Counter-intuitive influence of Himalayan river morphodynamics on Indus Civilisation urban settlements

Urbanism in the Bronze-age Indus Civilisation (~4.6–3.9 thousand years before the present, ka) has been linked to water resources provided by large Himalayan river systems, although the largest concentrations of urban-scale Indus settlements are located far from extant Himalayan rivers. Here we analyse the sedimentary architecture, chronology and provenance of a major palaeochannel associated with many of these settlements. We show that the palaeochannel is a former course of the Sutlej River, the third largest of the present-day Himalayan rivers. Using optically stimulated luminescence dating of sand grains, we demonstrate that flow of the Sutlej in this course terminated considerably earlier than Indus occupation, with diversion to its present course complete shortly after ~8 ka. Indus urban settlements thus developed along an abandoned river valley rather than an active Himalayan river. Confinement of the Sutlej to its present incised course after ~8 ka likely reduced its propensity to re-route frequently thus enabling long-term stability for Indus settlements sited along the relict palaeochannel

Luminescence dating of two major climatic events recorded in small catchment alluvial fans on the Mallorcan coast, Spain

International audienc

Luminescence dating of two major climatic events recorded in small catchment alluvial fans on the Mallorcan coast, Spain

International audienc

Further investigations on ‘non-fading’ in K-Feldspar

We give a theoretical overview of non-fading infrared stimulated luminescence (IRSL) signals in feldspars, followed by intercomparison of potential methods on some sediment extracts. We observe that a more stringent thermal wash on its own is not effective in obtaining a more stable signal, suggesting that the higher the stimulation temperature in post IR-IRSL methods, the greater the ability to access distant electron hole pairs. We further find that the delayed off-time signal in time-resolved IRSL has immense potential for sampling non-fading signal and should be explored further; this signal also appears to be well reset in nature and avoids unwanted thermal transfer effects in comparison to the post IR-IRSL signal measured at 290 degrees C. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and INQUA. All rights reserved

Regional Power and Local Ecologies: Accumulated Population Trends and Human Impacts in the Northern Fertile Crescent

Archaeological data tend to be gathered at the local level: human agency also operates at this scale. By combining data from multiple surveys conducted within a larger area, it is possible to use local datasets to obtain a perspective on regional trends in settlement, population, and human activity. Here we employ data derived from nine archaeological surveys in the northern and western regions of the Fertile Crescent (west and north Syria, SE Turkey, and northern Iraq) to show how local trends aggregate to create a general proxy record of settlement and regional population. In addition, we use geoarchaeological data from a region extending from Homs in the west to northern Iraq in the east to outline historical trends in alluvial fill development. Both settlement and alluviation trends are then related to palaeoclimate proxy data from Soreq Cave and Lake Van. Settlement, geoarchaeological signatures and climate are then examined side by side in order to assess long-term human interactions

Geoarchaeology and the value of multidisciplinary palaeo-environmental approaches: a case study from the Tehran Plain, Iran

Tepe Pardis, a significant Neolithic–Chalcolithic site on the Tehran Plain in Iran, is, like many sites in the area, under threat from development. The site contains detailed evidence of (1) the Neolithic–Chalcolithic transition, (2) an Iron Age cemetery and (3) how the inhabitants adapted to an unstable fan environment through resource exploitation (of clay deposits for relatively large-scale ceramic production by c. 5000 BC, and importantly, possible cutting of artificial water channels). Given this significance, models have been produced to better understand settlement distribution and change in the region. However, these models must be tied into a greater understanding of the impact of the geosphere on human development over this period. Forming part of a larger project focusing on the transformation of simple, egalitarian Neolithic communities into more hierarchical Chalcolithic ones, the site has become the focus of a multidisciplinary project to address this issue. Through the combined use of sedimentary and limited pollen analysis, radiocarbon and optically stimulated luminescence dating (the application of the last still rare in Iran), a greater understanding of the impact of alluvial fan development on human settlement through alluviation and the development of river channel sequences is possible. Notably, the findings presented here suggest that artificial irrigation was occurring at the site as early as 6.7±0.4 ka (4300–5100 BC)

Fluvial landscape development in the southwestern Kalahari during the Holocene – Chronology and provenance of fluvial deposits in the Molopo Canyon.

The southern Kalahari drainage network is in a key position to analyze spatiotemporal changes in the tropical easterly and the temperate westerly circulation over the Southern African subcontinent. However, due to the prevailing aridity, paleoenvironmental archives within the southwestern Kalahari are sparse and often discontinuous. Hence, little is known about Holocene environmental change in this region. This study focuses on reconstructing paleoenvironmental change from the timing and provenance of fluvial deposits located within the Molopo Canyon, which connects the southern Kalahari drainage to the perennial flow regime of the Orange River. To gain insight into temporal aspects of fluvial morphodynamics within the Molopo Canyon, the entire variety of fluvial landforms consisting mainly of slope sediments, alluvial fans and alluvial fills were dated using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL). We additionally applied a provenance analysis on alluvial fill deposits to estimate potential sediment source areas. Source areas were identified by analyzing the elemental and mineralogical composition of tributaries and eolian deposits throughout the course of the lower Molopo. The results allow the first general classification of fluvial landscape development into three temporally distinct deposition phases in the southern Kalahari: (1) A phase of canyon aggradation associated with short lived and spatially restricted flash floods during the early to mid-Holocene; (2) a phase of fan aggradation indicating a decrease in flood intensities during the mid- to late Holocene; and (3) a phase of canyon aggradation caused by the occurrence of supra-regional flood events during the Little Ice Age. We interpret the observed spatiotemporal deposition patterns to latitudinal shifts of the tropical easterly circulation in the early to mid-Holocene and the temperate westerly circulation in the late Holocene. However, despite marked changes in the provenance and timing of fluvial deposits in the Molopo Canyon throughout the Holocene, our analysis did not detect a contribution of sediments originating from the Kalahari interior to the deposition of alluvial fills. These results suggest that the southern Kalahari Drainage remained endorheic and therefore disconnected from the Orange River throughout the Holocene