotopes for investigating aspects of early herding practices in the Neolithic of western Asia, using the site of Çatalhöyük in central Anatolia as a case study. Time-sequenced ,18O values in dental enamel of archaeological sheep are assessed for post-depositional diagenetic effects and compared with seasonal ,18O meteoric water values in the region today. The evidence is used to indicate the environmental conditions in which individual sheep spent their first year, enabling management of breeding and birthing seasons, and movement to seasonal pastures, to be investigated. [source]


Characterizing anthropic sediments in north European Neolithic settlements: An assessment from Skara Brae, Orkney

GEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 3 2006
Ian A. Simpson
The creation of anthropic sediments, traditionally referred to under the blanket term midden, through the utilization of settlement waste materials in domestic settlement construction was first recognized during early excavations at the Orcadian Neolithic site of Skara Brae (V.G. Childe, 1931a; 1931b). Prior to the present study there has been no systematic attempt to identify the nature of these sediments at Skara Brae, whose likely occupation dates between ,3100 and 2500 B.C., or to assess whether different materials were incorporated into construction or varied with different phases of site formation. The opportunity to begin addressing these issues arose with the location of undisturbed sediment samples held in storage since the last site excavations of 1972,1973 (D.V. Clarke, 1976). Ten thin sections were manufactured from these samples, representing earlier and later phases of Neolithic settlement at Skara Brae. Observations using thin-section micromorphology, supported by total phosphorus and particle-size distribution analyses, suggest that both earlier and later settlement phases show accumulation of household waste dominated by fuel residues. These wastes may have been used to help stabilize wind-blown sand deposits during the later settlement phases. In addition, the use of clay material tempered with household waste is associated with wall construction. Animal manures are only evident in anthropic deposits on the edge of the main settlement site where composting may have been taking place, and there is no evidence for their use in site construction. The authors conclude by drawing attention to possible diverse uses of anthropic sediments in settlement construction at other Neolithic settlements in Orkney. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


A Late Neolithic vertebrate food web based on stable isotope analyses

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OSTEOARCHAEOLOGY, Issue 4 2006
C. Bösl
Abstract Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses of bone collagen, and stable carbon and oxygen isotope analyses of the bone's structural carbonate, were performed on 120 individuals representing 33 vertebrate species, including a single human bone find, collected from the Late Neolithic settlement at Pestenacker, Bavaria, Germany. We were thus capable of reconstructing a rather complex food web and could also address particular issues, such as whether humans influenced the diet of their domestic animals as opposed to their wild relatives, or whether humans perhaps had to compete over food with their domesticates. A rather unexpected result was that freshwater fish, which could be captured in the nearby river Lech, a major tributary of the Danube, contributed to the human diet only occasionally. As for mammals, it was also possible to recognise different trophic levels for birds and aquatic vertebrates, applying stable isotope analyses to both bone collagen and structural carbonate. In the case of fish, ,18O values at least revealed a physiological regularity in terms of temperature preference, besides diet. Conceivably, variability of ,18O in surface water as reflected, for example, by species that avoided human settlements, may help to characterise past ecosystems and to define site catchment exploited by Neolithic man in the course of food acquisition. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Exploring the location and function of a Late Neolithic house at Crossiecrown, Orkney by geophysical, geochemical and soil micromorphological methods

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION, Issue 1 2010
Richard Jones
Abstract Magnetic prospection was instrumental in the discovery of a multiphase Neolithic settlement at Crossiecrown on Mainland Orkney. Subsequent excavation revealed a number of structures, including a large circular walled house of Late Neolithic date with a range of well-defined architectural features in its interior. This paper presents the discovery, excavation and in particular the functional analysis of this house. Soil micromorphology established the sequence from the house's initial floor construction to its abandonment. On the basis of multi-element and magnetic susceptibility data obtained from analysis of samples taken from the floor of the house, several element distributions were found to be distinctive in the way they correlated with some of the house's ,fixed furniture' and moreover with the distributions of certain artefacts, notably the stone tools. The archaeological implications of these findings are discussed. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Characterizing anthropic sediments in north European Neolithic settlements: An assessment from Skara Brae, Orkney

GEOARCHAEOLOGY: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 3 2006
Ian A. Simpson
The creation of anthropic sediments, traditionally referred to under the blanket term midden, through the utilization of settlement waste materials in domestic settlement construction was first recognized during early excavations at the Orcadian Neolithic site of Skara Brae (V.G. Childe, 1931a; 1931b). Prior to the present study there has been no systematic attempt to identify the nature of these sediments at Skara Brae, whose likely occupation dates between ,3100 and 2500 B.C., or to assess whether different materials were incorporated into construction or varied with different phases of site formation. The opportunity to begin addressing these issues arose with the location of undisturbed sediment samples held in storage since the last site excavations of 1972,1973 (D.V. Clarke, 1976). Ten thin sections were manufactured from these samples, representing earlier and later phases of Neolithic settlement at Skara Brae. Observations using thin-section micromorphology, supported by total phosphorus and particle-size distribution analyses, suggest that both earlier and later settlement phases show accumulation of household waste dominated by fuel residues. These wastes may have been used to help stabilize wind-blown sand deposits during the later settlement phases. In addition, the use of clay material tempered with household waste is associated with wall construction. Animal manures are only evident in anthropic deposits on the edge of the main settlement site where composting may have been taking place, and there is no evidence for their use in site construction. The authors conclude by drawing attention to possible diverse uses of anthropic sediments in settlement construction at other Neolithic settlements in Orkney. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


A NEW METHOD FOR EXTRACTION, ISOLATION AND TRANSESTERIFICATION OF FREE FATTY ACIDS FROM ARCHAEOLOGICAL POTTERY

ARCHAEOMETRY, Issue 5 2010
M. W. GREGG
This paper presents evidence for increased recovery of organic residues from archaeological pottery through use of a microwave-assisted liquid chromatography protocol. C16:0 and C18:0 saturated fatty acids were obtained from archaeological potsherds recovered from nine Neolithic settlements in the Middle East dating between 4700 and 7300 cal bc, including materials that had not produced evidence for the survival of any lipid species through use of ,conventional' solvent extraction techniques. Compound-specific isotopic analyses of C16:0 and C18:0 fatty acids in potsherd extracts subsequently revealed ,13C/,12C compositions consistent with modern subcutaneous fats of wild boar and goats pastured on lands adjacent to the Jordan Valley, and residues from a modern pottery vessel used in the manufacturing of butter, cheese and yogurt in central Turkey. These results are presented as an illustration of capabilities of the microwave-assisted recovery protocol. The reclamation of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids from archaeological pottery fragments recovered from a number of the earliest ceramic horizons in the Middle East is herewith reported, and the extraction methods and instrumental analytical techniques are described. [source]


Extended Thresholds I: Nomadism, Settlements and the Defiance of Figure-Ground

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN, Issue 1 2010
Michael Hensel
Abstract Since the onset of cartography in the 18th century, the fixed datum line and the figure-ground have become the predominant means of measuring and planning the built environment. In the first of three articles on the subject of extended thresholds, Michael Hensel and Defne Sunguro,lu Hensel challenge this reductionist convention. By taking Deleuze and his reading of nomadic ,smooth' space as a starting point, they look at alternative models provided by historic settlements in Turkey. These include: the neolithic settlement at Çatalhöyük in southern Anatolia; the medieval hillside town of Mardin in southern Turkey on the Syrian border; the carved spaces and cities of Cappadocia, such as Göreme; and underground cities such as Derinkuyu, also in central Turkey. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]