Gone with the Wind: The Modelling of the Wind Conditions of the Prehistoric and Historic Communities around the World

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Climatic conditions determine the ways in which local communities live to a great extent. The wind is responsible for the everyday life experience by bringing precipitation, moving dust and fire. The general assumption of the current research is that in the past people chose to live in relatively calm spots of the local landscapes to prevent themselves from unpleasant or dangerous conditions. To test this hypothesis, the current research draws settlement data from around the globe. The average annual value of wind speed and the dominating wind direction are the input values to calculate the wind speed at the local terrains. The individual wind models are based on a digital elevation model with a resolution of 100 m by 100 meters. A specialized software package (WindNinja) is used to compute the models of wind speed for each cell of the DEM. In the Southern Urals, the chosen settlement spots are optimal in the given environment to maintain the highest possible temperatures and prevent heat loss in the cold months. Together with the erected wall and densely packed houses, this strategy allowed the inhabitants of the settlements to protect their livestock in the harsh winter conditions.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 23386