Archaeoseismological Analysis of a Late Bronze Age Site on the Alhama de Murcia Fault,SE Spain

An archaeoseismological study of Tira del Lienzo (Totana, Spain) was undertaken. The site belongs to the Argar archaeological group (2200–1550 cal. B.C.; Bronze Age). It is located on the trace of the reverse left‐lateral Alhama de Murcia fault (AMF) that was responsible for the 5.1 Mw 2011 Lorca earthquake. The constructive typology of the site consists of mortar‐free irregular natural boulders (dry‐set masonry) and differs from earlier archaeoseismological sites built on regular masonry constructions in the Betic Cordillera. Four Earthquake Archaeological Effects (EAEs) were identified as follows: (1) an apparent surface rupture (c. 18 cm left‐lateral offset), (2) the differential coseismic uplift of several centimeters affecting the main building of the settlement, (3) the widespread development of fractures on the ground surface (ground cracks) in a NE‐SW direction consistent with the kinematics of the AMF, and (4) fractures in boulders that constitute the remains of the dry stone walls at the site. Structural analysis of the two fracture types reveals two nearly orthogonal sets (NE‐SW and NW‐SE), matching the strike‐slip kinematics of the AMF in the zone. Archaeoseismic evidence and related radiocarbon dates of the different building phases of the Bronze Age site indicate the probable occurrence of at least one strong seismic event (6.3–6.5 Mw; IX ESI‐07) around 1550 cal. B.C., or soon after, triggering the destruction and probably the eventual abandonment of the site. We have identified an ancient lost earthquake from the Bronze Age and report the first archaeoseismological evidence of surface rupture in the Iberian Peninsula. This study also provides the first numerical data in the Totana‐Alhama segment of the AMF based on the recorded archaeoseismic displacements. These data allowed us to characterize the related slip rates (0.05 mm/yr) to define the seismic potential of the analyzed fault segment of the AMF, which was poorly defined by previous seismic and geological data.     

OSL Age Determination of Archaeological Stone Structures Using Trapped Aeolian Sediments: A Case Study from the Negev Highlands,Israel

Optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating is widely applied to sediments in paleoenvironmental sciences. However, there are only limited examples determining the age of archaeological stone structures by OSL using dust deposits. The age of dust deposits associated with ancient buildings may be used to date the onset of settlement (sediment below structures), settlement activity (occupation layer), or the time after a settlement had been abandoned or destroyed (sediment between collapsed roofs and walls). In this study, OSL dating is applied to establish numerical dates for settlement structures situated in the Negev Highlands, Israel. Two archaeological sites are investigated to identify their occupation history, by dating nine samples of aeolian dust trapped within the remains of ancient buildings. The OSL dating technique is applied using coarse grain quartz and a standard single‐aliquot regenerative‐dose (SAR) protocol. It was possible to date the onset of sedimentation in a later phase of the human occupation or shortly after the sites were abandoned, to 3.7 ± 0.3 ka (Intermediate Bronze Age) at the central site and to 2.7 ± 0.2 ka (Iron Age) at the ephemeral site. These results are supported by archaeological evidence gained from pottery finds and the architecture of the ancient buildings.     

Palynology,sedimentology and palaeoecology of the late Holocene Dead Sea

Palynological and sedimentological studies were performed at two Holocene profiles in erosion gullies (Ze’elim and Ein Feshkha) which dissect the retreating western shore of the Dead Sea. The aim of the project was to analyse possible links between climate, lithology, and vegetation development. The section in Ze’elim shows both lacustrine and fluvial sediments, whereas sedimentation at Ein Feshkha is predominantly lacustrine. The Ze’elim profile, previously used for paleo-lake reconstruction provides an opportunity to compare climate triggered lake levels as paleo-hydrological indicators and vegetation history by use of palynology. The vegetation development in Ze’elim and Ein Feshkha is influenced by both climate and human impact. The pollen record of Ze’elim begins in the Pottery Neolithic, the section of Ein Feshkha in the Late Bronze Age, both records end in the Middle Ages. The Ze’elim section is characterized by sedimentary hiati between the beginning of the Chalcolithic Period until the Middle Bronze Age and within the Late Bronze Age. Settlement periods during the Middle Bronze Age, Iron Age and Hellenistic–Roman–Byzantine Period are indicated by high values of anthropogenic indicators and/or Mediterranean trees. Collapses of agriculture, which can be related to climate effects, are evident during the Late Bronze Age, during the Iron Age and at the end of the Byzantine Period when the lake level curve indicates arid conditions. A comparison of the two pollen records, from different environments, illustrates a more prominent influence of Mediterranean vegetation and cultivated plants in the pollen diagram of Ein Feshkha. The southern Dead Sea region (at the desert fringe) is more vulnerable to regional climate change.     

Soilscape and land‐use evolution related to drift sand movements since the bronze age in Eastern Jutland,Denmark

Quarry faces several kilometers long in the Glesborg area in Denmark show that Bronze Age farmers used a sustainable land‐use system. Despite nutrient‐poor soils, the Glesborg area was under a rotation system in which cropland alternated with grassland. Soil fertility was improved by the addition of household waste and probably also by locally obtained inorganic fertilizer. The soil surface was very stable, and local drift sand movement was limited. Toward the end of the Bronze Age, the landscape changed dramatically with the arrival of overwhelming amounts of drift sand, and farmsteads were abandoned. Subsequent land use on these poor fine sandy soils was no longer capable of maintaining a stable soil surface, and frequent erosion/sedimentation events of more local importance took place. The post‐Bronze Age landscape may have been mainly a shifting mosaic of heathland with some temporary arable fields and deflation/accumulation areas. This landscape persisted up to about 200 years ago, when afforestation programs started. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Bronze Age at Lake Bourget (NW Alps, France): Vegetation, human impact and climatic change

Pollen analyses of three sediment cores performed on the archaeological lake dwellings of Chindrieux and Tresserve (Savoie, France), on the eastern shore of Lake Bourget, enable the reconstruction of vegetation history and human impact during the Bronze Age. Results show a good correlation between lake-level fluctuations and the evolution of anthropogenic indicators. The end of the Neolithic period and the early Bronze Age are characterised by a discreet occupation of the Lake Bourget surroundings, in spite of a warmer climatic condition. The middle Bronze Age, contemporaneous with wetter and cooler conditions, is related to a decrease in pollen of cultivated plants and weed. Farming activities reappear in the late Bronze Age and human impact increases suddenly at the very end of the late Bronze Age. Three anthropogenic phases are clearly visible: a short decrease in anthropogenic indicators and a high lake-level phase occur in the middle of this period of intense farming development. A new decrease in human impact appears at the beginning of the Iron Age.     

Holocene vegetation and land‐use changes in response to climatic changes in the forelands of the southwestern Alps,Italy

The Holocene sediment of Lago Piccolo di Avigliana (Piedmont, Italy, 356 m a.s.l.) was dated by ¹⁴C and analysed for pollen to reconstruct the vegetation history of the area. The early‐ and mid‐Holocene pollen record shows environmental responses to centennial‐scale climatic changes as evidenced by independent palaeoclimatic proxies. When human impact was low or negligible, continental mixed‐oak forests decreased at ca. 9300 BC in response to the early‐Holocene Preboreal climatic oscillation. Abies alba expanded in two phases, probably in response to higher moisture availability at ca. 6000 and ca. 4000 BC , while Fagus expanded later, possibly in response to a climatic change at 3300 BC . During and after the Bronze Age five distinct phases of intensified land use were detected. The near synchroneity with the land‐use phases detected in wetter regions in northern and southern Switzerland points to a common forcing factor in spite of cultural differences. Increasing minerogenic input to the lake since 1000 BC coincided with Late Bronze—Iron Age technical innovations and probably indicate soil erosion as a consequence of deforestation in the lake catchment. The highest values for cultural indicators occurred at 700–450 and at 300–50 BC , coinciding with periods of high solar activity (inferred from Δ¹⁴C). This suggests that Iron Age land use was enhanced by high solar activity, while re‐occupation of partly abandoned areas after crises in earlier periods match better with the GRIP stable isotope record. On the basis of our data and comparison with independent palaeoclimatic proxies we suggest that precipitation variation was much more important than temperature oscillations in driving vegetation and societal changes throughout the Holocene. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Integrating surface and subsurface reconnaissance data in the study of stratigraphically complex sites: Blagotin,Serbia

This article demonstrates the application of multiple reconnaissance methods as an efficient means of localizing desired data sets (e.g., artifact concentrations and architectural features) in stratigraphically complex sites. Excavations at Blagotin, Serbia, are presented as an example. Blagotin is a multioccupation site with vertically superimposed and laterally displaced cultural deposits. The application of a battery of survey techniques and the integration of the results enabled the author to define periods of occupation (Early Neolithic, Eneolithic, Early Iron Age), distinguish temporal variations, and predict the nature and distribution of subsurface archaeological remains. Ultimately, the Early Neolithic occupation is shown to consist of a small settlement with a large central pit‐house surrounded by a ring of smaller pit houses. This interpretation of the intra‐settlement spatial organization, made possible through the application of a multiple survey technique, differs from those previously offered for these types of sites. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

The management of arable land from prehistory to the present: Case studies from the Northern Isles of Scotland

The arable soils from two multiperiod settlements were analyzed to identify changes in agricultural methods over time. The settlement middens were also analyzed to determine whether potential fertilizers were discarded unused. Results suggest that in the Neolithic period (˜4000–2000 B.C. in the UK) the arable soils at Tofts Ness, Orkney, and Old Scatness, Shetland, were created by flattening and cultivating the settlements' midden heaps in situ. The arable area at Tofts Ness was expanded in the Bronze Age (˜2000–700 B.C. in the UK), and the new land was improved by the addition of ash, nightsoil, and domestic waste. Cultivation continued briefly after the fields were buried in windblown sand in the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age, but by the Early Iron Age cultivation ceased and organic‐rich material was allowed to accumulate within the settlement. By contrast, at Old Scatness, arable production was increased in the Iron Age (˜700 B.C.–A.D. 550 in Scotland) by the intensive use of animal manures. The results indicate that during the lifespan of the two settlements the arable soils were fertilized to increase production, which was intensified over time. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Reconstruction of the old cultural surface of a Bronze Age Settlement – An example for a multi-methodological interaction of Soil Science and Archaeology in Southern Germany

During the excavation of a Late Bronze Age settlement at Mintraching (near Regensburg, Germany) the on-site pedological and geomorphological settings were studied in order to collect data regarding the palaeopedological and geomorphological conditions of the settlement area, as well as to elaborate further on the former Bronze Age surface. Pedological and geophysical field methods in combination with laboratory analyses were used in close proximity to the archaeological excavation site. Studies about the terrace stratigraphy of the river Danube and associated soil profiles provided data to determine the altitude of the ancient surface. This assisted in calculating the altitude of the former surface of the highest prehistoric building found in Bavaria to date. Since Bronze Age, a minimum amount of 80 - 100 cm soil loss referring to the original Holocene surface could be calculated. Furthermore, the accumulation history of black sediments distributed nearby is described. The black sediments, which are rich in organic matter, accumulated in an old palaeo channel close to the settlement since the Neolithic period. The deposits are not the remnants of a Tschernosem soil as previously thought. Erosion and deposition of the black material give an indication of anthropogenic activities like clearing and farming in the close vicinity of the former settlement area which was located next to an old water filled channel.     

Radiocarbon chronology of occupation of the site Chicha and Bayesian statistics for the assessment of a discontinuous transition from Late Bronze to Early Iron Age (West Siberia)

The Late Bronze to Iron Age transition in West Siberia involved significant cultural and political changes, which were reflected in the emergence of protourban settlements in the forest-steppe zone. The transition is roughly dated to the turn from the 2nd to the 1st mil. BC, mainly based on archaeological artefacts and on the general sociocultural development. A more precise radiocarbon dating for this transition was problematic mainly because of the general lack of data for West Siberia. This paper analyzes the chronology of the Late Bronze to Iron Age transition at Chicha, a reference site in the region for this period. The assessment of a possible hiatus between the Late Bronze Age and the following transitional period at Chicha is the key issue of our paper, as its presence may have far reaching cultural implications. To increase the precision of the radiocarbon chronology with focus on the possible hiatus, the samples from well-defined stratigraphic contexts were analyzed using Bayesian modeling incorporating stratigraphic information. The performed chronological modeling supports existing archaeological hypothesis of a hiatus at the very end of the 2nd mil. BC, just before the regular emergence of a new protourban settlement at the site of an abandoned Late Bronze settlement. A sensitivity analysis including the simulated hiatus confirms the reliability of the model. A complete population change seems to be plausible. The protourban settlement of Chicha, typical of the Transitional period, did not exist very long. With the emergence of the early nomadic cultures in the South Siberian steppes at the beginning of the 1st mil. BC, it most probably stopped functioning. The cultural development of that time, former believed to be continuous, was deeply interrupted several times.     

Occupation horizons found in the search for the ancient Greek city of Helike

In 373 B.C. an earthquake and seismic sea wave destroyed and submerged Helike, the principal Greek city on the southwestern shore of the Gulf of Corinth. Our sonar survey of the seafloor in the area where ancient sources located Helike, southeast of Aigion, showed no evidence of a submerged city. We concluded that the site must now lie in the alluvial deposits of the adjacent coastal plain. Accordingly, we used bore hole drilling and geophysical techniques to look for buried occupation horizons on land. The bore hole cores yielded numerous ceramic fragments and remains of walls, ranging from near the surface to about 15 m deep, concentrated in an area of some 2 km² on the upper part of the delta between the Selinous and Kerynites Rivers. Ceramic and organic samples from the cores yielded ages ranging from Byzantine to Early Helladic times. A shallow auger hole brought to light a superb fragment of an architectural terracotta statue from an Archaic building, ca. 600 B.C. Near the center of the ceramic-bearing area, we discovered by magnetometry a large Roman building and began its excavation. It may belong to a Roman settlement that Pausanias visited at the site of Classical Helike. The deeper layers of the excavation yielded black-glazed vase fragments from the 5th century B.C. and potsherds from Protogeometric and Mycenaean times. The overall results suggest that most of the Roman to Classical horizons lie within about 6 m of the surface, whereas Bronze Age horizons range down to 15 m. While we have yet to determine by excavation whether the occupation horizons include the center of a city, this area appears to be a strong candidate for the site of ancient Helike. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Soil erosion,agricultural terracing and site formation processes at Markiani,Amorgos, Greece: The micromorphological perspective

Soils and sediments of a terraced slope at an Early Bronze Age site on the Aegean island of Amorgos were examined micromorphologically to determine the nature and amount of erosion on the slope during the past 5000 years, and how this had affected the formation of the surviving archaeological record. The deposits forming representative terraces were examined, as was the postdepositional sequence overlying the site, and a palaeosol preserved beneath terrace retaining walls at the break of slope. The buried, preterrace system “red soil” was a reworked red palaeosol, much affected by downslope erosion processes, which probably commenced with clearance associated with the Early Bronze Age occupation of the site. Examination of this soil suggested that there were at least two premodern phases of use of the hillside. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Geologic constraints on the Harappa archaeological site,Punjab Province,Pakistan

The geologic setting of an urban environment affects the development of that particular urban culture. Human activities can involve devegetation, soil loosening, soil‐water and ground‐water changes, soil erosion, and changes in surface‐water hydrology. This article focuses on how the geologic resources and history of the Punjab region have greatly influenced the cultural development of the Bronze Age city of Harappa, located in northeast Pakistan. Archaeological deposits at this site date between at least 3300 B.C. and 1700 B.C. A geologic and geomorphic framework is provided which presents the relationships of the ancient Harappans with their local and regional environment, with these geologic processes affecting both the initial settlement and development of this ancient urban center. Buried soil elevation data, mapped soil distributions, and geomorphic models are used to construct an approximation of the preoccupation paleotopography beneath this site. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Placer Tin Ores from Mt. Cer,West Serbia,and Their Potential Exploitation during the Bronze Age

Tin is a rare metal that is essential for making bronze, the defining technology of the Bronze Age. The source(s) of tin for Aegean bronze is undetermined but several small Bronze Age tin mines have been documented in the circum‐Aegean region. The discovery of Bronze Age archaeological sites in West Serbia near a tin placer deposit on the flanks of Mt. Cer led to an investigation of this site as a potential additional Bronze Age tin mine in the region. Geochemical prospecting of stream sediments flowing from Mt. Cer allowed for categorization of streams based on relative tin grade. Tin grade is highest in the Milinska River, a likely combination of a broad catchment area with multiple ore‐bearing tributaries, and a topographic profile that favors the accumulation of placer deposits. A survey of cornfields along the southern pluton margin discovered archaeological sites spanning the Neolithic to the Iron Age. Unlike older and younger sites, those of the Bronze Age were found only along the Milinska and Cernica Rivers where placer tin grades are highest, but appear to be absent where tin is scarce or absent. This suggests that these sites were associated with the exploitation of the tin ore.     

Climate Change,Geopolitics, and Human Settlements in the Hexi Corridor over the Last 5,000 Years

Social responses to climate change over human history have been widely discussed in academia over the last two decades. However, the transformation of the human–environment nexus crossing prehistoric and historic periods and the processes associated with it are not yet clearly understood. In this study, based on published works on radiocarbon dating, archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, and archaeological sites, together with a synthesis of historical documents and highresolution paleoclimatic records, we trace the extent to which human settlement patterns in the Hexi Corridor in northwestern China evolved in conjunction with climate change over the last 5,000 years. A total of 129 Neolithic, 126 Bronze Age, and 1,378 historical sites in the Hexi Corridor(n=1,633) were surveyed. Our results show that, in the Late Neolithic and Bronze Age periods(～2800–100 BC), climate change contributed to the transformation of subsistence strategies and the subsequent changes in human settlement patterns in the Hexi Corridor. The warm-humid climate in ～2800–2000 BC promoted millet agriculture and helped the Majiayao, Banshan, and Machang Cultures to flourish. The cold-dry climate in ～2000–100 BC resulted in the divergence and transformation of subsistence strategies in the Xichengyi–Qijia–Siba and Shajing–Shanma Cultures and in a shift in their settlement patterns. However, in the historical period(121 BC–AD 1911), human settlement patterns were primarily determined by geopolitics related to the alternating rule of regimes and frequent wars, especially in the Sui–Tang dynasties. We also find that trans-Eurasian cultural exchange since ～2000 BC improved social resilience to climate change in the Hexi Corridor, mediating the human–environment nexus there. Our findings may provide insights into how human societies reacted to climate change in arid and semi-arid environments over the long term.     

Holocene alluviation and land-use change on Callaly Moor,Northumberland, England

Archaeological survey and palaeoenvironmental investigations in Coe Burn, Callaly Moor, Northumberland, have examined the chronology and nature of prehistoric and historic land-use change in a small upland river catchment. These studies have revealed an intensively used landscape with evidence of late Neolithic to Bronze Age, medieval and post-medieval land use and settlement. Two episodes of valley floor alluviation are identified and dated to the middle-late Bronze Age and post-medieval periods. Magnetic mineral and geochemical analyses of fine sediments from the older alluvial fill show it to contain a high proportion of topsoil, which is believed to have been produced by soil erosion resulting from Bronze Age tree clearance and cultivation. Deposition of the younger alluvial fill (post AD 1500) was associated with the inwash of relatively unweathered bedrock generated by coal mining in the catchment. It is demonstrated that by integrating archaeological field survey with off-site palaeoenvironmental investigations a much fuller picture of human activity and land-use change has emerged than otherwise would have been the case. Studies of this type may be particularly useful in other upland river catchments where archaeological survival is limited or poor.     

The Bronze Age occupation of the Black Sea coast of Georgia—New insights from settlement mounds of the Colchian plain

Along the lower course of the Rioni and several minor rivers, more than 70 settlement mounds (local name: Dikhagudzuba) have been identified by field surveys and remote sensing techniques. They give evidence of a formerly densely populated landscape in the coastal lowlands on the Colchian plain (western Georgia) and have been dated to the Bronze Age. As yet, limited information is available on their internal architecture, the chronology of the different layers and their palaeoenvironmental context. Based on archaeological sources, remote sensing measurements of three mounds and sediment cores from one mound and its closer surroundings, our study presents a review of the relevant literature and reveals the internal structure, distribution and spatial extent of the mounds. Geochemical and sedimentological analyses of element contents (X-ray fluorescence) and granulometry helped to identify different stratigraphical layers and differentiate between natural facies and anthropogenic deposits; using the Structure-from-Motion technique the mounds' dimensions were calculated. The studied settlement mounds had relatively small dimension (varying from 30 to 100 m in diameter) and were similar in their stratigraphy. Measurement of elements that can identify types of human activity, notably metals and phosphorus, suggest changing intensities of human occupation, pastoral agriculture and metalworking through the occupation sequence. According to the ¹⁴C chronology, the formation of the settlements occurred during the first half of the second millennium B.C., which confirms the archaeological interpretation of their Bronze Age origin. The narrow age difference between the lowermost and uppermost anthropogenic layers indicates an intentional construction of the mounds, rather than a successive accumulation of construction debris due to the disintegration of loam bricks by weathering. Therefore, they are indeed mounds and not tells. It is most likely that the characteristic circular moats that surround them were the source of their construction material. Fluvial and alluvial processes in a warm and humid climate dominated the environment of the mounds.     

Geomorphic and pedogenic evidence for bioturbation of artifacts at a multicomponent site in Licking County,Ohio, U.S.A.

The distribution of artifacts at the multi-component (Paleoindian through Middle Woodland) Munson Springs site (33Li251) is best explained by downward migration of objects through bioturbation processes rather than by a vertical sequence of occupation surfaces through a period of sediment accretion. At the noncultivated, 1800 m², footslope site, the distribution of glacial diamict, loess, and drift- and bedrock-derived colluvium indicate widespread slope erosion during the late-glacial period with general backslope and footslope stability during the Holocene. Diagnostic Paleoindian artifacts were recovered from a BE soil horizon lying directly below fill material of a small (8 × 10 m) Early Woodland mound. Based on soil fine clay distribution, these artifacts lay about 30 cm below the premound land surface. Woodland artifacts are concentrated at depths of 10–20 cm immediately down slope from the mound. Soil horizonation and total and fine clay distributions within footslope profiles indicate no significant sediment accretion through the period of soil genesis and prehistoric site occupation. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Holocene landscape evolution and its impact on the neolithic and bronze age sites in the Shangqiu area,Northern China

The Shangqiu area, situated on the alluvial plain of the lower Yellow River, is traditionally considered the center of the predynastic and early Shang culture. Archaeologic remains dating to predynastic and dynastic Shang periods, however, have remained elusive. The current pattern of Neolithic and Bronze Age sites is characterized by their upland settings; and it has been often assumed that the area had the same landscape from the Neolithic through recent historic time. The potential impact of geomorphic processes on these early sites has been hardly considered in developing archaeologic models of temporal and spatial distribution of these sites. This article first presents a reconstruction of the Holocene floodplain history in the archaeologically significant area. On the basis of stratigraphy and sedimentology, a Holocene landscape evolution model is constructed to explore the interrelationship between evolving landscape and archaeologic record of the Neolithic and Bronze Age. The prolonged landscape stability from very late Pleistocene or early Holocene to 2000 yr B. P. provided potential Neolithic and Bronze Age human occupation with a favorable physical environment. After 2000 yr B. P., the hydrologic regime changed and the floodplain experienced 2-3 m of gradual vertical accretion during the following millennium. In response to the dramatic change of hydro-logic regime after the early 12th century A. D., a new floodplain formed by dominantly overbank deposition, and the old floodplain surfaces are covered by as much as ten meters of the younger alluvium. As a result, a pronounced effect has been imposed on the preservation, visibility, and discovery of the Neolithic and Bronze Age sites, including those sites of predynastic and early Shang phases. Thus, much difficulty has been imparted to our understanding of the configuration of these early archaeologic sites. This study demonstrates the usefulness of landscape reconstruction in developing settlement models of Neolithic and Bronze age sites in the area.     

Neolithic Lakeshore Settlements in Switzerland: New Insights on Site Formation Processes from Micromorphology

Lakeside settlements can be regarded as a special type of archaeological site, as, thanks to their location near the shoreline, or even in the lake, various kinds of organic remains have been preserved under waterlogged conditions. This paper presents the results of six‐studied Neolithic lake dwellings from Switzerland. A series of natural and anthropogenic site formation processes were identified through micromorphological analysis and have been compared with natural processes in peatlands. The main processes can be summarized as follows: in the littoral zone a carbonate lake marl stratum accumulated prior to construction of the settlement. During lake regressions, the shore platform became dry and the settlements were established. Throughout the period of occupation, anthropogenic processes led to the accumulation of organic layers. The depositional regime can be characterized as paludal, dominated by constant humidity, and rapid covering of the remains. Some parts of the anthropogenic accumulations have been affected by erosion and reworking processes as a result of lake flooding, and runoff from the hinterland. Finally, the degradation of organic matter occurred only during dry phases when the groundwater level dropped. Seasonality was of great importance in this kind of milieu throughout the various processes described above. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.