Deglaciation and neotectonics in South East Raasay, Scottish Inner Hebrides

The authors greatly appreciate the help and advice which they have received from: Dr Nicol Morton, who read an early version of the manuscript and provided advice and permission to reproduce the geological map in Figure 3; Dr Iain Stewart for earlier discussions on the geology of Raasay; Dr Alison Macleod for her advice on the magnetic susceptibility of sediments; Dr Adrian Hall, for his advice on the Quaternary geology of the area; Mrs Rebecca Mackay for her advice on the correct Gaelic spelling for place names and Dr Stephan Harrison and Professor Michael Tooley for their help in the field. We are grateful for the comments of the two referees, whose evidently complementary knowledge of the area was most illuminating.Peer reviewedPostprin

Copper Mining in the Bronze Age at Mynydd Parys, Anglesey, Wales

Acknowledgements This article was researched and written by David Jenkins. The final editing was undertaken by Andrew Davidson and Jane Kenney (Gwynedd Archaeological Trust) and Dr Simon Timberlake (Early Mines Research Group and McDonald Institute, University of Cambridge), who contributed additional background information. Further contributions and corrections were provided by Peter Marshall (Historic England) and Tim Mighall (University of Aberdeen) who oversaw the palaeoenvironmental study. Cadw generously funded the work through grant aid. The suggestion to edit and publish the article came from John Llywelyn Williams, who has worked closely with David Jenkins on this and a number of other significant projects. The editors are also very grateful for the help and encouragement provided by Paul Jenkins (David’s son). Members of the Parys Underground Group, particularly Oliver Burrows, and the Early Mines Research Group have helped source illustrations, provided corrections and comments, and supported the work. Thanks also to Anglesey Mining plc.Peer reviewedPostprin

The Environmental Context and Function of Burnt-Mounds : New Studies of Irish Fulachtaí Fiadh

The authors acknowledge funding from The Leverhulme Trust (F/00144/AI) and assistance from a large number of individuals including; Margaret Gowen (access to sites and assistance throughout),A. Ames, H, Essex (pollen processing), S. Rouillard & R. Smith (illustrations), C. McDermott, S. Bergerbrandt, all the staff of Margaret Gowen & Co. Ltd, TVAS Ireland and CRDS. Excavation works and some post-excavation analysis was paid for my Bord Gáis and the National Roads Authority (now Transport Infrastructure Ireland). Thanks also to David Smith for access to the Maureen Girling collection and assistance with identifications.Peer reviewedPostprintPostprin

Holocene atmospheric dust deposition in NW Spain

Acknowledgements The authors would like to extend their thanks to the students of the EcoPast research group (GI-1553, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Facultade de Bioloxía) and colleagues who helped with fieldwork and laboratory analyses. Funding The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article: This research was partially funded by Consiliencia network (ED431D2017/08 Xunta de Galicia) and Funding for Consolidation and Structuration of Research Units (ED431B2018/20 Xunta de Galicia).Peer reviewedPostprin

Reconstructing the impact of human activities in a NW Iberian Roman mining landscape for the last 2500 years

This article was made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.Little is known about the impact of human activities during Roman times on NW Iberian mining landscapes beyond the geomorphological transformations brought about by the use of hydraulic power for gold extraction. We present the high-resolution pollen record of La Molina mire, located in an area intensely used for gold mining (Asturias, NW Spain), combined with other proxy data from the same peat core to identify different human activities, evaluate the strategies followed for the management of the resources and describe the landscape response to human disturbances. We reconstructed the timing and synchronicity of landscape changes of varying intensity and form occurred before, during and after Roman times. An open landscape was prevalent during the local Late Iron Age, a period of relatively environmental stability. During the Early Roman Empire more significant vegetation shifts took place, reflected by changes in both forest (Corylus and Quercus) and heathland cover, as mining/metallurgy peaked and grazing and cultivation increased. In the Late Roman Empire, the influence of mining/metallurgy on landscape change started to disappear. This decoupling was further consolidated in the Germanic period (i.e., Visigothic and Sueve domination of the region), with a sharp decrease in mining/metallurgy but continued grazing. Although human impact was intense in some periods, mostly during the Early Roman Empire, forest regeneration occurred afterwards: clearances were local and short-lived. However, the Roman mining landscape turned into an agrarian one at the onset of the Middle Ages, characterized by a profound deforestation at a regional level due to a myriad of human activities that resulted in an irreversible openness of the landscape. © 2014 The Authors

Human bones tell the story of atmospheric mercury and lead exposure at the edge of Roman World

We thank Museo de Pontevedra and Dirección Xeral de Patrimonio Xuntade Galicia for providing access to skeletal collections. OLC is funded by ED481D 2017/014Xunta de Galicia. This work was supported bythe projects: Galician Paleodiet (ED481D 2017/014), Consiliencia network (ED 431D2017/08), GPC (ED431B 2018/20) all funded by Xunta de Galicia.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Uncertainty in geomorphological responses to climate change

Acknowledgements We acknowledge the careful comments from two anonymous reviewers. Funding information This work was partly supported by a Middlesex University PhD Studentship to EA and a Coventry University PhD Studentship to PA. NERC for radiocarbon dating provided funding support.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The environmental context and function of Burnt-Mounds: new studies of Irish Fulachtaí Fiadh

Burnt mounds, or fulachtaí fiadh as they are known in Ireland, are probably the most common prehistoric site type in Ireland and Britain. Typically Middle–Late Bronze Age in age (although both earlier and later examples are known), they are artefact-poor and rarely associated with settlements. The function of these sites has been much debated with the most commonly cited uses being for cooking, as steam baths or saunas, for brewing, tanning, or textile processing. A number of major infrastructural development schemes in Ireland in the years 2002–2007 revealed remarkable numbers of these mounds often associated with wood-lined troughs, many of which were extremely well-preserved. This afforded an opportunity to investigate them as landscape features using environmental techniques – specifically plant macrofossils and charcoal, pollen, beetles, and multi-element analyses. This paper summarises the results from eight sites from Ireland and compares them with burnt mound sites in Great Britain. The fulachtaí fiadh which are generally in clusters, are all groundwater-fed by springs, along floodplains and at the bases of slopes. The sites are associated with the clearance of wet woodland for fuel; most had evidence of nearby agriculture and all revealed low levels of grazing. Multi-element analysis at two sites revealed elevated heavy metal concentrations suggesting that off-site soil, ash or urine had been used in the trough. Overall the evidence suggests that the most likely function for these sites is textile production involving both cleaning and/or dyeing of wool and/or natural plant fibres and as a functionally related activity to hide cleaning and tanning. Whilst further research is clearly needed to confirm if fulachtaí fiadh are part of the ‘textile revolution’ we should also recognise their important role in the rapid deforestation of the wetter parts of primary woodland and the expansion of agriculture into marginal areas during the Irish and British Bronze Ages

Late Quaternary vegetation and climate dynamics in central-eastern Brazil : insights from a ~35k cal a BP peat record in the Cerrado biome

Acknowledgements This work was supported by Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)/Brazil (grant to I.H.T. – regular doctoral scholarship FAPESP 2010/51637‐0 and research internships abroad BEPE/FAPESP 2012/00676‐1), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)/Brazil (Universal 14/2011−482815/2001‐6), Ministério de Economia y Competitividad (CGL2010‐20662) and Xunta de Galícia (10PXIB200182PR, ED431D2917/08 and ED431B2018/20). We are grateful to Noemí Silva Sánchez and Luis Rodriguez Lado (Univesidad de Santiago de Compostela), and Fabrício da Silva Terra (Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri) for their collaboration and assistance during different stages of the research.Peer reviewedPostprin