On the Identification of Ænon

Abstract

Combined archaeological data from the Central Jordan Valley indicates that small agricultural villages and a few public buildings occupied the area during the first half of the 10^th century BC, all grouped along well-organised irrigation systems. A regional conflagration ended the occupation around 950 BC, after which most of the Central Jordan Valley was deserted for approximately one century. This occupational gap coincided with a period of decreased precipitation. During this arid phase the area was visited by mobile groups who used the summits of the settlement mounds for animal holding and sparse industrial activities. According to the topographical list of Shoshenq I, there were at least four settlements in the Central Jordan Valley: Adamah, Succoth, Penuel and Mahanaim. These places were apparently important enough in c. 925 BC for the Egyptians to neutralise them. But where are the remains of these settlements? This study deals with the intriguing disjunction between archaeological and textual evidence.     

The hoset Project. An interdisciplinary study of a marginal settlement

On the western border of the Stj?rdal region in the province of Nord‐Tr?ndelag, Norway, at the Hoset farm in Lånke, the Department of History at the University of Trondheim, Norway, has been carrying out a detailed study of a single farm area, in cooperation with the Nordic Deserted Farms Project This study is particularly interesting since it was planned as an interdisciplinary approach, involving archaeological, pollen‐analytical, pedological and geological specialists, in addition to historians, all of which have contributed their own evidence on the cultural and natural environment and agricultural settlement history of the area from the Iron Age onward. In this way it was hoped that answers would be found to questions which have been neglected in the past by Norwegian historians, such as settlement continuity or discontinuity, farm structure, farming methods and settlement patterns in more remote areas. It was also hoped to gain more experience in the different scientific techniques, their potentialities and limitations (e.g. radiocarbon dating, pollen analysis, phospate analysis) and to foster a spirit of mutual co‐operations between the various departments within the university.     

Early Medieval Settlement and Social Power: The Middle Anglo-Saxon ‘Home Farm’

THE LAST TWO DECADES have witnessed a marked rise in middle Anglo-Saxon settlement research, as archaeologists have become increasingly aware of the way in which this transformative period in English history can be recognised through habitation sites. Though a period during which individuals and institutions seemingly wielded unprecedented new power, archaeologists have struggled to identify many of the processes or ‘motors’ by which such authority was articulated in the landscape. This paper concerns itself with understanding one such driver, demonstrating how early medieval kings shifted power from tribute-orientated regimes to ones rooted in agricultural exploitation. The Church was fundamental to this shift in authority, and was used as a means of consolidating new power relations. In order to sustain more permanent clerical communities, the Church developed core agricultural areas surrounding their centres, known as inland, upon which were established early types of ‘home farm’. In addition to their functional purpose middle Anglo-Saxon ‘home farms’ were subject to exceptionally high degrees of spatial ordering. Such definition of settlement space, which now included property plots and houses defined by boundaries of unprecedented permanence, allowed elites to shape and consolidate perceptions of social order in the landscape. Power was now being materialised, not only through agricultural production but also through the lived experience of rural communities, as a social hierarchy which considered the place of kings as divinely appointed became firmly established.     

Distributional Survey of the Reinhardt Site (33PI880), Pickaway County,Ohio: A Strategy for Deciphering the Community Structure of a Fort Ancient Village

Abstract

There is currently a paucity of Fort Ancient sites with deciphered settlement structures. If settlement structure is reflective of social organization, then a larger sample of sites is needed to evaluate extant models of Fort Ancient social development. A distributional survey of the Reinhardt site, a Middle Fort Ancient habitation in the Middle Scioto Valley, Ohio is proposed as a model of efficient, multi-staged investigation that can aid in detection and interpretation of community structure. By combining an intensive surface collection and a 10 -×-20 -m grid of small volumetric shovel test units, I was able to discern a probable small plaza (circa 40 -m diameter) and a partial, relatively wide habitation ring (>30 m). I argue that this strategy can be usefully employed in a variety of situations to increase our understanding of variability in settlement organization in general, and specifically for the Late Prehistoric agricultural societies of the Middle Ohio Valley.     

Living on the Edge? Transformation of a Marginal Pleistocene Landscape Into a Settlement Area in the Northeastern Part of the Netherlands

ABSTRACT

This paper will examine settlement location during the Iron Age in the northeast part of the Netherlands, an area shaped by Pleistocene geology. In recent years, a number of Late Iron Age/Early Roman settlements situated on the low lying slopes of sand ridges and nearby stream ridges revealed traces of an earlier Iron Age occupation. Palynological data revealed that this part of the landscape was used by humans before it was transformed into an area of settlement. An analysis of excavation data from two key sites at Denekamp-De Borchert and Groningen-Helpermaar, as well as other known sites, lead to the conclusion that the transformation of ‘peripheral landscapes’ into permanent settlement locations was preceded by a phase of arable cultivation which left no trace of permanent habitation. It is also suggested that the impact of human behaviour on the natural landscape in the Early and Middle Iron Age was much bigger than previously anticipated. When excavating this type of settlement areas dating to the Late Iron Age, archaeologists must be aware that only of a small group of archaeological features exist. The proposed model for the choice of settlement location may be more widespread, because of similarities in landscape between the study area presented here and other landscapes in Northwest-Europe (e.g. parts of Germany and Denmark).     

The Excavation of a Brick Clamp at Shotesham St. Mary,Norfolk, 1969

Abstract

Rescue excavations in the small village of Llanmaes investigated an area of earthworks indicating the presence of several buildings. Medieval evidence was largely confined to finds. Three late 17th-century properties were examined; it is possible that they represent a planned development on the east side of the village green in response to population expansion in the Vale of Glamorgan. The buildings are of simple two-roomed plan, and would appear to be tenements of low status. One of the buildings produced evidence of smithying. A large group of metal finds of agricultural and domestic use was found, as was a closely-dated assemblage of wine bottles; a large midden deposit on the north edge of the site contained a very large group of post-medieval pottery. The buildings were abandoned by the end of the 18th century, presumably following rationalization of the local settlement morphology and farming. Thus the site represents a short-lived expansion in low-status rural housing at the time of the ‘Great Rebuilding’.     

Frontiers of Disease: Human Desire and Environmental Realities in the Rearing Of Horses in Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century South Africa

Abstract

Horses have played an important economic, military and cultural role in South African history. However, disease has always posed a threat to their survival. Horsesickness, a viral infection transmitted by midges from the genus culicoides, is endemic in much of the country but has historically assumed epizootic proportions in certain years. In the lowveld and Zululand nagana (trypanosomosis), spread by tsetse flies, has killed both horses and cattle and affected the distribution of human settlement and agricultural activities. In addition, much of South Africa is very arid, yet has rich floral taxa. Several plants, such as Senecio spp. are highly toxic to horses, but in times of drought and fodder shortages, equines are faced with the choice of starvation or potentially succumbing to toxicosis by eating poisonous weeds. This paper considers the environmental impact of these three types of horse diseases in South Africa and explores the scientific and ecological investigations undertaken since the late nineteenth century to try to control them. Research into horse diseases brought together the laboratory and the field and raised important questions about the part played by environmental factors, as opposed to just germs, in the distribution of livestock infections and the ability of farmers and scientists to tackle them effectively.     

Tracing Settlement Patterns and Channel Systems in Southern Mesopotamia Using Remote Sensing

Abstract

The integration of spatial datasets from historical satellite imagery, digital elevation models (DEMs), and past archaeological surveys provides new insights into the nature and remains of past landscape transformations. Using southern Mesopotamia as a case study, this article addresses, both quantitatively and qualitatively, long-held assumptions concerning the nature and relationship of settlement patterns and river channel systems in antiquity. GIS and image analysis are used to fill in gaps in the settlement record and propose a revised location for the Tigris River during most of antiquity. Given that only one-third of the central alluvial plain had been ground surveyed in southern Mesopotamia, how complete was our picture of landscape and settlement? How could gaps in settlement be interpreted? The present work in the area east of Baghdad suggests that archaeologists and historians have underestimated the nature and movements of the Tigris River. Satellite imagery can help reveal the location of the Tigris River prior to its settling into its modern course, shedding light on its potential role in the rise of early Mesopotamian agricultural societies. The work presented here proposes a methodology for unweaving and mapping preserved pieces of ancient landscapes, addressing larger issues of human modification of the landscape.     

The Iron Age landscape of Alcoi Valley,eastern Iberia: Agricultural intensification and sociopolitical dynamics

Abstract

New archaeological survey data are combined with previous evidence to examine the rural landscape during the Iberian Iron Age in the Valencia region of eastern Spain. One goal was to understand the settlement pattern and agricultural intensification through manuring. The second objective was to address the socioeconomic aspects of changes in the landscape. It is possible to trace the emergence of a hierarchical settlement pattern in the Iberian Iron Age in which large fortified settlements carried out the most important functions of control and exploitation of the territory, extending their authority over small rural villages and farmsteads. This pattern is associated with the complex socioeconomic structures and political organization of early Iberian states.     

Joined-Up Archaeology at Old Scatness,Shetland: Thin Section Analysis of the Site and Hinterland

Abstract

Excavations on the multi-period settlement at Old Scatness, Shetland have uncovered a number of Iron Age structures with compacted, floor-like layers. Thin section analysis was undertaken in order to investigate and compare the characteristics of these layers. The investigation also draws on earlier analyses of the Iron Age agricultural soil around the settlement and the midden deposits that accumulated within the settlement, to create a 'joined-up' analysis which considers the way material from the settlement was used and then recycled as fertiliser for the fields. Peat was collected from the nearby uplands and was used for fuel and possibly also for flooring. It is suggested that organic-rich floors from the structures were periodically removed and the material was spread onto the fields as fertilisers. More organic-rich material may have been used selectively for fertiliser, while the less organic peat ash was allowed to accumulate in middens. Several of the structures may have functioned as byres, which suggests a prehistoric plaggen system.     

A Dark-Age Settlements at Maxey,Northants

SUMMARY

A dark-age settlement was discovered at Maxey during gravel-quarrying and partly excavated before destruction to reveal at least seven rectangular buildings ranging from 30 ft. to 50 ft. in length and 16 ft. to 20 ft. in width. They were all of post-hole construction but there were instances of post-holes in trenches, post-holes joined by wall-trenches, and, once, a central beam-slot. Near by were smaller ancillary structures including pits surrounded by post-holes, perhaps storage-huts. Open hearths, pits of various types and boundary-ditches were also found. The pottery was of an unusual type, but the small finds suggest that both it and the settlement are of the middle Saxon period.     

THE SHAPIRA COLLECTION

Abstract

Khirbet es Safsafeh was occupied during the Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age and flourishe<;lduring the Israelite period, from the time of the settlement of the tribes up to and during the days of the monarchy. During the Exile the place was abandoned, and was again occupied from the first century A.D. till the eight century A.D. During all these periods the site was an agricultural settlement but also a strongpoint on the route connecting Galilee and Gilead with Ephraim and Judah. It may be supposed that the name Endor was transferred by the villagers when they moved to a new location on the slope of Jebel el Jurus, 1 km. away, in the hope that the name would protect them.

There are many places in Palestine where the ancient name was transferred by the Arabs from the original site, to a new one: Cp. the transferring of the name ‘Gezer’ to ‘al Jizri,’ or ‘Eglon’ to ‘Sheikh Ajlan’ or ‘Rehob’, in the Beisan valley to Sheikh er Rihab one mile south of Tell es Sarim.     

Recent Biblical Research in Palestine,Syria, and Asia Minor

Abstract

In the Neolithic Period seven sites were established in the delta area ot the rivers cl-Bire, el-Ish-sha and Jalud in the Valley of Beth-Shan. Four of them are concentrated in the Jalud area. Two sites (9, 21) were abandoned during subsequent Periods.

In the Chalcolithic Period, agricultural settlement was enlarged threefold. During this Period some settlements (sites 27, 34) were established in the hill country. Some sites were abandoned later (six—numbers 3, 9, 11, 14, 16 and 27—out of 12 sites were established in the Gesher-Beit Yosef area, two sites, numbers 64 and 100, out of four in the Tirat Tzevi area, one site, number 235, out of three in the Beth-Shan area).

It seems that the water-supply to the sites numbers 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, 27, 30 and 31 came from Wadi el Bire and to the sites numbers 11, 12, 14., 16 from Wadi cl-lsh-sha and number 18 from Wadi Jalud as in the recent period. It seems likely that the Chalcolithic farmers irrigated the fields by means of canals from the above mentioned rivers rather than from the Jordan. The density of occupation and the prosperity of the early agriculture is due to the water resources in the Valley of Beth-Shan.

It seems likely that by archaeological work on the 130 sites at the Valley of Beth-Shan the picture might be changed, and some more Neolithic and Chalcolithic sites be revealed, especially underneath the mass of buildings at the fortified towns like Tell es-Sarim, Tell el-Manshiye etc., but our short survey throws new light on the first steps of the agricultural life in the Valley of Beth-Shan in the fifth and fourth millennium B.C.     

Palaeoecology and Archaeology of the Village of Uukuniemi,Eastern Finland

Abstract

In the present article, pollen analytical results from Lake Kirkkolampi are presented and compared with results provided by archaeological material. Pollen analysis is connected with the archaeological research project at Papinniemi in Uukuniemi. Papinniemi is one of the numerous Greek Orthodox settlements that existed in Karelia in the fourteenth to seventeenth centuries. Archaeological evidence of settlement preceding this period is very scarce, and in this respect Uukuniemi represents a typical area in eastern Finland. There is no archaeological evidence of permanent settlement in Uukuniemi from the Early Metal Period (c. 1800 bc–ad 400), the Middle Iron Age (c. ad 400–800) or from the Late Iron Age (c. ad 800–1300). Pollen analysis demonstrated the onset of cultivation c. cal ad 300. Marked intensification of agricultural activities and cultivation in permanent fields took place around cal ad 800. A shift in land-use practises, including a declining use of fire, is visible at cal ad 1520–1600. The discrepancy between archaeological and palaeoecological records raises several questions, and the problems of Early Metal Period and Iron Age populations, as well as settlement continuity, are discussed.     

Local diversity in settlement,demography and subsistence across the southern Indian Neolithic-Iron Age transition: site growth and abandonment at Sanganakallu-Kupgal

The Southern Indian Neolithic-Iron Age transition demonstrates considerable regional variability in settlement location, density, and size. While researchers have shown that the region around the Tungabhadra and Krishna River basins displays significant subsistence and demographic continuity, and intensification, from the Neolithic into the Iron Age ca. 1200 cal. BC, archaeological and chronometric records in the Sanganakallu region point to hilltop village expansion during the Late Neolithic and ‘Megalithic’ transition period (ca. 1400–1200 cal. BC) prior to apparent abandonment ca. 1200 cal. BC, with little evidence for the introduction of iron technology into the region. We suggest that the difference in these settlement histories is a result of differential access to stable water resources during a period of weakening and fluctuating monsoon across a generally arid landscape. Here, we describe well-dated, integrated chronological, archaeobotanical, archaeozoological and archaeological survey datasets from the Sanganakallu-Kupgal site complex that together demonstrate an intensification of settlement, subsistence and craft production on local hilltops prior to almost complete abandonment ca. 1200 cal. BC. Although the southern Deccan region as a whole may have witnessed demographic increase, as well as subsistence and cultural continuity, at this time, this broader pattern of continuity and resilience is punctuated by local examples of abandonment and mobility driven by an increasing practical and political concern with water.     

The relative abundance of Onthophagus species in British assemblages of dung beetles as evidence for Holocene climate change

Abstract

The ratio between scarabaeid beetles of the genera Aphodius and Onthophagus in European dung faunas is influenced by summer climate, such that individuals of Aphodius species predominate in Northern Europe but are largely replaced by Onthophagus species in the Mediterranean region. Detailed study of insect assemblages from Neolithic to Saxon date showed a changing ratio between the genera with time. For the Neolithic and most of the Bronze Age, individuals of Onthophagus contributed around 16% of the sum of Aphodius and Onthophagus, but during the Iron Age the proportion of Onthophagus fell to around 3% and remained low. This decline of Onthophagus was probably the result of a slight cooling of mean summer temperature and agricultural intensification. However, the proportion of Onthophagus peaked at over 60% during the middle Bronze Age around 1450 BC. This is argued as reflecting a brief warm episode with mean July temperatures for Central Southern England at least 2°C warmer than at present.     

Hesitant hunters: a review of the introduction of agriculture in western Norway

Abstract

Evidence for the introduction of agriculture in western Norway is presented, using three categories of data: (1) palaeobotanical data, including pollen diagrams from lakes, bogs and archaeological sites, focusing on the presence of cereals, Plantago lanceolata L. and anthropogenic pollen indicators, and charred macro remains of cereals from archaeological sites; (2) osteological data, focusing on the occurrences of bones of cattle, sheep and goats in three rock-shelters, and the bone material from one open-air Neolithic site; (3) archaeological data, including artefacts indicating agricultural practices, distribution of residential settlement sites, and stray finds. The evidence for agricultural activity at the beginning of the fourth millennium BC (Early Neolithic, EN) is low, whereas the presence of both cereals and animal husbandry is indicated in the palaeobotanical material from the Middle Neolithic A (MNA, 3400–2600 cal. BC). The earliest record of domesticated animal bones is dated to the Middle Neolithic B (MNB, 2600–2200 cal. BC), while palynological and archaeological data also indicate an expansion in the area cultivated by early farmers. All data confirm the establishment of an agrarian society and animal husbandry in the Late Neolithic (LN, 2200–1700 cal. BC). It is concluded that agriculture was introduced into western Norway by the indigenous hunter-fisher populations. During this process, social and ideological factors played principal roles.     

Taming Surface Water in Pre-Islamic Southeast Arabia: Archaeological,Geoarchaeological, and Chronological Evidence of Runoff Water Channeling in Masāfī (UAE)

In semi-arid to arid environments, water is the most constraining resource for agricultural communities. In Southeast Arabia (Sultanate of Oman and United Arab Emirates), the demographic growth and the increase of sites at the beginning of the Iron Age II (1100–600 b.c.) is generally attributed to the development of groundwater harvesting techniques, and more precisely to qanāt technology. While only little is known on the origin of this technology, even less is known about other hydraulic techniques, which could have been used as a complementary source of water. An irrigation system, recently discovered near an Iron Age settlement in the oasis of Masāfī (UAE) was studied thanks to the combination of various methods—archaeology, geoarchaeology/micromorphology, spatial analysis, and chronology—which have allowed us to identify the technological development of small-scale runoff farming and to link this practice to social as well as environmental issues.     

The meaning of sedentism and mobility in an archaeological and historic context

Sedentism is a commonly used concept in settlement pattern analysis. In a recent review of this concept Rafferty (1985) found “sedentary” to be related to both settlement permanence and site size. Both space and time are fundamental aspects of sedentism. While maintaining permanence as a central factor, this paper discusses further aspects of sedentism primarily in relation to the use and meaning of space. A case study based on archaeological and historical materials on Sami and Norwegian settlements in arctic Norway is used as an illustration. In arctic Norway prehistoric maritime settlements have often been interpreted as being either transhumant or sedentary. The prehistoric case of sedentism is then viewed in relation to the historically known differences in settlement permanence in space and time for Norwegian and Sami populations in the same area of arctic Norway. It is proposed that models of sedentism should not only be based on ecological, economic, and adaptational considerations but should also include the importance of the meaning of place in the relationship between human populations and landscape.