ICG2022-22

Cadaval cave is located in a karstic canyon of the Nabão River, in the right margin of the Tagus River basin, municipality of Tomar, Centre of Portugal. The site encompasses a long stratigraphic sequence from present days to, at least, the Middle Palaeolithic. Major excavations were made during the 1980’s and restarted in 2019 under the scope of the FCT funded project - Moving tasks across shapes: the agro-pastoralists spread from and into the Alto Ribatejo (MTAS), (PTDC/EPH-ARQ/4356/2014).The Holocene sequence has three main sedimentary units: Layer E (without human occupation), Layer D (with Late early to Middle Neolithic necropolis) and Layer C (with a Late Neolithic necropolis). Because of the lack of detailed geoarchaeological studies, the process of deposition and modification of sedimentary layers remains in question, this being very important to better interpret natural vs human dynamics, including site formation processes. For instance, Layer E is supposed to correspond to an earlier Holocene stage (Greenlandian), a period in which other caves from the region have dwelling and funerary occupations. This can be related to the low demographic density at the time, but also to the roof collapse event, an idea reinforced by the presence of some Middle Neolithic burials on the top of some large slabs. Nevertheless, a better characterization of its formation and the degree of anthropic impact in the diagenetic process will allow for a clearer interpretation of this and other situations.The main objective of the first author`s ongoing PhD project is to characterize the Late Pleistocene and Holocene sedimentary processes and the site formation processes of the archaeological record in the basin of the Tagus River, namely assessing its anthropic component.  For this, a detailed geoarchaeological investigation is being carried out in several sites, including Cadaval cave, giving particular emphasis to the use of micromorphology.

Keywords: Micromorphology, Cave sediments, Neolithic, Stratigraphy, Holocene.

How to cite: Adewumi, O., Oosterbeek, L., Vallverdú i Poch, J., Quinta-Ferreira, M., Rosina, P., Pereira, T., and Garcês, S.: Micromorphological Insight into the Cave Sediments of Cadaval Cave, Tomar, Portugal., 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-262, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-262, 2022.

The evolution of these regions included several stages of transformation during the last two Pleistocene glaciations and two interglacial periods – Eemian and Holocene. The origin and age of Biebrza Basin (Podlasie) were associated with erosional processes connected with Oder and Wartha (Saalian) ice sheet or Vistulian – Świecie stadial before LGM.

Results of studies indicate some periods of climatic changes and an increase in morphogenetic processes. The oldest phase of cool and humid climate was dated at Preboreal/Boreal period (Lipsk site) and the beginning of Atlantic (growth of peat bogs in valley floor, river channel cut off at Lipowo site). The next humid period at the end of the Atlantic indicated subfossil trees (trees couldn’t grow on a peat-bog in the valley bottom at the Krasnoborki site). The youngest humid period and beginning of peat accumulation on Subboreal colluvia (delluvia) occurred about 3200-3100 BP (comparison with the Krasnoborki site). Climate fluctuations correlate very well with phases distinguished in Centraleuropean river valleys. 

Geoarchaeological research in the Podlasie region confirmed the common settlement points of hunter-gatherer communities from the middle and late stone ages. 

We can decline two types of settlement: first hunter character (Krasnoborki, Lipowo, Lipsk), and second much more complicated and multifunctional site (Grądy-Woniecko).

 The Subneolithis population inhabited dry elevations at the bottom of the river valley and over the water reservoir. Encampments were established in places with the highest biodiversity at the boundary between flooded and non-flooded, forested, and non-forested areas. Environmental changes did not significantly affect subneolitic settlement. Also, the impact of this population on the environment was negligible, which was related to the type of assimilated economy based on hunting and gathering. Subneolitic populations have started the aeolian processes (Grądy-Woniecko site) and the dunes have been transformed, while the colluvial (delluvial) cover at the slope of the sandy elevations is likely to be younger than the period of functioning of the Niemen culture.

Investigations of subneolitic sites on sandy elevations surrounded by organic sediments allow capturing homogenous groups of artifacts of the Niemen culture. Organic layers with well-preserved ecodesign make an opportunity to determine the economical and food characteristics of the societies surveyed, which in the case of "classic" sandy sites is unreachable.

Well-preserved organic remains allow to determine the environmental conditions of settlement and, above all, allow obtaining the absolute chronology thanks to ¹⁴C dating.

How to cite: Frączek, M., Kalicki, T., and Wawrusiewicz, A.: The environmental context of Subneolithis settlement of Nieman Culture in Podlasie region (NE Poland), 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-703, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-703, 2022.

Central southern Africa is often viewed as an archaeological void, especially when compared to the continent’s heavily researched coastal regions. This is in part due to its geomorphological context: the Kalahari basin is a flat depositional void with few archaeological sites due to limited traditionally-favoured preservation contexts. Yet recently, the Kalahari’s Makgadikgadi mega-palaeolake basin has been controversially proposed, through DNA research, as the ‘ancestral homeland’ of modern humans, prior to MSA dispersal c130k yr ago, with only small residual populations remaining thereafter (Chan et al., 2019), despite the absence of supporting archaeological data.

Rather than being archaeologically-sterile, we provide new data from four field seasons that demonstrate the richness (hundreds) of MSA sites in the Makgadikgadi basin, their unique context on the palaeolake floor, and the significance of geomorphological processes in explaining their location, high preservation quality, and modern exposure at the surface. Six sites have been excavated, including extensive undisturbed silcrete MSA lithic spreads. One can be dated to within 81-68 ka, another occurred after 57ka, both resting on, and then buried by, OSL-dated palaeolake sediments derived from high lake stands. Human use of the basin floor occurring during low, or seasonally dry, phase of the basin’s complex hydrological history. Sites are being exposed at the surface of today’s dry basin through processes of aeolian deflation, removing ancient lake sediments from one of Africa’s major atmospheric dust sources.

Our work shows that without a clear understanding of Makgadikgadi’s geomorphological history, and of the processes operating in the system, it is difficult to appropriately explain the preservation and quality of the MSA sites in the basin. Our work shows a more complex environmental dynamic, and likely a more complex early human history, that previous research has suggested.

Reference: Chan EKF et al 2019 ‘Human origins in a southern African palaeo-wetland and first migrations’. Nature 575, 185-189

How to cite: Thomas, D., Burrough, S. L., Coulson, S., Mothulatshipi, S., Nash, D. J., and Staurset, S.: Buried by lake sediments, revealed by deflation: the MSA of Makgadikgadi, central southern Africa, 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-730, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-730, 2022.

If the Geological Survey of Bangladesh has been very active for more than 40 years, the principal missions of the organization are linked to the management of mineral resources and other climatic problems like the rising of sea level, scarcity of drinking water, etc. There exist few research projects on the paleoenvironment connecting archaeologists and geomorphologists even if the trend is changing. For Mahasthangarh, the archaeological mission did not explore this matter much since the pioneering work conducted by Christine Jacqueminet and Jean-Paul Bravard in the 1990’s.

Since February 2022, the Mahasthangarh mission includes a paleoenvironment component. This new project was motivated by a specific archaeological an environmental context. Mahasthangarh is an important ancient fortified city founded around the 4^th centuries BC. The site was the capital of Pundravardhana province, in Northern Bengal, before being gradually abandoned from the 14^th century AD on. Mahasthangarh is located on the eastern margin of the Barind Tract, a Pleistocene elevated alluvial terrace, along the Karatoya River. Today, the Karatoya is a small river but in the ancient times it was a major river (up to three times wider than the Ganges in the 12^th century AD). According to written sources and ancient maps, the Karatoya River seems to have undergone many changes over the past 2000 years and especially over the last two centuries. As well as, some parts of the site seem to have been damaged by floods according to archaeological findings. However, this active dynamic has never been recorded by sedimentary studies and the available data are incomplete and lack clarification.

This presentation will share an update on the available data and an overview on the new objectives of the research, the methodology (based on a geomorphological approach) and the preliminary results of the first campaign (based on 15 boreholes, 6 stratigraphic sections and 253 samples) in order to reconstruct the environmental history of Mahasthangarh during the different chronological periods of the site occupation.

How to cite: Chabot, Y., Lefevre, V., and Lefrancq, C.: The paleoenvironment of Mahasthangarh (Bangladesh) during the Pre-Modern Period., 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-75, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-75, 2022.

According to Pliny the Elder, ancient Tyndaris, one of the most important Greek-Roman colonies overlooking the southern Tyrrhenian Sea, rapidly declined in the First Century AD because of natural disasters. In Naturalis Historia, he dedicated an entire chapter to the cities carried away by sea storms and waves. Historical bibliographic research and a geomorphological survey have been performed to shed light on the occurred phenomena, flanked by UAV flights and photogrammetry. The nadir and off-nadir UAV flights allowed to observe out-of-reach areas of Tyndaris promontory. The generation of a high-resolution DSM and orthophotos and the export of the 3D model provided a basis for the structural analysis of the coastal cliff and allowed to map geomorphological elements. In particular, the fieldwork along the coastline highlighted landforms related to gravity as rockfall, rock avalanche and debris flow deposits rich of archaeological remains. The results gave clear information on how the geomorphological evolution weighed upon Tyndaris urban features.

How to cite: Bonasera, M., Parizia, F., Gregorio, F., Lanza, S., Perotti, L., Alberto, W., Vitti, M., Fubelli, G., and Randazzo, G.: How geomorphological processes conditioned the historical evolution of the Greek-Roman city of Tyndaris (Messina Province, Northern Sicily, Italy), 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-334, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-334, 2022.

The Negev desert is a part of the northern Saharo-Arabian desert belt, a major physical barrier between Africa and southwest Asia. Its location at the crossroads of the two continents makes it a perfect region to trace the presence of early hominins on the route from Africa to the Levant in major dispersal events. Geomorphological mapping in the central Negev region allows a reconstruction of the Plio-Pleistocene landscape, and the processes that shaped the Negev desert. Features that characterize this arid to hyper-arid region are sequences of alluvial terraces and small-scale wetland deposits, covering the last 2 Ma, now evident in the present-day landscape as a series of abandoned alluvial terraces standing 100-5 m above the active stream channels, containing conglomerates, fine silty sediments and travertines. In this study we integrate alluvial terraces with scattered outcrops of travertines and wetland deposits, marking the locations of past water resources in the central Negev. The environmental reconstruction enabled us to conceive a conceptual model and produce a detailed map that predicts the preferable locations for archaeological sites from the Lower and Middle Paleolithic periods. The outcome of this study is a validated model for tracing Paleolithic sites in their geomorphological contexts and a better understanding of the role of the Negev in Middle Pleistocene hominin dispersals.

The geoarchaeological survey, supported by luminescence ages, demonstrates that the Q1 surface, composed of several individual alluvial terraces, is 310-350 ka, corresponding to the Lower Paleolithic Acheulian handaxes. The Q2 surface shows two sub-terraces deposited between 150-90 ka, that correspond to Middle Paleolithic occurrences while the Q3 surface is composed of a single terrace deposited between 70-18 ka, corresponding to the last glacial event. This terrace contains the MP-UP transition. This study demonstrates the advantage of integrating geomorphological mapping, numerical dating of alluvial terraces and prehistoric surveys. This approach substantially increased the number of Lower and Middle Paleolithic sites and findspots in a region that had been surveyed in the past. The results show both Mousterian and Acheulian presence in the Central Negev area are associated with specific dated geomorphological surfaces. This alone, in our view, is an important addition to the archaeological knowledge gathered in previous works. The presence of Lower and Middle Paleolithic localities in the study area suggest that the Negev was inhabited during the Middle Pleistocene dispersal events, but this topic needs to be further studied by archaeological excavations. The dating of alluvial indicates that during the Middle and Late Pleistocene, the same sequence of alluvial terraces (Q1-Q3) developed in drainage basins regardless of their final drainage outlet (Eastern Mediterranean or Dead Sea). Our model for tracing Paleolithic sites in their geomorphological contexts can be valid in other desert regions of the Levant, and possibly in other arid regions world-wide.

How to cite: Yoav, A., Maya, O., Eli, C.-S., Naomi, P., and Omry, B.: Chrono-sequences of alluvial terraces and fossilized water bodies as a predictive model for detecting Lower and Middle Palaeolithic sites in the Negev desert, Israel, 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-116, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-116, 2022.

In the framework of a preventive archaeological excavation at the Unidade de Execução de Entrecampos - Parcela A (UEE-PA) in central Lisbon, Portugal, a sedimentary succession preserving evidence ranging from Prehistory to the 20^th century was unearthed. In order to better understand the site stratigraphy, two trenches (N-S/E-W) of about 40 m long and 5.50 m deep were opened in February 2022 by mechanical means allowing us to identify a sedimentary succession ranging from the Miocene bedrock to Holocene deposits.  Considering the importance of this stratification and its almost unique state of preservation for the city, we decided to follow a broad geoarchaeological approach, including geomorphological, sedimentological and lithic techno-typological analyses, as well as radiocarbon and OSL dating. Here we present some preliminary data, while further microstratigraphic analysis and physical-chemical and mineralogical characterisation of the deposits (grain size analyses, pH and organic matter content, XRD of clays) are ongoing. The alluvial plain deposits at the UEE-PA at Entrecampos are framed in the upper basin of the Ribeira de Alcântara valley and are related to a branch of the hydrographic drainage network of the Lumiar and Campo Grande plateau, on the right bank of the Tagus River close to its Atlantic mouth; their geomorphological expression is evident in the smooth base profile and the quite large deposits resulting from the erosion and transport of tertiary bedrock softest formations. The infill and incision are presumably in accordance with the Quaternary fluvial model of the Lower Tagus River sedimentary record. At the site, the depositional dynamics consist of aggradation related to a high dynamic discharge recorded at the base of the alluvial deposits, with a progressive reduction of the transport flux capacity to the top, resulting in turn in a silty loam floodplain deposit. The latter preserves a consistent number of lithic artefacts at its base (Palaeolithic and/or Mesolithic), pointing to a late Pleistocene or early Holocene chronology. This situation suggests the occurrence of  subsequent intermittent depositions that marked the initial stage of the suspended watercourse load, followed by the activation of soil formation processes which slightly affected the underlying sandy deposits as well. Further investigation will provide an absolute chronology for the main depositional events and will therefore help to reach a better understanding of the local paleoenvironmental and geoarchaeological contexts during the Quaternary in a central area in Lisbon city.

How to cite: Almeida, L., Zambaldi, M., Gameiro, C., Leónidas, J., Antunes, N., Nogueira, N., and Neto, N.: Geoarchaeology of the alluvial plain deposits at Entrecampos, Lisboa: first insights for a stratigraphic reconstruction, 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-386, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-386, 2022.

In Oman, quaternary climatic fluctuations alternated between humid and arid periods. As humid periods triggered increasing rainfall and fluvio-lacustrine activity, allowing for less restrictive arid conditions, they are a key component in the landscape evolution and in the early human-environment history. Fluvial archives are of great interest for understanding the hydrosystems’ local responses to Holocene regional climatic fluctuations and water ressources availability and reachability. For the Holocene, little data are available in Northern Oman to examine the impact of the Holocene Pluvial Phase on hydrosystems and the timescale of the onset of arid conditions around 5.500 BP. Here, we will present fluvial records from southern part of the Hajar Mountains’ piedmont. Geomorphological mapping, morphostratigraphic analyses of natural and excavated sections, malacological analyses and age-dating supported by OSL and radiocarbon methods provided us a better understanding of aggradations phases in link with fluvial activity and increasing rainfall. Phases of aggradation has been identified between around 11,500 cal. BP, between 6,610 cal. BP and 5,400 cal. BP and around 2,700 cal. BP. We will compare and discuss the hydro-climatic data obtained with fluvial archives to archaeological sites distribution and development of hydraulic system during the Bronze age and the Iron age in several archaeological areas of the southern piedmont of the Hajar mountains (Bisyah, Adam, Al Khashbah)

How to cite: Beuzen-Waller, T.: Holocene fluvial archives and contributions for the study of prehistoric and protohistoric periods, southern piedmont the Hajar Mountains (Oman), 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-84, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-84, 2022.

In the Sudano-Sahelian context, where strong seasonal contrasts characterize the climatic and hydrological regimes, palaeoenvironmental studies are faced with a real challenge, because the exacerbated hydro-sedimentary functioning generally limits the conservation of quality records. In the middle valley of the Bao Bolon River (Region of Kaffrine, Central Senegal), fluvial sediments constitute useful archives for characterizing past hydrosystems, their paleoenvironments and their hydro-climatic changes. These archives can also record the contemporary landscape dynamics of ancient societies. The region is characterised by human presence for at least two millennia, as evidenced by the megalithic World Heritage Site of Wanar. This megalithic complex has been the subject of archaeological excavations since 2005, recently coupled with geoarchaeological analyses (field geomorphology and soil analysis, chronostratigraphy, sedimentology, geochemistry, organic matter analysis, bio-indicators, fire signal) in order to reconstruct the evolution of the environment at different time scales under natural and anthropogenic forcing. The numerous profiles studied (cores, sections, transects) reveal a richness and consistency of fluvial sedimentary records at the Holocene scale, rare in West Africa.

At the Holocene scale, regional climatic fluctuations explain the construction of a chronostratigraphic sequence marked by about ten phases of sedimentary aggradation, separated by periods of crisis, even erosion. The last two millennia, which have seen in particular the development of Megalithism, are fairly well documented and make it possible to cross hydro-sedimentary dynamics and anthropogenic action. The periods of funerary activity on the site of Wanar (10th-13th centuries) witnessed significant erosion in the watershed near the site. During the 20th century, the integration of this region into the “Groundnut Basin” of Senegal, with a transition towards increasingly intensive agriculture, led to a drastic change in environmental dynamics by an exacerbation of hydro-geomorphological processes: colluviation and slope-wash, gullying and filling of valley bottoms.

This coupling of the long and short time scales clearly accounts for a gradual transition from a Holocene operating logic to an Anthropocene model.

How to cite: Ballouche, A., Stern, M., Weisskopf, E., Landry, D., Garnier, A., Bocoum, H., and Laporte, L.: Long- to short-term environmental changes in the Bao Bolon River valley (Senegal). A geoarchaeological perspective on a World Heritage site (Wanar)., 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-580, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-580, 2022.

Understanding the past river dynamics, their relationship with the climate oscillations, and their impact on humans as a resource and/or natural risk, is very crucial. In recent times many studies were carried out to determine the evolution of the hydro-sedimentary dynamics of Alpine rivers in the past, trying to predict the future effect of the increased fluvial activity leading to repeated floods, especially in the current context of climate change.

The present contribution is the object of a recent publication (Czerski et al. 2022, Geogr. Helv. 77) on the evolution of the fluvial environments of the Ticino river alluvial plain (Southern Switzerland). The research is based on historical sources, previous investigations on three sites based in the Ticino river floodplain, and data collected on six archaeological sites located on four alluvial fans. The results revealed a complex interaction of the Ticino river and its lateral tributaries with the human communities since the Neolithic (5400–2200 BCE). The lithostratigraphy and the archaeological evidence described on the field were constrained by radiocarbon dating, providing the interpretation of the depositional context of the studied sequences and their correlation with the geological epochs and the cultural periods defined for the Southern Swiss Alps. The combined approach allowed for the definition of 13 phases of enhanced hydro-sedimentary activity covering a period between the Neolithic and the contemporary period. The palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic causes of these phases and their impacts on the human settlements are evaluated.

Most of the enhanced hydro-sedimentary phases could be linked to the regional or continental palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic context, recorded in correspondence with periods of climate degradation with the establishment of cold and humid conditions, evidence of glacier advances in the Swiss Alps, and/or by an increase in the flood activity on the southern side of the Alps. The more recent phases, in particular, are attributed to the coldest and moistest phases of the Little Ice Age (LIA) climate oscillation. The collected data allowed us also to assess the impacts of these enhanced alluvial phases on the human communities and to explain many of the sedimentological and archaeological observations on the field. For example, the torrential events attributed to the LIA had a strong impact on the construction and destruction phases observed for the archaeological site of Giubiasco Palasio.

The study is still ongoing; the summary on the evolution of the hydro-sedimentary dynamics of the Ticino river and its tributaries presented herein will be continuously refined and updated with further sedimentological and archaeological observations.

How to cite: Czerski, D., Giacomazzi, D., and Scapozza, C.: Evolution of fluvial environments and history of human settlements on the Ticino river alluvial plain (Southern Switzerland), 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-218, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-218, 2022.

At the end of the Bronze Age, technical improvements have made possible the rise of the first generation of major sea powers around the Mediterranean realm, such as Etruria in Italy. The Etruscan coast was fringed by large lagoons, of which only one survives today: the lagoon of Orbetello. This peculiar lagoon is held between two sand spits that connect the former island of Argentario to the mainland. A third sand spit lies in the middle of the lagoon, and supports the Etruscan city of Orbetello. Archeological investigations suggest that the lagoon was connected to the sea through a natural outlet until the 9^th century BCE, when an integrated management plan of the lagoon was implemented to optimize fishing. Subsequent closure of the natural outlet implies that lagoon management heavily subsequently relied on man-made openings to maintain the lagoon connected to the sea and nearby rivers. Today, three canals connect the lagoon to the sea. Management plans were implemented in the late 20^th Century to fight a massive phase of eutrophication driven by excess release of fertilizers. Eutrophication as responsible for extensive fish kills, and to the release of mercury in the water column. Little is known about lagoon management and the evolution of the city before the 17^th century CE, but it is clear that the wealth of the city of Orbetello and the health of its lagoon have been strongly correlated over the past three millennia.

               To track this coevolution, we conducted a coring campaign coupled to sub-bottom imaging in the very shallow (<1.5m) waters of this extensive (30 km²) lagoon. iXblue Echoes 10 000 sub-bottom profiler reveals individual layers that can be traced across the lagoon, allowing stratigraphic correlations between cores, and highlighting the environmental significance of the sedimentary facies. Architecture of the deposits reveals a pronounced transgression of the lagoon over its shallowly inward-dipping margins since Antiquity. This led to the flooding of an array of regularly-spaced Roman farms along its southern shorelines, and to a more important flooding of Etruscan structures. Lagoon level rise was driven by a combination of regional sea level rise and fluctuations in the hydraulic balance of the lagoon, controlled by the opening and closure of canals. Sub-bottom imaging reveals buried structures tentatively interpreted as docks and canals used for navigation and salinity control.

               Sediment analyses under XRF scanning, Rock Eval, and hyperspectral imaging reveals that sedimentation is marked by an alternation of black, shelly organic silty clays and decimeter-thick layers of broken shells. Radiocarbon dating indicates that the cores capture up to five millennia of sedimentation. Ongoing analysis of mercury and phosphorus content, ostracods and pollen assemblages, and chromatic pigments in the organic fractions are expected to document the links between sediment facies, eutrophication and salinity crises, and the rise and demise of land and lagoon management through the past three millennia.

               A sub-bottom profiling campaign in June 2022 is aimed at mapping the observed structure. Further coring is planned near putative man-made structures next Fall.

How to cite: Jouve, G., Vittori, C., Brocard, G., Pili, M., Gonçalves, C., Goyon, A., Bomou, B., Jacq, K., Debret, M., Mattio, L., Darras, L., Benech, C., Vitale, Q., Bertini, A., Leporatti-Persiano, M., Cianchi, F., Oberlin, C., Sabatier, P., Mesnage, V., and Goiran, J.-P.: Stratigraphic record of lagoonal management since Antiquity: insights from sediment core analysis and sub-bottom profiling, lagoon of Orbetello, Italy, 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-333, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-333, 2022.

The caves complex of Balzi Rossi (Ventimiglia, adjacent to the Italian-French border) is recognized as an important site for the study of Paleolithic settlements within the Mediterranean and Europe. As such, it has been subject to archaeological investigation for over a century but with little regard for the associated coastal and marine deposits. Possibly four Pleistocene interglacial periods have been documented there, with three coastlines located at distinct altimetric altitudes. One objective of the SPHeritage project is to precisely identify, describe, and geochronologically constrain these palaeo-coastlines. Constraining the sea-level record within the region will assist in understanding how Paleolithic human populations responded to environmental variations related to Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations and help establish the contribution of vertical Earth movements to paleo and predicted sea-level change. This outcome will be achieved through high-resolution topographic surveys, the reassessment of natural and archaeological stratigraphic sequences (including, through remnants preserved at museums, those completely removed by former archaeological excavations), and a multi-pronged approach to date the marine deposits. We will present the preliminary results and continuing work from our interdisciplinary team that includes geomorphologists, geologists, stratigraphers, paleontologists, and archaeologists. We hope this presentation will serve as an example of multidisciplinary approach to geoarchaeology and stimulate discussion within the community on the influence of relative sea-level changes to the peopling of coastal areas.

How to cite: Ryan, D. and the SPHeritage Project: Ongoing Investigations of the Pleistocene sea-level fluctuations at the Balzi Rossi archaeological area, Ventimiglia, Italy, 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-523, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-523, 2022.

During the 5^th and the 6^th centuries, the prosperous city of Gaza gained its reputation as a port of call for merchants and pilgrims to the Holy Land and as a port for shipment of products to the west. The economic hinterland of Christian Gaza included villages, monasteries and various agricultural estates that provided agricultural merchandise to the city residents (fruits, vegetables, field crops), along with the famous “Gaza Wine” exported across the Mediterranean. The houses in these settlements were built of unfired mud-bricks, while water was collected from roofs and courtyards into underground cisterns.  The cisterns were typically dug into the soil and made of a hardy mixture of cement, rubble, and gravel and coated with layers of hydraulic plaster. The cisterns were cylindrical, with a base diameter of 3-4.5 meters and a maximal depth of ca. 6-8 meters. About a meter below the rim, the cylinder structure tapered upwards into a cone shape, up to a diameter of 0.5 meters, where a stone slab with a square opening covered the cistern.

This study aims to examine to which extent the abandonment of agricultural fields in the late Byzantine - early Muslim period caused significant landscape and soil properties change.

We mapped ca. 150 water cisterns, typical of the period. Most cisterns are located north of the Nahal Gerar channel and along the lower catchment of the Nahal Besor. Mean annual precipitation in the area is 300-350 mm/year. Streams are ephemeral, characterized by flash floods during the winter.

While almost nothing remained of the flourishing above-ground settlements, soil erosion exposed the cisterns, which now serve as well preserved indicators of the presence and location of Late Antique houses and villages. The abandoned water cisterns protrude above the surface and may enable us to calculate the erosion rates since the settlement collapsed. Study results indicate that the abandonment of agriculture intensified soil erosion: rates of erosion along the steep (10-20%) river banks and gullies are up to 2.5 m (1.7 mm/yr), while along the interfluves and over the low-angle slopes (2-5%) rates of erosion reach 1.2 m (0.8 mm/yr).

Soil properties were also affected by human activity. In the Horvat Gerarit area, soil results from mud-brick degradation. Field identification is based on (1) relatively increase of fine fraction (clay and loam) within the villages sites, while median values changes from loam within the mud-bricks, to medium-sand over the agricultural fields; (2) mulch, that was added to the bricks to reduce cracking and increase tensile strength is incorporated into the soil; (3) direct observations of several degraded bricks into the soil.

How to cite: Shtober-Zisu, N., Brook, A., and Zissu, B.: Land abandonment and soil erosion following Late Antiquity in the northwestern Negev, Israel, 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-251, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-251, 2022.

“Plot-and-Berm” (P&B) agroecosystems consist of relatively unrecognized but sophisticated in-situ agricultural utilization of a high water table within loose, aeolian sand sheets situated in agricultural hinterlands in arid to Mediterranean climates in the Middle East, north Africa and Iberia, the latter historically dating between the Middle Ages to Early Modern times. The agroecosystem is comprised of a checkerboard array of agricultural plots sunken between 3-8 m high berms. The earliest recognized P&B agroecosystems are Early Islamic to early Crusader (9th-early 12th centuries a.d.) within several coastal sand bodies of Israel, that were abandoned by unclear reasons. We focus on the agroecosystem at the southern outskirts of ancient Caesarea that include limekilns, walls, and small structures with small amounts of in-situ artifacts. Our methods include geospatial mapping, relative and absolute luminescence chrono-stratigraphy, and analysis of pedological, geochemical, archaeological, archaeobotanical, and artifactual finds from surveys and three excavations coupled with a review of medieval Arabic agricultural manuals (kutub al-filāḥa) as well as other relevant literary sources.

The plot level enables easy and year-round access to the groundwater for crop roots and for digging shallow and open pit-like wells for manual irrigation. The current water table at the Caesarea was found to be uniformly 1 m beneath the anthrosol in several plots. The confined plots are hypothesized to also provide enhanced climatic conditions for agriculture: increased solar insolation while being protected from winds. Imported fine-grained refuse from nearby town dumps enrichen the inert plot sand forming distinct 30-50 cm thick, dark grey, sand-loam anthrosols that served agriculture. The plot anthrosols are not uniform in their geochemistry, texture and compaction. Initial OSL ages of the anthrosol suggest a ~200 year span of agriculture practice.

The berms are coated with a similar but less dense mix of sand with refuse, forming a dark anthrosediment. Atop the anthrosediment is a thin coat of 2-15 cm wide ceramic and artifacts that protect the berms from aeolian and slopewash erosion and therefor berm slopes were probably not utilized for crops. Berms are found to be fully made of sand mixed with refuse, with hints of Roman activity at the level of their basal sand.

Despite the current absence of historical documentation regarding the Early Islamic agroecosystems, and based on gross calculations of the immense efforts to construct the berms and import refuse, we suggest that these enterprises required administrative support. The presence of several agroecosystems along the coast of Israel, two of which date by OSL and artifacts to the same timespan, strengthen our understanding that a regional governance was behind the development of these agroecosystems. These agroecosystems are proposed to have been developed in response to religio-administrative calls for a type of mawāt (Arabic: “dead”) land reclamation. This effort was probably combined with an economic agricultural incentive and demand for a certain productive, rewarding and possibly unique crop whose type remains a pressing mystery.

How to cite: Roskin, J., Robins, L., Ostrowsky, A., Bookman, R., and Taxel, I.: Pattern, structure, archaeology, chronology and functionality of the Early Islamic Plot-and-Berm agroecosystem by ancient Caesarea, Israel, 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-72, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-72, 2022.

The stratigraphy of the lower reaches and floodplains store mineral sediments, organic matter, pollen, and charcoal which are important proxies for understanding the environmental evolution that directly interacts with human activity.

The present study is based on four sediment cores (7 to 19 m long) from the Lower Danube floodplain in NW Dobrudgea, close to Galați-Măcin area. The cores were carefully described and sampled for grain size, loess on ignition, magnetic susceptibility, charcoal, pollen and radiocarbon dating to reconstruct the paleoenvironmental changes in a key region for Neolithic cultures dispersal across SE Europe. The results of these combined analyses from the four cores with a special focus on Jijila mastercore (placed in a lake derived from a former embayment) bring new data about the mid and late Holocene floodplain environmental changes and a new perspective regarding the first settlements emplacement in the study area. Lower Danube floodplain inhabitation is still a hotly debated subject. The archaeological findings suggest the first settlements date from the Bronze Age (La Grădini – Jijila; Brăila), whereas recent human bones datings point to an earlier inhabitation during the Mesolithic-Neolithic period (Brăiliţa). The newly obtained charcoal and pollen profiles on Jijila core show two intervals of higher intensity human activity, the first during the Neolithic period and the second during the mid and late Bronze Age. Both periods are highlighted with peaks in charcoal particles and pollen grains (cereals) indicative of human activity.

How to cite: Tutuianu, L., Dobre, M., Hanganu, D., Sava, T., Preoteasa, L., Ailincăi, S., Lazăr, C., and Vespremeanu-Stroe, A.: Geoarchaeological approach of the prehistoric inhabitation reconstruction of a key-region (Brăila-Jijila) from the Lower Danube Valley, 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-673, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-673, 2022.

The geoarchaeological study of site MZ051S (Val di Sole, Trentino, Italy), carried out by the project ALPES (Alpine Landscapes: Pastoralism and Environment of Val di Sole), is presented here as a case-study for reconstructing human occupation of the uplands in the central-eastern Alps in late Prehistory and understanding the relationships between human and natural dynamics in the past.

The site, located in Val Porè, consists of a large dry-stone enclosure placed on a small, glacial plateau at 2240 m a.s.l. and has been dated to the early and middle Bronze Age.

Between 2015 and 2019, archaeological excavations were carried out and, following an interdisciplinary approach, numerous data were collected in order to reconstruct site history and site formation, including data from palaeobotany, stratigraphy, soil science, and the analysis of cultural assemblages.

Much importance was given to the geomorphological context and the deposit. The geoarchaeological and soil micromorphological study showed the presence of two buried soils, respectively dating to the ancient (2122-1773 and 1878-1693 cal BCE at 2σ) and middle (1750-1430 cal BCE at 2σ) Bronze Age. Both soils were buried by colluvial sediments deriving from slope dynamics. Although limited, the evidence recorded in the deposit, together with the results obtained from the distinct analyses, allow us to hypothesize that these processes could be determined by the human exploitation of the uplands. 

It can be argued that human occupation had a significant impact on the landscape since late Prehistory, revealing that the mountain environment is the result of complex interactions between anthropogenic and natural factors.

How to cite: Vezzoni, L., Zambaldi, M., Carrer, F., and Angelucci, D.: Geoarchaeological data from a Bronze Age upland site: MZ051S (Val di Sole, Italy), 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-171, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-171, 2022.

Climate variability may have played a significant role in the rise and collapse and reorganisation of many ancient civilizations. Such changes had a particularly strong impact on the political and cultural development of societies inhabited various parts of the Middle East during the first millennium BC. In this context, the South Caucasus, located on the Middle Eastern border zone, belongs to the most attractive areas for multidisciplinary research in the field of climate geology and archaeology.

Metsamor is a fortified protohistoric settlement located in the bottommost part of the Araxes valley (S Armienia). Results of geological survey coupled with interpretation of archaeological and palynological data collected at the study area, indicated great climate fluctuations which could impact the life of local community. These fluctuations were identified with 2.7 ka climatic event based on the age dating and detailed stratigraphy of sediment at the study site. According to Singha et al. (2019), the interval between ~ 2800 and 2690 yr BP is considered as one of the wettest period in the Near East over the past 4000 years. It was followed by a ~ 125-years period of aridity interval. Transition from wet to dry climate conditions is referred to as a 2.7 or 2.8 ka BP event. From the archaeological perspective, its impact on Metsamor can be found in the record of various processes related to gradual abandonment of the settlement,  and changes in the subsistence economy of its inhabitants. As a consequence, their livelihoods shifted from agriculture to cattle and goat breeding.

This work was supported by the National Science Centre Poland. Grant no. 2018/29/B/HS3/01843.

How to cite: Woronko, B., Jakubiak, K., and Iskra, M.: Impact of 2.7-ka climatic event on the local inhabitants of the Ararat Plain seen from the Metsamor perspective (S Armenia), 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-525, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-525, 2022.

The main aim of the presentation is to present the results of the geoarchaeological research of a network of 27 new discover objects of the Lusatian ash-field community from NE Poland (Podlasie voivodeship) and man-environment interaction in this time span. The functioning of Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age structures in the Biebrza and Narew river basins is a new issue, the knowledge of which is the result of only of the last few years of research. The breakthrough in archaeology brought about by the spread of laser scanning imaging made it possible to discover and inventory such structures.

This region dominated by groups of communities with a hunter-gatherer economy only at the turn of the Subboreal and Subatlantic becomes an oecumene of Lusatian culture. It seems that this community is the first a centre of coherent network of sites, which can be associated with a stable settlement network and intensive agricultural use of the environment. It is reflected in the valley bottom sediments. The network of these Prehistoric structures has relatively uniform location and structure, type of construction and dimensions. They are mainly located in the glacial basins or in the valleys of two main underfit rivers of the region - Biebrza and Narew on the erosional remnants inside or near the large peat bogs. Their construction have a circular arrangement with two areas a protective area consisting of a system of ditches and embankments and a central area consisting of a flat central square with only some archaeological traces of economical activity.

Determining the function of the objects in this network is extremely difficult. Some possible interpretation will be presented. Their structure does not indicate the defensive function of the objects, and their location near peat bogs may suggest their use as corals for grazing animals. There are many indications that we are dealing here rather with a kind of stable socio-administrative-religious centre concentrating dispersed in the microregion population of the Lusatian ash fields culture.

How to cite: Kalicki, T. and Żurek, K.: Lusatian circles on wetlands in NE Poland - results of geoarchaeological research, 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-702, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-702, 2022.

In this study, we used DTMs from airborne LIDAR data to reveal an unexpectedly high concentration of relict mining shafts and relict charcoal hearths, small landforms that record past metallurgy and can potentially provide new data on its history and environmental impact. We determined the number and distribution of relict shafts in the mining area of Tarnowskie Góry and Bytom (Silesian Upland, southern Poland) and relict charcoal hearths in the adjacent Mała Panew River valley (Silesian Lowland, southern Poland). We also aimed to explore details of relief and structure of selected shafts and hearths located in past mining and smelting centres, date their age with the radiocarbon method and compare dating results with existing historical data. On the mining field under study, we have found 13 864 relict mining shafts spread over 10,5 km2, varying in size (2-50 m in diameter) and relief details (with common features such as central depression and surrounding collar-shaped spoil heap). Radiocarbon dates of selected relict shafts indicate mining in the following periods: Roman Period (since the beginning of the Common Era, up to 5th century AD), Early Medieval to Medieval Period (7th-13th century AD) and Modern Period (15th-17th century AD). At the same time, historical documents provide information only about medieval and modern mining (since the 12th century). In the Mała Panew valley, we have found as many as 166 356 relict charcoal hearths, resulting in an extremely high concentration of 184 relict charcoal hearths per 1 km2 on avg. A typical single relict charcoal hearth in the area under study is 14 m in diameter, c 2 m high with a volume of c 205 m3. Around the central mound of each relict charcoal hearth, 4 to 9 depressions are present (each 2–3 m in diameter and around 0.5 m deep). Most of the radiocarbon dates obtained for selected relict charcoal hearths correspond well with historical data on the nearest individual smelting centres (15th-19th century). However, in some cases, radiocarbon dates from relict charcoal hearths can indicate that the smelting plants may have been established earlier (12th-13th century) than historical sources suggest or that charcoal was used for another kind of activity. The considerable number and concentration of relict mining shafts and relict charcoal hearths record large-scale relief changes caused by silver, lead and iron mining in the study area, as well as significant changes in the environment (i.e. forest cover) caused by wood exploitation for charcoal.

How to cite: Malik, I., Wistuba, M., Rutkiewicz, P., and Pawlak, Z.: High concentration of relict mining shafts and relict charcoal hearths as a geomorphological legacy of ancient-modern metallurgy in southern Poland, 10th International Conference on Geomorphology, Coimbra, Portugal, 12–16 Sep 2022, ICG2022-652, https://doi.org/10.5194/icg2022-652, 2022.