Foraminifera are single cell protozoa that are ubiquitous in marine environments. The hard casings, or tests, of foraminifera are routinely studied in the earth sciences, particularly for palaeoenvironmental information. Foraminifera have been little studied by archaeologists, however, despite their potential to contribute to understandings of coastal site formation processes and localised palaeoenvironments. In this study techniques and methods of foraminiferal analysis are developed and applied to the problem of distinguishing between natural and cultural marine shell deposits, using the Mort Creek Site Complex, central Queensland, as a case study. Results allow unambiguous demarcation of the natural and cultural deposits studied based on patterns of foraminiferal density. Natural deposits were found to have more than 1000 foraminifera per 100g of sediment, while cultural deposits exhibited less than 50 foraminifera per 100g of sediment. The range of taxa represented in the foraminiferal assemblage is consistent with a shallow water sub-tropical marine ecosystem, indicating general environmental stability throughout the period of deposit formation. Findings are applied to re-evaluate previous models of site formation at the Mort Creek Site Complex.

Foraminifera are single cell protozoa that are ubiquitous in marine environments. The hard casings, or tests, of foraminifera are routinely studied in the earth sciences, particularly for palaeoenvironmental information. Foraminifera have been little studied by archaeologists, however, despite their potential to contribute to understandings of coastal site formation processes and localised palaeoenvironments. In this study techniques and methods of foraminiferal analysis are developed and applied to the problem of distinguishing between natural and cultural marine shell deposits, using the Mort Creek Site Complex, central Queensland, as a case study. Results allow unambiguous demarcation of the natural and cultural deposits studied based on patterns of foraminiferal density. Natural deposits were found to have more than 1000 foraminifera per 100g of sediment, while cultural deposits exhibited less than 50 foraminifera per 100g of sediment. The range of taxa represented in the foraminiferal assemblage is consistent with a shallow water sub-tropical marine ecosystem, indicating general environmental stability throughout the period of deposit formation. Findings are applied to re-evaluate previous models of site formation at the Mort Creek Site Complex.

The “Lower Town” archaeological site in Mycenae, Argolis, Greece has been excavated since 2007 and multiple periods of occupation and abandonment are represented in the stratigraphy uncovered. Sedimentary deposits were grouped into two general categories during excavation and these categories shaped fieldwork decisions: yellow-orange sediment with denser artifact concentrations representing potential occupation and red sediment with sparser artifacts representing abandonment. The distributions of point locations of artifacts within these bodies of sediment are analyzed statistically for spatial homogeneity using Ripley’s K in a GIS environment to test these site formation assumptions. Statistically significant spatial clustering in artifacts is assumed for autochthonous occupation deposits. These analyses were designed to be used to explicitly test otherwise implicit assumptions during fieldwork in future fieldwork. Results are mixed, with several factors complicating the interpretation of results without the hindsight of postieldwork artifactual and geoarchaeological analyses.

No description available.

Nesquehoning Creek (36CR142) is a stratified, multicomponent site situated on a late Wisconsin age terrace in Lehigh Gorge State Park, Carbon County, Pennsylvania. Cultural occupations represented at Nesquehoning Creek include Colonial (late 17th-early 18th century); Late, Middle, and Early Woodland; Transitional, Late, Middle and Early Archaic; and Paleoindian. The Paleoindian component is deeply buried, contextually secure, and produced a Crowfield fluted point with associated radiocarbon dates of 12,422 ± 164, 12,255 ± 177, and 11,398 ± 110 cal BP. This dissertation focuses on: 1) assessing the Paleoindian occupation history at Nesquehoning Creek, 2) analyzing the organization of Paleoindian lithic technology, and 3) examining Paleoindian residential mobility patterns in the Middle Atlantic and Northeast regions. The history of research at Nesquehoning Creek, Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene environmental data, and Paleoindian culture history are reviewed in order to provide background information. By examining the stratigraphy and geomorphology at the Nesquehoning Creek site, this study was able to propose a model of landscape evolution and determine excavation areas with the greatest potential for stratified Paleoindian occupations. A lithic refitting and artifact distribution analysis of these excavation areas was able to identify a single Crowfield Paleoindian occupation zone. The Crowfield component lithic assemblage displayed production and reduction strategies similar to Clovis and later Paleoindian complexes. Lithic raw material types represented in the Crowfield toolkit suggest a relatively small territorial range on the order of 50 km. An evaluation of Early and Late Paleoindian residential mobility patterns in the Middle Atlantic and Northeast showed continuity in the relative occupation span of sites from both periods. This suggests that although Late Paleoindian groups had smaller territorial ranges, they appear to have moved from site to site within those territories about as frequently as Early Paleoindians in the Middle Atlantic and Northeast regions. Detailed analysis of contextually secure Paleoindian assemblages are crucial to identifying similarities and differences between archaeological complexes. This research demonstrates the importance of lithic refitting studies in the assessment of stratified, multicomponent archaeological sites. Detailed examination of the Crowfield lithic assemblage improved our understanding of Paleoindian technological organization in the Middle Atlantic region. The evaluation of Paleoindian residential mobility patterns has complimented previous studies and presented data that may be updated and reassessed in the future. / Anthropology

This thesis deals with questions on various applications using soils and sediments as sources of information in archaeological research. Human environmental impact on soils and sediments, in terms of pollution, is a well known phenomenon as the industrialisation intensified during historical times and onwards and has left strong pollutive marks. However, humans have always accumulated or emitted matter and various compounds in connection to their habitats for subsistence, but these earlier traces are not always detectable, depending on soil and sediment state of preservation. Bioessential elements are intimately linked to humans and their dwellings and especially phosphate has been evident in this respect. It was established already in the 1930s, that even Stone Age settlements could be located through elevated phosphate content in extensive soil phosphate mappings. This thesis is a compilation on results from several sites and excavations from the southern to the northern parts of Sweden. There is a wide variety of soil types and chronological setting in the material, from highly acid podzols to calcareous soils, and sediments dated to Younger Dryas to current top soils. Sites from the Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age, Early and Late Iron Age and Medieval are all represented. Methods that have been implemented are firstly various forms of analysis in regards to soil phosphate, magnetic susceptibility and organic matter. Furthermore, metal and non-metal elements have been considered, as well as lead isotopes. A multiproxy approach is applied in some examples where biological and chemical data is combined to interpret past events. In this thesis there are also five papers presented. The first paper deals with methodological issues concerning multi-element analyses of various soil samples (off-site to feature) from an archaeological excavation. The second paper is about the possibilities that may be used when analysing the soil organic phosphate in relation to prehistoric agriculture. Paper three and fourth are compilations of large scale contract archaeological project. These papers deal with theoretical, methodological and practical issues concerning environmental archaeology in relation to contract archaeology. Studies on landscape development and erosion are among the cases presented. The last paper deals with a late Mesolithic - early Neolithic settlement in Vuollerim, N. Sweden, and spatial dimensions on the human use of settlement (off-site to on-site) and house floors (intra-site), are discussed.

The study of archaeological site formation processes, although commonly undertaken in prehistoric sites, is only carried out in historical archaeological sites in a limited way. Understanding the processes which formed the archaeological record of a site is an important first step towards developing justifiable inferences about past behaviour and past societies regardless of the age of the site. This thesis identifies and examines the cultural and noncultural processes that formed the archaeological record at the Commissariat Store, in Brisbane, Australia. The history of the site, from its construction in 1829 as part of the Moreton Bay penal settlement to the present, is examined and the expected impacts and processes on the archaeological record are identified. The archaeological evidence from the salvage excavation of the site undertaken in 1978/79 is analysed to identify the cultural and noncultural site formation processes. This study identified the presence of the cultural formation processes of discard, loss, abandonment and re-use from an examination of the historical and archaeological evidence. Non-cultural formation processes at work in the site include faunalturbation, floralturbation, flooding and aquaturbation. This research also identified deficiencies in Schiffer's model for identifying and categorising cultural formation processes. The activity of construction of the site's drainage system did not clearly fit within a single type of formation process. Water as a formation agent is only discussed in the literature as a non-cultural formation process, while at this site water can be seen as a cultural formation process. This thesis demonstrates the value and importance of understanding site formation processes as a firm basis for future interpretation of the archaeology of the Commissariat Store site.

This paper presents an investigation of sedimentary deposition, soil formation, and pedoturbation in the Animas River Valley to determine the provenience of archaeological deposits in an open field at Aztec Ruins National Monument, NM outside of the Greathouse complex. Four stratigraphic pedounits correlated with active fan deposition have been proposed for the lower terrace in the project area with only one of these units retaining strong potential for buried archaeological deposits from the Anasazi late Pueblo II/Pueblo III period. The distal fan on the lower terrace and the Animas River floodplain appear to show poor potential for archaeological deposits either due to shallow sediment overburden with historic disturbance or alluvial activity during or after occupation. Based on these findings, four other zones of similar fan development have been identified throughout the Animas Valley and are recommended for subsurface testing during future cultural resource investigations.

Torgen har under en väldigt lång tid i människans historia spelat en viktig funktion i människors liv. Stadens öppna platser har fungerat som en social mötesplats och detta ända sedan antikens dagar. Under mitten av 1800-talet fram till vår tid har torgen dessvärre börjat att alltmer tappa fokus som en social katalysator med liv och rörelse. Torgen blev snarare politiska platser och mer en maktsymbol än en mötesplats. Under 1900-talet uppkom andra motkrafter till torgens existens som en social plats. Mycket av detta berodde på bilen, men även på grund av nya levnadsvillkor och estetiska ideal. Som följd av den moderna stadsutvecklingen har dessutom små butiker flyttat från torget för att bilda större enheter.  Men hur kan man transformera ett äldre torg till hur det en gång var eller borde ha varit? Under arbetets gång med detta omgestaltningsförslag av Davidhallstorg har det visat sig att dagens torg till stor del skiljer sig från torgens ursprungliga funktion. Gestaltningen försöker därför lösa problemet med problem som dagens storstadstorg kan ställas inför, såsom alldeles för dominerade av biltrafik och bilens behov och för lite aktiviteter. Förr i tiden ansågs städernas torg vara deras mittpunkter, och de var fulla av liv och rörelse. Arbetet i denna studie har fokuserat på att hitta en mer lämplig design för ett torg i centrala Malmö och därigenom försöka ge det tillbaka mer liv och rörelse som en social mötesplats.  Resultatet visar sig att torg är sociala mötesplatser som måste finnas kvar för att skapa sociala mötesplatser utomhus för människor i storstadsmiljö. Därför är det inte lämpligt eller rekommenderat att ”slösa” bort torgyta till stora bilparkeringar. Studien visar att funktionen som torgen har trots allt är viktig än idag att skapa en bakgrund till formella och informella möten mellan människor, en social mötesplats för människor. Bara för vi lever i nya moderna tider betyder det inte att vi ändå inte är beroende av att möta och umgås med andra människor. Torgen utgör en utmärkt plats för detta. Torg behöver uppdateras med sina ändrade invånare, dvs. återupplivas så att de åter fyller en funktion som passar dagens krav och behov. Gestaltningsförslaget visar på vikten av att låta torgen leva upp tills sin rätta funktion och placera bilen i kanten eller under torget.  Det går inte att glömma bort att bilen trots allt ännu är en stor del av vår vardag. Gestaltningsförslaget försöker hitta en lösning där både människa och maskin kan ta plats och vistas utan att den andra tar över för mycket, detta är av stor vikt. / For a very long time in human history, squares have played an important role in people's lives. The city's open spaces have functioned as a social meeting place since the days of antiquity. During the middle of the 19th century until our time, the squares have unfortunately begun to lose focus more and more as a social catalyst with life and movement. The squares became rather political places and more a symbol of power than a meeting place. During the 20th century, other counterforces arose to the existence of the squares as a social place. Much of this was due to the car, but also due to new living conditions and aesthetic ideals. As a result of modern urban development, small shops have also moved from the square to form larger units. But how can one transform an older square into what it once was or should have been? During the work on this redesign proposal of Davidshallstorg, it has turned out that today's square is largely different from the squares' original function. The design therefore tries to solve the problem with problems that today's metropolitan squares can be faced with, such as being far too dominated by car traffic and the car's needs and too few activities. In the past, the town squares were considered to be their centers, and they were full of life and movement. The work in this study has focused on finding a more suitable design for a square in central Malmö and thereby trying to give it back more life and movement as a social meeting place. The result shows that squares are social meeting places that must remain in order to create social meeting places outdoors for people in a metropolitan environment. Therefore, it is not appropriate or recommended to "waste" square space to large car parks. The study shows that the function that the squares have, after all, is still important today to create a background for formal and informal meetings between people, a social meeting place for people. Just because we live in new modern times does not mean that we are still not dependent on meeting and socializing with other people. The squares are an excellent place for this. Squares need to be updated with their changed inhabitants, ie. revived so that they again fulfill a function that suits today's requirements and needs. The design proposal shows the importance of letting the squares live up to their proper function and placing the car at the edge or under the square. It is not possible to forget that the car is still a big part of our everyday life after all. The design proposal tries to find a solution where both man and machine can take place and stay without the other taking over too much, this is of great importance.

Conflict Event theory has the potential to change how archaeologists investigate battlefield sites. As a theoretical paradigm, eventful archaeology allows us to give agency to social-structure changing events, going beyond collect artifacts after the battle is over. Coupled with site formation processes, this model allows us to project battle elements to re-create the historical events that occurred at conflict sites. Within this theoretical framework, we can begin to understand why the conflict unfolded in a particular manner. Two site of the Texian Revolution are particularly appropriate to this new theoretical model: the San Jacinto Battleground (SJB), the location of the last battle of the Texian Revolution, and Washington-on-the-Brazos (WOB), the location of the signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence. Merging this theoretical model with an investigation of site formation processes (understanding the matrix in which the artifacts lie) and pulse-domain electromagnetic surveying allows for a much more robust approach to Battlefield Archaeology. Pulse-induction allows for the detection of discrete artifacts in the soil, and is a much more reliable method than the more commonly used magnetometry. Analyzing characteristics of the soil surrounding the artifacts then gives us a third line of inquiry as to why artifacts are in certain locations in the archaeological record, allowing for an explanation as to their quality and quantity. La teoría del Acontecimiento del conflicto tiene el potencial para cambiar cómo arqueólogos investigan sitios de campo de batalla. Como un paradigma teórico, la arqueología llena de acontecimientos nos permite dar agencia a la social-estructura que cambia acontecimientos, yendo más allá de reúne artefactos después de que la batalla esté sobre. Asociado con procesos de formación de sitio, este modelo nos permite proyectar batalla elementos para recrear los acontecimientos históricos que ocurrieron en sitios de conflicto. Dentro de esta armazón teórica, nosotros podemos comenzar a comprender por qué el conflicto desplegó en una manera particular. Dos sitio de la Revolución de Texian es especialmente apropiado a este nuevo modelo teórico: el San Campo de batalla de Jacinto (SJB), la ubicación de la última batalla de la Revolución de Texian, y de Washington en el Brazos (WOB), la ubicación del firmar de la Declaración de Tejas de Independencia. Unir este modelo teórico con una investigación de sitúa procesos de formación (comprendiendo la matriz en la que los artefactos están) y el pulso-dominio inspeccionar electromagnético tiene en cuenta un enfoque mucho más robusto a la Arqueología del Campo de batalla. La pulso-inducción tiene en cuenta el descubrimiento de artefactos distintos en la tierra, y es un método mucho más seguro que el magnetometry más comúnmente utilizado. Analizar características de la tierra que rodea los artefactos entonces nos dan una tercera línea de indagación en cuanto a por qué artefactos están en ciertas ubicaciones en el registro arqueológico, teniendo en cuenta una explicación en cuanto a su calidad y la cantidad.