Roman military presence in the Western Desert of Egypt

Práce popisuje environmentální vývoj Západní poušt v dob p ibližn od 1. do 6. století, kdy byl Egypt jednou z ímských provincií. Problematika zahrnuje stru nou charakteristiku ímského klimatického optima spolu s geologickými a hydrologickými podmínkami. Oázy Západní poušt p edstavovaly jediné obyvatelné oblasti v tehdy již hyperaridním prost edí. Zde se vyskytovala rozmanitá vegetace, a dokonce bylo možné provozovat zem lství. Práce je založena na rešerši písemných pramen a literárních zdroj , shrnující historické, archeologické a p írodov dné informace o p ítomnosti ímské armády západn od Nilu. Taktéž sleduje vztah mezi ímským osídlením v poušti a klimatickými zm nami, respektive reakce na jejich vzájemné p sobení. Klí ková slova: Egypt, Západní pouš , environment, vegetace, klima, manaváry, poušt , oázy, Síwa, Bahríja, Faráfra, Dáchla, Chárga, ímské pevnosti, sídlišt , pouštní cesty, podzemní voda.This research paper focuses on complex reconstruction of environmental conditions in the Western Desert of Egypt during the Roman times. Archaeological and historical documents provide very important information about Roman occupation development in the Egyptian oases (Siwa, Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla, Kharga) and exploitation of the desert. The work is aimed at evidence of Roman military presence in the study area on the basis of current results of archaeological surveys. Observations of Roman methods to adapt in hyperarid landscape contribute to analyse general questions concerning human response to climate changes in northern Africa. Key words: Egypt, environment of desert, oases, chmate, vegetation, Western Desert, Siwa, Farafra Bahriya, Dakhla, Kharga, roman fortification, settlement, desert routes, mudbrick, underground water.Institute for Classical ArcheologyÚstav pro klasickou archeologiiFaculty of ArtsFilozofická fakult

Vzájemné vztahy změn přírodního prostředí a člověka ve starověké Thrákii v době železné: vliv řecké kolonizace

Tato práce se zabývá vzájemnými vztahy mezi environmentálními změnami a thráckou společností, jejíž rozvoj se odehrával v kulisách okolního přírodního prostředí, které procházelo v průběhu prvního tisíciletí př. n. l. zásadní proměnou. Od pozdní doby bronzové a rané doby železné byl detekován značně výraznější vliv činnosti člověka na krajinu, zejména se jedná o pěstování rostlin a pastevectví a s tím spojené odlesňování, související se zvyšujícím se sociálním a ekonomickým tlakem. Další fáze vývoje nastala v 7. století př. n. l., kdy byly v severním Egejském moři zakládány první řecké kolonie, a Thrákie se tak stala součástí makro-regionu Východního Středomoří. Vegetaci a její změny spojené s aktivitou člověka je možné zkoumat pomocí archeobotanických záznamů. Právě na základě identifikace a interpretace antropologických indikátorů lze pozorovat, jakým způsobem a v jakém rozsahu se měnilo využívání krajiny a způsob obživy. Z geografického hlediska se paleoekologické a archeobotanické studie zahrnuté v této diplomové práci zaměřují především na vnitrozemí starověké Thrákie, tedy na území moderního bulharského státu. Rekonstrukce vývoje vegetace, struktury osídlení a strategie obživy je utvářena na základě komparativní metody výsledků pylových a makrozbytkových analýz získaných z lokalit datovaných...The present thesis deals with the interrelationship between environmental changes and the Thracian society whose development took place in the surrounding environment undergoing fundamental transformation during the first millennium BC. The more significant impact of increasing human activities on the landscape, namely cultivation of plants and pastoralism, both connected with extensive deforestation, associated with the higher social and economic pressure can be detected since the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. In the following phase of agriculture development, since the seventh century BC when the first Greek colonies were founded in the Northern Aegean, Thrace became an important part of the Eastern Mediterranean macro-region. Vegetation cover and its changes influenced by local land-use and livelihoods is studied on the basis of identification and interpretation of anthropological indicators, contained in the plant macroremains and pollen assemblages. Geographically, the palaeoecological and archaeobotanical studies included in this thesis are focused on inland Ancient Thrace, i.e. the territory of the modern Bulgaria. For better understanding of vegetation history, settlement pattern and subsistence strategies, the archaeobotanical records of cultivated and ruderal plants or weeds...Institute for Classical ArcheologyÚstav pro klasickou archeologiiFilozofická fakultaFaculty of Art

Thirty Years of Interdisciplinary Research at the Site of Pistiros

The Thracian land was a very attractive place for the ancient Greeks and their economic expansion. At the end of the 5th century BC, the Greek inland emporion, known as Pistiros, was founded on the upper Maritsa River in inner Thrace, today south‑central Bulgaria. More than twenty‑five years of successful international cooperation of archaeology with environmental sciences has revealed the existence of a very important commercial centre with connections in the Thracian and the Aegean regions. The study summarizes the current state of research on the urbanized settlement and the river port. The environmental investigation, including the combined archaeobotanical and chemical analyses of organic residues in ceramics assessed here, as well as geomorphological research, contribute to a better understanding of the socio‑economic development of this unique archaeological site in Thrace

Environmental changes and human land-use interactions in ancient Thrace during the Iron Age: The impact of Greek colonization

The present thesis deals with the interrelationship between environmental changes and the Thracian society whose development took place in the surrounding environment undergoing fundamental transformation during the first millennium BC. The more significant impact of increasing human activities on the landscape, namely cultivation of plants and pastoralism, both connected with extensive deforestation, associated with the higher social and economic pressure can be detected since the Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. In the following phase of agriculture development, since the seventh century BC when the first Greek colonies were founded in the Northern Aegean, Thrace became an important part of the Eastern Mediterranean macro-region. Vegetation cover and its changes influenced by local land-use and livelihoods is studied on the basis of identification and interpretation of anthropological indicators, contained in the plant macroremains and pollen assemblages. Geographically, the palaeoecological and archaeobotanical studies included in this thesis are focused on inland Ancient Thrace, i.e. the territory of the modern Bulgaria. For better understanding of vegetation history, settlement pattern and subsistence strategies, the archaeobotanical records of cultivated and ruderal plants or weeds..

Roman military presence in the Western Desert of Egypt

This research paper focuses on complex reconstruction of environmental conditions in the Western Desert of Egypt during the Roman times. Archaeological and historical documents provide very important information about Roman occupation development in the Egyptian oases (Siwa, Bahariya, Farafra, Dakhla, Kharga) and exploitation of the desert. The work is aimed at evidence of Roman military presence in the study area on the basis of current results of archaeological surveys. Observations of Roman methods to adapt in hyperarid landscape contribute to analyse general questions concerning human response to climate changes in northern Africa. Key words: Egypt, environment of desert, oases, chmate, vegetation, Western Desert, Siwa, Farafra Bahriya, Dakhla, Kharga, roman fortification, settlement, desert routes, mudbrick, underground water

The Holocene Climatic Optimum in Northern Africa: Geoarchaeological research of the environmental and cultural interaction

This research work summarises results of geological and archaeological investigation in the Sahara Desert. The analyses of paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental deposits are combined with archaeological records of the human occupational development during the Early and Middle Holocene. The period characterised by higher humidity is called The Holocene Climatic Optimum. The region of the Eastern Sahara consisted of Libyan, Egyptian, Sudanian and Chadian area provides unique opportunities to study the relationship between climate changes and human occupation