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Formation and taphonomy of archaeological wetland deposits: two transdisciplinary case studies and their impact on lakeshore archaeology

Research Project
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01.01.2014
 - 31.12.2016

Formation and taphonomy of archaeological wetland deposits: two transdisciplinary case studies and their impact on lakeshore archaeology Our research, designed as an integrated and transdiciplinary investigation right from the start, aims to develop new standards for modelling the layer formation processes of archaeological wetland deposits. To base such a model on hard facts requires new, systematically-collected and high-quality quantitative data. The timing for such a project is ideal, as scientific analyses of two lakeshore settlements - Zug-Riedmatt (since 2010; a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site (Hafner 2012) and Zürich-Opéra (since 2012) - are currently being funded by the cantons of Zug and Zürich. The sites selected offer many methodological advantages: they were excavated in 2008 and 2010 using state-of-the-art procedures and were thoroughly sampled according to our scientific specifications. Extensive initial evaluations of the deposits have highlighted the remarkable state of preservation of their organic material, which has allowed us to design a project of the highest quality. The analysis of the archaeological deposits and finds is presently being carried out and will be available on schedule. The two sites are culturally and chronologically similar (Horgen culture, last quarter of the 4th millennium BC - a well-researched temporal framework) and are located close together (35km)We can therefore confidently eliminate many uncertainties arising from chronological, cultural or geographical differences. The primary focus of the project is micro-archaeological. It consists of a closely integrated collaboration, implemented from the earliest stages of sampling, between geological, biological and archaeological disciplines (micromorphology, archaeobotanical analysis of plant macroremains, pollen analysis, archaeozoology, analysis, of structures and assemblages, dendrochronology) and examines the interplay between layer formation, preservation and degradation processes in the amphibious context of prehistoric lakeshore settlements. It is only through these integrated, transdisciplinary procedures that a meaningful basis for understanding the complex interactions between the influence of lacustrine and fluvial waters, the human and animal input, the degradation of organic materials and the taphonomic aspects of deposits can be attained. Only once such foundations are laid down, can viable conclusions about the establishment, building, organisation and daily life of Neolithic lakeshore settlements be reached. The current state of research will be assessed critically within the project's framework, rationalised and integrated into the new model. Such a systematic assessment has not as yet been developed in lakeshore settlement research. The intensive discourse promoted by the close collaboration between scientists will lead to crucial improvements in the methodological awareness of the different disciplines. The project thus offers a unique opportunity to develop fundamental research methods and formulate theoretical approaches in the scientific investigation of settlements in humid environments.

Publications

Antolín, F., Steiner, B. L. and Jacomet, Stefanie (2017) ‘The bigger the better? On sample volume and the representativeness of archaeobotanical data in waterlogged deposits’, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 12, pp. 323–333. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.02.008.

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Steiner, Bigna L. et al. (2017) ‘Layers rich in aquatic and wetland plants within complex anthropogenic stratigraphies and their contribution to disentangling taphonomic processes’, Vegetation History and Archaeobotany, pp. 1–20. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00334-017-0613-3.

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Bleicher, N. et al. (2017) ‘Taphonomie und Schichtgenese’, in Bleicher, Niels; Harb, Christian (ed.) Zürich Parkhaus Opéra. Eine neolithische Feuchtbodenfundstelle. Band 3: Naturwissenschaftliche Analysen und Synthese. Dübendorf: Baudirektion Kanton Zürich, Amt für Raumentwicklung, Kantonsarchäologie (Monographien der Kantonsarchäologie Zürich), pp. 215–226.

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Antolín, Ferran et al. (2016) ‘Quantitative approximation to large-seeded wild fruit use in a late Neolithic lake dwelling. The case study of layer 13 of Parkhaus-Opéra in Zürich (Central Switzerland)’, Quaternary International, 404(A), pp. 56–68. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2015.08.003.

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Jacomet, Stefanie et al. (2016) ‘On-site data cast doubts on the hypothesis of shifting cultivation in the Late Neolithic (c. 4300-2400 cal. BC): Landscape management as an alternative paradigm’, Holocene, 26(11), pp. 1858–1874. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/0959683616645941.

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Antolín, Ferran et al. (2015) ‘What is a litre of sediment? : Testing volume measurement techniques for wet sediment and their implications in archaeobotanical analyses at the Late Neolithic lake-dwelling site of Parkhaus Opéra (Zürich, Switzerland)’, Journal of archaeological science, 61, pp. 36–44. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2015.04.019.

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Steiner, Bigna L., Antolin, Ferran and Jacomet, Stefanie (2015) ‘Testing of the consistency of the sieving (wash-over) process of waterlogged sediments by multiple operators’, Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports, 2, pp. 310–320. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2015.02.012.

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Members (6)

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Philippe Rentzel

Principal Investigator
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Stefanie Jacomet

Co-Investigator
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Stefan Hochuli

Co-Investigator
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Ferran Antolin

Project Member
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Kristin Ismail-Meyer

Project Member
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Bigna Steiner

Project Member