Erosion and Errors: Testing the Use of Repeated LIDAR Analyses and Erosion Modelling for the Assessment and Prediction of Erosion of Archaeological Sites?

Slope soil erosion is one of the main threats to archaeological sites. Several methods were applied to establish the erosion rates at archaeological sites. Digital elevation models (DEMs) from three different dates were used. We compared the elevations from these three models to estimate erosion. We also applied the landscape evolution model LAPSUS with the available DEMs as basis. Spatial processing errors and effects of tillage and harvesting practices explain most of the DEM elevation differences between the recordings. Increased DEM resolution does not result in more precise or reliable erosion. The present technological level of landscape evolution modelling makes it possible to indicate areas most vulnerable to soil displacement by surface runoff erosion and tillage. Future research, using sediment and surface dating techniques such as deposit of radionuclides, heavy metals and OSL dating will provide a more accurate estimation of erosion rates and the subsequent impact on archaeological sites.     

Wrap a Wreck! In Situ Conservation of a Ship on Land Suffering from Fungal Decay

Many sixteenth- to eighteenth-century shipwrecks have been found after land reclamation in parts of the former Zuiderzee, one of the busiest waterways in Dutch history. After the land fell dry, some shipwrecks were excavated, destroyed, reburied, or covered with sand or clay. In the late 1970s a method was developed to mitigate degradation processes of some of the wrecks remaining in good condition by wrapping them in plastic foil. The idea was that the plastic would prevent evaporation and lateral subsurface flow. Wet conditions prevent decomposing of wood by especially soft rot fungi. Oxygen will be rapidly depleted by decomposition of organic matter.

Recent monitoring of wrapped shipwrecks has shown that this method of preventing rot worked exceptionally well. We adapted wrapping using new technology nowadays applied for sealing tunnels and landfills. We will present the implementation requirements, materials and new adapted method for wrapping shipwrecks.     

Relax,Don’t Do It: A Future for Archaeological Monitoring

Preservation in situ and the monitoring of archaeological sites have become important themes since the acceptance and implementation of the Valletta Treaty. In the last few decades, our knowledge of degradation processes has increased manyfold, and a range of techniques have been tested and applied for use in both assessment and monitoring. Despite these successes, all is not well. First, we have little notion of the speed of the decay processes involved. This makes it difficult to distinguish between acute and protracted degradation. Apart from that, many assessments and subsequent monitoring projects rely (too?) heavily on complex and costly specialist technology. For any future preservation — in situ — projects low-tech observations together with best estimates of decay rates and archaeological site information should be combined to make an accurate assessment of the effects of decay on the archaeological record. Monitoring for preservation purposes is only appropriate if (1) decay processes occur within a relevant and measurable time scale, and (2) if mitigating actions can be taken or preservation ex situ can be performed (i.e. a rescue excavation) if significant degradation takes place.     

Situated Creativity: A Way out of the Impasse of the Heidegger-Cassirer Debate

Summary

This paper criticizes the dualism of “thrownness” and “spontaneity” in Peter Gordon's interpretation of the Heidegger-Cassirer debate and shows that American pragmatism and other currents of thought offer an alternative in the form of a conception of situated creativity.     

Seasonality of human site occupation based on stable oxygen isotope ratios of cod otoliths

Oxygen isotope ratios (δ¹⁸O) were measured in micromilled samples of cod otoliths recovered from two Stone Age sites, one from Skoklefald, southeastern Norway and five from Skipshelleren, southwestern Norway. Discrete samples of otolith material were milled from the edge of the otolith towards the centre, each sample representing 3–4 weeks of growth. The δ¹⁸O values showed seasonal signals, covering a period 1–2 years prior to the time of capture. Isotope ratios at the edge of the otoliths, which is the material deposited at the time of fish capture, corresponded to the coldest seasonal water temperatures, in late winter or early spring. These data provide independent evidence for the season of use of the Skoklefald and Skipshelleren sites.     

Oaks,tree-rings and wooden cultural heritage: a review of the main characteristics and applications of oak dendrochronology in Europe

We overview the recent development of oak dendrochronology in Europe related to archaeology and art-history. Tree-ring series of European oaks (Quercus robur and Q. petraea) have provided a reliable framework for chronometric dating and reconstruction of past climate and environment. To date, long oak chronologies cover almost the entire Holocene, up to 8480 BC and the network over the entire area in which the two oaks grow is being improved. We present the main characteristics of oak ring series and discuss the latest methodological advances in defining the calendar year in which the tree-rings were formed and in interpreting such dating in terms of the age of a wooden object. Dendrochronology has established itself as a standard dating tool and has been applied in a wide variety of (pre-)historical studies. Archaeological wood, historical buildings, works of art (such as panel paintings and sculptures) have been successfully investigated. Recent advances in dendro-provenancing have helped to obtain more information on the timber trade in the past. Information on past forest structures, silviculture and timber use have become available through scrutinizing historical and contemporary ring-width patterns.     

Zur frühen Geschichte der Paläocheloniologie von Schaumburg‐Lippe. Die Rolle des Gymnasial‐Professors Max Ballerstedt in der Naturwissenschaft

A survey is given on some new aspects of the early history to the palaeochelonology in Schaumburg‐Lippe (Northern Germany). The very slow development of this is good reconstructable on base of authentic estates. It is the first time to made such a nearly complete reconstruction.