Human impact around settlement sites: a phytolith and mineralogical study for assessing site boundaries,phytolith preservation,and implications for spatial reconstructions using plant remains

Defining the extent of human activity around settlement sites is of particular significance in archaeology as it may define peripheral activity areas and thus the site's boundary. In Near Eastern archaeology, site boundaries are usually defined by the presence of architectural and other macroscopic archaeological remains. Here we use the phytolith concentrations and morphotype assemblages, as well as changes in the mineralogical composition of the sediments in and around the small Iron Age site of Izbet Sartah in central Israel to determine the site boundaries. The site has a shallow stratigraphy and highly bioturbated sediments. Coincidental changes in the clay/quartz ratio and phytolith concentrations define the boundary between high and low impact anthropogenic activities. This boundary is generally some 20 m away from the architectural remains. In addition, we note that the phytoliths in the site's core show clear evidence of having been affected by chemical dissolution (i.e., diagenesis), while those in the vicinity of the site's boundary have undergone severe diagenesis. These observations indicate that phytolith diagenesis will affect site boundaries determination, as well as phytolith-based reconstructions of activity areas. We propose that phytolith preservation depends on the initial amount of available silica, the depth of burial with respect to the active root area of modern vegetation, and the presence of fresh phytoliths in the soil.     

Does Adaptive Reuse Pay? A Study of the Business of Building Renovation in Ontario,Canada

Older buildings are important aesthetic, cultural and economic resources but in many jurisdictions hundreds of historic buildings have been demolished because developers and bankers argued that the cost of adapting them for new uses is too high. Still, a growing number of reputable developers are completing exciting projects featuring innovative building renovation. However, when particular development projects are presented to decision makers, generally only the developer/lender’s cost analyses are presented and, therefore, they are unable to make truly informed judgments. This study examines the business of heritage development, which consists of building renovation or adaptive reuse, in order to determine the characteristics of success. In Ontario, Canada, there exists a group of dynamic and creative investors with a passion for older buildings. Some reuse projects are more costly than new building but not all and the return on investment for heritage development is almost always higher. This has important implications in Ontario where recent legislative changes have finally given local councils the authority to prevent the demolition of listed buildings, but the lessons for other jurisdictions are also important.     

Spatial variations and clustering in the rates of youth unemployment and NEET: A comparative analysis of Italy,Spain, and the UK

We investigate the “determinants” of spatial variations in youth unemployment and NEET rates, and the presence of spatial clusters, for Italy, Spain and the UK. We aggregate Labour Force Survey data for the period 1993–2018 to a “regional” level. We find that youths are sensitive to aggregate labor market conditions and a discouraged worker effect. In the UK and Spain, temporary jobs are more likely to be preferred to part-time jobs, whereas in Italy the opposite occurs. There is evidence of spatial clustering of youth unemployment and NEET rates. We discuss the implications for place-based regional and labor market policies.     

The phytolith archaeological record: strengths and weaknesses evaluated based on a quantitative modern reference collection from Greece

The phytolith record from archaeological strata is a powerful tool for reconstructing aspects of past human behaviour and ecology. Considerable insights into the problems and potentials of this record can be obtained by studying phytoliths in modern plants. We prepared a phytolith reference collection of modern plants mostly from northern Greece that includes quantitative information on phytolith concentrations (number of phytoliths per gram dry organic material) and morphological assemblages. Here we analyse this reference collection with the aim of evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of the archaeological phytolith record. The reference collection comprises 62 different plant taxa. Of them, 28 are trees, 1 conifer, 10 shrubs and 1 herb, 3 domesticated annual legumes and 19 monocotyledons. We demonstrate quantitatively the extent to which woody species, legumes and fruits of dicots contribute only small amounts of phytoliths to the sediments per unit tissue dry weight, while leaves of trees and shrubs produce significant amounts of phytoliths and grasses are prolific phytolith producers. We compare the data of this reference collection with a similar reference collection from another Mediterranean ecosystem (Israel). The comparison indicates that some aspects of phytolith production are probably genetically controlled, whereas others are environmentally controlled. We note that despite the fact that woody species produce few phytoliths per gram of tissue, their record can be most informative when taking into account other properties of the sediments. We also note that jigsaw puzzle-shaped phytoliths normally form in plants that grow in humid conditions, but may form in arid environments when the plants are irrigated. This study clearly shows the extent to which some plants can be under-represented and others over-represented in the phytolith record. Knowing the extent of this bias can greatly improve our interpretation of the phytolith record.     

Thirty Years on: Iran's “Silent Revolution”

2009 is the thirtieth anniversary of the Iranian Revolution. In 2006 the Bush administration ranked Iran as posing arguably the greatest single threat to America. And throughout 2008 that administration insisted all options were open in dealing with Iran, including preventative strikes. Yet, unlike its decisive intervention to establish Iran as a client state in the 1950s, the US has thus far been unable to force the changes it desires in and from Iran's leadership. This article argues that to help understand this situation it is important to recognize that the Iranian Revolution was and remains nurtured by a contemporaneous “silent revolution” in the international oil industry, even if the Ahmadinejad regime's economic policies especially threaten currently to squander some of the potential afforded by it.     

Ethnoarchaeological study of phytolith assemblages from an agro-pastoral village in Northern Greece (Sarakini): development and application of a Phytolith Difference Index

Phytolith assemblages are analysed in an ethnographic agro-pastoral community in Northern Greece. A new method for analyzing the data, combined with the concentrations of phytoliths per gram sediment, helps to differentiate diverse uses of space in the village. The Phytolith Difference Index (PDI) contrasts the phytolith assemblages in sediment samples from the region around the village least affected by human activities with those in the village and its immediate surroundings. The PDI reveals that many of the samples are dominated by the input of the stalks of the domestic cereal, rye, which is used for food, animal fodder and roof thatching. The PDI also differentiates between dung from mules or donkeys with dung from free ranging cows and goats. Activity areas analysed include storage areas, stabling areas, animal enclosures, floors from living areas that were repeatedly swept, hearths and open areas between structures. The combined use of the PDI, together with phytolith concentrations and phytolith morphotype analyses, may prove to be useful for deciphering activity areas in archaeological sites of not only agro-pastoralists, but also pastoralists and hunter–gatherers.     

An integrated approach to reconstructing primary activities from pit deposits: iron smithing and other activities at Tel Dor under Neo-Assyrian domination

Secondary pit deposits in historical occupations of Near Eastern mounds are usually regarded as uninteresting and are seldom analyzed. We used an integrated approach to study all the artifacts as well as the sediments in a pit at Tel Dor, on Israel's Carmel coast, dating to the 7th c. BCE – a period when the site served as an Assyrian administrative center. This pit was unusually large, had a peculiar ceramic assemblage, and many macroscopic metallurgical wastes. A detailed excavation and analysis revealed that the pit served intermittently as a waste disposal site for an iron smithy and for pottery that was presumably involved in maritime trading. On two occasions the area was also used for animal penning. Despite the obvious importance of the iron industry to the Neo-Assyrian Empire, actual workshops are rare in its archaeological record. Hence the new information regarding an Iron Age iron smithy in the southern Levant contributes to the study of this industry, and also to the history of Dor in this period.