PICO
PICO: Tue, 5 May, 10:45–12:30 | PICO spot 3
Floodplains are key geoarchives for reconstructing long-term human–environment interactions, particularly during the Late Holocene when anthropogenic influence increasingly rivalled natural controls on fluvial systems. In Central Europe, centuries of land-use change, deforestation, agriculture and hydrotechnical interventions have fundamentally reshaped river morphology, sediment dynamics and floodplain architecture. This study investigates the Wiesent River catchment in northern Bavaria, Germany, as a representative example of the transition from a predominantly natural to a human-dominated fluvial landscape.
We apply a multi-proxy approach combining sedimentological, geophysical and paleoenvironmental analyses with optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating to establish a robust chronological framework for floodplain development. Bayesian age–depth modelling of OSL ages significantly reduces chronological uncertainty and enables the identification of successive phases of sediment accumulation and stratigraphic reorganisation. This improved temporal resolution facilitates comparison between floodplain sedimentation patterns and archaeological and historical evidence for land-use change within broader socio-environmental developments.
The floodplains of the Wiesent River catchment are characterised by laterally extensive and locally thick overbank deposits that record pronounced shifts in sediment dynamics during the Late Holocene. Chronostratigraphic patterns indicate that sediment deposition within the floodplain is not synchronous with documented phases of intensified land use in the catchment. Instead, the results point to pronounced temporal offsets between sediment mobilisation in upland areas and its eventual incorporation into floodplain stratigraphy. These offsets highlight the importance of sediment storage and delayed transfer within the catchment, consistent with a sediment cascade framework in which mobilised material may remain stored in hillslopes, colluvial deposits or tributary systems for extended periods before final floodplain deposition.
The chronostratigraphic record demonstrates that floodplain sedimentation does not directly mirror phases of peak human activity, but rather reflects the cumulative and time-transgressive nature of sediment transfer processes. Comparisons with already studied sub-catchments support the regional relevance of these delayed responses. By integrating high-resolution OSL chronologies with sedimentological evidence, this study provides a nuanced reconstruction of fluvial transformation that emphasises temporal lags and internal system feedbacks.
These findings underline the value of well-constrained chronostratigraphy for interpreting fluvial geoarchives in human-modified landscapes. Understanding the timing and pathways of sediment redistribution is essential for disentangling natural processes from indirect human influence and for placing archaeological and historical land-use signals into their geomorphological and geoarchaeological context.
How to cite: Grimm, B., Zeeden, C., Voigt, A., Kolb, T., Dix, A., Schreg, R., Pauly, N., Merz, J., and Fuchs, M.: Late Holocene alluvial sediment dynamics of the Wiesent River catchment (NE-Bavaria, Germany): Insights from high-resolution OSL dating and bayesian age-depth modelling, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-6477, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-6477, 2026.
The sediment dynamics include erosion, transport and deposition of sediments within and through a catchment. Erosion leads to a degradation of fertile soils on the slopes, while introducing large-scale inputs of fine-grained overbank sediments into floodplains. These sediments often contain particulate organic carbon and partly also contaminants. This sediment input changes floodplain properties, including e.g. geomorphology, habitat diversity, ecosystem services or human health impacts. Throughout most of the Holocene human activities increasingly influenced sediment dynamics in Central European river catchments through agriculture and settlement, starting in the Neolithic and strongly accelerating since the Middle Ages. However, the Holocene sediment dynamics of Central European river systems remains currently poorly understood. One key question concerns the fate of eroded slope sediments: How much is deposited within a certain part of the catchment, and how much is transported further downstream? Recent studies have addressed this issue by calculating Holocene sediment budgets including ‘sediment delivery ratios’ (SDRs), approximate estimations of the long-term fractions of eroded slope sediments reaching the channel or being transported to the catchment’s outlet. However, the ‘black box’ character of long-term SDRs prevents a detailed examination of temporal variations. Sediment provenance analyses could overcome this limitation by more precisely tracing pathways of Holocene sediments through river systems. Furthermore, well-resolved spatio-temporal information about former human activities has often been unavailable, limiting our ability to estimate human influence on the sediment dynamics.
We applied a comprehensive multi-disciplinary approach to the Weiße Elster catchment in Central Germany, which has been partly settled since the Neolithic. Our approach encompassed geomorphology, geophysics, geochronology, geochemical analysis, soil erosion modelling, settlement archaeology and history. We compared patterns and provenance of floodplain sediments in the middle and upper reaches and of colluvial deposits along the middle river reach with regional settlement history. This allowed us to identify the origin of the fluvial sediments in the middle river reach, and evaluate the diachronic influence of human activities on the Holocene sediment dynamics in the floodplain.
How to cite: von Suchodoletz, H., Khosravichenar, A., Fütterer, P., Schneider, B., Scheper, S., Werban, U., Kühn, P., Matys Grygar, T., Pavlů, I., Tinapp, C., Lauer, T., Werther, L., Stäuble, H., Hein, M., Köhler, A., Zielhofer, C., Veit, U., Ettel, P., and Miera, J.: Tracing Holocene sediment pathways in a Central European river catchment - the Weiße Elster (Central Germany), EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-6888, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-6888, 2026.
The Echaz River is a third-order karst river and a tributary of the Rhine. It originates in the Swabian Alb and cuts a cuesta landscape until it flows into the Neckar River. Structural changes to the natural course and floodplain of the Echaz are mainly due to the exploitation of its water power by mills and the irrigation of the so-called „water meadows“ during the Middle Ages (the water meadows appear in written sources as early as 1289, the mills in 1138 in Reutlingen, and in 1297 in Pfullingen).
This study presents the first steps towards a multidisciplinary reconstruction of the Fluvial Anthroposphere, by investigating local medieval pathways and land use in parts of the Echaz floodplain upstream of Pfullingen and downstream of Reutlingen. This reach of the Echaz was a centre of crafts, tanneries, dyeing and paper manufacturing in the Middle Ages. The upstream sites represent areas of anthropogenic influence, with water meadows presumably established in the High Middle Ages, while the sediments and soils of the downstream sites have archived signals of medieval and early modern craft activities (such as heavy metals: chromium, copper, iron, nickel, lead, zinc).
These first steps of research comprise the digitisation of old maps combined with information from historical and archaeological archives. A digital relief model in combination with geophysical results from Electromagnetic Induction (EMI) and, Electrical Resistivity Tomography (ERT) are correlated with soil profiles and soil/sediment cores from the Echaz floodplain, and form the basis for the reconstruction of natural and anhtropogenic stratigraphies.
Future work will include the establishment of a chronostratigraphic model with luminescence ages of sediments and radiocarbon dates of charcoal fragments, which will provide the basis for the selection of suitable sites for further analysis, including a combination of digital historical maps and physical-biogeochemical analyses (enzymes for excrement input, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons [PAH] for fire use), stable isotope ratios of C and N for the differentiation of C3 and C4 plants, as well as XRF analysis (for heavy metal pollution) as well as mollusc and ostracod analyses for aquatic habitat and water quality reconstruction.
How to cite: Pejdanović, S., Zvara, E., Schneider, B., Quante, E., Pohle, M., Saeidi ghavi andam, S., Nießen, I., Schön, M., Lauer, T., Fitzsimmons, K. E., Werban, U., Oelmann, Y., Neidhardt, H., Marhan, S., Kandeler, E., Poll, C., Frenzel, P., Werther, L., Zielhofer, C., and Kuehn, P.: First steps towards the reconstruction of land use in the medieval Fluvial Anthroposhere of the Echaz floodplain (Southwest Germany) , EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-11116, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-11116, 2026.
Reconstructing the mobility strategies of Neanderthal and anatomically modern human populations requires an accurate mapping of the raw material outcrops. In the coastal zones of Valencia, the distance between archaeological sites and raw material outcrops is frequently calculated based on current topography, but there are some limitations of these models if we consider several taphonomic filters that flint can suffer: 1. The burial of Pleistocene river terraces due to past or recent sedimentation; 2. The inundation of secondary deposits on the continental shelf during interglacial highstands and 3. The mechanical selection of materials during transport. Specifically, we account for the fact that flint can survive high-energy transport over longer distances over limestone. This is enough to create a compositional bias where distant secondary sources are naturally enriched in high quality lithic materials.
By modelling the exposure and predicted composition of these secondary sources during glacial maximum and minimums, we suggest that many raw materials classified as “distant” or “exotic” in the archeological recod may have been locally available in now vanished landscapes. This reconstructive approach forces a reevaluation of procurement economy, suggesting that human groups could have been able to exploit a resource rich landscape that extended kilometers beyond the modern shoreline.
How to cite: Mendez-Chazarra, N., Cuevas-González, J., and Eixea, A.: Evolving shores, hidden stones: The impact of sea level change and sedimentation on lithic procurement in Valencian coastal sites, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-13701, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-13701, 2026.
The soil systems of Sardina, the second-biggest island of the Mediterranean, have been shaped by Quaternary climatic fluctuations and long- to short-term regional geodynamic processes across its coastal to upland environments. Pedological archives document the influence of the last interglacial and subsequent stadial/interstadial cycles, as well as the contribution of Plio-Pleistocene volcanic activity and long-distance aeolian dust transport across the Mediterranean basin. While the roles of time, climate, morphology, and parent material in Sardinian soil development is relatively well understood, the influence of past human activity remains comparatively underexplored. Permanent human presence only began during the Middle Holocene (Northgrippian) with the peopling of the island by Neolithic farmers that introduced domestic plants and animals. Also, from the Neolithic through the Bronze Age, these farming societies followed a distinctive trajectory marked by intensive monument-building that still imprints Sardinia’s landscapes today.
To begin filling this gap, this paper presents three geoarchaeological case studies examining interactions between soil development and human activity during the Neolithic, Copper Age, and Bronze Age. The study areas are distributed along a north-south transect and encompass three major geological settings in Sardinia: Miocene limestones, Oligo-Miocene acidic rhyolitic ignimbrites, and Pleistocene mafic basalts. An integrated geoarchaeological approach was applied focusing on buried soil horizons, archaeological deposits, and co-alluvial sedimentary records directly associated with settlements. All sites were investigated through detailed soil description and soil micromorphology, while particle-size analysis and radiocarbon dating are currently available for two of the three case studies, and XRD-mineralogy and ICP-MS geochemistry complemented the analyses in one case study.
Across all investigated areas, buried soils differ markedly from present-day soilscapes. Soil micromorphology and geochemical data from soil horizons and archaeological sequences reveal pedofeatures and geochemical signatures indicative of organic and inorganic anthropogenic inputs related to agropastoral practices, as well as microstructures associated with soil erosion. Local sedimentary archives further record the downslope mobilisation of soil material, with chronostratigraphic and petrographic evidence corresponding to phases of settlement and land-use activity.
Together, these case studies provide evidence-based new insights into the role of human activity in shaping Sardinia’s soil diversity, highlighting human agency as a key driver of soil development since the Holocene. Future work will aim to translate this mosaic of human-soil interactions into a better understanding of the timing and origin of the soil cover of the island, contributing to advance the knowledge of the Mediterranean human-environmental history.
How to cite: Marras, G. M.: Past human activity and its role in soil development in Sardinia (western Mediterranean), EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-21522, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-21522, 2026.
The Neolithic settlement of Favella della Corte (Cosenza, Southern Italy) provides an important opportunity to investigate prehistoric Southern Italian communities. This work presents the results of sedimentological analysis on outcropping stratigraphic units coupled with a non-invasive geophysical investigation of the site. Specifically, a multi approach geophysical survey has been conducted, including magnetic field measurements, magnetic susceptibility sampling and electrical resistivity profiling. This study aims to provide a detailed characterisation of the site’s shallow stratigraphy and to support the reconstruction of its paleo-environmental context.
The magnetic survey consisted of approximately 3,000 measurements acquired over an area of 11,600 m² using a Scintrex MP3 Proton Procession Magnetometer (PPM). Magnetic susceptibility was measured on exposed stratigraphic units along vertical sections, with sampling intervals of 20–50 cm, using a portable Geofyzika KT-5 kappameter. Electrical resistivity data were collected along nine profiles spaced 20 m apart, each extending up to 90 m in length. Measurements were carried out using a geo-resistivimeter designed and built by the Applied Geophysics Laboratory of the University of Genova.
Sedimentological analyses revealed the alternation of three shallow levels: (i) an upper arable layer, (ii) an intermediate silty sand layer, and (iii) a deeper silty-sandy gravel layer. Magnetic susceptibility data supported this evidence, highlighting a contrast between the more susceptible intermediate horizon and the underlying gravel level. Therefore, the magnetic inversion was constrained to a single layer of prismatic bodies, enabling the reconstruction of the interface between silty sand and silty-sandy gravel units. Because of the non-linearity of the inverse problem, the L-BFGS algorithm has been employed to solve the optimization problem. The model parameters involved are the depth of the bottom of each prism and a single value of magnetic susceptibility contrast associated with all the prisms. These parameters were updated at every iteration until the L-BFGS algorithm converged. The electrical resistivity data have been modelled along two-dimensional sections using Res2dinv software based on the smoothness-constrained least-squares method without any constraints due to the absence of a priori information (e.g. water table depth, homogeneity degree and resistivity values of the lithological units).
Combined modelling of magnetic and electrical resistivity datasets has revealed a NE–SW trending linear feature 70m long, 15m wide and reaching depths of about 4m, crossing the whole survey area. The sedimentological evidence resulting from outcropping stratigraphic units allowed us to interpret it as a paleo-channel carved into the silty-sandy gravel substrate and filled with silty sand material. Considering the pronounced straightness of this feature, we interpreted it as an anthropogenic paleo channel with a drainage function. Although of unknown age, the paleo- channel may have controlled the distribution of the Neolithic settlement of Favella della Corte.
The coupling of magnetic and electric resistivity techniques has proved to be highly effective for reconstructing the paleo environmental context of the Favella della Corte area, revealing subsurface stratigraphy and a geomorphological feature. These findings have highlighted the value of integrated geophysical approaches for reconstructing ancient landscapes and informing future research.
How to cite: Cogliati, A., Ghirotto, A., Zunino, A., Peruzzo, L., Boaga, J., Pavan, M., and Armadillo, E.: Paleo-environmental characterisation of an archaeological site through multi geophysical techniques and stratigraphic analysis, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-6548, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-6548, 2026.
During the Bronze and Iron Ages artificially defended hilltop settlements were commonplace in Europe. Their typologies, development, and diffusion have been widely investigated in the archaeological literature, with different tools, from traditional field excavations to the newest techniques in photogrammetry and spatial analysis. In Italy, the occurrence and context of hillforts are less known. Here, hilltop features characterised by concentric rings, known as Castellieri, have been attributed to protohistoric times, dated to a chronological range from the 15th century BCE to the 3rd century BCE. Their presence is attested from the Karst region and the Istrian Peninsula down along the Apennines from Tuscany to Apulia. In Apenninic Italy, these sites occur in intermontane locations, and likely characterised a non-urban society that lived in a marginal and challenging landscape.
We identified potential Castellieri sites within the Umbro-Marchean Apennines through the application of remote sensing techniques integrated with GIS-based cartographic analysis. This approach allowed to characterise, for the first time, the Castellieri sites through a field-based geomorphological, topographical, relational and archaeological assessment and investigate their relationships with the surrounding palaeoenvironment in terms of spatial use and natural resources exploitation. These sites are typologically defined by the presence of characteristic earthen embankments or stone fortifications, their morphologies, often featuring circular and concentric enclosures adapted to local geomorphology, and their strategic siting, predominantly on elevated terrain or at the confluences of valleys. Our preliminary analyses show a remarkable network of interconnected sites along a variety of landscapes, following patterns relatable to widespread and established pastoral practices potentially similar to modern times.
How to cite: Mariani, G. S., Maio, M. T., and Pieruccini, P.: Landscape variability and human patterns in Bronze-Iron Age hilltop settlements in the Central Apennines (Italy)., EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-12793, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-12793, 2026.
The Giza Plateau lies at the desert-floodplain interface, where small variations in Nile waterscapes could decisively condition settlement, subsistence strategies, and large-scale engineering projects such as the construction of the pyramids. Here we synthesize multi-proxy geoarchaeological evidence to reconstruct the coupled evolution of a dryland river corridor and its cultural landscapes over the last ~8,000 years, focusing on the now-defunct Khufu branch and Khufu’s Pharaonic Harbour. First, pollen-derived vegetation patterns from floodplain cores (G1 and G4) are used to quantify long-term Khufu-branch level changes and their link to regional hydroclimate variability, including the termination of the African Humid Period (~3550 ± 80 BCE) and subsequent aridification trends, while highlighting water-level conditions during the 4th Dynasty that favoured navigation and logistics. Second, chronostratigraphy and sedimentology from the harbour core (Giza-3) constrain Holocene sedimentary units and allow reconstruction of local palaeotopography and harbour functionality, showing a shift from an earlier secondary palaeochannel to floodplain/harbour environments consistent with Old Kingdom use. Third, high-resolution palynological and non-pollen palynomorph indicators document a long record of agropastoral practices at the foot of the necropolis (from ~7980 ± 80 BCE to 375 ± 80 CE), enabling assessment of human adaptive thresholds under drought–flood stresses in a semi-arid setting. Finally, geochemical analyses (ICP-MS; Cu enrichment factors with crustal-element normalization) from harbour sediments reveal distinct phases of anthropogenic copper contamination from the Predynastic through Dynastic periods, including peaks during the reigns of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure, providing an environmental signal of intensified metalworking associated with construction and subsequent activity. Together, these datasets show how dryland river dynamics, floodplain geomorphology, and human land use co-evolved at Giza, and demonstrate that monumental building in semi-arid landscapes left not only a cultural legacy but also detectable early geochemical pollution in sedimentary archives.
How to cite: Younes, G., Sheisha, H., Kaniewski, D., Marriner, N., Morhange, C., Saleem, A., and Véron, A.: Dryland Nile waterscapes and human footprints at Giza (Egypt): 8000 years of Khufu-branch dynamics, harbour palaeotopography, agropastoral adaptation, and early copper pollution, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-12933, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-12933, 2026.
Site preservation and terrain characteristics are primary factors influencing the spatial distribution and discoverability of Late Pleistocene archaeological sites. To predict site expectancy across extensive areas, such as the southern Levant, this study integrates archaeological on-site analysis, with geoarchaeology and geomorphology using spatial analysis. We present a predictive suitability model, derived from a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), designed to identify areas with high potential for Upper Palaeolithic sites in the Eastern Mediterranean and its arid margins. By incorporating data from various prominent Upper Palaeolithic sites in the diverse study area, eight parameters were evaluated for their significance: geomorphology, hydrogeology, drainage network, vegetation zone, elevation, as well as DEM derivates such as aspect, slope inclination, and terrain ruggedness. Statistical analysis reveals a significant divergence between the spatial distribution of sites and natural terrain position factors. This finding allows for the definition of parameter classes associated with high site expectancy, which were then incorporated into the predictive model. The resulting site location suitability maps reinforces the potential for a detailed study by utilising larger site datasets and enhanced spatial information to investigate to which part archaeological site distribution in such an heterogenous landscape from desert to Mediterranean forest, can be related to prehistoric human site selection, site preservation or survey bias.
How to cite: Zickel, M. and Rohringer, H.: Environmental Geodata-Based Location Suitability Analysis for Archaeological Sites in the Southern Levant, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-19485, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-19485, 2026.
Portable (port-) OSL profiling and absolute OSL dating enables relative and absolute age acquisition of dry agricultural terrace sediment fill that is understood to usually reflect the age of terrace construction. Here we coupled 300+ port-OSL measurements in 30+ profiles with 12 OSL ages to date archaeological agricultural installations (wadi and slope agricultural terraces, roads, walls, rock piles) and an adjacent, well-preserved type-section of clast and fine-sediment accumulation in a non-terraced, 1st-order basin depression. The study region around Mevo Betar, in the southwestern Jerusalem Highlands of Judea, Israel, consists of mixed Terra-Rossa (Red Mediterranean) soil between lapies formations, in a small-spring dominated, Mediterranean, hard carbonate terrain. The region underwent fluctuations in agricultural-oriented village occupations since Chalcolithic times.
The Terra Rossa soil-like sediment accumulating in the 1st-order depression since Epipalaeolithic (~17-13 ka) times yields a reliable (R2=0.96) port-OSL – OSL linear regression, that in turn can help roughly estimate ages of the sediment of nearby port-OSL profiled agriculture installations. These installations yield OSL ages dating to Roman, Byzantine, Late Islamic and mid-Ottoman times with limited remains of earlier preserved and presumably natural, aeolian source-sediment of the soils.
It appears that wall-lined agricultural roads and terraces were implemented in Roman to Byzantine times, with a 2nd major phase of expansion in the last millennium, the latter well-established chronologically for terraced hinterlands in the northern Jerusalem Highlands (Porat et al., 2019; Ben-Melech et al., 2025). A distinct dam-like wall dissecting the depression, roughly age-estimated by the port-OSL-OSL regression to Roman times, may be further evidence of Roman involvement, as recognized by another Roman-dated wall dissecting a nearby wadi.
Despite no significant increase in aeolian dustfall since ~2.5 ka, average sediment accumulation rates in the 1st-order depression grew threefold, probably due to anthropogenic soil exposure by agriculture, grazing and shrub/tree utilization for fire fuel. Such enhanced soil erosion may have been observed by locals, and eventually motivated terracing efforts. We suggest that the expansion of agricultural installations into hinterlands of ancient villages in the southern Levant was characterized by a non-linear growth process that included improvement and maintenance of existing features, and a generally radial development pattern from village peripheries into "terra incognita" hinterlands over a wide range of hard carbonate formations and morphologies. This expansion led to the current landscape morphology with significant terrace cover, that still constrains erosive slope processes.
Porat, N. et al. (2019). Using portable OSL reader to obtain a time scale for soil accumulation and erosion in archaeological terraces, the Judean Highlands, Israel. QG, 49, 65-70.
Ben-Melech, N. et al. (2025). Agricultural Terracing and land tenure in late medieval Southern levant: the case of Nahal Ein Karim, Jerusalem. EA 30(6), 590-604.
How to cite: Salomons, N., Roskin, J., Faershtein, G., Porat, N., Tiano, J., and Mizrachi, A. S.: Portable OSL supported OSL-dating of sediment accumulation and agricultural hinterland development in the southwestern Jerusalem Highlands, Israel, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-3587, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-3587, 2026.
The Early Bronze Age settlement of ‘En Esur, located on Israel’s eastern coastal plain, thrived in an area characterized by abundant perennial freshwater sources and fertile alluvial soils. Despite this hydrological wealth, the site was abruptly abandoned by the end of the Early Bronze Age IB (ca. 3000 BCE). This study examines the environmental dynamics, particularly the hydrological thresholds that governed the growth and decline of this proto-urban settlement.
An integrated paleoenvironmental reconstruction combining pedosedimentary profiles, stable isotope analyses (δ¹³C, δ¹⁸O), palynological sequences, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating reveals that increasing rainfall, superimposed on already high water availability, overwhelmed the floodplain’s drainage capacity. This led to widespread waterlogging, marsh formation, and deterioration of agro-pastoral productivity. Botanical and isotopic proxies document a marked rise in hydrophilic vegetation and a decline in ruderal cover, indicating soil saturation and reduced cultivability.
These findings suggest that ‘En Esur’s abandonment was driven not by water scarcity, but by ecological oversaturation when environmental abundance crossed critical hydrological thresholds. The case of ‘En Esur thus exemplifies how shifts in water regimes can transform a thriving settlement into an unsustainable marshland, offering key insights into human–environment interactions on the southern Levantine coastal plain.
How to cite: Ackermann, O., Reed, K. S., Anker, Y., Elad, I., Paz, Y., Yasur, G., and Zilberman, T.: Hydrological and Environmental Factors in Settlement Growth and Decline: ‘En Esur in the Early Bronze Age, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-22358, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-22358, 2026.
The Dzhungar Mountains in northern Tien Shan, Kazakhstan, are part of the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor, which extends from the Hindu Kush to the Altai. This corridor is significant for human migration and cultural exchange due to its water availability and ecological diversity. The Dzhungar Mountains contain several Bronze Age sites, including the Dali settlement complex and an adjacent circular megalithic structure several meters in diameter. Megaliths in Central Inner Asia are rare, undated, and understudied, leaving their chronological relationship to the Bronze Age unclear.
Infrared Stimulated Luminescence rock surface burial dating (IRSL RSbD) is a new tool in quaternary geochronology and allows determining the burial age of rock surfaces since their last exposure to sunlight. The method is based on the fact that, over time, rock surfaces can store energy in the crystal lattice of rock-building minerals, such as feldspar, due to naturally occurring radiation. This energy can be read out as luminescence signal upon infrared stimulation under laboratory conditions and burial ages calculated.
For dating the Dali megalith structure, we used infrared-stimulated luminescence of feldspar from the buried face of the granitic megalith boulders and complemented this with single-grain OSL dating of the sediment beneath the boulders. This combined dating approach helps to establish a chronological framework for the Dali megalithic structure and assess its relationship to the Bronze Age timeline of the Inner Asian Mountain Corridor.
How to cite: Schaffer, S., Meyer, M., Tropper, P., Martin, L., Frachetti, M., and Baitleu, D.: OSL rock surface burial dating of megalith structures in the Dzhungar Mountains - Kazakhstan, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-19713, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-19713, 2026.
Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) provides high-resolution imaging for shallow archaeological prospection, but its effectiveness is greatly reduced in the conductive, clay-rich alluvium of southwestern Taiwan—especially when exploring Neolithic cultural layers with low electrical impedance contrast between the archaeological targets and surrounding sediments. To overcome this challenge, we conducted an integrated geophysical study at the eastern sector of the Sanmin Road Neolithic site in Tainan, Taiwan. Our approach combines GPR attribute analysis, microtremor analysis, and electrical/gamma-ray borehole logging to understand subsurface stratigraphy and delineate the geometry of the potential cultural horizon. The survey investigated a channel–floodplain transitional environment hosting a Mid-Neolithic cultural layer (ca. 4,000 BP). We observed a strong link between GPR attributes—particularly energy and similarity—and Horizontal-to-Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) resonance peaks, both in depth and lateral continuity of the horizon. Borehole data validated these findings, with core lithology and recovered pottery sherd confirming the stratigraphic and cultural context. The mapped horizon shallows toward the northeast and correspondingly deepens toward the northwest, with subbottom depths between 4.5 to 6.0 meters, and some localized anomalies immediately above this horizon may indicate recent human activities. By combining multiple geophysical methods, our results characterize the geometry, physical properties, and stratigraphy of the interpreted cultural layer. This integrated geophysical framework substantially improves the reliability of studying cultural layers under challenging geological settings, providing a solid basis for planning heritage excavation, preservation, and management.
How to cite: Kuo, C.-L., Wu, H.-Y., Rau, R.-J., Han, W.-C., Wu, C.-F., Liu, T.-Y., and Chou, S.-Y.: Archeological Prospection Using Multiple Geophysical Methods: An example from SW Taiwan, EGU General Assembly 2026, Vienna, Austria, 3–8 May 2026, EGU26-1981, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu26-1981, 2026.
