GIS-based palaeogeographical reconstructions of the Baltic Sea shores in Estonia and adjoining areas during the Stone Age

Väitekirja elektrooniline versioon ei sisalda publikatsiooneLäänemeremaadest on leitud palju kiviaegseid asulakohti, mille arheoloogiline leiumaterjal viitab rannasidusale elatusviisile, kuid mis asuvad tänapäeval merest kaugel. Käesolevas doktoritöös rekonstrueeriti meretaseme muutused, paleorannavööndid ja –maastikud kiviaegsete asulakohtade ümbruses Narva-Lauga klindilahes, Tallinna kesklinnas ja Ruhnu saarel, et välja selgitada nende asulakohtade paiknemine omaaegses maastikus. Selleks kasutati geoinfosüsteemipõhist lähenemist, milles korreleeriti ruumiliselt ja ajaliselt mitmed loodusteaduslikud ning arheoloogilised andmestikud. Paleogeograafiliste rekonstruktsioonide alusel leiti, et Narva-Lauga piirkonnas oli kiviaegne küttide-kalurite-korilaste asustus seotud seal u. 7000-5000 aastat tagasi eksisteerinud ulatusliku laguuni kallastega. Ruhnu saarel rajati u. 7200 ja 6200 aastat tagasi kiviaegsed jahilaagrid otse rannavööndisse, vaid mõne meetri võrra meretasemest kõrgemale. Samuti Tallinna kesklinnas Vabaduse väljaku alal 5000 aasta eest, mis sel ajal moodustas osa avatud lahe rannast. Rekonstruktsioonid näitasid, et asustusmuster muutus u. 4700 aastat tagasi, mil asulakohti hakati rajama sisemaale seoses üleminekuga põlluharimisele ja karjakasvatusele. Töö tulemused kinnitavad loodusteaduslike andmete ja geoinformaatiliste meetoditega arheoloogilisi hüpoteese Eesti ja lähialade kiviaegse asustuse paiknemise kohta, täpsustavad rannasidusa elatusviisiga ajajärgu kestust ning kiviaja inimeste elupaigaeelistusi ja kohastumust erinevat tüüpi rannikutel. Seeläbi aitab töö kaasa kultuuripärandi tõlgendamisele ja väärtustamisele.In the Baltic Sea region many Stone Age settlement sites have been found, which show evidence for shore-connected habitation, but are presently located far from the seashore. In this thesis, past sea level changes and palaeolandscapes around Stone Age settlement sites in Narva-Luga lowland, Tallinn city centre and on Ruhnu Island were reconstructed in order to define the location of the settlements compared to their contemporary shoreline and coastal setting. Geographic information system approach was used for palaeogeographical modelling based on spatio-temporal correlation of datasets originating from several natural science and archaeological research disciplines. Palaeogeographical reconstructions show that in Narva-Luga area hunter-fisher-gatherer settlements were located on the shores of a large lagoon, which existed there c. 7000-5000 years ago. On Ruhnu Island hunting and fishing camps were established directly in the beach zone, only a few metres above sea level at about 7200 and 6200 years ago. Similarly, in Tallinn, 5000 years ago a camp was established on the beach of the wide palaeo-bay, which shore crossed the city centre at that time. The reconstructions showed that this settlement pattern changed c. 4700 years ago, when areas away from the coast were chosen for habitation, indicating a shift in subsistence strategy towards farming. Using data of natural sciences and methods of geoinformatics, the results of this thesis prove archaeological hypotheses about Stone Age settlement pattern and preferred settlement locations, specify the period of the shore-bound habitation and adaption of Stone Age people on different types of coasts. Thus this study contributes to interpretation and valuation of cultural heritage

Klassihalduse tõhususe toetamine läbi tunnivaatluste ja õpetajale tagasiside andmise

https://www.ester.ee/record=b5366476*es

Vertical Accuracy of Freely Available Global Digital Elevation Models (ASTER, AW3D30, MERIT, TanDEM-X, SRTM, and NASADEM)

https://www.mdpi.com/2072-4292/12/21/348

Multi-Proxy Characterisation of the Storegga Tsunami and Its Impact on the Early Holocene Landscapes of the Southern North Sea

This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (ERC funded project No. 670518 LOST FRONTIERS, https://europa.eu/european-union/index_en, https://lostfrontiers.teamapp.com/). The project gratefully acknowledges the support of the Estonian Research Council (https://www.etag.ee/en/estonian-research-council/, Grant number: PUTJD829). PGS (https://www.pgs.com/) is acknowledged through provision of data used in this paper under license CA-BRAD-001-2017.Doggerland was a landmass occupying an area currently covered by the North Sea until marine inundation took place during the mid-Holocene, ultimately separating the British landmass from the rest of Europe. The Storegga Event, which triggered a tsunami reflected in sediment deposits in the northern North Sea, northeast coastlines of the British Isles and across the North Atlantic, was a major event during this transgressive phase. The spatial extent of the Storegga tsunami however remains unconfirmed as, to date, no direct evidence for the event has been recovered from the southern North Sea. We present evidence of a tsunami deposit in the southern North Sea at the head of a palaeo-river system that has been identified using seismic survey. The evidence, based on lithostratigraphy, geochemical signatures, macro and microfossils and sedimentary ancient DNA (sedaDNA), supported by optical stimulated luminescence (OSL) and radiocarbon dating, suggests that these deposits were a result of the tsunami. Seismic identification of this stratum and analysis of adjacent cores showed diminished traces of the tsunami which was largely removed by subsequent erosional processes. Our results confirm previous modelling of the impact of the tsunami within this area of the southern North Sea, and also indicate that these effects were temporary, localized, and mitigated by the dense woodland and topography of the area. We conclude that clear physical remnants of the wave in these areas are likely to be restricted to now buried, palaeo-inland basins and incised river valley systems.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Targeting the mesolithic: Interdisciplinary approaches to archaeological prospection inthe Brown Bank area, southern North Sea

YesThis paper describes some results of the research undertaken over the Brown Bank area during recent (2018/2019) geoarchaeological surveys in the North Sea which included seismic imaging, shallow (vibro)coring and dredging. It examines the benefits of simultaneous high-resolution (0.5 – 1m) and ultra-high-resolution (10 – 20cm) seismic survey techniques and a staged approach to resolving the submerged Holocene landscape in the highest possible detail for the purpose of targeted prospecting for archaeological material from the Mesolithic landscape of Doggerland. The materials recovered from such surveys offer significantly greater information due to an enhanced understanding of the context in which they were recovered. The importance of this information cannot be understated archaeologically, as few locations on land provide the opportunity to recover archaeological finds in situ within preserved landscapes. Moreover, it allows offshore areas of potential human activity to be prospected with some certainty of success.ER

Fire Weather Index (FWI) for Estonia for growing seasons 2018 and 2019

The Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index (FWI) System (Van Wagner 1987) is a weather-based means of calculating potential fire conditions. Canadian research on forest fire danger rating was started in the 1920s, but in recent decades, FWI is widely used in Europe. The FWI System depends solely on weather measurements taken each day at noon local time. Daily inputs to the system consist of temperature (°C), relative humidity (%), wind speed (km/h), and precipitation (mm) over the past 24 hours. The FWI System outputs three moisture codes: the Fine Fuel Moisture Code (FFMC), the Duff Moisture Code (DMC), and the Drought Code (DC), with higher values indicating drier conditions and greater fire danger. The FWI System also generates three fire behavior outputs based on the above indices: the Initial Spread Index (ISI), the Build-Up Index (BUI), and the Fire Weather Index (FWI), with higher values indicating elevated fire danger (Van Wagner 1987). This dataset creation was a part of RITA1/02-52 "Use of remote sensing data for elaboration and development of public services (1.01.2019−31.12.2020)" and its work-package “Prevention and suppression of wildfires“. Project adopted Canadian methodology and investigated possibility of FWI in Estonian meteorological service for wild fire prevention routings. C. E. Van Wagner (1987). Development and Structure of the Canadian Forest Fire Weather Index System. Canadian forest service, Forestery Technical report 35, Ottaw

Holocene relative shore-level changes and development of the Ģipka lagoon in the western Gulf of Riga

Holocene relative shore-level changes and development of the G ipka palaeolagoon in the western Gulf of Riga are reconstructed using multiproxy analyses by combining litho-, biostratigraphical and chronological data with remote sensing and geophysical data. The results show the development of the G ipka basin from the Ancylus Lake/Initial Litorina Sea coastal zone (before c. 9.1 cal. ka BP) to coastal fen (c. 9.1 to 8.4 cal. ka BP) and gradual development of the Litorina Sea lagoon (c. 8.4 to 4.8 cal. ka BP) and its transition to a freshwater coastal lake (c. 4.8 to 4.6 cal. ka BP), fen (c. 4.6 to 4.2 cal. ka BP), and river floodplain (since c. 4.2 cal. ka BP). The highest shorelines of the Ancylus Lake and Litorina Sea were mapped at an elevation of 12–11 and 9 m a.s.l., respectively. A new relative shore level (RSL) curve for the western Gulf of Riga was constructed based on RSL data from the G ipka area and from nearby Ruhnu Island studied earlier. The reconstruction shows that the beginning of the lastmarine transgressionin the western Gulf of Riga started at c. 8.4 cal. ka BP, and concurred with the 1.9 m RSL rise event recorded from the North Sea basin. Diatom analysis results indicate the existence of the G ipka lagoon between c. 7.7 and 4.8 cal. ka BP, with the highest salinityc. 6.1 cal. ka BP. During the existence of the brackish lagoon, settlement sites of the Neolithic hunter–gatherer groups existed on the shores of the lagoon in the period c. 6.0 to 5.0 cal. ka BP

Targeting the Mesolithic: Interdisciplinary approaches to archaeological prospection in the Brown Bank area, southern North Sea

This paper describes some results of the research undertaken over the Brown Bank area during recent (2018/2019) geoarchaeological surveys in the North Sea which included seismic imaging, shallow (vibro)coring and dredging. It examines the benefits of simultaneous high-resolution (0.5 – 1 m) and ultra-high-resolution (10–20 cm) seismic survey techniques and a staged approach to resolving the submerged Holocene landscape in the highest possible detail for the purpose of targeted prospecting for archaeological material from the Mesolithic landscape of Doggerland. The materials recovered from such surveys offer significantly greater information due to an enhanced understanding of the context in which they were recovered. The importance of this information cannot be understated archaeologically, as few locations on land provide the opportunity to recover archaeological finds in situ within preserved landscapes. Moreover, it allows offshore areas of potential human activity to be prospected with some certainty of success