Environmental Archaeology. The journal of human palaeoecology

Volume 2 Published May 1998

Environmental Archaeology: a Matter of Definition

T.P. O'Connor

Abstract

The aims and definitions of environmental archaeology are discussed, with particular attention to distinguishing the means of the discipline from its aims. Contributions to biogeography and other disciplines are reviewed. It is argued that environmental archaeology can be seen as an ecological subject, concerned with interaction and process. This paradigm integrates all forms of evidence, including soils and sediments, and overcomes the discipline's tendency to be reductionist.

Keywords: ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHAEOLOGY, DEFINITIONS

Stress as an Aspect of Environmental Studies

Don Brothwell

Abstract

'Stress' is a term little used as yet in palaeoecological studies, but there is a need to understand this concept. Stress refers to mainly environmental challenges to organisms and may be mild or life threatening. Reactions to stress may be acute and structural, or slow subtle and more long term, beginning with behavioural or physiological responses but leading to immune problems, disease and possibly death. Stress situations may be complex and not easy to detect in archaeological material. However, as stress is linked to adaptive microevolution in all species, it is a concept to be always kept in mind in palaeoecological interpretation.

Keywords: STRESS, PALAEOECOLOGY, ADAPTATION, EVOLUTION

Fishing in the Northern Isles: a Case Study Based on Fish Bone Assemblages from Two Multi-period Sites on Sanday, Orkney

Rebecca A. Nicholson

Abstract

At Tofts Ness and Pool, Sanday, Orkney, fish bones dating from the Neolithic through to the 11th century have been excavated, providing an opportunity to examine the development of fishing through prehistory and through the critical period of Viking colonisation, when it has been argued that commercial fishing began on Orkney. It appears that even in the Neolithic some fishing was may have been conducted away from the shore, and that fish may have provided more than just basic nutrition. Around the time of Viking colonisation fishing became more specialised, but so far there is no evidence of commercial fishing on Sanday.

Keywords: NORTHERN ISLES, PREHISTORIC, VIKING-AGE, COMMERCIALISATION

Wheat Grain Identification - Why Bother?

Glynis Jones

Abstract

This paper reviews the practicality and potential benefits of identifying wheat grains from archaeobotanical assemblages. Despite the difficulties involved in the taxonomic identification of individual grains, it is concluded that classifying grains into morphological types is important for the interpretation of grain assemblages.

Keywords: WHEAT, GRAIN, ARCHAEOBOTANY, TAXONOMIC IDENTIFICATION

An Exploration of the Effects of Crop Rotation Regime on Modern Weed Floras

Carol Palmer

Abstract

Fallow-cereal is the primary crop rotation regime used in the Mediterranean and Near East in the recent past. This may not always have been the case and legume-cereal rotation may have played an important role in certain periods. In the short-term, cultivated fallow is beneficial to soil moisture and fertility and, therefore, the subsequent cereal crop. In the long-term, however, this regime causes soil erosion and nutrient deterioration through the loss of soil organic matter. The use of legumes in a rotation regime adds soil organic matter but, in the short-term, can reduce cereal yield. Weed seeds in archaeobotanical assemblages provide the best method to identify the use of cultivated fallow and legume-cereal rotation in the past. This paper presents the results of a field-study in northern Jordan in which the effects of crop rotation regime on arable weeds are explored. The main factor affecting weed composition is location in the two main topographic zones of the study area, the hills and the plains. Crop rotation regime does have a detectable effect on weed composition, and fallow-cereal and legume-cereal rotation can be distinguished in the hills. It is difficult to distinguish the effects of location and crop rotation regime between the hills and plains because the choice of crop rotation regime is strongly correlated with location in each area.

Keywords: ARCHAEOBOTANY, WEED ECOLOGY, CROP ROTATION, CULTIVATED FALLOW, TRADITIONAL FARMING

Recording the Preservational Condition of Archaeological Insect Fossils

Harry Kenward and Frances Large

Abstract

The state of preservation of archaeological fossils may provide information crucial to their interpretation and for making curatorial decisions concerning the buried heritage. An established scheme for recording the condition of archaeological insect remains preserved by anoxic waterlogging is examined and found inadequate, failing to represent the complexity of decay properties and pathways. A particular weakness was its focus on whole assemblages rather than the individual remains of which they were composed. A new scheme is proposed which takes account of the heterogeneity of preservation in single assemblages, and makes use of a wider set of properties including colour changes. Range, mode, mode strength and distribution of values are recorded for the major properties (i.e. erosion or chemical degradation, fragmentation or mechanical damage, and colour changes). A form and accompanying flow sheet designed to ensure systematic recording of these properties under the new scheme are presented, and its success to date considered.

Keywords: PRESERVATION, ANOXIC WATERLOGGING, DECAY, INVERTEBRATES, INSECTS, FOSSILS, CHEMICAL DEGRADATION, MECHANICAL DAMAGE, EROSION, FRAGMENTATION, COLOUR CHANGE

Animal Hair in Medieval Ship Caulking Throws Light on Livestock Types

Michael L. Ryder

Abstract

Diameter measurements of nearly 200 samples of hair caulking from medieval boat timbers excavated in London threw light on livestock type and husbandry practices. Cattle hair (44%) with a primitive coat structure predominated in the earlier centuries, while those with a "modern" coat structure predominated later, and these were mostly black. The goat hair (38%) had only one type of coat and the overall mean fibre diameter of the underwool was 13.4 microns compared with 14.7 microns in surviving feral goats. About half the goat hair samples (again from the later centuries) were black and half gray, with only one white animal. There was evidence that death of the cattle and goats had occurred during autumn and/or winter. Sheeps' wool formed 18% of the samples and there were more hairy fleeces than found in medieval clothing. Most of the wool was grey; there were no black samples and only one white one.

Keywords: CATTLE-HAIR, GOAT-HAIR, LIVESTOCK, MEDIEVAL, SHIP-CAULKING, WOOL

The Organisation of a Zoo-archaeological Reference Collection of Bird Bones

Elaine Corke, Simon Davis and Sebastian Payne

Abstract

This note describes how we have organised part of our reference collection of bird bones in a series of drawers. The layout takes into consideration a) part of the skeleton (all humeri, for example, are housed together), b) size (smallest species are in the first drawer, larger in the second and so on), and c) taxonomic position (within each drawer specimens within orders, whose labels are colour-coded, are grouped together). Empty cells, reserved for species still missing from the collection, serve as reminders of possible alternative identifications for an archaeological specimen and therefore help to prevent the tendency of forcing identification to what is present in the reference collection.

Key words: BIRD BONES, ZOO-ARCHAEOLOGY, REFERENCE COLLECTION

Pine Marten and Other Animal Species in the Poem Dinogad's Smock

Craig Cessford

The opening two lines of the poem are:

Peis dinogat e vreith vreith.
o grwyn balaot ban wreith.
(Williams 1938, lines 1101-02)

Dinogad's coat is of many colours, many colours.
I made it of the skins of martens.
(Jackson 1969, 151)

Dinogad's smock, pied, pied,
It was from martens' skins that I made it.
(Jarman 1988, lines 997-98)

Book Reviews

Anderson, S. and Boyle, K. 1996 (eds.). Ritual Treatment of Human and Animal Remains (proceedings of the first meeting of the osteoarchaeological research group held in Cambridge on 8th October 1994). Oxford: Oxbow. ISBN: 1-90018-820-1. 72 pp. £7.50 (paperback).

Reviewer: Mike Parker Pearson

Dobney, K. M., Jacques, S. D. and Irving, B. G. 1996. Of Butchers and Breeds: Report on Vertebrate Remains from Various sites in the City of Lincoln (Lincoln Archaeological Studies 5). Lincoln: City of Lincoln Archaeology Unit. ISBN 1-89964-100-9. 215pp. £28.00 (paperback).

Reviewer: Umberto Albarella

Prag, J. and Neave, R. 1997. Making Faces: Using Forensic and Archaeological Evidence. London: British Museum Press. ISBN 0-7141-1743-9. 272pp. £18.99 (hardback).

Reviewer: Andrew Chamberlain

Reitz, E. J., Newsom, L. A. and Scudder, S. J. 1996. Case Studies in Environmental Archaeology (Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology). New York: Plenum Press. ISBN 0-306-45253-7. 380pp. £27.60 (paperback).

Reviewer: Terry O'Connor

Van de Noort, R. and Ellis, S. (eds.) 1997. Wetland Heritage of the Humberhead Levels. Hull: Humber Wetlands Project, University of Hull. ISBN 0-85958-192-6. 508 pp. £15.00 (hardback).

Reviewer: Paul Buckland