The 1708 Manosque earthquake (France): A reading of its archaeological traces as a contribution to estimate the effects on buildings

Archaeological techniques and methodology are used to identify seismic traces and disorders in ancient buildings. Clear evidence could be identified as direct seismic consequences or as communities’ technical answers for repair or reinforcement of buildings in order to reduce their vulnerability. This methodology is called “archaeological reading of buildings.” It is based on the identification of different construction phases, modifications and past events (human actions or natural phenomena) suffered by buildings during their life. The data read from the buildings are successively observed, identified, described, and recorded, following the principal of archaeological stratigraphy, in order to explain the buildings history. The seismic pathologies are identified according to detailed engineering knowledge of the behaviour of buildings during seismic motion. In this case study, our approach is applied to the historical city of Manosque, located in a seismic area along the “Moyenne–Durance” active fault. As a result of historical researches (Quenet G, Baumont D, Scotti O, Levret A, Ann Geophys, 47(2/3):583–595, 2004), many historical documents gave evidence about this earthquake’s effects. Among these documents, was an exceptional one: the record of a survey made in Manosque by bricklayers a few days after the 14th August 1708 shock. This gave us specific information concerning the seismic damage caused in the town of Manosque and was the starting point to validate the method. In the present paper, the archaeological reading of buildings method is illustrated by two specific cases: the Charité building in Manosque and the Sainte-Agathe chapel in Saint-Maime village. The buildings suffered various modifications during many centuries. This complicates the application of the method, however the observations made from the buildings correlate well with the indications deduced from written sources, validating our approach. The study highlights the necessity to cross correlate different field data in the frame of a multidisciplinary approach in order to obtain valuable results concerning details of seismic damage, its approximate dating by architectural chronology and the communities’ reaction in terms of repairs and reinforcement techniques.     

3D GPR measurements for archaeological application with interpretation aided by numerical modelling

The paper presents the results of georadar investigations carried out in the area of the monastery at Tyniec near Cracow for archaeological purposes. The georadar profiles were designed on the abbey courtyard in a regular grid, which covered the area of the buildings that currently do not exist. The aim of the measurements was to produce a 3D visualization of former buildings’ foundation. The results of the geophysical measurements were correlated with the information obtained from archaeological investigations. The georadar surveys confirmed the location of foundations documented by archeologists and new underground structures were discovered. To aid the interpretation, numerical modelling of the electromagnetic wave field was performed. Computer modelling allowed to determine the kind and condition of underground structures.     

A Comparison of Charcoal and Archaeological Information to Address the Influences on Holocene Fire Activity in the Sydney Basin

The influence of Aboriginal people on fire activity and hence the vegetation of Australia has long been debated. This study aimed to document the local fire activity of the Holocene in the catchment of a small freshwater reed swamp located in the Sydney Basin and to compare this with nearby archaeological evidence; including artefact discard rates and the number of base camps and activity locations used through time. This archaeological evidence was used as an index of human activity through time to assess anthropogenic influences on fire activity. Charcoal (>250 µm) was quantified in a radiocarbon-dated sediment core from Griffith Swamp covering ～6000 calibrated years BP. A substantial increase in fire activity was found from ～3000 years BP and a lesser increase approximately 700 years ago. The change in fire activity at ～3000 years BP was approximately coeval with changes in archaeological evidence from Upper Mangrove Creek, suggesting either greater human presence in the landscape or altered subsistence and land-use strategies. Fire frequency in the catchment of Griffith Swamp peaked at about eight episodes per century, perhaps in response to environmental change that promoted both increased human activity and a higher natural fire frequency. This study provides an extended temporal perspective on fire and humans in this landscape, demonstrating how palaeoecology can provide practical information for the contemporary management of such fire-prone ecosystems.     

岱海地区原始农业文化的兴衰与环境演变的关系

内蒙古中南部岱海地区考古学文化的发展受到环境条件的制约。原始农业文化的兴起与发展对应于全新世暖期的暖湿条件;农业文化的间断、南移与由农向牧的转变与4～35kaBP发生的变冷、变干的突变事件相对应;而原始农业文化阶段中间每一次文化的间断、侵入、融合总是可以在气候变化中找到相应的变化阶段,与短期寒冷事件的开始或结束对应。     

Palaeo-path investigation of the lower Ajay River (India) using archaeological evidence and applied remote sensing

Numerous palaeochannels, oxbow lakes and elongated sediment fills in Eastern India, particularly along the lower Ajay River, provide a record of channel shifting during the Late Quaternary. Proper characterization of these features is useful for discussing the dynamic evolution of the river system in the Ajay-Damodar Interfluve region. Remote sensing data, archaeological evidence and sedimentology aid in reconstructing the geomorphic history of the lower Ajay River. Archaeological studies help in calculating the rate and direction of channel migration. The channel migration rate varies from 0.32 to 3.41 m/year in the study area. Bouguer gravity anomalies suggest that the rate of channel migration may be controlled by the density variations of the basement rocks. Furthermore, neotectonics activity played a significant role in the migration of Ajay River towards north-east direction.     

Ancient coastal wells of Caesarea Maritima, Israel, an indicator for relative sea level changes during the last 2000 years

During the detailed excavations of ancient Caesarea, Israel, East Mediterranean, 64 coastal water wells have been examined that date from the early Roman period (with the oldest occurring in the 1st century AD), up to the end of the Crusader period (mid-13th century AD). The depths of these coastal water wells establish the position of the ancient water table and therefore the position of sea level for the first century AD up to 1300 AD. The connection between the coastal water table and changes in sea level has been established from modern observations in several wells on time scales of days and months and this is used to reconstruct sea level during historical time. The results indicate that during the Byzantine period, sea level at Caesarea was higher by about 30 cm than today. The Late Moslem and Crusader data shows greater fluctuations but the data sets are also much smaller than for the earlier periods. The consistency of the data indicates that the near-coastal well data from Caesarea provides a reliable indicator of sea-level change, with an accuracy of about 10-15 cm. These results are consistent with observations for earlier periods and, with comparisons to model-predicted glacio-hydro isostatic sea-level change, indicate that ocean volumes have been constant for much of the past 2000 years. The well data is also consistent with an absence of significant vertical tectonic movement of the coast at Caesarea over about 2000 years.     

巢湖西湖岸新石器-商周遗址空间分布规律及其成因

将地理信息系统空间分析方法引入巢湖西湖岸新石器-商周遗址考古工作,通过点密度分析、空间距离分析、三维分析、缓冲区分析等方法研究遗址空间分布规律及其影响因素。研究表明自新石器至商周时期研究区内遗址时空分布呈现:随时间推移由湖岸边逐渐向西北部扩展,后迁移至南部,再均匀扩散的遗址迁移轨迹;先民多选择靠近水源、地势平坦、土壤肥沃的自然岗地、河谷阶地、山麓面居住,导致古遗址空间上大致呈线状、团聚状、分散状等分布特征,具有明显的河谷谷地指向性、阶地岗地指向性、土壤指向性等规律。提出遗址分布在早期可能主要受到气候水文、地貌、植被土壤等自然因素影响,后期生产力发展水平、经济生活方式等人文因素影响加重。本研究为GIS支持下区域考古研究提供了合适的研究实例,同时GIS方法得到一些推论假设仍需要田野考古调查与发掘等进一步佐证。     

长江三峡考古遗址文化断层研究

长江三峡考古遗址的地理位置、14C 测年数据及考古学文化年代、地面高程、文化层的连续性、文化层的埋深和厚度、文化断层的埋深和厚度等统计数据综合分析的结果表明长江三峡地区新石器时代到历史时期考古遗址沉积地层中有5 期文化断层: (1) 城背溪文化末期到大溪文化初期(7200~6000a BP); (2) 大溪文化关庙山类型三期(5800~5500a BP); (3) 夏代 (4000~3500a BP); (4) 春秋晚期至战国时期(2500~2200a BP); (5) 宋代以来(960A.D.以来)。探讨文化断层与灾变事件发生之间的关系, 从而揭示三峡地区史前和历史时期环境演变过程及其与人类活动的影响。     

Relations between rainfall–runoff‐induced erosion and aeolian deposition at archaeological sites in a semi‐arid dam‐controlled river corridor

Process dynamics in fluvial‐based dryland environments are highly complex with fluvial, aeolian, and alluvial processes all contributing to landscape change. When anthropogenic activities such as dam‐building affect fluvial processes, the complexity in local response can be further increased by flood‐ and sediment‐limiting flows. Understanding these complexities is key to predicting landscape behavior in drylands and has important scientific and management implications, including for studies related to paleoclimatology, landscape ecology evolution, and archaeological site context and preservation. Here we use multi‐temporal LiDAR surveys, local weather data, and geomorphological observations to identify trends in site change throughout the 446‐km‐long semi‐arid Colorado River corridor in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA, where archaeological site degradation related to the effects of upstream dam operation is a concern. Using several site case studies, we show the range of landscape responses that might be expected from concomitant occurrence of dam‐controlled fluvial sand bar deposition, aeolian sand transport, and rainfall‐induced erosion. Empirical rainfall‐erosion threshold analyses coupled with a numerical rainfall–runoff–soil erosion model indicate that infiltration‐excess overland flow and gullying govern large‐scale (centimeter‐ to decimeter‐scale) landscape changes, but that aeolian deposition can in some cases mitigate gully erosion. Whereas threshold analyses identify the normalized rainfall intensity (defined as the ratio of rainfall intensity to hydraulic conductivity) as the primary factor governing hydrologic‐driven erosion, assessment of false positives and false negatives in the dataset highlight topographic slope as the next most important parameter governing site response. Analysis of 4+ years of high resolution (four‐minute) weather data and 75+ years of low resolution (daily) climate records indicates that dryland erosion is dependent on short‐term, storm‐driven rainfall intensity rather than cumulative rainfall, and that erosion can occur outside of wet seasons and even wet years. These results can apply to other similar semi‐arid landscapes where process complexity may not be fully understood. Published 2015. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA     

Age determination for a Neolithic site in northeastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau using a combined luminescence and radiocarbon dating

The archaeological Shaliuheqiaodong site, located at the junction between the estuary of Shaliu River and the northeast bedrock terrace of Qinghai Lake, is one of the earliest Neolithic Age sites in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau (QTP), which is critical for understanding patterns of prehistoric human inhabitation in the high plateau extreme environments. There are only two published radiocarbon ages by far for chronological control. Recently, a new section (Gangcha section) was found, with abundant charcoals and fish bones well-preserved in the matrix of aeolian sediments, providing a good opportunity for a combined study of luminescence and radiocarbon dating. In the current study, we obtained three luminescence ages on aeolian sediment, six radiocarbon ages (three on charcoals and three on fish bones). Our results showed that the luminescence ages (average of 3.2 ± 0.2 ka) are in agreement with charcoal radiocarbon ages (3165–3273 cal a BP) where applicable, and that the lake reservoir effect age of radiocarbon dating was approximately 0.3–0.7 cal ka BP and an average of 0.4 cal ka BP at ∼3.2 cal ka BP (age difference between that of charcoals and fish bones). The prehistoric residence in Qinghai Lake area seemed to be sequenced from 15 ka BP to 3.1 ka BP, based on our data and previously published data altogether. The obvious baked vestiges on the bones of fish and animals, as well as a number of artifacts, indicate that naked carps had become a food resource for prehistoric people at least since 3.2 cal ka BP.