1995

Quaternary International, 2018

Geoarchaeology, 1998

There are few books that focus specifically on archaeological sediments and soils and even fewer that clearly make the distinction between the two. This edited volume is the final publication for the 1989 Tenth Anniversary Conference Proceedings of the Association for Environmental Archaeology. The papers exemplify the distinguished interdisciplinary history originating at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London, focusing on the geology, sedimentology, and pedology of archaeological sites. The conceptualization and identification of lithostratigraphic, chronostratigraphic, and biostratigraphic units, at a variety of scales, is an essential foundation of geoarchaeology and a significant theme throughout this collection. Most of the papers concentrate on the appropriate application of analytical techniques in the context of archaeological stratigraphy and the kinds of data these techniques produce. The majority of the sites used to illustrate these methods and approaches understandably are found in the UK.

Caves have yielded some of the most globally important archaeological sequences, but often their interpretation has suffered from assumptions about cave sedimentary processes. Caves contain distinctive sedimentary environments: this has major implications for the understanding of contained archaeological materials. This paper describes and analyses the Holocene sediments in the Haua Fteah, a sequence regarded as essentially continuous by the original excavator. 50 years after it was first excavated, the Haua's Epipalaeolithic to post-Classical chronological range and rich finds make it still the key Holocene archaeological site in North Africa. The reassessment shows, however, that the sequence is strongly discontinuous and this has major implications for the reinterpretation of the site, as the highlyresolved archaeological record is thus likely to reflect a series of brief occupations, rather than continuous human activity. As with many caves, the sedimentary record in the Haua Fteah is an extremely sensitive indicator of environments and processes in the wider landscape. Secure understanding of sedimentary process, from analysis of the highly individual records found in caves, is essential for full understanding of their contained archaeology.

Libyan …, 2009

The January 2009 fieldwork season conducted geomorphological and palaeoenviromental surveys in as yet unexplored parts of the Lake Megafazzan Basin, as well as continuing research in the Wadi al-Hayat and Ubari Sand Sea. Lake Megafazzan sediments were investigated at two sites on the eastern margin of the basin. At the first site, east of Tamessah, 24 m of stratigraphy was investigated and found to consist of a lacustrine carbonate unit at the base progressing into a fluvial unit and then an upper carbonate unit. The sediments were sampled for magnetostratigraphy and cosmogenic nucleide dating in order to determine their age. Similar studies were undertaken in the vicinity of the Arial Agricultural Project, where 31 m of section were logged and sampled. Here the sediments were quite different, being composed of a deltaic sequence consisting of stacked channels and palaeosols, thought to represent the outflow delta of the palaeolake. Many new Holocene lake sediment deposits were discovered and sampled in the Wadi al-Hayat and the Ubari Sand Sea, including a 5 m section through Jarma Playa that appears to record the last arid-humid cycle. Lake Gabr 'Awn and the moat round Old Jarma were cored in order to gather a detailed picture of recent palaeoenvironmental change. Finally, we implemented a pilot geophysical survey to test the ability of state-of-the-art Ground Penetrating Radar (UltraGPR) technology for detecting and mapping buried palaeolake sediments under the dunes of the Ubari Sand Sea. The UltraGPR was found to be very effective, detecting palaeolake sediments as much as 60 m beneath the surface. Preliminary results suggest such sediments underlie much of the region.

ANU Press eBooks, 2009

Archaeological structures (walls) and midden deposits are in primary position in the main submergence entrance, but the latter have been eroded by intermittent stream flows and spread along the stream bed of the cave for about 150 m. Examination of the debris in the stream bed revealed many undecorated pottery sherds and shells, but no bones of food species. Several fragments of adzes were collected from the stream bed by Matararaba and placed in the Fiji Museum. Remains of three human burials were noted in the cave: one at the entrance, one in an alcove opposite and immediately downstream of the fossil site, and one at the end of the side passage downstream of and on the same side as the fossil site. The cave is generally about 8 m wide for the first 60 m and the stream has eroded sediments down to clean rock along its bed throughout this area. Beside the stream, banks of red, lateritic, silty clay remain in places. The floors of all sediment surfaces and the sections in the sediment banks were examined for fossils. About 50 m from the entrance, the Volivoli fossil site 1 (VV1) was discovered on the true left (Figure 10). Volivoli fossil site 1 Volivoli 1 is the first fossil site containing Quaternary terrestrial animal remains to be located in Viti Levu. It is a steep, 5 m high bank of mainly clay sediment with some boulders that appear to be coming into the cave from a now-blocked entrance. A few metres further into the cave, a hole in the roof leads into a steeply ascending passage, which appears to come from the same old entrance. It was too difficult to follow this passage up slope, but midden debris (Trochus shells and some bivalves) were on the floor of this passage, presumably having been washed into the cave during wet periods. Overlying this site on the surface is a doline, which has a rock shelter (Volivoli III) in it from which a shaft drops into the roof at VV1. The deposit in which the fossils occur is a consolidated, red lateritic silty-clay matrix, which forms part of a once more extensive cave infill. The bones are very sparse and also generally very fragmented, making their recovery difficult. The consolidated silty-clay nature of the sediment precluded wet-sieving methods to extract fossils, nor was this desirable as it would have destroyed the association of the bone fragments. The fossils were kept associated in sediment, and dried, after which the clay was able to be rinsed off under a gentle flow of water. The bones were then redried and reconstructed. The taphonomy of VV1 is difficult to interpret but the fragmented nature of the material, which comprises mainly terrestrial species, suggests it may have been scavenged or predated, probably by the crocodilian (below). Fossils were buried in massive unstructured sediment with limestone rocks, so fluvial deposition can be ruled out. Subsequent diagenesis has resulted in sediment compaction and crushing of many fossils. The presence of slickensides in the clay sediments indicates that it has been alternatively wet and dried to some extent and the associated expansion and contraction probably contributed to the bone fragmentation. The undisturbed sediment contained no charcoal inclusions (although fine charcoal fragments derived from coconut torches are common on surfaces), was unstratified, and was not capped by any speleothem deposits, thus dating by methods employing these elements was not possible. Samples of crocodile and other bone were submitted to Beta Analytic for AMS radiocarbon dating. However, they were found to contain no collagen, so direct radiocarbon

Archaeometry, 2008

For 50 years, archaeologists and physical scientists have been dating, determining the composition of and measuring stone tools, and reporting them in Archaeometry and many other journals. In Archaeometry specifically, the number of papers devoted to the analysis of lithic material has increased at least 30 times since 1958 and volume 1. This is a reflection not only of an increase in the number of scholars devoting their time to the archaeometry of stone, but also of increases in the quality and quantity of instrumental technology available to researchers in the field.

Géomorphologie : relief, processus, environnement, 2012

The former city of Avaris is one of the biggest in the Nile delta. The city was the capital of the Hyksos kings who ruled Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, around 1650-1550 BC. The city was built on the edge of the Pelusiac branch of the Nile River, in the middle of a complex anabranching river system. Historical sources mention the existence of a fluvial harbour in Avaris. This large town required a harbour complex to fulfil its economic and military role. Until recently, the precise location of Avaris' harbour basin was unclear. A pluridisciplinary project was set up in order to locate this harbour, by implementing various methods and tools. This project was part of a broader study of the palaeo-landscape of the whole city that provided us with a better knowledge of the palaeo-environment and its depositional processes. We were able to suggest the most likely area where a harbour could have been built. Extensive geomagnetic surveys backed the sedimentary boreholes analysis in order to get a precise image of the harbour basin, also helped by archaeological findings. The relationships between the basin and the Nile were also explored, especially a small channel linking the harbour to the main river as well as another one connecting it to a secondary channel of the Pelusiac branch at the south. We used OSL dating to reconstruct the history of the harbour, from the natural formation of a favourable geomorphologic site to its adaptation and maintenance by man during the apogee of the Hyksos capital.