Search results for "radiocarbon"
showing 10 items of 134 documents
Timing the Western Mediterranean Last Hunter-Gatherers and First Farmers
2017
The spread of domestic plants and animals from the Near East towards the Western Mediterranean region is analysed using the current radiocarbon dataset relating to the last hunter-gatherers and the first farmers in the area. In order to do this, we have selected radiocarbon dates and built summed probability distributions and density maps, as a means of investigating the processes involved in the expansion of food production economies throughout this wide territory, in a ‘longue duree’ view, in accordance with a multiscalar approach covering both the general and the regional scenarios. This approach allows us to visualise the time of the expansion in this broad area, starting at the beginni…
Revisiting the Epipalaeolithic-Neolithic Transition in the Extreme NW of Africa : The Latest Results of the Chronological Sequence of the Cave of Kaf…
2021
[EN] This study focuses on the chronostratigraphic sequence of the Cave of Kaf Taht el-Ghar (Dar Ben Karrich, Tétouan, Morocco) excavated in 2012 in the framework of the AGRIWESTMED research project. The broad sequence reveals a series of occupations ranging from the Pleistocene (Moroccan Aterian) to recent historical times. Our research identifies a rich Early Neolithic phase (sixth millennium cal BC) containing the earliest pottery and domesticated animal and plant remains in the western Maghreb. However, this Early Neolithic level is not an immediate successor of the last traces of the Epipalaeolithic hunter-gatherer occupation, which started at the end of the Younger Dryas (10,900–9700 …
Antiguas excavaciones, nuevas respuestas. El yacimiento epimagdaleniense de la Cova del Clot de l'Hospital (Roquetes, Baix Ebre)
2015
El objetivo de este trabajo ha sido estudiar los materiales obtenidos con las excavaciones de Francesc Esteve Gálvez en la Cova del Clot de l’Hospital (Bajo Ebro), yacimiento de finales del Pleistoceno-inicios del Holoceno, descubierto por él mismo el año 1945. La representación de raspadores, truncaduras, buriles y laminitas de dorso, entre otros tipos, permite atribuirlo al Epimagdaleniense, atribución corroborada por dos fechas radiocarbónicas sobre huesos de fauna: 11.115 y 10.045 BP. De esta forma, este yacimiento se suma a un numeroso conjunto de yacimientos del período citado, conocidos en las provincias de Tarragona y de Castellón de la Plana. Así mismo, el estudio de los restos fau…
Mid-Holocene tectonic geomorphology of northern Crete deduced from a coastal sedimentary archive near Rethymnon and a Late Bronze Age Santorini tsuna…
2019
Abstract The Late Bronze Age (LBA) tsunami and the A.D. 365 tsunami are supposed to have affected the northern coasts of Crete. However, near-coast sedimentary archives have been rarely investigated in this area, and sedimentary archives including palaeotsunami fingerprints are still unknown. The main objective of our research was to search for appropriate tsunami sediment traps in order to gain detailed insights into the Holocene palaeotsunami history of northern Crete. We found an excellent fine sediment archive near Pirgos, located to the west of Rethymnon. Based on a multi-electrode geoelectrical survey and an 11-m-deep sediment core, we analysed the event-geochronostratigraphical recor…
Coastal Evolution in a Mediterranean Microtidal Zone: Mid to Late Holocene Natural Dynamics and Human Management of the Castellò Lagoon, NE Spain
2016
We present a palaeoenvironmental study of the Castelló lagoon (NE Spain), an important archive for understanding long-term interactions between dynamic littoral ecosystems and human management. Combining geochemistry, mineralogy, ostracods, diatoms, pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, charcoal and archaeo-historical datasets we reconstruct: 1) the transition of the lagoon from a marine to a marginal environment between ~3150 cal BC to the 17th century AD; 2) fluctuations in salinity; and 3) natural and anthropogenic forces contributing to these changes. From the Late Neolithic to the Medieval period the lagoon ecosystem was driven by changing marine influence and the land was mainly exploited …
Potential Freshwater Reservoir Effects in a Neolithic Shell Midden at Riņņkalns, Latvia
2014
Riņņukalns is the only known prehistoric shell midden in the eastern Baltic, and is one of the few middens in northern Europe consisting mainly of freshwater mussel shells. Situated on the Salaca River at the outlet of Lake Burtnieks, in northeastern Latvia, the site was originally excavated in the 1870s, and reinvestigated several times over the following decades. A new excavation in 2011 showed that part of the midden remained intact. The new exposure, dated to the later 4th millennium cal BC, yielded rich fishbone and mollusk shell assemblages, herbivore, human and bird bones, and a wide range of artifacts typical of a subsistence economy based on fishing, hunting, and gathering. Human r…
The “chimney forest” of the deep Montenegrin margin, south-eastern Adriatic Sea
2015
A spectacular field of columnar carbonates has been discovered on the Montenegrin margin in the southern Adriatic Sea at a depth of about 450 m. The site exposes many columnar carbonates protruding from the substrate or abated on the bottom. Such carbonates attain maximum visible lengths of ca. 60 cm with diameters up to 20 cm; display an annular growth, and are either hollow or plugged by indurated sediment. Petrographic and geochemical analyses document the pervasive presence of dolomite, and delta C-13 values as low as -30%(0) VPDB. These 'chimneys' are therefore interpreted as former conduits related to hydrocarbon expulsion in this sector of the Adriatic basin. However, available data …
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…
The Solutrean - Magdalenian Transition: a view from Iberia
2012
The paper examines the Upper SolutreaneArchaic Magdalenian/Badegoulian succession on the base of lithic and bone tool production, chrono-stratigraphic data and radiocarbon dates from the Cantabrian and Mediterranean regions of Iberia, mainly the areas of Asturias and Valencia (Spain). The discussion considers a reduced number of variables (characteristic stone tools, bone points and decoration techniques) and highlights the elements in common. The analysis concerning the transformation of lithic production at Cova del Parpallo provides new data for the Upper SolutreaneArchaic Magdalenian/ Badegoulian transition.
Cross the streams. multiproxy approaches to demography and population dynamics
2018
In the last decades, approaches dealing with demographic assessments based on archaeological data have experienced enormous popularity. One reason for this is certainly that almost all aspects of past societies, which are archaeologically interesting, are re- lated to the question of the size of these societies. A variety of different methods have developed in this course. These include the number of sites per time period and relative site density, size of sites, density of artefacts, 14C data, paleoanthropological or paleo- botanical methods as well as oral and written history. While most investigations rely on only one of the methods, linking of different proxies is the only way to check …