The focus of this thesis was to gather and analyze micromorphological and petrographic data on soils at the archaeological site of Dmanisi in order to better understand the extent to which the deposition and alteration of the sediments has affected the preservation of artifacts and faunal remains. A major goal of this research was to test hypothesis related to why bone material is discovered in some strata and not in others. This research focuses on the application of micromorphology (supplemented with other methods) to the soils through the use of petrographic analysis of thin sections and scanning electron microscopy. These techniques complement previous field analyses by providing a quantitative assessment of individual strata through point counting and chemical mapping. The results of this research support the hypothesis that the sediments are predominantly mafic ashes, while showing that there is very little soil development in the strata. This suggests quick episodic burial in a relatively dry climate, confirming the hypothesis for a short time sequence in the strata. Additionally, differential weathering probably did not play a significant role in the differential abundance of bone remains among the strata at Dmanisi.

Identifying connections between land use, population change, and natural and human-induced environmental change in ancient societies provides insights into the challenges we face today. This dissertation presents data from archaeological research at the ancient Maya center of Uxbenká, Belize, integrating chronological, geomorphological, and settlement data within an ecological framework to develop methodological and theoretical tools to explore connections between social and environmental change or stability during the Preclassic and Classic Period (~1000 BC to AD 900). High-precision AMS 14C dates from Uxbenká were integrated with stratigraphic information within a Bayesian framework to generate a high-resolution chronology of sociopolitical development and expansion in southern Belize. This chronology revises the previous understanding of settlement and development of Classic Maya society at Uxbenká and indicates specific areas of investigation to elucidate the Late and Terminal Classic periods (AD 600-900) when the polity appears to disintegrate. A geoarchaeological record of land use was developed and interpreted with respect to regional climatic and cultural histories to track landscape transformations associated with human-environment interactions at Uxbenká. The first documented episode of landscape instability (i.e., erosion) was associated with farmers colonizing the area. Later, landscape stability in the site core parallels Classic Period urbanization (AD 300-900) when swidden agriculture was likely restricted in the core. Another erosional event followed political disintegration as farmers resumed cultivation in and around the abandoned city. Maize yields derived from contemporary Maya farms in the area were used to estimate the maximum population size of Uxbenká during its Classic Period peak. The maximum sustainable population is estimated between 7500 and 13,000, including a potential population of ~525 elites in the core, assuming low levels of agricultural intensification. This accords well with the lack of archaeological evidence for intensive land management during the Classic Period (e.g., terraces). An ecological model developed using maize productivity and other environmental/social datasets largely predicts the settlement pattern surrounding Uxbenká. Settlements in marginal areas may be evidence of elite intra-polity competition during the Late Preclassic Period (ca. AD 1-300), though it is possible that marginal areas were settled early as garrisons to mediate travel into the site core.

Memphis is considered to have been the main metropolis of dynastic Egypt. For more than 3000 years the settlement played a primary role in political, economic and cultural life of the state, functioning as capital for long periods. Nonetheless, little is known about the setting and archaeology of the city itself, even when compared to other Egyptian settlements. This work investigates the context and archaeology of Memphis, recognising distinctive development phases, and examines potential reasons for historical changes. Sedimentary records of 77 boreholes taken in the area of Mit Rahina are analysed to detect palaeoenvironmental conditions and palaeo-landscape features. Their interpretation is sustained by a multidisciplinary approach drawing together prior archaeological, historical and geomorphological studies. A model reflecting the transformations of Memphis is formulated and multi-scale landscape and environmental changes in the Memphite region over the last 5000 years are established. According to this new model, a settlement was founded during the Early Dynastic Period on a complex of sandbanks which were separated and surrounded by three branches of the Nile. After its foundation and during the Early Dynastic Period and the Old Kingdom, the city grew on the western cluster of sandbanks while the West Channel was losing flow. During the First Intermediate Period and the beginning of the Middle Kingdom extreme floods significantly affected the settlement. It recovered during the Middle Kingdom when large-scale landscape management initiatives and strong interventions on the margins of the Central Channel were undertaken. By the New Kingdom, the Middle Birka was already dry land, mainly as a result of human intervention. The East Channel became the only active branch of the Nile serving the city and the Eastern Koms were intensively settled. In the Late Period the city had expanded to the Northern Koms and the North Birka silted up. During the Ptolemaic Period, the city reached its maximum extension, despite important changes in its status and social-economic background. Subsequently, the importance of the city declined with the end of the dynastic state, while the East Channel started to migrate slowly eastward. The city decayed and was abandoned after a few centuries. Some landscape and environmental changes are positively associated both with urban mutation and with different social, economic and political phases of Memphis' history. Human interventions actively induced the evolution of both landscape and local environment. Events at the supra-regional level, both natural and especially anthropic, also had impact and are linked to changes at Memphis. Conversely, contingencies restricted to the Memphite region influenced the development of the state. Local situations at Memphis-e.g., crisis, disaster, conflict, prosperity, or affluence-could be magnified to the extent that they have been perceived as having affected the state as a whole. The foundation and development of Memphis were tightly interconnected with the fortunes of state and power. The city embodied the cultural and political identity of the state and maintained its prominence through dynastic Egyptian history. Triangular complex cause-effect relations between local changes in Memphis, historical change in Egypt, and climatic and environmental evolution both at regional and supra-regional scales are recognised. The significance of each varied with time, determining the evolution of Memphis and also of dynastic Egypt.

The early human paleoanthropological site at Ngandong, Central Java, Indonesia has significant impact on the models for human migration and evolution out of the African continent. Located on an abandoned stream bank above the Solo River, Ngandong archaeological digs have uncovered fourteen Homo erectus fossils that, based on their unique shape, are believed to have lived more recently than any other known examples of Homo erectus. However, this hypothesis has not been substantiated by previous studies at Ngandong due to a general lack of understanding about the formation of the site as a whole. This study seeks to overcome the limits of these previous studies by thoroughly examining the grain size, grain shape, mineralogy, geochemistry, and stratigraphy of the site to understand how it formed, and in turn, provide a necessary geological context to the Ngandong Homo erectus fossils. The results outlined in this dissertation suggest the fossil-bearing layers were deposited at the site (at the time a channel bottom) over a short period of time and were sourced from the volcanic arc that forms the southern portion of Java island.

The following paper is the final thesis of two years long experimental work conducted on two different collections of soil samples coming from two different Norwegian archaeological sites. In particular, the first collection of soil samples comes from an identified boat grave from the Viking Age (eg Sykehus area Kristiansand County, Vest-Agder). The second one comes also from a boat grave from Vestfold region in Hejmdaljordet archaeological site. Both the collections of samples have been analysed with geochemical methods (phosphate extraction and determination, magnetic susceptibility and loss on ignition), NIR (Near-InfraRed) spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence. Although the contexts are different, a comparison between them has been attempted. In particular, the first boat grave presented a very altered and spoiled conditions because of different disturbance actions coming from atmospheric factors but also human actions such as looting or burning, that have not permitted the discovery of significant archaeological findings. Conversely, the second boat grave presented more favourable conditions and also a discrete preservation. In fact, it was possible to recover the belongs of the dead, such as fragments of the belt, a sword and the rivets surrounding the boat. Thanks to the wide series of analysis conducted on soil samples and to an accurate comparison between the two boat graves, it has been possible to detect the presence of high concentration of organic matter (eventual presence of the human body), a high level of magnetic susceptibility (eventual presence of metallic components detected in the soil), detection of specific chemical elements in the soil that could attest the eventual presence of items within the graves and finally, a general report of the possible anthropological impact by the light spectra measurements, through the use of spectroscopy. All the results collected have been interpreted using a forensic work strategy which concerns the detailed analysis of anomalies found in the soil texture and chemical composition. Further, a significant number of tests that could prove the presence of human body in the grave and the eventual reasons of the bad preservation and lack of archaeological (most in the eg Sykehus case) information detected in the context (disturb actions represented by looting and burning). Finally, a series of maps have been created to show with clearness the results of the study.

The Dog Child site (FbNp-24) is located within the confines of the Wanuskewin Heritage Park, approximately 3 km north of the city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is a multicomponent site containing six occupation levels. The site was excavated throughout the 2004, 2005, and 2006 field seasons with the assistance of the University of Saskatchewan archaeological field school and the Saskatchewan Archaeological Society field school. Projectile point, pottery, and other technologies deemed specific to a cultural period, in addition to radiocarbon age assessment, have revealed six occupations related to five different series or complexes. These include the Plains Side-Notched complex, Prairie Side-Notched complex, Duncan/Hanna complex, Oxbow complex, and Mummy Cave series. Two levels have been ascribed to the latter series. The Mummy Cave series occupation is an area of focus as it contributes to our knowledge surrounding Northern Plains occupation during the Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum. The archaeological artifacts and features in addition to the geoarchaeological setting have been documented in order to create a comparative survey expressing the context and extent of these cultural periods.

The Red Tail site is one of 19 archaeological sites that lie within central Saskatchewan’s Wanuskewin Heritage Park. Since the creation of a long-term research program in 1984, many of these sites have been excavated making this the longest running archaeological project in Canada. This has provided an extensive body of archaeological evidence of human activity dating as early as the Early Precontact Period. Despite the extensive archaeological excavation and research that has occurred, relatively few geomorphic and paleoenvironmental studies have been conducted within the area. Paleoenvironmental data provide important context in building archaeological interpretations of past lifeways. The Red Tail site was originally excavated in 1988 and 1989 to a depth of approximately 2.7 m. In 2007, the site was revisited in order to conduct subsurface coring to a depth of over 6 m using a Geoprobe coring rig. This method allowed recovery of culturally sterile soils/sediments beyond the depth of the original excavation. This project includes analysis of these cores in order to investigate geomorphic processes active at the site and proxy indicators of paleoenvironment and paleoclimate. Analysis of two of the cores included detailed description of the recovered soils and sediments, as well as stable isotope and phytolith analysis of selected units in one of the cores. This suite of methods provides a robust, multi-proxy interpretation of geomorphic change and paleoenvironmental conditions at the site. The site was geomorphically active during the Late Pleistocene and Early Holocene, reflective of a dynamic and fluctuating climate following the glacial retreat. As the environment became more stable during the Middle to Late Holocene, periods of landscape stability are reflected in a sequence of buried soils. The paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic record recovered from these buried soils shows a fairly consistent history of C3-plant dominated communities, reflective of moist, cool climate conditions. The relatively stable environmental and climatic conditions reflected at the site contribute to the understanding of the Wanuskewin area as an oasis on the prairies.

The Dog Child site (FbNp-24) is located within the confines of the Wanuskewin Heritage Park, approximately 3 km north of the city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It is a multicomponent site containing six occupation levels. The site was excavated throughout the 2004, 2005, and 2006 field seasons with the assistance of the University of Saskatchewan archaeological field school and the Saskatchewan Archaeological Society field school. Projectile point, pottery, and other technologies deemed specific to a cultural period, in addition to radiocarbon age assessment, have revealed six occupations related to five different series or complexes. These include the Plains Side-Notched complex, Prairie Side-Notched complex, Duncan/Hanna complex, Oxbow complex, and Mummy Cave series. Two levels have been ascribed to the latter series. The Mummy Cave series occupation is an area of focus as it contributes to our knowledge surrounding Northern Plains occupation during the Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum. The archaeological artifacts and features in addition to the geoarchaeological setting have been documented in order to create a comparative survey expressing the context and extent of these cultural periods.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the morphological properties of the ancient city Hattusha and its surroundings. To achieve this, the analyses are conducted on the digital topographical maps at 1/25000 and 1/1000 scales. Results of the analyses reveal that Hattusha is located over a north facing surface with slope values of 6 to 15 degrees within an elevation range of 1000 to 1250 m. All main building complexes are confined to a narrow slope interval of 2 to 15 degrees. Five regions are detected where the city wall deviates from the topographic divide resulting in a shorter path and addition of certain areas to the city. The volume of the city wall between Lion and King&rsquo / s gates is estimated to be 613966 m3 and covers an area of 130682 m2. Capacity of the eastern and southern ponds is estimated 15400 m3 and 22160 m3, respectively. Two potential dam sites are suggested outside the city with a total drainage basin of 0.2713 km2. For the visibility analysis performed inside the city, no relation is found between the visibility and the elevation of points.

The Stone Age settlement site outside the village of Vuollerim in northern Sweden was first discovered in the 1980s and has been an important part of the research regarding Mesolithic and Neolithic in Norrland. One of the houses on the site was named Norpan 2 and nearly fifteen hundred soil samples were collected and stored during the excavations between 1983 and 1987. This study has focused on analysing nearly one thousand of the collected soil samples using phosphate and magnetic susceptibility analysis to further study activity on site and social structure. Furthermore, due to the large quantity of samples, a short comparison of soil sampling density was made to perceive the effect sampling density has on the interpretation of soil mapping. The results of the study indicate that the site has a large deposit of Magnetite (Fe3O4) in the soil that gives unusual MS-readings from the collected samples. The results also show a bipolar separation of finds and geoarchaeological traces within the house. This distinctive separation has been argued as an indication of dividing the space between families, but this study indicate that this separation might be due to house being divided between different activities but the evidence is not conclusive enough without further studies. The study has also shown that while a high density soil mapping gives much greater details it is still possible to gain the necessary information with fewer samples. In conclusion, it is still too early to conclude the investigations at the Vuollerim site and with the added data from this study and new information there is still more to learn from the Vuollerim site.KeywordsPhosphate analysis, Magnetic susceptibility, Vuollerim, Norpan 2, Geoarchaeology, Soil mapping