"dig" (Developing International geoarchaeology)

Wildfire versus slash-and-burn and flaming and the fate of charcoals

Erhard Schulz (1), Attila Bencsik (2) and Horea Cacovean (3)

(1) Institut für Geographie und Geologie, Universität Würzburg, Germany; (2) Department of Mineralogy, University of Szeged, Hungary; (3) Oficiul pentru studii pedologica si agronomic, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

A wildfire site at Leghia in Transsylvania/Romania provides the opportunity to compare the regeneration types of vegetation and soil after fire with the slash- and-burn-experiment at Forchtenberg/ SW-Germany. This is done by botanical, pedological and micromorphological investigations. Both sites are situated in deciduous forests of maple, beech, oak and hornbeam. The climatic is comparable too – 500-800 mm precipitation per year, however, with a much more dry summer at Leghia. Here the forest is on slope with a shallow rendzina on lime- and sandstone whereas the Forchtenberg site is on a loess-covered plateau showing cambisols and luvisols. At Leghia about 2 ha were afforested with Pinus nigra 60 years ago. In august 2011the pine area accidently took fire for about two days. Thus, there were ground and crown fire and much more charcoals on the ground as on the slash and burn plot. Moreover, they came from conifer wood. Looking to the 3-years period after fire there are several differences in the early successions. At Leghia shrubs of Cotinus, Crataegus, Prunus, Ligustrum and Robinia dominated. Gras cover was low but there were several plots of ruderal elements like Cirsium. The dense Rubus-cover, typical for the Forchtenberg site, did not developed. Soil surfaces were covered be thick O_l/O_f/O_h –layers, which are rare at Forchtenberg.

Concerning the fate of charcoals on both sites it became evident that soil animals represent the most important factor for their mobility or remain near the surface. From the droppings and transformation of the soil material it got evident, that earthworms diminish charcoals stepwise and distribute them vertically very effectively. However, enchytrees, mites and collemboles are keen to alterate charcoals on or near the soil surface. The Leghia site, however, shows that under a contrasted seasonal climate swelling and shrinking of clay or silt material provoke a mulching process with an alteration and even distribution of charcoals, which is also supported by enchtyrees depositing small charcoal assemblages by their droppings. This counteracts the conservation process of charcoals in the moder-layers beneath Pinus stands. Earthworms are very rare under these conditions. However, they appear at places of deciduous trees like Acer and Quercus

A burned wheat field near Kitzingen/N-Bavaria as well as a flamed meadow and wheat field near Lehghia evidenced two main differences to slash-and-burn or wild fire. Charred material consisted only of grasses. The soil surface was burned in a mosaic like manner. Charcoal was only very fine and distributed on the surface with half a cm´s thickness. Enchytrees and swelling /shrinking processes were responsible for the vertical transport to about 5 depth. As any flaming in Germany is strictly forbidden the microcharcoals were very rare in the topsoil. In contrast to them microcharcoals were evenly present in the topsoil of the two Transylvanian sites even flaming is forbidden too since many years. The wheat field, however, showed a barrier of a clear A_p-horizon.

InterArChive: exploiting the hidden archive in archaeological grave soils

Matt Pickering,¹ Annika Burns,²Maria Raimonda Usai³Don Brothwell,²and Brendan Keely¹

¹ Department of Chemistry, University of York, York, YO10 5DD; ²Department of Archaeology, University of York, King’s Manor, York, YO1 7EP, UK; ³Department of Architecture and Design, University of Sassari, P.zza Pau Salit, Alghero, Italy
The soils of archaeological graves represent an under-utilised or “hidden” archive of information pertaining to the interred individual and the circumstances of their burial ritual. The InterArChive project hasdeveloped, tested and applied a systematic multidisciplinary approach linking soil micromorphology, high resolution inorganic chemical and trace organic chemical analyses to recover environmental and cultural information from the soils of historic and archaeological burials. In addition, the project aimedto assess the extent to which variation in body composition along a corpse can result in regional anatomical contrasts within the grave.

The general sampling strategy captures representative undisturbed soil adjacent to the burial (C1), the grave fill (C1, C2) and samples from the skull, pelvis hand and feet (Figure). For chemical analysis alone, up to 17 positions around the remains are sampled to capture the degree of variation. Micromorphology and scanning electron microscopy microprobe analyses are conducted on thin sections prepared from consolidated sediment. Organic chemical approaches include elemental analysis to provide a bulk measurement, pyrolysis gas chromatography to examine polymeric organic matter and chromatographic-mass spectrometric studies of solvent extracts to reveal specific marker compounds.

Signatures have been recovered from soils ranging from those in which a paucity of organic matter now exists through to those where substantial abundances of organic matter are present. Case studies from Viking age and Roman age burials reflect contrasting preservation of organic signatures in ancient burials and an 18^th century burials reveals key features of factors affecting organic matter degradation.

Figure.InterArChive sampling strategy for archaeological graves. Left, general strategy for micromorphology and low resolution sampling for organic chemical analysis, C1 to C3 represent controls. Right, high intensity sampling positions for organic chemical analysis.

Intra-site variation in post-medieval burials at Fewston, North Yorkshire, UK

Maria-Raimonda Usai¹, Matt Pickering², Scott Hicks², Brendan Keely² and Don Brothwell³

¹Department of Architecture and Design, University of Sassari, Alghero, Italy; ²University of York, Department of Chemistry, York, UK;; ³University of York, Department of Archaeology, York, UK.

Investigations for the InterArChive Project were carried out on an archaeological site within the village of Fewston, North Yorkshire, UK. The settlement dated back to the 11^th Century. By the 19^th Century it was in decline and had contracted to a scattered village as seen today. The site included a post-Medieval burial ground, situated on a slope, dipping south towards the extensive Fewston Water Reservoir. The site was excavated between April and May 2009 and March and April 2010. During the excavations, 155 discrete burials were uncovered. Of these, thirteen of the late 19^th and one of the early 20^thcentury were sampled for the InterArChive project.

Soils in the area consisted of a set of different soil series arranged at different OD levels, well drained on the upper slopes, whilst periodically waterlogged (with horizons Bg and BCg) in the lower slopes, and possibly permanently (G horizons) waterlogged in the lowermost, southern parts of the site. Local rocks were dominantly sandstone of the Carboniferous Coal Measures formation.

On the ground, the degree preservation of visible bone and organic remains within the burials seemed to be correlated to such soil variation, with exceptionally well preserved burials located on the lower slopes, and a succession with a variety of different degrees of preservation along the medium and upper slopes.

Micromorphological investigations of soil from the graves and control samples showed the presence of a set of 15 main types of organic inclusions, including fragments of leather, cotton fibre, wood fragments, filaments, fibre with clear fibrils, wood plant parenchyma correlatable to the presence of paper, fabric fragments with different patterns, phosphates and unidentified tubular objects, possibly stitches. The organic inclusions were mainly preserved in the lowermost or mid-low part of the slope, and in the soil from a grave situated along a slight break of slope. Pedogenic-derived humified organic matter was distributed throughout the site, but mainly in the upper parts of the area and in the controls.

Chemical investigations on the same materials also showed better preservation in the lower southern region of the cemetery than in the elevated parts of the area.

The work demonstrated that preservation of organic matter in grave soils can be significantly influenced by soil catenary relationships and hydrology.

Soil Associations and Nuragic palaeosettlement distribution in the Marmilla Trexenta areas, Sardinia, Italy

Maria Raimonda Usai¹, Angelo Aru e Sergio Vacca¹

1 Department of Architecture and Design, University of Sassari, Alghero, Italy

The Nuragic civilization and its settlements in Sardinia started during the Bronze Age (from 1800 BC) and continued until the Iron Age, ending with the island subservience to Punic colonization. Thousands of Nuragic buildings (‘Nuraghi’) are distributed throughout the island and have been attributed to both housing and military functions.

Soil and nuragic distribution survey were carried out in a 50 Km² area in central Sardinia. The area was selected as it included most of the geological, pedological and land morphological types represented in the whole island. A comparable area was also selected in Western Sardinia.

The soil survey defined 14 soil associations in relation to land morphology, hydrology, soil fertility, workability, stability and parent materials.

The distribution of nuraghi was arranged in clusters of higher and lower densities. The higher densities were situated over 3 main soil units: the first one on fertile volcanic-derived soils, light, easily workable and often of flat land morphology. The second and third units were fertile and well drained lowland soils.

The study showed that Nuraghi’s distribution was strongly related to landscape features and, particularly, to soil types and characteristics.

Bone tissue conservation in archaeological and contemporary human remains: the role of degradation of organic and mineral phases
Valentina Caruso^1,2, Luca Trombino¹, Giorgio Caudullo², Valentina Scarpulla², Annalisa Cappella², Emanuela Maderna², Nicoletta Marinoni¹, Debora Mazzarelli², Emanuela Sguazza^2,3, Cristina Cattaneo^2
1 Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra “Ardito Desio”; Università degli Studi di Milano, Via L Mangiagalli 34, 20133, Milan, Italy; ²LABANOF, Laboratorio di Antropologia e OdontologiaForense; Sezione di Medicina Legale e delle Assicurazioni, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche per la Salute, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via L Mangiagalli 37, 20133, Milan, Italy; ³Dipartimento di Biotecnologie e Scienze della Vita, Università degli Studi dell’Insubria, Ottorino Rossi street, 9, 21100, Varese, Italy

Anthropologists are frequently required to date human bone remains, in order to recognize if osteological samples have an archaeological, historic or forensic interest. The determination of post mortem interval (PMI), the time elapsed between the death and the discovery of the corpse or skeletal remains, is extremely difficult to evaluate, since bones might undergo several alterations, both structural and chemical, depending on the environment in which they are recovered. In fact, many factors can alter the appearance of bones after death, e.g. climate, soil, sun, water, vegetation, animals and fire; however, the properties of the bone tissue, both of the mineral and organic phases, can influence the response to these processes.In an attempt to describe the manner and role of diagenesis, i.e. the alteration of bones during burial, we studied archaeological, historical and contemporary skeletons that come from different burial grounds. For these reasons, macroscopic, microscopic and chemiluminesce analyses, which are methods usually employed to dating the human bone remains, were applied on 40 human skeletal remains (femora and tibiae), which came from four different known populations of Milan, dated to III-V century AD (10 samples), XVII century AD (10 samples), XV-XVII century AD (10 samples), and 1990-1992 AD (10 samples). For macroscopic analysis we evaluated the general appearance of the remains and their state of preservation, in accordance to the Behrensmeyer’s classification, through the observation of specific parameters and morphological characteristics. To evaluate the presence of haemoglobin in bone we performed the Luminol test, a fast and inexpensive method developed to detect blood traces. The histological analysis conducted on calcified thin sections considered the presence or absence of tunneling and bioerosion, in accordance to the Oxford Histological Index (OHI). To evaluate the state of preservation of the organic component, primarily collagen, the samples were decalcified and stained with hematoxylin and eosin. Because of the lack of literature in this field, we created a new Decalcified Histological Index (DHI), employing imaging analysis, on pictures obtained in optical microscopy. Both calcified and decalcified bone thin sections were observed in transmitted and polarized light microscopy, in order to test the optical behavior of structural components. Finally, to investigate how the mineral phase preserves, i.e. structure, size, quantity, volume, distribution and ionic changes of hydroxyapatite, four bones, one for each population, were analysed by means of the XRD (Wide-angle X-ray Diffraction) technique.

In general, the study shows that single analyses are not predictive of the degree of bone degradation, since the bone conservation is heterogeneous on the different levels investigated, on the contrary the comparison of these methods on the same specimen is efficient to discriminate between archeological and forensic bone. Furthermore the informative potential of bone should not be based only on its external, microscopic or chemical deterioration since it was proven in this study that in front of bad macroscopic conservation, biochemical information was still valid.

This means that, according to the type of environment and to other unknown variables, the evaluation of taphonomic degradation has to be performed at different levels, and only if the results are in agreement the estimation of PMI can be detect approximately.

The present work is a preliminary study, part of a PhD project, carried out in collaboration between the Legal Medicine Institute and the Department of Earth Science of the University of Milan; the purpose of the project is to verify how the mineral and organic components degrades in bone tissues, respect to the propagation of peri and post mortem fractures, at macroscopic and microscopic level.

Urban Transformation and Site Formation Processes in the Roman cities of Hispania: a micromorphological view

Mario Gutiérrez-Rodríguez¹, Margarita Orfila Pons¹ , Paul Goldberg², Francisco José Martín Peinado³,Thomas Schattner⁴ Wolfram Martini⁵, Marcelo Castro⁶

¹Prehistory and Archaeology Department. University of Granada;²Archaeology Department. Boston University; ³Edaphology and Soil Chemistry Department. University of Granada; ⁴German Archaeological Institute in Madrid; ⁵Sciences of Antiqity Department. Giessen University; ⁶Archaeological Research Center of Castulo (Linares, Jaén)
As was noted by some researchers, future directions of archaeological soil micromorphology should concentrate on deciphering the full spectrum of formation processes in historical complex urban sites, expanding case studies both spatially and temporally. In this sense, the Roman archaeological record of southern Iberia, ancient Hispania, is very heterogeneous but never explored on a micromorphological scale.

With this background, a new Project was created: Gea in front of Chronos, geoarchaeological research of Roman contexts of Andalusia. The main objective of this Project is to focus on site formation processes for these sites, and to understand how the Roman city is progressively transformed, especially in Late Antiquity. Finally, is an attempt to resolve how contexts in a micromorphological scale are related to daily life activities of a Roman city in southern Hispania. In this contribution, authors will show two different archaeological sites that illustrate this situation.

The first is the Roman city of Munigua, in northern Sevilla (Villanueva del Río y Minas), which has been excavated since the 1960s by the German Archaeological Institute at Madrid. A great diversity of spaces has been documented, including the public thermae. Whereas the public architecture of Munigua was built during Flavian times, the thermae were constructed in Claudian times and is the earliest public building in the city. An intense urban transformation was noted. Micromorphology and soil analyses (pH, CE, C, N, P, P₂O₅, CaCO₃, grain size, pFRX) show initially a metallurgical use of the place before the thermae construction. Different analyses provide data about technological aspects of the metallurgical work as well as the materials involved in the productive process. This was followed by a phase of public bath use in which the latrine was sampled. Different features inform us about the faecal waste management and its evacuation through the channels system. The last stage, lead metallurgy use, showed a big transformation of the bath complex during Late Antiquity. Soil Science provides data about how progressively metallurgical activities, the rational of the roman city, enter in the cityspace when the public dimension of the architecture was lost.

The second archaeological site is the Roman city of Castulo, in northern Jaén (Linares), most recently excavated by the Museum of Castulo. A great public building richly decorated with paintings and mosaics was documented, and the archaeological sequence reveals an intense transformation of the building. During Flavian times the building was abandoned. Paintings and plasters were intentionally destroyed and deposited onto the mosaic floors and the roof was removed. Our study reveals that rural activities took place inside the city after the II century AC when the public functionality disappeared. These two case studies show different ways of urban transformation and the implementation of rural and artisan activities in previous public spaces of the Roman city.

Soil Science and archaeological soil micromorphology are powerful tools that reveal not only the diversity of formation processes but specific, short-term daily life activities, and particularly those related to progressive urban transformation during Late Antiquity in Hispania.

Sources of lithic raw materials at Qesem Cave, Israel: Analysis of a preliminary set of thin sections.

Lucy Wilson¹, Aviad Agam², Ran Barkai², Avi Gopher².

¹ University of New Brunswick in Saint John, N.B., Canada ([e-mail]); ² Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.

Qesem Cave is a multi-layeredsite east of Tel Aviv, Israel, with Lower Palaeolithic Amudian and Yabrudian industry assemblages. We have been examining some of the lithic assemblages to determine the rock types used, and exploring the surrounding area in order to locate potential sources of these raw materials. The site is in an area underlain by Turonian (Upper Cretaceous) limestones, whichcan contain flint nodules. These limestones extend to the south of Qesem Cave with only minor interruptions for approximately 15 km, where they are overlain by Senonian (Upper Cretaceous) levels including the Campanian Mishash Formation, which is rich in flint.

To date, we have studied roughly 2000 pieces from each of three assemblages: the Amudian and Yabrudian from an area known as “under the shelf”, and the Amudian from the “hearth” area. We have identified 51 types of raw materials: 49 flint varieties and 2 siliceous breccias. We have sampled flint and breccia from 15 potential sources: 13 of Turonian age, located within 5 or 6 km around the site, and2in the Mishash Formation, located about 15 km south of the site. Based on visual examination, we suspected that 41 industry types are Turonian, while 5 are Campanian. We had not yet identified possible sources of the other 5 types. In order to try to confirm or refute these attributions, and to get further leads on possible sources of the as-yet unidentified types, we selected an initial set of 22 rocks for thin sectioning: 13 industry types, and 9 from potential sources.Eight industry specimens were suspected to be of Turonian age and therefore local origin; 2 were suspected to be Campanian, and the other 3 were of unknown provenance. Of the environment samples, 6 were Turonian (from 5 sources, located to the south, east and north of the site) and a total of 3 were from the 2 Campanian sources. Analysis of these thin sections shows that in terms of textures and microfossil content, the suspected Turonian types are consistent with the samples from Turonian sources. The Campanian samples are distinctly different from the Turonian, because of their brecciated texture, which is not always visible to the naked eye but is very clear and characteristic under the microscope. The suspected Campanian samples from the industry share this texture. The types of unknown provenance contain abundant sponge spicules, and may tentatively be attributed to the Turonian.Anotherpossible indicator of origin is the presence ofsilicified ghosts of diagenetic dolomite rhombsin type C from the Qesem Cave assemblage. This initial study has thus demonstrated the worth of the petrographic approach, and should be followed up with selection of further specimens for thin-sectioning and analysis.

Reconstruction of the formation of iron-manganese nodule accumulations associated with Middle Stone Age artefacts in a lateritic profile in northern Malawi
Flora Schilt^a, Susan Mentzer^a,b, David Wright^c, Jessica Thompson^d, Christopher E. Miller^a, Elizabeth Gomani-Chindebvu<sup>e

a</sup>Institute for Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany, Rümelinstrasse 23, 72070, Germany.; Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, USA; ^cDepartment of Archaeology and Art History, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea; ^dDepartment of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA; ^eMinistry of Tourism, Wildlife, and Culture, Lilongwe, Malawi

Alluvial fan deposits along the shores of northern Lake Malawi are very rich in Middle and Later Stone Age lithic artefacts. Archaeological excavations and test pits in the Karonga District indicate a repeated pattern of artefact occurrences: lithic artefacts are concentrated directly on top of either 1) coarse layers consisting of gravel and cobbles or, 2) accumulations of gravel- and sand-sized iron-manganese nodules. Artefacts generally appear freshly flaked and lateral refits of lithic debris have been made. Combining field observations with thin section analyses, we address the question of whether human activity was the primary agent in the formation of these stratigraphic relationships or whether natural depositional and post-depositional processes played a more important role in the concentration of the artefacts.

Based on field observations and micromorphological analyses, we infer that the pebble and cobble layers represent abandoned streambeds, which were frequented by Stone Age people who exploited these locations for lithic raw material and, likely, riparian resources. Such a scenario seems unlikely for the artefact-bearing layers found on top of iron-manganese nodule concentrations, since these nodules are not thought to have been an essential component of the Stone Age economy.

In this study we used field observations of the pedology and sedimentology of our test units and soil micromorphology to assess the formation history of the nodules and to determine whether they are detrital, residual or formed in situ. This approach allows us to establish whether “top-down” or “bottom-up” processes have differentially affected aspects of the stratigraphic sequence.

Micro-characterization of carnivore coprolites: a contribution to the study of Pleistocene anthropogenic sedimentary deposits.

Natàlia Égüez*¹, Carolina Mallol², Cheryl Makarewicz¹, Ruth Blasco³, Jordi Rosell^4,5, Florent Rivals^4,5,6, Eugène Morin^7,8, François Bachellerie⁸, Isabelle Crevecoeur⁸, Hélène Rougier⁹

¹ Graduate School Human Development in Landscapes. Institute for Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology. Chrsitian-Albrechts-University, 24105 Kiel, Germany; ² Instituto Universitario de Bio-Orgánica Antonio González. La Laguna University, 38071 Tenerife, Spain; ³Departament de Prehistòria, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Facultat de Lletres-Edifici B, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain; ⁴IPHES; Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, C/ Marcel·lí Domingo s/n. Campus Sescelades URV (Edifici W3), 43007 Tarragona, Spain; ⁵ Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Avinguda de Catalunya, 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain; ⁶ICREA, Barcelona, Spain; ⁷Department of Anthropology, Trent University, Life and Health Sciences Building Block C, 2140 East Bank Drive, Peterborough, Ontario K9J7B8, Canada; ⁸UMR 5199-PACEA, CNRS, Université de Bordeaux Bâtiment B8, Allée Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, CS 50023, 33 615 Pessac Cedex, France; ⁹Department of Anthropology. California State University Northridge, 18111 Nordhoff St. Northridge, CA 91330- 8244, USA.

Presence of faecal remains in archaeological deposits is a robust indicator of animal presence at a site. However, explanations of the ecological dynamics between humans and animals living in cave habitats remain unclear. To adress this issue, here we present preliminary data of an ongoing multi-technique investigation designed to provide standards for accurate coprolite identification at the

microscale level. Micromorphology and stable isotopes analysis (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) have been applied to modern carnivore faecal remains provided by Doñana Biological Station (Sevilla, Spain) and Middle Palaeolithic carnivore coprolite samples coming from Coves del Toll (Moià, Spain), Cova de les Teixoneres (Moià, Spain) and La Roche à Pierrot (Saint-Césaire, France). Preliminary results show differences in the internal structure, digested material diagenesis and isotopic values depending on which species originated the coprolite. In contrast, similarities between different individuals from the same species have been observed.

Our micromorphological and biochemical characterization of carnivore coprolites provides a stronger framework to 1) better understand palaeodietary and palaeoecological information and 2) establish a precise microstratigraphy of the anthropogenic palimpsest deposits. Thus, identification of animal activity through analyses of archaeological coprolites becomes a crucial approach to better understand hunter-gatherer socio-ecological behavior.