Environmental Archaeology in the Cotswolds.

科茨沃尔德的环境考古学。

• 批准号: 2740317
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Reading
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2740317
• 关键词: Environmental; Archaeology; Cotswolds.

Research Questions:RQ1: To what extent does understanding the local environment reveal why prehistoric calcareous landscapes of north-west Europe were used and how did this more broadly influence the lifeways and landscape interactions of its populace?RQ2: In particular, what was unique about calcareous landscapes that made them attractive to Mesolithic and Neolithic populations, and how did this influence prolonged occupation of upland and lowland locales and to what degree were anthropogenic actions responsible for landscape change through the Mesolithic and Neolithic? RQ3: To what extent are contemporary management strategies representative of preserving 'historical' environments, and how can the palaeoenvironmental records help in informing and readdressing these schemes?Research Context:The calcareous (lime-rich) landscapes of northwest Europe have long been understood to be an important setting for Early Neolithic (give dates) monuments, providing the eventual focus for some of the most lauded and iconic ceremonial complexes in Britain, such as Stonehenge and Avebury (add references). Their landscapes and ecologies have provided important attributes for the development of these monumental complexes by virtue of their assumed open landscape character and their species rich herb-grassland especially suitable for animal grazing in what was otherwise a dense wildwood forest (add references). However, courtesy of their well-drained, alkaline soils they are generally poor at preserving organic materials, especially those pertaining to their past environments. Consequently, these landscapes are often considered within very broad environmental parameters or arbitrarily informed through limited studies, which can only ever provide a broad characteristic of past environments, and unable to fully contextualise the lifeways enacted at the time. Current discussion of Mesolithic (10'000-4'000BC) and Neolithic (4'000-2'500BC) environments broadly set the two in polarised, arbitrary and somewhat amorphous environmental settings; the former as heavily impenetrable woodland and the latter characterised by small and broadening clearings caused by new agricultural groups. Consequently, this polarised view neglects to consider the true diversity of past landscapes, the interrelationships that particular landscapes had upon the lifeways of populations at the time and the extent to which landscape open-ness impacted settlement and subsistence choices. Understanding of the Mesolithic and Neolithic within these calcareous landscapes is highly fragmented, courtesy of the disproportionate and heavy reliance on the study of their funerary monumentality to the detriment of understanding the lifeways of the living population during these times (add references). Consequently, we know more about the dead than the living in these landscapes.Suitable deposits for analysis and reconstruction of past environments do exist however, which can address the research questions proposed. For example, alongside the River Windrush (Cotswolds, England) a wetland with a stratified sequence, including organic deposits, was encountered (Wilkinson 1994). Dating to the Early Holocene (10952-5566BC) it provides an example of organic deposits from an upland calcareous landscape and provides compelling evidence to explore the potential of these landscapes.Methodology and Research Outputs:Objective 1: Desk-based study and consideration of the landscape and environmental conditions of Southern England and the Cotswolds.Objective 2: Undertaking sampling of selected wetlands in the Cotswolds and applying a suite of analyses to extract empirical information concerning past cultural and environmental histories.Objective 3: Develop national guidelines for the evaluation of wetlands based on their historic environment significance and value, and hence designation as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

研究问题：RQ1：了解当地环境在多大程度上揭示了为什么使用西北欧的史前石灰质景观，以及这如何更广泛地影响其民众的生活方式和景观相互作用？RQ2：特别是，钙质景观的独特之处是什么，使它们对中石器时代和新石器时代的人口具有吸引力，这如何影响对高地和低地地区的长期占领，以及对高地和低地地区的长期占领有何影响？ 人类活动导致中石器时代和新石器时代的景观变化？ RQ3：当代管理策略在多大程度上代表了保护“历史”环境，古环境记录如何帮助告知和重新解决这些计划？研究背景：欧洲西北部的钙质（富含石灰）景观长期以来一直被认为是新石器时代早期（给出日期）纪念碑的重要背景，为一些最受赞誉和标志性的纪念碑提供了最终的焦点 英国的仪式建筑群，例如巨石阵和埃夫伯里（添加参考文献）。它们的景观和生态为这些纪念性建筑群的发展提供了重要的属性，因为它们具有开放的景观特征和物种丰富的草本草地，特别适合在茂密的野生森林中放牧动物（添加参考文献）。然而，由于其排水良好的碱性土壤，它们通常很难保存有机物质，尤其是那些与过去环境有关的有机物质。因此，这些景观通常是在非常广泛的环境参数范围内考虑的，或者是通过有限的研究任意了解的，这些研究只能提供过去环境的广泛特征，而无法完全将当时制定的生活方式联系起来。当前对中石器时代（公元前 10'000-4'000 年）和新石器时代（公元前 4'000-2'500 年）环境的讨论大致将两者置于两极分化、任意且有些无定形的环境设置中；前者是难以穿越的林地，后者的特点是新农业群体造成的小而不断扩大的空地。因此，这种两极分化的观点忽视了过去景观的真正多样性、特定景观对当时人口生活方式的相互关系以及景观开放性对定居和生存选择的影响程度。对这些石灰质景观中中石器时代和新石器时代的理解高度碎片化，这是由于过分且严重依赖对其葬礼纪念性的研究，从而损害了对这些时期居住人口生活方式的理解（添加参考文献）。因此，我们对这些景观中的死者的了解比对生者的了解更多。然而，确实存在用于分析和重建过去环境的合适沉积物，这可以解决所提出的研究问题。例如，沿着 Windrush 河（英国科茨沃尔德），遇到了一个具有分层序列的湿地，其中包括有机沉积物（Wilkinson 1994）。它的历史可以追溯到全新世早期（公元前 10952-5566 年），它提供了来自高地石灰质景观的有机沉积物的例子，并为探索这些景观的潜力提供了令人信服的证据。方法和研究成果：目标 1：基于案头的研究和考虑英格兰南部和科茨沃尔德的景观和环境条件。目标 2：对科茨沃尔德和科茨沃尔德的选定湿地进行采样 应用一系列分析来提取有关过去文化和环境历史的经验信息。目标 3：根据湿地的历史环境意义和价值制定国家湿地评估指南，从而指定为具有特殊科学价值的地点 (SSSI)。