Geoarchaeology (Other Keyword)
301-325 (715 Records)
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Historic and Ancient Terrace Use at the Hacienda Rincon de Guadalupe (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. This poster presents the findings for the first season of an archaeological dissertation project investigating changing land use at the Hacienda del Rincon de Guadalupe in Apaxco, Mexico. The hacienda is located within the Sierra Tezontlapan, bordering the states of Mexico and Hidalgo. It was constructed during the late 18th century, but there is evidence...
Historic Water Management Infrastructure in the San Pasquale Valley, Calabria, Italy (2018)
Over the last several field seasons, the Bova Marina Archaeological Project has been documenting the timing of construction and the physical characteristics of the original water management infrastructure as well as documenting the changes in the natural and social systems of the San Pasquale Valley in Calabria, Italy. The Valley was recolonized in the 19th and early 20th centuries for both large scale bergamot plantations and by peasant farmers. With large scale population exodus from the...
A History of Landscape Transformation and Environmental Change across the Ascope Irrigation System of the Chicama Valley. (2017)
The sequence of landscape transformation across the area of the Ascope Canal System in the Chicama Valley involved both natural and anthropogenic events and processes that unfolded in nonlinear ways. We argue that early events were crucial in determining transformations later in the sequence. In the arid environment of the North Coast, water availability plays a key role in landscape histories. This paper highlights evidence for El Niño events, water management, and changing ecologies for the...
A History of The Manteño of Bola De Oro: Understanding Manteño Adaptation to a Changing Climate through Age-Depth Modeling and Charcoal Abundance Analysis of Agricultural Landscape Modifications (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. A modified agricultural landscape of cultivation terraces and water retention ponds in the high elevations of the Chongón-Colonche Mountains of southern Manabí indicates a shift in agricultural practices by the Manteño civilization of coastal Ecuador (ca. 650–1700 CE). This shift must be understood through time as a societal response to a changing climate...
Holocene Human Adaptations on the Pacific Coast of Central America (2019)
This is an abstract from the "Human Behavioral Ecology at the Coastal Margins: Global Perspectives on Coastal & Maritime Adaptations" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Holocene human adaptations to the Pacific coast of southern Mesoamerica and Central America are documented at a number of locations from southern Mexico to Panama. Evidence comes from Archaic-Period shell mounds, Early Formative sites at the edge of dry land behind the mangrove...
Holocene Palaeoenvironmental Changes in Southeastern Mozambique: The Case of the Inhambane Bay (2018)
Geoarchaeological surveys were conducted in 2016 and 2017 to better understand the environmental history and landscape evolution of the Inhambane coastal area, Southeastern Mozambique, aiming to know the environmental context of human occupation of the Tofo, Praia da Rocha and Chibuene archaeological sites. To reach this aim, 4 cores were collected in a mangrove area of the Inhambane estuary, an area both influenced by sea-level and climate changes. All the boreholes were georeferenced and...
Holocene Paleoenvironment and Demography of the New Guinea North Coast (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Pacific islands are often used as model cases of human-environment systems and the development of biocultural diversity. In comparison to the smaller islands of the southwestern Pacific, the prehistory of the north coast of New Guinea remains poorly understood, particularly prior to ~2000 BP. We draw together a variety of archaeological evidence collected...
Honing an Integrated Approach to Geoarchaeological Research in Alluvial Environments of the Lower Ohio River Valley (2019)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Identification and interpretation of buried cultural deposits in alluvial settings is improved by an integrated approach that considers the area at an appropriate scale in line with prehistoric land use; applies key underlying concepts; and utilizes multiple methodologies of subsurface investigation, laboratory analysis, and environmental modeling. Success at...
Hood Canal, WA: a Geoarchaeological Examination of Land Use (2017)
Hood Canal in Washington State contains a variety of archaeological sites, dating from at least 3,330 years ago to historic times. These sites include shell middens, villages, individual settlements, petroglyphs, logging activity traits, and hydroelectric features, to name a few. The area has undergone significant land movement due to seismic activity, landslides, and, possibly, sand blows. This presentation examines Hood Canal’s prehistoric and historic land use with respect to the region’s...
How to Build a Better reservoir: Evolving Ancient Maya Strategies (2023)
This is an abstract from the "2023 Fryxell Award Symposium: Papers in Honor of Timothy Beach Part I" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The ancient inhabitants of the Elevated Interior Region of the Maya Lowlands spent centuries devising ways to capture and store rainwater in this seasonally arid environment devoid of sizeable permanent surface water bodies. Over time, varied methods were created to ensure a sufficient quantity of water to meet the...
How to Deal with Homogeneous Stratigraphies: Excavation, Sampling, and Analysis Strategies at Umhlatuzana Rockshelter, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Developing Paleolithic Excavation Methods for the Twenty-First Century" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. To ensure proper context control for archaeological samples, it is crucial that excavations determine and, where possible, follow the natural stratigraphic subdivisions in a sedimentary sequence. In cases with a single, unchanging source of sedimentary input, this may pose challenges. We present our strategies to...
Human ecodynamics of late Neanderthal survival and anatomically modern human expansion at the Middle-Upper Paleolithic Transition, Lapa do Picareiro, Portugal
With support from the National Science Foundation, Dr. Jonathan Haws (University of Louisville) and Dr. Michael Benedetti (University of North Carolina Wilmington) are leading a multi-year study of Neanderthal extinction and replacement by anatomically modern humans in central Portugal. The project brings together an international team to recover high-resolution archaeological, geological and paleoecological records from the excavation of Lapa do Picareiro, a cave in central Portugal. Our...
Human impact on a monumental landscape at the microscopic level: an ancient Maya community and its temple (2015)
This paper discusses the results of geochemical and micromorphological analysis of sediment samples in and around a monumental temple structure at the site of La Milpa, northwest Belize. This analysis forms part of a project that aims to examine community agency and practice in public monumental spaces, in particular how the actions of diverse groups of agents influence the functions of monumental architecture. Artifact and architectural evidence gathered over five field seasons at Structure 3...
Human-climate-landscape interactions within the Rio Blanco Basin, Southern Belize (2015)
Excavations of alluvial terraces along the Rio Blanco, near the Maya site of Uxbenká in southern Belize, Toledo District, record Holocene human impacts and sediment aggradation from the pre-ceramic through the modern period. Assuming sediment aggradation rates on the terraces are inversely related to basin-wide hill slope erosion allows us to develop a landscape evolution model during the Holocene and investigate possible anthropogenic vs. climatic effects on the landscape. Radiocarbon dates and...
Human-Environment Dynamics at the Arid Margin of the Levant: Fluctuating Freshwater Resources between 400,000 and 40,000 Years Ago in the Greater Azraq Oasis Area, Jordan (2024)
This is an abstract from the "Water in the Desert: Human Resilience in the Azraq Basin and Eastern Desert of Jordan" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Azraq Basin is a 12,000 km2 internal drainage system at the eastern margin of the Levant. The center of the basin, which we refer to as the Greater Azraq Oasis Area (GAOA), is characterized by a mudflat flanked by two historical wetlands. Desiccation of these wetlands in the early 1990s and...
Hurricanes as Agents of Cultural Change: Integrating Paleotempestology and the Archaeological Record (2018)
Hurricanes are major climatological events with significant impacts in tropical and extra-tropical regions worldwide. Despite this, little research has been undertaken on the effects of hurricanes and other intense storms on prehistoric societies. New evidence from the field of paleotempestology—the study of past hurricane activity using geological proxy techniques, such as lagoon sediments and speleothems—is shedding light on how hurricanes varied over the Holocene in terms of frequency,...
The Hydrologic and Geologic Dynamics of the Las Peñas Spring (2018)
This presentation addresses the hydrology of agricultural terraces and a spring associated with the Late Intermediate Period (post AD 1200) site of Las Peñas located in the Moquegua Valley of Peru. Positioned 150 meters northwest of Las Peñas, the spring is located at roughly 2,700 meters in elevation and sits at the base of several agricultural terraces. This field system was presumably in production at the time Las Peñas was occupied and is still in use today. Using coring techniques, sediment...
The Ichnological Record of Footwear: Some Thoughts and Experiments (2023)
This is an abstract from the "Approaches to Archaeological Footwear" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Human footprints have been found throughout the world. At White Sands (New Mexico) they hint at early human presence in the Americas, and during the summer of 2022 a new footprint site was reported from Utah. These sites are linked by their geological setting, dried lake beds and ancient playas, a common feature of the Americas. One question often...
Identification of Turquoises from Different Mining Areas using Lead and Strontium Isotope Composition (2019)
This is an abstract from the "From Tangible Things to Intangible Ideas: The Context of Pan-Eurasian Exchange of Crops and Objects" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. The Hekou Turquoise Mining Site in Shaanxi Province can provide significant clues to the provenance of turquoise in early China. In this study, we analyzed turquoise ore samples from other turquoise mines near Hekou Mining Site in eastern Qinling Mountains and established an origin...
Identifying Deeply Buried Sites: A Case Study from Site CA-SLO-16, Morro Bay, California (2024)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Archaeologists have historically studied the human-environment relationship through the lens of behavior, activity, and advancement. The study of past landscapes is focused on the human behavior response to these changes, not the effects these environmental changes have on archaeological sites. Geomorphological studies allow for understanding environmental...
Identifying Strategies of Integration and Cooperation during the Late Intermediate Period (AD 1000–1480) at Sangayaico, South-Central Andes, Peru (2018)
The Late Intermediate Period (LIP) in the highlands of the Central Peruvian Andes was characterized by a marked intensification in economic specialization. In contrast to the preceding periods, in which mixed agro-pastoral groups appear to have dominated highland Peru, many LIP populations seem to have adopted increasingly specialized pastoral or agricultural strategies. This increased economic specialization would likely have fostered inter-group cooperation, as subsistence generally required...
The Impact of Late Classic–Early Postclassic Anthropogenic Landscape Change in the Lower Río Verde Valley, Oaxaca (2023)
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Previous geomorphological data from the upper drainage basin of the Río Verde suggest that demographic and land-use changes, perhaps coupled with climate change, during the Classic period collapse (ca. 800 CE) increased erosion and sediment entering the drainage system. Recent geomorphological research in the lower reaches of the Río Verde in the Pacific...
Impact of Oyster Overharvesting in Southwest Florida by Calusa Native Americans (2018)
Recent research has demonstrated that overharvesting of Eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) by Calusa Native Americans was severe enough during the Caloosahatchee cultural period (500 BC–AD 1500) to have influenced the population demography of the shellfishery (Savarese et al., 2016). A shift to smaller individuals without a change in oyster growth rate was documented from the Late Archaic into the Caloosahatchee when Calusa population size increased considerably in the region. Modern oyster...
The Importance of Sediment: A Selection of Julie Stein’s Contributions to Geoarchaeology (2019)
This is an abstract from the "From Middens to Museums: Papers in Honor of Julie K. Stein" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology. Of Julie Stein’s many contributions to geoarchaeology, her publications regarding sedimentology and stratigraphy with respect to site formation have been particularly influential. By employing earth science methods to elucidate the history of archaeological sediments in a diversity of environments and cultural settings, her work...