Protecting a ‘Homeric landscape’: The making of the Butrint National Park,Albania

Abstract

This paper will present research on the vulnerability mapping of coastal archaeological sites currently being undertaken in Northern Ireland. The ultimate aim of this research is improve current predictions of where archaeological sites and landscapes will be at risk in the future from coastal erosion. The initial stage of this approach uses a suite of oblique aerial photographs to construct a baseline of eroding locations and coastal geomorphology. The erosion baseline can then be integrated with existing historic environment records to obtain a coarse first-pass archaeological vulnerability assessment. Subsequent stages can then use this assessment to prioritize future mitigation such as field surveys or monitoring exercises, or conduct further refinements of vulnerability classifications by incorporating information on site type and positioning on a local scale.     

The Mesolithic Maritime Landscape on the North Coast of Ireland

A combination of reconstruction of the former coastline and field survey of previously unrecorded sites provides the basis for the study of the maritime landscape and maritime activities around Portrush on the north coast of Ireland during the Mesolithic period. Movements in relative sea‐level and geological events indicate significant change in environment and availability of resources, particularly flint, for the coastal community. Evidence suggests that most Early Mesolithic material, deposited close to the then shoreline, is presently under water. Remnants of the Late Mesolithic are fast disappearing as coastal erosion continues. © 2010 The Author     

A Strategic Framework for Monitoring Coastal Change in Australia's Wet-dry Tropics – Concepts and Progress

A strategic framework for monitoring natural and human-induced change in the coastal plains of the Alligator Rivers Region in the wet-dry tropics of northern Australia is presented. The framework also supports refinement of methods used to monitor the vulnerability of coastal areas to change, including human-induced climate change and sea-level rise. The information derived through the framework can be used to assess scenarios, highlight the potential significance and implications of changes, and assist land managers formulate management responses. The framework incorporates several large-scale studies for monitoring atmospheric and hydrodynamic processes as well as mapping and monitoring projects specific to environmental change in the freshwater wetlands and the floodplains of the Region. Monitoring is proposed to address processes influencing the stability and rate of change of the floodplain environments. These include large-scale processes, such as inter-annual variability in weather conditions affecting the morphology of the coastal plains, shoreline and riverbank stabilisation, headward expansion of tidal creeks, and salinisation of freshwater basins. Information management is also addressed, and a Geographic Information System structure proposed for effective data collation, analysis and management. The information management system will facilitate data sharing and participation of multiple agencies and organisations interested in coastal change, especially where a landscape perspective or whole ecosystem approach is advocated.     

Heritage Monitoring Scouts: Engaging the Public to Monitor Sites at Risk Across Florida

ABSTRACT

Along Florida’s nearly 13,000 km of shoreline, nearly 4000 archaeological sites and over 600 recorded historic cemeteries are at risk from climate change impacts including coastal erosion and a 2-metre rise in sea level. In 2016, the Florida Public Archaeology Network (FPAN) created the Heritage Monitoring Scouts (HMS Florida) programme to engage the public in monitoring sites at risk. The programme grew quickly during the first year of operation to include 233 volunteers who submitted 312 monitoring forms. The programme exists beyond the singular act of a volunteer reporting site conditions; across Florida, varied combinations of local partnerships present unique opportunities for programmes, for example, the pilot program at the Guana Tolomato Matanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve. Preliminary outcomes from the first year of HMS Florida and the pilot indicate the programme is effective in public engagement and a powerful management tool for tracking change to sites over time.     

Surveying Coastal Archaeological Sites Damaged by Hurricane Sandy in Rhode Island,USA

Supported by the U.S. National Park Service's Historic Preservation Fund program, the Rhode Island Historical Preservation and Heritage Commission administered surveys of coastal archaeological sites damaged by 2012's Hurricane Sandy in Rhode Island, USA. This project documented the transformative effects of Hurricane Sandy on coastal archaeological sites, evaluated the eligibility of many of those sites for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, and provided new insights into ancient Native American coastal occupation. Notable project limitations include incomplete property access, bureaucratic delays, and a Tribal collaboration that fell short. Because preserving most of these erosion-prone sites through shoreline stabilization is unlikely, management efforts will consider preemptive archaeological salvage excavations. This case study may prove useful to archaeologists worldwide who are managing coastal sites threatened by rising sea levels and storms of increasing intensity and frequency.     

New Middle Palaeolithic sites from the Mani Peninsula,Southern Greece

We here report the first results from a systematic research project in Mani (Southern Greece), which includes survey and test excavations. Forty-six caves, rockshelters and open-air sites in lowland settings were surveyed. Geomorphological data were collected in order to assess how geological processes affect the preservation of sites and bias site distribution patterns. Artifacts manufactured from non-local rock indicate potential raw material transfers and suggest links among the different regions of Mani, related to mobility patterns. Our research in the Mani has nearly doubled the number of known Middle Palaeolithic sites from the region and confirmed that the peninsula has the strongest ‘Neanderthal signal’ identified to date in Greece. Almost all sites are located at coastal areas. Despite the influence of Pleistocene landscape dynamics, this distribution emerges as a persistent pattern, perhaps indicating a preference for coastal locations. The Neanderthal occupation of Mani can illuminate important aspects of Middle Palaeolithic adaptation in one of the southernmost coastal regions of Europe.     

The Library is on Fire,Now What? Assessing the Damage and How to Approach It: A Case Study from the Chesapeake Bay

ABSTRACT

The Longwood Institute of Archaeology conducted the Vulnerability, Potential and Condition (VPC) assessment of shoreline archaeological sites along 1990 km (1237 miles) of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. VPC assessment involves a three-pronged approach that includes (1) the assessment of site vulnerability due to changing shorelines using an analytical package called Analysing Moving Boundaries Using R – AMBUR, (2) the assessment of potential shoreline site locations through predictive modelling using Weights of Evidence – WofE – analysis, and (3) the assessment of current conditions of known sites through direct observation. Vulnerability assessment results indicated that 49% of site shorelines in the project area are moving landward. Potential assessment located high-probability site locations with an 83% efficiency. Condition assessment, conducted using standard field protocols, provided feedback of the sites’ current conditions. The intended outcome of this method is to provide resource managers with information needed to make informed, data-driven management decisions.     

Assessment of risks on a territorial scale for archaeological sites in İzmir

This article focuses on natural, institutional, and human factors threatening archaeological sites. A methodology is developed for assessing risks to multiple assets on a territorial scale. The methodology consists of hazard assessment, vulnerability assessment, and risk assessment. Hazard assessment involves identifying hazard exposure areas and measuring the frequency and intensity of each hazard. Vulnerability assessment incorporates examining physical, managerial, and contextual vulnerabilities of structures and remains. Geographical information systems are utilised for producing hazard, vulnerability, and risk maps. An overall picture of risks for an entire territory allows decision-makers to make informed decisions at an upstream level to limit further degradation and ensure the preservation of archaeological assets. The methodology was tested by conducting a comprehensive study in ?zmir (Turkey), where 229 archaeological sites located in 21 metropolitan districts were studied. The proposed approach provides the promise of applicability across a range of historic environments.     

基于景观生态的亚热带沿海景观及旅游保护性开发探讨——以福建省为例

沿海景观作为海洋景观与陆地景观的边界,是特色鲜明和空间异质性突出的系统整体。同时沿海地区一直是人类开发较早、人地关系紧密、系统物能交换最频繁、最集中的区域,对海-陆-气系统耦合力和内外营力具有高度的敏感性,因此保持沿海景观的生态整体性尤为重要。研究沿海景观的景观体系和开发利用,目前在我国仍属于薄弱环节。本文评述福建沿海景观分类并概括其生态特征,应用景观生态的原理,探讨福建沿海景观旅游保护性开发模式,构建和谐稳定的景观格局。     

Archaeological survey,paleogeography, and the search for Late Pleistocene Paleocoastal peoples of Santa Rosa Island,California

Abstract

The northern Pacific Coast is an important area for understanding human colonization of the Americas, but Late Pleistocene coastal sites are rare and interglacial sea level rise has inundated the continental shelf and the primary areas where Paleocoastal archaeological sites are likely to occur. Here we outline a terrestrial archaeological survey project designed to identify Paleocoastal sites on Santa Rosa Island, California. Using reconstructions of ancient shorelines and paleogeography, we predicted that sites might be found where lithic resources, freshwater springs, caves or rockshelters, and strategic vistas drew Paleocoastal peoples into the island interior. We identified nine new Paleocoastal sites, including four radiocarbon dated to >11,000 cal b.p. that are among the oldest sites on North America’s Pacific coast. Our targeted survey demonstrates an important technique for investigating island and coastal settings where sea level rise remains a significant challenge for locating early sites.     

Seismic vulnerability assessment of historic centers: description of a predictive method and application to the case study of scanno (Abruzzi,Italy)

ABSTRACT

In this article, a predictive model for the seismic vulnerability assessment of old Italian historic centers is presented through its direct application to a meaningful case study, the historic center of Scanno, in Abruzzi, Italy.

The proposed method is calibrated on the basis of the observations carried out on similar historic centers hit by the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake and is applied in order to provide likely damage scenarios by means of fragility curves. The method is based on the evaluation of a limited number of structural and typological parameters that can be obtained by simple and rapid inspections on buildings. In addition, it is conceived in order to provide useful information on the most effective anti-seismic strategies to be implemented on urban scale for pursuing a global mitigation of the seismic risk and for the application of suitable risk reduction policies.

The final aim of the article is to give an applicative vision of the method, by providing instructions on how to judge the features of the buildings that are influential on their seismic behavior, as well as by showing the potentiality of the method itself in providing likely damage scenarios, also with the support of GIS-based representations.     

Between rocks and a hard place: prehistoric funerary practices at Wādī Ḍebayʿān,northern Qatar

Archaeological survey by the Qatar National Historic Environment Record Project (QNHER) in 2009, led to the discovery of a Neolithic flint scatter, a settlement and an ancient, raised shoreline associated with higher, mid‐Holocene sea levels at Wādī ?ebay?ān, north‐western Qatar (Al‐Naimi et al. 2010, 2011; Cuttler, Tetlow & Al‐Naimi 2011). The QNHER project is a collaboration between Qatar Museums and the University of Birmingham, which over the past five years has developed a national geospatial database for the recording of archaeological sites and historic monuments in Qatar. A significant aspect of the project involved archaeological survey and excavation in advance of major construction projects. Between 2012 and 2014 excavations at Wādī ?ebay?ān revealed a burial of a typology previously unknown in Qatar, the unmarked graves (Cuttler, Al‐Naimi & Tetlow 2013).     

Quantifying the effects of erosion on the archaeology of intertidal environments: A new approach and its implications for their management

Abstract

While the high archaeological and palaeoecological value of intertidal deposits has become well known, approaches to their management remain extremely restricted. Despite the often high levels of erosion experienced by some sites there has been very little development in methods aimed at understanding or quantifying the threats. This paper presents an approach aimed at monitoring erosion within the Humber estuary, UK, where previous finds including Bronze Age boat remains and trackways have made it an area of international importance. Two sites have been investigated and the results from these demonstrate both the high rate of sediment removal and also the highly variable nature of intertidal erosion. It is argued that global figures relating to rates of erosion are wholly inappropriate when attempting to manage archaeological deposits that have survived in intertidal environments. Rather, management of such archaeologically rich but threatened landscapes is only possible through regular quantitative monitoring. Such an approach offers coastal protection authorities a valuable opportunity to assess the long-term progress of erosion and coastal change. This methodology could be employed alongside management agreements within those particular coastal cells or process units that have been identified in a Shoreline Management Plan.     

Identifying palaeo-environments and changes in Aboriginal subsistence from dual-patterned faunal assemblages,south-western Australia

Palaeo-environments and past human subsistence patterns are difficult to determine from dual-patterned faunal assemblages where human and non-human predators have accumulated and intensively modified animal bones. This paper examines such records in the Leeuwin–Naturaliste Region of south-western Australia, where a thin belt of coastal limestone contains caves and rock shelters with rich faunal deposits. The Late Pleistocene and Holocene part of this record derives from four archaeological sites: Devil's Lair, Tunnel Cave, Witchcliffe Rock Shelter and Rainbow Cave. Correspondence analysis combined with cluster analysis enables a preliminary assessment of habitat changes using simple species abundances in the faunal assemblages and comparison with indices of past human activity in the sites and the species’ present habitat preferences. These inferred changes, consistent with previous analyses of faunal remains and tree charcoal, suggest that late Holocene sites document Aboriginal occupation in coastal heath, scrub and woodland. Late Pleistocene deposits record hinterland occupation at times of low sea-level when the coast was up to 30 km seawards of its present position and the surrounding vegetation was open-forest or woodland. As rainfall increased and vegetation changed in the Holocene, species foraging in open-woodland declined or became locally extinct, while species requiring closed canopy habitats increased. Rank-order correlations of taxa and archaeological remains from depositional sequences before and after the environmental change indicate that the occupiers of late Holocene sites favoured the same generalist species that occupiers of Late Pleistocene sites had favoured, which were available at all times. Prey habitats, foraging behaviours and historic records of ethnographic hunting and settlement pattern suggest that this local continuity is consistent with maintenance of a “dispersive mode” subsistence pattern in the region.     

Arctic archaeological sites threatened by climate change: A regional multi-threat assessment of sites in south-west Greenland

Climate change threatens many well-preserved archaeological sites in the Arctic. The paper presents the first Arctic multi-threat assessment focusing on the Nuuk region of Greenland. The results suggest that the majority of the 336 known archaeological sites are already exposed to impacts from microbial degradation, permafrost thaw and vegetation, and that these impacts will increase over the next 80 years. Additional impacts from coastal erosion are only noted at a limited number of sites due to a predominant consolidated and uplifting coast. The applied methods represent an important first step to identify threatened sites and emphasize important data limitations.     

Improving Coastal Vulnerability Assessment Methodologies for Integrated Coastal Zone Management: an Approach from South Australia

The global concern about human-induced climatic change and its potential effect on sea-level has dominated the debate on coastal vulnerability, particularly since a common assessment methodology was developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in 1991. There have been numerous attempts to use or adapt this methodology but the focus has remained on sea-level rise as the single most important issue for coastal vulnerability. This paper presents a revised and more holistic coastal vulnerability assessment methodology which incorporates spatial and temporal scales relevant to the predicted impacts of climatic change and current human-induced hazards. Three studies in contrasting coastal environments of South Australia demonstrate that there are significant regional variations in sea-level response, human-induced hazards and local planning issues and that these may present a greater immediate threat than the possibility of sea-level rise.     

Perceptions of Risk among Households in Two Australian Coastal Communities

There is limited knowledge of risk perceptions in coastal communities despite their vulnerability to a range of risks including the impacts of climate change. A survey of 400 households in two Australian coastal communities, combined with semi‐structured interviews, provides insight into household perceptions of the relative importance of climatic and non‐climatic risks and the subsequent risk priorities that may inform household adaptive action. In contrast to previous research, the results demonstrated that geographic location and household characteristics might not affect perceptions of vulnerability to environmental hazards. However, past experience was a significant influence, raising the priority of environmental concerns. Overall, the results highlight the priority concerns of coastal households (from finance, to health and environment) and suggest to increase the profile of climate issues in coastal communities climate change strategies need to better demonstrate links between climate vulnerability and other household concerns. Furthermore, promoting generic capacities in isolation from understanding the context in which households construe climate risks is unlikely to yield the changes required to decrease the vulnerability of coastal communities.     

DEVELOPMENT OF THE CASPIAN SHORELINE UNDER THE PRESENT INCREASE IN ITS LEVEL

The authors, questioning the implications for the Caspian of a conventional model of shoreline dynamics on a flat, sandy coast upon a rise in sea level, present the findings of field observations made along the Dagestan shore during the period (post-1977) of the recent rise of the Caspian Sea level. They argue that changes in coastal morphology have varied largely according to the steepness of the offshore slope and, in general, sharply accelerated erosion was observed only on more steeply sloping sections of coast and in areas previously protected by rock benches (translated by Jay K. Mitchell; PlanEcon, Inc.; Washington, DC 20005).     

Formation of beach‐ridge plains: an appreciation of the contribution by Jack L. Davies

A robust debate among coastal geomorphologists as to the processes by which beach‐ridge plains around Australia have formed was initiated by a former President of the Institute of Australian Geographers. This review gives special consideration to the work of Jack L. Davies, whose academic contributions to coastal geomorphology in Australia have not always been appropriately acknowledged when explaining how similar plains have evolved elsewhere in the world. Davies recognised that relatively steep storm waves caused erosion (cut) on beaches, whereas less steep long‐period swell waves returned sand (fill). He considered the beach berm to be the nucleus on which a beach ridge formed, which could subsequently develop into a foredune, in contrast to cobble ridges that were deposited during storms. Offshore conditions regulate supply of sand to the shoreline, partly through effects on wave refraction, with higher rates of supply where the nearshore is shallow. It was apparent to Davies that the elevation of successive ridges might, but not necessarily, provide evidence of past changes of sea level, despite adornment by variable amounts of windblown dune sand. Morphodynamic understanding of long‐term coastal evolution, based on radiocarbon dating chronologies, has demonstrated that Australian coastal plains formed over the past ~6,000 years when sea level has been close to its present level, in contrast to several documented locations in the northern hemisphere where the sea has been rising for the past few millennia. Particularly insightful were observations by Davies that ridge formation could be influenced by a range of factors including changes in sea level, storminess, or sediment supply. These factors acting singly or in combination seem likely to change in the future. Understanding such responses remains a high priority and can be addressed by new technologies, such as light detection and ranging, optically stimulated luminescence dating, ground‐penetrating radar, and computer simulation.     

Changes in regional settlement patterns and the development of complex societies in southeastern Shandong,China

Around the globe, archaeological settlement pattern survey has brought a new spatial, diachronic, and theoretical vantage to the study of early civilizations. This paper provides a new perspective on the rise and reorganization of complex societies in northern China through the synthesis of 11 years of systematic regional survey in southeastern Shandong Province. Based on our surface findings, we suspect that the agricultural colonization of this coastal region occurred primarily during the later half of the Neolithic and was rapidly followed by the development of a four-tiered settlement hierarchy with two primary centers during the Early Longshan period. We also document the reorganization of this regional system during the Bronze Age, and the eventual political integration of this study area under polities centered to the west (and outside the region surveyed). We argue that southeastern Shandong was not merely a backwater or periphery throughout its history, particularly in regard to the Early–Middle Longshan periods when there were centers of great size. Through our long-term and broad-scale perspective, we provide new evidence of how complex societies arose and changed over millennia in northern China.