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"Archaeological sites"
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The Archaeology of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Adjacent Regions
The burgeoning of archaeological research in the Kurdish Autonomous Region of Iraq is one of the great success stories of world archaeology today. For twenty years it was impossible for western archaeologists to work in Iraq, and for most of this time there were also heavy restrictions on the activity of Iraqi archaeologists. In addition to this Kurdistan remains a region never systematically explored. The conference presented the first opportunity for the leading figures in this renaissance of research in the area to gather and present all the key new projects which are revolutionising our understanding of the region.
eBook
Monitoring soil salinization and waterlogging in the northeastern Nile Delta linked to shallow saline groundwater and irrigation water quality
Soil salinization and waterlogging are critical environmental issues affecting agricultural productivity and cultural heritage preservation, particularly in arid regions. This study investigated soil degradation processes in the archaeologically and agriculturally significant northeastern Nile Delta of Egypt. The objective was to assess the severity of soil degradation and identify key drivers related to water resources and soil characteristics to aid in the development of management strategies. The research employed a multi-faceted approach, including hydrochemical analyses (of groundwater, irrigation water, and soil), water quality indices calculations, statistical analyses, and satellite data. The results revealed high levels of soil salinization in the northern and central areas, with 64% of soil samples classified as strongly and very strongly saline. Soil chemistry indicated salinization sources linked to sodium chloride dominance. Satellite data from Sentinel-2 images and SRTM digital elevation data showed widespread severe waterlogging in the northern lowlands. The Irrigation Water Quality Index (IWQI) values indicated that 87.5% of irrigation water samples posed severe restrictions due to high salinity and sodium hazards, which were mismatched with the low soil permeability observed in 81% of the collected samples exhibiting clay texture and covering most of the study area. Furthermore, shallow groundwater at depths of 0.5–3 m with high salinity was detected, where total dissolved solids exceeded 20,000 mg/L, and Na-Cl water types prevailed, indicating saltwater intrusion. A strong positive correlation (
r
> 0.83) was found between shallow saline groundwater and soil salinity. The combination of poor irrigation water quality, shallow saline groundwater tables, and low-permeability soils created a synergistic effect that severely compromised soil health and agricultural productivity. It also posed severe risks to the structural integrity of archaeological sites and buried artifacts through accelerated physical and chemical weathering processes. This necessitates an urgent mitigation strategy to combat soil degradation in this critical area.
Journal Article
Temporary consolidation and excavation of artifacts at waterlogged archaeological sites
Ensuring the preservation of fragile artifacts from waterlogged archaeological sites demands the advancement of extraction techniques that uphold both safety and the integrity of historical data. Conventionally employed extraction materials are predominantly applicable to sites exhibiting high soil stability and low moisture content, whereas the recovery of artifacts from waterlogged contexts remains technically challenging. This study explores low-acyl gellan gum as a temporary solidification material for waterlogged archaeological relics, enhancing its efficacy through ionic cross-linking methodologies. The results show that by meticulously regulating the species and concentration of cations—specifically Na
+
, Mg
2+
, Ca
2+
, or Al
3+
— an improvement in gelling strength can be attained within an optimum range. The gel strength improved with the increase of ion valence, but adding Al
3+
results in local gel aggregation. By adding 3.0 wt% of CaCl
2
, low-acyl gellan gum can form a transparent, stable gel with a compressive strength amplified to 0.11 MPa. In addition, the temporary consolidation and extraction experiment under laboratory conditions shows that Ca
2+
cross-linked gellan gum can effectively carry out temporary solidification and safe extraction of multiple artifacts at waterlogged archaeological sites. This innovation presents a simplified yet potent strategy for excavating fragile artifacts.
Journal Article
Use of red ochre by early Neandertals
The use of manganese and iron oxides by late Neandertals is well documented in Europe, especially for the period 60-40 kya. Such finds often have been interpreted as pigments even though their exact function is largely unknown. Here we report significantly older iron oxide finds that constitute the earliest documented use of red ochre by Neandertals. These finds were small concentrates of red material retrieved during excavations at Maastricht-Belvédère, The Netherlands. The excavations exposed a series of well-preserved flint artifact (and occasionally bone) scatters, formed in a river valley setting during a late Middle Pleistocene full interglacial period. Samples of the reddish material were submitted to various forms of analyses to study their physical properties. All analyses identified the red material as hematite. This is a nonlocal material that was imported to the site, possibly over dozens of kilometers. Identification of the Maastricht-Belvédère finds as hematite pushes the use of red ochre by (early) Neandertals back in time significantly, to minimally 200-250 kya (i.e., to the same time range as the early ochre use in the African record).
Journal Article
A Preliminary Study on Mapping Methods of Geographical Features of Archaeological Remains and Ancient Human Behaviors in Prehistoric Settlement Landscape Reconstruction
The reconstruction of ancient geographical scenarios is significant for understanding environmental changes and civilizational evolution. However, human activities, as the main subjects in these scenes, cannot be directly reconstructed due to the lack of written records. Archaeological sites, formed through long-term human activities and natural processes, preserve material traces of ancient human behaviors within specific spatiotemporal contexts and provide critical evidence for inferring behaviors lacking written records. However, behavioral processes within site scenarios are difficult to observe and express directly. To address this challenge, we proposed a behavioral inference mapping method based on archaeological remains, integrating geography, archaeology, and behavioral science to support the inference and structured expression of ancient human behaviors. We first analyzed the relationships between behaviors and remain elements, and developed principles for inferring ancient human behaviors from remains. Secondly, combined with spatial analysis of geographic entities, we proposed multiscale geometric representations, methods for extracting and analyzing the geographical features of remains. We constructed a rule-driven mapping method of geographical features of archaeological remains and ancient human behaviors. Finally, the Taixi Site in Hebei Province and the Lingjiatan Site in Anhui Province were used as examples to verify the applicability and effectiveness of this method. This approach bridges remains and ancient human behaviors, demonstrates strong adaptability for behavioral-process inference, and provides new perspectives for settlement landscape reconstruction.
Journal Article
Inundation risk assessment of Eastern Mediterranean Coastal archaeological and historical sites of Türkiye and Greece
Archaeological and historical sites, including World Heritage Sites, archaeological sites, castles, fortresses, towers, bridges, necropolises, and ruins, which are a shared legacy of humanity, are at risk of inundation due to sea level rise resulting from global climate change and increased carbon emissions, much like settlements, transportation systems, agricultural areas, and animal habitats. These locations are significant hot spots for connecting the past to the present regarding human history. Throughout history, settlements have been established around wetlands and shorelines. For this reason, the most significant danger threatening coastal archaeological and historical sites is the risk of inundation due to sea level rise. Creating an inundation risk map could be beneficial for planning and conservation studies due to reasons such as the long duration of archaeological studies, lack of a qualified workforce, and budget constraints. To this end, inundation risk maps were created for five different scenarios with risk classes varying from very high to very low, considering global and local sea level rise predictions. The study evaluated 464 historic areas located on the Eastern Mediterranean coasts of Türkiye and Greece. The findings indicate that a significant number of archaeological and historical sites, such as Knidos and Delos, will be inundated even in the lowest sea level rise scenarios. According to the inundation risk map, 34 sites are at very high risk, 21 at high risk, 25 at medium risk, 26 at low risk, and 41 at very low risk of inundation.
Journal Article
Effects of Rain and Sediment-Laden Winds on Earthen Archaeological Sites from Morphometry: A Case Study from Huaca Chotuna (8th–16th Century AD), Lambayeque, Peru
Earthen archaeological sites are particularly vulnerable to rain and winds, whose effects may compromise their integrity. The Huaca Chotuna (HC; 8th–16th Century AD) is an adobe platform in Peru’s semi-arid Lambayeque region, and it is in an area with exposure to rain and winds associated with the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. Here we present the results from an orthophotogrammetric and morphometric study aimed at quantifying the effects of erosion and deposition at the HC. The novelty of our approach consists of merging topographic, hydrological, and wind parameters to recognize the sector of the HC with exposure to potentially damaging natural climatic phenomena. We identify zones affected by erosion and deposition processes. Results of a diffusion model aimed to estimate the HC sectors where these processes will act in the next century are also presented. Gully erosion from rainfall indicates a vertical erosion rate of approximately 0.2 m/century, demonstrating the low preservation potential of the HC. Rainwater also deteriorates adobe bricks and triggers water/mud flows. Conversely, sediment-laden winds contribute to the partial burial of the HC. The findings highlight significant hazards to the HC’s structural integrity, including gravity instability. The interdisciplinary methodology we adopt offers a key framework for assessing and protecting other earthen sites globally against the escalating impacts of climate change.
Journal Article
Seismic hazard assessment for some selected historical pharaonic temples’ sites, south of Egypt
Egypt is fortunate to be less prone to natural disasters compared to other parts of the world. However, the seismic activity is low to moderate. Therefore, this relative stability is a positive factor for preserving the archeological sites. This cultural heritage is a major source of national income. Consequently, there is a strong interest from the state to preserve these sites from any probable natural hazards, especially the earthquakes. In the current study, the seismic hazard assessment has been conducted for south of Egypt, in particular at eight pharaonic temples’ sites, utilizing the probabilistic seismic hazard approach within a logic-tree framework. Peak ground acceleration (PGA) and spectral acceleration (SA) values on rock site conditions have been estimated according to NEHRP site classification. The obtained seismic hazard maps show that Kalabsha, Abu Dabbab and Gulf of Suez seismic zones control the distribution of the ground-motion parameters. In addition, the uniform hazard spectra have been estimated to display that, the temple of Abu Simble is located away from Kalabsha seismic active zone, where the expected PGA and SA values at different return periods is relatively low in comparison with the other temples. Moreover, the ground-motion levels are also deaggregated at the temples' sites and the results indicate that, the distance to the seismic sources which mostly contributes to the seismic hazard is almost controlled by the nearby seismic sources. Therefore, the obtained results could serve as starting point to evaluate and mitigate the seismic risk at those precious historic sites.
Journal Article
WEB EXPLORATION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE WITH LIMITED ACCESSIBILITY: FIRST EXPERIMENTATION FOR HYPOGEUM ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITES
The accessibility to hypogeum archaeological sites is still one of the main challenges for the dissemination of Cultural Heritage knowledge, especially in the territories rich of ancient ruins like the Mediterranean area, where modern cities often hide underground ruins of historical settlements making the accessibility of these sites very difficult or even impossible. Digital reconstructions and virtual reality applications result in many cases the only chance to explore these archaeological sites. Terrestrial laser scanning and photogrammetry are the main technologies able now to digitise at a very high-level detail the hypogeum environments, whilst web virtual navigation systems are smart solutions for their dissemination and virtual fruition. However, this approach has some critical issues since the online virtual fruition needs further 3D model elaborations and web design processes. The work aims to develop and implement a web exploration system for the web fruition of hypogeum archaeological sites. The research was carried out on two hypogeum sites in Marsala (Italy), part of the ancient Roman city of Lylibaeum. The system was developed using WebGL JavaScript open-source libraries, allowing the construction of a virtual 3D navigation platform accessible on the web. In particular, in this work, the 3D dataset elaboration necessary to solve the limitations relative to the web browsing of complex 3D datasets is investigated and a possible smart solution based on open-source technology is proposed.
Journal Article