In the rugged uplands of eastern Kentucky, archaeological evidence of pre-maize plant cultivation is largely absent from stream bottom locations, being concentrated instead within upland rockshelters. Some researchers have hypothesized that the apparent failure of early food producers to exploit rich bottomland soils was an economically sound response to the shortcomings of local stream valley habitats. Instead, seed crop farmers favored hillsides and ridgetops, which were less costly to clear and maintain under cultivation than narrow and densely vegetated stream bottoms. We analyze the goodness of fit between hypothetical upland and lowland cultivation systems and new evidence for human interaction with plant communities and the agricultural potential of soils. Seed and wood assemblages indicate a temporal association between increased human interaction with lowland plant communities, higher levels of habitat disturbance, and greater reliance on cultivated plants. However, there is no convincing evidence that plant cultivation caused disturbance and exploitation of lowlands. Expansion of mesic and hydric habitats was in part a response to increased precipitation and frequency and severity of flooding. Floodplains became largely unsuitable for human habitation, contributing to more intensive exploitation of uplands. While ridgetops and steep slopes were both poor locations for cultivated plots, other upland soils on limestone benches also had good agricultural potential, as did the soils on lower colluvial slopes.
While extensive Pleistocene loess deposits have been identified across Eurasia, Holocene age loess (typically nonglaciogenic) is rarely recognized. We explore possible loess deposits in the Mureş River Valley of western Romania, providing a regional signal of increased aridity during the mid‐late Holocene. This proposed aridity may be responsible for the abandonment of Middle Bronze Age tell settlements along the major drainages of the eastern Carpathian Basin (Pannonian plain). This hypothesis centers on a proposed aeolian deposit (the “Pecica deposit”), a ca. 50–80 cm thick, relatively homogeneous, gray layer blanketing the top of the Bronze Age tell of Pecica—Şanţul Mare. Comparing the morphological, geochemical, and physical characteristics of this specific tell deposit with two representative profiles near the site containing glaciogenic calcareous loess and potential Holocene loess deposits developed in Chernozems, we find significant similarities to support this hypothesis. We then review various forms of proxy data published from elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe suggesting a warming trend during this period. The temporal placement of the Pecica deposit is bracketed using diagnostic artifacts, radiocarbon dates, and the degree of soil development, suggesting a period of increased aridity likely occurring soon after the 17th century B.C.
To mitigate saltwater flooding, the waterfront and downtown areas of Port Angeles, Washington were built-up with up to 8 m of anthropogenic fill beginning in 1913. Shoreline modification continued into the present as this important natural deep-water harbour along the Strait of Juan de Fuca was developed for maritime industries. This and other historical activities obscured at least two historically occupied villages and burial sites of the indigenous Coast Salish Klallam people. Since these archaeological sites remain buried beneath the modern Port Angeles waterfront knowledge of the distribution of buried landforms, coastal zone processes, and estimates of site preservation and modern disturbance potential is needed for archaeological identification and preservation efforts. We created a model of the fill thickness by combining data from: (i) field observations, where the thickness of the fill could be observed directly in the landscape; (ii) topographic differences between pre-fill sounding maps and present-day LIDARdetermined elevations; and (iii) ground-penetrating radar (GPR) surveys. The GPR surveys also helped to reconstruct the now buried palaeoenvironment by identifying tidal lagoons, beach berms and stream channel features beneath the fill layer. The history of post-glacial sea-level change, here impacted by global eustasy, glacio-isostatic and tectonic factors is the first control on the development of quasi-stable coastal landforms suitable for long-term human occupation. Knowledge of past landscapes is a critical component in the development of future archaeological site catchment 'predictive' models based upon the spatial distribution and stability of landforms and resource accessibility prior to the Euro-American historic period of intensive shoreline modification. The geophysical and geomorphic identification and spatial reconstruction of buried landforms also provides needed insight into the geology of the subsurface and its control on the flow of groundwater and contaminants across the nearshore environment.
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