Economics and environmental change during the Late Mesolithic and Neolithic periods — investigations in the valley of the Gieselau near Albersdorf,Schleswig-Holstein,Germany

Abstract

Interactions between people and the environment have resulted in constant changes in relief and soil conditions since the Neolithic. Soil transport and degradation had considerable effects on human land use. Extensive field investigations (excavations, auger sampling), measurements (e.g. texture, pH-value, C_org, N), datings (¹⁴C, pottery), together with extensive literature searches in different scientific disciplines (archaeology, palaeoecology, palaeoclimatology etc.), made it possible to reconstruct the Holocene landscape development in four study areas along the valley of the Gieselau near Albersdorf (Schleswig-Holstein, Germany). Stratigraphies were established in the study areas. This paper describes landscape developments around Albersdorf and in northern Central Europe during the Late Mesolithic and Neolithic. The compiled data for the landscape and land-use history serve as a basis for the design of the extensive Archaeological-Ecological Centre Albersdorf (AÖZA) — occupying a site of approximately 40 hectares — using reconstructed features from the Neolithic landscapes.     

The State We're in on the Eve of World Archaeological Congress (WAC) 6: Archaeology in Ireland vs Corporate Takeover and a Reply from University College Dublin

Abstract

There has been a change in how the state in Ireland uses archaeology since the 1990s, when it began collaboration with the private sector on large-scale development. Most archaeologists are now employed by private companies on temporary, short-term contracts. As in other countries, this has happened in tandem with increasing bureaucratic, corporate control of universities and pressure on academics to orient teaching to meet the needs of industry. This is an inevitable expression of expansion by multi-national corporations, often part of the ‘spreading democracy’ which, updating a famous phrase, can be characterised as a US-led ‘war by other means’. I present a case study of that process unfolding in one country, focusing on road development, the corruption upon which it is necessarily founded, and the role of archaeology. The M3 motorway which threatens the landscape of the Hill of Tara provides a good example. Crucial questions of professional ethics and standards, particularly professionals’ accountability to the community, have been sidelined. WAC 6 will be held in University College Dublin in June 2008; this congress will be pivotal because WAC will decide for or against archaeologists’ accountability to communities and their life-or-death struggle for survival, and for or against embedding the profession with cultural destruction in the private sector. A reply from University College Dublin follows this article.     

Commitment,Objectivity and Accountability to Communities: Priorities for 21st-Century Archaeology

Abstract

It is no longer possible to ignore the unprecedented levels of destruction resulting from development projects imposed by multinational corporations and governments. In this context, it is important to address the role archaeology and related professions, such as heritage management, play from the perspective both of the threat to physical heritage and our relationship with affected communities. This paper explores ways in which professionals can learn to work in a mutually accountable way with communities opposing destructive development, and together seek alternatives to development which threatens lives, livelihoods, culture, and environment. Case studies from the Boyne Valley and Tara in Ireland, Il?su dam in Turkey and the Oaxaca valley in Mexico, illustrate some of the issues. The implications of the growing privatization of professions, particularly for communities in the Third World whose poverty undermines their power to refuse even the most globally devastating developments, making it imperative that professionals look again at what we aim to accomplish and how much we are actually accomplishing it. As professionals we cannot afford to be ignorant of what communities want, need and are entitled to in order to develop and flourish. Archaeology and people's cultural roots are not separable from these questions.     

Living with Heritage: The Potentials of and Pressures on the Heritage Landscape of Gwollu,Upper West Region,Ghana

Abstract

The impact of development has been identified as one of the most pressing concerns in heritage management in Africa. At the same time, heritage has also been recognized as having the potential to bring tourists, and thus growth, to local economies. Communities that wish to benefit from the latter have to balance developmental pressures against the preservation of heritage, and various sectors of the community may view these priorities differently. In this paper, I discuss some of the potentials of, and pressures on, the heritage landscape of Gwollu, a town in Ghana's Upper West Region. I use Gwollu's brickmakers as a case study to illustrate the small-scale everyday development that can have a lasting impact on a town's heritage resources, and how internal divisions within communities may affect the heritage tourism process.     

Citizen and Monument. The Case of the Greek Island of Naxos

Abstract

Naxos, the largest island of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea in Greece, has been continuously inhabited from Neolithic times to the present and is full of architectural remains from all historical periods. Traditional settlements, castles, towers, numerous Byzantine and post-Byzantine churches, and several archaeological sites testify to its long and significant history.

The relationship between inhabitants and their archaeological heritage is multifaceted and of special interest. This article analyses the history of this relationship, the reasons that shaped its quality, the problems, and perspectives. It also explores the ways in which citizens, in this particular case the Naxians, participate in the protection of their monuments at a time when tourist development dominates the Naxian economy.     

Sasanian period drop-tower gristmills on the Deh Luran Plain,southwestern Iran

Abstract

The nature of the Deh Luran gristmill system is described, and archaeological and ethnohistorical observations provide insights into ancient rural technology, economics, and socio-politics. Optically Scanned Luminescence, ceramics, and other archaeological associations, date the Deh Luran gristmills to the Sasanian period (A.D. 225–700). A Middle East/Mediterranean origin as early as 250 B.C. is suggested for the drop-tower side-shot water wheel technology used.

The Deh Luran gristmill technology was well adapted to the topography and limited, variable water supply. Currently farmed lands, and their productivity, are found to be far less than projected grain surpluses for an expanding Sasanian Empire in Deh Luran. Population estimates based on gristmill productivity contradict those from archaeological data. Data suggest that Deh Luran, and similar rural areas, were relatively autonomous.