Description: Publication date: 30 August 2018 Source: Quaternary International, Volume 486 Author(s): Ipek F. Barut, Mustafa Ergin, Engin Meriç, Niyazi Avşar, Atike Nazik, Fikret Suner The relationship between the distribution of benthic foraminifera with ostracoda and sediment type and geochemical environment in the Iznik Lake is discussed. The microfauna (benthic foraminifer and ostracod) were sampled in seven recent bottom sediment samples, and geochemical variables of the sediment of the same samples were measured. This study is aimed at investigating the geochemical properties of 7 bottom sediment samples analysed in 5 lines in Iznik Lake. The depths for the samples varies from 1 to 68 m. The microfauna individuals were found in very low quantity, a total of 5 species foraminifera and 11 species 10 genus ostracod were identified. The geochemical properties were found to correspond well to the sediment type and depositional environment and five different sediment/depositional environment types could be distinguished. The individuals of microfauna reveals specific faunal assemblages that are closely related to these sediment and geochemical environment types. According to the survey, sediments encountered in the formation of gypsum crystals feature when considered together with the magnetism of Iznik Lake and the surrounding area suggest that are affected by new tectonics. Again this geochemical study the magnetic properties of the heavy-mineral contents, the entire amount of magnetite and hematite and heavy-mineral content has appeared to be affected by changes in the process. The purpose of this work is to distinguish the natural (geogenic) component, originated by techtonical origin this lake, from anthropogenic contamination owing to human activity. There were relationship between microfauna assemblages and heavy metals, trace element pollutant in the bottom lake sediments. Additionally, less individuals are found in most of the sediment samples in observed (in this 7 samples), this coincidence suggests that the heavy metals within the environment can also be a cause. The reason that of heavy metals, trace element pollutants are a factor in the distribution of microfaunal assemblages of genera and species were observed.

Description: Publication date: 10 August 2018 Source: Quaternary International, Volume 484 Author(s): Carlos Tornero, Mónica Aguilera, Juan Pedro Ferrio, Héctor Arcusa, Marta Moreno-García, Sheila Garcia-Reig, Manuel Rojo-Guerra Although the frequency of pastoral activities involving vertical sheep mobility has decreased over the last century, this is a herding strategy still used in the Ebro basin, where animals move from overwintering valley locations up to the Pyrenees from late spring to early autumn. Such practice allows herders to avoid the worst climatic conditions, seasonally balancing the great contrast between ecological zones in this region, from dry lowland Mediterranean steppe to wet mountain subalpine grasslands. As recent regional archaeological works have suggested, the altitudinal movement of flocks may have begun with the first early Neolithic groups settled in this territory. Here we investigate through stable isotope analyses one of the last flocks that still performs this activity. Sheep specimens were analyzed by sequential analyses (δ 13 C and δ 18 O) in bioapatite of tooth enamel, allowing detection of seasonal changes. Tooth series are interpreted according to rainfall distribution, seasonal patterns in δ 18 O of meteoric water, vegetation changes and δ 13 C values in pastures along the altitudinal gradient in the area. Vertical movements in sheep sequential series are recognized by an inverse relationship between δ 13 C and δ 18 O values. Monthly δ 18 O values in meteoric water obtained in valley and mountain locations describe the same type of seasonal oscillation, with high values during the warm months and low values during the cold months. Pastures analyzed along the altitudinal gradient showed a decrease in δ 13 C values with altitude, linked to the seasonal availability of precipitation and vegetation differences among locations. These results define a new analytical and conceptual framework for the interpretation of archaeological samples in this region.

Description: Publication date: 10 August 2018 Source: Quaternary International, Volume 484

Description: Publication date: 10 August 2018 Source: Quaternary International, Volume 484 Author(s): Claudia Gerling, Corina Knipper, Lucie Martin, Thomas Doppler

Description: Publication date: 10 August 2018 Source: Quaternary International, Volume 484 Author(s): Albert Hafner, Christoph Schwörer Since 2003 a melting ice field on the Schnidejoch Pass (2756 m a.s.l.) has yielded several hundred objects from the Neolithic period, the Bronze and Iron Ages and from Roman and early medieval times. The oldest finds date from the beginning of the 5th millennium BC, whilst the most recent artefacts date from around AD 1000. Most of the objects belong to the Neolithic period and the Bronze Age and are of organic origin. A series of over 70 radiocarbon dates confirm that the Schnidejoch Pass, which linked the Bernese Oberland with the Rhône Valley, was frequented from no later than 4800–4500 BCE onwards. The pass was easily accessible when the glaciers descending from the nearby Wildhorn mountain range (summit at 3248 m a.s.l.) were in a retreating phase. On the other hand, the area was impassable during periods of glacial advances. A recent palaeoecological study of sediment cores from nearby Lake Iffigsee (2065 m a.s.l.) provides clear indications of early human impact in this Alpine area. Linking archaeological finds from the Schnidejoch Pass and the Rhône Valley with the palaeoecological data provides results that can be interpreted as early indications of Alpine pastoralism and transhumance. The combined archaeological and paleoecological research allows us to explain vertical mobility in the Swiss Alps.

Description: Publication date: 10 August 2018 Source: Quaternary International, Volume 484 Author(s): Thomas Reitmaier, Thomas Doppler, Alistair W.G. Pike, Sabine Deschler-Erb, Irka Hajdas, Christoph Walser, Claudia Gerling Based on a series of new radiocarbon dates we examine the vertical mobility of cattle in the Alps by means of strontium isotope analysis on samples from the prehistoric settlement of Ramosch-Mottata (Canton of Grisons, Switzerland). By identifying variations in the strontium isotope ratios of high-crowned cattle molars, we investigate the seasonal use of alpine pastures (vertical transhumance) and changes in cattle husbandry practices between the early and later stages of the site's occupation. Combined with the evidence of multiple high-altitude sites, indications of dairying and ethno-archeological observations, we see an economic shift and a reorganization of domestic animal exploitation from the early to the late Bronze/early Iron Age in the Alps.

Description: Publication date: 10 August 2018 Source: Quaternary International, Volume 484 Author(s): J. Agirre-García, J.M. Edeso-Fito, A. Lopetegi-Galarraga, A. Moraza-Barea, M. Ruiz-Alonso, S. Pérez-Díaz, T. Fernández-Crespo, I. Goikoetxea, M.A. Martínez de Pancorbo, L. Palencia, M. Baeta, C. Núñez, S. Cardoso, J.A. Mujika-Alustiza Aralar is a karstic mountainous landscape situated to the south of the western-most part of the Pyrenees where, apart from forests, mountain pastures are very important. We have found evidence of seasonal shepherds' settlements from the Neolithic to the present in the form of megaliths, caves and foundations of dwelling huts dating from the Bronze Age, and confirmed by radiocarbon dating. Pastoralism, apart from gathering and some hunting, enables the use of resources in these areas. The environmental, cultural and economic conditions determine the characteristics of the animal herds here. Thus, mountain areas are used in summer, when grass and nutritional resources are good but, when lignification increases, the livestock is moved lower down the valleys. More than two decades of archaeological research in this landscape has helped to understand the shepherds' way of life over time.

Description: Publication date: 30 July 2018 Source: Quaternary International, Volume 483

Description: Publication date: 30 July 2018 Source: Quaternary International, Volume 483 Author(s): Tara Beuzen-Waller, Friederike Stock, Yasuhisa Kondo

Description: Publication date: 30 July 2018 Source: Quaternary International, Volume 483 Author(s): Ladislav Šmejda, Michal Hejcman, Jan Horák, Itzhaq Shai Human settlement activities have caused changes in soil chemical properties that might remain preserved in the soil archive for a very long time. These traces might be close to irreversible on the timescale of known civilizations. Our study explores the potential of an extensive mapping of the multi-elemental composition of soil and buried sediments by a portable XRF spectrometer, using the Tel Burna site in the southern Levant as a case study. The tell, dating from the 3rd to the 1st millennium BCE, is known as a Bronze Age Canaanite settlement, and later in the Iron Age as a stronghold on the historic border between the Kingdom of Judah and Philistia. We compared the results of our geochemical survey conducted on the surface layer of contemporary soil with the data acquired by the same method from the archaeological stratigraphy exposed during excavations of the site. We found that handheld XRF spectrometry can reveal archaeologically meaningful patterns of the multi-elemental composition of soils and sediments in the horizontal plane, as well as in vertical profiles. Such patterns correspond to areas and loci of ancient settlement activities, dated to millennia ago. This methodology, if used critically, provides a rapid and cost-effective analysis of soil chemical composition that can significantly enhance our understanding of archaeological sites in arid environments.