Landscapes in prehistory

Tim Kerig (2008) Als Adam grub... Vergleichende Anmerkungen zu landwirtschaftlichen Betriebsgrössen in prähistorischer Zeit.

by tim kerig

Ethnogr.-Archäolog. Zeitschrift 48, 2007 (2008), 375-402.

2011 - Climatic conditions, settlement patterns and cultures in the Paleolithic: The example of the Garonne Valley (southwest France)

by Marc Jarry

BRUXELLES L., JARRY M. – Climatic Conditions, Settlement Patterns and Cultures in the Paleolithic : the Exemple of the Garonne Valley (Southern France). Journal of Human Evolution, 2011, 61, p. 538-548.

In this paper, we present a critical analysis of the distribution of Paleolithic sites between the Massif Central and... more In this paper, we present a critical analysis of the distribution of Paleolithic sites between the Massif Central and the Pyrenees (southwestern France) to understand the settlement patterns during the last climatic deterioration of the Quaternary period. This analysis used recent stratigraphic and archaeological
data from thousands of systematic test pits conducted for rescue archaeology in different geomorphological contexts. Our analysis addresses crucial questions about the role of the Garonne alluvial plain in this territory during the Upper Paleolithic. The implications are discussed in the context of this region of Europe, which was considered to be a favorable zone for human occupation during glacial periods. The conclusions reveal a division of this territory into two parts separated by a large
unoccupied or rarely occupied zone. We discuss perspectives not only concerning the territoriality of the prehistoric groups who lived on the margins of this no man’s land, but also the cultural endemism that could have led to this geography, influenced by climatic conditions clearly more rigorous than previously
recognized in this region.

Looking for the Future in the Past: Long-Term Change in Socioecological Systems.

by Sean Bergin

Barton, C.M., I. Ullah, and S. Bergin, H. Mitasova, and H. Sarjoughian.
In Press. Ecological Modeling, Special Issue: Modeling Across Millennia. Accepted for publication, expected Summer 2012.

The archaeological record has been described as a key to the long-­‐term consequences of human action that can help... more The archaeological record has been described as a key to the long-­‐term consequences of human action that can help guide our decisions today. Yet the sparse and incomplete nature of this record often makes it impossible to inferentially reconstruct past societies in sufficient detail for them to serve as more than very general cautionary tales of coupled socio-­‐ecological systems. However, when formal and computational modeling is used to experimentally simulate human socioecological dynamics, the empirical archaeological record can be used to validate and improve dynamic models of long term change. In this way, knowledge generated by archaeology can play a unique and valuable role in developing the tools to make more informed decisions that will shape our future. The Mediterranean Landscape Dynamics project offers an example of using the past to develop and test computational models of interactions between land-­‐use and landscape evolution that ultimately may help guide decision-­‐making.

Beyond Aššur: New Cities and the Assyrian Politics of Landscape

by Ömür Harmansah

Harmanşah, Ömür; 2012. "Beyond Aššur: New Cities and the Assyrian Politics of Landscape," Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 365: 53-77.

This article investigates the making of Assyrian landscapes during the late second and early first millennia b.c.e.... more This article investigates the making of Assyrian landscapes during the late second and early first millennia b.c.e. From the late 14th century b.c.e. onward, the Assyrians designated the emergent core of their territorial state as the “Land of Aššur” in their royal inscriptions. However, over the course of the next several centuries, the cultural geography of the Land of Aššur was continuously redefined while gradually shifting northward from the arid environs of the city Aššur to the well-watered and resourceful landscapes around the confluence of the Tigris and the Upper and Lower Zab Rivers. Contemporaneously, the landscapes of the Upper Tigris basin (southeastern Turkey) and the Jazira witnessed extensive settlement and cultivation as Assyrian provinces and frontiers. Drawing on archaeological survey evidence and a critical reading of the textual accounts of urban foundations, this paper argues that such mobility of Assyrian landscapes was part and parcel of broader processes of environmental and settlement change in Upper Mesopotamia. Assyrian annalistic texts point to an elaborate rhetoric of landscape that portrays state interventions in the form of city foundations and building programs, construction of irrigation canals, planting of orchards, opening of new quarries, and settlement of populations. Furthermore, the making of commemorative monuments such as rock reliefs and stelae allowed the Assyrian state to inscribe symbolically charged places in foreign landscapes and incorporate them into the narratives of the empire. By drawing attention to the long-term trends of settlement in Upper Mesopotamia during the Late Bronze and Early Iron Ages and the agency of landscapes, the article contextualizes the Assyrian political rhetoric of development at the time of a highly fluid world of geographical imagination.

Chapple, R. M. 2011 'Irish National Strategic Research (INSTAR) Programme- Findings From the First Phase 2008-2011. Review' Blogspot post

by Robert M Chapple

Η αρχαιολογία της προϊστορικής αποθήκευσης: μια επισκόπηση (The archaeology of prehistoric storage: a review)

by Kosmas Touloumis

Ν. Μερούσης, Ε. Στεφανή, Μ. Νικολαϊδου (επιμ.), Ίρις, Μελέτες στη μνήμη της καθηγήτριας Αγγελικής Πιλάλη-Παπαστερίου από τους μαθητές της στο Αριστοτέλειο Πανεπιστήμιο Θεσσαλονίκης, εκδόσεις Κορνηλία Σφακιανάκη, Θεσσαλονίκη 2010.

THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF PREHISTORIC STORAGE: A REVIEW
Kosmas Touloumis

What are the theoretical principles... more THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF PREHISTORIC STORAGE: A REVIEW
Kosmas Touloumis

What are the theoretical principles that govern the archaeological approach to issues such as storage and surplus? In this short review we will try to summarize the research in this field, from culture-historical till post-processual archaeology, with emphasis on the last decade. These questions may be further specified in a way which will help us to clarify the objectives of our brief study. What is the meaning of prehistoric surplus? How it is recognized in the archaeological record? Are there any short or long – term variations in the Aegean prehistory, especially
during Paleolithic, Neolithic and Early Bronze Age that can be certified regarding the use and meaning of surplus? The socio-economic institutions, the values of a specific, historically-defined prehistoric community and the way the social subjects
of this community perceived surplus, together with the wider conditions under which surplus was produced are the key components for the determination of its importance.
It is clear that surplus can be recognizable in the archaeological record. It is too restrictive, though, to be treated only as an adaptive behavior, as a survival strategy which responds exclusively to ecological factors associated with a good or
a bad harvest. Storage and storage practices can be related to underlying social knowledge and human perceptions of the world. On the other hand, we cannot deny that any role storage-related spaces and practices may have played in the
formation of social identities derived, at least at an early stage, from the food surplus’ economic and social value. The key to understanding the role and meaning of surplus in prehistory is to consider it not only on the synchronic but also on the diachronic scale, focusing on the changes that occurred from the Paleolithic
till the Early Bronze Age. The “institutionalized” presence of surplus is the final challenge. This transformation, must be connected to a specific prehistoric period and is the result of processes within a community, associated with the meanings,
the ideology and the social identities of its members. Understanding of this transformation ultimately depends on the archaeologist’s theoretical standpoint.

Messy landscapes manifesto

by Dimitrij Mlekuz

Published in AARGnews 44 (March 2012), p. 22-23

By practice of landscape archaeology we are also involved in the making of landscape. Our practices are intertwined... more By practice of landscape archaeology we are also involved in the making of landscape. Our practices are intertwined with the practices of past people that left traces in the landscape. Thus practice of landscape archaeology is necessary a messy job. We are not dealing with discrete features, but a landscapes, a continuum of the traces. And there is no chronological succession, but a mess of temporaries. Landscapes are not palimpsest, but messy, and we should change our practice and politics in order to deal with the mess. That is the real challenge.

Iconografia delle "rappresentazioni topografiche" in Valtellina tra Eneolitico ed età del Bronzo

by Angelo Martinotti

published in "Bollettino del Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici" XXXV, 2009, pp. 99-130

In studies about alpine rock art of prehistoric and protohistoric age, the term “shield-shaped figure” refers to a... more In studies about alpine rock art of prehistoric and protohistoric age, the term “shield-shaped figure” refers to a broad and heterogeneous category of geometric abstract figures, maked up by a rectangular, ellyptical or ogival outline, filled by internal linear partitions or geometric areas arranged in an orderly way. This category, documented in different areas and periods, includes a wide range of thematical contexts and figurative solutions, revealing as an arbitrary cluster of rupestrian figures of different nature, origin and meaning. The comprehension of the specific semantic value each time assumed in a particular artistic tradition depends on the exhaustive analysis of all known occurrencies, associations with other rupestrian themes, and relations with the figurative contexts.
A significant case is represented by the shield-shaped figures in Valtellina’s prehistoric rock art, a group of symbols that shows homogeneity of formal features and coherence of contextual relations. In Valtellina, shield-shaped figures appear to be constantly in connection with geometric figurative complexes known as “topographic representations”, considered to be abstract and symbolic reproductions of the artificial elements of a territory (fields, huts, villages), as seen from above. In Valtellina, we can delineate a particular family of shield-shaped figures, describable as “topographic”, that – as part of planimetric compositions – share the same topographic significance. The association with an easily datable subject such as the topographic one allows to remark, in the formal variation of the shield-shaped figures of Valtellina, a coherent typological evolution during time, which has also semantic implications. These figures appear on rocks located near the hypothetical seats of settlements or cultivated fields, probably with functions of magic and sacred protection or as a prosperity omen for the community and its land.
Gradually, during the Bronze age, the shield-shaped figures acquire a more complete ideographic value, taking the place of the previous topographic compositions and inheriting in toto their protecting and blessing meanings.

Intruding on the Past: The Reuse of Ancient Earthen Mounds by Native Americans

by Rob Mann

1999-2000 La construcción del territorio entre iberos y celtíberos

by Marco García Quintela

Kalathos 18-19, 1999-2000 (Teruel), págs. 201-239

The same conception of territory appears in four very different documents: the iconography of the “kalathos’ plough”,... more The same conception of territory appears in four very different documents: the iconography of the “kalathos’ plough”, the myth of Gárgoris and Habis, the study of ancient Edeta, and the Spanish ethnography of Diodorus. Starting from the main settlement, there come the plough lands and, thirdly, the territory of war or hunt. This notion is compared to ideas developed by Greek philosophers in order to show the high level of the intellectual process. Lastly, the relationship between territory and society is better understood within the frame of indoeuropean ideological heritage. Then a double hypothesis is proposed about the iconography of “kalathos’ plough”: for the Iberians it would be an intellectual reflection of the territory where they live, while for the Celts it would be the iconic version of a pan Celtic myth about the making of the territory

Landscape change and archaeological settlements in the lower Danube valley and delta from early Neolithic to Chalcolithic time: A review

by Florian Mihail

Distribución y emplazamiento de sitios arqueológicos en Pica-Tarapacá, Norte de Chile. Un acercamiento a través de los sistemas de información geográfica

by Rolando C. Ajata Lopez

Ajata, Rolando 2010. En prensa en libro "El uso de Sistemas de Información Geográfica en Arqueología Sudamericana", editado por M. J. Figuerero y A. Izeta, pp. 139-156. South American Archaeology Series 18 de British Archaeological Reports (International Series), Archaeopress, Oxford.

Las comunidades del Complejo Cultural Pica-Tarapacá habitaron el Norte de Chile, entre Camiña y el Loa, en los siglos... more Las comunidades del Complejo Cultural Pica-Tarapacá habitaron el Norte de Chile, entre Camiña y el Loa, en los siglos XI al XV. Presentaron diferentes modalidades de organización social, patrones arquitectónicos y énfasis económicos de acuerdo a los recursos disponibles en cada unidad geográfica. Sin embargo, poco se conoce respecto de la distribución de los asentamientos arqueológicos en la región. Además, se desconocen las particularidades del entorno de los asentamientos y de las características del relieve asociado a ellos.
A partir de un acercamiento exploratorio con sistemas de información geográfica se confeccionaron bases de datos espaciales de asentamientos arqueológicos para caracterizar las principales tendencias en el poblamiento de la región con base en las diferentes unidades geográficas y las principales cuencas hidrográficas de la Cordillera de los Andes. A nivel local del área geomorfológica de asentamiento se considera información sobre los tipos de relieve asociados, los niveles de visibilidad del entorno y valores relativos a elevaciones y profundidades máximas lo que permite caracterizar tanto el medio circundante como el emplazamiento de los sitios.
Los análisis permiten afirmar que los sitios habitacionales, funerarios y de petroglifos se corresponden con espacios que presentan una mayor densidad arqueológica, presentando una mayor agrupación entre sitios. En cambio, los sitios con geoglifos se corresponden con espacios que presentan una menor densidad arqueológica y una menor agrupación entre sitios. Por otra parte, el emplazamiento de los sitios habitacionales permite afirmar que la mayor visibilidad corresponde a los asentamientos costeros, relacionada al mar y las planicies, así como a los sectores de desembocadura de río. Esta visibilidad disminuye a medida que los sitios se localizan en unidades geográficas de mayor altitud principalmente a la rugosidad del terreno. Altura y visibilidad son variables interrelacionadas y en conjunto con los tipos de relieve permiten establecer interpretaciones sobre la utilización del medio circundante, así como establecer relaciones sociales entre asentamientos.

Timbuktu und die selbstorganisierenden Gesellschaften der Vorzeit

by Douglas Park 

Douglas P. Park (2012). WESPENNEST Vol. 162.

This is an article written for popular consumption and published in German in the widely circulated Austrian publication WESPENNEST. Official print publication will be available in May 2012:

Article title in English is: Timbuktu and the Self-Organizing Societies of the Ancient World Article title in English is: Timbuktu and the Self-Organizing Societies of the Ancient World

Patrón de Asentamiento y articulación territorial. Las comunidades de la precordillera de Arica entre los siglos XI al XV

by Rolando C. Ajata Lopez

Ajata, Rolando 2011. En prensa en Libro Tecnologías de información geográfica y análisis arqueológico del territorio. Editado por V. MAYORAL HERRERA, S. CELESTINO PÉREZ, pp. 293-305. Anejos del Archivo Español de Arqueología LIX. Actas del V Simposio Internacional de Arqueología de Mérida. Instituto de Arqueología de Mérida. CSIC. Junta de Extremadura. Consorcio de Mérida. Mérida.

Las investigaciones arqueológicas realizadas en la Precordillera de Arica no han puesto un mayor énfasis en analizar... more Las investigaciones arqueológicas realizadas en la Precordillera de Arica no han puesto un mayor énfasis en analizar las relaciones de articulación de los asentamientos en el territorio durante el Período Intermedio Tardío (1.000 – 1.400 DC). Por lo tanto, en este trabajo interesa conocer la presencia de relaciones jerárquicas entre asentamientos de tal manera conformar un modelo de articulación territorial. Para ello se aplican una serie de análisis de territorialidad teórica en un área acotada de precordillera (Valle de Codpa), considerando la localización de lugares de habitación, cartografía digital escala 1:50.000 y su procesamiento en sistemas de información geográfica (SIG). De esta manera, se lleva a cabo un análisis de preponderancia topográfica considerando variables como tamaño de los asentamientos, altura relativa, pendiente, aspecto, distancia a cursos hídricos y visibilidad del entorno. También se considera un análisis de Interrelación de sentamientos por medio de variables como proximidad, distancia y tránsito de los asentamientos en el territorio. Los resultados permiten señalar la presencia de dos tipos de asentamientos, aquellos que privilegian características de cercanía a los recursos hídricos, cumpliendo funciones agrícolas y aquellos que privilegian características de altura y visibilidad, cumpliendo funciones de control visual sobre el territorio. Los asentamientos agrícolas se distribuyen de manera dispersa en el valle aprovechando los espacios cultivables próximos al río; los asentamientos de altura, en cambio, se distribuyen homogéneamente en el territorio. A su vez, se identifica cierta agregación de asentamientos agrícolas que permite plantear agrupaciones en ciertos sectores del valle. Estas agrupaciones con relación a los asentamientos de altura permiten plantear la presencia de cierto tipo de relación entre ambas. Así, las comunidades se asientan en pequeñas aldeas relacionadas con los espacios agrícolas funcionando como satélites en relación con los asentamientos de altura donde se realizan actividades de carácter social, religioso, político y administrativo. De esta manera, los asentamientos de altura estarían congregando a la población dispersa y conformando una estructura jerárquica del territorio. Este modelo funcionaría de manera similar en todo el Valle de Codpa, incorporando un asentamiento de mayor jerarquía en la cabecera del valle. En el caso del Valle de Camarones, que presenta una geomorfología alargada similar al de Codpa, creemos funciona un modelo imilar en la articulación de los asentamientos. Por último, los valles de precordillera de Lluta y Azapa presentarían una organización espacial más independiente, ya que la composición geomorfológica de sus valles se caracterizan por ser más cortos y cercanos.

Landscape Organization and Resource Management in the Lower Palaeolithic of Armenia

by Boris Gasparyan

TÜBA-AR 13 / 2010

Díaz-Andreu, M. 2012. Recording biographies. New research into two schematic rock art sites in Murcia (Spain). International Newsletter on Rock Art (INORA) 62: 20-27

by Marga Díaz-Andreu

Díaz-Andreu, M. 2012. Recording biographies. New research into two schematic rock art sites in Murcia (Spain). International Newsletter on Rock Art (INORA) 62: 20-27.

Rock art sites are not just dots on the landscape. They are places with personality and a biography. Research so far... more Rock art sites are not just dots on the landscape. They are places with personality and a biography. Research so far has been restricted to a list of location types, regardless of what was painted at the site itself. This limited analysis is bound to produce incomplete results. I propose that research on the location of rock art sites in the landscape should be cross-referenced with the typology of the motifs and the scenes depicted. Moreover, it should also account for the space in front of the panel in terms of how many people may have gathered there. Only by integrating these new factors into a landscape analysis will we be able to say more about the biographies of the rock art sites. By decorating these locations, places were created and given personalities. It is important to think about audiences, about who was using the space and about what would be the likely impact of the paintings on those who saw them. There may also be clues as to whether spaces were gendered or reserved for particular strata of society. The result of this research will probably reveal complex patterns of how the landscape was created, coded and experienced by the communities who created them. I explore this ideas in two case-studies, the rock art sites of Los Cuchillos and Solana de la Pedrera, in the province of Murcia (Spain). The Los Cuchillos and Solana de la Pedrera paintings are in the schematic style. However, there is a striking contrast in their biographies that this article explores.

Parkinson, William A., and Gyucha, Attila. 2012. Tells in Perspective: Long-Term Patterns of Settlement Nucleation and Dispersal in Central and Southeast Europe. In Tells: Social and Environmental Space, edited by R. Hofmann, F-K. Moetz, and J. Müller. Band 207. Kiel: Universitätsforschungen zur Prähistorischen Archäologie.

by William A. Parkinson

Las cerámicas de la cova de l'Or (Beniarrés, Alacant). Tipología y decoración de las colecciones del Museu d'Alcoi.

by Salvador Pardo Gordó

Co-authored with Pablo García Borja, Emilio Cortell Pérez and Guillem Pérez Jordà
Published in "Recerques Museu d'Alcoi" nº 20

Herein we present the results of the typological study as well as ornamental techniques of the pottery from La Cova de... more Herein we present the results of the typological study as well as ornamental techniques of the pottery from La Cova de l’Or included in the holdings of the Alcoi Archaeological Museum. The said results highlight the importance of the impressed Cardium pottery or Cardial ware from the first occupation horizon of the cave. The local and regional context where it is integrated has led us to pose the existence of different Cardial communities occupying concrete or specific territories.

Managing sites in Menorca

by Martin D. Wilson

Co-authored with M Planas. Theme: Archaeology of the Islands. The Archaeologist, No 79, 2011, pp. 50-51

Some of the finest monuments on the Spanish island of Menorca are the megalithic ‘talayotic’ villages. Settlement is... more Some of the finest monuments on the Spanish island of Menorca are the megalithic ‘talayotic’ villages. Settlement is understood to date from 1400BC through to the Roman conquest, and the ruins were later adopted by Islamic refugees following the Christian re-conquest of Spain. In 2010, Souterrain Archaeological Services carried out a pre-excavation survey at one of the best known of these, Torre d’en Gaumés, on behalf of excavation director Amalia Pérez-Juez, of Boston University in Spain.

Managing sites in Menorca

by Martin D. Wilson

Co-authored with M Planas. Theme: Archaeology of the Islands. The Archaeologist, No 79, 2011, pp. 50-51

Some of the finest monuments on the Spanish island of Menorca are the megalithic ‘talayotic’ villages. Settlement is... more Some of the finest monuments on the Spanish island of Menorca are the megalithic ‘talayotic’ villages. Settlement is understood to date from 1400BC through to the Roman conquest, and the ruins were later adopted by Islamic refugees following the Christian re-conquest of Spain. In 2010, Souterrain Archaeological Services carried out a pre-excavation survey at one of the best known of these, Torre d’en Gaumés, on behalf of excavation director Amalia Pérez-Juez, of Boston University in Spain.