- Email: [email protected]
Physical and chemical characterisation of indigenous cultural deposits in coastal southwest Greenland using micro-analytical techniques
Abstracts / Quaternary International 279-280 (2012) 121–232
is starting to emerge of one or two significant events that have occurred over the last Millennium. The enigmatic, high elevation palaeotsunami deposits in northern New Zealand have long been reported. Recently, these 15th century deposits have been linked with either a large subduction zone event on the Tonga-Kermadec trench, or the Kuwae caldera collapse in Vanuatu. Recent work in Vanuatu, on Futuna Is in the Wallis and Futuna archipelago, and at other sites throughout the SW Pacific region is starting to point towards these two events – one volcanic, the other subduction – as being the most significant regional palaeotsunamis to have occurred over the last Millennium. While the timing of the Kuwae eruption has been well constrained by both Arctic and Antarctic ice core data to around 1452/ 1453AD, the Tonga-Kermadec event is less well understood. Mapping their regional extent is problematic. It has however significant implications for the tsunami hazard faced not only by numerous Pacific Island Countries, but also for circum Pacific Ocean countries such as Australia. We discuss the current state of knowledge, and point towards the necessary steps that need to be taken to determine whether these two events were indeed the two largest regional palaeotsunamis in the SW Pacific over the last Millennium. If they are not, there must be a series of smaller, regionally significant events. If this is the case, then we currently have little or no knowledge of their nature and extent. One thing we are sure of, however, is that we cannot ignore the ramifications of our current findings. PALAEOTSUNAMIS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN – WHAT IS THE TSUNAMI HAZARD FOR PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES? James Goff. University of New South Wales, Australia E-mail address: [email protected]
85% of all known tsunamis have occurred in the Pacific Ocean, an area approximating a third of the planet's surface. Not surprisingly, in recent years our focus has tended to be on the Indian Ocean and the Indonesian coast in particular. Given the historical track record of the Pacific, this focus is unlikely to be sustained. Since 2004 there have already been significant regional events around Samoa (2009) and Chile (2010), both of which have generated small, but effective research efforts aimed at better understanding the palaeotsunami record in the area. One of the most significant findings has been the almost complete absence of palaeotsunami data - we appear to know more about the Holocene palaeotsunami record for the Indian Ocean that has fewer events, than we do for Pacific Island Countries (PICs) located in a region susceptible to tsunamis originating from numerous ‘Ring of Fire’ sources. There are 22 PICs with historical records that extend back around 150–200 years at best. Numerous probabilistic tsunami hazard assessments have been carried out in the region, and all highlight various subduction zone sources of concern for specific islands or island groups. There is almost no mention of other tsunamigenic sources, even though almost all Pacific Islands are volcanic in origin, some of which are still highly active. This is an unfortunate oversight. While the record of palaeotsunamis in the Pacific is rudimentary at best with only a handful of reasonable examples, it is already allowing researchers to better understand the spatial extent of past events. Subduction zones are not the only significant tsunamigenic sources, particularly on a local and regional basis. Volcanic-related sources such as slumping, submarine landslides and caldera collapse are probably as significant as their potentially larger subduction zone counterparts. Further research is urgently needed to better understand the nature and extent of the tsunami hazard for PICs. PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERISATION OF INDIGENOUS CULTURAL DEPOSITS IN COASTAL SOUTHWEST GREENLAND USING MICRO-ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES Kirsty Golding. University of Stirling, United Kingdom E-mail address: [email protected]
Much attention has been given to the ethnographic and archaeological significance of indigenous material culture in Greenland, yet any consideration of the potential environmental impact of indigenous people on the landscape has been limited. Consequently, the extent to which indigenous activities may be visible within archaeological soil and sedimentary records remains uncertain. This paper presents the results of ongoing
171
micro-analytical investigations of thin sections taken from a range of cultural deposits associated with Thule Inuit habitations in coastal southwest Greenland. Micromorphology and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) are used to characterise the physical and chemical properties of an occupation floor and wall packing within a winter dwelling at Sandhavn, and midden deposits at Kangeq. These analyses aim to determine whether soils and sediments-based cultural indicators representative of Inuit activities can be identified. It is anticipated that charcoal, bone and processing wastes (such as fat) may be essential components of an environmental signature for Inuit occupation. This approach may be used to: a) identify possible Inuit activity layers in settings where there is an absence of artefacts; b) discriminate between Norse and Inuit activities within archaeological soils and sediments at sites of known cultural interaction. THE HOME-FIELD AS A CULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHIVE OF EUROPEANISATION IN NORSE GREENLAND Kirsty Golding. University of Stirling, United Kingdom E-mail address: [email protected]
Recent palaeoecological studies clearly demonstrate the impact of Norse landnám (Old Norse for land taking) and European-style farming on the vegetation and landscape of southwest Greenland; however, the nature and extent of soil and archaeological sediment modification associated with Norse settlement has still to be systematically determined. This paper presents the results of pedological investigations of home-field soils around a range of farms of different size and status in the Eastern and Western Settlements of Norse Greenland. Stratigraphic analyses, radiocarbon dating and micromorphology are used to explore the cultural and environmental archive of soils modified through the introduction of northwest European-style farming practices. Evidence for the long-term addition of waste materials associated with manuring is present at all the farms in the form of hortic topsoils. Materials such as domestic refuse, construction debris (structural turves), fuel residues and waste from byres were typically applied to home-field soils to maintain and/or enhance soil fertility. Differences in the formation of topsoils over space and through time are identified between farms, possibly reflecting changing economic factors and/or divergent responses to environmental change. Anthropedogenic horizons such as these are rarely found at high latitudes and present a rare opportunity to investigate the physical and chemical characteristics of amended agricultural soils in the North Atlantic region. The results of this study also contribute to wider debates on the cultural and environmental drivers of success and failure in Norse Greenland. THE DEAD SEA DEEP DRILLING PROJECT RECOVERING THE LONGEST GLOBAL PALEO-ENVIRONMENTAL AND PALEO-SEISMIC ARCHIVE Steven Goldstein. LDEO of Columbia University, United States E-mail address: [email protected]
Several lakes occupied the Dead Sea Basin (DSB) during the late Quaternary. The DSB is located between the Mediterranean and desert climate zones and the lakes filling the basin captured in their composition and limnological configuration the hydrological-climatic regime of their large drainage area in the central Levant. The lakes expanded during ice ages and contracted during interglacials. At its maximum extent during the last ice age as glacial Lake Lisan, it filled the DSB from its present location northward to the Sea of Galilee). Moreover, because the DSB formed by the Dead Sea Transform Fault, it is an active tectonic region where sediments preserve the history of earthquakes. The DSB is also the locus of humankind's migration out of Africa, and the home of peoples from Paleolithic to modern times. Studies of the sedimentary sections exposed on the Dead Sea margins have been applied to issues with global and regional implications associated with paleoclimate, tectonics, paleoseismology, paleomagnetism and human history. Nevertheless, the sections exposed in the marginal terraces of the modern Dead Sea contain only the sedimentary section deposited during high lake stands (e.g. the Lisan Fm.). Thus, a group of multinational researchers assembled to perform a deep-drill in the deep basin of the Dead Sea at water depth of 300m, where
is starting to emerge of one or two significant events that have occurred over the last Millennium. The enigmatic, high elevation palaeotsunami deposits in northern New Zealand have long been reported. Recently, these 15th century deposits have been linked with either a large subduction zone event on the Tonga-Kermadec trench, or the Kuwae caldera collapse in Vanuatu. Recent work in Vanuatu, on Futuna Is in the Wallis and Futuna archipelago, and at other sites throughout the SW Pacific region is starting to point towards these two events – one volcanic, the other subduction – as being the most significant regional palaeotsunamis to have occurred over the last Millennium. While the timing of the Kuwae eruption has been well constrained by both Arctic and Antarctic ice core data to around 1452/ 1453AD, the Tonga-Kermadec event is less well understood. Mapping their regional extent is problematic. It has however significant implications for the tsunami hazard faced not only by numerous Pacific Island Countries, but also for circum Pacific Ocean countries such as Australia. We discuss the current state of knowledge, and point towards the necessary steps that need to be taken to determine whether these two events were indeed the two largest regional palaeotsunamis in the SW Pacific over the last Millennium. If they are not, there must be a series of smaller, regionally significant events. If this is the case, then we currently have little or no knowledge of their nature and extent. One thing we are sure of, however, is that we cannot ignore the ramifications of our current findings. PALAEOTSUNAMIS IN THE PACIFIC OCEAN – WHAT IS THE TSUNAMI HAZARD FOR PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES? James Goff. University of New South Wales, Australia E-mail address: [email protected]
85% of all known tsunamis have occurred in the Pacific Ocean, an area approximating a third of the planet's surface. Not surprisingly, in recent years our focus has tended to be on the Indian Ocean and the Indonesian coast in particular. Given the historical track record of the Pacific, this focus is unlikely to be sustained. Since 2004 there have already been significant regional events around Samoa (2009) and Chile (2010), both of which have generated small, but effective research efforts aimed at better understanding the palaeotsunami record in the area. One of the most significant findings has been the almost complete absence of palaeotsunami data - we appear to know more about the Holocene palaeotsunami record for the Indian Ocean that has fewer events, than we do for Pacific Island Countries (PICs) located in a region susceptible to tsunamis originating from numerous ‘Ring of Fire’ sources. There are 22 PICs with historical records that extend back around 150–200 years at best. Numerous probabilistic tsunami hazard assessments have been carried out in the region, and all highlight various subduction zone sources of concern for specific islands or island groups. There is almost no mention of other tsunamigenic sources, even though almost all Pacific Islands are volcanic in origin, some of which are still highly active. This is an unfortunate oversight. While the record of palaeotsunamis in the Pacific is rudimentary at best with only a handful of reasonable examples, it is already allowing researchers to better understand the spatial extent of past events. Subduction zones are not the only significant tsunamigenic sources, particularly on a local and regional basis. Volcanic-related sources such as slumping, submarine landslides and caldera collapse are probably as significant as their potentially larger subduction zone counterparts. Further research is urgently needed to better understand the nature and extent of the tsunami hazard for PICs. PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERISATION OF INDIGENOUS CULTURAL DEPOSITS IN COASTAL SOUTHWEST GREENLAND USING MICRO-ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES Kirsty Golding. University of Stirling, United Kingdom E-mail address: [email protected]
Much attention has been given to the ethnographic and archaeological significance of indigenous material culture in Greenland, yet any consideration of the potential environmental impact of indigenous people on the landscape has been limited. Consequently, the extent to which indigenous activities may be visible within archaeological soil and sedimentary records remains uncertain. This paper presents the results of ongoing
171
micro-analytical investigations of thin sections taken from a range of cultural deposits associated with Thule Inuit habitations in coastal southwest Greenland. Micromorphology and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDX) are used to characterise the physical and chemical properties of an occupation floor and wall packing within a winter dwelling at Sandhavn, and midden deposits at Kangeq. These analyses aim to determine whether soils and sediments-based cultural indicators representative of Inuit activities can be identified. It is anticipated that charcoal, bone and processing wastes (such as fat) may be essential components of an environmental signature for Inuit occupation. This approach may be used to: a) identify possible Inuit activity layers in settings where there is an absence of artefacts; b) discriminate between Norse and Inuit activities within archaeological soils and sediments at sites of known cultural interaction. THE HOME-FIELD AS A CULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ARCHIVE OF EUROPEANISATION IN NORSE GREENLAND Kirsty Golding. University of Stirling, United Kingdom E-mail address: [email protected]
Recent palaeoecological studies clearly demonstrate the impact of Norse landnám (Old Norse for land taking) and European-style farming on the vegetation and landscape of southwest Greenland; however, the nature and extent of soil and archaeological sediment modification associated with Norse settlement has still to be systematically determined. This paper presents the results of pedological investigations of home-field soils around a range of farms of different size and status in the Eastern and Western Settlements of Norse Greenland. Stratigraphic analyses, radiocarbon dating and micromorphology are used to explore the cultural and environmental archive of soils modified through the introduction of northwest European-style farming practices. Evidence for the long-term addition of waste materials associated with manuring is present at all the farms in the form of hortic topsoils. Materials such as domestic refuse, construction debris (structural turves), fuel residues and waste from byres were typically applied to home-field soils to maintain and/or enhance soil fertility. Differences in the formation of topsoils over space and through time are identified between farms, possibly reflecting changing economic factors and/or divergent responses to environmental change. Anthropedogenic horizons such as these are rarely found at high latitudes and present a rare opportunity to investigate the physical and chemical characteristics of amended agricultural soils in the North Atlantic region. The results of this study also contribute to wider debates on the cultural and environmental drivers of success and failure in Norse Greenland. THE DEAD SEA DEEP DRILLING PROJECT RECOVERING THE LONGEST GLOBAL PALEO-ENVIRONMENTAL AND PALEO-SEISMIC ARCHIVE Steven Goldstein. LDEO of Columbia University, United States E-mail address: [email protected]
Several lakes occupied the Dead Sea Basin (DSB) during the late Quaternary. The DSB is located between the Mediterranean and desert climate zones and the lakes filling the basin captured in their composition and limnological configuration the hydrological-climatic regime of their large drainage area in the central Levant. The lakes expanded during ice ages and contracted during interglacials. At its maximum extent during the last ice age as glacial Lake Lisan, it filled the DSB from its present location northward to the Sea of Galilee). Moreover, because the DSB formed by the Dead Sea Transform Fault, it is an active tectonic region where sediments preserve the history of earthquakes. The DSB is also the locus of humankind's migration out of Africa, and the home of peoples from Paleolithic to modern times. Studies of the sedimentary sections exposed on the Dead Sea margins have been applied to issues with global and regional implications associated with paleoclimate, tectonics, paleoseismology, paleomagnetism and human history. Nevertheless, the sections exposed in the marginal terraces of the modern Dead Sea contain only the sedimentary section deposited during high lake stands (e.g. the Lisan Fm.). Thus, a group of multinational researchers assembled to perform a deep-drill in the deep basin of the Dead Sea at water depth of 300m, where