High Definition Archaeology: Threads Through the Past

World Archaeology Volume 29 Issue 2

John A. Gowlett

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN:
  9780415184298
• eBook ISBN:
  9781134669097
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Archaeology
• Index: Social Sciences

The use of modern analyses of high definition data is used to trace relationships or decision paths which could not have been seen with the techniques available 30 years ago. Examples are drawn from a variety of areas and periods.

Microstratigraphic traces of site formation processes and human activities

W. Matthews, C. A. I. French, T. Lawrence, D. F. Cutler and M. K. Jones

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to show how micromorphology is able to furnish information with the degree of precision necessary for analysing site formation processes and traces of activities in a variety of settings. Use of large resin-impregnated thin sections allows contextual analysis of taphonomy and depositional relationships between sediments and artefact and bioarchaeologicai remains. We illustrate this by reference to results from a three-year NERC project which examined depositional sequences in core domestic and ritual contexts in three early urban sites in the Near East in different sociocultural and environmental contexts. We discuss how micromorphology is able to trace different pre-depositional, depositional and post-depositional histories of components, before considering its contribution to detecting spatial and temporal variation in uses of space; enabling identification of single depositional episodes within secondary contexts. Together these capacities are providing richly networked data on human activities and behaviour.

Keywords

Micromorphology; Near East; urban sites; depositional processes; taphonomy; use of space; human activities and behaviour.

Introduction

In a review of formation processes and their identification Schiffer concluded that 'even when multiple lines of evidence are brought into the analysis, the genesis of complex deposits formed by many processes may, in our current state of knowledge remain uncertain' (Schiffer 1983: 680). Part of the difficulty lies in the fact that different lines of evidence are either irreversibly separated or bulked together during routine processes of extraction or sample preparation, such as are employed in many analyses of organic, inorganic or artefactual remains. The principal contribution of micromorphology is that it not only enables simultaneous analysis of diverse sediments and artefactual and bioarchaeological components, but also provides precise details of their depositional and contextual relationships which are themselves valuable sources of sociocultural and environmental information.

Developments in micromorphology

Micromorphological analysis of intact sequences of deposits in resin-impregnated thin sections was first developed in the study of soils in the 1930s and first applied in archaeology to study of palaeosols in the 1950s. Technological and methodological developments in the 1970s and 1980s have enabled more widespread application of the technique. Manufacture of unsaturated crystic polyester resins has facilitated routine production of mammoth thin sections (Murphy 1986) which, due to their large size at 13.5 × 6.5 cm, enable better correlation between macroscopic and microscopic features and observations. Development of an internationally standardized analytical methodology based on description of morphological attributes of organic and inorganic components (Bullock et al. 1985), rather than classification of soil genesis, has enabled application of micromorphology to a wider range of disciplines including analysis of deposits in archaeological sites and environments (Courty et al. 1989).

Goldberg was one of the first to suggest that 'thin sections could be used to evaluate such actions as trampling and compaction in streets. The resulting fabrics and textures should be different from those of other activity areas such as kitchens, storerooms, Holy Places, and market squares' (1983:147-8).

Micromorphological studies of occupation sequences and uses of space have since included analysis of deposits within caves (Goldberg 1987; Courty et al. 1991), and settlements (Courty et al. 1989; Weiss et al. 1993; Matthews and Postgate 1994; Courty et al. 1994; Macphail 1994; Macphail and Goldberg 1995). Analysis of plant remains in particular is being developed (Wattez and Courty 1987; Schiegl et al. 1996; Matthews et al. forthcoming), and experimental and ethnoarchaeological research undertaken (Davidson et al. 1992; Goldberg and Whitbread 1993).

Microstratigraphy and its contribution to interpretation of use of space and human behaviour

Ethnoarchaeologists and geoarchaeologists have argued that all component materials in depositional sequences, including sediments, are potentially informative about cultural behaviour and settlement history. In particular, during ethnoarchaeological research in Iran Kramer observed:

The floor of each area within a house compound is peculiar to that kind of area and therefore diagnostic of primary function ... it is likely that an excavator could readily distinguish between roofed and unroofed areas, [and] identify stables, storerooms, kitchens and living rooms ... by evaluating variations in floors.

(1979:148-9)

Anthropological studies illustrate that space as defined by architectural units is endowed with meaning through practice which is both informed by and therefore representative of sociocultural behaviour and conceptual schemes (Bourdieu 1977; Moore 1986; Wilson 1988). Microstratigraphic analysis within architectural units offers potential for detecting and interpreting the 'maze of spatial conventions whose invisible lines get easily scuffed and trampled by ignorant ... feet' of anthropologists (Carsten and Hugh-Jones 1995: 4), by enabling high resolution analysis of floors and the often sparse traces of activities on them. Finds within buildings are often few or represent discard/abandonment activities and may have been subject to disturbance (Schiffer 1987). The McKellar hypothesis states that it is the smaller artefactual remains which are 'more likely to become primary refuse' even in areas which are periodically cleaned (Schiffer 1983:679).

Research design

The principal objective of a three-year NERC research project undertaken by the authors was to develop the application of micromorphology to the study of variation in formation processes and uses of space at sites in different sociocultural and environmental situations. One specific aim was to identify the diverse plant remains which are abundant in thin sections in order to study taphonomy and use of plants. The sites selected lie on a transect through major geobotanical zones in south-west Asia (Fig. 1; Zohary 1973: map 7) where deposits have been subject to less bioturbation than is often present in temperate regions and provide a potentially clearer signal of the imprint of human activities. The well-defined architectural units in early urban settlements of this region provide rigorous contextual controls for scientific analysis of variations in depositional sequences and other archaeological remains, and a basis for establishing sets of characteristic attributes which can be used as a comparative key in studies of other settlements.

The Neolithic settlement at Çatalhöyük in central Turkey is of world importance due to the complexity of its art and architecture, and the richness of its artefactual and bio-archaeological remains during the period of agricultural development, c. 7,000-6,200 BC (Mellaart 1967; Hodder 1996). The site is located on the Konya Plain which is characterized by calcareous Pleistocene lake deposits and alluvial deposits from the surrounding limestone, schist and volcanic mountains (Roberts et al. 1996). The site lies north of the early Holocene Mediterranean woodland climax zone, on the boundary between Xero-Euxinian Querco Artemisietea anatolica steppe-forest and central Anatolian dwarf-shrub steppes of Artemisietea fragrantis anatolica.

The urban regional centre at Tell Brak, in north-eastern Syria, was occupied from at least the sixth to the second millennium BC (Oates and Oates 1993; Matthews et al. 1994; R. Matthews 1995). It is located in an area of extensive alluvial and colluvial Quaternary silts and sandy silts derived from calcareous mountains in southern Turkey (Courty 1994), and currently lies on the edge of the 200 mm isohyet in Mesopotamian steppe vegetation of Artimisietea herbae-albae mesopotamica.

The settlement at Saar on the island of Bahrain was engaged in trade in the Arabian Gulf on routes between Mesopotamia and the Indus c. 2000-1800 BC (Moon et al. 1995; Killick 1997). It is located on a limestone ridge between sand dunes and calcareous silty clay in the remnants of an adjacent shallow bay (Doornkamp et al. 1980) in the Sub-Sudanian vegetation zone.

Figure 1 Map showing location of sites studied and major geobotanical zones in south-west Asia

(simplified from Zohary 1973: map 7).

Site key

1 Çatalhöyük, central Turkey

2 Tell Brak, NE Syria

3 Abu Salabikh, S Iraq

4 Saar, Bahrain

Geobotanical Key

1 Hyracian and Sub-Hyracian mesic forest

2 Euxinian and Sub-Euxinian mesic deciduous and mixed forest

3 Mediterranean woodland climax

4 Kurdo-Zagrosian and other Iranian steppe-forest climaxes

5 Irano-Turanian steppe and desert vegetation

6 Saharo-Arabian desert vegetation

7 Sudanian and Sub-Sudanian vegetation (Tropical deserts, savanna and forests)

8 Halo- and hydrophytic vegetation

Comparable core domestic and ritual contexts studied at each site include roofed areas adjacent to facilities for food production and cooking, sitting/living, storage, and ritual activities such as altars; unroofed courtyards, middens and streets, and natural and ethnoarchaeological contexts.

Integrated approaches to analysis of occupation deposits

In order to understand the complex pre-depositional, depositional and post-depositional histories of occupation deposits it is important to adopt research designs which raise these questions during excavation, recording, and sampling, and which enable integration of a range of field and laboratory characterizations, each of which has its own advantages and limitati...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Copyright
• Contents
• Editorial
• High definition archaeology: ideas and evaluation
• High resolution or optimum resolution? Spatial analysis of the Federmesser site at Andernach, Germany
• High resolution archaeology at Verberie: limits and interpretations
• High resolution Neanderthals? Interpreting Middle Palaeolithic intrasite spatial data
• Land-use and site function in Acheulean complexes of the Somme Valley
• Observations on the prehistoric social and economic structure of the North American Plateau
• Trade and technology of the Indus Valley: new insights from Harappa, Pakistan
• Microstratigraphic traces of site formation processes and human activities