Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, A, 369 (1938). 1056-1084, 2011
Since the first prehistoric people started to dig for stone to make implements, rather than pick ... more Since the first prehistoric people started to dig for stone to make implements, rather than pick up loose material, humans have modified the landscape through excavation of rock and soil, generation of waste and creation of artificial ground. In Great Britain over the past 200 years, people have excavated, moved and built up the equivalent of at least six times the volume of Ben Nevis. It is estimated that the worldwide deliberate annual shift of sediment by human activity is 57 000 Mt (million tonnes) and exceeds that of transport by rivers to the oceans (22 000 Mt) almost by a factor of three. Humans sculpt and transform the landscape through the physical modification of the shape and properties of the ground. As such, humans are geological and geomorphological agents and the dominant factor in landscape evolution through settlement and widespread industrialization and urbanization. The most significant impact of this has been since the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century, coincident with increased release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The anthropogenic sedimentological record, therefore, provides a marker on which to characterize the Anthropocene.
This paper explores the lower bounding surface of humanly-modified deposits and asks – does it re... more This paper explores the lower bounding surface of humanly-modified deposits and asks – does it reflect the diachronous onset and development of the Anthropocene itself?
Papers from the Institute of Archaeology, Jan 1, 2009
... I am grateful to the AHRC for a Master's funding award, and to the lando... more ... I am grateful to the AHRC for a Master's funding award, and to the landowners, to my supervisor Kevin Walsh for his help and advice, and to all those people who helped me in the field, particularly Andrew Jamieson, Jamie Andrews and Hayley Saul. ... Buckland, PC 2001. ...
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, A, 369 (1938). 1056-1084, 2011
Since the first prehistoric people started to dig for stone to make implements, rather than pick ... more Since the first prehistoric people started to dig for stone to make implements, rather than pick up loose material, humans have modified the landscape through excavation of rock and soil, generation of waste and creation of artificial ground. In Great Britain over the past 200 years, people have excavated, moved and built up the equivalent of at least six times the volume of Ben Nevis. It is estimated that the worldwide deliberate annual shift of sediment by human activity is 57 000 Mt (million tonnes) and exceeds that of transport by rivers to the oceans (22 000 Mt) almost by a factor of three. Humans sculpt and transform the landscape through the physical modification of the shape and properties of the ground. As such, humans are geological and geomorphological agents and the dominant factor in landscape evolution through settlement and widespread industrialization and urbanization. The most significant impact of this has been since the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the eighteenth century, coincident with increased release of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The anthropogenic sedimentological record, therefore, provides a marker on which to characterize the Anthropocene.
This paper explores the lower bounding surface of humanly-modified deposits and asks – does it re... more This paper explores the lower bounding surface of humanly-modified deposits and asks – does it reflect the diachronous onset and development of the Anthropocene itself?
Papers from the Institute of Archaeology, Jan 1, 2009
... I am grateful to the AHRC for a Master's funding award, and to the lando... more ... I am grateful to the AHRC for a Master's funding award, and to the landowners, to my supervisor Kevin Walsh for his help and advice, and to all those people who helped me in the field, particularly Andrew Jamieson, Jamie Andrews and Hayley Saul. ... Buckland, PC 2001. ...
Uploads
Papers by Cath Neal