Environmental Archaeology and the Social Order

Evans, J. G.

doi:10.4324/9780203711767

Cited by 41 publications

(39 citation statements)

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“…Larger rock fragments dominate in the lower layers, and fine soil material prevails in the upper layers. Experimental studies of ditches and trenches in Britain have demonstrated that large fragments usually fall in before fine material slides down (Limbrey, 1975;Bell et al, 1996;Evans and O'Connor, 1999). Sometimes a mixture of coarse and fine fill material may be deposited together because of human activities such as cultivation or grazing (Bell et al, 1996).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A unique human-made trench at Tell es-Sâfi/Gath, Israel: Anthropogenic impact and landscape response

2005

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Tell es‐Sâfi/gath is situated in the semiarid foothills of central Israel, adjacent to the coastal . plain. An enigmatic landscape feature, noted on aerial photographs, encircles the tell on three sides. This unique feature, unknown from other Near Eastern tells, was investigated. Methods of analysis include aerial photographs, field surveys, excavations, soil analyses, chronotypological ceramic classification, and radiocarbon dating. We concluded that (1) the peculiar landscape feature is a huge human‐made trench, over 2 km long, 5–6 m deep, and more than 8 m wide, cut through bedrock; (2) the trench was excavated during the Iron Age IIA (ca. 1000–800 B.C.E.), apparently as part of a siege system; (3) the extracted rock and soil material was dumped on the Iron Age landscape surface on one side of the trench, forming an elevated “berm”; (4) erosion processes transformed this landscape scar, as the trench filled with sediment; (5) stratigraphic analysis indicates two major phases of filling, separated by a period of landscape stability and soil formation (A horizon); (6) the two filling phases, exhibiting Iron Age IIA and Byzantine pottery (ca. 324—638 C.E.), appear to coincide with more intense human activity; and (7) the possible effect of climatic variations seems less obvious. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A unique human-made trench at Tell es-Sâfi/Gath, Israel: Anthropogenic impact and landscape response

2005

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“…It may be that later, as farming became adopted, the deliberate spreading of artefactual material on the land was not just a response to declining fertility, or desire to improve the fabric of the soil, but also a social marker (as are static middens. See, for example, Evans 1999, p.57) -this is our place, we have a history here and we belong (see Evans 2003 for a recent discussion on this). Additionally, and perhaps more pertinent to the present paper, it should also be noted that such material was being spread where the earth had been scratched.…”

Section: Plough Scattersmentioning

confidence: 97%

Scratches in the earth: the underworld as a theme in British prehistory, with particular reference to the neolithic and earlier bronze age

Davies

Robb

2004

Landscape Research

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This paper catalogues and considers a number of examples where authors have invoked the concept of an underworld in explaining various prehistoric activities. In drawing this material together it is hoped that the case for exploring the underworld as a general theme in pre-Iron Age Britain is made. In addition, the paper considers the usefulness of looking at various prehistoric activities from the perspective of the underworld. In particular the phenomenon of inversion is considered.

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“…Yet, with its focus on material remains, on stratigraphies, on dating, and on the spatial dimensions of culture, archaeology-under the labels of environmental archaeology and geo-archaeology-interacts naturally with geology, as well as physical and human geography (Albarella 2001;Dincauze 2000;Evans 2002). For some time now, archaeologists have been calling for a greater involvement of the discipline with the climate change debate and with DRR (Caseldine and Turney 2010;Riede 2014aRiede , 2014cRiede et al 2016b;Rockman 2012;Van de Noort 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Past-Forwarding Ancient Calamities. Pathways for Making Archaeology Relevant in Disaster Risk Reduction Research

Riede

2017

Humanities

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Despite the alleged mastery of humans over nature, contemporary societies are acutely vulnerable to natural hazards. In interaction with vulnerable communities, these transform into catastrophes. In a deep historical perspective, human communities of many different kinds have been affected by numerous kinds of natural disasters that may provide useful data for scenario-based risk reduction measures vis-à-vis future calamities. The low frequency of high magnitude hazards necessitates a deep time perspective for understanding both the natural and human dimensions of such events in an evidence-based manner. This paper focusses on the eruption of the Laacher See volcano in western Germany about 13,000 years ago as an example of such a rare, but potentially highly devastating event. It merges Lee Clarke's sociological argument for also thinking about such very rare events in disaster planning and David Staley's notion of thinking historically about the future in order to 'past-forward' such information on past constellations of vulnerability and resilience. 'Past-forwarding' is here intended to signal the use of such deep historical information in concerns for contemporary and future resilience. This paper outlines two pathways for making archaeological information on past extreme environmental events relevant in disaster risk reduction: First, the combination of information from the geosciences and the humanities holds the potential to transform ancient hazards from matters of fact to matters of concern and, hence, to more effectively raise awareness of the issues concerned. Second, in addition to information on past calamities feeding into preparatory scenarios, I argue that the well-established outreach channels available to the humanities (museums, in particular) provide powerful platforms for communication to multiple publics.

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Environmental Archaeology and the Social Order

Cited by 41 publications

References 0 publications

A unique human-made trench at Tell es-Sâfi/Gath, Israel: Anthropogenic impact and landscape response

A unique human-made trench at Tell es-Sâfi/Gath, Israel: Anthropogenic impact and landscape response

Scratches in the earth: the underworld as a theme in British prehistory, with particular reference to the neolithic and earlier bronze age

Past-Forwarding Ancient Calamities. Pathways for Making Archaeology Relevant in Disaster Risk Reduction Research

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