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Conference Presentations by Roy Jaijel

Geophysical methods are of great value when investigating or searching for archaeological sites b... more Geophysical methods are of great value when investigating or searching for archaeological sites because of their ability to cover a large area in a short time and reveal features and aspects of unexcavated locations. In submerged archaeological sites, the use of seismic survey methods is especially important, as the excavation process is more complicated than at typical terrestrial sites. While the terrestrial portion of the maritime Maya site of Vista Alegre, located in the northeastern part of the Yucatan Peninsula, has been mapped and partially excavated, the shallow offshore flooded landscape has not, in part due to difficulties determining the best targets for initiating the effort. Results from an earlier sediment core campaign resolved the character, environmental associations, and ages of underlying sediments, but could only minimally predict the presence of laterally continuous features due to the distance between cores. To resolve this issue, a seismic survey was conducted to extrapolate the spatial extent of these strata. The survey area covered the flooded bays flanking the terrestrial portion of Vista Alegre. This area has been affected by sea-level rise throughout time, and was a likely location of maritime activity in the past. Results from this study provided laterally continuous evidence for sea-level rise, reinforcing the previous study; and also identified the presence of a submerged ridge-basin structure. This structure was unexpected because it was neither continuous nor congruous with natural trends observed terrestrially. This uniqueness could be attributed to significant differences in the submerged landscape, and possibly the presence of anthropogenically-altered offshore features. The interpreted seismic data is useful both for a site-scale spatial understanding of the flooded landscape history, as well as for identifying potential locations for shallow water archaeological excavations.

" Roi Jaijel1, Beverly Goodman1,2, Zvi Ben Avraham1, Patricia Beddows3, Alice Carter3, Derek Smi... more "
Roi Jaijel1, Beverly Goodman1,2, Zvi Ben Avraham1, Patricia Beddows3, Alice Carter3, Derek Smith4, Dominique Rissolo6, Jeffrey Glover6

1. Leon Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa,
2. Interuniversity Institute of Marine Sciences-Eilat
3. Department of Earth Sciences, Northwestern University
4. Department of Biology, University of Washington
5. Waitt Institute, California, USA
6. Department of Anthropology, Georgia State University

The environmental and morphological history of the Maya site ‘Vista Alegre’, is being investigated by a diverse team within a larger multidisciplinary effort called the Costa Escondida Project. The project’s main goals are to learn how the ancient inhabitants of the site adapted to the coastal environment, and the integration of this coastal site into broader maritime trade routes. Vista Alegre is located in a saltwater marsh in the northeastern part of the Yucatan peninsula, in the modern state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The site is well protected from typical storms and is favorably situated near the meeting point of the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. While the general topography of the site is quite flat, a pyramid in the central portion of the site provides a strategic lookout to observe coastal boat traffic and may have served as a ‘mirador’ (lookout) as well as a sacred locale. Ancient coastal traders that were traveling the trade routes around the peninsula in large dugout canoes may have been attracted to the site due to it protected location. They would have docked at the site, perhaps in artificially created proto-harbors. The specific portion of the research presented here defines the changes in terms of geomorphology and climate on the site during the last 2-3000 years. This study helps complete our understanding of the sites possible functions, the environmental problems the local inhabits had to contend with, and the harboring locations that may have existed at the site. While reconstructing the ancient shore line, the weather patterns and climate changes we will address a range of questions such as: finding hurricane proxies in the sediment, locating underwater manmade seafaring artifacts and facilities, possibilities of economic opportunities for the inhabits in the past and potable water sources on site. The multiproxy analyses that are being used to address the research questions include coring, LOI, grain size, micropaleontology, dating, geochemistry, geomorphology and seismic survey."

Papers by Roy Jaijel

A B S T R A C T Past coastal reconstruction is useful for understanding archaeological coastal se... more A B S T R A C T Past coastal reconstruction is useful for understanding archaeological coastal settlements and predicting how coastal change might affect modern populations. The ancient Maritime Maya inhabitants of Vista Alegre in the northeastern Yucatan were active seafaring peoples. However, the past coastal landscape environmental history is unknown. Previous research concentrated on the fully terrestrial component of the site, and did not approach the issue from an earth sciences, sedimentological perspective. In this study, a sediment core campaign in the shallow offshore of Vista Alegre aimed to reconstruct the coastal and environmental changes that occurred over the past 3000 years, and specifically identify the changes in sea-level. Nine cores were analyzed using a multi-proxy approach including a range of sedimentological parameters such as granulometry, micropaleontology (foraminifera), radiocarbon dating, and loss on ignition. The sediment cores provided an archive of environmental changes related to sea-level change, anthropogenic influence, and shifting microenvironments which can be associated with cultural time periods. The environmental phases and shifts show some linkage to the archaeological chronology, suggesting an association between the environmental conditions and human activities. Sea-level changes and shifting shorelines have always been, and still are, a challenge for coastal settlements, and ancient sites can be a harbinger of what to anticipate in the future. In addition to this, current natural and anthropogenic pressures on coastlines are placing archaeological sites at increasing risk and thereby threatening this important scientific and cultural archive. Therefore, efforts to identify, characterize, and record natural and anthropogenic pressures prior to destruction are increasingly important.

Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 2016

Access to potable water has always been a major concern for human settlement, and this is particu... more Access to potable water has always been a major concern for human settlement, and this is particularly acute in coastal areas where freshwater can be compromised by saline marine waters. The northeast portion of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula has a massive freshwater aquifer that today supports the international tourist destinations of Cancun and the Riviera Maya. However, access to this aquifer in pre-Columbian times was restricted to natural features, such as cenotes (limestone sinkholes), aguadas (freshwater ponds), and coastal springs, or cultural features like wells, the viability of which is directly linked to sea level, which has risen over 2 m in the past 3000 years. In addition, ancient Maya inhabitants of the Yucatan collected rainwater in reservoirs, smaller-scale cisterns called chultunes, or in ceramic pots. At the coastal site of Vista Alegre, located on the north coast of the Peninsula, there is limited evidence of potable water collection strategies, which has led members of the Proyecto Costa Escon-dida to critically examine how the freshwater access at the site changed over the past three millennia. To do this, the interdisciplinary research team has conducted (1) a physico-chemical characterization of accessible surface and groundwater using a calibrated multiparameter probe, (2) a multiproxy study (i.e., micropaleontology, oxygen isotopic analysis) from 12 manual push cores taken in the waters surrounding Vista Alegre, and (3) an archaeological investigation. We hope our project serves as a model for future projects that strive to understand the complex and dynamic relationships between past peoples and their coastlines.

Geophysical methods are of great value when investigating or searching for archaeological sites b... more Geophysical methods are of great value when investigating or searching for archaeological sites because of their ability to cover a large area in a short time and reveal features and aspects of unexcavated locations. In submerged archaeological sites, the use of seismic survey methods is especially important, as the excavation process is more complicated than at typical terrestrial sites. While the terrestrial portion of the maritime Maya site of Vista Alegre, located in the northeastern part of the Yucatan Peninsula, has been mapped and partially excavated, the shallow offshore flooded landscape has not, in part due to difficulties determining the best targets for initiating the effort. Results from an earlier sediment core campaign resolved the character, environmental associations, and ages of underlying sediments, but could only minimally predict the presence of laterally continuous features due to the distance between cores. To resolve this issue, a seismic survey was conducted to extrapolate the spatial extent of these strata. The survey area covered the flooded bays flanking the terrestrial portion of Vista Alegre. This area has been affected by sea-level rise throughout time, and was a likely location of maritime activity in the past. Results from this study provided laterally continuous evidence for sea-level rise, reinforcing the previous study; and also identified the presence of a submerged ridge-basin structure. This structure was unexpected because it was neither continuous nor congruous with natural trends observed terrestrially. This uniqueness could be attributed to significant differences in the submerged landscape, and possibly the presence of anthropogenically-altered offshore features. The interpreted seismic data is useful both for a site-scale spatial understanding of the flooded landscape history, as well as for identifying potential locations for shallow water archaeological excavations.

" Roi Jaijel1, Beverly Goodman1,2, Zvi Ben Avraham1, Patricia Beddows3, Alice Carter3, Derek Smi... more "
Roi Jaijel1, Beverly Goodman1,2, Zvi Ben Avraham1, Patricia Beddows3, Alice Carter3, Derek Smith4, Dominique Rissolo6, Jeffrey Glover6

1. Leon Charney School of Marine Sciences, University of Haifa,
2. Interuniversity Institute of Marine Sciences-Eilat
3. Department of Earth Sciences, Northwestern University
4. Department of Biology, University of Washington
5. Waitt Institute, California, USA
6. Department of Anthropology, Georgia State University

The environmental and morphological history of the Maya site ‘Vista Alegre’, is being investigated by a diverse team within a larger multidisciplinary effort called the Costa Escondida Project. The project’s main goals are to learn how the ancient inhabitants of the site adapted to the coastal environment, and the integration of this coastal site into broader maritime trade routes. Vista Alegre is located in a saltwater marsh in the northeastern part of the Yucatan peninsula, in the modern state of Quintana Roo, Mexico. The site is well protected from typical storms and is favorably situated near the meeting point of the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean. While the general topography of the site is quite flat, a pyramid in the central portion of the site provides a strategic lookout to observe coastal boat traffic and may have served as a ‘mirador’ (lookout) as well as a sacred locale. Ancient coastal traders that were traveling the trade routes around the peninsula in large dugout canoes may have been attracted to the site due to it protected location. They would have docked at the site, perhaps in artificially created proto-harbors. The specific portion of the research presented here defines the changes in terms of geomorphology and climate on the site during the last 2-3000 years. This study helps complete our understanding of the sites possible functions, the environmental problems the local inhabits had to contend with, and the harboring locations that may have existed at the site. While reconstructing the ancient shore line, the weather patterns and climate changes we will address a range of questions such as: finding hurricane proxies in the sediment, locating underwater manmade seafaring artifacts and facilities, possibilities of economic opportunities for the inhabits in the past and potable water sources on site. The multiproxy analyses that are being used to address the research questions include coring, LOI, grain size, micropaleontology, dating, geochemistry, geomorphology and seismic survey."

A B S T R A C T Past coastal reconstruction is useful for understanding archaeological coastal se... more A B S T R A C T Past coastal reconstruction is useful for understanding archaeological coastal settlements and predicting how coastal change might affect modern populations. The ancient Maritime Maya inhabitants of Vista Alegre in the northeastern Yucatan were active seafaring peoples. However, the past coastal landscape environmental history is unknown. Previous research concentrated on the fully terrestrial component of the site, and did not approach the issue from an earth sciences, sedimentological perspective. In this study, a sediment core campaign in the shallow offshore of Vista Alegre aimed to reconstruct the coastal and environmental changes that occurred over the past 3000 years, and specifically identify the changes in sea-level. Nine cores were analyzed using a multi-proxy approach including a range of sedimentological parameters such as granulometry, micropaleontology (foraminifera), radiocarbon dating, and loss on ignition. The sediment cores provided an archive of environmental changes related to sea-level change, anthropogenic influence, and shifting microenvironments which can be associated with cultural time periods. The environmental phases and shifts show some linkage to the archaeological chronology, suggesting an association between the environmental conditions and human activities. Sea-level changes and shifting shorelines have always been, and still are, a challenge for coastal settlements, and ancient sites can be a harbinger of what to anticipate in the future. In addition to this, current natural and anthropogenic pressures on coastlines are placing archaeological sites at increasing risk and thereby threatening this important scientific and cultural archive. Therefore, efforts to identify, characterize, and record natural and anthropogenic pressures prior to destruction are increasingly important.

Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Water, 2016

Access to potable water has always been a major concern for human settlement, and this is particu... more Access to potable water has always been a major concern for human settlement, and this is particularly acute in coastal areas where freshwater can be compromised by saline marine waters. The northeast portion of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula has a massive freshwater aquifer that today supports the international tourist destinations of Cancun and the Riviera Maya. However, access to this aquifer in pre-Columbian times was restricted to natural features, such as cenotes (limestone sinkholes), aguadas (freshwater ponds), and coastal springs, or cultural features like wells, the viability of which is directly linked to sea level, which has risen over 2 m in the past 3000 years. In addition, ancient Maya inhabitants of the Yucatan collected rainwater in reservoirs, smaller-scale cisterns called chultunes, or in ceramic pots. At the coastal site of Vista Alegre, located on the north coast of the Peninsula, there is limited evidence of potable water collection strategies, which has led members of the Proyecto Costa Escon-dida to critically examine how the freshwater access at the site changed over the past three millennia. To do this, the interdisciplinary research team has conducted (1) a physico-chemical characterization of accessible surface and groundwater using a calibrated multiparameter probe, (2) a multiproxy study (i.e., micropaleontology, oxygen isotopic analysis) from 12 manual push cores taken in the waters surrounding Vista Alegre, and (3) an archaeological investigation. We hope our project serves as a model for future projects that strive to understand the complex and dynamic relationships between past peoples and their coastlines.