Different Times? Archaeological and Environmental Data from Intra-Site and Off-Site Sequences

Different Times? Archaeological and environmental data from intra-site and off-site sequences brings together seven papers from Session II-8 of the XVIII UISPP Congress (Paris, 4-9 June 2018). The session questioned temporal correlations between intra-site and off-site data in archaeology-related contexts. The word ‘site’ describes here archaeological sites or groups of sites – usually settlements – that have undergone research in recent years and produced information on the duration and timing of human presence. Comparison with evidence from geomorphological and paleoenvironmental research conducted at various distances from settlements gives some interesting results, such as ‘missing’ occupation periods, distortions in human presence intensity through space as well as time, variability in explanations concerning the abandonment of settlements, etc. Examples presented here highlight: first, discrepancies between time records within built areas used for living and the surrounding lands used for other activities (cultivation, herding, travelling, etc); second, discrepancies produced by the use of different ‘time markers’ (ie. chronostratigraphy of archaeological layers or pottery evolution on the one hand, sedimentary or pollen sequences on the other hand). Although improving the resolution of individual data is essential, the authors argue that the joint and detailed examination of evidence produced together by human and natural scientists is more important for reaching a reliable reconstruction of past people’s activities. Both the session and the volume stem from the Working Group ‘Environmental and Social Changes in the Past’ (Changements environnementaux et sociétés dans le passé) in the research framework of the Cluster of Excellence ‘Dynamite’ (Territorial and Spatial Dynamics) of the University Paris 1-Panthéon-Sorbonne (ANR-11-LABX-0046, Investissements d’Avenir).

Table of Contents

Introduction – Zoï Tsirtsoni, Catherine Kuzucuoğlu, Philippe Nondédéo, Olivier Weller

The role of the duration and recurrence of settlements in our perception of human impact on the environment: an example from Northern France – Salomé Granai, Sylvie Coutard, Nicolas Cayol, Muriel Boulen

Dynamiques environnementales et impact de l’anthropisation au Néolithique dans le vallon du Vey à Cairon (Calvados, Normandie) : apports des analyses à haute résolution sur une nouvelle séquence pollinique hors-site – Laurence Lemer, Agnès Gauthier, Laurent Lespez, Cécile Germain-Vallée

Geoarchaeological and chronological reconstruction of the Aşıklı PPN site spatial development (Central Anatolia, Turkey) – Catherine Kuzucuoğlu, Mihriban Özbaşaran, Jean-Pascal Dumoulin, Ségolène Saulnier-Copard

Times of historical developments and environmental changes in the Minoan town of Malia, Crete: an intra and off-site geoarcheological approach – Maia Pomadère, Laurent Lespez, Charlotte Langohr

Environmental change and population responses in the Sechura Desert during the late Holocene – Valentina Villa, Aurélien Christol, Christine Lefèvre, Denis Correa, Philippe Béarez, Patrice Wuscher, Nicolas Bermeo, Segundo Vásquez, Belkys Gutiérrez, Nicolas Goepfert

Archaeological and paleoenvironmental reconstructions in the tropical Maya area: the case of Naachtun (Guatemala) – Philippe Nondédéo, Cyril Castanet, Louise Purdue, Eva Lemonnier, Lydie Dussol, Julien Hiquet, Aline Garnier, Marc Testé

Tracing the hidden history of the Maya forests through anthracological sequences – Lydie Dussol

Zoï Tsirtsoni is an archaeologist and researcher at CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), currently in position at the laboratory Archéologies et Sciences de l’Antiquité at Nanterre. She is a specialist in Aegean and Balkan prehistory and co-director, since 2008, of the Greek-French research project at the tell settlement of Dikili Tash in Greek Eastern Macedonia.

Catherine Kuzucuoğlu is a geomorphologist at CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique). She has been Deputy Director in charge of Archaeology at French Institute for Anatolian Studies in Istanbul (2000- 2003), and Director of Laboratory of Physical Geography (2009-2013).

Philippe Nondédéo is currently an investigator at the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) laboratory ‘Archéologie des Amériques’. Since 2010 he has directed the Naachtun archaeological project in Northern Petén, Guatemala. He has authored and co-authored over 110 articles and book chapters as well as four books.