Prehistoric Landscapes Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Mainmetropole: Einblick in bronzezeitliches Pflanzenspektrum

- by and +1
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- Bronze Age Europe (Archaeology), Plant domestication (Prehistoric Archaeology), Bronze Age (Archaeology), Middle Bronze Age

A metalwork hoard dated to the Wilburton phase of the later Bronze Age, found at Barway close to the Isle of Ely in the Cambridgeshire Fens, is reported. Consideration of the hoard, in the context of later prehistoric hoarding in the local landscape, reveals that particular sorts of artefacts were associated with particular places in the landscape. In particular a strong association between later Bronze Age hoards and causeways connecting the Isle of Ely to the outside world is identified, and an interpretation suggested. This study demonstrates the potential of a detailed contextual approach for providing a more nuanced understanding of later Bronze Age metalwork deposition that moves away from a simplistic wet-dry dichotomy.

- by David Barrowclough
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- European History, European Studies, Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology

The purpose of this study is to provide some interpretation and synthesis for Cornwall's regional archaeology. Contents: Introduction and Background - structure and methodology, barrow studies, 18th, 19th, 20th and recent research and models; The Later Neolithic Background and the role of Beakers in Cornwall - comparative studies, ceremonial sites and ritual traditions; The Evidence from the Barrows - dating, the Watch Hill Barrow and Needham's chronology; Barrow Cemeteries and their Landscape; The Role of Bronze Age Barrow Cemeteries in Cornwall - 4 case studies; Devon; Cornish Ceremonial Landscapes - New Interpretations. Appendices include lists of terminology and excavated barrows and their contents.

- by Andy M Jones
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Funerary Archaeology

Qualsiasi studio sul popolamento neolitico ed eneolitico del Gargano deve confrontarsi con un record archeologico molto ricco ma frutto per la maggior parte di raccolte di superficie non sistematiche. A fronte degli oltre 100 siti conosciuti, rari, per lo più di vecchia data e/o di estensione limitata sono gli scavi archeologici. Molti dei siti conosciuti si caratterizzano tra l'altro per la presenza della sola componente litica e hanno pertanto un'attribuzione cronologica spesso incerta. In questo quadro emergono, per contrasto, le conoscenze relative all'attività di estrazione della selce, documentata da 21 complessi minerari che coprono un arco cronologico di circa quattro millenni, dagli inizi del VI agli inizi del II millennio BC (Tarantini, Galiberti 2011). Vari tentativi di sintesi delle dinamiche territoriali del popolamento neolitico ed eneolitico del Gargano sono stati tentati nei decenni precedenti, tutti però in qualche modo viziati (a nostro avviso) da alcune criticità: 1) mancato ancoramento ad una seria base cartografica; 2) uso di informazioni cronologiche con diversa attendibilità (su base ceramica e/o di tipologia litica); 3) estrema eterogeneità dei ritrovamenti e diverso grado di affidabilità delle informazioni. A questi tre punti si deve aggiungere il riferimento a un quadro delle conoscenze sulle miniere di selce allora povero di attribuzioni cronologiche 1 . Per cercare di superare almeno in parte queste criticità, è stato impostato un nuovo progetto di ricerca basato sulle potenzialità offerte dalle analisi spaziali in ambiente GIS (Geographic Information System). È stato dunque eseguito un riesame sistematico di tutta la bibliografia, facendo confluire le informazioni, acquisite secondo una specifica procedura, all'interno di una piattaforma GIS appositamente creata (per maggiori dettagli operativi, cfr. Pizziolo et alii 2011). Nell'inserimento e nell'elaborazione dei dati abbiamo ritenuto opportuno tenere distinte le informazioni cronologiche e/o culturali ottenute su base ceramica o radiometrica da quelle ricavate su base litica. Se la collocazione dei siti a sola industria litica è senz'altro di grande importanza per provare a ricostruire l'organizzazione spaziale della catena di produzione litica o per ipotizzare la presenza di aree minerarie non ancora individuate, tuttavia per la creazione delle carte di fase è parso più ** Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici della Toscana, Via della Pergola 65, 50121 Firenze; massimo.tarantini@beniculturali.it 1 Le prime e tuttora imprescindibili analisi territoriali sistematiche sul Gargano si devono ad Arturo Palma di Cesnola (Palma di Cesnola , 1985 alcune integrazioni in Gravina 2005). Una prospettiva diversa è stata proposta, limitatamente al Neolitico, da Savino Di Lernia (Di Lernia 1996), che ha giustamente insistito sui problemi di visibilità e sulla centralità dell'elemento minerario. Tale prospettiva è stata ripresa da Sandra Sivilli (Sivilli 2005), che ha analizzato anche i dati relativi all'Eneolitico iniziale.

- by Giovanna Pizziolo and +4
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- Neolithic, Prehistoric Landscapes

The colonization of interior North America during the late Pleistocene, ca. 20k-10k cal yr BP, would have been profoundly shaped by physiographic features early explorers and settlers encountered, such as the location of major river valleys, mountain ranges, deserts, pluvial and periglacial lakes, and ice-sheet margins, and in coastal areas by the dramatic changes in sea level that were occurring. An examination of the relationship between changes in sea level and the extent of the Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plains in the vicinity of the southeastern United States indicates that, because of the uneven topography of the now submerged continental shelf, sea-level rise or fall does not closely correspond to the area lost or gained. During some periods, notably MWP-1A (Meltwater Pulse 1A), only small areas of the Coastal Plain were lost, while in others, such as during the Younger Dryas and MWP-1B, much larger areas were affected. The widespread appearance of Clovis in the interior of the Southeast, and the apparent reduction or reorganization of immediate post-Clovis settlement in the Coastal Plain, and an increase in population-or at least no evidence for reduction-farther into the interior of the region may be related to these changes in sea level. Evaluating these ideas will require much new fieldwork and the collection, compilation, and public dissemination of primary archaeological data among the professional community.

- by Stephen Yerka and +1
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- Archaeological GIS, Prehistoric Landscapes, Sea level rise, Climate Change and Sea Level Rise

The Malaprabha Valley is a 25km stretch of land enclosed by sandstone cliffs, through which the River Malaprabha flows towards its confluence with the much Larger River Krishna. Though synonymous with the cave and temple architecture of the Early Chalukyans who ruled much of south India from Vatapi (Badami) during the 6th to 8th centuries CE, the human occupation of this landscape dates back to the Palaeolithic. In this article, I discuss the landscape and the monuments that were created in it from prehistoric to later times. Click on the link below to access the full article (pages 58-60).

Ongoing archaeological work in the landscape surrounding Anglesey’s Bryn Celli Ddu (‘the Mound in the Dark Grove’) has revealed what is thought to be a late Neolithic/early Bronze Age cairn lying some 30m south-west of the main Neolithic... more

Ongoing archaeological work in the landscape surrounding
Anglesey’s Bryn Celli Ddu (‘the Mound in the Dark Grove’)
has revealed what is thought to be a late Neolithic/early
Bronze Age cairn lying some 30m south-west of the main
Neolithic passage tomb.

- by Ffion Reynolds and +2
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- Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Public Archaeology, Funerary Archaeology

Resumen: En este artículo presentamos los datos sobre la ocupación de la Prehistoria reciente en el entorno del yacimiento de La Calzadilla (Almenara de Adaja-Puras, Valladolid) y una interpretación de la relación entre las distintas etapas y los condicionantes del paisaje de esta zona de las campiñas arenosas del sur del Duero.
Abstract: In this paper we present the fndings about late Prehistory near the site of La Calzadilla (Almenara de Adaja-Puras, Valladolid) and an interpretation of the relationship between the diferent periods and the infuence of landscape in the sandy countryside south of river Duero.

Geophysical survey coupled with trial excavation and cartographic analysis have revealed large but discrete regions in south Somerset and Dorset in which rectilinear field systems have been fossilised in the modern landscape. Excavation has shown these field systems to originate in the late prehistoric period and continue in use, albeit in a modified state, and with fluctuating intensity, into the modern era. This observation is of great significance for the early medieval period, because it suggests that there was relative stability in the rural economy from the Late Roman to the Late Saxon period. Land division and land holding may also have continued, until the establishment of manors and nucleated villages during the Late Saxon period.
Further analysis of communications and dispersed settlement patterns associated with these field systems has given rise to a new model for the distribution of dispersed settlement and the subdivision of land units within areas of rectilinear field systems.

The colonization of interior North America during the late Pleistocene, ca. 20k–10k cal yr BP, would have been profoundly shaped by physiographic features early explorers and settlers encountered, such as the location of major river valleys, mountain ranges, deserts, pluvial and periglacial lakes, and ice-sheet margins, and in coastal areas by the dramatic changes in sea level that were occurring. An examination of the relationship between changes in sea level and the extent of the Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plains in the vicinity of the southeastern United States indicates that, because of the uneven topography of the now submerged continental shelf, sea-level rise or fall does not closely correspond to the area lost or gained. During some periods, notably MWP-1A (Meltwater Pulse 1A), only small areas of the Coastal Plain were lost, while in
others, such as during the Younger Dryas and MWP-1B, much larger areas were affected. The widespread appearance of Clovis in the interior of the Southeast, and the apparent reduction or reorganization of immediate post-Clovis settlement in the Coastal Plain, and an increase in population—or at least no evidence for reduction—farther into the interior of the region may be related to these changes in sea level. Evaluating these ideas will require much new fieldwork and the collection, compilation, and public dissemination of primary archaeological data among the professional community.

The considerable increase in the number of Early Neolithic sites identified in the last decades as a result of intensive field surveys has made it possible to assess the inter-settlement pattern of the first farmers in the northwestern corner of the Banat. The settlements are located at short distances one from the other, both on the edges of the elevated loess terraces and along watercourses, in a line-like pattern. They are small, with short-term occupations, suggesting they were frequently relocated. We argue that the deliberate measures taken by the early farming communities to adapt their subsistence strategies to the local environmental conditions unfavourable to primitive cultivation implied a less sedentary way of life and that this is the main reason behind the short-term occupation of the settlements and the absence of tells.

- by Anna M . Rembisz-Lubiejewska and +1
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- Prehistoric Settlement, Prehistoric Landscapes

The development and analysis of distribution maps is one of the most frequent applications in archaeological research. For instance, sets of archaeological sites can be used to calculate larger areas, which represent, for example, the spatial spread of a culture or the site density within an area of interest. In many previous studies this is archived manually. However, this process is problematic because it is

- by Theo de Jong
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- Prehistoric Landscapes, Beavers, Animal Bones, Aurochs

In the conditions of specific topographic and climatic characteristics and scarce natural resources, which mark the coastal slope od northern Velebit, people in prehistoric times had made great effort in order to shape and recreate the landcape according to their needs and
requirements, which had been subjected to a constant challenge of insuring their own existence. The consequences of a continuous interaction between a man and the natural habitat in prehistory
are different indicators of human interventions which manifest as constitutive elements of the prehistoric cultural landcape, which are chronologically and functionally different. Research
methodology of this paper is based on processing of the data systemized in the GIS database and collected through field surveys, literature review, analysis of the topographic and historical
maps and interpretation of satellite and aerial images. In this paper 28 prehistoric sites, categorized into hillforts, sepulchral sites, caves and other sites with traces of prehistoric activities, have been determined, analyzed and thoroughly described. In evaluation of the data,
special attention has been paid to the environmental variables and other factors that have impacted on the choice of position, as well as on the ways of using the landscape, its dynamic formation and evolution during prehistory.

- by Katleen Deckers and +1
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- Geology, Pedology, Geoarchaeology, Prehistoric Europe (Archaeology)

A conference session for ‘The Mesolithic in Europe Conference’, MESO 2015, in Belgrade, Serbia, 14th-18th September 2015 has been proposed. The proposed session has been accepted by the Scientific Committee in March 2015. A total of 8 speakers from UK, Belgium, Norway and USA will discuss the technological, chronological and environmental aspects that help define the Middle Mesolithic across Europe.

- by Clive Bond
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- Prehistoric Archaeology, Mesolithic Archaeology, Palaeoecology, Lithic Technology

The short article summarizes the analysis of a small section of fabric found adhering to a section of human skull in 1964 at the Frederica site in Kent County, Delaware. The assemblage, which included the fabric, dates to approximately 300 cal. BC. and represents the oldest extant Native American fabric found on the Delmarva Peninsula. The analysis indicates that a loom was required to produce this fine fabric. Indirectly, the research provides important clues as to the types of technologies used by prehistoric cultures, which are largely missing in the extant archaeological record.

- by Ana M . S . Bettencourt and +1
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- Prehistoric Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Rock Art (Archaeology), Cultural Landscapes
- by josé S R padilla and +1
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- Prehistoric Landscapes, RECINTOS DE FOSOS

Through the analysis of new LIDAR data with a mean resolution of 8 measuring points / m2 a survey was conducted of
the Campine plateau, an area which is known to harbour many protohistoric sites, including several field complexes
(Celtic fields) as revealed through aerial photography and a previous LIDAR survey with a lower resolution. This approach
revealed a large number of previously unknown Celtic fields, extending these prehistoric field complexes to
several hundreds of hectares. The presence of other known archaeological finds and sites within the confines or surrounding
the field systems suggests that the complexes on the Campine plateau were mainly in use during the Hallstatt
C-D and Early La Tène periods. On a broader regional scale the distribution of Celtic fields in Flanders seems to be related
to areas with slightly richer (loamier) sandy soils, i. e. the northern part of the Campine plateau and a region in the
Antwerp Campine region. These newly discovered and extended structured complexes foremost provide an important
framework for further spatial analysis, research and management of the protohistoric landscape.

- by Erwin Meylemans and +1
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- Landscape Archaeology, LiDAR, Iron Age, Prehistoric Landscapes

Uz geografski prikaz i opis značenja Velikog Rujna za gospodarstvo priobalnog stanovništva južnog Velebita, autorica izvještava o rezultatima arheoloških istraživanja koja su provedena između 1986. i 1988. godine na Gradini, usred rujanskog polja. Na Gradini je u osam arheoloških sonda potvrđeno već ranije pretpostavljano prethistorijsko naselje, nastanjeno kroz brončano doba, kada je ovuda prolazio važan karavanski put. Veliko Rujno je i kasnije ostalo stjecištem pastirskih i trgovačkih putova, posebno obilježeno hodočasničkom crkvom Gospe od Rujna. U posljednjim je desetljećima, zahvaljujući zalaganjima Gradskog muzeja u Senju, porastao interes širokoga kruga stručnjaka raznih znanstvenih grana za sistematska istraživanja područja Velebita, impozantnoga gorskog masiva priobalja sjevernog Jadrana na koji su se ranije osvrtali tek pojedinci entuzijasti i istraživači, a ponajviše oni s planinarskim sklonostima. Timski istraživački rad 1 U rasponu od 1983. do 1989. godine prof. Ante Glavičić je u ime Gradskog muzeja Senj organizirao svake godine interdisciplinarne stručne ekipe za istraživanje Velebita. Autorica ovoga rada sudjelovala je s ekipama studenata arheologije i arhitekture na istraživanjima graditeljske baštine te na arheološkoj problematici iz sredstava znanstvenog projekta financiranog od Ministarstva znanosti, a preko Arheološkog instituta Sveučilišta u Zagrebu. U istraživanjima na Rujnu sudjelovala je i prof Mira Trošelj iz Zagreba.

- by Aleksandra Faber
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- Ethnography, Landscape Archaeology, Prehistoric Settlement, Beliefs

La Universidad de Málaga (UMA) lleva investigando desde el año 2008 en el yacimiento de recintos de fosos de Perdigões en el marco de un Programa Global de Investigación responsabilidad del Núcleo de Investigação Arqueológica (NIA) de ERA Arqueologia S.A. Los trabajos desarrollados durante los meses de Julio y Agosto de 2013 se han centrado en la excavación de distintas estructuras negativas, todas ellas documentadas durante las campañas de 2011 y 2012, con la intención de concretar su morfología, naturaleza del relleno y cronología. Dichas estructuras parecen formar parte de una compleja arquitectura que monumentaliza el acceso (Puerta 1) al recinto que configura el foso 1, el más exterior del yacimiento. En este artículo se adelantan los primeros resultados sobre unas estructuras que resultan novedosas en el panorama peninsular (ímbrices, tirantes, fosas con depósitos de estelas y menhires…) y que aportan nuevos datos para la discusión sobre la función, morfología y temporalidad de estos singulares yacimientos arqueológicos.

- by Elena Mata Vivar and +1
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- Prehistoric Archaeology, Prehistory, Prehistoric Landscapes, Calcolítico

The submerged Mesolithic site at Bouldnor Cliff offers a unique glimpse into the rapidly changing coastal environment ca. 8000 BP. At a depth of only 11m in the Solent, wood artefacts and ecofacts have survived in an anoxic layer of peat overlaid with a clay stratum, and in association with several deposits of worked flints. Careful diving, excavation, and sampling protocols were followed to ensure that the fragile, waterlogged timbers were surfaced in the same condition as when they were deposited. The high level of wood preservation has made it possible to determine which of these timbers are ecofacts, forest detritus from the once-freshwater fen, and which are artefacts, timbers worked with stone tools at what may have been a logboat construction site. While many timbers are likely ecofacts representing the surrounding oak (Quercus sp.) dominated forest and others are of ambiguous categorization, a few are clearly artefacts. These include oak trunk fragments with apparent axe or adze hollowing marks, wood ‘cores’ with ‘chip’ debitage, axe marks on de-barked limbs, sharpened pegs, and an intriguing group of planks that were cut flat on one side and rounded on the other. As a whole, the assemblage is indicative of woodworking and timber conversion technologies not attested elsewhere in Britain until 2000 years later, if at all. The site also demonstrates the human responses to a changing coastline, one of which was addressing the needs for waterborne transit in an increasingly marshy environment that would soon succumb to the ingressive sea.

- by Garry Momber and +1
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- Prehistoric Archaeology, Mesolithic Archaeology, Mesolithic Europe, Prehistoric Landscapes
- by Karsten Lambers and +3
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- Geoarchaeology, Palaeoenvironment, Oral history, Archaeological Prospection

Connecting the activities of mankind’s past to the habitat space is more than obvious in archaeological research. When we resume the archaeological research in the tell settlement at Sântion “Dealul Mănăstirii/Klastromdomb”, we paid special attention to Bronze Age landscape research near the site.
During the documentary evaluation stage phase of the site we encountered some remarks that indicated that the geographical environment around the site had changed radically over a few decades, which would underline the idea that the archaeological landscape from the Bronze Age it was quite different from what we see today. The next step in our approach was to identify the historical maps that allow to be georeferenced, in order to determine the extent of the changes in the Crișul Repede course. After we discovered those maps we highlighted the banks of Crișul Repede river in relation to the tell. We use some maps, cadastral plan or ortophotographs from 1790, 1860, 1892, 1974, 1977, 1980 and 2012 to analyse the relation between the tell-settlement and Crișul Repede river. A number of maps, drawings or sketches, such as those of 1785, 1806, 1825, 1954 and 1980 were irrelevant for our study. As a result, we determined that the distance between tell-settlement and Crișul Repede north bank fluctuated in time from 80 m in 1860 to 0 m in 1974, and in 2012 it would reach 160 m. It is obvious that the reality around the Sântion tell-settlement in the Middle Bronze Age was quite different from a climatic point of view (vegetation, fauna, but especially pluvial regime and the Crișul Repede river discharge). In the absence of more acurate investigations dedicated to paleoenvironment (palynology, 14C data, and core drillings) it is impossible to reconstruct the landscape of the Bronze Age with more accuracy.

Landscape Ideologies / Archaeolingua, series minor. - Budapest, 2006. – Vol. 22. - P. 81-96

- by Olena Smyntyna
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- Prehistoric Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, Landscape, Prehistoric Landscapes