- Belfast, Belfast, United Kingdom
- Geography, Archaeology and Palaeoecology, Palynology, palaeoecology, palynology, Quaternary, archaeobotany, Palynology, Non Pollen Palynomorphs, Forensic palynology, Geomorphology, and 19 moreFluvial Geomorphology, Quaternary Sedimentology and Geomorphology, Quaternary environments, Quaternary Geology, Quaternary Geoarchaeology, Quaternary, Mesozoic Ecosystems, Archaeology, Environmental Archaeology, Palaeolithic Europe, Palaeolithic archaeology, Mesolithic archaeology, Prehistoric transitions, Environmental archaeology, Archaeozoology, Pleistocene fauna, Palaeoclimate, Refugia and recolonisation, Spatial analysis, Palaeolithic art and symbolism, Landscape Archaeology, Prehistoric Archaeology, Molluscs in Archaeology, Climate Change, Vegetation, Miocene, Pliocene, Pleistocene, and Holoceneedit
Recent research has shown that the Faynan Orefield was a scene of intensive metal production during the Classical Period, but the infrastructure supporting this activity is less well known. We present evidence for previously undetected... more
Recent research has shown that the Faynan Orefield was a scene of intensive metal production during the Classical Period, but the infrastructure supporting this activity is less well known. We present evidence for previously undetected floodwater-farming and quarrying at Jabal Hamra Arlbieg, which contributed to the economic life of the Faynan complex during Classical times. The site is located on an ancient route, south of the orefield. We describe the hydrological control features of the floodwater farm and a possible place of habitation. Pollen analysis suggests that olives and cereals were cultivated. Exposures of sediment sequences containing buried walls, and ceramics both within and upon these sediments, all indicate that the activity took place during Nabatean to Late Roman/Byzantine times. Two ancient quarried areas were distinguished from natural landforms by a combination of geomorphic properties and variations in the geochemistry of the Mn-Fe rich desert varnish on long-...
Research Interests:
Mortuary behavior (activities concerning dead conspecifics) is one of many traits that were previously widely considered to have been uniquely human, but on which perspectives have changed markedly in recent years. Theoretical approaches... more
Mortuary behavior (activities concerning dead conspecifics) is one of many traits that were previously widely considered to have been uniquely human, but on which perspectives have changed markedly in recent years. Theoretical approaches to hominin mortuary activity and its evolution have undergone major revision, and advances in diverse archeological and paleoanthropological methods have brought new ways of identifying behaviors such as intentional burial. Despite these advances, debates concerning the nature of hominin mortuary activity, particularly
Research Interests:
Metal-mining exploitation has caused ecosystem degradation worldwide. Legacy wastes are often concentrated around former mines where monitoring and research works are mostly focused. Geochemical and physical weathering can affect... more
Metal-mining exploitation has caused ecosystem degradation worldwide. Legacy wastes are often concentrated around former mines where monitoring and research works are mostly focused. Geochemical and physical weathering can affect metal-enriched sediment locations and their capacity to release metals at a catchment scale. This study investigated how fluvial geomorphology and soil geochemistry drive zinc and lead dispersion along the Nant Cwmnewyddion (Wales, UK). Sediments from different locations were sampled for geochemical and mineralogical investigations (portable X-ray fluorescence, scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, and electron microprobe analysis). The suspended sediment fluxes in the streamwater were estimated at different streamflows to quantify the metal dispersion. Topographical and slope analysis allowed us to link sediment erosion with the exposure of primary sulphide minerals in the headwater. Zinc and lead entered the streamwater as aqueous phases or as ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Our tentative proposal is that several biological markers have potential to help define any putative boundary in the traditional basal Berriasian interval. That is, between the base of the Berriasella jacobi Subzone and the base of the... more
Our tentative proposal is that several biological markers have potential to help define any putative boundary in the traditional basal Berriasian interval. That is, between the base of the Berriasella jacobi Subzone and the base of the Pseudosubplanites grandis Subzone, and therefore straddling the base of magnetozone M18r. Promising micropalaeontological markers are the FADs of Nannoconus steinmannii minor and N. kamptneri minor , plus the base of the Calpionella alpina Zone, and the bloom(s) of Calpionella alpina and Crassicollaria parvula. The testing and calibration of this constraining event-matrix in the most complete and fossiliferous sections is our task for the near future.
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Geography and Prehistory
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Geography, Geology, Computer Science, Environmental Monitoring, Jordan, and 15 moreMining, Medicine, Multidisciplinary, Copper, Radon, Human health, Minor, Copper Mining, Radioactive contamination, Health risk, Risk Assessment, Radioactive Pollution, Elsevier, Radioisotope, and Environmental Exposure
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
ABSTRACT Holocene vegetation records are presented from palaeochannels in the southern Kelabit Highlands, at Pa’Dalih (PDH 212) and at Pa’Buda (BPG); and from a peat bog in the northern Kelabit Highlands, at Bario (Ba). Results are based... more
ABSTRACT Holocene vegetation records are presented from palaeochannels in the southern Kelabit Highlands, at Pa’Dalih (PDH 212) and at Pa’Buda (BPG); and from a peat bog in the northern Kelabit Highlands, at Bario (Ba). Results are based on changes in the sediment lithology, loss on ignition, magnetic susceptibility, pollen, phytoliths and other palynomorphs. At Pa’Buda possible clearance occurred ~6500 cal BP, perhaps for arboriculture. More pronounced signatures of clearance are at PDH 212 by ~3100 cal BP, and at Ba by 1300 cal BP. Propagation/cultivation of the sago palm, Eugeissona, may have been taking place by ~ 2800 cal BP at site PDH 212 and was probably taking place by at least 1300 cal BP at Ba. Rice cultivation may have been taking place between 2800-1200 cal BP at PDH 212, but this remains speculative, due to the morphological features of the Oryza bulliforms, but was likely taking place at Pa’Dalih by 530-490 cal BP, where Oryza bulliforms, with characteristics similar to domesticated types are present and there was a sharp rise in sedimentation, caused by intense burning. At Ba, within the last 600 years, an increase in Palmae phytoliths may signify increasingly intense human impact. In more recent times both rice and banana cultivation are represented in the phytolith record at Pa’Buda. In more recent times both rice and banana cultivation are represented in the phytolith record at Pa’Buda (Lentfer et al., 2013).
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
The paper reports on the fifth (2012) season of fieldwork of the Cyrenaican Prehistory Project. The primary focus of the season was the continuation of the excavation of the prehistoric occupation layers in the Haua Fteah cave. A small... more
The paper reports on the fifth (2012) season of fieldwork of the Cyrenaican Prehistory Project. The primary focus of the season was the continuation of the excavation of the prehistoric occupation layers in the Haua Fteah cave. A small trench (Trench U) was cut into Holocene (Neolithic) sediments exposed on the south wall of Charles McBurney's Upper Trench. Below this, the excavation of Trench M was continued, on the southern side of McBurney's Middle Trench. In previous seasons we had excavated Oranian ‘Epipalaeolithic’ layers dating toc.18,000–10,000 BP (years before the present). In 2012 the excavation continued downwards through Dabban ‘Upper Palaeolithic’ occupation layers, one of which was associated with a post-built structure and likely hearths. There are indications of an occupational hiatus separating the oldest Dabban from the youngest Levallois-Mousterian (Middle Palaeolithic or Middle Stone Age) lithic material. The Deep Sounding excavated by Charles McBurney in...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: History, Archaeology, Geochemistry, Geomorphology, Archaeological Science, and 15 moreArid Land Ecology, Economy, Bronze Age, Early Bronze Age, Holocene, Economic System, Copper, Heavy Metal Pollution, Heavy Metal, EXTRACTION, Atmospheric Circulation, Human Activity, Final, High Altitude, and centre
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: History, Evolutionary Biology, Archaeology, Geology, Anthropology, and 15 moreHuman Evolution, Geoarchaeology, Archaeological Soil Micromorphology, Medicine, Libya, Humans, North Africa, Fossils, Caves, Haua fteah, Early Hominin Migrations and Dispersals, Bayes Theorem, Later Stone Age archaeology, Geologic Sediments, and Chronology as topic
Seventy species of miospore are recorded from the Portland Stone Formation and the Lower part of the Purbeck Formation (Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous) from St Aldhelms Head and Durlston Bay, Dorset. Ssven new species — Aequitriradites... more
Seventy species of miospore are recorded from the Portland Stone Formation and the Lower part of the Purbeck Formation (Upper Jurassic/Lower Cretaceous) from St Aldhelms Head and Durlston Bay, Dorset. Ssven new species — Aequitriradites conulatus, Cicatricosisporites amplistriatus, Cicatricosisporites sinuosus, Cycadopites norrisii, Dictyotriletes durlstonensis, Matonisporites elegdns and Pilasporites couperi — and one new combination, Leptolepidites tumulosus (DORING), are proposed. The miospore biozonation of the Portland Stone Formation and the lower part of the Purbeck Formation in Dorset is discussed. Changes in the gross composition of the miospore flora are comparable with the record from elsewhere in northern Europe. It is argued that these reflect changes in palaeoclimate and may be broadly synchronous.
Abstract: Placement of the Jurassi~Cretaceous boundary and its correlation between the Tethyan and Boreal realms are still contentious. The distribution of stratigraphically significant dinoflagellate cysts in the Portland Stone and... more
Abstract: Placement of the Jurassi~Cretaceous boundary and its correlation between the Tethyan and Boreal realms are still contentious. The distribution of stratigraphically significant dinoflagellate cysts in the Portland Stone and Purbeck formations of the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, UK provides a basis for direct correlation between these sections and the type Berriasian in southeast France. The base of the Berriasian- and thus of the currently accepted Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary- most probably lies at the base of the Cypris Freestones in the Purbeck Formation. Miospore correlation between the Dorset sections and ammonite-bearing rocks in the Spilsby Province suggests hat he base of the Cretaceous lies close t the base of the Subcraspidites preplicomphalus zone in the Boreal Realm. The latest Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous were marked globally by low sea-levels and conse-quent provincialism of marine biota. European biotas are divided biogeographically into the southern Tethyan ...
Research Interests:
Phytolith (microscopic plant silicate bodies) evidence suggests that anatomically modern humans lived at Fahien rock shelterin the south-western Sri Lanka in tensively used wild rice species (e.g. Oryza cf. nivara) in association with... more
Phytolith (microscopic plant silicate bodies) evidence suggests that anatomically modern humans lived at Fahien rock shelterin the south-western Sri Lanka in tensively used wild rice species (e.g. Oryza cf. nivara) in association with lowland rain forests from 48.35ka (48,350 calyrs BP). The intensive use of wild rice could be a local innovation.
Research Interests:
Land snail shell is a frequent constituent of archaeological sites, but it is rarely clear whether it represents food refuse, the remains of scavengers, or evidence for natural processes. Piercing of land snail shells enables the animal... more
Land snail shell is a frequent constituent of archaeological sites, but it is rarely clear whether it represents food refuse, the remains of scavengers, or evidence for natural processes. Piercing of land snail shells enables the animal to be extracted from the shell and thus provides direct evidence for human consumption. We report pierced land snails from the Haua Fteah, Libya. The earliest pierced land snail shell in the Haua Fteah pre-dates the Last Interglacial, while the most recent is Late-Classical in age, but the largest quantities are in layers of Late-Glacial and earliest Holocene age, where they are associated with atypical microliths. Introduction Marine gastropods are major components of shell middens worldwide and are usually regarded as evidence for human consumption of the animals, except in the cases of shell middens produced during the processing of Muricids for dye production (e.g. Reese 2000, 2010) and the use of gastropods for bait (Oliver 2015). The issue of c...
Research Interests:
In part 1 of this work we discussed the possibilities for the selection of a GSSP for the Berriasian Stage of the Cretaceous System , based on prevailing practical methods for correlation in that J/K interval, traditional usage and the... more
In part 1 of this work we discussed the possibilities for the selection of a GSSP for the Berriasian Stage of the Cretaceous System , based on prevailing practical methods for correlation in that J/K interval, traditional usage and the consensus over the best boundary markers that had developed in the last forty years. This consensus has developed further, based on the results of multidisciplinary studies on numerous sites over the last decade. Here in Part 2 we give an account of the application of those results by the Berriasian Working Group (ISCS), and present the stratigraphic evidence that justifies the selection of the locality of Tré Maroua (Hautes-Alpes, SE France) as the proposed GSSP. We describe a 45 m-thick section in the Calcaires Blancs vocontiens-that part of the formation covering the calpio-nellid Chitinoidella, Remanei. Intermedia, Colomi, Alpina, Ferasini, Elliptica and Simplex biozones. The stratigraphic data collected here has been compiled as part of a wider c...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Archaeology and Antiquity
It has long been accepted that European Palaeolithic societies of the last interglacial/glacial cycle were likely linked in social networks that connected individuals and groups in information flows to spread risk and provide access to... more
It has long been accepted that European Palaeolithic societies of the last interglacial/glacial cycle were likely linked in social networks that connected individuals and groups in information flows to spread risk and provide access to resources and mates. Building on this, Michelle Langley (2013) argued that European Neanderthals inhabited 'social landscapes' of this kind, but Modern Humans imbued their physical environments with symbolic meaning to create 'storied landscapes'. In this paper, we consider these arguments in terms of the archaeological records of three caves we have investigated, all outside Europe: the Niah Cave in Borneo used by anatomically modern humans ('Modern Humans' or simply 'Moderns' in archaeological parlance)since c. 50,000 years ago; the Haua Fteah in Libya used by Moderns from c. 140,000 years ago; and Shanidar Cave in Iraqi Kurdistan used by Neanderthals until c. 45,000 years ago and then by Moderns. Reviewing the evidence in terms of Langley's principal criteria of landscape marking, personal identities, raw material transport, and norms and customs tied to the landscape, we conclude that the evidence, whilst often ambiguous, serves to widen the debate about Palaeolithic social networks and 'storied landscapes'. At least for the Palaeolithic people using these three caves, there were different ways of being human and different ways of envisaging the landscape beyond that do not map onto the Archaic/Modern dichotomy that is such a cornerstone of evolutionary studies based on the European archaeological record.
Research Interests:
Understanding the timing, conditions, and characteristics of the Middle to Later Stone Age (MSA/LSA) transition in North Africa is critical for debates regarding the evolution and past population dynamics of Homo sapiens, especially their... more
Understanding the timing, conditions, and characteristics of the Middle to Later Stone Age (MSA/LSA) transition in North Africa is critical for debates regarding the evolution and past population dynamics of Homo sapiens, especially their dispersals within, out of, and back into, Africa. As with many cultural transitions during the Palaeolithic, our understanding is based predominantly on archaeological and paleoenvironmental records preserved within a small number of deep cave sediment sequences. To use such sequences as chronological cornerstones we must develop a robust understanding of the formation processes that created them. This paper utilizes geoarchaeological analyses (field observations, sediment micromorphology, bulk sedimentology) to examine site formation processes and stratigraphic integrity during the MSA/LSA at the Haua Fteah cave, Libya, one of North Africa's longest cultural sequences. The depositional processes identified vary in mode and energy, from eolian deposition/reworking to mass colluvial mudflows. These changing processes impact greatly on the interpretation of the paleoenvironmental and archaeological records, not least in identifying potential colluvial sediment deposition and reworking in layers identified as containing the MSA/LSA transition. This study highlights the importance of developing geoarchaeological analyses of cultural sequences to fully unravel the limitations and potential of their contained archaeological and paleoenvironmental records.
The paper presents the results of optical dating of potassium-rich feldspar grains obtained from the Haua Fteah cave in Cyrenaica, northeast Libya, focussing on the chronology of the Deep Sounding excavated by Charles McBurney in the... more
The paper presents the results of optical dating of potassium-rich feldspar grains obtained from the Haua Fteah cave in Cyrenaica, northeast Libya, focussing on the chronology of the Deep Sounding excavated by Charles McBurney in the 1950s and re-excavated recently. Samples were also collected from a 1.25 m-deep trench (Trench S) excavated during the present project below the basal level of the Deep Sounding. Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) data sets for multi-grain, single aliquots of quartz for samples from the Middle Trench were previously published. Re-analyses of these OSL data confirm significant variation in the dose saturation levels of the quartz signal, but allow the most robust OSL ages to be determined for comparison with previous age estimates and with those obtained in this study for potassium-rich feldspars from the Deep Sounding. The latter indicate that humans may have started to visit the cave as early as ~150 ka ago, but that major use of the cave occurred during MIS 5, with the accumulation of the Deep Sounding sediments. Correlations between optical ages and episodes of " Pre-Aurignacian " artefact discard indicate that human use of the cave during MIS 5 was highly intermittent. The earliest phases of human activity appear to have occurred during interstadial conditions (5e and 5c), with a later phase of lithic discard associated with more stadial conditions, possibly MIS 5b. We argue that the " Pre-Aurignacian " assemblage can probably be linked with modern humans, like the succeeding " Levalloiso-Mousterian " assemblage; two modern human mandibles associated with the latter are associated with a modelled age of 73e65 ka. If this attribution is correct, then the new chronology implies that modern humans using " Pre-Aurignacian " technologies were in Cyrenaica as early as modern humans equipped with " Aterian " technologies were in the Maghreb, raising new questions about variability among lithic technologies during the initial phases of modern human dispersals into North Africa.
The Neanderthal remains from Shanidar Cave, excavated between 1951 and 1960, have played a central role in debates concerning diverse aspects of Neanderthal morphology and behavior. In 2015 and 2016, renewed excavations at the site... more
The Neanderthal remains from Shanidar Cave, excavated between 1951 and 1960, have played a central role in debates concerning diverse aspects of Neanderthal morphology and behavior. In 2015 and 2016, renewed excavations at the site uncovered hominin remains from the immediate area where the partial skeleton of Shanidar 5 was found in 1960. Shanidar 5 was a robust adult male estimated to have been aged over 40 years at the time of death. Comparisons of photographs from the previous and recent excavations indicate that the old and new remains were directly adjacent to one another, while the disturbed arrangement and partial crushing of the new fossils is consistent with descriptions and photographs of the older discoveries. The newly discovered bones include fragments of several vertebrae, a left hamate, part of the proximal left femur, a heavily crushed partial pelvis, and the distal half of the right tibia and fibula and associated talus and navicular. All these elements were previously missing from Shanidar 5, and morphological and metric data are consistent with the new elements belonging to this individual. A newly discovered partial left pubic symphysis indicates an age at death of 40e50 years, also consistent with the age of Shanidar 5 estimated previously. Thus, the combined evidence strongly suggests that the new finds can be attributed to Shanidar 5. Ongoing analyses of associated samples, including for sediment morphology, palynology, and dating, will therefore offer new evidence as to how this individual was deposited in the cave and permit new analyses of the skeleton itself and broader discussion of Neanderthal morphology and variation.
We present a multi-proxy study of environmental conditions during and after the recessional phases of pro-glacial Lake Algonquin in the vicinity of the North Bay outlet, Great Lakes Basin. Data presented comes from a new sedimentary... more
We present a multi-proxy study of environmental conditions during and after the recessional phases of pro-glacial Lake Algonquin in the vicinity of the North Bay outlet, Great Lakes Basin. Data presented comes from a new sedimentary profile obtained from the Balsam Creek kettle lake c. 34 km northeast of the city of North Bay. This site lies close to the northeast margin of the maximum extent of the post-Algonquin lake sequence, which drained through the Ottawa-Mattawa valley system. Our data are presented against a Bayesian age-depth model, supporting and extending regional understanding of vegetation succession in this part of northeast Ontario. The core profile provides a minimum age for the formation of the glacial outwash delta in which the kettle is set, as well as tentative timing for the Payette (post-Algonquin) lake phase. We highlight two discrete intervals during the Early Holocene, with modelled mean ages of: 8475-8040 cal. BP (332-316 cm) and 7645 cal. BP (286 cm), when climatic aridity affected the growth of vegetation within the kettle vicinity. Association with volcanic activity is posited. Cryptotephra dating to 7660-7430 cal. BP (mean age: 7580 cal. BP) is chronologically and geochemically assigned to the Mazama climactic eruption, while an earlier ash accumulation 8710-7865 cal. BP is tentatively sourced to an unknown eruption also in the Cascades region of Oregon. Outside of these periods, the Balsam Creek sequence shows considerable habitat stability and a character akin to that seen at more southerly latitudes. On this evidence we propose that access to reliable resources within kettle features could have aided the initial colonisation of northern Ontario's environmentally dynamic early post-glacial landscape.