New vulnerabilities of historic urban centers and archaeological sites: Extreme loads

Podunavlje, a region located along the Danube River in Serbia, features a very rich cultural heritage with different notable periods ranging from prehistoric to medieval times. It is also a unique and valuable region with natural beauty. Our research concentrates on this area, using a case study as the methodology. The starting hypothesis is that strategic orientation to develop tourist docks for river cruises and marinas along the corridor of 588 km, at certain locations, primarily in urban centers and near the prominent archaeological sites, will form conditions for the better accessibility and presentation of priceless cultural treasures. By collecting data about various trends in the region and comparing these data with international studies, the authors support the utilization of an integrated method derived from the context of sustainable spatial planning. Such a method would support the creation of suitable conditions for the reconstruction, presentation, and development of creative tourist offerings. The urban plans that regulate these areas must observe and harmonize all aspects, especially the conditions for preserving heritage alongside the need for creating new accompanying content and events that will stimulate the economy and thereby ensure self-preservation and protection. The goal of the strategic analysis presented here is to determine which tourist and cultural offers are effective and thus should be promoted. The purpose of this study is to indicate the steps and required conditions for the implementation of suitable strategies. Apart from decision making on the strategic level and the implementation process, it is necessary to consider further impacts and investigate other possibilities to fully utilize the potential in the region.

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Prehistoric Ceramics of Northern Afghanistan: Neolithic through the Iron Age

MRS Proceedings ◽

10.1557/proc-1047-y01-02 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 1047 ◽

Author(s):

Charles C. Kolb

Keyword(s):

Iron Age ◽

Linguistically Diverse ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Urban Centers ◽

Goods And Services ◽

The North ◽

First Millennium ◽

Silk Route ◽

Thin Section Analysis ◽

Prehistoric Ceramics

AbstractFor nearly four millennia, Afghanistan has been at the crossroads of Eurasian commerce and remains ethnically and linguistically diverse, a mosaic of cultures and languages, especially in the north, where the Turkestan Plain is a conduit for the so-called Silk Route, a series of “roads” that connected far-flung towns and urban centers and facilitated the transfer of goods and services. The research reported herein involves the comparative analysis of archaeological ceramics from a series of archaeological sites excavated in northern Afghanistan in the mid-1960s by the late Louis Dupree and me. I served as the field director (1965-1966) and analyzed the ceramics excavated from all six archaeological sites. These were Aq Kupruk I, II, III, and IV located in Balkh Province (north-central Afghanistan) and Darra-i-Kur and Hazar Gusfand situated on the border between Badakshan and Tarkar Provinces (extreme northeastern Afghanistan). Ten of the 72 ceramic types from the Aq Kupruk area have been published [1, 2, 3] but none of the 53 wares from northeastern Afghanistan have been described. The majority of the Aq Kupruk materials are undecorated (plain ware) ceramics but there is a unique series of red-painted decorated ceramics (Red/Buff, numbered types 45 through 52) with early first millennium BCE designs but the pottery dates to the BCE-CE period. The results of ceramic typological, macroscopic, binocular and petrographic microscopy (thin-section analysis and point counting) are reported.

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Compositional and provenance study of glass beads from archaeological sites in Mali and Senegal at the time of the first Sahelian states

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0242027 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 15 (12) ◽

pp. e0242027

Author(s):

Miriam Truffa Giachet ◽

Bernard Gratuze ◽

Anne Mayor ◽

Eric Huysecom

Keyword(s):

Inductively Coupled Plasma ◽

Raw Materials ◽

Glass Beads ◽

West African ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Urban Centers ◽

Long Distance ◽

Settlement Site ◽

Sub Saharan ◽

Rural Sites

The presence of glass beads in West African archaeological sites provides important evidence of long-distance trade between this part of the continent and the rest of the world. Until recently, most of these items came from historical Sub-Saharan urban centers, well known for their role in the medieval trans-Saharan trade. We present here the chemical analysis by Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) of 16 glass beads found in three rural sites excavated during the past decade: the funerary site of Dourou-Boro and settlement sites of Sadia, in central Mali, as well as the settlement site of Djoutoubaya, in eastern Senegal, in contexts dated between the 7th-9th and the 11th-13th centuries CE. Results show that the raw materials used to manufacture the majority of the glass most probably originated in Egypt, the Levantine coast and the Middle East. One bead is of uncertain provenance and shows similarities with glass found in the Iberian Peninsula and in South Africa. One bead fragment found inside a tomb is a modern production, probably linked to recent plundering. All of these ancient beads were exchanged along the trans-Saharan trade routes active during the rise of the first Sahelian states, such as the Ghana and the Gao kingdoms, and show strong similarities with the other West African bead assemblages that have been analysed. Despite the remoteness of their location in the Dogon Country and in the Falémé River valley, the beads studied were therefore included in the long-distance trade network, via contacts with the urban commercial centers located at the edge of the Sahara along the Niger River and in current southern Mauretania. These results bring a new light on the relationships between international and regional trade in Africa and highlight the complementarity between centres of political and economic power and their peripheries, important because of resources like gold for eastern Senegal.

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Investigating the urban archaeological sites using Ground Penetrating Radar. The cases of Palatino Hill and St John Lateran Basilica (Roma, Italy)

ACTA IMEKO ◽

10.21014/acta_imeko.v5i2.324 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 (2) ◽

pp. 80 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Salvatore Piro ◽

Daniela Zamuner

Keyword(s):

Ground Penetrating Radar ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Natural Soil ◽

Artificial Medium ◽

Urban Centers ◽

Road Pavement ◽

Palatine Hill ◽

Ground Penetrating ◽

Center Area ◽

Geophysical Prospection

<p class="Abstract">The geophysical prospection is generally considered as the attempt to locate structures of archaeological interest buried in the natural subsoil, but in many cases, when applied in urban centers, this attempt could fail due to the effect and disturbances caused by recent man-made structures in the subsoil, covering any signal related to possible archaeological structures. In the present paper the GPR surveys carried out in two urban archaeological sites in Roma, characterised by different targets and environmental conditions, are presented and discussed. The first site, a portion of Palatine Hill (archaeological center area of Roma) is characterized by natural soil on the surface and an overlapping of many archaeological structures in its volume. The second site, St. John Lateran Basilica (Roma), is characterized by artificial medium as road pavement, outside the basilica, and ancient buildings, below the actual basilica. The paper illustrates the two GPR surveys and the obtained results.</p>

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NEW SITES OF THE Хth—ХVІІІth CENTURIES IN KYIV (materials to the archaeological map)

Archaeology and Early History of Ukraine ◽

10.37445/adiu.2019.01.14 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 30 (1) ◽

pp. 180-188

Author(s):

V. K. Koziuba

Keyword(s):

Early Modern ◽

Middle Ages ◽

Cultural Development ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Urban Centers ◽

Early Modern Times ◽

First Time ◽

The City ◽

Burial Grounds ◽

Local Value

62 archeological sites officially registered on the territory of Kyiv, 23 of which are of national, others — of local value. Half of these objects are architectural monuments or individual buildings (brick-burning furnaces, wooden water pipes, etc.). These sites are mostly located in the central historic part of the city. More common types of archaeological sites — hillforts, settlements, burial grounds. At the beginning of the XXIth century 76 sites of these types were known in the territory of Kyiv, of which only a few are with protected status now. Since 2011, the author has conducted archaeological surveys in the city. Their purpose is to inspect the places of known archaeological sites and search for new ones. During this time, 78 sites were inspected, of which 61 were discovered for the first time. Among these open sites 27 dated to the Xth—XVIIIth centuries or contain finds of this time. 13 sites existed in epoch of Old Rus’ (Xth—XIIIth centuries). Accordingly, today 72 sites of this period, 4 settlements, 38 settlements, 10 burial mounds and 4 ground cemetery, 8 monasteries, 7 caves and 1 fortification rempart are registered in Kyiv. Pottery of the second half of the XIIIth—XVIIth centuries was found at 10 sites. Magority of settlements dated to the early modern time — they were villages and farms around Kyiv. Their study allows us to find out in detail the extensive system of settlement at the Kyiv outskirts in this period and the active economic use of the latter. A fortification rempart which has a length of 2.9 km was also inspected on the southern outskirts of the city. Its height is generally 0.2—0.5 m, width — up to 10 m. This fortification is believed to have been emerged at the turn of the Xth—XIth centuries in order to protect Kyiv from the attacks of nomads. The discovery and study of new archaeological sites of the Middle Ages and early modern times allows us to explore the peculiarities of the emergence and development of settlement structures around one of the largest urban centers of Central and Eastern Europe, increases the number of sources on the historical urbanism of Kyiv, contributes to the memorial component of the socio-cultural development of the capital Of Ukraine.

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The use of scanning electron microscopy in interpreting chenopodium remains from three archaeological sites in northwestern Iowa

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100130195 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 1112-1113

Author(s):

Douglas William Jones

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Scanning Electron Microscopy ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Late Prehistoric ◽

Eastern United States ◽

Chenopodium Berlandieri ◽

Seed Identification ◽

Level 2 ◽

Scanning Electron

Within the past 20 years, archaeobotanical research in the Eastern United States has documented an early agricultural complex before the dominance of the Mesoamerican domesticates (corn, beans, and squash) in late prehistoric and historic agricultural systems. This early agricultural complex consisted of domesticated plants such as Iva annua var.macrocarpa (Sumpweed or Marshelder), Hellanthus annuus (Sunflower) and Chenopodium berlandieri, (Goosefoot or Lasbsquarters), and heavily utilized plants such as Polygonum erectum (Erect Knotweed), Phalaris caroliniana (May grass), and Hordeum pusillum (Little Barley).Recent research involving the use of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) specifically on Chenopodium has established diagnostic traits of wild and domesticated species seeds. This is important because carbonized or uncarbonized seeds are the most commonly recovered Chenopodium material from archaeological sites. The diagnostic seed traits assist archaeobotanists in identification of Chenopodium remains and provide a basis for evaluation of Chenopodium utilization in a culture's subsistence patterns. With the aid of SEM, an analysis of Chenopodium remains from three Late Prehistoric sites in Northwest Iowa (Blood Run [Oneota culture], Brewster [Mill Creek culture], and Chan-Ya-Ta [Mill Creek culture]) has been conducted to: 1) attempt seed identification to a species level, 2) evaluate the traits of the seeds for classification as either wild or domesticated, and 3) evaluate the role of Chenopodium utilization in both the Oneota and Mill Creek cultures.

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Preparation And elemental analysis of ancient fibers

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100126846 ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 45 ◽

pp. 410-411

Author(s):

Allen Angel ◽

Kathryn A. Jakes

Keyword(s):

Cross Sections ◽

Physical Structure ◽

Energy Dispersive ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

X Ray ◽

Long Term Storage ◽

Backscattered Electron ◽

Electron Imaging

Fabrics recovered from archaeological sites often are so badly degraded that fiber identification based on physical morphology is difficult. Although diagenetic changes may be viewed as destructive to factors necessary for the discernment of fiber information, changes occurring during any stage of a fiber's lifetime leave a record within the fiber's chemical and physical structure. These alterations may offer valuable clues to understanding the conditions of the fiber's growth, fiber preparation and fabric processing technology and conditions of burial or long term storage (1).Energy dispersive spectrometry has been reported to be suitable for determination of mordant treatment on historic fibers (2,3) and has been used to characterize metal wrapping of combination yarns (4,5). In this study, a technique is developed which provides fractured cross sections of fibers for x-ray analysis and elemental mapping. In addition, backscattered electron imaging (BSI) and energy dispersive x-ray microanalysis (EDS) are utilized to correlate elements to their distribution in fibers.

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The value, costs, and meaning of transnational migration in rural Oaxaca, Mexico

MIGRATION LETTERS ◽

10.33182/ml.v6i1.83 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 3 (1) ◽

pp. 15-25 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jeffrey H. Cohen ◽

Bernardo Rios ◽

Lise Byars

Keyword(s):

Social Networks ◽

Sense Of Belonging ◽

Southern California ◽

Transnational Migration ◽

Urban Centers ◽

Cultural Economic ◽

Southern Mexico ◽

Shared Identity ◽

The Social

Rural Oaxacan migrants are defined as quintessential transnational movers, people who access rich social networks as they move between rural hometowns in southern Mexico and the urban centers of southern California. The social and cultural ties that characterize Oaxacan movers are critical to successful migrations, lead to jobs and create a sense of belonging and shared identity. Nevertheless, migration has socio-cultural, economic and psychological costs. To move the discussion away from a framework that emphasizes the positive transnational qualities of movement we focus on the costs of migration for Oaxacans from the state’s central valleys and Sierra regions.

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Socio-Economic Characteristics of Immigrants in Western Greece Region: Urban – Rural Continuum or Divide?

MIGRATION LETTERS ◽

10.33182/ml.v3i2.62 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 3 (2) ◽

pp. 91-105 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Theodoros Iosifides ◽

Thanasis Kizos ◽

Elektra Petracou ◽

Ekaterini Malliotaki ◽

Konstantina Katsimantou ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Rural Areas ◽

Urban Centers ◽

Spatial Factors ◽

Limited Role ◽

Urban Rural ◽

Of Greece ◽

Western Greece

This paper aims at an investigation of factors of differentiation of basic social and economic characteristics of foreign immigrants in the Region of Western Greece. The paper explores whether the thesis of urban-rural divide is relevant for the differentiation of immigrants’ socio-economic characteristics in a typical Region of Greece, where there is a strong interplay between major urban centers and large rural areas. Findings show that spatial factors play a very limited role in the differentiation of socio-economic characteristics of immigrants and indicate that other factors are more important. Thus, and as regards socio-economic characteristics of immigrants, the overall picture is that of urban-rural continuum rather than divide.

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Bibliography of publications written by Alwyne (Wyn) Cooper Wheeler (1929–2005)

Archives of Natural History ◽

10.3366/e026095410800065x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 36 (1) ◽

pp. 77-99 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

ANN DATTA

Keyword(s):

Fish Fauna ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Changing Environment ◽

Scientific Papers ◽

The Status ◽

Fish Remains ◽

Important Fish ◽

Selection Of

The bibliography brings together more than 250 scientific papers and books written by Alwyne (Wyn) Wheeler over fifty years, from 1955–2006. This chronological list shows that from the beginning his research followed three themes: taxonomy of historically important fish collections; identification and distribution of the British and European fish fauna ; the status of British fishes in a changing environment. Until the mid-point in Wyn's career he published regularly on the identification of fish remains in archaeological sites in Britain and Europe. Wyn also wrote under an alias, Allan Cooper, and these have been listed separately. The bibliography concludes with a selection of the regular columns he contributed to angling magazines.

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