Stable isotopes as indicators of change in the food procurement and food preference of Viking Age and Early Christian populations on Gotland (Sweden)

Archaeological samples of human and faunal remains dating from the Viking (9–11th century AD) and Early Christian (11–12th century AD) periods of Gotland, Sweden were assayed through stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis in order to investigate whether changes in subsistence occurred between these periods, particularly regarding the importance of seafood. The study was concerned with how the dietary regime of the Baltic trading port and farming settlement at Ridanäs, Gotland was affected by the widespread environmental and sociocultural transformations that characterized the end of the Viking Age. More generally, the research considers how changes in both food procurement and preference may account for observed differences in the dietary regimes of individuals from the Viking Age and the Early Christian period.     

Anglo-Saxon Economy and Ecology by a Downland Stream: A Waterlogged Sequence from the Anglo-Saxon Royal Settlement at Lyminge,Kent

Palaeoecological and geoarchaeological investigations which cover the Anglo-Saxon period are rare, particularly in chalk downland landscapes which are considered to have limited palaeoenvironmental potential. The present study explores a sequence which can be directly related to the occupation history of the major Anglo-Saxon settlement at Lyminge, Kent. This work demonstrated a sequence of palaeochannels and organic deposits associated with the latter part of an archaeological sequence which spans the 5th to the 11th centuries AD. A range of evidence for the environment and economic activity is presented which suggests landscape continuity, possibly stretching back as far as the Romano-British period. The sequence revealed worked wood and evidence for livestock management and cereal cultivation, some of which is contemporary with the final phases of occupation of a 7th century ‘great hall complex’ and its subsequent transformation into a royal monastery. Agricultural activity following the abandonment of the pre-monastic settlement area caused this stream margin to become gradually buried by ploughwash which displaced the channel over time and sealed the organic deposits. It is incredibly rare to find such organic preservation in direct association with an Anglo-Saxon downland rural settlement and this is the first time that such a sequence has been analysed in association with the latter phases of a known Anglo-Saxon royal and monastic centre.     

Roman mining on Exmoor: a geomorphological approach at Anstey's Combe,Dulverton

Abstract

A survey of valley fills in south-facing combes (headwater valleys) along the south side of the Exmoor massif revealed an anomalously deep infill in one valley. This infill of up to 5 m depth had been gullied revealing a complex stratigraphy. Studies of the stratigraphy, clast orientation and shape suggested several accumulation episodes under different environmental conditions commencing in a periglacial climatic regime. Later units included sandy silts which can be dated using optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) of quartz grains. The OSL dates, indicate that the inter-gravel silts accumulated in two periods, the Romano-British period and the 16th–17th centuries AD. A survey of the very small valley catchment revealed a linear trench of a type associated with early iron mining. Given the anomalously high volume of accumulated sediment from such a small catchment and evidence of mining on the slope above the site, the geomorphic mechanism is almost certainly the downslope transport of mining debris from the slope to the valley floor. This study suggests that the systematic survey of headwater valleys in metalliferous uplands may be one way of locating areas of early mining activity and that such deposits could provide a chronology of working and abandonment.     

Environmental changes in the Maryut lagoon (northwestern Nile delta) during the last ∼2000 years

Here, we interpret the evolution of Maryut lagoon (Egypt) during the past ∼2000 years. Chronostratigraphy and laboratory analyses have enabled us to identify four main phases since the 3rd century AD: (1) a fluvial-dominated lagoon between the 2nd–3rd and the 8–9th centuries cal. AD; (2) a gradual desiccation of the lagoon toward a sebkha-like environment from the 9–10th to the 13th centuries cal. AD; (3) a fluvial-dominated lagoon from the 13th century cal. AD; and (4) a second gradual desiccation between the 17th and the 18th centuries cal. AD. The general aridification trend described throughout the study period may be linked to the gradual decline of the Canopic branch, which supplied the Maryut lagoon with freshwater. Nonetheless, at shorter timescales, the different phases of lagoon aridification and flooding coincide with land abandonment and irrigation works in the region. It is suggested that the history of the Alexandria countryside has been a key driver in shaping the environmental history of the Maryut during the past ∼2000 years.     

The Abandonment of the ZH-Mozartstrasse Early Bronze Age Lake-settlement. GIS Computer Simulation of the Lake-level Fluctuation Hypothesis

Although 'lake-dwellings' existed from the middle of the fifth millennium to the eighth century BC, the entire phenomenon was not a continuous one. There are several periods when the lake shores were abandoned and subsequently reoccupied. The pattern of occupation depends on cultural as well as environmental factors, amongst them the topography and the climate.
Unlike the southern part of the Alps, which seems to have had a more regular occupational pattern throughout the Neolithic and the Bronze Age, the northern Alpine region shows a marked discontinuity along most of the lake shores. Two relevant breaks in lake-shore occupation are known within the northern Alpine region Bronze Age. The first occurred between the 24th and the 20th centuries BC, and the second from the 15th to the middle of the 12th century BC.
The Early Bronze Age site of ZH-Mozartstrasse, situated on the western extreme of Lake Zurich (Switzerland), was abandoned immediately before the beginning of the second major occupational gap in 1503 BC. Two other Early Bronze Age sites namely Bodman-Schachen 1 on Lake Constance, and Arbon-Bleiche 2 on the Swiss part (the southern shore) of the same lake, follow a similar chronology in occupation; and they were both abandoned in the last decade of the 16th century BC.
A possible cause of abandonment is discussed in this paper using an environmental approach related to an abrupt change of climatic conditions which resulted in an increase of the lake levels which forced those prehistoric populations to leave the proximity of the lake shores. Following the implications of pollen and sedimental analyses, the transformation of the Bronze Age landscape caused by the lake water invasion will be simulated with the help of CAD and GIS computer programs.     

Absolute chronology of fluvial events in the Upper Dnieper River system and its palaeogeographic implications

A set of 121 radiocarbon and OSL dates has been compiled from the Upper Dnieper River and tributary valleys, Western European Russia. Each date was attributed according to geomorphic/sedimentological events and classes of fluvial activity. Summed probability density functions for each class were used to establish phases of increasing and reducing fluvial activity. The oldest detected reduction of fluvial activity was probably due to glacial damming at LGM. Within the Holocene three palaeohydrological epochs of millennial-scale were found: (1) high activity at 12,000–8,000 cal BP marked by large river palaeochannels; (2) low activity at 8,000–3,000 cal BP marked by formation of zonal-type soils on -floodplains; short episodes of high floods occurred between 6,500—4,400 cal BP; (3) contrasting hydrological oscillations since 3,000 cal BP with periods of high floods between 3,000–2,300 (2,000) and 900–100 cal BP separated by long interval of low floods 2,300 (2,000)-900 cal BP when floodplains were not inundated — zonal-type soils were developing and permanent settlements existed on floodplains. In the last millennium, four centennial-scale intervals were found: high flooding intervals are mid-11–mid-15^th century and mid-17–mid-20^th century. Intervals of flood activity similar to the present-day were: mid-15–mid-17^th century and since mid-19^th century till present. In the context of palaeohydrological changes, discussed are selected palaeogeographic issues such as: position of the glacial boundary at LGM, role of changing amounts of river runoff in the Black Sea level changes, floodplain occupation by Early Medieval population.     

The Late Roman Landscape of the Northern Levant: A view from Tell Qarqur and the lower Orontes River Valley

This paper presents a review and synthesis of archaeological surveys in western Syria and southern Turkey, alongside finds from recent excavations at Tell Qarqur, Syria, revealing regional patterns of late Roman settlement and land use in the lower Orontes River Valley. Survey data show that the late Roman period witnessed a peak in settlement density, with the extension of occupation into previously unoccupied areas and widespread agricultural intensification. Excavations of a typical lowland site at Tell Qarqur reveal an opulent building complex, possibly a church, with a columned hall, elaborate mosaic floor and frescoed interior. Analysis explores the process of agricultural intensification during the late Roman period, the relationship between lowland settlements and the better‐known Dead Cities of the limestone massif to the east, and the ultimate abandonment of the settlement system following the seventh century AD.     

The Difficult Place of Deserted Coasts in Archaeology: New Archaeological Research on Cooks Beach (Pukaki), Coromandel Peninsula,New Zealand

Sites which have been occupied semi-continuously in the past present some inherent difficulties for archaeology. Here we present new research from a coastal site on the North Island of New Zealand at Cooks Beach where anthropogenic vegetation changes are seen using microfossil analysis of obsidian tools, sediments and pit fill. The results indicate the initial presence of people in AD 1300–1400 followed by subsequent periods of disuse or abandonment and sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) cultivation. Around the time of initial settlement, obsidian from this location is found at sites across the country. After AD 1400 the area appears to be deserted for a century or more, after which we see evidence for the cultivation of sweet potato in AD 1500 as evidenced by extensive soil modification and numerous storage pits. There is no evidence of a permanent settlement at the site. The geographic distribution of Cooks Beach obsidian was constricted while the site was used for sweet potato cultivation, a pattern often attributed to increased warfare. It appears cultivation was abandoned after AD 1650 marking a second secession of use, a fact confirmed in AD 1769 when Captain Cook visited the area. We consider the possible drivers for the late abandonment of cultivation at Cooks Beach.     

Roman Rhine settlement dynamics evidenced by coin distribution in a fluvial environment (Oedenburg,Upper Rhine,France)

On the basis of archaeological and alluvial records, this paper presents the first spatial analysis of artefacts in relation to the evolution of the Rhine River, at the Gallo-Roman site of Oedenburg, during the first four centuries AD. The dataset consisted of several thousand Roman artefacts found by pedestrian prospecting over the last twenty years, over half of which were coins. This dataset was used together with high-resolution topography and geomagnetic mapping, to reconstruct settlement evolution, both on the terrace and in the floodplain. A comprehensive monetary chart has been compiled for the Oedenburg site, which highlights four major phases of settlement. These results provide a possible causal link connecting historical factors and alluvial events with intra-site evolution. Therefore, while changes observed during Phases I (until AD 68), II (AD 69 to AD 180) and III (AD 180 to AD 295) seem largely related to historical and societal events, Phase IV (AD 295 to AD 402) shows patterns of abandonment of the lower part of the floodplain that may well be related to an unusually humid period in the fourth century. These results are set in a broader context, from the Rhine catchment area to the Alps, and are in agreement with the wet conditions also documented in alluvial, lacustrine, geomorphological and palynological records in Germany (Lahn River, Lake Constance, Lake Nussbaumen, Kaisersthul area and the Black Forest). Studying the intra-site spatial distribution of artefacts with high temporal constraints, at a long-lived site with contrasted topography, opens new avenues for the detection of discreet events such as a higher water table, affecting only the lower zone.     

From wic to burh: a new approach to the question of the development of Early Medieval London

During the ninth century the focus of occupation in Saxon London shifted eastwards from the Covent Garden area back to the former Roman city of Londinium. Combining detailed case studies with the results of correspondence analysis, this paper critically compares archaeological features and assemblages at sites dated c. AD 770 to c. AD 850 in Middle Saxon Lundenwic with sites dated c. AD 850 to c. AD 950 in Late Saxon Lundenburh. Differences in the archaeology of the two settlements are discussed. These distinctions reveal specific areas of discontinuity that strongly support current models of a hiatus between the decline of Lundenwic and renewed activity in Lundenburh.     

‘The brede of good & strong Horsis’: zooarchaeological evidence for size change in horses from early modern London

SUMMARY: Almost 200 horse bone measurements from 38 sites excavated across the city of London, dating to the period AD 1220–1900 were analysed. Results identified three main phases of size change: a reduction in size in the mid 14th to 15th century, and size increases in the mid 15th to 16th century and the 17th century. The decline in size testifies to the disruption of horse breeding in the wake of the Black Death, whilst the increases reflect purposeful attempts to increase the size of horses in England through a combination of regulated breeding and the importation of new bloodlines.     

The glass beads of Kampai Island,Sumatra

Pulau Kampai is the name of a small island on the east coast of Sumatra and also the name of a village on this island. Excavations conducted at Pulau Kampai in the mid-1970s yielded glass beads likely manufactured in India. More glass beads dating from the 11th to the 14th c. AD were found during excavations undertaken more recently. Those beads were analyzed using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Results show that the vast majority of the beads were likely imported from South Asia. Trace element signatures point toward two production areas: western India for most of the beads and northeastern India for a few high copper orange and red beads. A small number of beads have a very different composition resulting from the use of soda plant ash and a low alumina silica source indicating a possible Middle-Eastern provenance. A comparison with data published elsewhere indicates a similarity with material found in Egypt, dating from the 13th to the 15th c. AD suggesting that those beads might have reached the island during the later phases of the occupation period and might have transited through Egypt. It is uncertain where those beads were manufactured within the Middle-East. A comparison is provided with the glass beads from the site of Kampung Sungai Mas (9th to the 11th c. AD) located in Malaysia, one of the only “late” sites in the area that was studied recently using LA-ICP-MS.     

Exploring Diversity in Household Pottery Traditions in Crusader Greece: a Case Study from the City of Thebes,Boeotia

This paper provides new data on an under‐documented topic in Aegean archaeology, that of the impact of Latin–Greek cohabitation on craftsmanship, socio‐economic organization and household pottery traditions. The chosen approach is a petrographic study of the provenance and technology of 37 cooking pots, jugs, basins and storage jars from the city of Thebes, Boeotia. The ceramics span from the late 12th to the mid‐14th century and thereby cover the periods of Byzantine, Frankish and Catalan control over the city. The analysis indicates that most pottery products were not locally made during these periods. Pottery consumption at Thebes involved, in the 12th/13th century, regional products from northern Boeotia, while pottery supplies from Euboea that had developed under Byzantine rule continued into the 14th century, well after Boeotia and Euboea came into the hands of, respectively, Frankish and Venetian lords in the aftermath of the Fourth Crusade (1204). The petrographic analysis also allows for the characterization of Byzantine and Latin tempering practices of the pottery fabrics. These results highlight phenomena of regional economic reliance in central Greece and provide rare evidence for the cross‐cultural diffusion of technological knowledge in the late medieval Mediterranean.     

Eggshell and the archaeological record: new insights into turkey husbandry in the American Southwest

Eggshell in the archaeological record has interpretive potential beyond simple species identification. Structural features of eggshell itself indicate the degree of development of the embryo. Using a scanning electron microscope, a reference collection of modern eggshell characteristics has been produced that can be used for species determination and for the assessment of embryo development of prehistoric eggshell. We apply this technique to a sample of prehistoric eggshell from northwestern New Mexico and conclude that purposeful breeding of captive turkey populations is present during the 12th century AD. These preliminary results suggest a behavioral shift in turkey husbandry, concomitant with the well documented phenomenon of intensified turkey utilization after about AD 1100 in the American Southwest.     

El Castell de Falgars (Beuda,la Garrotxa): a Roman Republican watchtower in north-east Hispania Citerior

Abstract

El Castell de Falgars (Beuda, la Garrotxa) is a circular watchtower built in the late Republic, during the Romanization of Hispania, which controls a wide territory of the current Province of Girona (Catalonia). The present paper analyses the causes that led to its construction, as well as the reasons for its rapid abandonment before the end of the first century BC. It also describes the phases of reoccupation of the building during the second half of the third century AD and in the Middle Ages, detected through archaeological excavations carried out at the site between 2010 and 2012.     

FROM BRONZE AGE HILLFORT TO CAPITAL CITY NEW RADIOCARBON DATES AND THE FIRST ARCHAEOBOTANICAL INVESTIGATION AT THE VILNIUS CASTLE HILL

The ‘Castle Hill’ represents the core territory of Vilnius, around which gravitated urban development, eventually culminating in the foundation of the capital of Lithuania. However, we know very little about the earliest occupation on Castle Hill - how it developed over time, and what the activities were of the people that inhabited the site. While the study of plant remains can provide a crucial insight into human staple foods, agricultural activities and the palaeoenvironment, previous attempts of archaeobotanical investigations of such an important cultural heritage site was cut short due to the outbreak of World War II. Here is presented the first archaeobotanical analyses from the territory of Castle Hill together with new radiocarbon dates stretching from the 8^th century BC until the 14^th century AD. The primary archaeobotanical analyses in combination with published datasets from adjacent regions around Castle Hill show that the diversification of crops and the introduction of various crop rotation practises during the 8-13^th centuries AD. Here, for the first time, attention is drawn to the agricultural strategies in medieval Vilnius that likely played a pivotal role in the formation and development of the city.     

Seleucia Pieria: an ancient harbour submitted to two successive uplifts

Historical sources ascribe the foundation of Seleucia (Seleukeia) Pieria to Seleucos I Nikator, shortly before the foundation of Antioch in the late 4th century BC. The Seleucia Pieria site seems however to have been inhabited earlier, perhaps from around 700 BC, possibly by a Greek population under an Assyrian ruler. The city became of considerable military importance during the wars between the Ptolemies and the Seleucids; it was occupied by the Romans in the 1st century BC, but had practically disappeared in the 6th century AD.
Geomorphological surveys in the area have revealed the existence of elevated marine notches and rims bioconstructed by vermetids, oysters and calcareous algae, which occasionally erode or intersect the archaeological sites, showing that two rapid land uplift movements, probably of seismic origin, took place during the late Holocene. The first movement, which occurred about 2500 ± 100 years bp, was the strongest one and caused a local vertical displacement of about 1.7 m, which may have severely affected the earlier Greek settlement. Though several earthquakes are reported to have occurred in the area during the following ten centuries, none of them seem to have been strong enough to cause significant vertical displacements. The second movement occurred around 1400 years bp, probably in May 526 AD, when a great earthquake followed by tsunami waves is known to have caused devastating damage in Antioch and Seleucia. According to geomorphological data supported by several radiocarbon dates, the earthquake was accompanied by a 0.7 to 0 8 m upheaval. This seismotectonic event also caused a rapid silting of the Seleucia Pieria closed harbour basin and entrances, thus preventing its further use.     

Rainfall,floods and river channel changes in the upper Hunter

Since 1946, there has been a significant increase in annual rainfall in the Hunter Valley, especially for stations in the western sector. Contemporaneous increases in rainfall intensities of frequent storms and flood peaks have also been recorded. From analyses of the data, together with a review of recent environmental changes in the Hunter Valley, it is concluded that human disturbance of the catchment has played no significant part in the increase in flood magnitude. Instead, the change in floods may be completely attributed to the variation in rainfall regime. The altered hydrologic regime combined with a decrease in sediment yield from extra-channel sources appears to be the primary cause of recent river channel changes.     

Coastal connections,local fishing,and sustainable egg harvesting: patterns of Viking Age inland wild resource use in Mývatn district,Northern Iceland

Abstract

The 'Landscapes of Settlement Project' has carried out archaeological and paleoenvironmental research in the Lake Mývatn region of N. Iceland since 1996. Animal bone collections dating from the late 9th century to the early 13th century AD have been recovered from five sites in different ecological zones around the lake, and three of these sites provide multiple phases datable through radiocarbon, artefacts, and volcanic tephra. Modern systematic biological and geological investigations in the Mývatn district date to the 19th century and a detailed picture of the recent ecology can be combined with both archaeological and historical evidence for long term resource exploitation by humans in this inland region. Analysis of bird bones and bird eggshell suggests that the locally managed sustainable harvest of migratory waterfowl eggs carried out over the last 150 years extends back to the 9th century. These inland archaeofauna also include significant numbers of marine fish and sea birds, marine mollusca, and a few seal and porpoise bones. Marine fish remains recovered indicate specialised transport of partial skeletons missing most cranial and some thoracic vertebrae, suggesting that a cured fish product was being regularly brought to inland farms during the early years of the settlement. Inter-regional exchange and a pre-Hanseatic artisanal fish trade prior to AD 1000 suggests the importance of preserved marine fish in early Scandinavian economies, and may shed light on the source of the 11th century 'fish event horizon' recently documented in southern Britain.     

Underneath Ranefer's floors – urban environments on the desert edge

The city of Akhetaten, modern day Amarna, was founded by the monotheist pharoah Akhenaten as his new capital ca. 1353 BC, and abandoned within about 25 years. Much of the site has been excavated over the past century and few deposits remain undisturbed. In one house, however, that of the king's chief charioteer, Ranefer, rebuilding had sealed occupation debris beneath the final mud brick house floors and in the desiccating conditions of the desert, these preserved extensive insect faunas, which for the first time provide detailed data on living conditions and pest infestation in a major pharaonic urban centre. Pests of stored products include the grain weevil, Sitophilus granarius, the lesser grain borer, Rhizopertha dominica, and flour beetles, Tribolium castaneum, as well as more general pests, such as the lesser mealworm, Alphitobius diaperinus, and the biscuit beetle, Stegobium paniceum. Flies include the house fly, Musca domestica, and the puparia of a flesh fly, Sarcophagidae, burrowed vertically into the mud-brick floor in a room corner, perhaps beneath abandoned offal or meat. The taphonomy of the insect assemblages would suggest that much consisted of material dumped into the house plot, either during a phase of abandonment or to level up the area before the later house, that of Ranefer, was constructed. Trampled surfaces within the midden, often consolidated with desert sand, indicate foul damp conditions and also imply that the process was intermittent. Living conditions in the city of Akhenaten are likely not to have been as salubrious as contemporary tomb paintings might suggest.