Quantifying Vegetation Biophysical Variables from Imaging Spectroscopy Data: A Review on Retrieval Methods

An unprecedented spectroscopic data stream will soon become available with forthcoming Earth-observing satellite missions equipped with imaging spectroradiometers. This data stream will open up a vast array of opportunities to quantify a diversity of biochemical and structural vegetation properties. The processing requirements for such large data streams require reliable retrieval techniques enabling the spatiotemporally explicit quantification of biophysical variables. With the aim of preparing for this new era of Earth observation, this review summarizes the state-of-the-art retrieval methods that have been applied in experimental imaging spectroscopy studies inferring all kinds of vegetation biophysical variables. Identified retrieval methods are categorized into: (1) parametric regression, including vegetation indices, shape indices and spectral transformations; (2) nonparametric regression, including linear and nonlinear machine learning regression algorithms; (3) physically based, including inversion of radiative transfer models (RTMs) using numerical optimization and look-up table approaches; and (4) hybrid regression methods, which combine RTM simulations with machine learning regression methods. For each of these categories, an overview of widely applied methods with application to mapping vegetation properties is given. In view of processing imaging spectroscopy data, a critical aspect involves the challenge of dealing with spectral multicollinearity. The ability to provide robust estimates, retrieval uncertainties and acceptable retrieval processing speed are other important aspects in view of operational processing. Recommendations towards new-generation spectroscopy-based processing chains for operational production of biophysical variables are given

Causewayed enclosures under the microscope

For over a century the causewayed enclosures have defined an increasing part of the research in Early Neolithic Britain. These enigmatic monuments have been interpreted as all from defensive structures to settlements and rally point. Through use‐wear analysis of flint artefacts from selected sites such as Etton, Staines, Windmill Hill, Caerau in Wales this thesis seeks to characterise some of the activities that these artefacts represent. By generating life‐biographies of the flint artefacts, the thesis explores and compares the tradition of deposition across the Early Neolithic in northern Europe. Therefore, as a comparison, the causewayed enclosure Sarup I from Denmark has been incorporated to accentuate the similarities or differences between the two regions. In addition to the enclosures, two other sites have been selected to investigate the potential similarities in activities between these sites. One site is the long barrow Ascott‐under‐Wychwood, which is a site with settlement areas, such as a house and a midden before a long barrow is constructed over the domestic areas. This site has enabled an insight into the diachronic change from a living space to a space for the dead. The other site is a contemporary settlement, Skaghorn (Denmark), that equally has served to compare activities between the enclosures and more mundane sites.This study has qualified a rare and nuanced understanding of the role that flint artefacts played in the event of deposition at the causewayed enclosures. The flint artefacts are involved in both cycles of curation and immediate use in the event of deposition in the ditches at the monuments.Moreover, the use‐wear analysis of the deposited flint artefacts highlights the selectiveness behind the composition of structured deposit at the selected causewayed enclosures

Book Review: the Lifecycle of Structures in Experimental Archaeology – An Object Biography Approach by L. Hurcombe and P. Cunningham

This book is made up of 16 papers that are a collection of results from a European Culture Project (OpenArch) that ran from 2010-2015. It was edited by Linda Hurcombe and Penny Cunningham. This work is dedicated to the late shipwright Brian Cumby, who was deeply involved with making replicas of several prehistoric boats. Accordingly, this book concerns itself with bridging the difficult gap between the present and the past. This is done with experimental archaeology in an attempt to create present replicas of past buildings, boats and associated structures

Eksperimenter med flækkepilespidser – Studier af pilespidser fra grubekeramisk kultur

Experiments with arrowheads of flintAn investigation of tanged points from the Pitted Ware cultureThis article presents a thematic use-wear analysis of type A tanged points from the Pitted Ware culture. The Pitted Ware culture was contemporary with the late Middle Neolithic Funnel Beaker culture and the early Single Grave culture. The main focus of this article is on an investigation of type A tanged points through a combination of micro and macro use-wear analysis. Together with cylindrical flake cores, and ornamentation in the form of round pits and horizontal lines on the culture’s pottery, type A tanged points date the oldest phase of the Pitted Ware culture. The sample of tanged points which was analysed comes from Kainsbakke, Kirial Bro, Hesselø and Anholt.My goal has been to investigate the following questions by way of use-wear analysis: Do the selected tanged points show any signs of having been used as projectiles? Was the type A0 arrowhead, without a tang, used as an arrowhead or did it have other functions? Have tanged points in general been used for purposes other than as projectiles? How do the tanged points relate to the question of re-shafting? How do the experimental replica tanged points compare with their archaeological counterparts?The relationship of type A0 tanged points to the subsequent types A1-A3 was questioned by Malmer in an article on the early Pitted Ware culture site of Jonstorp RA. The reason for not including type A0 within type A is its lack of a tang.The basis of any micro-wear analysis is an experimental programme. In my case, this comprised three parts: The manufacture of experimental flint replicas of type A tanged points, shafting these replicas and shooting the replica arrows into an authentic target. The target chosen for my experiments was a Sika deer (Cervus nippon). The Sika deer is anatomically similar to the red deer, one of the best represented wild animals at Kainsbakke.On the basis of my experimental results, I can conclude that the type A0 arrowhead performs well as a projectile. Diagnostic macro- and micro-wear traces were observed on all subtypes of the experimental tanged points. In addition, 11 of the archaeological tanged points examined showed diagnostic macro- and micro-wear identical to that on the experimentally produced examples. This means that the type A0 should be considered an arrowhead within the type A tanged point typology.Additionally, none of the archaeological arrowheads showed any evidence of other use-wear other than that found on projectiles. Traces of shafting could be seen on both experimental and archaeological arrowheads.In this article, I discuss the morphology of type A tanged points versus their effectiveness as projectiles and the general results of my experiments.In conclusion, I suggest that there was an alternative target for tanged points associated with the Pitted Ware culture (types A, B and C). The chronological shift from type A to type C arrowheads could be related to a growing use of arrowheads as weapons against humans. In association with these types of arrowhead, we find examples of violent disputes, for example as seen in the case of the Iceman Ötzi, and others.Peter ByeSilkeborg Museu

A Quick Buck: An Early Licensed Whisky Distillery at Blackmiddens Farm in the Cabrach

Blackmiddens Farm distillery, also known as Buck distillery, has recently been the focus of historical research and excavation. At the time of the first season of fieldwork Blackmiddens/Buck was the only farm distillery to have been excavated in the Highlands and Islands. The site represents a short-lived period of distilling in the Scottish Highlands in which whisky-making operated in a legitimate commercial capacity but as a complement to a larger agricultural unit. The excavation of Blackmiddens and historical research into it and the distilleries in the surrounding area have given us an insight into this short but vital transitional phase in the history of whisky-making in the region

A biographical study of Neolithic hoarding: A regional case study of Funnel Beaker Culture hoards from the Southern Limfjord area, Denmark

The tradition of hoarding axeheads is a well-known phenomenon within the first agrarian societies on the North European Plain. Unfortunately, the majority of known hoards have been found as stray finds or under circumstances with poor or no documentation, leading to considerable source critical issues. However, in this paper we analyze four hoards that have either been professionally excavated or have had their find circumstances recorded and are all found within the same geographical area along the southern Limfjord region of Denmark. The detailed contextual information of these hoards is used as a foundation for interpreting these hoards and question the oft-repeated dualistic categorization of hoards as wetland or dryland phenomena. The analytical method employed in this study uses micro- and macroscopic observations to create biographies for the axeheads and to so shed new light on hoarding practices. This approach challenges the previous macro-scale approaches. The results in the study provide a detailed insight on production, use-life, exchange and deposition of axeheads in hoards within the TRB. The aim of the paper is to forward this analytical approach and to offer a fresh perspective on the TRB hoards. In concluding, avenues for future research and debate are sketched out. &nbsp

The life and times of an estonian mesolithic slotted bone ‘dagger’. extended object biographies for legacy objects

All too often archaeological objects are found as stray finds. As such, they have little or no contextual information, which often makes them difficult to handle analytically and in terms of their exhibition appeal. As a consequence, they often languish un-researched in museum storerooms and there is the critical risk that such objects fall victim to the ongoing curation crisis and are deaccessioned due to a perceived lack of value. Therefore, in this paper we aim to illustrate the applicability of an extended biographical approach to such legacy material by studying the changing character of the Ulbi dagger, an Early Mesolithic flint-edged bone dagger, in its both archaeological and modern contexts. By using both a combination of traditional archaeological methods, coupled with a critical analysis of past illustrations, the dagger went from an isolated, undated, and unique object to a tool with a complex life history extending more than 9000 years. Our analysis reveals multiple stages of manufacturing and ornamentation including the presence of possible anthropomorphic figures. Use-wear analysis also allows us to address the object’s likely primary function. Finally, we speculate about its deposition and discuss previously overlooked post-recovery episodes of damage and repair