DSA 2012

DEBATING SPATIAL ARCHAEOLOGYInternational Workshop on Landscape and Spatial Analysis in ArchaeologySantander, June 8th - 9th, 2012

DebatingSpatialArcheology

Santander

2012

AbstractBook

Colaboration:

Sponsored by:

Alejandro García (IIIPC)Jesús García (UC)Alfredo Maximiano (IIIPC)Joseba Ríos (IIIPC)

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Contents:

Organization: ............................................................................................................................. 5

Foreword: .................................................................................................................................. 8

Ian Johnson: No Space without Time / Every Event has a Footprint ........................................ 9

Pilar Diarte Blasco & María Sebastián López: Landscape and human structure in the Middle

Ebro Basin. From Prehistory to roman world. ......................................................................... 10

Joan Negre Pérez & Rocío Gómez Martínez: Beyond Prediction: Artificial Neural Networks

and Multiscalar Approaches applied to the study of historical dynamics .............................. 14

Fabian Bognanni, Emanuel Montanari, Facundo Gómez Romero y Carlos Landa: Spatial

analysis at La Verde battlefield (1874, Buenos Aires province, Argentina) ............................ 15

Enrico R. Crema: The importance of being local: ecological fallacy and unit issues in

archaeological spatial analysis ................................................................................................ 18

Gary Nobles: The use of grid excavation techniques: A new methodological approach applied

to old data ............................................................................................................................... 20

Bernardo Rondelli, Carla Lancelotti, Alessandra Pecci, Fernada Inserra, Andrea Luca Balbo,

Javier Ruiz Perez, Charusmitha Gadekar, Marco Madella, Ajithprasad P. &Miguel Angel Cau

Ontiveros: Spatial uncertainty in archaeological interpretation: an ethnoarchaeological

experiment .............................................................................................................................. 24

Michal Birkenfeld and Nigel Goring-Morris: Stratigraphy and spatial analysis at pre-pottery

neolithic b Kfar Hahoresh, Israel. Using GIS applications in Inter-site analyses ..................... 25

Jöris, Olaf, Monika Brasser, Frank Gelhausen, Sonja Grimm, Daniela Holst, Lutz Kindler, Frank

Moseler, Martin Street, Elaine Turner & Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser: The Revolution of

Hominin Spatial Behaviour: Spatial Analyses of Palaeolithic/Mesolithic Sites in Diachronic

Perspective .............................................................................................................................. 26

Aleix Eixea, Valentín Villaverde, João Zilhão, Alfred Sanchis, ................................................. 30

Juan Vicente Morales & Cristina Real: Using spaces in Abrigo de la Quebrada (Chelva,

Valencia). Variations in the Middle Paleolithic levels IV and VIII ............................................ 30

Amèlia Bargalló, María Gema Chacón & Bruno Gómez: The role of the limestone in the

Middle Palaeolithic technological behaviours through the refitting and the spatial patterning

analysis: the level O of the Abric Romaní site (Capellades, Barcelona, Spain) ....................... 33

Solène Caux: Aurignacian Landscape Use and Technological Organization: an example based

on the management of ‘grain de mil’ flint. ............................................................................. 36

María Sebastián, Rafael Domingo & Lourdes Montes: The Arba de Biel area: a landscape use

from 15000 to 4000 calBP. ...................................................................................................... 38

Michal Birkenfeld: A Question of Territory: Pre-Pottery Neolithic Settlement Systems in the

Lower Galilee, Israel. ............................................................................................................... 40

Rodrigo Villalobos García, Germán Delibes de Castro, Miguel Ángel Moreno Gallo & Javier

Basconcillos Arce: The megalithic “golden crescent”. An approach to one space in Northern

Burgos which hosted the adoption and evolution of megalithism ......................................... 41

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Ángel D. Bastos Zarandieta, Daniel J. Martín-Arroyo Sánchez, María del Mar Castro García &

Lázaro G. Lagóstena Barrios: Rethinking the boundaries of Baetica: a historiographic critic

from space display .................................................................................................................. 43

Antunes Nicolas, William Banks & Francesco D’Errico: Evaluating Viking eco-cultural niche

variability between the Medieval Climate Optimum and the Little Ice Age ........................... 45

Javier Ordoño Daubagna: From place to surface: exploring Paleolithic spatial behavior

through Archaeology ............................................................................................................... 47

Jorge Martínez‐Moreno, Rafael Mora Torcal & Xavier Roda Gilabert: The micro‐spatial

dimension of the human behavior: How reliable is the toss/drop model to analyze spatial

pattern organization? .............................................................................................................. 49

Irene Ortiz Nieto‐Márquez, Javier Baena Preysler & María Gema Chacón: GIS Spatial

distribution analysis in raw material quarrying sites: the example of El Cañaveral (Madrid,

Spain) ....................................................................................................................................... 51

Mae Goder, Erella Hovers & Rivka Rabinovich: A GIS approach to Neandertal spatial

behavior: A case study from Amud Cave ................................................................................ 54

Ravid Ekshtain, Ilan Sharon, Yonaton Goldsmith & Michal Birkenfeld: Marking old territories:

Using ArcGIS models for raw material survey areas in the Levantine Middle Paleolithic. A

case study from Qafzeh cave, Israel ........................................................................................ 56

Enrique Cerrillo Cuenca, José Ángel Martínez del Pozo, Raquel Liceras Garrid & Enrique

Cerrillo Martín de Cáceres: How efficiently did they walk? An essay on the characterisation

of traditional routes by Least Cost Path analysis and non-dimensional variables .................. 58

Youssef Bobkot, Marisa Ruiz-Gálvez, Mercedes Farjas, Eduardo Galán, Hipólito Collado,

Paloma de la Peña, Jorge de Torres, Blanca Ruiz, Pablo de la Presa, Antonio Rubinos, José

María Señorán & Carlos Nieto: Traditional wisdom and landscape management. A Longue

durée history of human exploitation of a critical resource. The case of the Oukaimeden

valley (High Atlas, Morocco) ................................................................................................... 61

Kristen Patricia Mann: Social Living: addressing spatial variability in households at Early Iron

Age Zagora on Andros, Greece ................................................................................................ 63

Jesús Bermejo Tirado: Biopolitical Archaeology of Roman domestic spaces: A syntactical

approach ................................................................................................................................. 65

Sandra L. López Varela: Predictive Modeling in Heritage Management and Land-use Plans in

Mexico ..................................................................................................................................... 67

Elisabet López i Garriga: Volumetric study of megalithic tombs of the Eastern Pyrenees ..... 69

Paula Ortega Martínez: Visibility, a new point of view to the study of Paleolithic Art. A

preliminary study .................................................................................................................... 71

Vicente Bayarri Cayón & Elena Castillo López: Geometric characterization and analysis of

complex elements through the integration of different geomatics techniques. Application to

caves. ....................................................................................................................................... 72

Alejandro García & Miguel Ángel Fano: Palaeolithic sites beyond the archaeological deposits

................................................................................................................................................. 74

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Lourdes Montes, Rafael Domingo, Manuel Bea, Julia Justes, Leyre Alconchel & Pilar Sánchez:

Prehistory and Middle Age. Shepherds and burials in the Upper Vero Basin (Sobrarbe,

Huesca) .................................................................................................................................... 76

Jesús García-Sanchez & Armando Ezquerro Cordón: New techniques for artefact survey: GIS-

GPS methodology to study Roman intra- site contexts. ......................................................... 78

Alfredo Maximiano Castillejo & Alfredo Prieto Iglesias: Recognition Pre-Historical Canoeists

Passages in Fuego–Patagonia Region: First steps in Geo-computing approach for a peculiar

archaeological evidence in Time and Space. ........................................................................... 80

Lucyna Domaoska, Sweryn Rzepecki, Monika Michałowicz: Wilkostowo 23/24 – the

settlement of the TRB culture in central Poland ..................................................................... 83

Vicente O., Gòmez A., Barcía C., Molist M: Study of the spatial variability of Caserna de Sant

Pau del Camp (Barcelona): old excavations, new approaches ................................................ 84

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Organization: Organization Committee:

Alejandro García (IIIPC)

Jesús García (UC)

Alfredo Maximiano (IIIPC)

Joseba Ríos (CENIEH)

Scientific Committee

J. Vicent García (CCHS-CSIC)

M. Santonja Gómez (CENIEH)

M.R. González Morales (IIIPC)

I. Grau Mira (AU)

E. Cerrillo Cuenca (IA-CSIC)

D. Wheatley (University of Southampton)

R. Ontañón Pereda (Consejería de Cultura, Gobierno de Cantabria)

H.P.Blankholm (University of Tromsø)

Holley Moyes (University of California, Merced)

J. Baena Preysler (UAM)

Mercedes Farjás (UPM)

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8th June AUTHORS TITLE

9:30 - 9:45

WELCOME

9:45 - 10:30

Djindjian, F. Inaugural Conference

ISSUE: Beyond archaeological spatial datasets

10:30 - 10:45

Ian Johnson No Space without Time / Every Event has a Footprint

10:45 - 11:00

Pilar Diarte Blasco & María Sebastián López

Landscape and Human Structure in the midle Ebro basin.

11:00 - 11:15

Joan Negre Pérez & Rocío Gómez Martínez

Beyond Prediction: Artificial Neural Networks and Multiscalar …

11:15 - 12:00

COFFEE BREAK AND POSTERS SESSION

12:00 - 12:15

Fabian Bognani et al. Spatial analysis at La Verde battlefield

12:15 - 12:30

Enrico R. Crema The importance of being local

12:30 - 12:45

Gary Nobles The use of grid excavation techniques

12:45 - 13:00

Katia F. Achino et al. The pile dwelling of Villaggio delle macine

13:00 - 13:15

Bernardo Rondelli et al. Spatial uncertainty in archaeological interpretation

13:15 - 13:30

Michal Birkenfeld & Nigel Goring

Stratigraphy and spatial analysis a pre-pottery

13:30 - 16:00

LUNCH BREAK

ISSUE: The use of space from an evolutionary perspective

16:00 - 16:15

Olaf Jöris et al. The Revolution of Hominin Spatial Behaviour

16:15 - 16:30

Penny Spikins et al. Early modern human dispersals out of Africa

16:30 - 16:45

Aleix Eixea et al. Using spaces in Abrigo de la Quebrada

16:45 - 17:00

Amèlia Bargalló et al. The role of the limestone in the Middle Palaeolithic technological

17:00 - 17:15

Solene Caux Aurignacian Landscape Use and Technological Organisation

17:15 - 17:30

COFFEE BREAK

17:30 - 17:45

María Sebastián et al. The Arba de Biel area: a landscape use from 15000 to 4000 calBP

17:45 - 18:00

Michal Birkenfeld A Question of Territory

18:00 - 18:15

Rodrigo Villalobos et al. The megalithic “golden crescent”.

18:15 - 18:30

Ángel D. Bastos et al. Rethinking the boundaries of Baetica

18:30 - 18:45

Nicolas Antunes et al. Evaluating Viking eco-cultural niche variability

18:45 - 19:00

DISCUSSION

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9th June AUTHORS TITLE

ISSUE: People beyond the numbers

9:30 - 9:45

Javier Ordoño From place to surface

9:45 - 10:00

Jorge Martínez Moreno et al. The micro‐spatial dimension of the human behaviour

10:00 - 10:15

Irene Ortiz et al. GIS Spatial distribution analysis in raw material quarrying sites

10:15 - 10:30

Mae Goder et al. A GIS approach to Neandertal spatial behavior

10:30 - 10:45

Ravid Ekshtain et al. Marking old territories

10:45 - 11:30

COFFEE BREAK AND POSTERS SESSION

11:30 - 11:45

Enrique Cerrillo et al. How efficiently did they walk

11:45 - 12:00

Y. Bobkot et al. Traditional wisdom and landscape management

12:00 - 12:15

Kristen Patricia Mann Social Living

12:15 - 12:30

Jesús Bermejo Tirado Biopolitical Archaeology of Roman domestic spaces

12: 30 - 12:45

Sandra López Varela Predictive Modeling in Heritage Management

12:45 - 13:30

DISCUSSION

13:30 - 15:30

LUNCH BREAK

15:30 - 17:00

ROUND TABLE

Posters AUTHORS TITLE

- Elisabet López Volumetric study of megalithic tombs of the Eastern Pyrenees

- Paula Ortega Visibility, a new point of view to the study of Paleolithic Art

- Vicente Bayarri & Elena Castillo Geometric characterization and Analysis of complex elements

- Alejandro Garcia & Miguel A. Fano

Palaeolithic sites beyond the archaeological deposits

- Lourdes Montes et al. Prehistory and Middle Age

- Jesús García & Armando Ezquerro

New techniques for artefact survey

- Alfredo Maximiano & Alfredo Prieto

Recognition Pre-Historical Canoeists Passages in Fuego Region

O. Vicente et al

Study of the spatial variability of Caserna de Sant Pau del

Camp

Lucyna Domaoska et al.

Wilkostowo 23/24 – the settlement of the TRB

culture in central Poland

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Foreword:

The study of spatiality is one of the most important issues in Archaeology. Since the very first

moments of the discipline, the understanding of spatial relations has been a key factor for

interpreting past social dynamics. The importance of spatial analyses has led to the

appearance of specific issues within Archaeology, such as Landscape Archaeology, Spatial

Statistics, Cognitive Archaeology, etc., all of which can broadly be included within the Spatial

Archaeology issue. On the other hand, in recent years there has been great improvement in

recording methods and analysis tools, mainly thanks to the generalization of GIS, which has

contributed to the development of spatial analyses.

However, these methodological improvements and conceptual developments have not always

had an accompanying parallel theoretical dissertation about the real application of spatial

analyses to archaeological interpretations; spatial analyses usually focus on geographic data

and cartographic outcomes which have to be inserted into a previously defined, fixed

framework valid in its own right, instead of really trying to link those results with the proposed

interpretations. In these cases, space is automatically assumed to be a fully significant concept,

either from an economic or relational perspective, but without a serious discussion of what it

really means with relation to each particular case.

The main aim of the Debating Spatial Archaeology International Workshop is to provide a

debate forum where archaeologists can discuss what space means in Archaeology, how it is

perceived and interpreted by archaeologists, and why. Keeping in mind the need for a

connection between methodology issues, analysis results and interpretations, participants are

encouraged not only to analyze spatial variability, but to point out the probable reasons for

such variability from in terms of social space, as well as to discuss how their spatial analyses

can improve the understanding of social and historical dynamics within their case studies.

Abstracts

Debating Spatial Archaeology, Santander 2012

1

No Space without Time / Every Event has a Footprint

Ian Johnson 1

1 Arts eResearch, University of Sydney (Australia)

Spatial archaeologists have long wrestled with, or brushed under the carpet, the

thorny issues of contemporaneity and palimpsests of evidence. Time is often

controlled by mapping and analysing separate time slices or periods and then

comparing results between slices; only rarely is it possible to integrate spatial and

temporal information to examine the processes behind change.

By contrast, historians often treat space as incidental to specific events or to broader

social and cultural trends. Timelines are common, whether verbal or visual, and are

most often aspatial, focussing on a limited area or simply ignoring the spatial

dimension altogether (indeed the ability to highlight the contemporaneity of widely

scattered events is often seen as an advantage). Time is generally recorded as an

attribute of events – either as a specific date or a date range. These attributes rarely

address issues of uncertain interpretation, gradual change or shifts in the spatial

dimension, let alone all three together; they are generally handled through textual

description.

In this poster I will present work we have been doing within the Heurist collaborative

database (heuristscholar.org) to model spatially extensive events – from deposits

within a site to regional periods - using dating evidence linked to spatial footprints

through interpretation records. This methodology means that the dating of an event is

no longer based on specific date attributes, nor its spatial extent on a single hard-

edged GIS outline, but both are based on an aggregation or envelope of multiple

spatio-temporal records which may also include differing interpretations of the

evidence.

We have also developed methods within Heurist to derive the aggregate dating of an

event from the relationships between an event and other entities, for example through

aggregating the dating of periods related to the finds related to the deposits which

constitute a phase of deposition in a site. This will be illustrated with material from the

excavations at Zagora, Greece.

Finally I will present linked map + timeline visualisations of a web of linked search

results which render spatial and temporal information derived from related entities. I

will present the case that such linking is essential to both the spatial and temporal

domain – there can be no spatial footprint independent of time, nor dating

independent of spatial location; nor can events be described by a single date range

and/or a single footprint.

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LANDSCAPE AND HUMAN STRUCTURE IN THE MIDLE EBRO BASIN. FROM

PREHISTORY TO ROMAN WORLD.

Pilar Diarte Blasco 1 y María Sebastián López

1University of Zaragoza. (Spain); 2CCHS-CSIC, c/ Albasanz 26-28. 28037, Madrid (Spain).

The history of the Mediterranean landscape is, to some extent, the history of

erosive processes and soil loss. A relatively important amount of research has been

devoted to their study, especially the determination of its climatic vs. anthropic origin.

After the Neolithic, however, it is difficult to isolate climatic events as triggers of global

cultural changes in the Mediterranean (Jalut et al. 1997; Carrión et al. 2000). The

‘Younger Fill’ (Higg and Vita-Finzi 1972) debate was a significant landmark in this

regard1. The current mostly shared view is that the interplay of decision-making

humans and their environment created the Mediterranean landscape as we know

Butzer 2005). Therefore, human labour dialectically involved in historical, contingent

and non-dramatic processes of interdependence with the environment, would be the

driving force of history in the Mediterranean.

It is argued in this paper that archaeological sites, when observed ‘in place’ at a

regional scale, can reflect the basic dynamics of landscape construction and use. We

present a case study from the Ebro middle Basin, arguing that the location of the

archaeological sites in this area allows us to ‘map’ the social and economic landscape

of the people that made it.

In this context, we hypothesize that archaeological sites can be observed as the

‘monumental’ side within a dual process of landscape construction: on the one hand,

rock art is a ‘cultural’ action on the landscape; on the other hand, people were actively

modifying the Mediterranean landscape, created, as we know it, through its active

‘degradation’, probably starting in the Early Neolithic. The archaeological sites places

that were made at that time are still in use, in association with particular economic

activities, remnants of a fading traditional way of life.

1 Defenders of the existence of the Younger Fill lean onto environmental factors as major forces that

shape the Mediterranean (Vita-Finzi 1969). Its opponents see no Younger Fill but a non-synchronic accumulation of human-induced sporadic episodes of soil erosion (Van Andel et al. 1990; Walsh 1999; Horden and Purcell 2000).

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We decided to focus our study on the evolution of landscape from the

Paleolithic to the Roman world, as we have said, in the Ebro middle basin. To do that,

we will use a tool that we ourselves create and which serves as a basis for this study. It

is VisArq 1.0, which is a database of archeological evidence in the province of Zaragoza

and the implementation of a 3D visualization system for the whole area. The final

result is a geo-database displaying the archaeological heritage of the province in a

straight and interactive way. VisArq. 1.0. covers a wide spatial and chronological range

of data, going from detailed analysis of archaeological materials to general survey of

the landscape where finds are located. Therefore, this tool allows navigation through

the different elements composing the application, like the database, that can be

visualized, queried and browsed in a straightforward way, with great ease of use while

preserving the complexity and scientific nature of sources. In fact, another subject that

we developed in this paper is methodological in connection with the renewal

of the standards and conventions for the archaeological study of the territory from

digital technology.

Fig.1. VisArq 1.0.Display of the digital elevation model.

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We realize that is an ambitious project, especially due to the patterns change of

settlement from Prehistory to the Roman world changed considerably, unlike what

happens between the Roman and Medieval world, where we see that there is more

continuity. However, we believe that although it is a risky project, the detailed

knowledge of the archaeological reality of the Ebro middle basin can afford a first

approach to this issue.

Key words: Ebro middle basin, landscape, uplands, archaeological sites, land use,

pastoralism, town planning.

References:

BUTZER, K., 1988. Cattle and Sheep from Old to New Spain: Historical Antecedents. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 78 (1): 29-56.

BUTZER, K., 1996. Ecology in the long view: settlement histories, agrosystemic strategies, and ecological performance. Journal of Field Archaeology 23 (2): 141-150.

BUTZER, K., 2005. Environmental history in the Mediterranean world: cross-disciplinary investigation of cause-and-effect for degradation and soil erosion. Journal of

Archaeological Science 32: 1773-1800. CARRIÓN, J.S., MUNUERA, M., NAVARRO, C. and SÁEZ, F., 2000. Paleoclimas e historia

de la vegetación cuaternaria en España a través del análisis polínico. Viejas falacias y nuevos paradigmas. Complutum 11: 115-142.

DAVIS, G.W. and RICHARDSON, D. (eds.), 1995. Mediterranean-type ecosystems. The

function of biodiversity. Berlin: Springer. DAVIS, G.W. and RUTHERFORD, M.C., 1995. Ecosystem function of biodiversity: can we

learn from the collective experience of MTE research?. In G.W. Davis and D.M. Richardson (eds.), Mediterranean-type ecosystems. The function of biodiversity: 335-350. Berlin: Ecological Studies 109. Springer.

HIGGS. E. S. and VITA- FINZI, C. 1972. Prehistoric economies: a territorial approach. En E.S. HIGGIS (Ed): , Papers in Economic Prehistory. Cambridge, Cambridge University

Press pp.27-36.

Barker, G. and Bintliff, J., 1999. Geoarchaeology in Mediterranean landscape archaeology: concluding comments. In Leveau, P., Trément, F., Walsh, K. and Barker, G. (eds.) environmental reconstruction in mediterranean landscape archaeology, Oxford: The Archaeology of Mediterranean Landscapes 2, Oxbow

Books, 207-210. Blondel, J. and Aronson, J., 1995. "Biodiversity and ecosystem function in the

Mediterranean Basin: human and non-human determinants". In G.W. Davis and

D.M. Richardson (eds.), Mediterranean-type ecosystems. The function of

biodiversity, Berlin: Ecological Studies 109. Springer, 43-119.

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JALUT, G., ESTEBAN, A., RIERA MORA I MORA, S., FONTUGNE, M., MOOK, R., BONNET, L. and GAUQUELIN, T., 1997. Holocene climatic changes in the western Mediterranean : installation of the Mediterranean climate. Comptes Rendus de

l’Academie de Sciences de Paris, Sciences de la terre et des planètes 325, pp.327-334.

KEAY, K. 2010. "Iberia and Italia: Issues and challenges in the comparative study of Roman urbanism" in Corsi, C. & Vermeulen, F. (eds.) Changing Landscapes. The impact of Roman towns in the Western Mediterranean. Proceedings of the International Colloquium, Castelo de Vide - Marvão 15th-17th May 2008. Bologna, Ante Quem, pp.27-46.

PALET, J.M.; FIZ, I. and ORENGO, H.A. 2010. Modelación y conceptualización del paisaje romano en el Ager Tarraconensis: Tarraco y la centuriación del territorio’ in Corsi, C. & Vermeulen, F. (eds.) Changing Landscapes. The impact of Roman towns in the Western Mediterranean. Proceedings of the International Colloquium, Castelo de Vide - Marvão 15th-17th May 2008. Bologna, Ante Quem, pp. 167-184

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Beyond Prediction: Artificial Neural Networks and Multiscalar Approaches applied to

the study of historical dynamics

Joan Negre Pérez1 y Rocío Gómez Martínez

2

1 Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

2 University of Edinburgh

The eruption of new technologies in scientific research has contributed to an improvement in results,

however they have also been abused, especially in disciplines not used to applying these technologies,

such as Archaeology. One of the most common mistakes is not to consider the basis of these techniques,

but to directly apply them on problems that are similar to those they were created for. This is the case,

for example, of GIS technologies within spatial analysis issues. In this communication we consider the

combined use of different tools as a means of analyzing a specific historical problem: the transformation

of a given settlement spatial distribution and its connection with cultural process, through the example

of the formation of an Islamic medieval society.

There are diverse methodological tools that enable us to approach these problems. In the first place, we

highlight the use of Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) as a very effective set of tools in order to generate

predictive models of settlement distribution and thus to locate new sites. But we would also like to think

about other possibilities this technique offers when willing to expand our samples in order to observe

spatial patterns that might be blurred by time and material record destruction. Once these patterns

have been separately analyzed, Ripley´s K function becomes one of the most useful tools for their

analysis and diachronic comparison, as it presents the divergence with regard to the expected pattern.

Other space-related mathematical functions that will be used include density calculations with respect

to gravitational centers such as cities, as well as the aggregation/dispersion index that is developed on

the basis of the Nearest Neighbour in a given cost distance surface. As we can see, these techniques not

only involve the need for learning procedures developed by exact sciences, but also mean the need for

restating the importance of archaeological data formalization and its scientific processing, a

comprehensive paradigm shift in our discipline.

Both the application of this methodology and the analysis of its results would have been extremely hard

if it were not for the existence of GIS technologies, that make management of databases and their link

to the spatial factor an easier task. Thanks to them, we can now emphasize the important part space

plays in historical explanation, how data can be extracted from them (which was hidden at first glance),

and later be transformed into highly explicative information. The research of the Islamization process in

the Iberian Peninsula has barely make any progress in years, due to its excessive reliance on approaches

emphasizing artistic, political and economical changes. Therefore, spatial analysis can contribute with a

new perspective, a new way of approaching territory analysis, bearing in mind that it is also part of a

series of historical processes that have to be explained.

Barceló, J.A. 2005. "Multidimensional Spatial Analysis in Archaeology. Beyond the GIS paradigm." In Takao, U. (ed.) Reading the Historical Spatial Information in the World. Studies for Human Cultures

and Civilizations based on Geographic Information System. Kyoto: International Institute for Japanese

Studies.

Macchi, G. 2009. Spazio e Misura. Siena: Edizioni dell’Università

Bevan, A. & Connoly, J. 2006. "Multiscalar approaches to settlement distributions". In Lock, G.

and Molyneux (eds.) Confronting scale in Archaeology: Issues of Theory and Practice, New York, NY:

Springer New York, 217-234.

Deravignone, L. and Macchi, G. 2006. "Artificial Neural Networks in Archaeology". Archeologia e

calcolatori 17: 121-136.

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Spatial analysis at La Verde battlefield (1874, Buenos Aires province, Argentina)

Fabian Bognanni1, Emanuel Montanari

2, Facundo Gómez Romero

3 y Carlos Landa

4

1Becario Doctoral CONICET - Programa de Arqueología Histórica y Estudios Pluridisciplinarios

(PROARHEP), Dpto. de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Nacional de Luján (UNLu) 2

Instituto de Arqueología, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (UBA) 3

Docente y investigador. Departamento de Arqueología. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Universidad

Nacional del Centro de la Provincia de Buenos Aires. 4

Becario Post-doctoral CONICET – Instituto de Arqueología, Facultad de Filosofía y Letras (UBA).

Introduction

On November 26, 1874, near "Estancia La Verde" (currently 25 de Mayo, Buenos Aires

province, Argentina) took place a battle between ahead government forces (leaded by

Lieutenant Colonel Inocencio Arias), and revolutionary army, (General Bartolomé

Mitre). This event lasted at least three hours, and it resulted in several casualties

threw, sealing the fate of the revolutionary movement.

The archaeological work is referred specifically to the topographic survey of the

battlefield. This allows us to define sectors of variable visibility and/or archaeological

accessibility. Tasks were carried out using non-invasive prospecting tools, such as

metal detector. Several metal remains were found. In some cases, these were traces of

weapons used in battle, such as fragments of rifle bayonet, cartridges and lead bullets

of different caliber and remains of military uniforms (e.g. buttons, buckles and Kepi

numbers).

Aims

This paper set up a comparison between different information sources, such

as historical documents, twentieth century aerial photographs and/or satellite

images of the battlefield. This allowed inquiring about two issues: first, establish

correlations between various contemporary authors.

Second, we made equivalences between these charts and the battlefield. Also, this

makes it possible to do a critical analysis about the battlefield drawings and their

authors (related to each side) and, in turn, is possible to define congruence

strategies for fieldwork related with prospecting and excavation.

To perform these analyzes, we are working with free software called

Map Analyst 1.3.6. (http://mapanalyst.org/index.html). Although is not a GIS tool, it

has particular characteristics that allow to do spatial analysis. This program permits

extrapolate information from old maps to modern ones, and vice versa, allowing

locating certain features or elements that are represented in the many sketches of the

battle. Based on this technology, the former maps are "transported" to modern

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images, where we could acknowledgment different events with a higher degree of

accuracy in localizations.

Figure 1. Composition of different maps made by Lt. José I. Arias in 1875 (MGM 1875) and

Florencio del Mármol in 1876 (Mármol1876). Down

Figure 2. Estimated spatial comparison of the three maps analyzed using Map

Analyst: Arias (in yellow); Mármol (in white) and the so-called 25 de Mayo (in black).

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References

Archivo histórico de 25 de Mayo. Biblioteca municipal Juan Francisco Ibarra.

Florencio del Mármol. 1876. Noticias y documentos sobre la revolución de 1874.

Imprenta de M. Biedma. Buenos Aires. Argentina.

Ministerio de Guerra y Marina (MGM). 1875. Tomo I. Archivo Museo Mitre. Buenos Aires.

Argentina.

Landa, C., Montanari, E. and Gómez Romero, F. 2011. “El fuego fue certero y bien dirigido

(…)” Inicio de las investigaciones Arqueológicas en el sitio campo de batalla de La Verde (Partido

de 25 de Mayo, Provincia de Buenos Aires). Arqueología Histórica en Argentina y Cuba. Luján

Ramos, M., Helfer, V., Gonzáles Toralbo, C., Luque, C. and Senesi, R. 2011. "Sitio Vuelta de Obligado: expectativas de análisis espacial respecto de la batalla. Temas y problemas de la Arqueología Histórica" In M. Ramos; A. Tapia; F. Bognanni; M. Fernández; V. Helfer; C. Landa; M. Lanza; E. Montanari; E. Néspolo y V. Pineau (eds.) Programa de Arqueología Histórica y Estudios Pluridisciplinarios (PROARHEP), Departamento de Ciencias Sociales. Universidad Nacional de Luján, 145-162.

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The importance of being local: ecological fallacy and unit issues in archaeological

spatial analysis

Enrico R. Crema1

1 Institute of Archaeology, UCL, 31-34 Gordon Square - London - WC1H 0PY, London

(UK)

Robert Dunnell (1992) once suggested how the notion of site is more harmful than

useful and therefore should be abandoned. While such statement could be regarded as

extremism, anyone dealing with spatial data has at least once faced the dilemma of

how to define their unit of analysis, or has been unsatisfied on how this has been

defined by others. Many acknowledge the problem, but its implication is often ignored

when the actual analysis is computed and rarely breaches the level of archaeological

narratives.

The kernel of such problem is that very often we adopt aggregate units, artificial

grouping of individual entities (artefacts, features, etc.) that, either formally or

informally, transforms and filters the empirical reality before being analytically treated.

This process often leads to the problem of ecological fallacy (Harris 2006), where we

erroneously make inference on an individual observation (e.g. an artefact or a feature)

based on aggregates (e.g. a site or a settlement). In spatial analyses, the adoption of

such aggregate units might hinder variations in the spatial structure of its components.

For instance, inter-distances between different classes of artefacts might significantly

vary within the same “site” and resemble closer similarities to what has been

considered to be external to it.

Aggregate units are however very often necessary compromise that we must adopt to

reduce the complexity of the observed data. Thus a site can be translated from a

continuous density surface of artefacts to a polygonal extent, and ultimately to a point

data. The justification of such process is usually found in the assumption that in the

macro-scale, errors and uncertainties of the micro and meso-scale can be safely

ignored.

This paper seeks to: 1) verify such assumption by examining how in some contexts

critical information is “lost in translation”; and 2) explore two possible solutions to the

problem.

The first consist of creating multiple sets of aggregate units, each based on a different

criterion of aggregation. Each set is independently assessed, and the distribution of the

results is examined by means of a sensibility analysis. Convergence in the outcome will

support higher confidence in how we describe the observed pattern, which will hence

be weakly related to how we define the aggregate units. Divergence will instead

indicate the opposite, suggesting the necessity to revise how we define these units.

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The alternative and more desirable solution is to shift our perspective to the individual

components of such aggregate units, adopting local versions of spatial statistics (Getis

and Franklin 1987, Fotheringham and Brunsdon 1999, fig.1) that are capable to address

how univariate and bivariate spatial relationships vary across space. These however

require detailed knowledge of individual subunits that are not always available, and

must be solved by Monte-Carlo methods.

I will explore the limits and the potentials of both approaches in two case studies. The

first will be centred on the meso-scale spatial distribution of Neolithic pithouses in

central Japan, and the second on the surface artefact distribution recovered from a

non-site survey in eastern Tunisia.

Figure 1: Examples of Global (a) and Local (b for repulsion and c for attraction) bivariate K functions. The

global version suggests segregation between two types of raw stone tool materials at 200 meters, but

the local version indicates how in some area aggregation (b) is also present.

References:

Dunnel, R. C., 1992. "The Notion Site". In Rossignol,J and Wandsnider (eds.) Space, time, and

archaeological landscape, New York: Plenum Press, 21-41.

Fotheringham, S. A., and Brunsdon, C. 1999. "Local Forms of Spatial Analysis". Geographical Analysis 31

(4): 340-358.

Getis, A. and Franklin, J. 1987 "Second-Order Neighborhood Analysis of Mapped Point Pattern".

Ecology, 68 (3): 473-477

Harris, T. M. 2006 "Scale as Artifact: GIS, Ecological Fallacy, and Archaeological Analysis". In Lock,

G. and Molyneux (eds.) Confronting scale in archaeology: Issues of Theory and Practice, New

York:Springer, 39-53.

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The use of grid excavation techniques: A new methodological approach applied to

old data

Gary Nobles 1

1 University of Groiningen (The Netherlands).

Spatial analysis is a complex subject with multiple ways of obtaining similar results, but

all ultimately depends upon the way the original data was acquired. Point Pattern

analysis has much use in archaeology however the collection of point patterns in the

field can be time consuming and fequently problematic. Grid collection methods

however, can speed up the process of although this method also has many problems,

for instance: grid size, spit depths and how to analyse the data. A Dutch

multidisciplinary project titled: “Unlocking Noord-Hollands Late Neolithic Treasure

Chest” has applied relatively new analyses to two Late Neolithic settlement sites.

These sites (Keinsmerbrug and Mienakker) were excavated in the 1980s and 1990s, the

re-analysis of the find distributions with Getis and Ord’s Gi* (Hot Spot) and Moran’s Ii

(Outlier Analysis) spatial statistics has helped to reveal insights into the social use of

space within these settlements. Not only were dwelling structures identified but also

activity areas, phasing of activities and events have been possible to some extent. Both

the methodology and results of this analysis will be presented. For further information

regarding the wider project please visit www.singlegrave.nl

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The pile dwelling of Villaggio delle macine:

an analysis of the spatial differentiation of social activities

Katia Francesca Achino, Micaela Angle2, Juan Anton Barcelò

3

¹ Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, [email protected]

2 Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici del Lazio, [email protected]

3 Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, [email protected]

The Villaggio delle macine is located in Alban Lake (Castelgandolfo, RM), into which it

was still immersed at the moment of discovery, in 1984; this site is an exceptional case

of pile dwelling for the central Tyrrhenian Italian area, dated to Latest Early Bronze age

-–Early Middle Bronze age (XIX-XVI BC.) for it available datasets and width: it evolved

with an almost continuous palisade which covers about one hectare. Since 1984

excavation campaigns carried out nearby the site and in 2009, after a further lake’s

waters drop, two survey campaigns have given start to a study intended to analyze the

dispersion of archaeological artefact, distinct for typologies (pottery, game, lithic tools

and piles), in attempt to establish if differentiations related to the activities carried out

were identifiable, and to identify possible structures or specialized areas. The study has

led to interesting preliminary results, showing the specialized areas presence in

pursuance of particular activities: it has been possible to individuate sectors devoted to

cereal and crop blending and milling, waste areas, sectors for treatment of game

remains, ateliers in which all lithic cháine operatoire’s stages were present and fields

related with activities of consumption, preservation and cooking. However these

results are incomplete and need to be enforced, related to the other datasets available

from the excavation campaign and following surveys, to obtain a complete overview.

Next step of the research will then consist in the comprehension of relationships

between the various functional areas, in order to highlight any connection between

the different practices. From the data available so far, it seems that hunting

(particularly deer hunting) was the most practiced activity near the village.

Aims

In this context we would like to understand to what extent the remaining domestic

agricultural practices carried out on site were relevant: for example, it would be

interesting to verify if these activities were carried out seasonally or permanently

throughout the year; this would help to understand the territorial exploitation and

frequentation modalities and to develop a more precise idea of the role that the village

itself used to have, compared to remaining settlements that were found in surrounding

areas. With this aims we would proceed to observe the material effects of the

depositional and post-depositional processes on social actions, which usually bias the

distribution and density of archaeological record. Therefore, to understand the

activities played at the village, we will have to apply the theories of stochastic

processes, that are the base of geostatistics: the spatial process that produced the

observed frequencies, is composed by a deterministic part and a stochastic variation. It

is a set of statistical methods used to describe spatial relationships among sample data

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and to apply this analysis to the prediction of spatial and temporal phenomena. To

simulate the models of social interaction, we might use the multimodal distribution

and also probabilistic maps to understand the density probability function of

archaeological artefacts associated to each location. Furthermore, we could study the

spatial variation of archaeological variables through the measure of spatial correlation

or self-correlation, with variogram and kriging.

References:

Angle, M. 2007. Comune di Castel Gandolfo. Villaggio delle Macine, in Belardelli, C (eds.) Repertorio dei

siti protostorici del Lazio. Province di Roma, Viterbo e Frosinone, Firenze: All’Insegna del Giglio

Angle,M., Lugli, F.A and Zarattini, A. 2002. Lago Albano: il “Villaggio delle macine”, in Roma Città del

Lazio, Catalogo della mostra, ed. S. Rizzo, Roma: De Luca Editori d’Arte, 52-56.

Barceló, J.A. and Maximiano, A. 2008. Some notes distributional analysis spatial data, in A. Posluschny, K. Lambers, I. Herzog (eds.) Layers of Perception. Proceedings of the 35th International Conference on

Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, Bonn: Hablet, 413-417.

Haining, R. 2003. Spatial data analysis. Theory and practice, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lloyd, C.D and Atkinson, P.M. 2004: "Archaeology and geostatistics", Journal of Archaeological Science

31: 151-165.

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Spatial uncertainty in archaeological interpretation:

an ethnoarchaeological experiment

Bernardo Rondelli1

Carla Lancelotti2, Alessandra Pecci

3, Fernada Inserra

4, Andrea Luca

Balbo1, Javier Ruiz Perez

4, Charusmitha Gadekar

5, Marco Madella

1,6, Ajithprasad P

5,

Miguel Angel Cau Ontiveros3,6

1 Institució Milà i Fontanals, Spanish National Research Council (IMF-CSIC), Spain

2 Instituto de Historia, Spanish National Research Council (CCHHS – CSIC), Spain

3 ERAAUB, Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Barcelona, Spain

4 Department of Prehistory, Ancient History and Archaeology, University of Barcelona, Spain

5 Department of Ancient History and Archaeology, MS University of Baroda, Vadodara, India.

6 Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA), Spain

This paper describes a spatial ethnoarchaeological approach aiming at: a) evaluating

the understanding of spatial patterns of domestic activities within farmer groups and

b) to determine the level of uncertainty of this type of data when correlated to the

archaeological interpretation.

Archaeological interpretation of domestic activities is mainly related with sampling

strategies and semi-quantitative analysis (archaeobotany, chemical residue,

micromorphology, etc.). However a systematic evaluation of sampling strategies

reliability and realism (reality exists independently of observers) is often missing in

archaeological investigations, due to the difficulty of measuring the uncertainty.

Ethnoarchaeology is a consolidated approach that might be oriented to a) the creation

of reference collections for the interpretation of archaeological record (analogical

reasoning) and b) the improvement of field research strategies for the detection of

anthropic markers (reflexive reasoning). In this paper we propose a spatial, semi-

quantitative ethnoarchaeological approach in order to try to tackle the problem of

uncertainty in sampling strategies.

To achieve this, a regular sampling strategy aimed at obtaining semi-quantitative data

for botanical micro-remains (phytoliths and micro-charcoal) and for chemical

compounds present in the floors (analysed with ICP-AES and spot tests) has been

applied to a traditional farmer compound of Northern Gujarat (India). Samples of the

superficial layer of a plastered mud floor were collected every 50 cm and analysed for

multiproxy data. Data resulted from the analyses have been I) integrated in a

geodatabase, II) explored using geostatistical methods, and successively III) correlated

with the building’s structure and domestic activities ethnographically mapped. In this

paper we present the results obtained by the analyses of multi-element chemical

signatures and lipid analyses. Data were analysed spatially at different scales and the

result evaluated in terms of representativeness of the correlated activity. The results

obtained allow a critical evaluation of the uncertainty in detecting anthropic markers

and propose critical elements for future investigations.

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Stratigraphy and spatial analysis atpre-pottery neolithic b kfar hahoresh,

Israel.

using GIS applications in Inter-site analyses

Michal BIRKENFELD and Nigel GORING_MORRIS 1

1 Department of Prehistory, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

The Pre-Pottery Neolithic B period in the Southern Levant (PPNB; ca. 8,500-6,400

calBC) represents the culmination of the Neolithization process in the region. This

process witnessed some of the more fundamental changes in human social and

economic strategies: the emergence of large sedentary village communities, and the

shift from food procurement to food production.

Other aspects of the material culture, such as mortuary customs supply further

evidence for new social structures; variations in burial customs and the presence of

grave goods, were suggested to reflect developments relating to increasing inequality

and the possible emergence of social ranking.

The PPNB site of Kfar HaHoresh is located in the Nazareth Hills of the Lower Galilee.

Fifteen field seasons at the site revealed a long and intricate stratigraphical sequence,

and provided a uniquely rich and varied material record, including more than 65

human burials. These finds have led the excavators to hypothesise the site may have

functioned as a mortuary site, a cult locale in which neighbouring villagers may have

buried their dead and performed at least part of their ritual and ceremonial lives. The

unique character of Kfar HaHoresh provides an opportunity to explore ritual aspects of

Near Eastern PPNB society as a whole and of the Neolithic communities of the Lower

Galilee in particular. Moreover, since the site's occupation persisted throughout the

entire sequence of the PPNB (i.e. Early through Late PPNB, ~1750 years), it raises the

possibility of evaluating how these processes of change developed.

During excavation it became apparent that several phases show clear spatial

distributions of activities, including cemetery areas, cultic installations, production

areas and midden deposits. However, shifts in the spatial organization of activities

played a major role in shaping the stratigraphic sequence on-site: different areas were

occupied more or less intensively at different stages, creating ‘spiral’ depositional

processes, in which two immediately adjacent loci or artefact clusters can belong to

very different stratigraphic contexts. This is compounded by later pits and erosion, by

changes in the inclination of the slope during the occupation. All of these factors pose

difficulties when looking for manifestations of human behavior, and require special

methods and analytical tools.

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Aims

In this paper we present a methodological approach aimed at dividing the bulk of the

excavated features into analytical units. This approach allows us to recreate the spatial

extent of each stratigraphic unit, even when visual identification of relatively

featureless areas during excavation was difficult or not possible. Furthermore, it

facilitates correlations of the stratigraphic and spatial data with the artefact datasets.

This enables the creation of a more synthetic approach to stratigraphic analysis,

allowing more detailed and cognizant spatial and contextual analyses.

This methodology, which is based on GIS applications, emphasizes a three-dimensional

approach to the analysis of the spatial distributions of both the architectural remains

and the small finds, facilitating subsequent contextual analyses and thus highlights

new possibilities of using GIS in intra-site contexts.

References:

Goring-Morris, A.N. "The Quick and the Dead: The Social Context of Aceramic Neolithic

Mortuary Practices as Seen from Kfar Hahoresh." In Kuijt, I. (ed.) Life in

Neolithic Farming Communities: Social Organization, Identity, and

Differentiation, New York: Kluwer Academic\Plenum, 2000, 103-136.

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The Revolution of Hominin Spatial Behaviour:

Spatial Analyses of Palaeolithic/Mesolithic Sites in Diachronic Perspective

Monrepos Archaeological Research Centre and Museum

for the Evolution of Hominin Behaviour 1

1 Jöris, Olaf, Monika Brasser, Frank Gelhausen, Sonja Grimm, Daniela Holst, Lutz Kindler, Frank Moseler,

Martin Street, Elaine Turner, and Sabine Gaudzinski-Windheuser, Monrepos Archaeological Research

Centre and Museum for the Evolution of Hominin Behaviour. Schloss Monrepos, 56567 Neuwied

(Germany)

Hominin socio-economic behaviour relates directly to the use of space. This

interdependence is mirrored in on-site activities as well as in land-use strategies. In

diachronic perspective, spatial analysis of archaeological finds, structures and features

thus serves as the basis for understanding the evolution of hominin behaviour.

However, it is not before the beginning of the European Upper Palaeolithic that

spatially differentiated units reflect an organization of space beyond ephemeral

activities. This new form of structuring of sites and territories is interpreted as a

modern human invention reflecting novel conventions in spatial organisation. Until

today our lifes are governed by this spatiality. Nevertheless, the consequences of this

“revolution of spatial behaviour” have yet not been fully explored.

Research undertaken during the last decades at the Monrepos Archaeological Research

Centre and Museum for the Evolution of Hominin Behaviour (formerly

“Forschungsbereich Altsteinzeit - Department of Palaeolithic Research” of the Römisch-

Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz) has been aiming to a large degree at

understanding the parameters involved in the evolution of spatial behaviour. We

address the underlying historical processes diachronically through the contextualized

and interdisciplinary study of Palaeolithic and Mesolithic material remains. Our

research strategy constitutes the interface between chronology and chorology,

adaptive strategies and social organization, providing the synergies necessary for

understanding the process of becoming human.

Precisely dated and well-documented sites that form the basis of our studies provide

spatial data of finds and features in high resolution. The sites addressed by the

Monrepos Archaeological Research Centre and Museum for the Evolution of Hominin

Behaviour span the period from the Lower Palaeolithic until the Mesolithic with the

majority of sites being open-air localities in Central Europe. All these have revealed

well-defined in-situ situations of living-floor character with excellent preservation of

organic matter, allowing for the integration of results from the specific sub-disciplines

within Palaeolithic and Mesolithic research (e.g. lithic and archaeozoological analyses).

Together with the application of geo-statistical methods (e.g. GIS, refitting) they allow

the reconstruction of past hominin daily-life activities in their spatial context.

The sites used in our current analysis have mostly been dug on a large scale, often

comprising agglomerations of different occupational units. Most prominent are the

following sites:

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Lower Palaeolithic: Bilzingsleben

Middle Palaeolithic: Neumark-Nord

Upper Palaeolithic: Breitenbach; Gönnersdorf; Andernach; Ölknitz

Final Palaeolithic: a group of sites (Niederbieber, Kettig, Andernach, Bad Breisig)

embedded in the Late Glacial landscape preserved under the volcanic

deposits of the Laacher See eruption

Mesolithic: Bedburg-Königshoven; Duvensee

Our analysis document both similarities and differences in the organisation of space at

different scales as concerns both site-internal organisation and land-use patterns. In

diachronic perspective comparison of these offers the possibility to distinguish

between site-specific functional / economical variability on the one hand and overall

evolutionary trends on the other, when placed in context against the available

ecological, environmental and climatic data.

Here, we will report the major results of our research established this far, outlining the

principal changes underlying the revolution of hominin spatial behaviour. We will try to

present an agenda for future research.

References:

Gaudzinski-Windheuser, S., Jöris, O., Sensburg, M., Street, M. and Turner, E. (eds.), in press.

Site-internal spatial organization of hunter-gatherer societies: Case studies from the European

Palaeolithic and Mesolithic. RGZM-Tagungen. Mainz: Verlag des Römisch-Germanischen

Zentralmuseums.

Street, M., Gelhausen, F., Grimm, S., Moseler, F., Niven, L., Sensburg, M., Turner,E., Wenzel, S. and Jöris. O. 2006. "L’occupation de bassin de Neuwied (Rhénanie centrale, Allemagne) par les Magdaléniens

et les groupes à Federmesser (aziliens)". Bulletin de la Société préhistorique française 103:

753-780.

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Early modern human dispersals out of Africa:

Testing mechanisms using agent based modelling

Penny Spikins1, Alison Heppenstall

2, Andrew Needham

1 and Andy Evans

2

1 Department of Archaeology, King’s Manor, University of York, YO1 7EP, UK

2 School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK

Early modern human dispersals out of Africa: Testing mechanisms using agent based

modelling

Explanations for the dispersal of early modern humans out of Africa remain a key area

of debate. Archaeological and genetic evidence allow us to map the movement of

populations both within and out of Africa following a population bottleneck prior to

70,000 years ago. Such dispersals across Asia and into Australia, north into the

Americas and into Europe were remarkable - notably rapid, often across difficult and

risky terrain such as semi-deserts and deltas and into areas already occupied by archaic

human groups. Why early modern humans should have been such apparently

determined colonisers of new environments, whilst earlier archaic groups largely

expanded only slowly and into familiar ecological niches remains unclear.

Here we define three potential models which might explain population expansion, and

consider how well each matches our archaeological and genetic signatures.

1). Population Increase. The first model is based on population increase in modern

humans species forcing expansion as resources dwindle.

2). Coastal Colonisation. The second model is based on movements along the coast

exploiting coastal resources (Foley and Lahr 1994).

3). Conflict and Expulsions. The third model is based on ethnographic evidence for

conflict and expulsion events in modern hunter-gatherers creating ‘splinter groups’

forced into occupying new terrain.

Fig. 1: Different scenarios for mechanisms of dispersal in early modern humans

The first two models are relatively familiar, with population increase following a

paradigm based on animal ecology, and coastal colonisation following Foley and Lahr

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(1994) whereas the third derives from studies of recent hunter-gather social dynamics

and counter dominance in such societies (Boehm et al 1993, Spikins 2008). The

implication of the third model is that subtle evolutionary changes in socio-emotional

construction created not only highly collaborative societies with more long distance

contacts but also more dynamic social patterns in modern humans than earlier species

in which internal conflicts force movements from which there is ‘no going back’.

Dispersal would, in this scenario, be a side effect of other social changes rather than a

reflection of human ‘success’ as a species.

References: Boehm, C., Barclay, H. B., Dentan, R. K., Dupre, M-C., Hill, J. D., Kent, S., Knauft, B. M., Otterbein, K. F.,

and Rayner, S. 1993. «Egalitarian behaviour and reverse dominance hierarchy», Current Anthropology

34 (3): 227-254

Lahr, M.M. and Foley, R. 1994. «Multiple dispersals and modern human origins». Evolutionary

Anthropoogy 3: 48–60

Spikins, P. A. 2008. «The Bashful and the Boastful: Prestigious leaders and social change in Mesolithic

Societies», Journal of World Prehistory 2008 (3-4): 173-193

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USING SPACES IN ABRIGO DE LA QUEBRADA (CHELVA, VALENCIA).

VARIATIONS IN THE MIDDLE PALEOLITHIC LEVELS IV AND VIII

Aleix Eixea 1, Valentín Villaverde

1, João Zilhão

2, Alfred Sanchis

3,

Juan Vicente Morales 1 , Cristina Real

1

1 Departament de Prehistòria i Arqueologia, Universitat de Valencia. Blasco Ibáñez 28, 46010 Valencia.

Correos e.: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],

[email protected]

2 ICREA - Departament de Prehistòria, Història Antiga i Arqueologia. Universitat de Barcelona.

C/ Montalegre 6. 08001 Barcelona. Correo e.: [email protected]

3 Museu de Prehistòria de València. Servei d’investigació Prehistòrica (SiP). Diputació de València.

C/ Corona 36. 46003 Valencia. Correo e.: [email protected]

Spatial analysis is a key research topic in current studies of the Middle Paleolithic of

Valencia. Such sites as Cova del Bolomor (Sañudo and Fernández Peris, 2007), Cova

Negra (Villaverde et al., 2008a), El Salt and Abric del Pastor (Galván et al., 2001;

Marrero et al., 2011), and Abrigo de la Quebrada (Eixea, 2010; Eixea et al., in press)

provide a regional framework. The focus of these studies is palimpsest formation and

the problems involved in disentangling the different types of human occupations and

kinds of activities subsumed therein.

Our Abrigo de la Quebrada research contributes new data on the organization of the

inhabited space by Stage 3 Neandertal groups of the central region of the

Mediterranean littoral of Iberia. Among the different factors considered,

sedimentation rates and changes in the rhythm and nature of the occupations

contribute most to the explanation of the site’s archeological record.

The Abrigo de la Quebrada is located on the left side of the Barranco de Ahillas

(Chelva). The rockshelter is 38 m long, and the distance between back wall and drip

line varies between 2 and 9 m. The ground surface is rather flat, with a slight dip to

the South. As it faces NW and is inset in a very narrow canyon with vertical walls, the

rockshelter receives little direct sunlight. The area so far excavated extends over 21

m². Eight archeological levels have been recognized. AMS radiocarbon dates obtained

on ABA-treated charcoal samples range from 40.5 to 43.9 ka 14

C BP for level III, while

ABOx-treated charcoal samples yielded results of >50.8 ka 14

C BP for the same level

and of >51.6 ka 14

C BP for the upper part of level IV.

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Fig. 1. Stratigrafic profile picture in Abrigo de la Quebrada.

The excavation proceeded through the traditional subdivision of the excavated surface

in square meter units. All lithics and faunal remains were three-dimensionally piece-

plotted (x, y, z) with a total station. Each level was excavated in ~5 cm-thick spits with

respect for the natural boundaries with over- and underlying stratigraphic units. Each

square meter was subdivided in units of 25x25 cm to which all sieve finds can be

referred. Due to the unavailability of water, sediments were dry-sieved only using

sieving batteries with two mesh sizes (4 and 2 mm).

The high density of the finds and their 3D plotting allows the carrying out of spatial

analysis in connection with fire-related features: hearths and ash-stained areas. The

overlap in both features and find distributions is suggestive of a repeated use of the

place and of low sedimentation rates (Villaverde et al., 2008b; Eixea, 2010).

Here, we present results for levels IV and VIII, which seemingly correspond to two

different types of occupation with very different find densities, which translate into

distinct distributions. Level IV is a typical palimpsest with abundant combustion and

knapping debris and faunal remains, where only the distribution of the least common

of find categories is revealing of the underlying structure—one where hearths are at

the center of discrete scatters. Level VIII features a much lower density of finds with a

well defined distribution, the center of which is also a hearth. The higher

sedimentation rates pertaining at the time of formation of level VIII underpin the

difference with the pattern apparent in level IV.

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References:

Eixea, Aleix. 2010. El Abrigo de la Quebrada (Chelva, Valencia). Análisis microespacial del nivel IV.

Diploma de Estudios Avanzados. Departamento de Prehistoria y Arqueología. Universidad de Valencia.

Valencia. 258 p.

Eixea, A., Villaverde, V., Zilhão, J., Sanchis, A., Morales, J.V., and Real, C. In press. "l nivel IV del Abrigo de

la Quebrada (Chelva, Valencia). Análisis microespacial y valoración del uso del espacio en los yacimientos

del Paleolítico medio valenciano". Mainaké XXXIII.

Galván, B, Hernández, C., Alberto, V., Francisco, I., and Rodríguez, A. 2001. «Las sociedades

cazadoras-recolectoras neandertalianas en los Valles de Alcoy (Alicante, España). El Salt como un centro

de intervención referencial». Revista Tabona 10: 33-77.

Marrero, E., Hernández, C., and Galván, B. 2011. "El análisis espacial en el estudio de las secuencias de

facies arqueosedimentarias. Criterios para identificar eventos de ocupación en yacimientos del

Paleolítico Medio: El Salt y el Abric del Pastor (Alcoy, Alicante, España)". Recerques del Museu d'Alcoi 20:

7-32.

Sañudo, P. and Fernández Peris, J. 2007. "Análisis espacial del nivel IV de la Cova del Bolomor (La

Valldigna, Valencia)". Saguntum 39: 9-27.

Villaverde, V., Martínez-Valle, R., and Blasco, R. 2008. "Análisis de la industria lítica y de la economía:

aproximación al uso del espacio". In: Historia de Xàtiva. Vol. II: Los tiempos prehistóricos.

Villaverde, V., Eixea, A., and Zilhão, J. 2008. "Aproximación a la industria lítica del Abrigo de la Quebrada

(Chelva, Valencia)". Treballs d’Arqueologia 14: 213-228.

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The role of the limestone in the Middle Palaeolithic technological

behaviours through the refitting and the spatial patterning analysis: the

level O of the Abric Romaní site (Capellades, Barcelona, Spain)

Amèlia Bargalló (1-2), María Gema Chacón (1-2-3), Bruno Gómez (1-2)

(1) IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, C/Escorxador s/n, 43003 Tarragona, Spain

(2) Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain

(3) UMR7194 – Département de Préhistoire, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 1, rue René Panhard, 75013 Paris, France

The limestone is one of the raw materials called “secondary”, on the one hand because

of quality and aptitude to knapping processes and on the other hand because normally

their procurement areas are locals. This is the “current” idea when the chert is the

principal raw material used in a site or in an archaeological level, especially when it

belongs to the Middle Paleolithic. However, this premise it is not always true.

The limestone documented in the level O of the Abric Romaní site (Capellades,

Barcelona, Spain) mainly comes from outcrops of the Prelitoral mountain range, from

Palaeogene formations of the Ebro Bassin, or from the deposits of Anoia river terraces.

The procurement area for this raw material is less than 1 km.

The goals of this study are:

1) To study of limestone refitting. This study allow us to understand the criteria

applied in the technological production, the processes of cores volumetric

reduction, the knapping method used, and to identify the existence of definite

operative chain of production used specifically for the limestone.

2) To analyse spatial patterning of the limestone lithic assemblage. This analysis

allows us to recognize their accumulation areas and the possible relationships

between them. In this way we can identify if there are specific activity areas at

the site for the use of this stone.

3) To compare the spatial patterning of the limestone assemblage with the

others anthropic evidences at the site (fauna, hearths and wood remains).

This interdisciplinary point of view of crossing data provides information about

their role in the general subsistence activities developed at the site.

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The results of the refitting and spatial pattern study of the limestone from Level O

permitted to document the various specific functions for depending of its used:

- Limestone lithic assemblage: We documented limestone lithics remains

(cores and knapping products) flaked with similar knapping methods that were

employed on chert (mainly raw material used in the lithic assemblage).

- Limestone used in percussion activities: Utilisation as hammerstones, either

for the development of lithic knapping activities or other activities related to

the exploitation of animal carcasses and vegetal resources.

- Heated limestone: On all the surface of level O we identified burned

limestone remains. Some of these are located into the hearths and others are

scattered all over the settlement area. Sometimes these limestone blocs are

used to delimit the hearths (eg. concave or cuvettes hearths). Other times they

were documented within the hearths as if they had been definitely refused.

These last limestone remains show specific type of fractures that could be

evidence of an utilisation to heat water, make soups (bouillon gras), cook meat,

etc...

The analysis of the limestone remains from Abric Romaní level O show that their role

was very important, not only in the organization of the technological behaviour, but

also in the other subsistence activities developed by the Neanderthal groups that

occupied the site around 55 ka BP.

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Aurignacian Landscape Use and Technological Organisation:

an example based on the management of ‘grain de mil’ flint.

Solène Caux 1

1 Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, INRAP, PACEA, UMR 5199, F-33400 Talence, France.

Primary Headings:

Investigating the relationship between prehistoric hunter-gatherers and their

environment is instrumental for understanding the evolution of Palaeolithic mobility

patterns and land use. While numerous studies have highlighted the difficulties that

the notion of 'territory' entails, the actual space exploited by prehistoric populations

lies at the intersection of the 'provisioning' territory, where different types of

resources were procured (siliceous raw materials, subsistence resources, etc…), and

the 'cultural' territory of groups who shared the same ideas, economic organisation or

symbolic values (Jaubert and Barbaza 2005).

During the 1980's, prehistorians began to take an active interest in describing

different types of siliceous raw materials and in doing so, determining their geographic

and geologic origin in order to then map potential raw material sources in the

landscape. This is especially the case for the Aquitaine Basin of southwestern France,

where several different models of social organization, mobility patterns and landscape

use have been proposed based on a combination of raw material distributions and the

techno-economic analysis of numerous archaeological collections (e.g. Demars 1980,

Geneste 1985, etc.). Other studies have emphasized stark contrasts in raw material

procurement patterns between the Middle and Upper Palaeolithic and have important

implications for the evolution of hunter-gatherer behavioural flexibility and spatial

organisation.

Aims

Although numerous types of flint from the Aquitaine Basin have already been

characterised, the origin and distribution of others remain poorly documented, in

particular, a type of flint known as “grain de mil” whose provenance remains a matter

debate amongst prehistorians (Morala et al. 2005, Simonnet 2007). Interestingly, this flint

seems to have been treated in a particular manner, with the forms and distances in

which it was transported varying between cultures, especially during the Aurignacian.

Our analysis, following a series of new raw material surveys, focuses on different

Aurignacian assemblages from across the Aquitaine Basin containing this specific type

of flint, with particular emphasis on several different phases of this techno-complex at

Abri Pataud (Dordogne, France). After first presenting a new characterisation of this

type of flint and a consideration of its geological origins, we will discuss the different

forms (cores, tools, waste products, etc.) and in what technological stages ‘grain de

mil’ flint is found in the assemblages studied and how its representation varies through

time and space.

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These results lead to a discussion of the possible causes influencing this

variability and their ramifications for Aurignacian techno-economic behaviour and

landscape use. Finally, the cultural and environmental mechanisms conditioning

hunter-gatherer provisioning territories, raw material transfers and spatial dynamics

will be discussed.

References:

Demars, P. 1980 – Les matières premières siliceuses utilisées au Paléolithiques supérieur dans le Bassin de

Brive. Thèse de Doctorat, Université Bordeaux 1 : Bordeaux.

Geneste, J. 1985. Analyse lithique d’industries moustériennes du Périgord : une approche

technologique de comportement des groupes humains au Paléolithique moyen. Thèse de Doctorat,

Université Bordeaux 1 : Bordeaux.

Jaubert, J. and Barbaza, M. (dir.) 2005. Territoires, déplacement, mobilité, échange durant la

Préhistoire. Terre et hommes du Sud. Comité des Travaux Historiques et Scientifiques. Paris.

Morala, A., Turq, A. and Lenoir, M. 2005. "Production et utilisation de supports normalisés

lamino-lamellaires dans la chaîne opératoire des grattoirs Caminade du site du Pigeonnier à Gensac

(Gironde, France)". In Le Brun Ricalens,F., Bordes, J.G and Bon, F. (eds) Productions lamellaires

attribuées à l’Aurignacien : Chaînes opératoires et perspectives technoculturelles. Liège,

ArchéoLogiques, 257-271.

Simonnet, R. 2007. "Le silex « Grains de Mil ». Localisation des gîtes". In Frontières naturelles et

frontières culturelles dans les Pyrénées préhistoriques. 101-102, Publican Editiones univ. De Cantabria.

Santander.

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THE ARBA DE BIEL AREA: A LANDSCAPE USE FROM 15000 TO 4000 calBP

María Sebastián1,

Rafael Domingo 2

& Lourdes Montes2

1CCHS-CSIC, c/ Albasanz 26-28. 28037, Madrid (Spain);

2University of Zaragoza. (Spain).

Since 1999 a research project is being carried out in five sites from the upper Arba de

Biel basin (Legunova, Peña-14, Valcervera, Rambla de Legunova and Paco-Pons), that

has yielded up to date 13 different occupation levels, from which 11 are habitational

and 2 funerary. The material characterization of the identified cultural periods is

sustained by a series of 32 absolute dates that spread from the late Magdalenian to

Chalcolithic times (14910±170 to 4260±140 calPB).

The sites share the same characteristics: sandstone rockshelters of small size open to

the East or the Southeast, between 670 and 760 m of altitude (Paco-Pons circa 1.000),

next to the right margin of the Arba de Biel. This river runs from north to south

through an area characterised by the presence of sandstones in palaeochannels and

ochre lutites. The landscape is a smooth mountainside, with some minor heights,

covered by dense vegetation, which is favoured by a climatology that alternates

rigorous winters and tempered summers with a relatively high precipitation index, that

reaches 900 mm per annum. The mosaic-type vegetal cover is based mainly in limited

dryland agriculture and in spots of holm oaks, accompanied by boxes and other

bushes, as well as mature bank formations. This vegetal diversity supports an

important wildlife reserve (herbivores, small carnivores and rodents, and a wide

variety of birds and reptiles). The relief and the climatic conditions are well-suited,

nowadays and also in the past, to hunting and foraging and, in a much lesser way, to

sheepherding.

Fig. 1: Study area map.

The landscape, as part and also as a product of social action, is an interesting spatial

inference framework to carry out studies like ours, that try to analyze the spatial

distribution patterns of archaeological sites in the Arba de Biel basin. In this sense,

landscape is understood as a dynamic and complex construction, due to the

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accumulation of three basic actions: the subsistence, social relations and cultural

perceptions (Parcero, 2002). We will analyze the landscape as an area of development

of these primary productive activities

The size and type of the sites, and their ecological surroundings allows us to interpret

those places as seasonally occupied loci destined to the exploitation of the diverse

local resources by parties of people separated from larger groups whose main

settlements would be located probably in the southern more open area. The

persistence among the resources of wild herbivores even in Neolithic times seems to

show that hunting is precisely the most valued resource in the zone, although we also

propose that during the Magdalenian the people obtained local flint (site of Legunova)

and that possibly there was a pioneer exploitation of copper that could explain the

hostile location of Paco-Pons.

Archaeological Computing Newsletter 59: 4-10.

postpaleolíticos en Biel, Zaragoza". Saldvie 9: 295-310.

References:

Domingo, R. y Montes, L. 2009, "Valcervera y Rambla de Legunova: dos asentamientos

Montes, L. 2005, "Abrigos de Legunova y Valcervera en Biel: campaña de 2004". Saldvie

5: 257-269.

Parcero, C. 2002. "Using GIS for the historical analysis of archaeological landscape".

Montes, L. 2002, "El abrigo epipaleolítico de Peña 14 (Biel, Zaragoza). Excavaciones

1999 y 2000". Saldvie 2: 67-73.

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A Question of Territory: Pre-Pottery Neolithic Settlement Systems in the Lower

Galilee, Israel.

Michal BIRKENFELD 1

1 Department of Prehistory, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

Interactions between humans and their environments are complex. Specific locations

in the landscape are chosen for utilization based on a mixture of economic, cultural

and social factors. In addition to mundane, prosaic aspects, as resource distributions

and ease of access, perception and symbolism may also play parts in such decisions.

This paper presents preliminary results of research focusing on the Pre-Pottery

Neolithic B settlement system in the Lower Galilee, Northern Israel. In general, the

PPNB in the Southern Levant (ca. 8,500-6,400 calBC) represents a peak in

Neolithization processes, when settlements became larger and more densely

populated and exchange systems intensified. When scrutinized, the archaeological

record indicates that settlement and associated subsistence patterns display

considerable regional variability; adaptations to local conditions in different regions

contributed to the formation of distinct local patterns and a mosaic of different

subsistence types.

The Lower Galilee is a well-defined geographical unit, ~760 km2 in area, and provides

an excellent opportunity to carry out an integrated regional study (fig.1).

Archaeological research in the area has been extensive and includes recent, ongoing

and past excavations, as well as several surveying projects. So far, more than 40

archaeological locales dating to the PPN have been documented in the Galilee. Using

this dataset, spatial and locational analyses are conducted using GIS applications.

Aims

This paper deals with questions of territorial choices, site location choices, and how

they reflect society’s needs and adaptations. This is based on the assumption that the

distribution of archaeological elements relative to elements of the landscape provides

insights into human land-use strategies, and that these strategies can be explored to

clarify aspects of the economic and social organization of past societies. Thus, through

shedding light on local subsistence patterns and landscape utilization, we might reach

a better understanding of larger-scale processes and of the dynamics operating in

Neolithic settlement and expansion.

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The megalithic “golden crescent”. An approach to one space in Northern Burgos

which hosted the adoption and evolution of megalithism

Rodrigo Villalobos García1, Germán Delibes de Castro1, Miguel Ángel Moreno Gallo2 y Javier Basconcillos Arce3

1 Departamento de Prehistoria, Arqueología, Antropología Social y CC. y TT. Historiográficas. Universidad

de Valladolid. Plaza del Campus s/n 47011 Valladolid (Spain) 2 Departamento de Ciencias Históricas y Geografía. Universidad de Burgos. C/ Villadiego s/n. 09001

Burgos (Spain) 3 Asociación Geocientífica de Burgos

One of us (M.M.G.) performed some years ago a geographical and statistical study aimed to distinguish the localization criteria of the megalithic sites in the province of Burgos. Different kinds of factors were considered, such as geologic, geomorphologic, climatic, faunistic or botanic ones. Some circumstances seemed to favour the presence of megalithic monuments: places located in regular limestone plateaus, distant from great rivers, and with both low insolation value and good precipitation balance. It also appears that all of these optima factors merge in one small area located in the Nocedo plateu (Valle de Sedano / Los Altos). As a result, this horn-shaped location was named the “golden crescent” (Moreno 2004). This space hosts some of the most representative dolmens of Burgos such as Las Arnillas, Nava Alta, El Moreco or Nava Negra (Delibes, Rojo & Represa 1993). Furthermore, new field surface surveys realized here since then have discovered some new mounds and Late Neolithic domestic sites.

1 La Nava Negra

The aim of this communication is to analyse why this privileged space looked so attractive for the Late Neolithic people and how the funerary and domestic sites were articulated. An approach over the megalithic space distribution in this region was made years ago (Rojo 1990). But now we count on with new archaeological data and useful GIS software tools. Accessibility, pathways, proximity to water sources, potential flood plains, optima agricultural fields and visual domain are some of the data that we intend to compare. This approach will help understand the circumstances that favoured the adoption of the megalithic funerary practices, and also how this phenomenon rooted and developed during the 5th, 4th and 3rd millennia cal BC in the Late Neolithic and Early Copper Age societies of Northern Burgos.

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Main issue: � The use of space from an evolutionary perspective. References:

Delibes de Castro, Germán, Manuel Rojo Guerra and Ignacio Represa Bermejo. 1993. Dólmenes de La

Lora. Burgos. Valladolid: Junta de Castilla y León. Moreno Gallo, Miguel. 2004. Megalitismo y Geografía. Análisis de los factores de localización especial de

los Dólmenes de la provincial de Burgos. Valladolid: Universidad de Valladolid. Rojo Guerra, Manuel. 1990. «Monumentos megalíticos en la Lora Burgalesa: exégesis del emplazamiento». Boletín del Seminario de Estudios de Arte y Arqueología 56: 53-63.

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Rethinking the boundaries of Baetica: a historiographic critic

from space display

Ángel D. Bastos Zarandieta; Daniel J. Martín-Arroyo Sánchez; María del Mar Castro García; Lázaro G. Lagóstena Barrios1

1 Seminario Agustín de Horozco de Estudios Económicos de Historia Antigua y Medieval. Facultad de

Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad de Cádiz. Avda. López Ulla, s/n. 11 003 Cádiz (España).

Previous considerations:

The development of new technologies on management of spatial information (GIS) allows the revision and improvement of the knowledge of Historical Geography. Not only is apprehension of space essential to the understanding of past and present human societies but it has also been taken into account for future projection on the administrative reform augustea. For such purposes, there is some data that, passed on and increased since antiquity, can be reinterpreted and now represented in an original manner. This seems to be, according to us, a long and laborious way, but it is a first step towards the creation of a new Historical Geography that would demarcate different political entities, while the research will not rule out the coexisting different hypothetical reconstructions. Once this first step is taken, we would have the framework to contextualize future archaeological projects. All this will lead us, in the future, to make a proposal of delimitation of Baetica by contrasting different historiographical models and revising historical sources (ancient geographers, epigraphy, monuments, boundaries of other politic and administrative entities…). A greater degree of adjustment will be achieved when we take into account, in a reasoned way, series of geographical accidents (mainly courses and dividing of waters of small or medium-sized dimensions) that have been neglected until the present day. Objectives:

This work fits into that first step proposed for a renewal of Historical Geography. It will therefore provide us not only with a first critical element on which future debates could be articulated, but it will also provide us with the methodology to build the foundation for future researches. We will seek to represent the proposals of different authors of current historiography as M. L. Cortijo Cerezo, P. Corrales Aguilar and J. Díaz Quidiello, as well as of its precedents, such as E. Albertini.

Methodology:

� Georeferencing. We will work on series of historical data vectorized and managed through the program ArcGIS. Among those ones, various proposals that historiography has made to try to solve this problem will be found. The information

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will be completed through the georeferencing of other printed maps, vectorizing the elements of interest. We seek to convert static proposals into dynamic working tools. � Contrasting. This phase may correct basic typical errors that might occur on the paper record when working on large scales. Furthermore, we can check and analyze the points or areas of dispute existing between them by viewing the different delimitation proposals.

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Evaluating Viking eco-cultural niche variability between the Medieval Climate

Optimum and the Little Ice Age

Antunes Nicolas 1

,William Banks1, Francesco D’Errico

1

1 Univ. Bordeaux, CNRS, MCC, INRAP, PACEA, UMR 5199, F-33400 Talence, France.

Abstract:

For a variety of political and social reasons, Norwegian Viking populations colonized

Greenland, Iceland, and Vinland (Canada) from the ninth century until the end of the

fourteenth century. These migrations occurred during the Medieval Climate Optimum

(MCO), a period characterized by relatively warm climatic conditions that rendered

these regions favorable for Viking agricultural and pastoral practices.

Settlement of these regions declined during the fourteenth century for a number of

reasons. In Greenland, large areas were cleared to be used as cattle pastures and for

hay production, leading to a gradual deterioration of the environment making such

practices untenable. In addition, the disruption of trade networks between Greenland

and Norway, along with conflict with indigenous Inuit populations, took a toll on these

colonies. Finally, an abrupt climatic deterioration known as the Little Ice Age (LIA)

adversely affected agricultural productivity. Similarly, Icelandic settlements were

continually impacted by disease, famine, volcanism and social conflict, and the LIA only

exacerbated these problems.

While it has been argued that one should not rely on solely climatic factors to explain

these social and economic crises (Dugmore et al. 2012), one cannot ignore the fact

that the LIA had a profound effect on Viking populations. We know that settlement of

these regions for a number of centuries was made possible by favorable climatic

conditions and that habitat suitability played a major role in the establishment of these

farming communities.

In order to evaluate the influence of environment and changing climatic conditions on

Viking settlement over time, we apply genetic algorithm (GARP; Stockwell and Peters,

1999) and maximum entropy (Maxent: Phillips et al., 2006) techniques to estimate the

ecological niche exploited by colonizing Viking populations (i.e., their eco-cultural

niche: Banks et al., 2008) during the MCO and the LIA. These predictive modeling

methods allow one to determine which environmental factors most influenced the

Viking eco-cultural niche, as well as evaluate eco-cultural niche variability over time. By

quantifying tolerances of the Viking subsistence economy to climatic variability, we

evaluate the hypothesis that the onset of the LIA led to a to a contraction of the Viking

eco-cultural niche and ultimately to their abandonment of these regions.

References:

Banks, W.E., et al. 2008. "Human ecological niches and ranges during the LGM in Europe derived from

an application of eco-cultural niche modeling". Journal of Archaeological Science 35 (2): 481-491.

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Dugmore, A.J., McGovern, T.H., Vésteinsson, O., Arneborg, J., Streeter, R. and Keller, C. 2012.

"Cultural adaptation, compounding vulnerabilities and conjunctures in Norse Greenland."

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109 (10): 3658-3663

Phillips, S.J., Anderson, R.P. and Schapire, R.E. 2006. "Maximum entropy modeling of species

geographic distributions." Ecological modelling 190, (3-4): 231-259.

Stockwell, D. and Peters, D.P. 1999. "The GARP modelling system: problems and solutions to

automated spatial prediction". International Journal of Geographical Information Science 13 (2)

(1999): 143-158.

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From place to surface: exploring palaeolithic spatial behavior through Archaeology

Javier Ordoño Daubagna 1

1 Department of Geography, Prehistory and Archaeology, University of the Basque Country. C/ Tomás y Valiente s/n. 01006 Vitoria-Gasteiz (Spain).

When analyzing from a macro scale human spatial behavior in past times, not a few impediments are usually found. The majority of them depend on the singular nature of archaeological record (scarcity of preserved evidences) and of the geographical context in which it is kept (problem of visibility). In the case of Palaeolithic, moreover, two major facts determine research on the relationship between human beings and their environment. First, the widespread theory that pre-agricultural societies did not make too much effort transforming their surrounding landscapes, not only in an economic but even in a symbolic or sacred sense (Bradley, 1998: 20). And second, the assumption that even if they had done it, the posterior millennial evolution and anthropic transformation of landscapes could have erased any evidence of human activity. Nowadays, although these assessments can be reformulated thanks to new discoveries (lithic raw material sources, open air rock art) and methodological improvements (survey, GIS), there are still many difficulties to transcend the local scale constituted by palaeolithic sites in spatial analysis. In fact, as we move away from a site, understood as a place or context for the mediation of physical, social, economic and symbolic processes instead of a mere location (Agnew, 2011: 317), we realize the trouble to discern its spatial association to outer sites, structures or objects, whose contemporaneity and/or same authorship uses to be, on practice, uninsurable. Therefore, archaeologists are forced to take sites as the starting point from which to analyze surface, the surrounding territory where external activities are presumed to have taken place. Research on this must be conducted through the analysis of different scales or levels (from local to semi-local, territorial, transterritorial) to be defined from a previous reflection on hunter-gatherer spatial behavior (Julien & Connet, 2005; Djindjian, 2009). Only then, the variables to be analyzed from spatial premises can be determined and weighted. Recent works (García Moreno, 2010) reflect this kind of procedures and show the value of some of those variables, especially locational ones (altitude, insolation, slope, visibility, etc.), in the analysis of palaeolithic spatial patterns. Assessing the possibilities of these type of approaches and designing a new methodological framework, based on a reflection from an archaeogeographic perspective, will be the main aim of this essay. References:

Agnew, J. A. 2011. "Space and place". In Agnew, J and Livingstone, D. (eds.) Handbook of

Geographical Knowledge, London: Sage, 316-330.

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Bradley, R. 1998. The significance of monuments on the shaping of human experience in Neolithic and

Bronce Age Europe. London: Routledge.

Djindjian, F. 2009. "Le concept de territoires pour les chasseurs-cueilleurs du Paléolithique supérieur

européen". In Djindjian, F., Kozlowski, J. and Bicho, N. (eds.) Le concept de territoires dans le

Paléolithique supérieur européen. British Archaeological Reports International Series 1938. Oxford: Archaeopress, 3-25. García Moreno, A. 2010. Patrones de asentamiento y ocupación del territorio en el Cantábrico Oriental

al final del Pleistoceno. Una aproximación mediante SIG. Unpublished PhD Dissertation. Universidad de Cantabria. Santander.

Julien, M. and Connet, N. 2005. "Espaces, territoires et comportements des châtelperroniens et

aurignaciens de la Grotte du Renne à Arcy-Sur-Cure (Yonne)". In Vialou, D.Renault-Miskovsky, J. and

Patou-Mathis, M. (eds.) Comportements des hommes du moyen et supérieur en Europe: territoires et

milieux, Université de Liège: Études et Recherches Archéologiques de l'Université de Liège 111. Liège, 133-146.

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The micro‐spatial dimension of the human behaviour: How reliable is the toss/drop model to analyze spatial pattern organization?

Jorge Martínez‐Morenoa, Rafael Mora Torcala,b, Xavier Roda Gilaberta,c

a‐ Centre d’Estudis del Patrimoni Arqueològic de la Prehistoria (CEPAP). Facultat de Filosofia i Lletres. Universidad Autònoma de Barcelona. 08193 Bellaterra. Spain.

b‐ ICREA Academia Program, Generalitat de Catalunya, Spain c‐ FPI‐MICINN Pre Doctoral fellowship, Ministerio de Ciencia e innovación, Spain.

Space management is a relevant category in characterizing past hunters‐gatherers groups, as has been suggested by diverse theoretic‐methodological perspectives. The spatial distribution of stone tools and bones, as well as the presence of hearths and building elements provide information about the extant interactions among group components (Binford, 1983). Hence, micro‐spatial analysis permits identifying activities which are the basis to analyze the settlement organization.

The palaeoethnographic approach has structured these analytic lines according to several techniques, in which artefacts and bones’ refitting allows establishing trajectories interpreted in terms of movements and task conducted by group members (Leroi‐Gourhan & Brezillon 1964). Conversely, diverse processual approaches (Simek, 1984) prevail the application of quantitative tests –nowadays highly sophisticated (geo‐statistics, GIS) ‐ in order to detect spatial relationship among archaeological categories. Nevertheless, explicitly or implicitly, an ethnoarchaeologic referent is essential to assess the reliability of spatial patterns (Kroll and Price (eds) 1991).

Fig. 1‐ Toss and drop model proposed

in Henry 2012 (modified).

The main aim is to analyze the

implications of the application of one of these ethnoarchaeological models within the spatial analysis. Toss‐drop model defined by L. Binford (1983) from his observations about Nunamiut, allowed him to challenge the proposed reconstruction of habitation 1 of Pincevent (Leroi‐Gourhan y Brezillon 1964). Based on quantitative finesses such as the ring and sector method (Stapert 1989), diverse authors draw similar conclusions. Lately, this method has been applied to the analysis of Tor Faraj Middle Palaeolithic site (Henri, 2012) (Fig. 1).

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It is analyzed the heuristic of these models, within a theoretic‐empirical sphere.

This critical approach lead us to discuss concepts such as living‐floor/palimpsest, which definition constitutes an essential part in the identification of organization patterns and remarks the importance of considering the vertical distribution of artefacts (Villa, 2004). We propose generating archaeological alternatives which overcomes the gaps inherited in these ethnoarchaeological approaches. Keywords: methodology, micro‐spatial analysis, toss/drop model, archeostratigraphy References:

Binford, L.R. 1983. In Pursuit of the Past. Decoding the Archaeological Record. Henry, D. 2012. "The palimpsest problem, hearth pattern analysis and Middle Paleolithic site structure". Quaternary International 247: 246‐266.

Kroll, E., Price. T. (eds) 1991. The interpretation of archaeological spatial patterning. Plenum Press. New York

Leroi‐Gourhan, A.; M. Brezillon 1966. "L'habitation magdalenienne nº 1 de Pincevent

près Montereau (Seine‐et‐Marne)". Gallia Préhistorie 9: 263‐385. Simek, J. F. 1984. "Integrating pattern and context in spatial archaeology". Journal of Archaeological Science 11: 405‐420.

Stapert, D. 1989. "The ring and sector method : intrasite spatial analysis of

Stone Age sites, with special reference to Pincevent". Palaeohistoria 31: 1‐57. Villa, P. 2004. "Taphonomy and stratigraphy in European prehistory". Before Farmi

ng 1: 1‐20.

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GIS Spatial distribution analysis in raw material quarrying sites: the example of

El Cañaveral (Madrid, Spain)

Irene Ortiz Nieto‐Márquez 1 Javier Baena Preysler2 María Gema Chacón3,4,5

1 Becaria FPU. Dep. de Prehistoria y Arqueología. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Campus Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid. [email protected] 2 Dep. de Prehistoria y Arqueología. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Campus Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid [email protected] 3 IPHES, Institut Català de Paleoecologia Humana i Evolució Social, C/Escorxador s/n, 43003 Tarragona, Spain [email protected] 4 Àrea de Prehistòria, Universitat Rovira i Virgili (URV), Avinguda de Catalunya 35, 43002 Tarragona, Spain 5 UMR7194 – Département de Préhistoire, Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 1, rue René Panhard, 75013 Paris, France

The El Cañaveral archaeological site (Madrid, Spain) is an open air raw material

quarrying site, occupied during the Middle Paleolithic period. The archaeological context of the site is the tertiary basin of Madrid, part of a bigger morpho-structural unit called Tajo’s basin (Baena et al. 2011). This site was discovered thanks to some investigation projects headed by the Consejería de Cultura of the Region of Madrid. Later excavations were conducted by Arquex SL archaeological company and the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid team, determinate the presence and character of the archaeological remains.

Thanks to the discovering of a large number of lithic industry associated with raw material blanks, it was decided to start an open excavation in different areas. One of the main excavation was the Area 3. It is a 164 m2 area, where it was possible to document at first glance a great density of lithic material with different degrees of alteration, and high concentrations of horizontal position materials (Baena et al, 2008). For this reason, it was necessary to discriminate different knapping areas in whole excavation area, and also to determinate if this place is a palimpsest as a result of a continuous occupation place, or discrete layers happened. Likewise it was necessary to discover the postdepositional agents that could affect the original lithic distribution both in x and y axis and in z values. The spatial dimensions of refits could offer important information about formation process of the site. At the same time, refitting could provide basic information in terms of behavior dynamics of the Mousterian groups in the site (De la Torre, 2004).

Controlling refits dimensions is essential in the horizontal axis to determine related activities between clusters of knapping in order to evaluate its contemporarily or not, and in the vertical dispersion to answer stratigraphic ascriptions.

In order to do that, a spatial analysis of remains was built up using GIS

technology using information of refitted pieces. Computing and GIS developments open

1 2

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new possibilities in spatial distribution interpretation married with statistic evaluation of results (Maximiano, 2007). On that way, thanks to the georeferentation of the lithic pieces it was possible to establish displacement of pieces in the entire axis. In the two first layers the majority of the refitting pieces belong to reduction sequences, while in the third layer belong to fractures. It was possible, as well, join two different layers, while in the other layer it was confirmed the presence of a post-depositional process that changes the z distribution of materials (Ortiz, 2010).

The graphic representation of the dates obtained in field and laboratory is realized by ArcGis 9.7 version, showing the concentrations, different layers, joining lines of refitting pieces, density maps and the representation of altered material.

These spatial concentrations of material are useful to get information about the

hominid behavior in first knapping activities and raw material procurement phases. Likewise, looking at future, these spatial analyses could make easier the relation between different sites linked by the raw material exploitation.

Fig. 1: Area3. Spatial patterning of lithics divided by layers and some examples of refits. References: Baena, J. et al. 2008. "El yacimiento paleolítico de El Cañaveral (Coslada- Madrid). La captación de recursos líticos durante el musteriense peninsular". Arqueoweb. Revista sobre arqueología en internet 9 (2), 1-32.

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Baena, J.et al. 2011. Searchers and Miners: first signs of flint exploitation in Madrid Region (Spain). In The 2nd International Conference of the UISPP Commission on Flint mining in Pre- and Protohistoric Times. BAR International Series. Archaeopress.

De la Torre, I., Martínez-Moreno, J., Mora, R. and Pizarro, J. 2004. "Los remontajes del nivel 10 de la Roca del Bous (Cataluña, España); una herramienta analítica para reconstruir los procesos de formación de los yacimientos". O Paleolítico, Actas do IV Congresso de arqueología peninsular., 397-406. Maximiano Castillejo, A. 2007. Teoría geostadística aplicada al análisis de la variabilidad espacial arqueológica intra-site. (Tesis de Doctorado, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona). Ortiz, I. 2010, inédito. Dinámicas de la industria lítica. Análisis Espacial de los agregados del Área 3 en el yacimiento de El Cañaveral. (Coslada-Madrid). Tesis de Máster, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. (ep)

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A GIS approach to Neandertal spatial behavior: A case study from Amud Cave

Mae Goder 1, Erella Hovers

1, Rivka Rabinovich

1,2

1The Institute of Archaeology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (Israel)

2 The National Natural History Collections, The Institute of Earth Sciences,

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Israel

Background:

GIS has been used mostly for landscape archaeology and inter-site spatial mapping and

analysis, and to a lesser extent for intra-site spatial analysis. Despite the analytical

constraints typically originating from the limited size and distorted shapes of

excavation areas, the majority of onsite GIS work has been confined to using the

software’s visualization tools at the expense of more analytical studies (for some

exceptions see: Birkenfeld and Goring-Morris 2011; Mills 2009; Moyes 2002). Amud

Cave is a late Middle Paleolithic site in Israel (68-55 thousand years ago), presenting a

stratigraphic sequence of dense human occupations coupled with complex site

formation processes, While differential use of space has been documented for some

find classes in the cave, the digital treatment of the various data sets presents us with

methodological as well as archaeological challenges (Hovers et al., 2011).

Aims

The most recent excavations at the site ended in 1994, prior to the now-common

practice of applying digital methods of data collection, documentation and analysis

Consequently, our aims in this study are twofold: 1) developing a methodology to

translate analogical field documents to GIS files using ArcGIS generic software, and 2)

addressing the issue of spatial differences in artifact distributions and assessing their

anthropogenic or taphonomic origins.

Once digitization was complete, we used the nArcMap’s native statistical tools to

validate emerging spatial patterns of lithic artifacts, taking into account the constrains

of the shape and size of the excavated area. When integrated with geochemical, faunal

and lithic analysis results, this allows addressing questions about spatial behaviors of

the Neandertal occupants of Amud Cave, with special emphasis on trash disposal

behavior.

References:

Birkenfeld, M., and Goring-Moris., N. 2011. "A methodological approach, using GIS applications, to

stratigraphy and spatial analysis at PPNB Kfar HaHoresh". In Healey, E., Campbell, S. and Maeda, O.

(eds.) Studies in the State of the Stone Terminologies, Continuities and Contexts, Near Eastern Lithics

Studies in Early Near Eastern Production, Subsistence, and Environment 13, Berlin, 277-291.

Hovers, E., Malinsky-Buller A., Goder-Goldberger, M. and Ektshtain; R. 2011. Capturing a Moment:

Identifying Short-lived Activity Locations in Amud Cave, Israel. In Le Tensorer J.-M., Jagher R. and M. Otte M. (eds.) The Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Middle East and Neighbouring Regions,4.

Proceedings of the Basel symposium (mai 8-10 2008). ERAUL 126, Liège,101-114.

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Mills, T. 2009. A GIS Approach to the Spatial Analysis of the Fincastle Bison Kill Site (D10x-5), MA Thesis,

University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada.

Moyes, H. 2002. "The use of GIS in the spatial analysis of an archaeological cave site". Journal of Cave

and Karst Studies 64(1): 9-16.

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Marking old territories: Using ArcGIS models for raw material survey areas in the

Levantine Middle Paleolithic. A case study from Qafzeh cave, Israel

Ravid Ekshtain1 , Ilan Sharon

1 , Yonaton Goldsmith

1 , Michal Birkenfeld

1

1 The Institute of Archaeology. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem 91905 (Israel)

In this study, we reconstruct size and shape of daily exploitation territories (Bailey and

Davidson 1983, Vita-Finzi and Higgs 1970) used in the Levantine Middle Paleolithic, in

order to shed light on raw material procurement strategies and mobility patterns. In

the Levant, the major raw material to be considered is flint. By investigating lithic

assemblages and mapping flint sources surrounding sites, we examine whether lithic

raw material sources are located within or outside such territories. This impacts on our

understanding of prehistoric land use strategies.

We approach the question of flint procurement by Middle Paleolithic groups through a

formal, top-down model. Ethnographic studies on hunter-gatherers suggest that site

exploitation territories tend to be confined within pedestrian travel distance of up to

ca. 120 minutes one-way. In a homogeneous and flat topography, this is equal to a

distance of 10 km. However, Levantine MP cave sites tend to be located in areas of

accentuated and diverse topographic features. To simulate site exploitation territories

we used topographic data (DEM) to create a model of a daily exploitation territory

around Middle Paleolithic sites, using ArcGIS. The model computes the boundary

around a site that designates 120 minutes of travel away from the site. The model’s

predictions about travel distances and the effects of topography were tested, with the

help of Hebrew University archaeology students who traversed a specific terrain in the

lower Galilee. This test enabled fine-tuning and calibration of the model‘s assumptions.

After calibration, the model was applied to several Levantine Middle Paleolithic sites.

Here we present a case study from Qafzeh Cave, located in the lower Galilee. Flint

artifacts from layer XIX in the terrace sequence, dated 88.6±3.2 (TL) - 106.0 (ESR)

(Valladas et al. 1988, Schwarcz et al., 1988) were analyzed typologically, technologically

(Hovers, 2009), and visually for raw material identification (this study). Several

different flint groups were identified. We surveyed the exploitation territory around

the cave, as defined by the calibrated model, in order to locate flint sources.

Comparison between the archaeological artifacts and the flint sources identified within

this territory allows several insights concerning the raw material strategies and

mobility patterns of the inhabitants of this site.

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References:

Bailey and Davidson. 1983. "Site exploitation of territories and topography: two case studies from

Paleolithic Spain". Journal of Archaeological Science 10: 87-116.

Hovers, E. 2009. The Lithic Assemblages of Qafzeh Cave. New York: Oxford University Press.

Schwarcs, Grun, Vandermeersch, Bar- Yosef, Valladas, and E. Tchernov. 1988. "ESR dates for the

hominid burial site of Qafzeh in Israel". Journal of Human Evolution 17: 733-737.

Valladas, Reyss, Joron, Valladas, Bar- Yosef, and B. Vandermarch. 1988. "Thermoluminescence dating of

Mousterian 'Proto-CroMagnon' remains from Israel and the Origin of Modern man". Nature 331: 614-

616.

Vita-Finzi and Higgs. 1970. "Prehistoric Economy in the Mount Carmel Area of Palestine: Site catchment

analysis". Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 36: 1-37.

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D b n p A h o o n nd

How efficiently did they walk? An essay on the characterisation of traditional

routes by Least Cost Path analysis and non-dimensional variables

Enrique Cerrillo Cuenca 1, José Ángel Martínez del Pozo1, Raquel Liceras Garrido1, Enrique Cerrillo Martín de Cáceres2

1 Archaeological Institute of Mérida. Spanish Council for Scientific Research. Plaza de España, 15. 06800,

Mérida, Badajoz (Spain) 2University of Extremadura. History Department. Faculty of Philosophy and Letters. Av/ Universidad s/n,

10071 Cáceres (Spain).

The Least Cost Path (LCP) analysis has been widely applied in landscape research from

the very first period of GIS applications in Archaeology (Llobera 2000). Even there is a

previous literature about the calculation of optimal routes in Archaeology by non-

computational procedures. A certain number of algorithms have been used in

Archaeology: Naismith rule (Frizt and Carver 1998), Pandolf equation (Pandolf et al.

1977) or Tobler’s hiking function (Tobler 1993). In spite of this, some authors have

compared the results from these methods, the reality is that a little work have

been done on testing the modelling routes against traditional routes.

Our work has focused on the landscape of Tagus basin, in the surroundings of

Alconétar’s River Ford, whose role as a ford has remained stable over the past, since

it strongly depends on the topographical and geological setting of the region. One of

the main aims of the project is to reconstruct the patterns of movement

in the surroundings of the ford, since it can help to explain the distribution of

certain number of archaeological sites, ranging from megalithic monuments to roman

sites.

We understand routes as a landscape feature produced by agents, who determine

not only the track of the route, but some aspect that are socially accepted as the

time invested in cover it, and, of course, the cognitive experiences of the

travellers. Although experiences are a factor to not be forgotten in landscape

configuration, time and effort are the solely variables that we can model through

LCP. Comparing these pseudo-objective variables from pre-industrial routes with

that obtained from LCP analysis could be a way to test the suitability of LCP when

analysing past landscapes. We have faced the research in three directions:

1. Research on computing LCP in GIS. We have programmed our own module in GRASS

GIS (r.paths) to compute the routes the different algorithms in a common

background, easing the task to perform calculations with several algorithms

jointly. One of the advantages is that our module has been designed to perform

the “Moving without Destination” approach to model random movement (Fábrega

and Parcero 2007).

2. A non-dimensional way to characterise the internal complexity of the routes.

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Being not just enough the results of the comparisons between modelled and

traditional routes, we have computed variables such as length, sinuosity or fractal

dimension to validate these comparisons. We see it as an advance to objectively

describe the results of different LCP methods with non-dimensional parameters,

rather than with lengt

and slope dependent variables as time or energy costs are. A brief statistical analysis

of the methods regarding to the internal complexity that they use to produce the

routes will be presented.

Fig. 1. An example of routes produced by our r.paths GRASS GIS module in the

surroundings of Araya fault, south of Alconetar’s River Ford, where several megalithic

sites have been identified.

3. Historic research on landscape. In our area of work we count with a rich historical

cartography and literature dating back from the 16th to 19th centuries, whose

routes are expressed in leagues, that is, the track of the route an individual can

cover in an hour. We have gathered all the historical information and we have

observed that distances are not altered over the time or the kind of cartography

(civil or military), what can denote a social consensus when perceiving the

journeys. A simple comparison between the information from these sources and

the variables derived from the modelled routes by LCP can offer a insight on what LCP

method adapts better to traditional paths.

To sum up, we offer a perspective of how LCP can help to explain the structure of

archaeological landscape in our study region, specially regarding to the distribution

of prehistoric sites.

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Notes:

This paper advances some preliminary results of the project The formation of a

passage landscape (PRI09C058) funded by Extremadura’s Regional Government trough

the European Social Fund

Reference:

Fábrega P. and Parcero C. 2007. "Proposals for an archaeological analysis of

pathways and movement". Archeologia e Calcolatori 18:121-40.

Fritz S. and Carver S. 1998. "Accessibility as an important wilderness

indicator: Modelling Naismith's rule". In GISRUK'98

http://www.geog.leeds.ac.uk/papers/98-7/. Accessed 11 November

2010.

Llobera M. 2000. "Understanding movement: a pilot model towards the

sociology of movement". In Lock, G. (ed.) Beyond the Map: Archaeology and

Spatial

Technologies, NATO Science Series, Series A: Life Sciences 321, 65-84. Amsterdam.

Pandolf K. and Givoni B. Goldman R. 1977. "Predicting Energy Expenditure with

Loads While Standing or Walking Slowly". Journal of Applied Physiology 43 (4): 577–581.

Tobler, W. 1993. Three Presentations on Geographical Analysis and Modeling: Non-

isotropic modeling, speculations on the geometry of geography, global spatial analysis,

National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis.

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.33.5402&rep=rep1&type

= pdf. Accessed 11 November 2010.

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download

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Traditional wisdom and landscape management. A Longue durée history of human

exploitation of a critical resource. The case of the Oukaimeden valley (High Atlas, Morocco)*

Grupo ARPA* Youssef Bobkot

1, Marisa Ruiz-Gálvez

2, Mercedes Farjas

3, Eduardo Galán

4, Hipólito

Collado5, Paloma de la Peña

2, Jorge de Torres

2 Blanca Ruiz

6, Pablo de la Presa

3, Antonio Rubinos

7, José

María Señorán8, Carlos Nieto

2

1

Départment de Préhistoire. Institut National des Sciences de l’Archéologie et du Patrimoine, Rabat,

Marruecos 2

Prehistory Department, Complutense University. 3

Technical School of Engineers in

cartography, surveying and geodesy. Polytechnic University Madrid 4

National Archaeological Museum,

(Madrid, Spain) 5 Council of Extremadura’s Heritage, Mérida

6 Department of Geology. University of

Alcalá de Henares 7 Rocasolano Institute, C.S.I.C.

8 INCIPIT (Heritage Sciences' Institute. Padre Sarmiento

Institute (CSIC), Santiago de Compostela, España

Since 2008 an international and interdisciplinary team of archaeologists, geologists and 14c

and paleoenvironment specialists is working together, aiming at reconstructing the history of

the human occupation of an alpine valley in Morocco. This global approach includes an

intensive rock art survey, excavations in shelters and barrows and technological analysis of

lithic tools, as well as historical and etnoarchaeological information collected to be contrasted

with the archaeological data.

Information has been handled by means of a Geographic Information System and supported

by statistical analysis, particularly in correspondence analysis trough WINBASP and PAST

programs, developed as free software by Bonn University (BASP) and PALSTAT project. This

kind of statistical approach has been used to analyze the huge amount of rock engravings

documented - whose chronology is not accurately established – in order to find relationships

between their topographical position and the symbols, animals and items represented which

could have chronological implications.

We can build on these data that the first human occupation of this alpine valley, located at

2630 meters above the sea level, took place at a relatively late period. Within the nearly 25

14C dates we have, six are dated around the mid-fourth millennium cal BC, that is, at Late

Neolithic. These are oldest evidence of the human presence at the valley. Resources were

probably exploited on a seasonal regime as it is still today, due the marked altitude of the

valley and the ephemeral character of the archaeological dwellings we have dug up.

The first exploitation of this marginal area is related to the change of the monsoon regime

affecting North Africa, which resulted in a more contrasted climate, including a summer

drought period, that also lead southwards to the formation of the Saharan desert. Our

Paleoenvironmental data clearly show the impact of the human setting on this fragile

environment, with some areas evolving to a maquis at period of strong exploitation and others

of recovering, probably linked to a less marked human presence on it. Rock art too, with a

remarkable emphasis on weapons located at key points such as those which allow the access

to critical resources, betray a stronger pressure on critical resources. A significant amount of

these rock carvings of weapons can be considered to belong to the Bronze Age.

* Project funded by an I+d+i Project of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation HAR2009-07169

and by the Spanish Ministry of Culture (IPCE calls 2008,2009,2010 and 2011)


Figure 1: Main engraving areas at Oukaïmeden valley

The GIS tool, on the other hand, has been used to develop a predictive model of the potential

distribution of archaeological sites, whether rock carvings dwelling areas, according to three

variables taken from data from our previous field surveys campaigns . These variables were

altitude, sunstroke and slope. The weighted values method was used for that matter. The

method is based on the definition of a set of variables that determine a prediction to obtain

and their classification according to their importance in this prediction. The reliability of the

model will be tested during our next field campaign of April 2012.

References:

David, B. and Thomas, J. (eds) 2008: Handbook of landscape archaeology. Walnut Creek, Left Coast Press.

Ruiz-Gálvez et al (in press): "Avance del estudio del poblamiento del Valle de Oukaïmeden (Alto Atlas,

Marruecos) y su relación con el Arte Prehistórico". Informes y Trabajos 7.

Ruiz-Gálvez et al (in press): "Rock Art, landscape and prehistoric settlement at the High Atlas

(Morocco)". In Contreras, F. and Melero, J. Proceedings of CAA’2010. Fusion of cultures. Granada.

Presa, P. de la 2010: Desarrollo e implementación de la metodología SIG para la catalogación de un

yacimiento arqueológico, Aplicación al yacimiento de Oukaïmeden (Alto Atlas, Marruecos). Proyecto de

fin de carrera para la obtención del Título de Ingeniero en Geodesia y Cartografía. UPM. ETS Ingenieros

en Topografía, Cartografía y Geodesia. (inédito).

Ruiz-Gálvez, M. L. et al 2009: Informe de la campaña 2009 en el Agdal de Oukaïmeden. Informes y

Trabajos 5. 222 - 242.


1

Social Living: addressing spatial variability in households at Early Iron Age

Zagora on Andros, Greece

Kristen Patricia Mann 1

1 Doctoral Candidate, University of Sydney, Department of Archaeology, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia

Household archaeology and spatial variability:

Households have long been recognised as a vital component of the social fabric of past

societies. Consequently, investigations into the nature of past households frequently

examine the relationships between household form and function, behaviour and space

(Kent 1990). However, household space can often appear deceptively simple, inviting

unconscious assumptions about household composition and spatial use when drawing

inferences concerning human activities and social relationships from the material

record.

There is a definite need to question more directly how changes in spatial use or

arrangement within households can be related to variability in human behaviour.

Analytical tools such as GIS allow us to examine these issues through the use of spatial

modelling. However, scholars have only recently begun to contextualise spatial

analyses of households within a larger framework of anthropological theory at the

interpretive level (Souvatzi 2008).

Nevertheless, many archaeologists seem reluctant to directly address the issue of

behavioural variability when articulating the relationship between household

composition, activities and space. Indeed, the few studies that confront this issue are

often criticised for subverting the interpretive value of household archaeology.

We cannot remain wary of behavioural variability for fear it will compromise the

integrity of our interpretations. On the contrary, it is vital that we embrace the

variables and possibilities associated with ancient households. It is therefore

imperative that we seek to develop constructive methodologies for archaeological

analysis and interpretation that can account for the vast array of factors and choices

that may have shaped the material record.

Aims

The main aim of this presentation will be to discuss these issues the Early Iron Age

settlement of Zagora on Andros in Greece as a case study (Cambitoglou et. al. 1971;

1988). Zagora is uniquely placed in its ability to facilitate nuanced investigations of

space and human behaviour. The site has extensive household remains, undisturbed by

subsequent occupation, with clear evidence for an increase in spatial complexity

towards the end of the settlement’s occupation. The material presented is part of a

collaborative web-based research project, that allows a diversity of specialists to

immediately incorporate new research developments into their respective datasets;

thereby enhancing our ability to test current social models at a depth and efficiency

impossible for one scholar alone.

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Spatial analysis, variability and social behaviour:

Using the Zagora material, this paper will discuss:

� The importance of first examining the range of potential uses for different

household spaces, and various factors involved in the patterning of behaviour and

activities, before interpreting spatial analyses results

� Using a GIS-integrated database to effectively question the relationship

between human activity, space and social organisation

� How to test methodological models that articulate behavioural variability

from patterns of artefact distribution and household spatial patterning

� The implications that spatial variability has in terms of social space. How can

we best use spatial analysis to investigate household relationships, social organisation

and diversity while accounting for behavioural variability?

� The ramifications of behavioural variability for interpreting the increase in

spatial complexity visible at Zagora during the 8th

century BC.

References: Cambitoglou, A.C., Coulton, J.J., Birmingham, J, and Green, J.R. 1971. Zagora 1: Excavation Season 1967;

Study Season 1968-69. Sydney: Sydney University Press.

Cambitoglou, A.C., Birchall, A., Coulton, J.J. and Green, J.R. 1988. Zagora 2: Excavation of a Geometric

Town on the Island of Andros. Excavation Season 1969; Study Season 1969-1970. Athens: Athens

Souvatzi, S. G. 2008. A Social Archaeology of Households in Neolithic Greece: An Anthropological

Approach. Cambridge/New York: Cambridge University Press.

Archaeological Society. Kent, S. 1990. "Activity areas and architecture: an interdisciplinary view of the relationship between use

of space and domestic built environments". In Kent, S (ed.) Domestic Architecture and the Use of Space:

An Interdisciplinary Cross-Cultural Study, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1-8.

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Biopolitical Archaeology of Roman domestic spaces:

A syntactical approach

Jesús Bermejo Tirado

The spatial production of Roman domestic spaces:

H. Lefebvre famous book The Production of Space (Lefebvre 1991) established a

theoretical framework for the study of historical development of spatial features as a

part of different state apparatuses. His project for the raising of a Spatiology included a

History of Architecture and Urbanism as a part of the social and economic programs of

different kind of political systems. The result of his study was the profile of three

principal ways of spatial production: Roman, Feudal and Modern.

We take the concept of spatial production as a starting point for the development of a

project for reviewing historical changes of Roman domestic architecture in the

provincial framework, and far more important, the social and cultural significance of

this evolution. Our intention, in parallel to Lefebvre, is to face the study of historical

interactions between spatial production and great-scale social and historical processes.

But differing from the methodological approach of Lefebvre, we may propose an

analytical paradigm. This means that we are interested in raise a “bottom-up”

approach. But ¿How we can record the spatial productive patterns developed during

the Roman period?

Fig. 1: Space syntax access graph from the Roman villa of Almenara de Adaja (Valladolid).

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Space syntax and the biopolitical interpretation of Roman domestic houses

Recently, the application of space syntax-based methodologies has been

applied to the study of archaeologically recorded buildings (Grahame 2000, Fisher

2009, Bermejo Tirado 2009). The analytical tools developed in space syntax seminal

works (vid. Hillier & Hanson 1984, Hillier 1996, Hanson 1998) can be applied to obtain a

complete quantitative and topographical characterization of spaces. The data obtained

in this way can be used to develop inferences about the impact of social and

ideological issues encoded in the design of architectural space in the everyday life of

their inhabitants.

This paper aims to explain how to use these syntactical indexes to measure the impact

(or the resistance) of some Roman Ideological issues in the everyday of provincial

communities. The applications of this analytical perspective to the study of two

different regions (the High Duero Valley and the Inner area of Africa Proconsularis

province) will be used as illustration for this historical process.

References:

Bermejo Tirado, J. 2009. “Leyendo los espacios: una aproximación crítica a la sintaxis espacial como

herramienta de análisis arqueológico”. Arqueología de la Arquitectura 6: 47-62.

Fisher, K. D. 2009. “Placing social interaction: An integrative approach to analyzing past

built environments”. JAA 28: 439-457.

Grahame, M. 2000. Reading Space: Social Interaction and Identity in the Houses of Roman Pompeii. BAR

International Series 886. Oxford.

Hanson, J. 1998. Decoding Homes and Houses. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge.

Hiller, B. and Hanson, J. 1984. The Social logic of Space. Routledge. London.

Hillier, B. 1996. Space is the Machine. UCL. London.

Lefebvre, H. 1991. The Production of Space. Blackwell. Oxford.

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Predictive Modeling in Heritage Management and Land-use Plans in Mexico 1

Sandra L. López Varela1

1 Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos

Introduction

Mexico is a country that requires the construction and expansion of infrastructure to

increase the competitiveness of its economy. Building this highly competitive logistic

platform has had an impact on Mexico’s cultural and social heritage (Paredes Gudiño

2006). The people of Mexico have expressed their discontent, demanding their voices

to be heard and their right to participate in the design of infrastructure development

projects, as clearly stated during the construction of a COSTCO store on the grounds of

the hotel El Casino de la Selva in the State of Morelos. The National Institute of

Anthropology and History (INAH) lacks sufficient staff and adequate funding from the

federal government to fulfill its responsibility of protecting Mexico’s heritage in this

intensive building context. In the absence of a heritage management industry in

Mexico, the federal government is bounded by law to absorb the full costs of heritage

management, leaving the stewards of their resources in a vulnerable stage to prevent

the destruction of people’s valued and significant spaces.

Measuring the benefits and adversities of development projects is centered on the

environment, without accommodating the clear mandated responsibility to protect

Mexico’s heritage in the design of impact assessments. In Mexico, the use of

environmental sustainable principles holds great potential as a concept for

incorporating heritage values. In areas of concern to planning, land-use plans already

include spatial decision support systems (sDSS), use of information technologies for

data collection and consulting, deliberative processes, and predictive modeling in an

integrated spatial planning framework. In a setting in which data is absent, one can

only predict the presence of archaeological resources to mitigate infrastructure growth

with a predictive model (López Varela and Dore 2009).

Aims

In this presentation, we discuss the relevance of introducing an archaeological

perspective in land-use planning and brings to the attention of the archaeologist that

the exclusive use of a GIS, as a software tool, without further consideration of the

current management processes and definition of heritage, restricts its capacity to

protect Mexico’s heritage. Without a process that can be expanded and used to

minimize adverse effects on heritage resources or without contemplating the values

and knowledge of the people of Mexico, as demonstrated here, the quality of the GIS

dataset and structure is compromised. The discussion presented here promotes a

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geographic information science considering the relationship between space-time and

nature-society (Conolly and Lake 2010), for managing the ideal cities of the future and

heritage.

Figure 1. Predictive model for the Municipio of Cuernavaca, showing sensitive areas for finding

cultural resources, (Courtesy of Statistical Research for the Municipio of Cuernavaca).

References

Paredes Gudiño B. 2006. The present situation of the archaeological patrimony in the southwest basin of Mexico. 71st Annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology; San Juan, Puerto

Rico 2006.

López Varela SL, Dore CD. 2009. "Protecting Mexico’s Heritage Using Basic GIS Modeling. SAS

Bulletin". Newsletter of the Society for Archaeological Sciences 32(1):10-3.

Conolly J, and Lake M. 2010. Geographical Information Systems in Archaeology. Fourth Printing ed.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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Volumetric study of megalithic tombs of the Eastern Pyrenees

Elisabet López i Garriga¹

¹Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Prehistory Department. 08193 Bellaterra (Spain).

Megalithic research in Catalonia has been one of the main lines of research that has

developed around the prehistory of this area. However, it was focused mainly on the

definition of architectural types and the development of chrono-cultural explanation

schemes, and in any case, the study of the material that could be documented inside.

The ability of megalithic evidences to generate relevant information is not limited in

these aspects. In this sense, we are developing a proposal that combines aspects

hitherto not considered in the study of megalithic in Catalonia, such as the volume of

built spaces (room, corridor and tumulus) and its location in geographic space. This

proposal is based on the assumption as the volumetric characteristics, so that work

invested in, and the situation in the geographical area of any megalith is directly

related to the structure and socio-economic characteristics of the community that built

and uses it.

The study presented is based on a careful analysis of a set of twenty-one megalithic

tombs situated on the eastern Pyrenees of Catalonia. The methodology focuses in an

accurate calculated volume of these built spaces to know the investment of labor

expended in its construction. Then, by performing a SIG, analyze the possible

relationship between different investments and different geographical locations.

The results presented by mathematical calculations and investment of work altogether

with SIG study allow the hypothesis of the existence of different social spaces in the

area of the eastern tip of the Iberian Peninsula.

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References:

Yubero, M i Xavier, R. 2010. Models geogràfics, GIS i arqueologia. El cas d’estudi del

poblament prehistòric a la conca del riu Ripoll (Vallès, 5500-550 ane). Barcelona:

Societat Catalana d’Arqueologia.

Moreno, M. A. 2004. Megalitismo y geografia: análisis de los factores de localización

espacial de los dólmenes de la província de Burgos. Valladolid: Universidad de

Valladolid. Secretariado de Publicaciones e Intercambio Editorial.

Tarrús et al. "El fenomeno megalítico en el Pirineo Oriental de Cataluña". In El

Megalitismo en la Península Ibérica. Madrid: Ministerio de Cultura. Subdirección

General de Arqueología y Etnología, 1987.

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Visibility, a new point of view to the study of Paleolithic Art.

A preliminary study

Paula Ortega Martínez 1

1 Dpto. Prehistoria Historia Antigua y Arqueología. Facultad de Geografía e Historia. Universidad de

Salamanca C/ Cervantes s/n 37008 Salamanca

Traditionally, the study of Paleolithic art was based on stylistic trends and techniques

to interpret the artistic sequence of this period. However, Paleolithic art is a part of the

archaeological record and must be analyzed as such. Beyond the stylistic value, such

record provides huge information about human groups of hunter-gatherers, as a

reflection of values and concepts of the societies that created it.

By understanding the elaboration of Paleolithic graphics as an embodiment of a

prehistoric concept in a specific space, we grasp the significance of showing or hiding

the motifs to the other individuals in their own group or to other human groups, as a

relevant factor in the choice of the stand and the location thereof (Criado 1993).

The aim of this poster is to assess the potential that Spatial Archaeology brings to the

study of this kind of archaeological record by means of visual prominence and

cumulative viewshed analysis. The main target is to create a scene on which we could

evaluate the viability of the analyzed tools in closed spaces, such as a cave gallery, and

thereafter, to apply the visibility tools on the parietal art record, exploring the

advantages and limitations of these spatial analysis enabled by basic software of

Geographic Information Systems, compared to other methods of study. (Llobera 2003)

The final goal is to find out if the desire of projection of these motifs was a relevant

factor for Paleolithic societies.

The chosen stage for this project is the sector 9 of the cave La Greiga (Pedraza,

Segovia). This cavity, where 90 figurative representations and 29 identifiable signs

attributed to an Upper Paleolithic Horizon have been documented show parallel

samples with parietal and furniture art of final Solutrean and Late Magdalenian , is

an ideal setting for the analysis of visual prominence and cumulative viewshed , since it

is a cave formed by different cave rooms and narrow passages having an unfavorable

development to be transited easily (Corchón 1997).

References:

LLobera, M 2003. "Extending GIS-based visual analysis: the concept of

visualscapes". International Journal Geographical Infromation Science 17(1): 25-48.

Criado, F. 1993: "Visibilidad e interpretación del registro arqueológico". Trabajos

de Prehistoria (50): 39-56.

Corchón, M.S. 1997. La cueva de La Griega, Pedraza, (Segovia) Memorias. Junta de Castilla y León. Conserjería de Educación y Cultura

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GEOMETRIC CHARACTERIZATION AND ANALYSIS OF COMPLEX ELEMENTS THROUGH

THE INTEGRATION OF DIFFERENT GEOMATICS TECHNIQUES.

APPLICATION TO CAVES.

Vicente Bayarri Cayón 1 and Elena Castillo López

1 GIM Geomatics S.L. C/ Poeta José Luís Hidalgo nº5 (con frente a C/ Jesús Cancio). 39300 Torrelavega –

Cantabria. www.gim-geomatics.com. [email protected]

2Área de Ingeniería Cartográfica, Geodesia y Fotogrametría, E.T.S.I. Caminos, Canales y Puertos,

Universidad de Cantabria. Avda. Los Castros s/n, 39005, Santander. [email protected].

ABSTRACT:

Natural caves are an important part of the natural heritage of each country, those that have some representation of art are a fundamental part of heritage and both are or can become an excellent tourist resort and an excellent living laboratory for understanding their behavior. Some caves have different versions of cartography, which often do not coincide because of the different accuracy of the methods used and the complexity of them. The importance given to geomatics (although it has traditionally been given only to the topography) within speleology, is that any study after the discovery of a cavity needs a plane on which to rely. Hence the survey is one of the first tasks that are performed. The different geomatics sciences of field representation are, therefore, the first auxiliary techniques of speleology, that is, a fundamental basis on which support different multidisciplinary information from other sciences. Traditionally, topography was aimed at the final drawing of a plant, a longitudinal profile and some sections. Having an accurate and rigorous cartographic base of cavities facilitates the creation of projects to improve access, location of witnesses used in the monitoring of parameters such as temperature, humidity, gas concentration or calculation of position and intensity of lighting devices, in order to be less aggressive to the environment, in the case of those caves that have rock art The integration of traditional geomatics tools such as Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and topographic total stations with more recent ones such as 3D laser scanners, allows a fast and accurate registration process of such complex elements in order to obtain a comprehensive documentation that covers everything from floor plans, elevation, longitudinal and transverse sections, dimensional analysis and calculation of heights of galleries or caps and to virtual reality systems. This article describes the necessary tasks in both the capture and treatment of the data to generate highly accurate metric documentation and details of such complex and unique places such are caves and cavities. References:

Barrera, S., Otaola, A., Bayarri, V. 2008, Explotación turística no intrusiva de la Cueva de Santimamiñe (Vizcaya) mediante realidad virtual. II congreso español sobre cuevas turísticas, Cuevatur 2008. 16-18 octubre de 2008. Fortea-Pérez J. 1993. La protección y conservación del arte rupestre paleolítico. Columbres (Asturias): Servicio de Publicaciones del Principado de Asturias.

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Juberthie, C. 1995. Underground habitats and their protection. Council of Europe Publishing. UNESCO. Cave of Altamira and Paleolithic Cave Art of Northern Spain http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/310

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Palaeolithic sites beyond the archaeological deposits

Alejandro García1 y Miguel Ángel Fano2

1 Cantabria International Institute for Prehistoric Research. University of Cantabria.

2 Departamento de Ciencias Humanas, Universidad de La Rioja.

Research on Palaeolithic hunter societies has tended to focus on the archaeological deposits formed by the everyday activity of the groups being studied. In contrast, the location and characteristics of the sites containing those deposits: caves and rock-shelters in the case of the northern Iberian Peninsula, have hardly been studied systematically through the application of particular methodologies. However, these sites, whatever activity might have been carried out in them, are also part of the archaeological record, since they were chosen by the hunter groups, and this choice cannot be ignored – whether it was as a dwelling, a place to process the prey, a midden, or a “shrine”. If understanding a Palaeolithic site involves a full comprehension of their local and regional context, as the mobile nature of these societies seems to require, the places where archaeological deposits are found obviously need to be understood precisely (García & Fano 2011). In this way, our inferences about the role played by the different sites in their social context would be more solid and overcome the common use of categories defined beforehand (e.g. base camp versus specialised camp sensu Binford 1980). Therefore, anthropological readings of spatial analyses are of vital importance for a real understanding of hunter society population dynamics. This poster aims to highlight the importance of information about the location and characteristics of the places where Palaeolithic deposits are conserved by using the case study of the Nalón Valley in Asturias.

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References:

Lewis R. B. 1980. "Willow smoke and dogs' tails: Hunter-gatherer settlement systems and

archaeological site formation". American Antiquity 45 (1): 4-20.

García, A. & Fano, M.A 2011. "Los sitios paleolíticos en su paisaje: la cueva de El Horno en el contexto de

la cuenca del río Asón (Cantabria)". Zephyrus LXVII: 15-26.

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Prehistory and Middle Age. Shepherds and burials in the Upper Vero Basin

(Sobrarbe, Huesca)

Lourdes Montes, Rafael Domingo, Manuel Bea, Julia Justes, Leyre Alconchel y Pilar

Sánchez 1

1 Area of Prehistory. University of Zaragoza.

During the Late Neolithic and the Chalcolithic the Upper basin of the Vero hosts a

detached ensemble of archaeological sites that indicate an intense territorial

exploitation: some occupational and sepulchral caves, megalithic tombs and even a

schematic rock-art shelter can be related to this phase. Curiously, we can trace again a

dense human occupation in the Early Middle Ages, with an initial presence dated in the

8th

century, and a slightly later net of fortifications and hamlets, that control the

border between the incipient kingdom of Aragon and the southern Muslim territories,

structured around the cities of Alquézar and Barbastro.

Landscape overview: in front La Capilleta dolmen; in the bottom right, Puntón de Sarsa (Image M.J. Calvo)

In both periods, and even nowadays, the agricultural economy is based more on

sheepherding than on farming, which is seriously limited due to the poor terrain

conditions, both climatic and orographic. During the last millennia, this territory seems

to have been a highly frequented area for people that we identify as sheepherders,

both in prehistoric as in middle ages times: the landscape is covered by a

Mediterranean vegetation adapted to a hard climate (with a precipitation index of up

to 900 mm per year, but severe temperatures; the altitudes in the lower zones are

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around 850 m, and the two main chalcolithic caves, Drólica and Cristales, are up to

1200 m).

The spatial distribution of the sites seems no random at all. The prehistoric people

were buried in at least five different places in a small territory: three megalithic

structures and two inhumation caves. Their location is highly characterized: the

dolmens occupy strategic positions, near to a traditional communication way in a plain

area (Pueyoril), on the top of a small hill that controls a wide valley (Capilleta) and

other one (Balanzas) in the heart of a dense forest, known in the region as La Selva

(The Forest). The nearby funerary caves are opened in a high altitude zone, next to the

ancient way that communicates the south-Pyrenean depression (confluence of Ara and

Cinca rivers) to the flat, southern area of the Somontano region, but their location

might be described as “hidden”. Also, Drólica cave shows a main habitation occupation

whose most detached piece is an enormous Bell-Beaker vase up to a capacity of 50

litres. In a secondary way, we found a human inhumation in a marginal and

unoccupied corner. Los Cristales, meanwhile, is a small cave that opens through a

narrow corridor, whose function was only funerary: we found at least three individuals

contemporary to the human occupation of Drólica.

In the Early Middle Ages this area plays a notable role in the conflict between the

Muslim and the Christian population. In this context, we can place the early finding of

Foradada cave (human remains) and Drólica cave (a limited pottery set) related to the

8th century. Three centuries later this territory should be considered as a boundary

between the rising kingdom of Aragon, settled in the mountainous area of the

Pyrenees, and the well established Muslim territories to the South. There are many

military buildings (towers, fortified villages and small castles) that act as advanced

watch-posts such as Puntón de Sarsa, Sarsa de Surta, La Morería, Miravet, Arcusa,

Azaba… We can quote no less than ten of those constructions in a very reduced area.

References:

Montes, L. y Domingo, R. (in press) "La ocupación de las Sierras Exteriores durante el Calcolítico". In:

Utrilla, P. and C. Mazo, C. (eds.), La Peña de las Forcas (Graus, Huesca). Un asentamiento en la

confluencia del Ésera y el Isábena. Monografías Arqueológicas. Prehistoria 45. Universidad de

Zaragoza.

Montes, L. y Martínez-Bea, M. 2006 "El yacimiento campaniforme de Cueva Drólica (Sarsa de Surta,

Huesca)". Saldvie 6: 297-316.

Castán, A. 2006 "Arquitectura defensiva en la Edad Media. In: S. Pallaruelo (Coord.) Comarca de

Sobrarbe. Gobierno de Aragón." Colección Territorio 23. Zaragoza: 179-194.

Alconchel, L. (in press) "Paleoantropología del alto Vero en el Calcolítico: las cuevas Drólica y de

los Cristales y el dolmen de la Caseta de las Balanzas". Bolskan 24.

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New techniques for artefact survey: GIS- GPS methodology to study Roman intra-site contexts.

Jesús García-Sanchez 1 & Armando Ezquerro Cordón 2

1 Area of Archaelogy. University of Cantabria Avda. Los Castros, s/n. 39005 Santander (Spain)2 Department of Prehistory and Archaeology. University of Salamanca C/ Cervantes s/n Salamanca (Spain)

The pattern distribution of survey collections has been traditionally analysed within units of different shapes and sizes. The inner spatiality of artefacts has been neglected due to several methodological reasons: firstly the huge amounts of pottery in surface scatters and secondly, the scarcity of adequate measuring techniques to dealt with such scatters. Sometimes sampling strategies were successfully developed to carry out such artefact collections over sites, resulting in appropriate results but in a loose of information and the need for interpolations (Banning 2002). Just recently the inner spatiality of single artefacts was tackled in a survey project using GPS techniques (Mayoral et al. 2009). We inspired our proposal in their work.

Fig. 1 Several artefact scatters recorded by CPM methodology in Tisosa (Sasamón, Burgos, Spain).

By developing a hand-held GPS methodology we want to study the spatiality of artefact distributions in site-oriented surveys. GPS allows user to select different kind of symbols for displaying different features, we are using that to record scatters in a continuous-path survey. Such technique is appropriate to record smooth densities surfaces with high-detail (including EGNOS correction). That densities of artefacts can be easily integrated within specific GIS software for being compare with other kind of georreferenced information as aerial

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photography or geophysics (Gillings 1996). Furthermore the spatial attributes of large datasets leads us to develop geo-statistical analysis as Nearest Neighbour,Local Indicators of Spatial Association (Anselin 1995), or Getis-Ord's (1992) Hot Spot Analysis.

That methodology has been baptised as Code Per Material or CPM, due to the creation of a code-list to represent different kinds of artefacts, from building materials to table-wares. That code-list is open and some new codes can be incorporated during the survey, just common-sense communication between surveyors is required.Here, we present two cases of application of CPM in Roman sites. In this historical context several kind of artefact, mainly pottery, are feasible to detect and easily classifiable in the field. Firstly, Cardenas River survey (La Rioja, Spain) offers some Late Roman villas whose different spatial patters present differences of both use and occupation in the transitional period to Early Medieval Times.Secondly, an off-site survey (García-Sanchez 2010) in the surroundings of Sasamón (Burgos, Spain) leads to the detection of a large Early Roman building. CPM has produced information about the core area of such building and differential patterns of pottery distribution (see Figure 1) for evaluating human behaviour and N-transforms in the formation of archaeological record.

Banning, E.B. 2002. Archaeological Survey. Manuals in Archaeology Method, Theory and Technique. Nueva York: Kluwer Academic.

García Sánchez, J. 2010. Aggregation units to examine field survey data. First approach, in: Fusion of Cultures, Abstracts of the XXXVIII Annual Conference on Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology, ed. J. Melero, J Revelles, and P. Cano, 719. Granada.

Gillings, M. 1996. The Utility of the GIS Approach in the Collection, Management, Storage and Analysis of Surface Survey Data. In: The future of Surface Artefact Survey in Europe, ed. J. Bintliff, M. Kuna, and N. Venclová, 105–120. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press.

2

Anselin, Luc. 1995. "Local Indicators of Spatial Association—LISA". Geographical Analysis 27.(2): 93–115.

Getis, A. and J. K Ord. 1992. "The Analysis of Spatial Association by Use of Distance Statistics". Geographical Analysis 24 (3): 189–206.

Mayoral, V., E. Cerrillo and S. Celestino. 2009. "Métodos de prospección arqueológica intensiva en el marco de un proyecto regional: el caso de la comarca de La Serena (Badajoz)". Trabajos de Prehistoria 66 (1): 7–25.

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Recognition Pre-Historical Canoeists Passages in Fuego–Patagonia Region: First steps

in Geo-computing approach for a peculiar archaeological evidence in Time and

Space.

Alfredo Maximiano Castillejo 1

Alfredo Prieto Iglesias 2

1 Posdoc Research at Juan de la Cierva Program in IIIPC. University of Cantabria. Spain

2 Research in Centro de studios del Hombre Austral. University of Magallanes. Chile.

Foreword

The author of this proposal have been able very recently (April 2012) financial support

(Santander Universidades) for this project. The main object is identify and establish an

approximation influence degree of canoeists passages in the spatial organization of

landscape between canoeists groups (Kaweskar and Yamana people) and others

hunter-gatherer (Selknam) inside Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego (Chile).

We are starting a research line related with geo-computational improvements in

spatial description and numerical classification of landscape to develop predictive

models about potential geographical passages (different types of ways used from the

Holocene to the mid-nineteenth century) that maybe employed by hunter-gatherer in

their moves.

Figure 1: A picture of passage in Tierra del Fuego (left). An ideal example: Indians portaging a canoe over

a difficult area on a trip along the Nipigon River (right)

http://nipigonmuseumtheblog.blogspot.com.es/2012_02_01_archive.html

The most logical assumption about the presence of these passages must be a diligent

solution as ways which permitted structure a particular landscape (extensive area with

islands, islets, fjords and substantial tracts of land) for theses socials groups.

The access provider by these passages represented to collectives (whose livelihoods

were developed around the exploitation of coastal resources and coastal shipping in

canoes) as a complex networks of connection and exchange (access to raw materials

exogenous exchange of individuals, ideas, prestige goods, ...) (Laming-Emperaire, A.

1972)

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Archaeological problem, geo-computational solution and social interpretation

The principal problem in this project is the recognition of these archaeological complex

entities: Passages. In these circumstances, we have decided to work with spatial

predictions models (Mehrer & Wescott 2005; Kamermans et al 2010). For this, we

started working with a characterization of the geographical variables, archaeological

evidences and potential ethnographical information that could define these particular

sites (Chevallay, D. 1999). Examples of determinate variables to be taken into account

are: the variability in landscape across several geomorphologic and climatic events that

changed the appearance of coastline, the presence of a rugged terrain in the vicinity of

the potential passages, the presence/absence of seasonal ice, dense forests, rivers or

strong marine currents, the presence of archaeological remains (Curry, P. 1991) like

domestics structures (cabins...), open air sites, quarries, burial, artistic expressions,...

And why not, ideological factors involved (information obtained through ethnographic

data) with territoriality and fears...

Fig. 2: Geographic approximation working area. Right, MDT. Left, social groups distribution.

Under these variables, we´ll be generated an extensive Information System (using GIS

like a geo-database administrator, analytical platform and output visualization) where

we can implement systematic characterization of surfaces, modelling landscape and

set up a prediction of localization (with different degrees of probability) where may be

a passage. After these models, we visit determinate localization where checking the

validity of ours spatial predictions and adjust the system variables for a better re-

solution.

References:

Chevallay, D. 1999 Una ruta terrestre entre el seno Almirantazgo y el canal Beagle:

indicio de intercambios entre las etnias fueguinas (manuscrito inedito).

Curry, P. 1991 Distribución de sitios e implicaciones para la movilidad de los canoeros en el canal

Messier. En. Ans. Inst. Pat. Ser. Cs. Hs. Vol. 20: 145-154.

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Kamermans, H. M.; E. van Leusen and Ph. Verange (eds) (2010) Archaeological Prediction and Risk

Management. Leiden University Press. Leiden.

Laming-Emperaire, A. 1972 Los sitios arqueológicos de los archipiélagos de Patagonia

Occidental. En: Ans. Inst. Pat. Vol.3: 87-96.

Mehrer, M. W.; K. L. Wescott, (eds) 2(006) GIS and archaeological site modeling. Boca Raton, FL.

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Wilkostowo 23/24 – the settlement of the TRB culture

in central Poland

Lucyna Domańska1, Sweryn Rzepecki

1, Monika Michałowicz

1

1 University of Lodz

In the years 1999-2011an archaeological expedition of the Institute of Archaeology of

the University of Lodz led by Prof. L. Domańska and Dr Seweryn Rzepecki conducted

excavations at the site of Wilkostowo 23/24.

The aim of the excavations was to document the remains of a settlement of population

connected with the Neolithic TRB culture. Exceptionally well state of preservation of

the sources enabled realization of a wide-scale research programme. As a result, an

area of c. 10.109 m² was investigated. In the area several independent - isolated one

from another farmsteads, with which numerous economic features are connected was

discovered . On the grounds of hitherto obtained C14 indications the settlement

duration may be dated to a period c. 4000-3000 BC. During this time it was settled by

relatively well developed agricultural societies, occupying sandy soils. Corn agriculture

connected with animal husbandry - mainly cattle and pig - created the economic basis

of their existence. There are also prerequisites that may indicate the use of salt-

making.

The structure of archaeological material occurrence was an important challenge in

carrying out the excavations on the site under consideration. About a half of nearly 80

000 pottery fragments occurred within a quite destructed cultural layer. Similar

proportions apply to flint and stone products. This constrained the use of precise

methods of archaeological material registration (with the use of laser total station).

The obtained data next became the basis for conducting complex technological and

stylistic analyses of pottery, flint and stone artifacts, which are subsequently

connected with the use of spatial analysis GIS techniques. Reconstruction of patterns

of settlement activeness zone use by the inhabitants is an aim of these activities.


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Study of the spatial variability of Caserna de Sant Pau del Camp (Barcelona): old

excavations, new approaches

Vicente O., Gòmez A., Barcía C., Molist M

SAPPO. Departament de Prehistòria UAB

Introduction:

In this poster is presented a case study focused on spatial analysis of the Neolithic site

of Caserna de Sant Pau del Camp (Barcelona). We start from the idea that an

archaeological site study should bring us to the understanding of spatial-temporal

continuity of the material remains done by social actions and natural processes. Spatial

analysis in archeology offers a set of methodologies that allow us to approach to the

knowledge of actions done by human groups in the past and infer the social

relationships they established (Barceló et alii, 2005).

Fig. 1: General distribution of materials and archaeological contexts

This site is an open air prehistoric settlement, which has been occupied for more than

two thousand years –from the early stages of the Neolithic up to the Late Bronze age.

This study was carried out in the Early Neolithic occupations, particularly in the

Postcardial horizon (c.4600-4000 BC). Fireplaces, pits and burials were found during

the excavation, and these archaeological contexts are probably related to the use of

this space as an habitat and also as a necropolis during several periods of the

occupation. The singularity of the site lies both in the reiteration of the place of

occupation during such a long period of time and in the few examples of similar sites

for these chronologies at the NE of the Iberian Peninsula.

Given the characteristics of the archaeological intervention –an emergency excavation

with a highly segmented registration system, the analysis has focused on the


2

digitization and geo referencing of archaeological items as well as in the particular and

interdisciplinary study of the remains. The studies have involved different kind of

specialists from several institutions.

During the study we used relational databases and Geographic Information Systems

for the analytical visualization of topological features found in the archaeological

record (materials, structures, etc..). Geostatistical approaches have also been used on

the analysis of distribution of the archaeological material. The poster attempts to

adapt a methodology in order to analyze spatial data that come from old excavations

and that have certain limited characteristics. We present the exposition of both the

problem and the heuristic approach used in the analysis of spatial variability of the

archaeological deposit.

Keywords: Geostatistical Approach, Analytical Visualization, empirical application

References:

Barceló J. A., Maximiano A., Vicente O. 2005 La Multidimensionalidad del Espacio

Arqueológico: Teoría, Matemáticas, Visualización. In La Aplicación de los SIG en la

Arqueología del paisaje. Grau Mira I., ed. Pp. 29–40. Serie Arqueología. Alicante:

Publicaciones de la Universidad de Alicante.

Maximiano A. 2007. Teoría geoestadística aplicada al análisis de la variabilidad

espacial arqueológica intrasite. Ph D. dissertation, Department of Prehistory.

Bellaterra, Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona.

Molist M., Vicente O., Farré R. 2008. El jaciment de la caserna de Sant Pau del Camp:

aproximació a la caracterització d’un assentament del neolitic antic. Quarhis 4. Pg 15-

24. Publicaciones del MUHBA.

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Workshop will be held at the Tower C, just behind the Faculty of Letters and Philosophy of the

University of Cantabria. The faculty can be easily reached by car, since it is located in one of

Santander's major avenues and close to the S-20 highway; as well as walking from city centre

(a funicular in Rio de la Píla street prevents from walking along steep streets). Two bus lines

connects the Faculty to the rest of the city, including direct shuttles from train station.

http://www.spatialarchaeology.unican.es/images/plano%20bus%20santander.pdf

http://www.spatialarchaeology.unican.es/images/plano%20bus%20santander.pdf

Colaboration:

Documents

DSA 2012