bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Paleoenvironment, prehistory, and accelerated slope erosion along the central Israeli coastal plain (Palmahim): A geoarchaeological case study
Authors: Schuldenrein Joseph 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe late Quaternary history and systematics of slope erosion along a segment of the Central Israeli Coastal Plain is examined in conjunction with a series of terminal Paleolithic occupations. Three sites situated along the slope afford site‐specific and intersite data that enable reconstructions of local geological and archaeological sequences and correlations. The earliest (Kebaran) component is located on the midslope while the later (Geometric Kebaran) is situated along the footslope. Paleotopographic relations and sediment analyses indicate that the later Geometric Kebaran deposits were derived from the paleosol developed on the midslope. Paleoenvironmental contexts at the sites reveal that the rich Kebaran soil is diagnostic of an ancient swamp and attendant moist interval. Concentrations of cultural debris along these fragile midslopes imply a density of occupation and impact that may have increased rates of degradation. Extensive as well as intensive utilization of the midslope is suggested. The occupation contrasts markedly with the later Geometric Kebaran sites which display minimal sedimentation and a broader range of site distribution. The site‐specific evidence and regional distribution patterns argue for more varied settlement, proportionately reduced site sizes, and consequently, reduced slope utilization towards the close of the Paleolithic.
Geomorphic analysis of Hohokam settlement patterns on alluvial fans along the western Flank of the Tortolita Mountains, Arizona
Authors: Waters Michael R. , Field John J. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractGeoarchaeological investigations of the alluvial piedmont or bajada emanating from the Tortolita Mountains, Arizona, show that the distribution of Hohokam sites apparent from the surface is complete and undisturbed by geological processes. Late Holocene geomorphic processes and their resultant deposits on the bajada affected the location of prehistoric Hohokam agricultural settlements. Hohokam settlements were commonly situated on small alluvial fans dominated by sheetwash processes and deposition of fine‐grained alluvium, where floodwater farming could be easily pursued with little modification of the natural surface. Large alluvial fans, dominated by channel processes and coarse‐grained alluvium were avoided by the Hohokam farmer because these areas were less suitable for floodwater farming.
Human occupation of the continental shelf during the late pleistocene/early Holocene: Methods for site location
Authors: Stright Melanie J. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractArchaeological sites containing significant information not available from terrestrial sites occur along former land surfaces now submerged and buried on the continental shelf. Although sites may occur anywhere along these former land surfaces, factors essential to man's survival, such as fresh water and food resources, make site locations somewhat predictable. Landforms such as rivers, lakes, and bays represent locations where one or more of the basic subsistence factors are provided. These relict landforms on the continental shelf can be detected easily using high‐resolution seismic profilers. Physical sampling of landforms targeted as potential site areas is usually the only method for confirming the presence of an archaeological site. Sediment samples from a potential site are subjected to a series of sedimentary analyses which discriminate between archaeological deposits and natural sedimentary deposits. These methods for locating inundated and buried archaeological sites on the continental shelf were tested in a Gulf of Mexico study funded by the United States Department of the Interior, Minerals Management Service. The study suggests that at least two locations sampled along the ancient Sabine River Valley represent archaeological deposits dating from the Late Wisconsinan period of lower sea stand.
Fossil insect evidence for late pleistocene paleoenvironments of the lamb spring site, Colorado
Authors: Elias Scott A. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe study of Quarternary insect fossils has shown their value as paleoenvironmental indicators, especially during times of rapid climatic change, and this method is now being introduced into North America archeological studies. Abundant insect fossils have been recovered from 13,000 year old detrital organic materials from silty clays at the Lamb Spring site, south of Denver, Colorado. The spring deposits also contain bones of extinct camel and mammoth, thought to have been modified by human hunters.The late Pleistocene insect fauna from Lamb Spring comprises 71 identified taxa from 6 orders and 14 families, principally beetles, providing substantial paleoenvironmental data. The beetle fauna is a mixture of grassland and mountain elements, and they appear to represent an environment similar to that found today in high mountain valleys, such as South Park, Colorado. Based on this fauna, mean summer temperatures at 13,140 B.P. were probably 10°C cooler than present.
The environment and evolution of an early egyptian urban center: Archaeological and geochemical investigations at hierakonpolis
Authors: Hoffman Michael Allen , Hamroush Hany A. , Allen Ralph O. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractWe describe and summarize the results of new interdisciplinary techniques for recovering and analyzing historical and paleoenvironmental data from mid‐Holocene archaeological and geological deposits in the modern Nile floodplain at the site of Hierakonpolis in Upper Egypt. Application of these techniques has produced the first stratigraphic link between historic (Early Dynastic) and late prehistoric (Predynastic) periods in the Nile Valley at a site which played a central role in the evolution of Egyptian civilization.
Geomorphology and ancient settlements of the Southern Flank of MT. Cairo, lower Liri valley, Italy
Authors: Martini I. Peter , Wightman Edith Mary 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe southern flank of Mt. Cairo in southern Lazio edges a valley which forms one of the major passageways from central to southern Italy. The mountainous landscape has affected the settlement pattern, as have historical events such as the Roman conquests and recent socio‐economic evolution, which has led to industrialization of a traditional pastoral‐ agricultural setting.The slopes of calcareous Mt. Cairo are characterized by a cascade of normal faults which delimit landscape units such as the “uplands,” “steep slopes,” and the “mountain rise,” which contains well developed alluvial and colluvial fans.Along the lower mountain slopes, Bronze and Iron Age sites are consistently located higher than Roman ones. Archaeological remains and historical documents indicate that only after the Roman conquest was the agricultural potential of the flatter lower areas fully exploited. Roman villas were characteristically placed on the upper parts of the fans, where both access to different types of land and elevation above the mists of the valley were enjoyed. The Medieval period brought a trend back to higher sites and fortified villages. The uplands remained in use through the ages.
Bridging a seasonal torrent: The Melfa river, southern Lazio, Italy
Authors: Martini I. Peter , Wightman Edith M. , Hemphill Pamela 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe Melfa River is a torrent of the intramontane Lower Liri Valley, which has been a difficult barrier to cross since ancient times. It is dry and can be forded during the summer, but it experiences high floods during rainy reasons, with recurrent disruption of bridges.In Iron Age and early Roman times, fords and bridges were located near the confluence of the river with the valley plain, servicing the ancient Via Pedemontana. Later, faster routes with bridges were moved toward the flatter central area of the valley. There, Romans selected a crossing through wide braided reaches, taking advantage of fording, but consistently losing low lying, long bridges. Traces of one and possibly two such bridges remain along what was the Via Latina, from Fregellae to Aquino. For such bridges, the Romans used relatively strong piers, probably linked with readily detachable (by floods) and replaceable, wooden, flat roadways. The strategy of Medieval and Modern civilizations was instead to bridge the river in a more permanent way, with arches across the nearby deep gorges whose banks are composed of stable calcareous conglomerates and sandstones.
Construction of the casa grande by sequential high precision C‐14 dating
Authors: Long Austin , Andresen John , Klein Jeffrey 
Published: February 2007

AbstractTwo composite radiocarbon dates on wood beams from a unique, prehistoric building in southern Arizona are the result of growth series subsampling of the beams and statistical evaluation of radiocarbon dates on the subsamples. This procedure avoids some of the problems caused by secular variations in the biospheric 14C activity and by the dating of specimens grown over a range of years. This procedure yields results similar to more precise tree‐ring dates from other sites in the southwestern United States. The procedure illustrated here is applicable to any archaeological tree specimen consisting of at least the last 40 growth rings.
Upper pleistocene loess stratigraphy and paleolithic site chronology on the Russian plain
Authors: Hoffecker J. F. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractLoess stratigraphy provides the best existing means of establishing an accurate geochronology for the Paleolithic of the Russian Plain, especially for time periods beyond the range of radiocarbon dating. Loess/paleosol sequences in adjoining regions, particularly Central Europe where correlation with oxygen‐isotope stratigraphy has been achieved, represent a useful standard for the correlation and dating of loess deposits on the Russian Plain. However, better control is needed over local paleoenvironmental conditions and colluvial redeposition. Correlation is facilitated by two key marker horizons: buried soils of the Last Interglacial (127,000‐116,000 B.P.) and the terminal Middle Pleniglacial (30,000‐25,000 B.P.); assignment of paleosols and loess beds between these markers to time‐stratigraphic units in the Upper Pleistocene sequence is sometimes problematic. Paleolithic remains on the Russian Plain are typically contained in colluvial loam, but can often be related to primary loess stratigraphy. Analysis of the latter suggests sharp contrasts with Western and Central Europe in the timing and distribution of Paleolithic settlement, apparently reflecting the harsher environments of the Russian Plain.
Micromammals and paleoenvironmental interpretation in southern Africa
Authors: Avery D. M. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractMicromammalian remains from archaeological sites in southern Africa provide paleoenvironmental evidence at a number of levels of precision. At the lowest level, broad vegetation categories can be identified. At the second level, proportional representation of vegetation categories and general climatic conditions are indicated. the possible overlying effects of agriculture and sea‐level changes can also be identified. At the third level, there is clear but as yet largely unrealized potential for quantifying climatic variation and specifying environmental factors. In order to improve potential for interpretation, greater rigor is necessary in sample collection and in the establishment of the widest possible comparative data base, with the latter being in particular need of attention. Detailed paleoenvironmental information can also provide an independent data base for assessment of ecological approaches to archaeology.
Macro‐ and micro‐ecological reconstruction using plant opal phytolith data from archaeological sediments
Authors: Rovner Irwin 
Published: February 2007

AbstractPhytolith analysis is rapidly maturing into a robust and powerful paleobotanical data system. Many plant groups can be identified to family or subfamily, and even species identification has been suggested. Distinctive phytoliths occur abundantly in members of the grass family and are also found in several other groups including rushes, sedges, palms, conifers, deciduous trees, and other dicotyledonous plant taxa. Soil phytolith assemblages have provided paleobotanical data on the order of thousands to millions of years ago. Moreover, as test cases for analysis in soil have increased, an emerging pattern indicates that phytolith populations are stable decay‐in‐place residues following deposition in sediments. Phytolith studies reflect both macroecological as well as subtle microecological, ecotonal differences, and/or very specific ethnobotanical and cultural activities. Phytolith analysis is a superlative source of botanical information in narrowly defined contexts of archaeological sediments.
Monte Verde, South‐Central Chile: Stratigraphy, climate change, and human settlement
Authors: Quivira Mario Pino , Dillehay Tom D. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractTwo sedimentary units are recognized by means of stratigraphic and sedimentological analyses at Monte Verde, a late Pleistocene archeological site with stone tools and well‐preserved wood artifacts and botanical remains, that lies southwest of Lago Llanquihue and north of the Golfo de Reloncavi in the southern end of the Chilean Central graben. the geological evidence shows that at no time after 33,000 yr B.P., and perhaps since the first Llanquihue advance (before 56,000 yr B.P.), was the Monte Verde area covered by ice. Influences of two glacial advances at 20,000 and 15,000‐14,500 yr B.P. are recognized at the site; effects of the Varas Interstade, however, are not identified. Rapid climatic change took place after the end of the Llanquihue Glaciation. It was shortly interrupted by a cool, wet period around 10,000 yr B.P., after which a well‐documented Hypsithermal (8270‐4750 yr B.P.) accompanied by pyroclastic vulcanism followed.The evidence indicates that around 13,000 yr B.P. 1) the site occupants settled on the sandy point bars and beaches of the old creek channel and 2) the area was habitated during cool and wet conditions similar to those that prevail in the area today. Evidence for reconstruction of the paleo‐environment and climate of the terminal Pleistocene and the preliminary implications of these findings for understanding the human occupation at Monte Verde are discussed.
A “marginality” model to explain major spatial and temporal gaps in the old and new world Pleistocene settlement records
Authors: Butzer Karl W. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractA key argument currently invoked to cast skepticism on certain South American sites, that suggest a first peopling of the New World by ca. 35,000 B.P., is the perplexingly low visibility of the archaeological record until 12,000 B.P. But, contrary to a popular misconception, great spatial and temporal discontinuities are common in the Old World Paleolithic settlement record. In Southern Africa, carefully controlled archaeological stratigraphies show that the now semiarid interior was unoccupied for 50,000 and more years at a time. Episodes of widespread settlement in marginal environments were relatively brief, limited to periods of substantially wetter climate, and closely linked with moist habitats. A risk‐minimization model is proposed to explain these discontinuities. Plant and animal resources in the region, given a climate as dry or drier than today, were of low productivity and low reliability for unspecialized hunter‐gatherers during the dry seasons of poor years. This would require large foraging territories and very wide spacing of proximal bands, so that the exchange of vital information on temporary or migratory resources was minimal. Finally, during extended droughts, fat‐depleted animals provided an unsatisfactory source of food. These variables suggest that environments with low productivity and predictability were too risky for unspecialized hunter‐gatherers with a pre‐Upper Paleolithic technology, such as those who would have been able to enter the New World 35,000 B.P. Major spatial and temporal gaps in the New World settlement record should therefore be expected prior to the appearance of specialized Paleoindian hunter‐gatherers ca. 12,000 B.P. Implications for geoarchaeological strategies are discussed.
The application of remote sensing to environmental archaeology
Authors: Donoghue Daniel , Shennan Ian 
Published: February 2007

AbstractAn area in the Fenlands of Eastern England was used to assess the spectral, spatial, and seasonal requirements of airborne multispectral data for identifying wetland archaeological features by detecting crop and soil marks. Ordination of data from a scanner with 11 spectral channels was achieved using the Sheffield method, which calculates the wavebands that produce a 3 band composite image with optimum contrast using band variances and interband correlations. the spatial detail requirements for multispectral data were investigated by applying an edge enhancing filter to single waveband images. the loss of feature clarity with increased levels of spatial smoothing is visually apparent. Seasonal variation in crop mark visibility was quantified by cross tabulating feature visibility in fields known to contain features with time period and sensor type.If remote sensing is to be used for repeated operational archaeological survey then the quality and quantity of information which can be gained from the data must be evaluated. This study attempts to define some of the necessary operational requirements for the use of multispectral data for archaeology.
A quantitative technique for assessing the roundness of pottery sherds in water currents
Authors: Allen J. R. L. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThe shape property of transposed pottery sherds that changes most rapidly due to wear during water transport in natural sedimentary environments is roundness, the degree of curvature of edges and corners. of the many methods for the measurement of particle roundness, which are briefly reviewed, that proposed by Wadell (1932, 1933) is considered to specify roundness best. A simple and rapid procedure for the measurement of the Wadell projection roundness is described, which yields roundness values having a precision of the order of a few percent, the precision improving with the degree of roundness. the technique is therefore suitable for the analysis of large samples of transposed and transported sherds.
Molluscan assemblages from archaeological deposits
Authors: Ford Pamela J. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractResearch about the impact of prehistoric human subsistence strategies upon prey populations of shellfish is based on the assumption that trends in shell size are directly related to collection strategies. A shell midden on San Juan Island, Washington, where archaeological research is sponsored by the University of Washington and hosted by the National Park Service, provides large samples of shells from separate archaeological deposits. the shells from each deposit produce size‐frequency distributions that vary in shape (modality). Because several factors (the original prey population, the method of collection and transport, the environment of deposition, and post‐depositional processes) affect the size‐frequency distribution differentially, the shell measurements do not provide the direct archaeological information expected.
Variability of laboratory procedures and results in geoarchaeology
Authors: Holliday Vance T. , Stein Julie K. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractMany laboratory techniques are available to geoarchaeologists to determine physical or chemical attributes of sediment or soil samples, and several techniques are often available for analysis of a single attribute. This is illustrated by analyzing duplicate sediment and soil samples from the British Camp Site (Washington) and Lubbock Lake Site (Texas) using two methods for organic carbon content, two methods for organic matter content, and three methods for calcium carbonate content, and several pretreatment procedures for particle‐size analysis. These comparisons illustrate that different methods of analysis for the same property of duplicate samples can yield different results. Therefore, when making comparisons with data from other sites or other investigators, the types of laboratory methods used in geoarchaeological analyses are important considerations. Choice of a particular technique will depend on a variety of factors, often conflicting, including the archaeological and geoarchaeological questions being asked, the physical and chemical nature of the samples, and the accuracy, efficiency, and cost of the method.
Sedimentary environments at the Mwanganda site, Malawi
Authors: Kaufulu Zefe M. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractSedimentary environments at the Mwanganda site area are reconstructed. Micro‐stratigraphic analyses show that the site was located on the bank of a shallow, braided, paleostream and that bone and artifactual debris were not deposited by paleocurrents, but rather resulted from hominid activity. This accords with the interpretations of the original excavators of the site. Based on sedimentological studies, it is apparent, however, that the site contents were rearranged by overbank currents that swept across the site at peak discharges. Thus, the distribution pattern of the site contents do not directly reflect hominid meat processing activities that occurred at the site.
Quaternary climate, environment, and the human occupation of the south‐central Andes
Authors: Lynch Thomas F. 
Published: February 2007

AbstractThis paper reviews the paleoenvironmental context for Paleoindian and Early Archaic settlement of the south‐central Andes. I attempt to reconcile proposals for late‐glacial and early Holocene environmental changes that have originated in several Quaternary sciences. Most useful are the records of changing lake levels, geomorphological indicators of glacial advance and retreat, changes in vegetation as seen through pollen stratigraphy, the record of large mammal extinctions, and the archaeological settlement pattern itself.High lake stands in the central and south‐central Andes, c. 12,500 to 11,000 B.P., seem to correspond to glacial retreat. Palynological studies also suggest higher temperatures, coincident with greater summer precipitation from 11,500 B.P. to perhaps 10,000 B.P., followed by some reduction in temperatures and then widespread aridity from about 8500 to 5000 B.P. Environmental change at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary was at least a major contributing factor to the extinction of horse and sloth around 10,000 B.P. Archaeology of the salt puna and Punta Negra region conforms well with the environmental record, showing human entry by the Early Archaic (11,000‐8000 B.P.), subsequent depopulation and perhaps abandonment, then readaptation to more localized resources in the Late Archaic (5500‐4000 B.P.).