The unification of archaeological sites of Athens: The birth of an archaeological park?

Abstract

Recently, there has been a growing trend to present archaeological resources in the form of archaeological parks. These are an innovative way of presenting vast archaeological sites that contain a number of monuments, as a single entity, using components of the environment as interpretation features and creating an ‘invented’ integrity of the landscape. Even though the overall concept of an archaeological park emerged in Scandinavia at least three decades ago, only recently has it taken on a wider character and been applied to a variety of archaeological sites. But no clear criteria exist for them.

The current project of the Unification of the Archaeological Sites of Athens involves creating an archaeological park that includes most features considered essential for a park of this kind. However, the special characteristics of Athens (the over-built urban landscape, environmental pollution, and the mystical relationship between the ancient and modern cities), give the future park a rather individual character.     

Archaeology,conservation and the late twentieth-century village landscape: With particular reference to Westmorland and North Lancashire in northwest England

Abstract

This paper argues that the present landscape and village is of archaeological significance and is needed both to understand and to preserve a representative sample of the past. It explores the relationship between archaeological data and monument types, and landscape character. Landscape assessment, including attribute analysis, is advocated as an essential archaeological method separate from the process of value judgement and selectivity. It concludes that function and process are as important as period in determining conservation strategies, and the potential role of sustainable development is discussed. The importance of village plan forms, vernacular architecture, field and landholding patterns is stressed, together with the need to recognize the historical importance of industrial villages.     

Recent publications of interest

Abstract

The Education Department at English Heritage encouraged the effective school curriculum use of the historic environment, from castles to post-medieval landscapes, from prehistoric burial monuments to twentieth-century townscapes. This paper charts the programme of funding education staff and resources to assist teachers to help their pupils to access, discover, and carry out cross-curricular projects at some archaeological sites under investigation. Case studies include excavations at Battle Abbey, East Sussex, Heslerton, North Yorkshire, Boxgrove, West Sussex, Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire, and Cawthorn Camps, North Yorkshire.     

Mata'uvave and 15th Century Ha'apai: Narrative accounts and historical landscapes in the interpretation of classical tongan history

Abstract

Mata'uvave is a minor chiefly title from the northern Ha'apai Islands, Kingdom of Tonga. Traditional Tongan history, however, suggests this chief held a pivotal role in the assertion of political authority over this region by Tu'i Tonga Kau'ulufonuafekai in the mid‐15th century A.D. Published narratives and genealogies, recently collected oral accounts, place names, and archaeological sites, provide a basis from which this history is interpreted. These sources reveal much about the events and socio‐political processes of pre‐contact chiefly polity in Tonga. The account of Mata'uvave further illustrates the potential of historical landscapes as a supplementary order of data for traditional history in general. Through construction of monumental archaeological sites and through commemoration of associated activities in place names, Mata'uvave transcribed himself onto the cartography of northern Ha'apai. This landscape composes a mnemonic index by which oral accounts may be accessed and evaluated.     

PALESTINIAN ANTIQUITIES LOOTERS,THEIR SKILL DEVELOPMENT,METHODOLOGY AND SPECIALISED TERMINOLOGY: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC STUDY

Abstract

The state of Palestine’s archaeological heritage resources is one of serious risk, due to the on-going looting of antiquities. Vandalising archaeological resources is a widespread phenomenon throughout the Palestinian National Territories (PNT) and has resulted in either total or partial damage to thousands of these resources, and the extraction of at least hundreds of thousands of archaeological objects. The main aim of this study is to explore the measures that have been used by Palestinian antiquities looters to develop their knowledge, fieldwork skills and experience. To this end, I interviewed 96 antiquities looters residing in the West Bank. The Gaza Strip, which is totally relevant to the issues under discussion, was only excluded from this study due to the current travel restrictions between the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.     

Farmers and fields: developing a research agenda for post-medieval agrarian society and landscape

Abstract

This paper examines the discrepancy between the acknowledged historical importance of post-medieval rural society and the limited archaeological investigation and research on this theme. It considers developments in national research agendas in this field and the influences which have shaped them. There is a need to employ a more critical and analytical approach to landscape studies, giving consideration to the effects of perception, custom and attitude. Among the themes explored are the need for more interdisciplinary studies; for wider application of palaeoenvironmental and ecological analyses; and for a fuller understanding of regional differences. Throughout, the unique value of a specifically archaeological voice is emphasized.

The paper is based on a contribution to a seminar on research agendas for post-medieval archaeology in Britain, held by SPMA and hosted by the Society of Antiquaries of London in September 2002.     

Teaching Archaeological Heritage Management. Towards a Change in Paradigms

ABSTRACT

The concept of archaeological heritage management (AHM) has been key to wider archaeological research and preservation agendas for some decades. Many universities and other education providers now offer what is best termed heritage management education (HME) in various forms. The emphasis is commonly on archaeological aspects of heritage in a broad sense and different terms are often interchangeable in practice. In an innovative working-conference held in Tampere, Finland, we initiated a debate on what the components of AHM as a course or curriculum should include. We brought together international specialists and discussed connected questions around policy, practice, research and teaching/training, at local, national, transnational and World Heritage levels. In this article we take the Tampere discussions further, focusing especially on the meaning, necessity, implications and prerequisites of interdisciplinary HME. We offer our thoughts on developing HME that reflects the contemporary aspects and needs of heritage and its management.     

Burning Libraries: A Community Response

ABSTRACT

The first decade of the twenty-first century has seen a growing recognition that widespread impacts of climate change (erosion, sea level rise, wildfires, warming soil temperatures) are rapidly destroying archaeological sites and permanently wiping out millennia of cultural heritage and important scientific data on a global scale. This paper provides a brief overview of the efforts of the international archaeological community and its allies to organise a broad and coordinated response to this widespread and urgent threat to our basic record by mobilising at the local, national and international level. The work of the archaeological professional societies has supplemented a growing host of initiatives on multiple scales by national and local governmental agencies, regional research teams, local and Indigenous heritage groups and the international global change scientific community. This paper provides some reflections on the Society for American Archaeology’s Climate Change Strategies and the Archaeological Record team effort from 2015 to 2018, some links to more contacts and resources and some suggestions for future directions.     

Political Crisis and Palestine's Cultural Heritage: A Case Study from the Khirbet el-Lauz Site in Area C

Abstract

The protection of Palestine's archaeological heritage faces several serious obstacles: unenforced laws, lack of public awareness, deterioration of Palestine's economic status, unregulated urban development, and the protracted political conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis. As a result, a significant number of archaeological features and sites have been vandalized, looted, or intentionally destroyed without compunction over the past several decades. The Palestinian-Israeli political conflict has negatively affected the archaeological heritage in “Area C,” which remains under complete Israeli civil and military control. This area includes nearly 60% of the archaeological heritage located within the Palestinian Occupied Territories, but the Palestinian Department of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage lacks the authority to monitor and protect these sites. Furthermore, the Israeli civil and military authorities in the West Bank do not provide the necessary protection of cultural heritage resources in Area C. The devastation of these resources throughout the Palestinian Territories provides the impetus for this research. The main aim is to identify the results of the political conflict on Palestinian archaeological and cultural heritage sites, using a case study at the site of Khirbet el-Lauz.     

New Data on Early Medieval Flax Cultivation: an Archaeobotanical Record from Northern Poland

Abstract

The analysis of a great accumulation of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) remains found as a well delimited bundle on an early medieval site in northern Poland is the basis of this paper. Ecological indicators are used to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental conditions under which flax cultivation took place. The rich flax weed flora, including specific 'linicolous plants', is described. This botanical data is presentented and discussed against the archaeological background.     

δ18O Analyses of the Humpbacked Conch (Gibberulus gibberulus): Evaluating a Proxy for Reconstructing Sea-Surface Temperature at Chelechol ra Orrak,Palau

ABSTRACT

In Palau, Micronesia, marine resources, particularly shellfish, played a vital role in human subsistence for millennia. Despite the vast array of molluscan species in archaeological assemblages, there is a dearth of data on nearshore palaeoecology or prehistoric shellfish foraging practices. In this study, we analysed stable oxygen isotopes (δ¹⁸O) values present in the calcium carbonate shell of Gibberulus gibberulus from the Chelechol ra Orrak archaeological site to reconstruct average nearshore sea-surface temperatures (SST) from approximately 1500–1100 cal BP. Modern shellfish samples and environmental data were collected from intertidal zones near the site and x-ray diffraction (XRD) was employed to identify the biomineralogical composition of G. gibberulus. These steps provide necessary information for the selection of the proper oxygen isotope-to-SST conversion formula. The selected formula was applied to δ¹⁸O samples from archaeological shells to reconstruct prehistoric SST averages. The results of this proxy validation study verify that G. gibberulus accurately records ambient SST and can be used to reconstruct ancient nearshore conditions. These findings also contribute to the establishment of an environmental baseline, which can be used to examine how environmental changes may have influenced the availability of molluscan taxa that in turn influenced human subsistence practices through time.     

Coastal Feasts: A Pleistocene Antiquity for Resource Abundance in the Maritime Deserts of North West Australia?

ABSTRACT

Located on the edge of Australia's North West continental shelf, Barrow Island is uniquely located to address a number of research questions, such as the antiquity and changing nature of Indigenous occupation, including shifting uses of regional economic resources in response to post-glacial sea-level rise. These questions are addressed from a range of archaeological, zooarchaeological, and geoarchaeological disciplines. Although only preliminary, results to date indicate the presence of marine resources dating to before sea-level stabilization (～ 7.5 ka) that contain both dietary and utilitarian species, including high-ranked species such as sea turtle. The marine assemblages reflect a variety of habitats and substrates with a 17,000-year record for the presence of a former tidal marsh or estuary. We also note recently obtained ¹⁴C and OSL dates that extend the dietary marine faunas and initial occupation to well before 41 ka. This demonstrates that consumption of coastal resources began prior to the Holocene, when we begin to observe more widespread evidence of marine resource exploitation in the broader Canarvon Bioregion of northwest Australia. This evidence supports arguments for further research to directly test both the productivity of, and human reliance on, marine habitats from initial occupation.     

Ground-Penetrating Radar as a Cultural Resource Management Tool for Assessment of Eroding Shell Middens

ABSTRACT

With an increasing rate of sea level rise inherently linked to climate change, numerous coastal archaeological resources are under threat. In Maine, virtually all 2000+ coastal aboriginal shell middens are eroding. Given limited time and resources, an efficient method for making informed cultural resource management decisions is critical. Herein, we describe a six-step protocol for a minimally invasive and cost-effective ground-penetrating radar delineation of shell midden size and morphology. Benefits of the survey methodology outlined in this study include the efficiency of data collection, the non-destructive aspect of the technique, continuous records of site stratigraphy, and the lower cost as compared to large-scale excavation. Two case studies are presented to illustrate the advantages and challenges associated with this method.     

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.     

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.     

Interpreting the past: Presenting archaeological sites to the public

Abstract

A wide range of methodologies have been applied to promote the conservation of exposed and managed archaeological sites, including shelters. Commonly used as a protective measure in many areas of the world, shelters are not as common in the USA. In addition there have been few efforts to evaluate scientifically their use and efficacy. As a response to the recognized need to further scholarship and dialogue about shelters, a colloquium on the topic was held in Tumacacori, Arizona, in January 2001. The colloquium goals focused on research, exchange of information, the advancement of methodological approaches, incorporation of sheltering concepts into planning processes and identifying field needs. To achieve these aims, the following four themes were developed:

? deciding to shelter

? establishing conservation, design and construction criteria

? designing and constructing shelters

? evaluating shelter performance.

The colloquium followed a course of presentations, site visits and a final plenary session summing up the issues put forth. Participants represented a cross-section of disciplines and a range of international experiences.     

Multi-Ethnic Settlement and Interregional Exchange in Pimampiro,Ecuador

Abstract

This paper reports on recent archaeological investigations at the sites of Shanshipampa and La Mesa in the Pimampiro district of northern Ecuador, a zone rich in archaeological resources about which relatively little is known. Within the context of Andean archaeology, this region is particularly significant insofar as it is described in early historic accounts as an important center of interregional trade. The role of trade in the shaping of ethnic identity and the evolution of complex societies has received relatively little attention in Andean scholarship. The present study expands our understanding of the modes, content, and significance of interregional interaction in the Andes by directing attention to the evidence for long-distance trade, trans-zonal connections, and multi-ethnic settlement in the northern highlands.     

Presenting the San Hunter-Gatherer Past to the Public: A View from the uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park,South Africa

Abstract

The uKhahlamba-Drakensberg Park (UDP) was declared a World Heritage Site in 2000 on the basis of its magnificent scenery, biodiversity, and archaeological richness, comprising a rich corpus of rock paintings and occupation deposits relating to the San hunter-gatherers. The desire to encourage heritage tourism to the UDP following the declaration, along with the wish to present a more positive picture of the San hunter-gatherers, led to the development of the Kamberg (in 2002) and Didima Rock Art Centres (in 2003). These centres, together with the Main Caves visitor attraction, which had been redeveloped in 1998, distinguish the UDP as the premier region in South Africa for the interpretation of the San past. Cognizant of the critical role that public interpretation plays in the management of archaeological resources, this paper investigates which aspects of the archaeological record have been stressed and which have been overlooked, the relationship between the interpretations and the findings of UDP archaeological research since the 1970s, and whether these findings enhance the significance and value of the resources and thereby promote their management. It is shown that the overall interpretive emphasis is on rock art and that information derived from Later Stone Age hunter-gatherer excavations since the 1970s have been neglected. Furthermore, it is revealed that the display of Early and Middle Stone Age material at Didima is inconsistent with regional archaeological findings and that there is a neglect of local archaeological remains. It is concluded that the development of any further attractions should be based on an interpretive plan which considers the interpretive requirements of the region as a whole.     

Palaeo-Eskimo Novice Flintknapping in the Eastern Canadian Arctic

Abstract

Data from two inland Palaeo-Eskimo sites on southern Baffin Island are evidence for novice flintknapping. The interior of the island boasts a rich and reliable supply of lithic raw material, and the two sites were occupied during the Artic warm season when access to it was unrestricted. The use of a direct procurement strategy to acquire the material at this time of year from such a localized source suggests that acquisition activities were structured as part of the seasonal resource exploitation strategies of the Palaeo-Eskimos on southern Baffin Island. The incidence of novice flintknapping appears to be directly linked to this procurement. By drawing on data from published replicative studies and archaeological remains, socially meaningful patterns of idiosyncratic assemblage variability can be identified, providing greater insights into the social components of lithic tool production and skill apprenticeship.     

Geophysical and Aerial Prospecting Techniques at Valley Forge National Historical Park,Pennsylvania

Abstract

A survey of Valley Forge National Historical Park was carried out by MASCA in 1978 for the National Park Service utilizing, among other techniques, aerial photography, the cesium magnetometer, and ground penetrating radar. The aim of the project was to locate evidence of the encampment of 1777–78 using for the most part non-destructive methods. Hut sites and offal pits dating from the Revolutionary War period were identified and a comprehensive survey of previous archaeological work at Valley Forge was carried out. A major problem in interpreting the data from the various techniques employed was the amount of modern disturbance at the park, mostly dating from the three Boy Scout Jamborees held there in 1950, 1957, and 1964. Despite these problems valuable information about the Revolutionary War remains was recovered, and a comprehensive plan for future research was formulated.