| 1. |
- Bonnier, Anton, et al.
(författare)
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Examining Land-Use through GIS-Based Kernel Density Estimation : A Re-Evaluation of Legacy Data from the Berbati-Limnes Survey
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of field archaeology. - : ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD. - 0093-4690 .- 2042-4582. ; 44:2, s. 70-83
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The use of archaeological survey data for evaluation of landscape dynamics has commonly been concerned with the distribution of settlements and changes in number of recorded sites over time. Here we present a new quantitative approach to survey-based legacy data, which allows further assessments of the spatial configuration of possible land-use areas. Utilizing data from an intensive archaeological survey in the Berbati-Limnes area, Greece, we demonstrate how GIS-based kernel density estimations (KDE) can be used to produce cluster-based density surfaces that may be linked to past land-use strategies. By relating density surfaces to elevation and slope, it is also possible to quantify shifts in the use of specific environments on a regional scale, allowing us to model and visualize land-use dynamics over time. In this respect, the approach provides more multifaceted information to be drawn from archaeological legacy data, providing an extended platform for research on human-environment interactions.
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| 2. |
- Hughes, Ryan E., et al.
(författare)
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Quantifying Land Use in Past Societies from Cultural Practice and Archaeological Data
- 2018
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Ingår i: Land. - : MDPI AG. - 2073-445X. ; 7:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Quantitative reconstructions of past land use facilitate comparisons between livelihoods in space and time. However, comparison between different types of land use strategies is challenging as land use has a multitude of expressions and intensities. The quantitative method presented here facilitates the exploration and synthetization of uneven archaeological and textual evidence from past societies. The approach quantifies the area required for habitation, agriculture, arboriculture, pasturage, and fuel supply, based on a combination of archaeological, historical, ethnographic and modern evidence from the relevant geographical region. It is designed to stimulate discussion and can be used to test a wide range of hypotheses regarding local and regional economies, ancient trade and redistribution, and the resilience and/or vulnerability of past societies to environmental change. The method also helps identify where our gaps in knowledge are in understanding past human–environment interaction, the ecological footprint of past cultures and their influence on the landscape in a transparent and quantitative manner. The present article focuses especially on the impact of dietary estimates and crop yield estimates, two main elements in calculating land use in past societies due to their uncertainty as well as their significant impact on calculations. By employing archaeological data, including botanical, zoological and isotopic evidence, alongside available textual sources, this method seeks to improve land use and land cover change models by increasing their representativeness and accuracy.
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| 3. |
- Izdebski, Adam, et al.
(författare)
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Realising consilience : How better communication between archaeologists, historians and natural scientists can transform the study of past climate change in the Mediterranean
- 2016
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Ingår i: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791 .- 1873-457X. ; 136, s. 5-22
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper reviews the methodological and practical issues relevant to the ways in which natural scientists, historians and archaeologists may collaborate in the study of past climatic changes in the Mediterranean basin. We begin by discussing the methodologies of these three disciplines in the context of the consilience debate, that is, attempts to unify different research methodologies that address similar problems. We demonstrate that there are a number of similarities in the fundamental methodology between history, archaeology, and the natural sciences that deal with the past (palaeoenvironmental sciences), due to their common interest in studying societal and environmental phenomena that no longer exist. The three research traditions, for instance, employ specific narrative structures as a means of communicating research results. We thus present and compare the narratives characteristic of each discipline; in order to engage in fruitful interdisciplinary exchange, we must first understand how each deals with the societal impacts of climatic change. In the second part of the paper, we focus our discussion on the four major practical issues that hinder communication between the three disciplines. These include terminological misunderstandings, problems relevant to project design, divergences in publication cultures, and differing views on the impact of research. Among other recommendations, we suggest that scholars from the three disciplines should aim to create a joint publication culture, which should also appeal to a wider public, both inside and outside of academia.
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| 4. |
- Katrantsiotis, Christos, et al.
(författare)
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Climate changes in the Eastern Mediterranean over the last 5000 years and their links to the high-latitude atmospheric patterns and Asian monsoons
- 2019
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Ingår i: Global and Planetary Change. - : Elsevier BV. - 0921-8181 .- 1872-6364. ; 175, s. 36-51
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This research aims to improve the knowledge of the mid to late Holocene climate changes and the underlying drivers in the eastern Mediterranean. We focus on the Peloponnese peninsula, SW Greece, characterized by a W-E rainfall/temperature gradient and a strong climate-sensitivity to shifts in the large-scale atmospheric patterns. A radiocarbon-dated sediment core, taken from the ancient Lake Lerna, a former lake in NE Peloponnese, was analyzed for distribution and hydrogen isotope (δD) composition of n-alkanes and bulk organic geochemistry (δ13C, TOC). The predominantly macrophyte (submerged/floating)-derived δD23 profile exhibits the largest long-term fluctuation in the record and co-varies with δD of long-chain n-alkanes providing evidence for precipitation and temperature changes over the last 5000 years. The Lerna δD23 signal is sometimes in agreement with other n-alkane δD records from SW Peloponnese indicating wetter conditions in the peninsula at ca 5000–4600, ca 4500–4100, ca 3000–2600 (more unstable in SW) and after ca 700 cal BP with drier periods at ca 4100–3900 and ca 1000–700 cal BP. Conversely, a NE-SW climate see-saw is revealed at ca 4600–4500, ca 3200, ca 2600–1800, and ca 1200–1000 cal BP when the δD23 Lerna exhibits more positive trends (drier in NE) with a reversal at ca 3900–3300, ca 3200–3000 and ca 1800–1300 cal BP. These opposing and sometimes similar signals between NE and SW Peloponnese can be explained by the relative dominance of high-latitude atmospheric patterns over the peninsula. A similar signal would be expected when the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) exerts the main control with NAO (+) creating conditions of reduced moisture. The dipole pattern is likely driven by shifts in North Sea–Caspian Atmospheric pattern (NCP), which account for the present-day regional climate variability with NCP (+) leading to wetter and colder conditions in NE Peloponnese. The Asian monsoonal system likely has an additional impact on the δD variabilities through influencing the summer temperatures. There is a consistency between the Peloponnesian δD signals and monsoonal records after ca 4000 cal BP confirming the actualistic models. Strong monsoonal periods coincide with cooler summers (lower δD values) in Lerna, due to the northerly winds, the Etesians. On the contrary, SW Peloponnese is dominated by warmer conditions during the same periods as the area is located on the lee side of the mountain and highly influenced by the adiabatic warming associated with the subsidence over the Eastern Mediterranean.
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| 5. |
- Knitter, Daniel, et al.
(författare)
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Land use patterns and climate change?a modeled scenario of the Late Bronze Age in Southern Greece
- 2019
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Ingår i: Environmental Research Letters. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 1748-9326. ; 14:12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this study, we present a modeling approach that investigates how much cultivable land was required to supply a society and whether societies were in need when environmental conditions deteriorated. The approach is implemented for the North-Eastern Peloponnese and is based upon the location of Late Helladic IIIB (1300?1200 BCE) archaeological sites, an assessment of their sizes, and a proposed diet of the people. Based on these information, the areal requirement of each site is calculated and mapped. The results show that large sites do not have sufficient space in their surroundings in order to supply themselves with the required food resources and thus they depended on supplies from the hinterland. Dry climatic conditions aggravate the situation. This indicates that potential societal crisis are less a factor of changing environmental conditions or a shortage of arable land but primarily caused by socio-economic factors.
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| 6. |
- Weiberg, Erika, 1971-
(författare)
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Contrasting Histories in Early Bronze Age Aegean : Uniformity, Regionalism and the Resilience of Societies in the Northeast Peloponnese and Central Crete
- 2017
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Ingår i: Cambridge Archaeological Journal. - 0959-7743 .- 1474-0540. ; 27:3, s. 479-494
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Late Early Bronze Age (EB IIB-III, 2500-2000 BC) evidence from the northeast Peloponnese and central Crete present two coeval sequences of events with very different societal outcomes. By drawing on resilience theory and the model of adaptive cycles, this article explores when and why the paths of mainland Greece and Crete diverged around 2200 BC, leading to an eventually destabilizing change on the mainland and a more sustainable one on Crete. It is argued that the two EB II societal structures were more similar than current discourse generally allows. However, during some hundred years leading up to the end of the EB II period, an increased societal uniformity and a decrease of social arenas on northeast Peloponnese may in the end have circumscribed the Early Helladic communities' room to manoeuvre. Conversely, through strong regionalism and greater multiplicity of social arenas, Early Minoan societies seem to have retained a greater level of socio-economic variability that enabled proactiveness and sustained expansion through ideological change.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
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| 9. |
- Weiberg, Erika, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Long-term trends of land use and demography in Greece : A comparative study
- 2019
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Ingår i: The Holocene. - : SAGE Publications. - 0959-6836 .- 1477-0911. ; 29:5, s. 742-760
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper offers a comparative study of land use and demographic development in northern and southern Greece from the Neolithic to the Byzantine period. Results from summed probability densities (SPD) of archaeological radiocarbon dates and settlement numbers derived from archaeological site surveys are combined with results from cluster-based analysis of published pollen core assemblages to offer an integrated view of human pressure on the Greek landscape through time. We demonstrate that SPDs offer a useful approach to outline differences between regions and a useful complement to archaeological site surveys, evaluated here especially for the onset of the Neolithic and for the Final Neolithic (FN)/Early Bronze Age (EBA) transition. Pollen analysis highlight differences in vegetation between the two sub-regions, but also several parallel changes. The comparison of land cover dynamics between two sub-regions of Greece further demonstrates the significance of the bioclimatic conditions of core locations and that apparent oppositions between regions may in fact be two sides of the same coin in terms of socio-ecological trajectories. We also assess the balance between anthropogenic and climate-related impacts on vegetation and suggest that climatic variability was as an important factor for vegetation regrowth. Finally, our evidence suggests that the impact of humans on land cover is amplified from the Late Bronze Age (LBA) onwards as more extensive herding and agricultural practices are introduced.
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| 10. |
- Weiberg, Erika, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Mediterranean land use systems from prehistory to antiquity : a case study from Peloponnese (Greece)
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Land Use Science. - : TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD. - 1747-423X .- 1747-4248. ; 14:1, s. 1-20
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding the sustainability of land use systems over time requires an accounting of the diversity of land uses and their varying influences on the environment. Here we present a standardized review of land use systems in the Peloponnese, Greece, from the Neolithic to the Roman period (similar to 6500 BC-AD 300). Using a combination of sources, we synthesize the fundamental information required to characterize and quantify the spatial requirements of land use. We contextualize our results in a discussion of temporal trends, the probable drivers of change, and how these changes can be integrated with the general knowledge of these societies and the overall effect of land use across time. While our review concentrates on the Peloponnese, our methodology is widely applicable where suitable archaeological and historical records are available, and is broadly representative of the prehistoric and early historical evolution of agricultural land use systems in the eastern Mediterranean.
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| 11. |
- Weiberg, Erika, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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Resilience and persistence of ancient societies in the face of climate change : a case study from Late Bronze Age Peloponnese
- 2018
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Ingår i: World archaeology. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0043-8243 .- 1470-1375. ; 50:4, s. 584-602
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Instances of resilience and persistence in ancient societies during periods of climate stress are necessary as counter weights to simplified collapse archaeology. The authors offer an evaluation of societal trajectories during the Late Bronze Age (LBA) in the Peloponnese against the backdrop of recently available local climate data. By considering climate volatility as well as climate change, the long-term perspective suggests that the end of the LBA should be viewed in light of the socio-environmental mismatches that developed during its earlier phases. Varying socio-political complexity and population densities are preconditioning components for inherent resilience under climate stress and climate impacts cannot be determined by climate conditions alone. While arid climate does not equal negative societal change, beneficial climate conditions may be favourable in the relative short term while at the same time supporting an ultimately unsustainable economy that proved detrimental in the long term.
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| 12. |
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| 13. |
- Weiberg, Erika, 1971-, et al.
(författare)
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The socio-environmental history of the Peloponnese during the Holocene: Towards an integrated understanding of the past
- 2016
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Ingår i: Quaternary Science Reviews. - : Elsevier BV. - 0277-3791 .- 1873-457X. ; 136, s. 40-65
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Published archaeological, palaeoenvironmental, and palaeoclimatic data from the Peloponnese in Greece are compiled, discussed and evaluated in order to analyse the interactions between humans and the environment over the last 9000 years. Our study indicates that the number of human settlements found scattered over the peninsula have quadrupled from the prehistoric to historical periods and that this evolution occurred over periods of climate change and seismo-tectonic activity. We show that societal development occurs both during periods of harsh as well as favourable climatic conditions. At some times, some settlements develop while others decline. Well-known climate events such as the 4.2 ka and 3.2 ka events are recognizable in some of the palaeoclimatic records and a regional decline in the number and sizes of settlements occurs roughly at the same time, but their precise chronological fit with the archaeological record remains uncertain. Local socio-political processes were probably always the key drivers behind the diverse strategies that human societies took in times of changing climate. The study thus reveals considerable chronological parallels between societal development and palaeoenvironmental records, but also demonstrates the ambiguities in these correspondences and, in doing so, highlights some of the challenges that will face future interdisciplinary projects. We suggest that there can be no general association made between societal expansion phases and periods of advantageous climate. We also propose that the relevance of climatic and environmental regionality, as well as any potential impacts of seismo-tectonics on societal development, need to be part of the interpretative frameworks.
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