Search results for "ARCHAEOLOGY"

Electron Spin Resonance and Thermoluminescence dating of shells and sediments from Sambaqui (shell mound) Santa Marta II, Brazil

2020

In Tupi, the word Sambaqui means “mound of shells”. These archaeological sites are cultural vestiges left by the prehistoric occupation of the Brazilian coast from five to six thousand years ago. Mollusks, fishes, and other marine edible foods were important for the survival of this population. The remains of foods, mainly shells, were heaped up, giving a mound of different proportions, which became part of the landscape of the Brazilian coastal plain. Due to the large number of Sambaquis in Brazil and considering that Sambaqui Santa Marta II, Laguna, SC, has not yet been dated, Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) measurements were performed in aragonite shells collected from different layers of …

Musteloidea (Carnivora, Mammalia) del Mioceno Superior de Venta del Moro (Valencia, España)

2011

The purpose of the present work is to describe the Musteloidea from the Late Miocene locality of Venta del Moro (Valencia, Spain). We have identified the following species: Martes ginsburgi nov. sp., Lutra affinis Gervais, 1859, Plesiogulo monspessulanus Viret, 1939 and Promephitis alexejewi Schlosser, 1924. Besides Plesiogulo monspessulanus which was already described in this locality and in Las Casiones (MN 13, Teruel Basin), we are approaching an unedited Musteloidea assemblage from the Miocene of the Iberian Peninsula. The m1 of Martes ginsburgi nov. sp. is similar in size and morphology to the Asian species of the genus, M. anderssoni and M. zdanskyi, but it differs in having a very wi…

Artificial Reefs in Sicily: An Overview

2000

Sicilian cave drawings from the Grotta del Genovese, Isle of Levanzo (west Sicily) ca. 12 000 B.C. show silhouettes of dolphins, tuna, groupers and bass which, together with remains offish (tuna, groupers, bass and others), limpets and oysters from Grotta dell Uzzo, north-western Sicily, indicate the importance of fish and shellfish in the diet of coastal populations of that time (Villari, 1992a, 1992b). Remains of turtles (Caretta caretta), tuna and sharks are evidence of fishing activity during this period (Villari, 1995).

Geoarchaeological investigations of a prominent quay wall in ancient Corcyra: Implications for harbour development, palaeoenvironmental changes and t…

2018

Abstract In antiquity, the harbour-city of Corcyra (modern: Corfu) was a prevailing naval power in the Mediterranean and had several harbours to host a considerable fleet. Today, these harbours are totally or partly silted and concealed under modern urban infrastructure. Comprehensive geoarchaeological studies were conducted on the northeastern fringe of the Analipsis Peninsula where excavations have revealed the archaeological remains of a massive quay wall (Pierri and Arion sites). These remains are located east of known ancient harbour structures that belong to the Alkinoos Harbour. Our study aimed to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental setting of the harbour facilities at the Pierri sit…

Late Holocene erosion of the Canopic promontory (Nile Delta, Egypt)

2017

International audience; The mouths of the Nile Delta are sensitive coastal areas, their geomorphology primarily being mediated by relative sea-level rise and sediment supply. To further document the Holocene evolution of the Nile's Canopic mouth, a core was taken from the southern shores of Abu Qir Bay, close to the ancient Canopic channel. Core bio-sedimentology and chronostratigraphy highlight four stages of marine incursion which are juxtaposed upon the general progradation trend of the Nile coast in this area. Compiled age-depth points from sediment cores taken in Abu Qir Bay underscore two phases of negative sediment budget at the Canopic mouth: (1) a first period, between 3.5 and 2 ka…

Holocene surface ruptures of the Rurrand Fault, Germany—insights from palaeoseismology, remote sensing and shallow geophysics

2016

The Lower Rhine Embayment in Central Europe hosts a rift system that has very low deformation rates. The faults in this area have slip rates of less than 0.1 mm/yr, which does not allow to investigate ongoing tectonic deformation with geodetic techniques, unless they cover very long time spans. Instrumental seismicity does only cover a small fraction of the very long earthquake recurrence intervals of several thousands of years. Paleoseismological studies are needed to constrain slip rates and the earthquake history of such faults. Destructive earthquakes are rare in the study area, but did occur in historic times. In 1755/56, a series of strong earthquakes caused significant destruction in…

THE BLACK GOLD THAT CAME FROM THE SEA. A REVIEW OF OBSIDIAN STUDIES AT THE ISLAND OF USTICA

2018

Volcanism has produced a natural glass called obsidian that during prehistoric times, from Neolithic to the Metal Ages, was considered a valuable raw material in order to produce efficient cutting tools. Ustica, a small and solitary island in the southwestern Tyrrhenian Sea, despite being volcanic, did not generate any obsidian. Yet the island's soils return large quantities of obsidian fragments, residues of prehistoric use. Where did this material, defined by some archaeologists as the Black Gold of prehistory, come from? This article reviews the archaeometric studies on Ustica’s obsidians, carried out since the middle o f the 1990s, to answer this question. The obsidians of Ustica have b…

Corrigendum: Fire Responses to the 2010 and 2015/2016 Amazonian Droughts

2019

Fusulines of the Hoyo Oscuro section, Ándara massif of Picos de Europa (Cantabrian Zone, N Spain). New constraints about the onset of the Variscan de…

2020

The Hoyo Oscuro section (Andara Massif, southeastern part of Picos de Europa) is a comparatively small exposure of Pennsylvanian syntectonic deposits that shown angular unconformity on the fairly extensive pre-tectonic carbonate platform strata of Pennsylvanian age accumulated in the distalmost realms of the Variscan foreland basin of the Cantabrian Zone. Fusuline-bearing strata from this section yielded species belonging to the genera P seudostaffella, Ozawainella, Fusulinella, Protriticites, Pseudotriticites, Fusulina and Quasifusulinoides ; one of these forms, Protriticites schulzei Villa, is described as a new species from the Cantabrian Mountains. Fusuline assemblages allow us to corre…

A view of the vegetation and economic exploitation of the forest in the Late Neolithic sites of Les Jovades and Niuet (Alicante, Spain)

1992

SummaryThe results of the charcoal analysis obtained in two open air sites of the Late Neolithic, although contrasting with what is known so far about their economy, as well as with the results of different palaeoamblental studies undertaken in other sites, mainly caves with long sequences, within the same area or in other near areas, form the main interest of this paper. We will begin presenting the data pertaining to both sites individually which, in the final part, will be assessed in order to reach a better understanding of the relationship between men and their natural environment during the Neolithic period.