Spatial patterns of Moroccan transhumance: Geoarchaeological field work & spatial analysis of herder sites in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco

Seit geraumer Zeit, nicht zuletzt unter dem Einfluss des Klimawandels, nimmt das Interesse der Ethnologie an den Methoden einiger Nachbardisziplinen im Sinne der interdisziplinären Zusammenarbeit zu. Hierbei spielen die Geographie und in besonderem Maße fernerkundliche Methoden sowie räumliche Analysen eine herausragende Rolle. Ebenso wie, im Kontext diachroner Analysen, die Methoden der Geoarchäologie zur Erfassung der lokalen Historie. Um diese Forschungsansatze den Studierenden der Ethnologie nahezubringen habe ich Frau Mirijam Zickel gebeten mir ihre Masterarbeit, die von Herrn Prof. Dr. Georg Bareth und Frau Dr. Astrid Röpke betreut und mit dem zweiten Platz des Dr. Prill Preises 2020 der Gesellschaft für Erdkunde ausgezeichnet wurde, in leicht veränderter Form, für meine Reihe zur Verfügung zu stellen. Nach einer allgemeinen Darstellung der Methoden der Fernerkundung zeigt Frau Zickel am Beispiel transhumanter Ait Atta auf deren Sommerweiden im Hohen Atlas, wie durch die räumliche Analyse von Fernerkundungsdaten und unter Einbezug von geoarchäologischen Informationen, Erkenntnisse uber die Aufenthaltsplätze der Nomaden im Sommerlager gewonnen werden können. Hierbei zeigt sich, dass die Viehpferche der Nomaden eine zentrale Rolle für die räumliche und zeitliche Erfassung von Transhumanz im Untersuchungsgebiet spielen können. Weiterhin ist es ihr gelungen, mit unterschiedlichen, einander ergänzenden Methoden der Fernerkundung die ökologische Situation des Gebietes und insbesondere der Pferchstandorte zu beleuchten. Ihre Arbeit eröffnet eine neue Perspektive, um die Mensch-Umweltbeziehung im semiariden Bergland von Marokko zu erfassen

Upper Palaeolithic sites and where to find them: A predictive modelling approach to assess site expectancy in the Southern Levant

Site preservation and associated terrain characteristics are among the major agents controlling the spatial dis-tribution and discoverability of late Quaternary archaeological sites. However, site expectancy in extensive areas can be determined using a combination of geoarchaeological investigation and digital spatial analysis. In that sense a prediction model, respectively the result of a Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA), is presented to highlight areas with a high potential to contain Upper Palaeolithic sites in the Eastern Mediterranean and bordering arid margins. Based on detailed on-site analysis in the Wadi Sabra region, with its many sites and the location of other well-known sites in the southern Levant, eight individual parameters, aspect (cardinal point), elevation, geomorphology, hydrogeology, drainage network, slope inclination, vegetation, and a terrain ruggedness index (TRI) are evaluated and tested for significance. The statistical results confirm a significant divergence of the spatial distribution of Upper Palaeolithic sites from the distribution of natural terrain position factors. This allows for a definition of parameter classes with a high site expectancy and their use in a predictive model. For the results map, the site expectancy factors determined in this way were intersected with each other, thus enabling a distinction between areas with a high and low site occurrence probability. The accuracy of the presented result is assessed by the implementation of another MCDA pass based on an independent dataset of archaeological survey sites and compared to the original. Both datasets complement each other and can show the potential for further investigations with more numerous site datasets as well as more detailed spatial informa-tion. A local classification based on high-resolution elevation information and field data is evaluated for the Wadi Sabra, Southern Jordan, which can confirm yet further specify the result from the MCDA

Potential raw material sources for the production of lithic artefacts in western Central Europe – GIS-data for the Rhineland, Westphalia, and the Benelux countries

International audienceSince July 2013, the project D4 of the Collaborative Research Centre 806 at the University of Cologne has dealt with the Mesolithic in western Germany. During the first phase of this research, the primary tasks were to establish a regional chronology for the Middle Stone Age on the one hand, and the mapping of all known sites in the Rhineland and Westphalia regarding the different Mesolithic phases on the other. Since July 2017, the project has focused on mobility, cultural exchange, and human-environment interactions during the Final Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic in Central Europe. Due to the poor conditions of preservation, numerous Palaeolithic and Mesolithic assemblages only contain lithic artefacts. Communication networks and mobility patterns of the hunter-gatherer groups can be deduced from the raw material of these finds for a considerable number of sites. Apart from pottery, lithic artefacts and their resources also illustrate the social and economic networks during the Neolithic. The raw material of knapped artefacts and their potential geological sources offer important information relating to the project's goals. A map of the potential raw material sources for knapped artefacts in comparison with the archaeological finds is the basis for any suggestion about mobility patterns and communication networks. In general, information on geological lithic sources and the archaeological inventories in western Central Europe is far more detailed than for other regions. These data and all the information gathered on lithic raw material sources for western Germany and the Benelux countries allow us to provide a GIS-database using the software QGIS in the form of several maps and data tables with geological and archaeological information as well as detailed descriptions and references. One important result of this paper addresses the reconstruction of lithic raw material catchment areas. Three examples from younger Mesolithic sites show that the more precise petrographic method for identifying lithic raw materials results in much larger catchment areas than traditional macroscopic identification, leading to new considerations for estimating population densities during the later Middle Stone Age

PaleoMaps: SDI for open paleoenvironmental GIS data

Paleoenvironmental studies and corresponding data are abundantly published and available in scientific records. However, paleoenvironmental data sets are comparatively rarely provided in GIS data formats. Here, we present an Open Science approach for collecting and creating GIS data, visualizing it in maps of paleoenvironments, and publishing them in a web-based Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), for access by the archaeology and paleoenvironment communities. The Open Science approach to the publication of data allows to properly cite the published data sets as bibliographic sources in research that builds upon these data sets. This paper has its focus on the implementation and setup of the Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G)-based SDI, and on the workflow for compiling and publishing the GIS dat

PaleoMaps: SDI for open paleoenvironmental GIS data

Paleoenvironmental studies and corresponding data are abundantly published and available in scientific records. However, paleoenvironmental data sets are comparatively rarely provided in GIS data formats. Here, we present an Open Science approach for collecting and creating GIS data, visualizing it in maps of paleoenvironments, and publishing them in a web-based Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI), for access by the archaeology and paleoenvironment communities. The Open Science approach to the publication of data allows to properly cite the published data sets as bibliographic sources in research that builds upon these data sets. This paper has its focus on the implementation and setup of the Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G)-based SDI, and on the workflow for compiling and publishing the GIS data