Suchergebnisse

The ERC-funded FRAGSUS Project (Fragility and sustainability in small island environments: adaptation, cultural change and collapse in prehistory, 2013–18), led by Caroline Malone (Queens University Belfast) has explored issues of environmental fragility and Neolithic social resilience and sustainability during the Holocene period in the Maltese Islands. This, the first volume of three, presents the palaeo-environmental story of early Maltese landscapes. The project employed a programme of high-resolution chronological and stratigraphic investigations of the valley systems on Malta and Gozo. Buried deposits extracted through coring and geoarchaeological study yielded rich and chronologically controlled data that allow an important new understanding of environmental change in the islands. The study combined AMS radiocarbon and OSL chronologies with detailed palynological, molluscan and geoarchaeological analyses. These enable environmental reconstruction of prehistoric landscapes and the changing resources exploited by the islanders between the seventh and second millennia bc. The interdisciplinary studies combined with excavated economic and environmental materials from archaeological sites allows Temple landscapes to examine the dramatic and damaging impacts made by the first farming communities on the islands' soil and resources. The project reveals the remarkable resilience of the soil-vegetational system of the island landscapes, as well as the adaptations made by Neolithic communities to harness their productivity, in the face of climatic change and inexorable soil erosion. Neolithic people evidently understood how to maintain soil fertility and cope with the inherently unstable changing landscapes of Malta. In contrast, second millennium bc Bronze Age societies failed to adapt effectively to the long-term aridifying trend so clearly highlighted in the soil and vegetation record. This failure led to severe and irreversible erosion and very different and short-lived socio-economic systems across the Maltese islands. ; This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727).

During 2014, research undertaken at the sites of Cerro San Bernardo (ACO3; 2,000 m above sea level) and Challaca (CH1; 2,015 m above sea level) revealed the first documented Nasca sites (260 B.C – A.D. 640) in the yunga ecozone of the upper drainage of the Ica River. Both sites also demonstrated evidence of an even earlier, Early Horizon occupation (840 – 260 B.C.). These two sites are located on small, mainly granite, knolls situated on the Northern and Southern banks of the upper drainage of the Ica River. From these sites, it is possible to oversee an extensive area of cultivation that extends from the mountains to the East down to the Western boundary of the Challaca-Tiraxi Canyon. An area, which these sites could well have controlled. Geographically, the canyon divides the Ica Highlands from the coastal area, giving this juncture geopolitical importance. It is possible that the strategic location of this Nasca enclave in the Ica Highlands was aimed at controlling access between coastal polities and highland sectors, while exploiting this zones rich, high-altitude resources. Probably, occupation of this strategic sector commenced during the Early Horizon (840 – 260 B.C.), pointing to a long presence by coastal groups in the highlands. The aim of this article then, is to tease-out patterns of control, interaction, and the type of frontier in existence between the Nasca and coeval, neighboring, highland cultural groups, thereby providing new evidence concerning Nasca presence in the upper drainage of the Ica River. ; Las investigaciones iniciadas en el año 2014 en el Cerro San Bernardo (ACO3; 2000 metros sobre el nivel del mar) y Challaca (CH1; 2015 metros sobre el nivel del mar) nos han permitido hallar los primeros sitios Nasca (260 a.C a 640 d.C.) en la ecozona yunga de la cuenca alta del río Ica. Los dos sitios también registran la posibilidad de una ocupación aún más temprana que se remonta al Horizonte Temprano (840 a 260 a.C.). Estos dos sitios se ubican sobre cerros pequeños, que están conformados principalmente por granito, y que se localizan al norte y sur sobre los márgenes de la cuenca alta del río Ica. Desde estos sitios, se puede divisar una extensa área de cultivo que se extiende desde los cerros al este, hasta el oeste y el límite del cañón de Challaca-Tiraxi, la cual podría estar bajo su control. Geográficamente, el cañón divide la sierra de Ica del área costera, a partir de lo cual le brinda una ubicación geopolítica importante. Es posible que la localización estratégica de este enclave Nasca en la sierra de Ica haya sido para controlar el acceso desde las sociedades costeras a los sectores de la sierra, mientras se nutría de los recursos de esta rica zona alta. Probablemente, la ocupación de este punto estratégico se inició durante el Horizonte Temprano (840 a 260 a.C.), lo cual significaría una presencia larga por parte de los grupos costeños en la sierra. Ante este contexto, el objetivo del presente trabajo es indagar sobre los patrones de control, interacción y el tipo de frontera entre los Nasca y los grupos culturales serranos, vecinos, sincrónicos, aportando nuevas evidencias sobre la presencia Nasca en la cuenca alta del río Ica.

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727).

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727).

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727).

Las investigaciones iniciadas en el año 2014 en el Cerro San Bernardo (ACO3; 2000 metros sobre el nivel del mar) y Challaca (CH1; 2015 metros sobre el nivel del mar) nos han permitido hallar los primeros sitios Nasca (260 a.C a 640 d.C.) en la ecozona yunga de la cuenca alta del río Ica. Los dos sitios también registran la posibilidad de una ocupación aún más temprana que se remonta al Horizonte Temprano (840 a 260 a.C.). Estos dos sitios se ubican sobre cerros pequeños, que están conformados principalmente por granito, y que se localizan al norte y sur sobre los márgenes de la cuenca alta del río Ica. Desde estos sitios, se puede divisar una extensa área de cultivo que se extiende desde los cerros al este, hasta el oeste y el límite del cañón de Challaca-Tiraxi, la cual podría estar bajo su control. Geográficamente, el cañón divide la sierra de Ica del área costera, a partir de lo cual le brinda una ubicación geopolítica importante. Es posible que la localización estratégica de este enclave Nasca en la sierra de Ica haya sido para controlar el acceso desde las sociedades costeras a los sectores de la sierra, mientras se nutría de los recursos de esta rica zona alta. Probablemente, la ocupación de este punto estratégico se inició durante el Horizonte Temprano (840 a 260 a.C.), lo cual significaría una presencia larga por parte de los grupos costeños en la sierra. Ante este contexto, el objetivo del presente trabajo es indagar sobre los patrones de control, interacción y el tipo de frontera entre los Nasca y los grupos culturales serranos, vecinos, sincrónicos, aportando nuevas evidencias sobre la presencia Nasca en la cuenca alta del río Ica. ; During 2014, research undertaken at the sites of Cerro San Bernardo (ACO3; 2,000 m above sea level) and Challaca (CH1; 2,015 m above sea level) revealed the first documented Nasca sites (260 B.C – A.D. 640) in the yunga ecozone of the upper drainage of the Ica River. Both sites also demonstrated evidence of an even earlier, Early Horizon occupation (840 – 260 B.C.). These two sites are located on small, mainly granite, knolls situated on the Northern and Southern banks of the upper drainage of the Ica River. From these sites, it is possible to oversee an extensive area of cultivation that extends from the mountains to the East down to the Western boundary of the Challaca-Tiraxi Canyon. An area, which these sites could well have controlled. Geographically, the canyon divides the Ica Highlands from the coastal area, giving this juncture geopolitical importance. It is possible that the strategic location of this Nasca enclave in the Ica Highlands was aimed at controlling access between coastal polities and highland sectors, while exploiting this zones rich, high-altitude resources. Probably, occupation of this strategic sector commenced during the Early Horizon (840 – 260 B.C.), pointing to a long presence by coastal groups in the highlands. The aim of this article then, is to tease-out patterns of control, interaction, and the type of frontier in existence between the Nasca and coeval, neighboring, highland cultural groups, thereby providing new evidence concerning Nasca presence in the upper drainage of the Ica River. ; Fil: Lane, Kevin John. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Filosofía y Letras. Instituto de Arqueología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina ; Fil: Huaman, Oliver. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos; Perú ; Fil: Coll, Luis Vicente Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Saavedra 15. Instituto de las Culturas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto de las Culturas; Argentina ; Fil: Pullen, Alexander. University of Cambridge; Reino Unido ; Fil: Beresford Jones, David. University of Cambridge; Reino Unido ; Fil: French, Charles. University of Cambridge; Reino Unido

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727).

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727).

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727).

There is now a large degree of synergy exhibited by the various classes of palaeoenvironmental data investigated through the FRAGSUS Project on Malta and Gozo and the direct inter-linkages and associations of aspects of the environment with human activities during the last 8000 years. The geological setting and well dated palynological, molluscan and soil/sediment data present a background picture of vegetational and landscape change throughout the Holocene, with some very specific data on trajectories of clearance, erosion and farming activities in various valleys of the Maltese landscape. Nested within this broader framework, there is an immense amount of more specific data on the development of and changes in palaeosols, the frequencies and types of soil erosion and formation of valley fill sequences, as well as the dynamics of near-shore, valley and plateaux landscapes through prehistoric and historic times in both Malta and Gozo. Within these, there is an exceptional amount of data concerning the impacts of the first farming communities and the resilience of these island landscapes during the Neolithic period between the seventh and third millennia bc. The following summative interpretational sections attempt to draw out the main themes and trajectories of landscape change that have occurred during the Holocene in the Maltese archipelago. ; This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727). ; peer-reviewed

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727).

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727).

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727).

Adequate absolute dating is critical to understanding the past, especially where data concerning environmental changes from different sites are being compared, as chronology is often the only reliable way to compare evidence from multiple contexts. The archaeological chronology of Malta is becoming increasingly well resolved and this sets up a challenge – how can we obtain comparable high-resolution chronologies of environmental change in the Maltese Islands? The Maltese landforms pose significant barriers to achieving this goal, as much of the available palaeoenvironmental evidence is limited to cores in alluvial or shallow-marine sediments, which contain materials that have been subject to much re-working through time. In this chapter, we introduce and discuss the various techniques that the FRAGSUS Project has brought to bear on this problem, and review the main approaches used. [excerpt] ; This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7-2007-2013) (Grant agreement No. 323727). ; peer-reviewed