The environmental context of the Neolithic monuments on the Brodgar Isthmus, Mainland, Orkney

Bates, C. Richard; Bates, Martin; Dawson, Sue; Huws, Dei; Whittaker, John E.; Wickham-Jones, Caroline

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.05.032

Cited by 7 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 16 publications

(1 reference statement)

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“…Shells of the freshwater gastropods Gyraulus crista, Gyraulus laevis and Radix balthica were identified between 197 and 85 cm depth, supporting the findings of Bates et al (2016) who identified predominantly freshwater ostracods with some brackish species between 200 and 81 cm (Table S1). The following sections build on the interpretation of Bates et al (2016), that the core sequence represents a freshwater lake (200-104 cm), the onset of brackish conditions (102-81 cm) and the formation of a brackish loch (80-0 cm), reporting molecular fossil data from these critical horizons (Table 2).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 82%

“…Localized fluctuations between terrestrial-and marine-dominated conditions in coastal/near coastal regions can be inferred from seismic mapping, palaeontological analysis, changes in the nature and morphology of the sediments, and changes in the composition and nature of OM (Shennan et al, 2015). Environmental proxies for tracking transgressions based on soil and sediment analysis exploit shifts in the populations of plant macrofossils, insects, pollen and spores, foraminifera, diatoms, molluscs and ostracods (Horton et al, 1992;Bunting, 1994;Davis et al, 2003;Bates et al, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Depth ranges (cm) of key environmental transitions identified byBates et al (2016) in the core from the Loch of Stenness, and the depths subsampled here for molecular fossil analysis.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Molecular fossils as a tool for tracking Holocene sea‐level change in the Loch of Stenness, Orkney

Conti

Bates

Preece

et al. 2020

J Quaternary Science

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Sediments deposited in the Loch of Stenness (Orkney Islands, Scotland) during the Holocene transgression, previously dated to between~5939-5612 BP, were analysed for molecular fossilslipids and chlorophyll pigments from primary producersthat complement conventional microfossil and lithological approaches for studying past sea-level change. While microfossil and lithological studies identified a transgression between 102 and 81 cm core depth, key molecular fossils fluctuate in occurrence and concentration between 118 and 85 cm, suggesting an earlier start to the transgression. Terrestrial lipid concentrations decreased and algal-derived, short-chain, n-alkanoic acid concentrations increased at 118 cm, indicating a disruption of the freshwater lake conditions associated with the early stages of the marine transgression. The lipid and pigment analyses provided information that complements and extends that from microfossil analysis, presenting a more complete record of Holocene sea-level changes and local vegetation changes in the Loch of Stenness. The isostatic stability of Stenness during the Holocene points towards other factors to explain the transgression, such as regional factors and/or melting of the Antarctic ice sheet (which occurred up to 3 ka).

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Molecular fossils as a tool for tracking Holocene sea‐level change in the Loch of Stenness, Orkney

Conti

Bates

Preece

et al. 2020

J Quaternary Science

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“…Over very large areas of the southern North Sea, the re-processing of seismic data originally acquired for hydrocarbon survey has shown the extent of the preserved Holocene and earlier landscapes that are known in the south as Doggerland [21]. In the Northern Isles, a similar approach using very high-resolution seismic has been used to demonstrate complex flooding histories near archaeologically significant sites such as the World Heritage monuments on Orkney [22]. Key to this work is the combination of careful seismic analysis with judicial placing of cores for palaeo-environmental analysis, and the tying together of results from the present-day offshore areas to those onshore.…”

Section: Remote Sensing Of Submerged Landscapesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geophysical Investigation of the Neolithic Calanais Landscape

Bates

Gaffney

et al. 2019

Remote Sensing

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The northern and western isles of Scotland have proved fertile ground for archaeological investigation over the last 100 years. However, the nature of the landscape with its rugged coastlines and irregular topography, together with rapid peat growth rates, make for challenging surveying. Commonly, an archaeological monument or series of monuments is identified but little is known about the surrounding areas and, in particular, the palaeo-landscapes within which the monuments are located. This situation is exemplified by the standing stones of Calanais in Lewis. Here, surrounding peat bogs have buried a significant portion of the landscape around which the stones were first erected. This project identifies remote sensing geophysical techniques that are effective in mapping the buried (lost) landscape and thus aid better contextualisation of the stone monuments within it. Further, the project demonstrates the most appropriate techniques for prospecting across these buried landscapes for as yet unidentified stone features associated with the lives of the people who constructed the monuments.

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“…At the latter, Brodgar Isthmus, microfossil analysis and radiocarbon dates demonstrate that the Loch of Stenness, adjacent to the Brodgar Isthmus, was transformed from a freshwater to brackish environment during the early Neolithic at a time when there was a marked increase in sedimentation. It was inferred that this was probably related to occasional marine flooding during exceptional storm events (Bates et al 2016). Given that the 5500-year BP Garth tsunami has been reported from the Shetland Islands (100 km NE) and that the Afen slide to the NW of both island archipelagos is a potential source, it remains to be seen whether further studies of the coastal sediments laid down in the early Neolithic may be related to one or both processes of storm and tsunami.…”

Section: Mass Burials On Orkneymentioning

confidence: 99%

Prehistoric Coastal Mass Burials: Did Death Come in Waves?

Cain

Goff

McFadgen

2018

J Archaeol Method Theory

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Recent large tsunamis in the twenty-first century have provided graphic reminders of the catastrophic impacts such natural hazards can have upon coastal communities. Death tolls in the thousands give rise to the rapid adoption of coastal mass burials for the interment of the dead. While recognised as a necessary practice in the aftermath of such contemporary tragedies, the paucity of coastal mass burial sites related to earlier tsunamis reported in the archaeological record is unusual. We establish a suite of criteria for identifying the geological and archaeological evidence of inundation by past tsunamis and review case studies from two well-documented prehistoric coastal mass burial sites in the Southern Hemisphere (Solomon Islands and Vanuatu). To varying degrees, both sites possess numerous characteristics that suggest direct correlation with previously reported catastrophic palaeotsunamis. In the Northern Hemisphere, we investigate palaeotsunami inundation as an alternative hypothesis for mass burial sites in Orkney and Shetland, a relatively tectonically inactive region where such an association is unlikely to have ever been considered. The nature, chronology and location of these mass burial sites fit well with the proposed archaeological evidence for palaeotsunami inundation, and they also appear to be contemporaneous with the as-yet poorly documented Garth tsunami (~5500 years BP). We suggest that a potentially key diagnostic criterion for determining a palaeotsunami linkage is the use of diatom testing on skeletal remains to establish whether death was caused by drowning in saltwater, a test which has never been applied in this context. J Archaeol Method Theory

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The environmental context of the Neolithic monuments on the Brodgar Isthmus, Mainland, Orkney

Cited by 7 publications

References 16 publications

Molecular fossils as a tool for tracking Holocene sea‐level change in the Loch of Stenness, Orkney

Molecular fossils as a tool for tracking Holocene sea‐level change in the Loch of Stenness, Orkney

Geophysical Investigation of the Neolithic Calanais Landscape

Prehistoric Coastal Mass Burials: Did Death Come in Waves?

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