Pub Date : 2024-07-31DOI: 10.1177/09596836241266429
Kikuko Tanino, Mamoru Hosono, Makiko Watanabe
The Pacific coast of eastern Japan contains specific aeolian landforms of geomorphological interest in terms of their formation processes in humid climates and Holocene paleoenvironments. Wind erosion landforms, characterised by blowouts, were observed at the heads of coastal cliffs which consisted of marine gravel sediments, weathered volcanic ash layers (WVALs) and black soil layers (BSLs). The blowouts were accompanied by downwind tephric loess dunes. We analysed the physicochemical properties of the WVAL, BSL and dune sediment samples. The results revealed that clay and silt contents in dune sediments were 5–48% and 20–35%, respectively. The fine particles were in the form of aggregates in the WVALs, BSLs and dune sediments, with contributions from andic properties. WVAL and BSL aggregates were prone to movement in saltation, depositing into the dunes in a formation process similar to that of clay dunes in semiarid zones. The tephric loess dunes were characterised as clay dunes based on their high clay and silt contents. In addition, the dunes were characterised by durable aggregates derived from short-range-order minerals, such as allophane. The prevailing northeasterly winds caused by intense low pressures were responsible for dune formation in the study areas. Radiocarbon dating revealed two active wind periods. The first was approximately 1005–895 cal. BC to 358–281 cal. BC, and the second was 771–886 cal. AD to 1021–1155 cal. AD.
{"title":"Role of aggregates in the forming process of tephric loess dunes distributed along the Pacific coast of eastern Japan","authors":"Kikuko Tanino, Mamoru Hosono, Makiko Watanabe","doi":"10.1177/09596836241266429","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241266429","url":null,"abstract":"The Pacific coast of eastern Japan contains specific aeolian landforms of geomorphological interest in terms of their formation processes in humid climates and Holocene paleoenvironments. Wind erosion landforms, characterised by blowouts, were observed at the heads of coastal cliffs which consisted of marine gravel sediments, weathered volcanic ash layers (WVALs) and black soil layers (BSLs). The blowouts were accompanied by downwind tephric loess dunes. We analysed the physicochemical properties of the WVAL, BSL and dune sediment samples. The results revealed that clay and silt contents in dune sediments were 5–48% and 20–35%, respectively. The fine particles were in the form of aggregates in the WVALs, BSLs and dune sediments, with contributions from andic properties. WVAL and BSL aggregates were prone to movement in saltation, depositing into the dunes in a formation process similar to that of clay dunes in semiarid zones. The tephric loess dunes were characterised as clay dunes based on their high clay and silt contents. In addition, the dunes were characterised by durable aggregates derived from short-range-order minerals, such as allophane. The prevailing northeasterly winds caused by intense low pressures were responsible for dune formation in the study areas. Radiocarbon dating revealed two active wind periods. The first was approximately 1005–895 cal. BC to 358–281 cal. BC, and the second was 771–886 cal. AD to 1021–1155 cal. AD.","PeriodicalId":517388,"journal":{"name":"The Holocene","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141872642","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-29DOI: 10.1177/09596836241266406
David M. Kennedy, Sarah L. McSweeney, Ashley Rogers, Colin Tong, Rory Goethel
The Holocene infill of an intermittently open-closed barrier estuary (Painkalac Creek/Aireys Inlet) was examined on the southern margins of Australia, through aerial LiDAR, coring, sedimentology, radiocarbon dating and pollen analysis. It is found that almost all the accommodation space within the estuary has been occupied, with a thick sequence (>9 m) of sediments being deposited rapidly soon after flooding by the sea. The rate of sedimentation was 4.8 mm/year which closely matches the rate of sea level rise (4.5 mm/year) during the 1200 year period that the estuary infilled, from around 8000–6800 years ago. The evidence of estuarine deposition above the elevation of the modern intertidal zone provides significant further evidence for the presence of the mid-Holocene highstand sea level in this relatively unstudied part of the Australian coast. The pattern of infill departs from the traditional barrier evolution models. The first phase of infill was likely tide dominated with subtidal sand shoals being found landward of a subtidal bedrock sill. Once a beach-barrier sequence formed, the estuary infilled in a more traditional manner, with lateral progradation of a flood tide delta and central mud basin infill. The barrier estuary of Painkalac Creek therefore has undergone a complex evolutionary history, characterised by a change in process dominance from classic tidal to wave-dominated form. Infill occurred in a keep-up (or fast catch-up) mode, with geological control occurring in regard to the presence of an intertidal bedrock sill at the mouth of the estuary.
{"title":"Rapid barrier estuary infill in a geologically-constrained setting: Aireys Inlet/Painkalac Creek, Victoria, Australia","authors":"David M. Kennedy, Sarah L. McSweeney, Ashley Rogers, Colin Tong, Rory Goethel","doi":"10.1177/09596836241266406","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241266406","url":null,"abstract":"The Holocene infill of an intermittently open-closed barrier estuary (Painkalac Creek/Aireys Inlet) was examined on the southern margins of Australia, through aerial LiDAR, coring, sedimentology, radiocarbon dating and pollen analysis. It is found that almost all the accommodation space within the estuary has been occupied, with a thick sequence (>9 m) of sediments being deposited rapidly soon after flooding by the sea. The rate of sedimentation was 4.8 mm/year which closely matches the rate of sea level rise (4.5 mm/year) during the 1200 year period that the estuary infilled, from around 8000–6800 years ago. The evidence of estuarine deposition above the elevation of the modern intertidal zone provides significant further evidence for the presence of the mid-Holocene highstand sea level in this relatively unstudied part of the Australian coast. The pattern of infill departs from the traditional barrier evolution models. The first phase of infill was likely tide dominated with subtidal sand shoals being found landward of a subtidal bedrock sill. Once a beach-barrier sequence formed, the estuary infilled in a more traditional manner, with lateral progradation of a flood tide delta and central mud basin infill. The barrier estuary of Painkalac Creek therefore has undergone a complex evolutionary history, characterised by a change in process dominance from classic tidal to wave-dominated form. Infill occurred in a keep-up (or fast catch-up) mode, with geological control occurring in regard to the presence of an intertidal bedrock sill at the mouth of the estuary.","PeriodicalId":517388,"journal":{"name":"The Holocene","volume":"44 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141872785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-27DOI: 10.1177/09596836241259788
C. M. Barton, J. E. Aura-Tortosa, Oreto García‐Puchol, Julien Riel-Salvatore, Isaac I. Ullah
The interrelated concepts of risk and resilience are inherently future-focused. Two main dimensions of risk are the probability that a harmful event will happen in the future and the probability that such an event will cause a varying degree of loss. Resilience likewise refers to the organization of a biological, societal, or technological system such that it can withstand deleterious consequences of future risks. Although both risk and resilience pertain to the future, they are assessed by looking to the past – the past occurrence of harmful events, the losses incurred in these events, and the success or failure of systems to mitigate loss when these events occur. Most common risk and resilience measures rely on records extending a few decades into the past at most. However, much longer-term dynamics of risk and resilience are of equal if not greater importance for the sustainability of coupled socioecological systems which dominate our planet. Historical sciences, including archeology, are critical to assessing risk and resilience in deep time to plan for a sustainable future. The challenge is that both past and future are invisible; we can directly observe neither. We present examples from recent archeological research that provide insights into prehistoric risk and resilience to illustrate how archeology can meet this challenge through large-scale meta-analyses, data science, and modeling.
{"title":"Lessons for an invisible future from an invisible past: Risk and resilience in deep time","authors":"C. M. Barton, J. E. Aura-Tortosa, Oreto García‐Puchol, Julien Riel-Salvatore, Isaac I. Ullah","doi":"10.1177/09596836241259788","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241259788","url":null,"abstract":"The interrelated concepts of risk and resilience are inherently future-focused. Two main dimensions of risk are the probability that a harmful event will happen in the future and the probability that such an event will cause a varying degree of loss. Resilience likewise refers to the organization of a biological, societal, or technological system such that it can withstand deleterious consequences of future risks. Although both risk and resilience pertain to the future, they are assessed by looking to the past – the past occurrence of harmful events, the losses incurred in these events, and the success or failure of systems to mitigate loss when these events occur. Most common risk and resilience measures rely on records extending a few decades into the past at most. However, much longer-term dynamics of risk and resilience are of equal if not greater importance for the sustainability of coupled socioecological systems which dominate our planet. Historical sciences, including archeology, are critical to assessing risk and resilience in deep time to plan for a sustainable future. The challenge is that both past and future are invisible; we can directly observe neither. We present examples from recent archeological research that provide insights into prehistoric risk and resilience to illustrate how archeology can meet this challenge through large-scale meta-analyses, data science, and modeling.","PeriodicalId":517388,"journal":{"name":"The Holocene","volume":"93 8","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141797983","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-27DOI: 10.1177/09596836241259772
F. Becker, Daniel Knitter, Andreas Victor Walser, B. Ludwig, Murat Tozan, B. Schütt, Felix Pirson
A systematic interdisciplinary approach based on the socio-ecological model of the Vienna school has been adopted to achieve a more nuanced and multifaceted understanding of the ancient metropolis of Pergamon (western Anatolia) and its micro-region. The city of Pergamon ranks among the ‘guiding fossils’ of urban culture in antiquity. We describe how the socio-ecological model is subject to adaptation and discussion to fit the needs and circumstances of archaeology. In focussing on geomorphodynamics, we use several approaches to conceptualise and model selected aspects of human-environment interactions, integrating data from physical geography, archaeology, building archaeology (Bauforschung) and ancient history. The model includes several dimensions of the social metabolism of Pergamon, first and foremost the carrying capacity of the environment and demographics, comprising population increase and labour as an active investment in nature. Geomorphodynamics are regarded as major ‘events’ in the model, related to the social metabolism (e.g. increased erosion/deposition in the micro-region in relation to urban sprawl). With the social-ecological model, it is possible – and becomes imperative – to include the perception and representation of human-environment interactions manifested in, for example, administrative patterns and religious practices or architecture and built infrastructure (such as terraces, riverbank stabilisation, substraction terraces and substraction bridges). Geomorphodynamics also involve various aspects of the perception of the environment, though these are not recorded in ancient texts on Pergamon known to date. Concurrently, the importance of the model in organising, structuring, and communicating interdisciplinary collaboration and discourse is highlighted.
{"title":"Understanding geomorphodynamics in the Pergamon micro-region from a socio-ecological perspective","authors":"F. Becker, Daniel Knitter, Andreas Victor Walser, B. Ludwig, Murat Tozan, B. Schütt, Felix Pirson","doi":"10.1177/09596836241259772","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241259772","url":null,"abstract":"A systematic interdisciplinary approach based on the socio-ecological model of the Vienna school has been adopted to achieve a more nuanced and multifaceted understanding of the ancient metropolis of Pergamon (western Anatolia) and its micro-region. The city of Pergamon ranks among the ‘guiding fossils’ of urban culture in antiquity. We describe how the socio-ecological model is subject to adaptation and discussion to fit the needs and circumstances of archaeology. In focussing on geomorphodynamics, we use several approaches to conceptualise and model selected aspects of human-environment interactions, integrating data from physical geography, archaeology, building archaeology (Bauforschung) and ancient history. The model includes several dimensions of the social metabolism of Pergamon, first and foremost the carrying capacity of the environment and demographics, comprising population increase and labour as an active investment in nature. Geomorphodynamics are regarded as major ‘events’ in the model, related to the social metabolism (e.g. increased erosion/deposition in the micro-region in relation to urban sprawl). With the social-ecological model, it is possible – and becomes imperative – to include the perception and representation of human-environment interactions manifested in, for example, administrative patterns and religious practices or architecture and built infrastructure (such as terraces, riverbank stabilisation, substraction terraces and substraction bridges). Geomorphodynamics also involve various aspects of the perception of the environment, though these are not recorded in ancient texts on Pergamon known to date. Concurrently, the importance of the model in organising, structuring, and communicating interdisciplinary collaboration and discourse is highlighted.","PeriodicalId":517388,"journal":{"name":"The Holocene","volume":"2 11","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141796921","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-27DOI: 10.1177/09596836241259790
Ignasi Grau Mira, Julia Sarabia-Bautista, E. I. Avilés, Josu Narbarte-Hernández
In this paper, we present the long-term occupation of the Perputxent Valley with the purpose of exploring the factors that could explain the long-lasting and trans-cultural occupation of resilient sites and landscapes for nearly two millennia. The first part describes the archaeological research carried out based on remote sensing and intensive coverage survey methods and geoarchaeological analysis. The characterisation of the intensive agricultural uses has been studied from the geochemical analysis of the soil and sedimentary record. The objective is to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental processes and the possible evidence of the agricultural practices. This research has identified the residential spaces, the sites and the agrarian land-uses, especially intensive farmlands. The second part analyses the evidence of this long-term settlements in the context of the archaeological, ethnographic and historical record of the region. Understanding these practices of agriculture and land-use can contribute to understandings of what makes societies sustainable.
{"title":"Archaeological landscapes and long-term settlements in the Perputxent valley (eastern Iberia): Exploring land use strategies and sustainability in a Mediterranean mountain area","authors":"Ignasi Grau Mira, Julia Sarabia-Bautista, E. I. Avilés, Josu Narbarte-Hernández","doi":"10.1177/09596836241259790","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241259790","url":null,"abstract":"In this paper, we present the long-term occupation of the Perputxent Valley with the purpose of exploring the factors that could explain the long-lasting and trans-cultural occupation of resilient sites and landscapes for nearly two millennia. The first part describes the archaeological research carried out based on remote sensing and intensive coverage survey methods and geoarchaeological analysis. The characterisation of the intensive agricultural uses has been studied from the geochemical analysis of the soil and sedimentary record. The objective is to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental processes and the possible evidence of the agricultural practices. This research has identified the residential spaces, the sites and the agrarian land-uses, especially intensive farmlands. The second part analyses the evidence of this long-term settlements in the context of the archaeological, ethnographic and historical record of the region. Understanding these practices of agriculture and land-use can contribute to understandings of what makes societies sustainable.","PeriodicalId":517388,"journal":{"name":"The Holocene","volume":"6 13","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141797262","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-27DOI: 10.1177/09596836241266433
Marco A. Pablo-Pablo, O. Franco‐Ramos, Lorenzo Vázquez-Selem, Julián Cerano-Paredes
Rockfall represents one of the most destructive geomorphic processes for infrastructure and settlements located at the foot of mountain slopes. Furthermore, it poses a hazard for visitors and hikers. Despite the high anthropic activity in these environments, research on the reconstruction of rockfall in the high mountains of Mexico is still scarce. We used dendrochronological, dendrogeomorphological and lichenometric approaches to study the age and rockfall dynamics in a talus slope in central Mexico. Tree- ring chronologies were constructed from 140 samples of 50 Pinus hartwegii trees, 10 Juniperus monticola shrubs and 16 Ribes ciliatum shrubs to determine the age, frequency and rockfall stability at the upper limit of the forest (~4000 m a.s.l.). 52% of the tree samples showed impact scars, 39% callus tissue, 7% growth suppression and 2% corresponded to trees killed by rockfall. The frequency of rockfalls has increased since the second half of the 20th century, with the 1990s being the period of greatest activity. The years with the greatest disturbance were 1991, 1994 and 1998, possibly due to the intense rainfall that accumulated during the summer, as well as the earthquakes recorded in central and southern Mexico with magnitudes ⩾6. For the lichenometric analysis, 231 thalli of Rhizocarpon geographicum were measured in an active rockfall area. The results suggested three areas of rockfall activity. In the first area the ages were from 61 (±5 year) to 322 years (±41 year). In the second area, the ages were from 12 (±3 year) to 50 years (±12 year). The third area corresponds to an active zone with lichen-free blocks, located near the escarpment. The combination of dendrochronological and lichenometric methods allows a better determination of the minimum ages of rockfall, frequency, spatial distribution, and their possible factor triggers.
{"title":"Using dendrogeomorphic and lichenometric approaches for rockfall analysis in the high mountains of Central Mexico","authors":"Marco A. Pablo-Pablo, O. Franco‐Ramos, Lorenzo Vázquez-Selem, Julián Cerano-Paredes","doi":"10.1177/09596836241266433","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241266433","url":null,"abstract":"Rockfall represents one of the most destructive geomorphic processes for infrastructure and settlements located at the foot of mountain slopes. Furthermore, it poses a hazard for visitors and hikers. Despite the high anthropic activity in these environments, research on the reconstruction of rockfall in the high mountains of Mexico is still scarce. We used dendrochronological, dendrogeomorphological and lichenometric approaches to study the age and rockfall dynamics in a talus slope in central Mexico. Tree- ring chronologies were constructed from 140 samples of 50 Pinus hartwegii trees, 10 Juniperus monticola shrubs and 16 Ribes ciliatum shrubs to determine the age, frequency and rockfall stability at the upper limit of the forest (~4000 m a.s.l.). 52% of the tree samples showed impact scars, 39% callus tissue, 7% growth suppression and 2% corresponded to trees killed by rockfall. The frequency of rockfalls has increased since the second half of the 20th century, with the 1990s being the period of greatest activity. The years with the greatest disturbance were 1991, 1994 and 1998, possibly due to the intense rainfall that accumulated during the summer, as well as the earthquakes recorded in central and southern Mexico with magnitudes ⩾6. For the lichenometric analysis, 231 thalli of Rhizocarpon geographicum were measured in an active rockfall area. The results suggested three areas of rockfall activity. In the first area the ages were from 61 (±5 year) to 322 years (±41 year). In the second area, the ages were from 12 (±3 year) to 50 years (±12 year). The third area corresponds to an active zone with lichen-free blocks, located near the escarpment. The combination of dendrochronological and lichenometric methods allows a better determination of the minimum ages of rockfall, frequency, spatial distribution, and their possible factor triggers.","PeriodicalId":517388,"journal":{"name":"The Holocene","volume":"78 23","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141798158","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-26DOI: 10.1177/09596836241259786
Patrick T Willett, W Christopher Carleton, Nils Broothaerts, Ralf Vandam
Past land-use reconstructions are a key tool for studying long-term human ecodynamics and addressing pressing questions about the origins and evolutionary dynamics of the Anthropocene. In particular, agricultural landcover reconstructions are vital for understanding long-term human-environment dynamics. Most past agricultural land-use models, however, rely heavily on modelling assumptions, make limited use of known archaeological site locations to constrain or inform their estimates and tend to be limited to general estimates of percentages of plant types within catchments around pollen trapping lakes. The lack of information outside catchment areas and low spatial resolution even within catchments constrain the utility of these models. To address this problem, we propose a new approach that combines archaeological predictive modelling with pollen-based agricultural landcover reconstructions to produce more accurate, spatially explicit past landcover estimates. Here, we present the results of a case study deploying the new approach to produce improved past landcover maps for a region in the Western Taurus Mountains, southwestern Turkey. The study area surrounds Sagalassos, an antique urban centre with a regional settlement history encompassing nine millennia. We produced five archaeological predictive models for the study region using the ‘Locally Adaptive Models of Archaeological Potential’ (LAMAP) method spanning the Hellenistic through Late Ottoman period. We then combined those predictive surfaces with ‘Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites’ (REVEALS) pollen landcover reconstructions for the same periods based on pollen from sediment cores extracted from three catchments within the study area. Lastly, we compared the resulting hybrid landcover models to the archaeological record using data not used to make the predictions. We found that the hybrid landcover model aligned very well with the known extents of agricultural land-use from the study area. These results indicate that the proposed approach is a viable way to combine pollen-based landcover models with archaeological data and produce more accurate, empirically-based landcover reconstructions reflecting real human activity in the past.
{"title":"Changing with the times: From agricultural potential to spatially explicit reconstructions of past land use","authors":"Patrick T Willett, W Christopher Carleton, Nils Broothaerts, Ralf Vandam","doi":"10.1177/09596836241259786","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241259786","url":null,"abstract":"Past land-use reconstructions are a key tool for studying long-term human ecodynamics and addressing pressing questions about the origins and evolutionary dynamics of the Anthropocene. In particular, agricultural landcover reconstructions are vital for understanding long-term human-environment dynamics. Most past agricultural land-use models, however, rely heavily on modelling assumptions, make limited use of known archaeological site locations to constrain or inform their estimates and tend to be limited to general estimates of percentages of plant types within catchments around pollen trapping lakes. The lack of information outside catchment areas and low spatial resolution even within catchments constrain the utility of these models. To address this problem, we propose a new approach that combines archaeological predictive modelling with pollen-based agricultural landcover reconstructions to produce more accurate, spatially explicit past landcover estimates. Here, we present the results of a case study deploying the new approach to produce improved past landcover maps for a region in the Western Taurus Mountains, southwestern Turkey. The study area surrounds Sagalassos, an antique urban centre with a regional settlement history encompassing nine millennia. We produced five archaeological predictive models for the study region using the ‘Locally Adaptive Models of Archaeological Potential’ (LAMAP) method spanning the Hellenistic through Late Ottoman period. We then combined those predictive surfaces with ‘Regional Estimates of VEgetation Abundance from Large Sites’ (REVEALS) pollen landcover reconstructions for the same periods based on pollen from sediment cores extracted from three catchments within the study area. Lastly, we compared the resulting hybrid landcover models to the archaeological record using data not used to make the predictions. We found that the hybrid landcover model aligned very well with the known extents of agricultural land-use from the study area. These results indicate that the proposed approach is a viable way to combine pollen-based landcover models with archaeological data and produce more accurate, empirically-based landcover reconstructions reflecting real human activity in the past.","PeriodicalId":517388,"journal":{"name":"The Holocene","volume":"78 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141777132","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-07-24DOI: 10.1177/09596836241259774
Çağlayan Bal, Evangelia Pişkin
Climatic change has been called for as an explanation on many occasions of societal change. The way climatic deterioration affects societies appears to be straightforward; it causes such alterations in the environment that critical subsistence resources are not anymore available in sufficient abundance. Nevertheless, it is not clear how these alterations can be identified and verified in the archeological record, and there is not an easy way to clarify if modifications observed in subsistence patterns are the consequences of climatic change or other agents. Additionally, there is a number of problems related to paleoenvironmental data that measure the climatic fluctuations, mostly concerning the exact timing of events and their intensity which may not have been the same universally. In this research, we examine the 4.2 ka BP climatic event and its possible effects on western Anatolian societies through a set of published data. We discuss the information we have about the event from available paleoenvironmental data and the gaps in this kind of research. We examine the agropastoral economy from Troy, Küllüoba, Kanlıgeçit, and Karataş-Semayük for possible changes according to a set of criteria that we consider as indicators of responses to aridification. We found diverging strategies that may relate to the different local environments or varying societal structures unique to each site. We consider a partial turn to nomadic pastoralism as an adaptation strategy based on changes in settlement patterns. Finally, we evaluate our findings against other possible explanations since the observed patterns could have had multiple explanations.
在许多社会变迁的场合,人们都要求用气候变化来解释。气候恶化影响社会的方式似乎很简单:它导致环境改变,使重要的生存资源不再充足。然而,如何在考古记录中识别和验证这些变化并不清楚,而且也没有一种简单的方法来澄清所观察到的生存模式的改变是气候变化还是其他因素造成的后果。此外,测量气候波动的古环境数据也存在一些问题,主要涉及事件发生的确切时间和强度,而这些可能并不具有普遍性。在这项研究中,我们通过一组已公布的数据,研究了公元前 4.2 ka 年的气候事件及其对安纳托利亚西部社会可能产生的影响。我们讨论了从现有的古环境数据中获得的有关该事件的信息,以及此类研究的不足之处。我们研究了特洛伊、库吕奥巴、坎勒格奇特和卡拉塔什-塞马尤克的农牧经济,根据我们认为是干旱化应对指标的一系列标准,研究其可能发生的变化。我们发现了不同的策略,这可能与每个地点不同的当地环境或独特的社会结构有关。我们认为部分转向游牧是基于定居模式变化的一种适应策略。最后,我们根据其他可能的解释来评估我们的发现,因为观察到的模式可能有多种解释。
{"title":"The 4.2 ka BP event in western Anatolia: Tracing the impact of climatic change","authors":"Çağlayan Bal, Evangelia Pişkin","doi":"10.1177/09596836241259774","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241259774","url":null,"abstract":"Climatic change has been called for as an explanation on many occasions of societal change. The way climatic deterioration affects societies appears to be straightforward; it causes such alterations in the environment that critical subsistence resources are not anymore available in sufficient abundance. Nevertheless, it is not clear how these alterations can be identified and verified in the archeological record, and there is not an easy way to clarify if modifications observed in subsistence patterns are the consequences of climatic change or other agents. Additionally, there is a number of problems related to paleoenvironmental data that measure the climatic fluctuations, mostly concerning the exact timing of events and their intensity which may not have been the same universally. In this research, we examine the 4.2 ka BP climatic event and its possible effects on western Anatolian societies through a set of published data. We discuss the information we have about the event from available paleoenvironmental data and the gaps in this kind of research. We examine the agropastoral economy from Troy, Küllüoba, Kanlıgeçit, and Karataş-Semayük for possible changes according to a set of criteria that we consider as indicators of responses to aridification. We found diverging strategies that may relate to the different local environments or varying societal structures unique to each site. We consider a partial turn to nomadic pastoralism as an adaptation strategy based on changes in settlement patterns. Finally, we evaluate our findings against other possible explanations since the observed patterns could have had multiple explanations.","PeriodicalId":517388,"journal":{"name":"The Holocene","volume":"7 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-07-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141777134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-22DOI: 10.1177/09596836241259785
Adrian C Newton, Fiona Coward, Sarah Elliott, Emma Jenkins, Marc Vander Linden, Philip Riris, Fabio Silva
Most research on long-term human ecodynamics examines changes in the size and structure of human populations, often in relation to climate change. Here we offer an alternative perspective that draws on recent progress in conservation science, examining the causes and consequences of ecosystem collapse. We identify human actions that can cause abrupt transformation of ecosystems, in relation to key mechanisms and underlying theory. Such ecosystem collapse can in turn affect human societies by altering flows of ecosystem benefits to people. In this way, human ecodynamics can be understood by separately analysing the dynamics of social and ecological sub-systems, which are reciprocally linked. Ecosystem collapse represents a perturbation of these sub-systems, and provides insights into the mechanisms underlying their respective dynamics. We illustrate this approach through four case studies, which examine the spread of agriculture during the Holocene. Four key knowledge gaps emerge through consideration of these case studies: the linkages between social and ecological sub-systems, and how these change over time; the presence of feedbacks between these sub-systems; the relationships between local- and regional-scale collapse; and the relationships with ecological recovery. Increased research on ecosystem collapse could help clarify the relative influence of environmental degradation on societal dynamics, while providing insights into resilience and sustainability. Given the outstanding societal importance of ecosystem collapse, such research could also strengthen the relevance of historical sciences to the contemporary world.
{"title":"Understanding long-term human ecodynamics through the lens of ecosystem collapse","authors":"Adrian C Newton, Fiona Coward, Sarah Elliott, Emma Jenkins, Marc Vander Linden, Philip Riris, Fabio Silva","doi":"10.1177/09596836241259785","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241259785","url":null,"abstract":"Most research on long-term human ecodynamics examines changes in the size and structure of human populations, often in relation to climate change. Here we offer an alternative perspective that draws on recent progress in conservation science, examining the causes and consequences of ecosystem collapse. We identify human actions that can cause abrupt transformation of ecosystems, in relation to key mechanisms and underlying theory. Such ecosystem collapse can in turn affect human societies by altering flows of ecosystem benefits to people. In this way, human ecodynamics can be understood by separately analysing the dynamics of social and ecological sub-systems, which are reciprocally linked. Ecosystem collapse represents a perturbation of these sub-systems, and provides insights into the mechanisms underlying their respective dynamics. We illustrate this approach through four case studies, which examine the spread of agriculture during the Holocene. Four key knowledge gaps emerge through consideration of these case studies: the linkages between social and ecological sub-systems, and how these change over time; the presence of feedbacks between these sub-systems; the relationships between local- and regional-scale collapse; and the relationships with ecological recovery. Increased research on ecosystem collapse could help clarify the relative influence of environmental degradation on societal dynamics, while providing insights into resilience and sustainability. Given the outstanding societal importance of ecosystem collapse, such research could also strengthen the relevance of historical sciences to the contemporary world.","PeriodicalId":517388,"journal":{"name":"The Holocene","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141508493","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2024-06-22DOI: 10.1177/09596836241259771
Dries Daems, Ralf Vandam
Three decades of interdisciplinary research within the Sagalassos Archaeological Research Project has provided extensive archaeological, environmental and geoarchaeological datasets. This paper seeks to bring together these datasets to explore diachronic socio-ecological dynamics within the Sagalassos Study Area, SW Türkiye. For this, we will use the Adaptive Cycles and Resilience Theory framework to explore socio-cultural development during changing climatic and environmental conditions. The paper aims to serve as an in-depth case study of these frameworks, integrating archaeological and environmental data, which – despite the increasing popularity of resilience theory – remains underdeveloped within the field of archaeology, especially within Mediterranean and Anatolian archaeology. We will explore the utility of the adaptive cycle framework for reconstructing diachronic human-environment interactions through changing settlement patterns documented during surveys conducted by the Sagalassos Project. Critical phases within the settlement record can be identified during the last 8000 years including apparent periods of ‘rupture’ during the Middle Chalcolithic, Middle-Late Bronze Age, Hellenistic and Middle-Byzantine periods; representing times of serious upheaval in ‘normal’ cultural traditions and lifeways. The adaptive cycle framework will help distinguish between the effects of environmental changes and social dynamics, as well as their potential interrelations in causing long-term social transformation in the Sagalassos Study Area.
{"title":"Tracing adaptive cycles and resilience strategies within the Sagalassos settlement record, SW Türkiye","authors":"Dries Daems, Ralf Vandam","doi":"10.1177/09596836241259771","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1177/09596836241259771","url":null,"abstract":"Three decades of interdisciplinary research within the Sagalassos Archaeological Research Project has provided extensive archaeological, environmental and geoarchaeological datasets. This paper seeks to bring together these datasets to explore diachronic socio-ecological dynamics within the Sagalassos Study Area, SW Türkiye. For this, we will use the Adaptive Cycles and Resilience Theory framework to explore socio-cultural development during changing climatic and environmental conditions. The paper aims to serve as an in-depth case study of these frameworks, integrating archaeological and environmental data, which – despite the increasing popularity of resilience theory – remains underdeveloped within the field of archaeology, especially within Mediterranean and Anatolian archaeology. We will explore the utility of the adaptive cycle framework for reconstructing diachronic human-environment interactions through changing settlement patterns documented during surveys conducted by the Sagalassos Project. Critical phases within the settlement record can be identified during the last 8000 years including apparent periods of ‘rupture’ during the Middle Chalcolithic, Middle-Late Bronze Age, Hellenistic and Middle-Byzantine periods; representing times of serious upheaval in ‘normal’ cultural traditions and lifeways. The adaptive cycle framework will help distinguish between the effects of environmental changes and social dynamics, as well as their potential interrelations in causing long-term social transformation in the Sagalassos Study Area.","PeriodicalId":517388,"journal":{"name":"The Holocene","volume":"347 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141508491","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}