Archaeology of north-eastern Poland has been poorly recognized owing to vast forest areas and numerous lakes. This particularly refers to the Warmian–Masurian Voivodship, where forest covers over 30% of its area. Prospection of forested areas has become possible in Poland just over 10 years ago with the Airborne Laser Scanning (ALS) and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR). These techniques allow obtaining 3-D documentation of recognized and also unknown archaeological sites in the forested areas. Thanks to ALS/LiDAR prospection a significant number of archaeological structures have been identified also in the Warmia and Masuria regions. Among them oval-shaped hillforts, surrounded by perfectly spaced concentric moats and ramparts, located mainly on islands and in wetland areas, have raised particular attention. Based on field prospection and results of preliminary excavations, these objects have been considered as Iron Age hillforts. One of the best preserved objects of this type is on the Radomno Lake island, located several kilometres to the south of Iława town. Integrated geoarchaeological prospection of this hillfort emphasized benefits of using LiDAR in combination with results of geophysical prospection and shallow drillings. Applied methodology enabled to document the hillfort shape, and to study its geological structure and stratigraphy. The results clearly indicate that integration of LiDAR data with geophysical prospecting is indispensable in future archaeological surveys. It is a perfect tool for remote sensing of archaeological objects in forest areas, so far not available for traditional archaeology.
A sediment core, 350 cm long recovered from Młynek Lake, northern of Poland (Warmia and Masuria Region) was analyzed with respect to their content of diatoms and chrysophyte cysts. The aim was to reconstruct the lake water level and climatic changes during the past 2500 years. The recognized diatom assemblages displayed marked floristic changes along the sediment core samples. The main change in diatom composition consists of a shift from an assemblage dominated by benthic Fragilaria sensu lato species through marked intervals to a planktonic one in distinct zones. A high proportion of benthic to plankton taxa has been reported as indicative for a lowering of the lake level with long ice cover in a cold dry climate and a shift from benthic to planktonic diatom taxa reflects arising water level with longest growing season and reduced ice cover on the lake during a warm wet climate. Multivariate statistical analysis included hierarchical ascending clustering distinguished four diatom ecological groups. The analyzed core section was divided into 11 diatom zones according to a distribution of ecological groups and variation in abundance of dominant species supported by 14C data. The results displayed a developmental history of the Młynek Lake that can be divided into 6 main phases of alternating warm wet and cold dry shifts. A distinct dominance of planktonic eutrophic indicator diatoms accompanied by a low abundance of chrysophyte cysts indicates increased lake trophicity and a general trend for the increasing anthropogenic impact.
The paper presents results of a geophysical survey conducted in Crikvenica, a town located at the north-eastern Adriatic Sea coast in Croatia. The main aim was to identify extent of a Roman pottery workshop discovered to the north of the present town, at the site known as “Igralište”. The performed magnetic and GPR surveys within the area of the modern playground in Crikvenica revealed a large number of anomalies that may be connected with anthropogenic activity during different periods, both in modern and ancient times. The first group consists of anomalies generated by remnants of the modern underground infrastructure. Magnetic and ground-penetrating radar maps revealed anomalies in the north-western part of the modern playground that can be very likely interpreted as remains of a large ceramic kiln dated back to the Roman Period, similar to the kiln discovered during the excavations located further to the north. Finally, the survey performed within the Crikvenica football stadium clearly indicates that the integration of different Ground Penetrating Radar and magnetic methods allows for a detailed and effective identification of buried archaeological structures in large areas.
The Tell el-Retaba archaeological site is located in the middle part of Wadi Tumilat, which extends along the north-eastern margin of the Nile Delta. It contains fragments of fortified and domestic objects of the ancient fortress and other constructions built of mud bricks. The establishment and functioning of the fortress is dated at the times of the reign of two great pharaohs, Ramesses II and Ramesses III (13th and 12th centuries BC). The grain size composition of the sediments used for mud brick production had significant influence on their physical and mechanical properties, which was used by the ancient Egyptians for the improvement of bricks. The finest fractions, clay and silt, which generally comprise clay minerals and organic matter played a significant role. These components significantly influenced the mud brick properties and resulted in a structural cohesion of the material. The second important component of mud bricks were coarse fractions – sand and gravel. The source of material used for brick production were the natural sediments located in the vicinity of the fortress, i.e. the Holocene lake clay and the Pleistocene gravel and sand of the gezira formation, deposited by a braided river. Clay sediments have a variable lithology as can be deduced from grain size composition of mud bricks and their properties. This variability was caused by a variable regime of the Nile, which supplied material to the lake basin. Geological studies were used to recognize ancient environment and morphology of the area, and to find clay, sand and gravel open-pits that existed in the area. The fortress site was selected optimally in relation to the landscape morphology and close vicinity of the source of basic material and water used for mud brick production. The area around the fortress was substantially transformed by humans due to settlement.
This study evaluates changes in the environmental and climatic conditions in the Faiyum Oasis during the Holocene based on diatom analyses of the sediment FA-1 core from the southern seashore of the Qarun Lake. The studied FA-1 core was 26 m long and covered the time span ca. 9.000 cal. yrs BP. Diatom taxa were abundant and moderately to well-preserved throughout the core sediments. Planktonic taxa were most abundant than the benthic and epiphytic forms, which were very rare and sparsely distributed. The most dominant planktonic genera were Aulacoseira and Stephanodiscus followed by frequently distribution of Cyclostephanos and Cyclotella species. The stratigraphic distribution patterns of the recorded diatoms through the Holocene sediments explained five ecological diatom groups. Thesegroups represent distinctive environmental conditions, which were mainly related to climatic changes through the earlyand middle Holocene, in addition to anthropogenic activity during the late Holocene. Comparison of diatom assemblages in the studied sediment core suggests that considerable changes occurred in water level as well as salinity. There were several high stands of the freshwater lake level during humid, warmer-wet climatic phases marked by dominance of planktonic, oligohalobous and alkaliphilous diatoms alternated with lowering of the lake level and slight increases in salinity and alkalinity during warm arid conditions evident by prevalence of brackish water diatoms.
In 2016 within the RED Project Roman Economy in Dalmatia: production, distribution and demand in the light of pottery workshops, 5 selected areas around the Podšilo Bay were geophysically surveyed. During the fieldworks in the Lopar protected area, located in the northeastern part of the Island of Rab a gradiometer, ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) were used. The main aim of the project was to document presence of the Roman architecture in two areas of the bay’s hinterland as suggested earlier by finds of pottery and glass. Geophysical studies conducted in the Lopar area revealed presence of underground remains of ancient structures, probably from the late Roman period and connected with a ceramic production centre at the present seashore. The most interesting results were obtained for the area no. 4, the site where magnetic, georadar and ERT surveys revealed an ancient regular building at 0.4–0.6 m depth. The survey performed in the Lopar area clearly indicates that integration of different geophysical methods enables detailed and effective identification of buried archaeological structures.
A gravel horizon is preserved in several locations within the world-wide known archaeological site in Saqqara (northern Egypt). It is characterized by a variable thickness, composed of coarse, quartz, quartzitic and flint pebbles, and considered to correspond to gravels of the Edfu Formation, deposited in the Early Pleistocene by the early phase of the Nile development (Protonile Phase). This relatively short (ca. 200 ka) and at the same time very dynamic period of Protonile activity during the Edfu Pluvial is one of the most poorly recognized hydrological-climatic episodes of the Quaternary in north-eastern Africa. This paper is focused on the preliminary sedimentological-petrographic characteristics of these deposits and an attempt to indicate their source areas as well as mechanisms of transportation and deposition in the context of Pleistocene pluvial episodes.
Geophysical surveys conducted in order to map tunnels and vertical shafts at the Neolithic chert mining field Krzemionki used a ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to test hypotheses regarding orientation, depth and subsurface complexity of these voids. Using two-dimensional reflection profiles the vertical shafts, now mostly filled with lithic debris, were easily visible. Amplitude mapping visualized debris at shaft margins as well as a collapsed material inside the voids. Some shallower horizontal tunnels were also visible as sub-horizontal planar reflections generated from both ceiling and floors of these void spaces. Extension of these interpretations to un-mapped areas of the ancient mining district and complexity of these prehistoric mining features could be examined to determine excavation intensity and exploitation techniques used during the Neolithic.
The Lake Qarun (Faiyum Oasis, northern Egypt) is a relic of the much larger Holocene lake. Past lake levels and extensions were reconstructed, based on setting of archaeological sites scattered along northern paleoshores of the ancient lake. However, geoarcheological works did not yield enough data to establish continuous environmental history of the lake. A deep drilling FA-1 on the southeastern shore of the lake, performed in 2014, supplied with a core, 26 m long that is the one of the longest lake sediment cores in northeastern Africa. The basal section of the core consisted of thin-laminated diatom marly deposits, underlain at the Late Pleistocene/Holocene boundary by coarse-grained sands. The sediment lamine were quite well developed, especially in the lower part of the core. Preliminary results indicated annually deposited sediment sequence with seasonality signals provided by microlamine of diatoms, calcite, organic matter and clastic material. Early Holocene varved sediments from the Faiyum Oasis supplied with exceptional paleoenvironmental data for northeastern Africa, which enriched a record from previous logs drilled at the southwestern margin of the Qarun Lake.
The archaeological site Tell el-Retaba in north-eastern Egypt, about 35 km to the west of Ismailia city, is located in the middle of Wadi Tumilat, a shallow valley running from the Nile Delta to the Bitter Lakes, along which flows the Suez Canal. In ancient times the valley was a route between Egypt and Syro-Palestine, strongly fortified in the New Kingdom times (16th–11th century BC). Mud bricks were analyzed from two parts of the Wall 1 (core of grey-brown bricks and inner extension of green bricks) in a fortress which existed during the Ramesses II times. Grain-size composition of the studied bricks was almost identical in both parts of the wall, suggesting the same source material for a production of brick. However, significant differences were observed in physical and mechanical properties (uniaxial compressive strength) in both types of bricks. Bricks from the core had lower bulk density, higher porosity and soak faster, whereas their resistance parameters were much lower than those of the bricks from the inner extension. The reason for such large differences in brick properties was a technology of their production, particularly proportion of components, water volume added during brick formation or density degree. Brick preparation and in consequence, physical-mechanical properties had direct influence on preservation of defensive structures during environmental changes related to changes of groundwater and surface water levels or of precipitation. Ancient Egyptians responsible for construction works in mud brick structures of the fortress must have had good knowledge and experience. This could be observed particularly for the heaviest and most important construction element that is the defensive wall, founded on well-densified deposits. It was also testified by higher resistance of green bricks from the inner extensions, which probably originated slightly later and were intended to reinforce a weaker core built of grey-brown bricks.
Scenario of climate changes in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene in Central Asia is very fragmentary and inconsistent. Therefore, interaction between the development and decline of ancient cultures and the climate fluctuations are difficult to be traced. To resolve this problem, the key role can be played by multidisciplinary studies of unique Late Pleistocene and especially Holocene loess – soil succession of the Tien Shan foothills in Uzbekistan. This area yields unique successions of paleosols interbedded with loesses that are particularly useful for paleoclimate analysis. They are represented by continuous and uninterrupted sedimentary sequences with a highly varied record of magnetic susceptibility. As such, they contain a full sequence of short-term climatic oscillations of the Holocene in high resolution and therefore, in this case, they are exceptional on global scale. The correlation of Late Pleistocene and Holocene climate changes scenario with stages of development and collapse of the past human settlement in Central Asia seems at present one of the most promising research directions, in line with the substantial course of interdisciplinary research on the interaction between humans and the natural environment.
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Badania zmian klimatu odbywają się z dużym sukcesem na osadach jeziornych. Przedstawione w artykule dotychczasowe badania ujmowały zagadnienia antropopresji na dużym obszarze przy uwzględnianiu badań pojedynczych jezior, co dawało wnioski ciekawe ale dosyć ogólne. Zaproponowana w pracy koncepcja badań stawia na pierwszym miejscu bezpośredni związek obiektu archeologicznego z towarzyszącym mu jeziorem. Badanie i tym samym wyszczególnienie faz osadniczych opiera się głównie na analizie materiału archeologicznego pozyskanego w trakcie wykopalisk. W przypadku regionu Warmii i Mazur odtworzenie poszczególnych etapów dawnego osadnictwa utrudnia nie tylko brak źródeł pisanych ale również fragmentaryczność danych archeologicznych. Przedstawione przez autorów analizy palinologiczne i diatomologiczne pozwoliły na wstępną charakterystykę litologiczno – sedymentologiczną osadów dennych tego zbiornika. Wykazały, iż dno jeziora wyściełają głównie osady organogeniczne (gytie), które nie są przewarstwione osadami piaszczystymi, co wskazuje na bardzo spokojne środowisko sedymentacji oraz ciągły zapis procesów depozycyjnych. Co więcej, wykona SEM/EDS (mikroskop skaningowy z mikrosondą), w celu korelacji opisywanych rdzeni, ujawniły, iż charakteryzują się one niemal identycznym zapisem sedymentacyjnym i tym samym paleośrodwiskowym, co potwierdza fakt, iż w zbiorniku zachodziła ciągła i spokojna sedymentacja, która doskonale odzwierciedla lokalne ale i też regionalne przemiany środowiskowe. Z przeprowadzonych badań wynika, że w osadach jeziornych zanotowane są wyraźne zmiany, które można utożsamiać z momentami antropopresji oraz/lub zmianami klimatycznymi powiązanymi z wahaniami poziomu wód w jeziorze.
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Research on climate change done on lake sediments may be successful. The following article presents the research of an antropogenic impact conducted so far on individual lakes, which yielded interesting yet rather general findings. The proposed research forwards a concept that directly links the archaeological site and the nearby lake. The research, particularly the specification of settlement phases, bases on the analysis of archaeological material obtained in excavations. In the case of Warmia and Mazury region, reconstruction of different stages of the former settlement is hindered by the lack of written sources and fragmentary archaeological data. The palynological and diatomological analysis presented by the authors allows for a characterization of lithological - sedimentological bottom sediments. It shows that the lake bottom is lined mostly with organogenic sediments (gyttjas), not interbedded with sandy sediments, which indicates a very calm sedimentation and continuous depositional processes. Moreover, the already conducted measurements of the magnetic susceptibility of the preliminary geochemical data from the analysis of SEM / EDS (a scanning electron microscope with a microprobe), enabling a correlation of the described cores, reveals that they are characterized by an almost identical sedimentation and paloeenvironmental record, which proves that the reservoir underwent a calm sedimentation process, which at the same time reflects the local but also regional environmental change. The study shows that significant changes have been noted in the lake sediments, which can be related to an antropogenic impact and / or climate change associated with fluctuations in the water level in the lake.
This paper addresses the problem of assessing the leakproofness of the bottom of a deep foundation trench, secured by cavity wall, using geophysical methods of electrical resistivity tomography. The study was conducted on a large construction project in Lublin, in a place where there are complicated soil-water conditions: the groundwater level is above the proposed depth of foundation trench, the subsoil is heterogeneous, and there are karsted and weathered carbonate sediments with confined aquifer below the bottom of the trench. A hydraulic fracture occurred at the bottom of the trench during the engineering works, which caused the water flow into the trench. In order to recognize the soil-water conditions the first stage of geophysical measurements of electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) was made. The applied methodology allowed to determine the extent of the hydraulic fracture zone within the bottom of foundation trench. In order to assess the leakproofness of Diaphragm Wall the geophysical ERT measurements were repeated (stage 2) A clear reduction in the value of the electrical resistivity of soils in the area of hydraulic fracture was caused by clay injection. The results of ERT measurements are discussed and graphically presented.
Preliminary results of GPR field prospection carried out in the area of the prehistoric mining field Borownia (Ćmielów, Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski District) are presented. This mining field forms a belt (30–50 m wide and 700 m long), starting from the valley edge of the Kamienna River southeastwards. Southeastern and western parts of the site have preserved the original post-exploitation relief. Geology of the Borownia mining field was examined and acquired radiograms revealed three distinct zones of anomaly concentrations. The central zone (B) is clearly a fragment of the prehistoric mining field, confirmed not only by the GPR sounding but also by archaeological surveys. The other two zones have not yet been investigated in detail but their surface and archaeological examination may determine only whether their underground structures are natural or have been created by humans. Data obtained during the GPR prospection at the Borownia archaeological site confirmed usefulness of 100, 250 and 500 MHz antennas. The relatively large depth range and good resolution are due to favorable geological conditions.
This paper presents the preliminary results of ground penetrating radar sounding applied at the desert archaeological site in Saqqara (Egypt). The survey was carried out in 2012 within a project realized by Institute of Archaeology, Cardinal Stefan Wyszyński University in Warsaw and the Faculty of Geology, University of Warsaw. One of the key aims of the research was testing the application of ground penetrating radar to non-invasive surveys of desert archaeological sites. Radargrams obtained for area of so called the Dry Moat channel surrounding the Step Pyramid complex have shown the geological structure of its filling. It comprises among others debris-sand conglomerate of diluval origin characterized by a significant content of the clay fraction and clay minerals. Such lithological content strongly attenuate the propagation of EM waves, restricting the depth range of the GPR survey. The conducted geophysical prospection west to the Step Pyramid in Saqqara has confirmed the high applicability of the GPR method in non-invasive studies of vast architectural structures, such as the monumental ditch surrounding the Step Pyramid known as the Dry Moat. It should summarised that high horizontal resolution obtained during GPR survey is a result of local geological structure of the searched area, i.e. strong lithological contrast of the sediments filling the Dry Moat, which, depending on their mineralogical composition.
Saqqara is one of the famous archaeological sites in the world. There is the oldest stone pyramid built by pharaoh Djoser from the Third Dynasty (around 4600 yrs BP). The components of his funerary complex were constructed of a characteristic creamish-white limestone of relatively great solidity, connected in archaeological literature with the white casing limestone from Saqqara. A source of this stone has remained so far a mystery. An extensive geological survey and other research has failed to identify any outcrops of such limestone in the vicinity of Saqqara. Preliminary results of examination of fossils from relevant rock samples of the white Saqqara limestone are presented, supplemented with discussion of current opinions concerning its origin and probable stratigraphic setting.
Geophysical investigations in West Saqqara area were part of the archaeological field work of the Polish Egyptian archaeological mission during the campaign in 2012. The main purpose of geophysical prospection using the ground-penetrating radar (GPR) was to deter mine the location of potential underground sepulchral structures. During the GPR survey, optimal depth penetration was achieved due to dry rocks and monolithic structure of the lime stone plateau on which the ancient cemetery was located. Using antenna of 100 MHz, the depth of penetration was up to 45 m and with antenna of 250 MHz, up to 15 meters. Three main groups of archaeological structures were identified: sarcophagi and mummies, burial shafts; mobile objects (solid rock blocks as fragments of tombs). One of the main goal of the GPR survey was to track the route of the western part of the Dry Moat, expressed by a wide and shallow depression spreading to -wards north-south. The results of geo physical investigations suggest that Saqqara plateau is an ideal site for using GPR surveying technology.
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