The mountainous inland of northern Calabria (Southern Italy) is known for its sparse prehistoric ... more The mountainous inland of northern Calabria (Southern Italy) is known for its sparse prehistoric human occupation. Nevertheless, a thorough multidisciplinary approach of field walking, geophysical survey and invasive research led to the discovery of a major archaeological archive. This archive concerns a rich multi-phased dump, spanning about 3000 years (Late Neolithic to Late Imperial Roman Age) and holding two Somma-Vesuvius tephra. Of these, the younger is a distinct layer of juvenile tephra from the Pompeii eruption, while the older concerns reworked tephra from the Bronze Age AP2 eruption (ca. 1700 cal. yr BP). The large dump contains abundant ceramics, faunal remains and charcoal, and most probably originated through long-continued deposition of waste in a former gully like system of depressions. This resulted in an inversed, mound-like relief, whose anthropogenic origin had not been recognized in earlier research. The tephras were found to be important markers that support th...
In dit rapport wordt resultaten gepresenteerd van een onderzoek door de Universiteit van Amsterda... more In dit rapport wordt resultaten gepresenteerd van een onderzoek door de Universiteit van Amsterdam naar de mogelijkheden voor reactivering van stuifzand in het Deelense Zand. Het doel van deze reactivering is tweeledig: 1) herstel van een actief stuifzandgebied en 2) herstel van instuiving van fijn mineraal materiaal in het aangrenzende deel van het Deelense Veld, in het bijzonder in de daar aanwezige vennen. De 2e doelstelling vloeit voort uit het eerder uitgevoerde onderzoek naar de ecohydrologie van de vennen in het Deelense Veld (Jansen et. al. 2008). De algemene conclusie is dat zeer goede mogelijkheden bestaan voor reactivering van stuifzand met additioneel te verwachten a) gunstige effecten op de aangrenzende vennen en vochtige heide vanwege de inwaai van zuurbufferende fijne minerale delen, en b) ontwikkeling van waardevolle vochtige tot natte habitats in het uitstuivingsgebied zelf. Snelheid en mate van beide ontwikkelingen zijn niet betrouwbaar te voorspellen. Vandaar dat ...
This volume details the geoarchaeological research conducted from 2011 to 2013 in the basin of th... more This volume details the geoarchaeological research conducted from 2011 to 2013 in the basin of the Raganello River (Calabria, Italy) within the broader 'Rural Life in Protohistoric Italy' research programme of the third author. The book focuses on a systematic understanding and description of soils and slope processes in the various foothill and upland landscape zones, and their significance for the preservation and detectability of pre-classical archaeological remains. An appendix provides a simple soil key for the study area.
Geofysisch onderzoek wordt veel gebruikt om ruimtelijke en aanvullende diepte informatie van de o... more Geofysisch onderzoek wordt veel gebruikt om ruimtelijke en aanvullende diepte informatie van de ondergrond te verkrijgen. Het is een niet destructieve manier om snel, veel puntmetingen te verkrijgen, die na interpolatie een totaalbeeld opleveren van fysische kenmerken van de ondergrond binnen een gebied. In het gebied Boschoord is gekozen voor een techniek die de elektrische geleidbaarheid van de ondergrond meet. Elektromagnetische metingen zijn afhankelijk van het type materiaal in de ondergrond – geleid het materiaal goed of is het slecht geleidend – maar ook van de grondwaterstand en het vochtgehalte van de ondergrond. In het gebied Boschoord komen in principe maar enkele materiaalsoorten voor (stuifzand/dekzand/veen/keileem), waarvan de geleidingseigenschappen verschillend zijn. De korrelgrootte, sortering en dikte van het materiaal kunnen wisselen en daardoor worden ook het vochtgehalte en de grondwaterstand beïnvloed. Door de elektromagnetische veldmetingen aan bestaande infor...
In deze memo zijn locaties voorgesteld om peilbuizen te plaatsen. Dit is gebeurd naar aanleiding ... more In deze memo zijn locaties voorgesteld om peilbuizen te plaatsen. Dit is gebeurd naar aanleiding van een eerste overleg over de GIS-verwerkingen van basisgegevens in Amsterdam. Een volledig Gisrapport volgt waarin definief kaartmateriaal zal worden opgenomen en de dataset en de gebruikte methoden volledig wordt besproken.
To an archaeologist conducting field walking surveys in a Mediterranean landscape it is impossibl... more To an archaeologist conducting field walking surveys in a Mediterranean landscape it is impossible not to notice the geographical and geological contexts of the surface archaeological remains. Patterns of soil colour and variations in soil texture across fields seem to correlate in some as yet indefinite manner with the density and quality of the archaeological finds. Driving through a study area, dips in the road indicate that entire slopes are on the move albeit slowly; one encounters the occasional extreme and dramatic example of erosion after a drenching rain has cut a gully, washed away a culvert, or put rock falls in the path of the car. In the modern landscape, farmers may be the most visible agents of change but all the while natural processes modify the earth’s land surface – slowly and episodically but with major effect over time. To an archaeologist attempting to understand the meaning of the archaeological record constructed with so much effort for a given study area, a thorough understanding of these anthropogenic and natural processes is crucial. Evidence of anthropogenic processes affecting the archaeological record in the Raganello Basin is plentiful, two of the more potent being the construction of agricultural terraces and the ploughing of arable fields. Terrace construction is an important feature of Mediterranean agricultural regimes and may well date back to the Bronze Age, but the vast majority of terraces now in evidence are likely to date to much more recent (Classical and modern) episodes of agricultural expansion. Their construction changes the preceding slope profile, preserving older soil surfaces in some locations and destroying them in others. Ploughing, especially after the mechanization of agriculture in the 1970s, reinforced these effects. One thing we could learn is to describe the relevant processes and characteristics in a systematic and sufficiently detailed manner. Soil scientists can systematically describe soil types, but also how and why specific soils locally deviate from these types, and what this tells us about the post-depositional history and current state of any archaeological remains in those soils. Geomorphologists are used to studying and describing geomorphological processes and their resulting landforms in a systematic manner, albeit at spatial and temporal scales that are generally too coarse for archaeological purposes. But this is just a difference of degree, not of principle. Could we not extend earth scientists’ methods of studying the earth’s surface to scales relevant to the questions that interest archaeologists – down to the individual archaeological site and the lifetime of individuals? Past ‘geoarchaeological’ studies in the context of landscape archaeological research programs have tended to be piecemeal rather than systematic – aimed at understanding specific local situations of interest to the archaeologist directing the project – or were aimed at reconstructing the long-term evolution of particular systems such as coastlines or rivers. This is not sufficient: in modern landscape archaeological projects we want to know how earth surface processes affected the archaeological record everywhere, and in as much detail as possible. Luckily we do not need to study all locations in detail because many parts of the landscape have sufficiently homogeneous characteristics for us to make good inferences on the basis of well-studied sample locations! In this RLP report by den Haan and Sevink, extensive information is provided on the soils and soil landscapes of the Raganello river catchment. This information forms an important background by describing and quantifying the effects of slope processes occurring on typical slopes of the main landscape units in the Raganello Basin; helping to understand how the formation of agricultural terraces and other sediment traps has affected the archaeological record; and helping to distinguish anthropogenic from natural near-surface geophysical anomalies, so that the latter can be excluded from further study. It also provides a thorough introduction into the history and development of the soils and landscapes of this Raganello catchment, including its various earth surface (geomorphological and soil formation) processes, whether natural or anthropogenic. This forms the basis for identification and quantification of anthropogenic impacts on the original – natural – soils and landscapes, and for discrimination between natural and anthropogenic materials and layers in archaeological sites and sections, in the range of Mediterranean landscape types encountered in the Raganello catchment.
The mountainous inland of northern Calabria (Southern Italy) is known for its sparse prehistoric ... more The mountainous inland of northern Calabria (Southern Italy) is known for its sparse prehistoric human occupation. Nevertheless, a thorough multidisciplinary approach of field walking, geophysical survey and invasive research led to the discovery of a major archaeological archive. This archive concerns a rich multi-phased dump, spanning about 3000 years (Late Neolithic to Late Imperial Roman Age) and holding two Somma-Vesuvius tephra. Of these, the younger is a distinct layer of juvenile tephra from the Pompeii eruption, while the older concerns reworked tephra from the Bronze Age AP2 eruption (ca. 1700 cal. yr BP). The large dump contains abundant ceramics, faunal remains and charcoal, and most probably originated through long-continued deposition of waste in a former gully like system of depressions. This resulted in an inversed, mound-like relief, whose anthropogenic origin had not been recognized in earlier research. The tephras were found to be important markers that support th...
In dit rapport wordt resultaten gepresenteerd van een onderzoek door de Universiteit van Amsterda... more In dit rapport wordt resultaten gepresenteerd van een onderzoek door de Universiteit van Amsterdam naar de mogelijkheden voor reactivering van stuifzand in het Deelense Zand. Het doel van deze reactivering is tweeledig: 1) herstel van een actief stuifzandgebied en 2) herstel van instuiving van fijn mineraal materiaal in het aangrenzende deel van het Deelense Veld, in het bijzonder in de daar aanwezige vennen. De 2e doelstelling vloeit voort uit het eerder uitgevoerde onderzoek naar de ecohydrologie van de vennen in het Deelense Veld (Jansen et. al. 2008). De algemene conclusie is dat zeer goede mogelijkheden bestaan voor reactivering van stuifzand met additioneel te verwachten a) gunstige effecten op de aangrenzende vennen en vochtige heide vanwege de inwaai van zuurbufferende fijne minerale delen, en b) ontwikkeling van waardevolle vochtige tot natte habitats in het uitstuivingsgebied zelf. Snelheid en mate van beide ontwikkelingen zijn niet betrouwbaar te voorspellen. Vandaar dat ...
This volume details the geoarchaeological research conducted from 2011 to 2013 in the basin of th... more This volume details the geoarchaeological research conducted from 2011 to 2013 in the basin of the Raganello River (Calabria, Italy) within the broader 'Rural Life in Protohistoric Italy' research programme of the third author. The book focuses on a systematic understanding and description of soils and slope processes in the various foothill and upland landscape zones, and their significance for the preservation and detectability of pre-classical archaeological remains. An appendix provides a simple soil key for the study area.
Geofysisch onderzoek wordt veel gebruikt om ruimtelijke en aanvullende diepte informatie van de o... more Geofysisch onderzoek wordt veel gebruikt om ruimtelijke en aanvullende diepte informatie van de ondergrond te verkrijgen. Het is een niet destructieve manier om snel, veel puntmetingen te verkrijgen, die na interpolatie een totaalbeeld opleveren van fysische kenmerken van de ondergrond binnen een gebied. In het gebied Boschoord is gekozen voor een techniek die de elektrische geleidbaarheid van de ondergrond meet. Elektromagnetische metingen zijn afhankelijk van het type materiaal in de ondergrond – geleid het materiaal goed of is het slecht geleidend – maar ook van de grondwaterstand en het vochtgehalte van de ondergrond. In het gebied Boschoord komen in principe maar enkele materiaalsoorten voor (stuifzand/dekzand/veen/keileem), waarvan de geleidingseigenschappen verschillend zijn. De korrelgrootte, sortering en dikte van het materiaal kunnen wisselen en daardoor worden ook het vochtgehalte en de grondwaterstand beïnvloed. Door de elektromagnetische veldmetingen aan bestaande infor...
In deze memo zijn locaties voorgesteld om peilbuizen te plaatsen. Dit is gebeurd naar aanleiding ... more In deze memo zijn locaties voorgesteld om peilbuizen te plaatsen. Dit is gebeurd naar aanleiding van een eerste overleg over de GIS-verwerkingen van basisgegevens in Amsterdam. Een volledig Gisrapport volgt waarin definief kaartmateriaal zal worden opgenomen en de dataset en de gebruikte methoden volledig wordt besproken.
To an archaeologist conducting field walking surveys in a Mediterranean landscape it is impossibl... more To an archaeologist conducting field walking surveys in a Mediterranean landscape it is impossible not to notice the geographical and geological contexts of the surface archaeological remains. Patterns of soil colour and variations in soil texture across fields seem to correlate in some as yet indefinite manner with the density and quality of the archaeological finds. Driving through a study area, dips in the road indicate that entire slopes are on the move albeit slowly; one encounters the occasional extreme and dramatic example of erosion after a drenching rain has cut a gully, washed away a culvert, or put rock falls in the path of the car. In the modern landscape, farmers may be the most visible agents of change but all the while natural processes modify the earth’s land surface – slowly and episodically but with major effect over time. To an archaeologist attempting to understand the meaning of the archaeological record constructed with so much effort for a given study area, a thorough understanding of these anthropogenic and natural processes is crucial. Evidence of anthropogenic processes affecting the archaeological record in the Raganello Basin is plentiful, two of the more potent being the construction of agricultural terraces and the ploughing of arable fields. Terrace construction is an important feature of Mediterranean agricultural regimes and may well date back to the Bronze Age, but the vast majority of terraces now in evidence are likely to date to much more recent (Classical and modern) episodes of agricultural expansion. Their construction changes the preceding slope profile, preserving older soil surfaces in some locations and destroying them in others. Ploughing, especially after the mechanization of agriculture in the 1970s, reinforced these effects. One thing we could learn is to describe the relevant processes and characteristics in a systematic and sufficiently detailed manner. Soil scientists can systematically describe soil types, but also how and why specific soils locally deviate from these types, and what this tells us about the post-depositional history and current state of any archaeological remains in those soils. Geomorphologists are used to studying and describing geomorphological processes and their resulting landforms in a systematic manner, albeit at spatial and temporal scales that are generally too coarse for archaeological purposes. But this is just a difference of degree, not of principle. Could we not extend earth scientists’ methods of studying the earth’s surface to scales relevant to the questions that interest archaeologists – down to the individual archaeological site and the lifetime of individuals? Past ‘geoarchaeological’ studies in the context of landscape archaeological research programs have tended to be piecemeal rather than systematic – aimed at understanding specific local situations of interest to the archaeologist directing the project – or were aimed at reconstructing the long-term evolution of particular systems such as coastlines or rivers. This is not sufficient: in modern landscape archaeological projects we want to know how earth surface processes affected the archaeological record everywhere, and in as much detail as possible. Luckily we do not need to study all locations in detail because many parts of the landscape have sufficiently homogeneous characteristics for us to make good inferences on the basis of well-studied sample locations! In this RLP report by den Haan and Sevink, extensive information is provided on the soils and soil landscapes of the Raganello river catchment. This information forms an important background by describing and quantifying the effects of slope processes occurring on typical slopes of the main landscape units in the Raganello Basin; helping to understand how the formation of agricultural terraces and other sediment traps has affected the archaeological record; and helping to distinguish anthropogenic from natural near-surface geophysical anomalies, so that the latter can be excluded from further study. It also provides a thorough introduction into the history and development of the soils and landscapes of this Raganello catchment, including its various earth surface (geomorphological and soil formation) processes, whether natural or anthropogenic. This forms the basis for identification and quantification of anthropogenic impacts on the original – natural – soils and landscapes, and for discrimination between natural and anthropogenic materials and layers in archaeological sites and sections, in the range of Mediterranean landscape types encountered in the Raganello catchment.
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Evidence of anthropogenic processes affecting the archaeological record in the Raganello Basin is plentiful, two of the more potent being the construction of agricultural terraces and the ploughing of arable fields. Terrace construction is an important feature of Mediterranean agricultural regimes and may well date back to the Bronze Age, but the vast majority of terraces now in evidence are likely to date to much more recent (Classical and modern) episodes of agricultural expansion. Their construction changes the preceding slope profile, preserving older soil surfaces in some locations and destroying them in others. Ploughing, especially after the mechanization of agriculture in the 1970s, reinforced these effects.
One thing we could learn is to describe the relevant processes and characteristics in a systematic and sufficiently detailed manner. Soil scientists can systematically describe soil types, but also how and why specific soils locally deviate from these types, and what this tells us about the post-depositional history and current state of any archaeological remains in those soils. Geomorphologists are used to studying and describing geomorphological processes and their resulting landforms in a systematic manner, albeit at spatial and temporal scales that are generally too coarse for archaeological purposes. But this is just a difference of degree, not of principle. Could we not extend earth scientists’ methods of studying the earth’s surface to scales relevant to the questions that interest archaeologists – down to the individual archaeological site and the lifetime of individuals?
Past ‘geoarchaeological’ studies in the context of landscape archaeological research programs have tended to be piecemeal rather than systematic – aimed at understanding specific local situations of interest to the archaeologist directing the project – or were aimed at reconstructing the long-term evolution of particular systems such as coastlines or rivers. This is not sufficient: in modern landscape archaeological projects we want to know how earth surface processes affected the archaeological record everywhere, and in as much detail as possible. Luckily we do not need to study all locations in detail because many parts of the landscape have sufficiently homogeneous characteristics for us to make good inferences on the basis of well-studied sample locations!
In this RLP report by den Haan and Sevink, extensive information is provided on the soils and soil landscapes of the Raganello river catchment. This information forms an important background by describing and quantifying the effects of slope processes occurring on typical slopes of the main landscape units in the Raganello Basin; helping to understand how the formation of agricultural terraces and other sediment traps has affected the archaeological record; and helping to distinguish anthropogenic from natural near-surface geophysical anomalies, so that the latter can be excluded from further study. It also provides a thorough introduction into the history and development of the soils and landscapes of this Raganello catchment, including its various earth surface (geomorphological and soil formation) processes, whether natural or anthropogenic. This forms the basis for identification and quantification of anthropogenic impacts on the original – natural – soils and landscapes, and for discrimination between natural and anthropogenic materials and layers in archaeological sites and sections, in the range of Mediterranean landscape types encountered in the Raganello catchment.
Evidence of anthropogenic processes affecting the archaeological record in the Raganello Basin is plentiful, two of the more potent being the construction of agricultural terraces and the ploughing of arable fields. Terrace construction is an important feature of Mediterranean agricultural regimes and may well date back to the Bronze Age, but the vast majority of terraces now in evidence are likely to date to much more recent (Classical and modern) episodes of agricultural expansion. Their construction changes the preceding slope profile, preserving older soil surfaces in some locations and destroying them in others. Ploughing, especially after the mechanization of agriculture in the 1970s, reinforced these effects.
One thing we could learn is to describe the relevant processes and characteristics in a systematic and sufficiently detailed manner. Soil scientists can systematically describe soil types, but also how and why specific soils locally deviate from these types, and what this tells us about the post-depositional history and current state of any archaeological remains in those soils. Geomorphologists are used to studying and describing geomorphological processes and their resulting landforms in a systematic manner, albeit at spatial and temporal scales that are generally too coarse for archaeological purposes. But this is just a difference of degree, not of principle. Could we not extend earth scientists’ methods of studying the earth’s surface to scales relevant to the questions that interest archaeologists – down to the individual archaeological site and the lifetime of individuals?
Past ‘geoarchaeological’ studies in the context of landscape archaeological research programs have tended to be piecemeal rather than systematic – aimed at understanding specific local situations of interest to the archaeologist directing the project – or were aimed at reconstructing the long-term evolution of particular systems such as coastlines or rivers. This is not sufficient: in modern landscape archaeological projects we want to know how earth surface processes affected the archaeological record everywhere, and in as much detail as possible. Luckily we do not need to study all locations in detail because many parts of the landscape have sufficiently homogeneous characteristics for us to make good inferences on the basis of well-studied sample locations!
In this RLP report by den Haan and Sevink, extensive information is provided on the soils and soil landscapes of the Raganello river catchment. This information forms an important background by describing and quantifying the effects of slope processes occurring on typical slopes of the main landscape units in the Raganello Basin; helping to understand how the formation of agricultural terraces and other sediment traps has affected the archaeological record; and helping to distinguish anthropogenic from natural near-surface geophysical anomalies, so that the latter can be excluded from further study. It also provides a thorough introduction into the history and development of the soils and landscapes of this Raganello catchment, including its various earth surface (geomorphological and soil formation) processes, whether natural or anthropogenic. This forms the basis for identification and quantification of anthropogenic impacts on the original – natural – soils and landscapes, and for discrimination between natural and anthropogenic materials and layers in archaeological sites and sections, in the range of Mediterranean landscape types encountered in the Raganello catchment.