The Potential of Micromammals for the Stratigraphy and the Timing of Human Occupations at La Roche-à-Pierrot (Saint-Césaire, France)

As micromammals are highly sensitive to changes in their habitat, variations in species representation are often used to reconstruct local environmental conditions. However, taphonomic aspects of micromammals are often overlooked, despite the fact that they can provide important information for our understanding of archaeological sites. La Roche-à-Pierrot, Saint-Césaire, is a major archaeological site for our understanding of the Middle-to-Upper Palaeolithic transition in Western Europe. Clearly documenting site formation processes, the post-depositional reworking of deposits and the sequence of human occupations is fundamental for providing a secure archaeostratigraphic context of the site. The exceptionally large accumulation of micromammals from recently excavated stratigraphic units at the site makes it possible to track variations in the density of micromammals across the stratigraphic sequence. The taphonomic analysis of micromammals demonstrates these variations are not related to a change in the main accumulation agent or post-depositional phenomena. A negative correlation between small mammal remains and archaeological material suggests that peaks in micromammal densities can potentially be correlated with periods when the site was abandoned or when human occupation was less intense, and therefore provide new data for interpreting the Saint-Césaire stratigraphic sequence.

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DECODING AN EARLY HOLOCENE SAHARAN STRATIFIED SITE. CERAMIC DISPERSION AND SITE FORMATION PROCESSES IN THE TAKARKORI ROCK-SHELTER, ACACUS MOUNTAINS, LIBYA

Journal of African Archaeology ◽

10.3213/1612-1651-10016 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 2 (1) ◽

pp. 3-21 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Stefano Biagetti ◽

Francesca Merighi ◽

Savino di Lernia

Keyword(s):

Archaeological Site ◽

Site Formation ◽

Site Formation Processes ◽

Formation Processes ◽

Ceramic Analysis ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Hunter Gatherers ◽

Archaeological Material ◽

History Of ◽

Pastoral Neolithic

The surface pottery from a well-preserved Holocene archaeological site in south-western Libya is analysed. The collection suggests a long and protracted human occupation of the shelter, from Late Acacus (Mesolithic) hunter-gatherers to Late Pastoral (Neolithic) herders. Aim of the work is to decode the dynamic history of the site via the study of its surface elements, both artefacts and ecofacts, and the way they interacted over the millennia. To do this, traditional ceramic analysis is combined with recently developed methods of description imported from sedimentology, stressing the potentialities of surface archaeological material. In this framework, spatial analysis of scattered potsherds, in connection with their quantitative and qualitative features and chronological attribution, appears of main relevance in the analysis of site formation processes and postdepositional events that altered the archaeological deposit, transforming its present surface.

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The Archaeological Record

10.1093/oso/9780199474660.003.0005 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

Manjil Hazarika

Keyword(s):

Archaeological Site ◽

Northeast India ◽

Site Formation ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Site Formation Processes ◽

Formation Processes ◽

Site Structure ◽

Reserve Forest ◽

Ethnographic Data ◽

Ways Of Life

This chapter elaborates the data and results of the explorations conducted in the Garbhanga Reserve Forest. The area has been intensively surveyed for the location of potential archaeological sites and the collection of ethnographic data in order to draw direct historical analogies. An ‘area-approach’ study has been conducted in order to formulate a general model for archaeological site structure, locations, geomorphic situations, and site formation processes that can be used for archaeological study in the hilly landscape of Northeast India. Present-day agricultural implements have been analysed and compared with Neolithic implements in order to reconstruct ancient farming culture by way of undertaking systematic study of modern peasant ways of life in the study area. The ideological significance of stone artefacts as ‘thunderstone’ in Northeast India and among the Karbis has also been discussed.

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Soil Genesis and Site-Formation Processes

Soils in Archaeological Research ◽

10.1093/oso/9780195149654.003.0013 ◽

2004 ◽

Author(s):

Vance T. Holliday

Keyword(s):

Soil Formation ◽

Archaeological Site ◽

Site Formation ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Site Formation Processes ◽

Formation Processes ◽

Archaeological Record ◽

Natural Processes ◽

Natural Formation ◽

Pedogenic Processes

Pedogenic processes that produce or alter the soils associated with a landscape (buried or unburied) also modify the archaeological sites and other traces of human activity associated with that landscape and buried landscapes. The wide range of processes that form soils can profoundly affect the archaeological record. Pedogenesis, therefore, is an important component of the processes of archaeological site formation. Archaeological “site-formation processes” are those processes that modify artifacts and archaeological sites from the moment they were formed until they are uncovered by archaeologists (Stein, 2001b, pp. 37–38). Understanding formation processes is crucial in archaeology because archaeologists use the patterns of artifacts in the ground to infer behaviors. Formation processes identify patterns that are created by ancient behaviors and separate those patterns from the ones created by later cultural and natural processes (Stein, 2001b, p. 37). In his influential volume Formation Processes of the Archaeological Record, Schiffer (1987, p. 7) notes that archaeologists try to infer past behavior based on the archaeological record, but the record “must be handled with great care by the investigator seeking to infer past behaviors, for the evidence that survives has been changed in many ways by a variety of processes.” These processes introduce variability and ambiguity into the archaeological record. Schiffer (1987, p. 7) further distinguishes between cultural processes, in which the agency of transformation is human behavior, and noncultural processes, which stem from processes of the natural environment. Natural formation processes are many and varied and include plants, animals, wind, water, ice, and gravity, among others. Soil formation is also identified as an important process of site formation. Schiffer (1987) provides a comprehensive discussion of natural site-formation processes, which are summarized by Stein (2001b). Nash and Petraglia (1987) and Goldberg et al. (1993) also provide a number of case histories of natural formation processes identified at archaeological sites. Because soil formation represents the alteration of rock and sediment (chapter 1), pedogenic processes are important natural processes in the formation of archaeological sites. Other weathering processes that are significant in site formation can be grouped as “diagenetic alterations.”

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Soils and Landscape Evolution

Soils in Archaeological Research ◽

10.1093/oso/9780195149654.003.0012 ◽

2004 ◽

Author(s):

Vance T. Holliday

Keyword(s):

Landscape Evolution ◽

Archaeological Site ◽

Environmental Indicators ◽

Site Formation ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Site Formation Processes ◽

Formation Processes ◽

Four Dimensions ◽

External Component ◽

A Site

Soils and archaeological sites are intimately related to the landscape. Investigating soils across past and present landscapes provides a means of reconstructing and understanding the regional environmental and geomorphic context of archaeological site settings and specific site locations, regional site formation processes, and aspects of the resources available to people in a region. Archaeological sites tend to occupy small segments of the landscape, but human activity may affect a much larger area, and in any case, people wander far and wide from sites, interacting with the environment—including the landscape. Thus, no matter whether a site is just a lithic scatter or bone bed or if it is a tell, understanding the regional landscape is an important part of understanding a site and human behavior, and soils are an important means of understanding a landscape. Soils are also important in reconstructing the evolution of landscapes and, consequently, the evolution of archaeological sites. That is, landscape evolution is an important external component of site-formation processes. Landscapes form the physical framework or underpinning for people and their activities and their resulting sites. As landscapes evolve, so do human activities and so do sites. Soils are key to recognizing and interpreting the evolutionary processes that shape the landscape and associated archaeological sites. Furthermore, the concept of landscape evolution also 1) is a logical continuation of the discussion of soil stratigraphy (chapters 5, 6) because it places soil stratigraphy in three or even four dimensions; 2) is a complement to the discussion of soils as environmental indicators (chapter 8), because landscape evolution can be linked to environmental change and because the evolution of the landscape itself, regardless of changes in other factors, represents a change in the environment from a human perspective; and 3) provides yet another means for predicting site locations. The discussion in this section, therefore, represents an integration of some of the principals outlined previously. Some of the studies presented in other chapters, such as the work on the Loess Plateau of China (chapters 6 and 8), and at Harappa and along the Ravi River (chapter 4), are good examples of landscape reconstructions for very large regions and are not repeated here.

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Quantifying the threat to archaeological sites from the erosion of cultivated soil

Antiquity ◽

10.1017/s0003598x00094114 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 80 (309) ◽

pp. 658-670 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Keith Wilkinson ◽

Andrew Tyler ◽

Donald Davidson ◽

Ian Grieve

Keyword(s):

World Wide ◽

Site Formation ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Site Formation Processes ◽

Formation Processes ◽

Know How ◽

The Past ◽

Nuclear Weapons Testing ◽

Resource Managers ◽

Soil Movements

Ploughing is probably the greatest agent of attrition to archaeological sites world-wide. In every country, every year, a bit more is shaved off buried strata and a bit more of the past becomes unreadable. On the other hand, people must eat and crops must be planted. How can the fields be best managed to get the best of both worlds? Perhaps the most pressing need for resource managers is to know how quickly a particular field is eroding: negotiation and protection is then possible. Up to now that has been difficult to measure.The new procedure presented here, which draws on the unexpected benefits of nuclear weapons testing, shows how variation in the concentration of the radioisotope 137Cs can be used to monitor soil movements over the last 40 years. The measurements allow a site's ‘life expectancy’ to be calculated, and there are some promising dividends for tracking site formation processes.

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Sequência estratigráfica e materiais cerâmicos do sítio da Póvoa do Mileu (Guarda, Portugal) = Stratigraphic sequence and ceramic materials of the settlement of Póvoa do Mileu (Guarda, Portugal)

Estudios Humanísticos Historia ◽

10.18002/ehh.v0i16.6128 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 135

Author(s):

Vitor Manuel Fernandes Pereira ◽

Tiago Pinheiro Ramos

Keyword(s):

Roman Empire ◽

Archaeological Site ◽

Ceramic Materials ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Local Production ◽

Stratigraphic Sequence ◽

Trade Routes ◽

The Past ◽

Historic City ◽

Railroad Station

Accidentalmente descubierto en 1951, durante la construcción de la carretera de enlace entre la ciudad histórica y la estación de ferrocarril, el yacimiento arqueológico de Mileu se convirtió rápidamente en uno de los yacimientos arqueológicos más emblemáticos de la Beira Interior. En este artículo, tenemos la intención de presentar los resultados de la investigación que hemos desarrollado en el sitio en los últimos 15 años, destacando el análisis del material cerámico como elemento de datación de las diferentes fases de ocupación de Mileu. Su análisis confirma una secuencia ocupacional desde la primera mitad del siglo I A.D hasta los siglos XII / XIII. Los materiales romanos analizados son principalmente de importación, permitiendo no solo una datación de contextos, sino también comprender su origen, el contexto de su uso o cuestiones relacionadas con las rutas comerciales dentro del Imperio Romano y el cruce del territorio de la Beira Interior. En cuanto a los materiales medievales, de producción local, muestran la continuación de la ocupación del yacimiento en épocas pos-romanaAccidentally discovered in 1951, during the construction of the link road between the historic city and the railroad station, the archaeological site of Mileu quickly became one of the most emblematic archaeological sites of Beira Interior. In this article we plan to present the results of research that we have developed on the site over the past 15 years, highlighting the analysis of the ceramic material while dating element of the different occupation phases of Mileu. Their analysis confirms an occupational sequence from the first half of the century A.D. to the XII / XIII centuries. The analyzed Roman materials are primarily imported, allowing not only a dating of contexts, but also how to understand their origin, the context of its use, or issues related to the trade routes within the Roman Empire and crossing the territory of Beira Interior. As for the medieval materials, local production, show the continuation of the occupation site in post-Roman times

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Excavating Magic

The Archaeology of Magic ◽

10.5744/florida/9780813066110.003.0008 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 141-172

Author(s):

C. Riley Augé

Keyword(s):

New England ◽

Site Formation ◽

Archaeological Sites ◽

Site Formation Processes ◽

Formation Processes ◽

Site Type ◽

House Site

The process of locating and evaluating the chosen archaeological sites for this work is presented here as a prelude to the analysis of any artifacts with potential for magical interpretation. Issues of archaeological recordation and site formation processes are discussed to explain the paucity of the chosen site type. Five New England sites met the appropriate criteria for consideration: Chadbourne site, John Alden site, Jireh Bull Garrison House, Greene Farm Archaeology Project, and John Howland House site. Each site’s history and any potential magical symbolism and artifacts are discussed. Additionally, two common types of archaeologically recovered intentionally concealed objects (witch bottles and shoes) are discussed to question why examples were not located at the five sites reviewed here.

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Identifying the Brazil nut effect in archaeological site formation processes

Mediterranean Geoscience Reviews ◽

10.1007/s42990-020-00023-8 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 267-281 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

David Luria ◽

Alexander Fantalkin ◽

Ezra Zilberman ◽

Eyal Ben-Dor

Keyword(s):

Archaeological Site ◽

Site Formation ◽

Site Formation Processes ◽

Formation Processes ◽

Brazil Nut ◽

Brazil Nut Effect

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Early Human Occupation at al-Jamrab (White Nile Region, Central Sudan): A Contribution to the Understanding of the MSA of Eastern Africa

Journal of African Archaeology ◽

10.1163/21915784-20180010 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 16 (2) ◽

pp. 193-209 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Enza Elena Spinapolice ◽

Andrea Zerboni ◽

Michael Meyer ◽

Donatella Usai

Keyword(s):

Middle Stone Age ◽

Eastern Africa ◽

Site Formation ◽

Stone Age ◽

Cultural Layer ◽

Human Occupation ◽

Stratigraphic Sequence ◽

Central Sudan ◽

Out Of Africa ◽

White Nile

AbstractThe middle reaches of the Nile River play a key role in the current models about the diffusion of modern Humans out of Africa, nevertheless the Early and the Middle Stone Age (Early Palaeolithic and Middle Palaeolithic) in central Sudan are poorly known. On-going investigation at al-Jamrab (White Nile region) highlights the archaeological potential of the central Sudan and illustrates the importance of an integrated approach combining archaeological excavation and palaeoenvironmental reconstruction for understanding cultural site formation and post-depositional dynamics. The stratigraphic sequence at al-Jamrab includes a thick cultural layer rich in Early and Middle Stone Age artefacts, preserved in a deeply weathered palaeosol developed on fluvial sediments. The cultural layer includes a two-fold human occupation covering the Middle Stone Age, with Acheulean and Sangoan bifacial artefacts, although an Early Stone Age/Middle Stone Age transitional phase cannot be excluded. The artefact-bearing unit is attributed to the Upper Pleistocene based on preliminary OSL dating, the local palaeoenvironmental context, and strong pedogenetic weathering. Considering the paucity of archaeological data for the Pleistocene of Sudan and the importance of this region in the study of human dispersal out of Africa, this preliminary work on a new site and its associated stratigraphic context provides insights into the early peopling of Sudan and adds one more tessera to the Eastern Africa picture.

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