ABSTRACT Iran is among the regions most vulnerable to environmental and climatic change. Similar environmental transformations also occurred in the past, leaving deep impacts on the habitability and cultural trajectories of human societies. One of the most significant of these transformations was the 8.2 ka BP climatic event, which has been associated with notable shifts in the subsistence systems of seventh‐millennium BC communities across the Northern Hemisphere. However, no in‐depth study has yet examined the effects of this event on Neolithic societies in Iran. This paper examines the possible implications of the period of climatic instability associated with the 8.2 ka BP event for Neolithic communities in southern Iran, drawing primarily on long‐term archaeological surveys and excavations conducted by the author in southern Iran. In addition, previously published archaeological data from Fars, along with relevant climatic and environmental proxy records from Western Asia, were also taken into consideration. The principal objective of this study is to identify and interpret the cultural and economic adaptation strategies developed by Neolithic societies to Holocene climatic fluctuations. Results suggest that during the latter half of the seventh millennium BC, Neolithic communities in the Fars Cultural Zone experienced significant changes in settlement organisation and subsistence strategies, accompanied by developments in craft production and regional exchange. Together, these patterns indicate a flexible process of cultural and economic adaptation during a period of increasing environmental uncertainty broadly associated with the 8.2 ka BP climatic event.
ABSTRACT In this paper, we present a systematic method focused on petrographic analysis to identify different steps in the pottery production process and use this method to evaluate Rio Grande Glaze Ware from the Rio Abajo region of New Mexico. Working within the framework of chaîne opératoire , we examine the pottery production sequence by measuring ceramic attributes that reflect choices made at different steps in the process. We argue that our method can detect changes in the production sequence over time, but not all changes occurred simultaneously or for the same reason. Also, not all changes affected the final appearance of the vessels, making petrography a critical tool for detecting change in less visible attributes. Ultimately, we argue that our method can be used across space and time to explore various questions of technological practice. While our case study is focused on Ancestral Pueblo culture, this kind of research is obviously not exclusive to the southwest United States but can be examined in pottery‐producing cultures across the globe. Methods that use petrographic analysis for studies beyond the determination of provenance are a valuable contribution to the field of archeology.
Glassy andesite and basalt are volcanic rocks often valued as a lithic raw material by ancient people. Crucial to examining trade and migration routes of ancient communities is lithic sourcing based on geochemical comparisons of artifacts and known quarry outcrops. Nevertheless, most past sourcing attempts using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) analysis were restricted by traditional skepticism about obtaining accurate chemical compositions nondestructively from weathered surfaces of these rocks. Our study using modern ED-XRF equipment in conjunction with a rhyolitic obsidian calibration preliminarily successfully matched artifacts to geologic source groups. This paper aims to refine the sourcing method by combining the results obtained from neutron activation analysis (NAA) and ED-XRF. Comparison between NAA whole-rock chemical composition and ED-XRF concentrations on key elements measured on the same geological samples demonstrated good agreement, even on weathered surfaces. ED-XRF instrument settings used here enabled sufficient detection intensity to be obtained even from small flakes larger than the collimator diameter, making it possible to provenance the whole andesite assemblage of a site. This methodological advancement significantly improves our ability to accumulate and interpret information on the foraging behavior, the trade and exchange networks of ancient people, not only in this Japanese context but beyond.
Provenance research on Neolithic stone architectural materials provides critical insights into prehistoric resource exploitation, population interaction, social organization, and human-land relationships. As a new National Archaeological Site Park, the Sidun site is the most important central settlement of the Liangzhu period in the northern Taihu Plain. This study uses integrated archaeological and petrographic analyses of its newly unearthed stone masonry remains to reconstruct Liangzhu inhabitants' building stone exploitation strategies and discuss their exchange networks and social organization patterns. Results show that Sidun inhabitants mainly used local quartz sandstone from nearby hills and a small amount of exotic limestone for construction, preferring human-transportable blocks. They likely used local water systems for stone transport and interacted closely with Nanjing-Zhenjiang communities. Significant public architectural concept differences existed between the northern Taihu Plain and Liangzhu Ancient city, possibly due to distinct subsistence strategies, local water networks, and longer stone procurement distances. This study advances the understanding of early civilization in the lower Yangtze and highlights the value of stone exploitation research for exploring Neolithic human-land relationships in East Asia.
A geoarcheological study of two large, stratified Indigenous pit features discovered at two Jesuit mission sites in Qu & eacute;bec (Canada) was carried out to offer a detailed documentation of their contents and better understand their use over time. One of the pits is a 17th c. Wendat (Huron-Wendat) feature discovered at the Presbyt & egrave;re-de-L'Ancienne-Lorette (CeEu-11) site in L'Ancienne-Lorette, which was occupied by the Notre-Dame-de-Lorette mission between 1673 and 1697. The other is an 18th c. W8banaki (Abenaki) feature found at the Fort Odanak (CaFe-7) site in the village of Odanak, where the Saint-Fran & ccedil;ois-de-Sales mission was established in the early 18th century. Both pits featured a succession of alternating brownish and yellowish sandy deposits, and sediment micromorphology was used to obtain a fine characterization of their interior layers. The results were compared with data from field excavations and archaeobotanical and zooarchaeological analyses to determine their function and use over time. Both features appear to have been originally created for food storage, then reused as refuse pits. One also seems to have been used for cooking. Microscopic features in the deposits suggest long-term use, perhaps over several years, and indicate that although located outdoors, they were in the vicinity of longhouses. This first micromorphological study of stratified archeological pits in southern Qu & eacute;bec sheds further light on the daily life of W8banaki and Wendat groups settled in Jesuit missions in New France.
The Jomon culture, characterized by hunting, gathering, and fishing, lasted from approximately 15.5-2.4 ka in the Japanese archipelago. In this study, the shore of Lake Ogawara in northeastern Japan was investigated using coring, fossil analyses, and radiocarbon dating to reconstruct the palaeoenvironmental changes as well as their relationship with human activity. Postglacial sea-level rise led to transgression and tidal delta formation around 10-8 ka. This resulted in the development and emergence of sandy tidal flats and inner-bay environments that were favorable for shellfish. As a result, people settled near the shoreline and produced numerous shell middens. After ca. 7 ka, a slower sea-level rise resulted in shallower water and the expansion of the sandy tidal flats. Consequently, there was a reduction in sandy tidal flats on the eastern and northeastern shores, and human habitation shifted to the southern and southwestern shores, where such environments persisted. After ca. 5-4 ka, further salinity reduction promoted the expansion of freshwater lakes and wetlands around the lake. At this stage, people shifted to exploiting the brackish water clam or moved toward the northern shore. These findings suggest that Jomon populations continually adapted to geomorphological changes, thereby sustaining and developing the Jomon culture.
The visibility and preservation of Paleoindian and Early Archaic archaeological sites in arid environments are influenced by both human activity and geomorphic processes. In the Tularosa Basin of southern New Mexico, stabilized relict gypsum dunes-once thought too ancient to preserve buried cultural materials-are now recognized as dynamic landforms with significant archaeological potential. This study examines distinctive dune surface features, locally known as "gypsum blisters," focusing on their morphology, formation, age, and implications for site preservation. Through stratigraphic analysis, soil characterization, and radiocarbon dating, we demonstrate that these crusted surfaces could cover and preserve older, previously undetected buried sites, including those from the Pre-Clovis, Clovis, and Early Archaic periods. Contrary to earlier assumptions of Pleistocene age, our findings show that blister formation occurred under arid Holocene conditions, suggesting surface hardening took place later in the landscape's evolutionary history, after dune stabilization. These results challenge traditional views of site visibility in gypsum landscapes, where visibility has often been defined by the ease with which sites can be detected during surface surveys. They highlight the need for updated surveys and deeper subsurface testing strategies that account for the complex soil and climatic processes governing preservation in arid gypsum environments.
The archaeological site of Las Estacas Cave (NW Tenerife, Canary Islands) preserves some of the earliest human occupations in Tenerife, dating to the 2nd century CE, spanning the entire pre-European time range up to the 15th century. Using soil micromorphology, this study applies a geoarchaeological approach to reconstruct site formation processes and human activities through the analysis of 12 thin sections from 9 stratigraphic units, covering most of the sequence. The deposit is largely geogenic and consists of autochthonous basalt fragments, detrital volcanic gravel, and aeolian quartz grains from the Sahara Desert in a spongy clayey matrix characteristic of sodic coastal soils. Aridification evidence in the soil is observed from Unit IV onwards, spanning roughly from the 11th to 15th century. Certain stratigraphic Units (VIII, VII, IV, and II) exhibit increased concentrations of microscopic anthropogenic particles and clear evidence of sedimentary reworking due to trampling. The dominance of geogenic sedimentation and sporadic anthropogenic signals implies episodic use of the cave rather than continuous occupation. The results highlight the interplay between natural depositional processes and human activities in shaping the cave's archaeological record. This study demonstrates the value of microstratigraphic, microcontextual approaches for understanding coastal indigenous sites in Tenerife.
Inductively coupled plasma-tandem mass spectrometry (ICP-MS/MS) enables nearly interference-free determination of trace elements in different matrices. Furthermore, its mass resolution, combined with mass- and reaction-filtering, allows the measurement of several isotope systems that are otherwise difficult to analyse due to significant interferences. The Sr-87/Sr-86 ratio has been widely used in geochronology and geochemistry, increasingly also in archaeology as a provenance proxy. Because of limited Sr-isotope variations in archaeological materials, high-precision thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS) or multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS) techniques have been preferred. In this study, we conducted a comparative analysis of the Sr-87/Sr-86 ratio from 14 faunal and human tooth enamel samples using TIMS and ICP-MS/MS with SF6 reaction gas. Our results show that the relative difference in the Sr-87/Sr-86 ratio between these methods is less than 0.001 (i.e., < 0.1%), which is sufficient for provenance studies in the geologically complex areas with larger variability in bioavailable strontium isotopic composition. The precision of the ICP-MS/MS technique limits its suitability for establishing the bioavailable strontium Sr-isotope ratio baselines, but it can be a fast and cost-effective method in (1) distinguishing values that significantly deviate from the local bioavailable Sr-87/Sr-86 ratio, (2) filtering those samples that differ remarkably from the average of a larger sample and (3) assessing the homogeneity of the archaeological data.
ABSTRACT Ancient settlement conditions on floodplains within the western part of the East European Plain remain obscure due to the limited archaeological and environmental research. This study presents a multidisciplinary geoarchaeological investigation of the Ostriv Dubovets site in northwestern Ukraine, including geomorphological, stratigraphic, micromorphological, particle size and magnetic susceptibility analyses. The site's pedosedimentary archive reveals a bipartite Late Glacial palaeosol, the upper of which shows signs of clay illuviation and cryogenic alteration. The periglacial phenomena are the youngest in this region, representing cryoturbation, cryogenic‐induced subsidence and frost fissures. Aeolian sand sedimentation during the Younger Dryas stadial led to the formation of an elevation that was inhabited by ancient people in the Mesolithic period. The site underwent strong soil redeposition and deflation until the onset of the Subatlantic period, when modern soil began to form. Both erosional and pedogenic phases were mainly governed by natural factors and land use practices, leading to multiple artefacts' redeposition. The study, for the first time in NW Ukraine, demonstrates the value of integrated geoarchaeological approaches for interpreting floodplain archives.
This study presents new evidence for the early use of lime mortar during the Early Iron Age at the Piscina Torta site (Ostia, Italy), situated on the earliest Holocene beach ridges in the southern Tiber delta. The site, which was earlier described as a briquetage site, dates from between the late 8th and 6th century BCE and consists of a large complex of dumps, holding kilns and working floors. Lime mortar-like materials were abundantly present in these dumps and used in the construction of some kilns and working floors. To assess their nature, truly lime-based mortars or natural indurated marl, we performed petrographic and geochemical analyses on these materials, and on lime mortars experimentally produced using local marl from the Piscina Torta palaeochannel, which is the only nearby source of high-carbonate sediment in this part of the Tiber delta. The experiments showed that the marl begins to calcine effectively above 800 degrees C, developing characteristic lime mortar features between 900 degrees C and 1100 degrees C. Some archaeological materials indeed showed diagnostic microscopic features of lime mortar, including micritic binder, lime lumps, reaction rims and lack of birefringence, demonstrating that the marl had undergone the complete lime cycle (calcination, slaking and carbonation). Moreover, the analyses confirmed the origin of the archaeological mortar-like materials, being these marls. Our study provides the first evidence to date for the intentional production and use of lime mortar in central Italy, predating the widespread use of this technology in the Roman world. The results also imply that the Piscina Torta site was a multifunctional production site with a variety of kilns and activities, underscoring the technological sophistication and multipurpose nature of the site.
Venus preserves the remains of landers and probes from 15 space missions concentrated between 1965 and 1985. These artifacts and sites represent the earliest material traces of direct human interaction with the surface of the planet and are therefore of considerable historical significance. However, the extent to which material left on the Venusian surface is preserved remains poorly understood. They were deposited or impacted within one of the most extreme surface environments in the Solar System, characterized by temperatures of similar to 460 degrees C, atmospheric pressures of similar to 92 bar dominated by supercritical CO2 and chemically reactive gases. Additionally, the Venusian environment includes active surface processes such as volcanic, seismic, and mass-movement events. For these reasons, it is commonly assumed that Venus's surface environment would rapidly erase anthropogenic material remains. This study assesses the preservation state of Venusian space heritage by adopting the theoretical and methodological framework of planetary geoarcheology. First, we provide an archeological catalog of all known Venusian landing and impact contexts. Next, we draw from available geological and geomorphological datasets to qualitatively evaluate preservation conditions of these contexts. Finally, we provide an in-depth case study focused on atmospheric effects on the Pioneer Venus Day Probe (1978). Our study suggests that, despite the harsh conditions and ongoing physical and chemical alterations that may indicate unfavorable preservation conditions, Venusian space heritage may exhibit a high potential for long-term preservation favored by slow geological processes and global climatic stability. Further, as demonstrated below, while specific construction materials, such as beryllium, Kapton, and silicone-based components, are likely to have been heavily degraded or destroyed, the majority of materials used in the main structure and in various probe subsystems, including titanium, ceramic, and aluminum, are likely to be preserved, albeit oxidized, corroded, and potentially deformed. These findings challenge prevailing assumptions about preservation conditions on Venus and establish the planet as a key case study for planetary geoarcheology, space archeology, and heritage.
Late Holocene coastal dynamics in the Lesser Antilles remain poorly documented at the site scale, obscuring links between shoreline change and pre-Columbian settlements. We integrate hyperbaric coring, RTK-DGNSS mapping, granulometry, FTIR, portable-XRF, biosedimentological analysis, and AMS 14C dates to reconstruct the palaeoshoreline history of the submerged pre-Columbian site of Fond Banane, Martinique. Sedimentary archives record a stable vegetated barrier (Unit IV, 1191 BC-AD 991) bearing artifacts dated AD 654-775 (Middle Ceramic period), overlain by mangrove peat (Unit III, AD 991-1154), reworked continental/marine facies (Unit II), and the modern infratidal pocket beach (Unit I). The cultural layer now lies 3.14 m below present sea level, 2.7-3.1 m deeper than regional relative-sea-level models, implying approximate to 2.3-3.3 mm year(-)& sup1; tectono-volcanic subsidence over the last millennium. Elemental and sedimentological analysis document episodic contemporaneous high-energy events that accelerated erosion and artifact dispersal. The resulting micro-regional late-Holocene RSL curve quantifies geodynamic forcing that could have submerged other Caribbean coastal settlements and underscores the growing vulnerability of underwater heritage to combined subsidence and relative sea-level rise in the context of globally accelerating ocean levels. Our multi-proxy workflow provides a transferable template for reassessing insular occupation models across the tropics in the context of marine transgression.
This study presents a preliminary provenance investigation of chert artifacts from the Neolithic site of Gorjani in Slavonia (eastern Croatia), aiming to assess the existence of long-distance procurement or exchange networks in the western Balkans. The site's lithic assemblage, which predominantly consisted of cherts, was analyzed through macroscopic classification and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) for high-precision geochemical fingerprinting. The results reveal five visually and compositionally distinct chert groups, several of which display macroscopic and geochemical correspondences with chert source locations in northern Bosnia. These matches suggest that part of the Gorjani assemblage was produced from raw materials transported over distances exceeding 100 km, demonstrating the integration of Slavonian communities into broader regional interaction networks. The findings provide new geoarcheological evidence of long-distance chert movement in the Neolithic western Balkans and highlight the role of Bosnian sources as major suppliers of high-quality stone tools. Beyond its regional implications, the study underscores the effectiveness of combining macroscopic and geochemical approaches in tracing prehistoric resource territories. The results contribute to a growing understanding of Neolithic connectivity, mobility, and the organization of material exchange across southeastern Europe.
Investigations of a 3000 m2 shell-dense island surrounded by mangroves off the coast of Culasawani, a very lightly inhabited part of northern Vanua Levu Island in Fiji, suggest it is likely to be a 'midden island' rather than a (tsunami) wave deposit. Building an island that reaches 60 cm above mean high tide, the shell-dense deposit (70%-90% shell) averages 20-40 cm thick and appears unstratified, characteristics that initially suggested that it was a wave deposit. Subsequent investigations included four 1 & times; 1 m test pits and showed all shellfish remains in the island sediments to be from edible species and associated with pottery fragments. Ten radiocarbon ages cluster around a median age of 1190 cal BP (760 CE/AD) with a range of 1530-910 cal BP (420-1040 CE/AD). The clustering of these ages and the nature of the shellfish remains lead to the preferred interpretation of this shell-dense island as a true 'midden island', created either by people living on/above the site or by people who processed shellfish there before transporting its flesh elsewhere for consumption. If the Culasawani island is a midden island, then this is the first to be recorded in the South Pacific west of Papua New Guinea.
The sediment infill deposits of the Lower Commerce Valley in the Seine estuary, located near the Roman city of Juliobona (now Lillebonne, Normandy), provide valuable data on environmental changes during the Holocene, including sea-level changes, sediment supply and anthropogenic influences. A 10-m deep sediment core was collected from the valley deposits, and a multidisciplinary geoarchaeological approach was applied, combining geophysical surveys, dating, sedimentological and diatom analyses. The results reveal a succession of marine to fluvial sediment sequences. At the base, a marine to estuarine environment was identified and then subjected to increasing fluvial contributions. A tipping point is recorded between the fourth and second centuries bce (ca. 2400-2100 cal. BP) with the establishment of a brackish environment, indicating the progressive disconnection of the valley from marine influences. From the second century bce, the Lower Commerce Valley appears to have been fluvial-dominated, with no marine influence. This implies that the environment to the south of the Roman city was under freshwater influences. These new geoarchaeological data show no evidence of clogging of the estuarine valley during the Roman period, challenging previous hypotheses linking the decline of the city to the silting up of the valley.
Recent investigations in Apalachee Bay, in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, have focused on a suite of newly discovered raw material reduction localities, expanding the existing data set of archaeological sites in this renowned submerged landscape. One particular site, 8Je1796-Clint's Scallop Hole, is the most thoroughly examined such site in the Gulf of Mexico at present. This quarry is an outcrop of high-quality Suwannee chert, which occurs sporadically throughout this region of Apalachee Bay. The site was likely inundated similar to 4000 calendar years ago (calBP), though aspects of the lithic toolkit are suggestive that it may have been used since the Late Pleistocene or Early Holocene. The analysis of this assemblage also provides data important to the study of submerged landscapes in general. First, 8Je1796 proves that even in areas believed to have experienced the full energy of sea level transgression, archaeological sites can survive with intact features. Second, as a logistical locality, the site provides insight into raw material selection, primary reduction, and human behavior in the region. Finally, this site highlights that, using sea level as a terminus ante quem age, quarry sites offshore are more useful than their terrestrial counterparts due to more finite chronological placement.
This study presents a microanalytical, geoarchaeological study of Quebrada Jaguay (QJ)-280, a Terminal Pleistocene-Holocene coastal site in southern Peru. Combining micromorphology, & micro;XRF and & micro;FTIR, we develop a site formation model that also reassesses site use and forager behaviour. Micro-contextual data provide new insights into sedimentation, taphonomy and human activity, revealing short-term, seasonal occupations with evidence of spatial shifts in site function and maintenance. Geomorphological observations indicate that the site, originally part of an active alluvial fan, became more stable during times of human occupation. Preservation, however, is compromised by several post-depositional processes. We observe bioturbation, as well as diagenesis of the faunal and botanical remains by mineral formations, highlighted by the combined contextual application of micromorphology and & micro;XRF mapping. A notable stratigraphic feature, the 'indurated layer', is shown to result from salt action. The salt formation is a product of the setting on the arid coast and pedogenic processes, challenging its use as a chronological marker in the areas preserved for our study. Lastly, our findings suggest QJ-280 functioned as a repeatedly used, short-term camp within a broader mobility system, contributing new perspectives to early coastal lifeways in western South America.
This paper presents the results of minero-petrographic and chemical analyses of pottery and potential local raw materials from Ustica, a small volcanic island off the coast of Palermo (Sicily), inhabited during the Middle Neolithic. Typologically, the pottery shows cultural connections to the Bicromica and Serra d'Alto traditions, linking Ustica to Sicily and Southern Italy, as well as to the Late Neolithic Diana pottery from the Aeolian Archipelago. The archaeometric study aims to determine whether the island's inhabitants during the 5th millennium BCE engaged in the exchange of ceramics in addition to obsidian and chert. This research investigates raw material sources, technological knowledge, and pottery-making traditions on the island by analyzing the compositional, textural, and structural characteristics of the ceramic assemblage. The experimental results indicate the use of local raw materials from areas near the archaeological site and provide insights into firing techniques, helping to establish the petrographic and chemical profiles of the ceramics. These findings contribute to a broader understanding of Neolithic pottery production in the central Mediterranean.
