The Green, Green Grass of Home: an archaeo-ecological approach to pastoralist settlement in central Kenya

© 2016 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This paper considers the ecological residues of pastoralist occupation at the site of Maili Sita in Laikipia, central Kenya, drawing links with the archaeological record so as to contribute a fresh approach to the ephemeral settlement sites of mobile herding communities, a methodological aspect of African archaeology that remains problematic. Variations in the geochemical and micromorphological composition of soils along transects across the site are compared with vegetation distributions and satellite imagery to propose an occupation pattern not dissimilar to contemporary Cushitic-speaking groups further north. We argue that Maili Sita exemplifies the broad migratory and cultural exchange networks in place during the mid- to late second millennium AD, with pastoralist occupants who were both physically and culturally mobile.British Academy (2002-5 Funding) European Union - Marie Curie Initiatives (EXT grant 2007-11

Micromorphological Evidence of Middle Pleistocene Landscape and Climatic Changes from Southern England: Westbury-Sub-Mendip, Somerset and Boxgrove, W. Sussex

This investigation attempts to estabilish the on-site and regional settings for the sediments from the cave of Westbury-sub-Mendip, Somerset and the transgressive/regressive coastline associated with the Acheulean site of Boxgrove, West Sussex. At Westbury-sub-Mendip the karstic environment changed from phreatic to vadose with the latter showing a marked increase in cryoclasric activity. The coast at Boxgrove progressed from marine and brackish to freshwater deltaic environments, the last associated with major Achulean occupation during a short-lived phase of soil ripening. These were later buried by gravels and solifluction deposits. In both cases, faunal and other environmental indicators point to increasing climatic deterioration. © 1990

The Micromorphology of Tree Subsoil Hollows: Their Significance to Soil Science and Archaeology

Tree throw is thought to cause subsoil features and the turbation of the original soil horizonation. Ironically, there are only few micromorphological studies of modern examples whereas archaeological ones are more common. Three have been selected here. At two of the sites classic tree throw features occur in the field, whereas at the third (Brean Down) only a shallow soil is apparent. The combination of micromorphology and molluscan studies at Balksbury suggested that natural tree throw left soil hollows to infill slowly, allowing strong homogenisation by biological activity of the originally mixed soil material. At Irthlingborough, trees were burned in situ after being killed and possibly pulled down or left to topple naturally, and the turbation fabrics were preserved by baking. At Brean Down, there is also evidence for prehistoric clearance although no subsoil hollows are present in the field. © 1990

A Late Bronze Age Landscape at South Hornchurch, Essex

A 2.5 ha open area excavation at South Hornchurch, Essex (London Borough of Havering) has revealed an extensive Late Bronze Age settlement on the Thames terrace gravels. The site is particularly significant because of the association of a circular ditched enclosure or ringwork with a contemporary field system, as well as clusters of enclosed and unenclosed circular structures. Two enclosures were formed by rings of pits or large post-holes. Placed pottery deposits and unurned cremation burials were found, mostly associated with structures and entranceways. Other finds include both plain and decorated Post Deverel-Rinibury pottery, burnt flint, spindle whorls, possible loomweights, perforated clay slabs, and a bivalve clay sword mould. The entire site was subsequently sealed by a buried colluvial ploughsoil which almost certainly represents the final phase of Late Bronze Age activity. The site's spatial structure, environmental context, and regional significance are discussed.</jats:p

Archaeology and Environment of a Bronze Age Cairn and Prehistoric and Romano-British Field System at Chysauster, Gulval, near Penzance, Cornwall

The project involved the survey and selective excavation of an area of field system adjoining the Romano-British ‘courtyard house’ settlement of Chysauster, near Penzance, Cornwall, supported by soil and pollen studies and by the extensive landscape surveys. The excavation had two main elements: study of the rectilinear field system and excavation of a Bronze Age funerary cairn incorporated in one of the field boundaries. The earliest field system, probably with origins in the 2nd millennium BC, was largely modified by a more irregular and strongly lynchetted field pattern, probably associated with more intensive Iron Age and Romano-British agriculture. There was also some medieval or post-medieval reuse and modification. The cairn pre-dated a boundary bank of one of the early fields and was the focus for a number of cremation burials. Six of these were accompanied by pots which, together with their radiocarbon dates, provide a significant group of the middle phase of the Trevisker variant of the British Food Urn ceramic tradition. Excavation of field boundaries showed evidence of long periods of modification and lynchet accumulation but lacked good artefactual or radiocarbon dating evidence. Soil and pollen analysis produced significant new evidence for this region, showing the former existence of a brown soil under open oak/hazel woodland, with some cereal cultivation taking place, prior to the construction of the Bronze Age cairn. Later cultivation techniques led to deterioration in soil status and to soil erosion. Some field boundaries may have been constructed at this time to conserve soil or as dumps for clearance stone. The changes, through deforestation, cultivation, and erosion influenced the plant communities in the nearby valley where pollen analysis of a peat section suggested three phases of human activity.</jats:p

Environment and land use in the Lower Lea Valley c.12,500 BC – c.600 AD: Innova Park and the former Royal Ordnance Factory, Enfield

Excavations revealed aspects of the changing environment of the floodplain of the Lower Lea Valley from the Late Glacial to the early historic periods. Evidence for land use mostly related to activity along the western bank of a former stream. Wooden revetments (the earliest dated one being Early Bronze Age), ditches, gullies, pits, a droveway, land surfaces and associated ‘midden-like’ deposits provided evidence for seasonal or periodic use and, arguably, habitation, dating principally from the Middle to Late Bronze Age. The economy of the site was focused on stock rearing, grazing and the exploitation of river resources. The ‘midden-like’ deposits, identified as interleaved layers of silt, sand and gravel containing pottery, human and animal bone, as well as flint and bone tools, and other objects, may be compared with similar, more extensive deposits from sites such as Runnymede Bridge, Surrey. There was no evidence of further activity until the Late Iron Age to early Romano-British period, when a series of fish-traps, pits and a structure within an enclosure indicate renewed, again possibly seasonal, use of the area. An evaluation on the site of the former Royal Ordnance Factory produced evidence for the continuing importance of waterfront management in this floodplain environment, in the form of the wooden revetment of another stream channel, radiocarbon dated to the late or post-Roman period

New insights into the late Middle Stone Age occupation of Oued el Akarit, southern Tunisia

AbstractThis article reports on a new project to investigate the activities of early Homo sapiens in the area of the Chotts ‘megalake’ in southern Tunisia. Excavations in 2015 and 2019 at Oued el Akarit revealed one of a number of Middle Stone Age (MSA) horizons near the top of a long sequence of Upper Pleistocene deposits. The site identified as Oued el Akarit (Sondage 8) consists of lithic artefacts, bone fragments of large ungulates and pieces of ostrich eggshell. Many of the objects are burnt. Excavation of about nine square metres revealed that these were associated with a lightly trampled and combusted occupation surface. Amongst the identified artefacts were Levallois flakes some of which could be refitted, thereby indicating the generally undisturbed nature of the occupation. The lithic finds also included side scrapers and other tools diagnostic of the MSA but significantly no bifacial or tanged tools. OSL (Optically Stimulated Luminescence) dating of the sediments and AMS (Accelerator Mass Spectrometry) radiocarbon dating of ostrich eggshell have produced uncalibrated age determinations in the range 37,000–40,000 years ago, one of the youngest ages for MSA sites in the region. This is the first example of a securely dated later MSA occupation in a riparian environment in south-eastern Tunisia.</jats:p