... LEVANT XXX 1998 Environment and Land Use in the Wadi Faynan, Southern Jordan: the Second Seas... more ... LEVANT XXX 1998 Environment and Land Use in the Wadi Faynan, Southern Jordan: the Second Season of Geoarchaeology and Landscape Archaeology (1997) GW Barkerl, R. Adams2, OH Creighton3, DD Gilbertson4, JP ...
Tr`ang An is a Vietnamese government supported cultural and ecological park development covering ... more Tr`ang An is a Vietnamese government supported cultural and ecological park development covering 2,500 hectares that is centred on an isolated massif on the southern edge of the Song Hong delta in Ninh B`ınh Province, north Vietnam (Fig. 1). The archaeological ...
ABSTRACT The work of Charles McBurney in the 1950s described the Middle Palaeolithic of Cyrenaica... more ABSTRACT The work of Charles McBurney in the 1950s described the Middle Palaeolithic of Cyrenaica, Libya based upon fieldwork at several localities including the Haua Fteah. The deep stratigraphy of that site has been used as a measure of the Middle Palaeolithic for the area and is being re-examined by the Cyrenaica Prehistory Project. Middle Palaeolithic industries there include the Pre-Aurignacian and Levalloiso-Mousterian and the latter, at least, is associated with modern humans in the form of two mandibles. McBurney and subsequent workers have been ambivalent about the presence of Aterian assemblages at the site and given the association of modern human remains with Levalloiso Mousterian material is this significant? The nature of industrial succession at the Haua Fteah is discussed following analysis of the McBurney archive and further fieldwork at the site and in its landscape. There is no clear pre-Modern human presence yet demonstrated and so all the Middle Palaeolithic material at the Haua Fteah could be the product of modern humans. If this is so, why do the industries vary and does the reason for this variation explain the absence of the Aterian? The Aterian is present in the surrounding landscape. The Aterian has a clear association with modern humans in the Maghreb and is increasingly seen as an indicator of modern human presence. The sequence at the Haua Fteah can assist in formulating appropriate hypotheses for the processes of modern human dispersals across North Africa and beyond. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
Excavations at Haua Fteah cave in Cyrenaica, Libya, have revealed a cultural sequence that may sp... more Excavations at Haua Fteah cave in Cyrenaica, Libya, have revealed a cultural sequence that may span the last glacial–interglacial-glacial cycle. The TRANS-NAP project has been re-excavating Haua Fteah and conducting geoarchaeological survey of an ecologically diverse landscape that includes the fertile Gebel Akhdar and littoral, pre-desert, and desert biomes. A major aim of this project is to characterize cultural and environmental changes across the region and correlate the surface archaeology with that from Haua Fteah. To date, 181 sites have been recorded, ranging from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) to Late Stone Age (LSA). Their geographic distribution suggests temporal variation in patterns of hominin habitat preference, with significantly more LSA than MSA sites at higher elevations. The surface archaeology also points to substantial spatiotemporal technological variation within the MSA. These patterns may be explained by both paleoenvironmental change and paleodemographic shifts in the region, resulting in a variety of hominin adaptive responses.
Abstract: This report describes the fourth season of fieldwork by an interdisciplinary team of ar... more Abstract: This report describes the fourth season of fieldwork by an interdisciplinary team of archaeologists and geographers working together to reconstruct the landscape history of the Wadi Faynan in southern Jordan. The particular focus of the project is the long-term ...
... LEVANT XXX 1998 Environment and Land Use in the Wadi Faynan, Southern Jordan: the Second Seas... more ... LEVANT XXX 1998 Environment and Land Use in the Wadi Faynan, Southern Jordan: the Second Season of Geoarchaeology and Landscape Archaeology (1997) GW Barkerl, R. Adams2, OH Creighton3, DD Gilbertson4, JP ...
This reconnaissance study of radon concentrations in the Great Cave of Niah in Sarawak shows that... more This reconnaissance study of radon concentrations in the Great Cave of Niah in Sarawak shows that in relatively deep pits and trenches in surficial deposits largely covered by protective shelters with poor ventilation, excavators are working in a micro-environment in which radon concentrations at the ground surface can exceed those of the surrounding area by a factor of > x 2. Although radon concentrations in this famous cave are low by world standards (alpha track-etch results ranging from 100 to 3075 Bq m(-3)), they still may pose a health risk to both excavators (personal dosemeter readings varied from 0.368 to 0.857 mSv for 60 days of work) and cave occupants (1 yr exposure at 15 h per day with an average radon level of 608 Bq m(-3) giving a dose of 26.42 mSv). The data here presented also demonstrate that there is considerable local variation in radon levels in such environments as these.
Caves have yielded some of the most globally important archaeological sequences, but often their ... more Caves have yielded some of the most globally important archaeological sequences, but often their interpretation has suffered from assumptions about cave sedimentary processes. Caves contain distinctive sedimentary environments: this has major implications for the understanding of contained archaeological materials. This paper describes and analyses the Holocene sediments in the Haua Fteah, a sequence regarded as essentially continuous by the original excavator. 50 years after it was first excavated the Haua’s Epipalaeolithic to post-Classical chronological range and rich finds make it still the key Holocene archaeological site in North Africa. The reassessment shows, however, that the sequence is strongly discontinuous and this has major implications for the reinterpretation of the site, as the highly-resolved archaeological record is thus likely to reflect a series of brief occupations, rather than continuous human activity. As with many caves, the sedimentary record in the Haua Fteah is an extremely sensitive indicator of environments and processes in the wider landscape. Secure understanding of sedimentary process, from analysis of the highly individual records found in caves, is essential for full understanding of their contained archaeology.
... LEVANT XXX 1998 Environment and Land Use in the Wadi Faynan, Southern Jordan: the Second Seas... more ... LEVANT XXX 1998 Environment and Land Use in the Wadi Faynan, Southern Jordan: the Second Season of Geoarchaeology and Landscape Archaeology (1997) GW Barkerl, R. Adams2, OH Creighton3, DD Gilbertson4, JP ...
Tr`ang An is a Vietnamese government supported cultural and ecological park development covering ... more Tr`ang An is a Vietnamese government supported cultural and ecological park development covering 2,500 hectares that is centred on an isolated massif on the southern edge of the Song Hong delta in Ninh B`ınh Province, north Vietnam (Fig. 1). The archaeological ...
ABSTRACT The work of Charles McBurney in the 1950s described the Middle Palaeolithic of Cyrenaica... more ABSTRACT The work of Charles McBurney in the 1950s described the Middle Palaeolithic of Cyrenaica, Libya based upon fieldwork at several localities including the Haua Fteah. The deep stratigraphy of that site has been used as a measure of the Middle Palaeolithic for the area and is being re-examined by the Cyrenaica Prehistory Project. Middle Palaeolithic industries there include the Pre-Aurignacian and Levalloiso-Mousterian and the latter, at least, is associated with modern humans in the form of two mandibles. McBurney and subsequent workers have been ambivalent about the presence of Aterian assemblages at the site and given the association of modern human remains with Levalloiso Mousterian material is this significant? The nature of industrial succession at the Haua Fteah is discussed following analysis of the McBurney archive and further fieldwork at the site and in its landscape. There is no clear pre-Modern human presence yet demonstrated and so all the Middle Palaeolithic material at the Haua Fteah could be the product of modern humans. If this is so, why do the industries vary and does the reason for this variation explain the absence of the Aterian? The Aterian is present in the surrounding landscape. The Aterian has a clear association with modern humans in the Maghreb and is increasingly seen as an indicator of modern human presence. The sequence at the Haua Fteah can assist in formulating appropriate hypotheses for the processes of modern human dispersals across North Africa and beyond. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved.
Excavations at Haua Fteah cave in Cyrenaica, Libya, have revealed a cultural sequence that may sp... more Excavations at Haua Fteah cave in Cyrenaica, Libya, have revealed a cultural sequence that may span the last glacial–interglacial-glacial cycle. The TRANS-NAP project has been re-excavating Haua Fteah and conducting geoarchaeological survey of an ecologically diverse landscape that includes the fertile Gebel Akhdar and littoral, pre-desert, and desert biomes. A major aim of this project is to characterize cultural and environmental changes across the region and correlate the surface archaeology with that from Haua Fteah. To date, 181 sites have been recorded, ranging from the Middle Stone Age (MSA) to Late Stone Age (LSA). Their geographic distribution suggests temporal variation in patterns of hominin habitat preference, with significantly more LSA than MSA sites at higher elevations. The surface archaeology also points to substantial spatiotemporal technological variation within the MSA. These patterns may be explained by both paleoenvironmental change and paleodemographic shifts in the region, resulting in a variety of hominin adaptive responses.
Abstract: This report describes the fourth season of fieldwork by an interdisciplinary team of ar... more Abstract: This report describes the fourth season of fieldwork by an interdisciplinary team of archaeologists and geographers working together to reconstruct the landscape history of the Wadi Faynan in southern Jordan. The particular focus of the project is the long-term ...
... LEVANT XXX 1998 Environment and Land Use in the Wadi Faynan, Southern Jordan: the Second Seas... more ... LEVANT XXX 1998 Environment and Land Use in the Wadi Faynan, Southern Jordan: the Second Season of Geoarchaeology and Landscape Archaeology (1997) GW Barkerl, R. Adams2, OH Creighton3, DD Gilbertson4, JP ...
This reconnaissance study of radon concentrations in the Great Cave of Niah in Sarawak shows that... more This reconnaissance study of radon concentrations in the Great Cave of Niah in Sarawak shows that in relatively deep pits and trenches in surficial deposits largely covered by protective shelters with poor ventilation, excavators are working in a micro-environment in which radon concentrations at the ground surface can exceed those of the surrounding area by a factor of > x 2. Although radon concentrations in this famous cave are low by world standards (alpha track-etch results ranging from 100 to 3075 Bq m(-3)), they still may pose a health risk to both excavators (personal dosemeter readings varied from 0.368 to 0.857 mSv for 60 days of work) and cave occupants (1 yr exposure at 15 h per day with an average radon level of 608 Bq m(-3) giving a dose of 26.42 mSv). The data here presented also demonstrate that there is considerable local variation in radon levels in such environments as these.
Caves have yielded some of the most globally important archaeological sequences, but often their ... more Caves have yielded some of the most globally important archaeological sequences, but often their interpretation has suffered from assumptions about cave sedimentary processes. Caves contain distinctive sedimentary environments: this has major implications for the understanding of contained archaeological materials. This paper describes and analyses the Holocene sediments in the Haua Fteah, a sequence regarded as essentially continuous by the original excavator. 50 years after it was first excavated the Haua’s Epipalaeolithic to post-Classical chronological range and rich finds make it still the key Holocene archaeological site in North Africa. The reassessment shows, however, that the sequence is strongly discontinuous and this has major implications for the reinterpretation of the site, as the highly-resolved archaeological record is thus likely to reflect a series of brief occupations, rather than continuous human activity. As with many caves, the sedimentary record in the Haua Fteah is an extremely sensitive indicator of environments and processes in the wider landscape. Secure understanding of sedimentary process, from analysis of the highly individual records found in caves, is essential for full understanding of their contained archaeology.
The Neanderthal remains from Shanidar Cave, excavated between 1951 and 1960, have played a centra... more The Neanderthal remains from Shanidar Cave, excavated between 1951 and 1960, have played a central role in debates concerning diverse aspects of Neanderthal morphology and behavior. In 2015 and 2016, renewed excavations at the site uncovered hominin remains from the immediate area where the partial skeleton of Shanidar 5 was found in 1960. Shanidar 5 was a robust adult male estimated to have been aged over 40 years at the time of death. Comparisons of photographs from the previous and recent excavations indicate that the old and new remains were directly adjacent to one another, while the disturbed arrangement and partial crushing of the new fossils is consistent with descriptions and photographs of the older discoveries. The newly discovered bones include fragments of several vertebrae, a left hamate, part of the proximal left femur, a heavily crushed partial pelvis, and the distal half of the right tibia and fibula and associated talus and navicular. All these elements were previously missing from Shanidar 5, and morphological and metric data are consistent with the new elements belonging to this individual. A newly discovered partial left pubic symphysis indicates an age at death of 40e50 years, also consistent with the age of Shanidar 5 estimated previously. Thus, the combined evidence strongly suggests that the new finds can be attributed to Shanidar 5. Ongoing analyses of associated samples, including for sediment morphology, palynology, and dating, will therefore offer new evidence as to how this individual was deposited in the cave and permit new analyses of the skeleton itself and broader discussion of Neanderthal morphology and variation.
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Papers by Tim Reynolds