Waves of colonization around the Sea of Moyle: Linking population history, resilience and landscape change of island communities

随着时间的推移，小岛屿为考古学家提供了研究复杂社会生态系统的可持续性和弹性的机会。他们是否像Petzold（2017）或Ellwood（1968）所说的那样缺乏社会生态弹性？“超过1000人挤在拉斯林平坦的狂风中，几乎是对自然的侮辱”。该项目将调查并揭示莫伊尔海周围6个小岛在过去三千年中不断变化的景观、环境和人口历史。今天，爱尔兰海的北海峡被视为苏格兰和爱尔兰之间遥远的边界地带。在过去，情况并非如此，莫伊尔海或苏格兰盖尔语和爱尔兰语的Sruth na Maoile，在不同时期是一个连贯的中央地理区域，作为海上高速公路的一部分，航海者穿越它，并通过文化和亲属关系联系在一起。从中石器时代早期到中世纪后期，该地区也是进入爱尔兰和苏格兰的主要门户。在Rathlin岛的试点研究之后，该项目将比较岛屿（Rathlin、Tory、Arran、Islay、Gigha和Colonsay）之间人口和环境变化的考古和历史证据，这些岛屿表面上有共同的殖民历史，但在地理和地形上却各不相同。考古信息库也有很大的差异，从最近的和高的（Rathlin）到最小的/未知的（Gigha）。所有这些都有证据表明在铁器时代被占领和防御，并且所有六个都看到了早期基督教社区的建立。在6世纪到7世纪早期，至少有5个岛屿属于达尔里亚达（Dál Riata）王国，所有岛屿都受到早期维京人的袭击，然后在接下来的400年里成为斯堪的纳维亚Sudreyjar或“南部岛屿”的一部分。这些岛屿的中世纪后期和中世纪后的历史更加复杂和多样，但最后，所有六个岛屿在过去300年里都经历了重大的，如果不是显著的，有充分记录的人口变化。这些岛屿的大小，以及与气候相关的隔离，可能会加剧社会和环境的变化，目的之一是调查这些岛屿之前的环境和经济历史是否制约了它们对外部压力的反应，比如新殖民者（维京人）或人口变化（18 -19世纪）。这些人口的巨大变化（1至66人平方公里）在最近调查的废弃农场、村庄、田野系统甚至外来植物物种中都得到了很好的记录。我们还从以前的研究中获得证据，表明六个岛屿中至少有四个具有很高的环境考古潜力，特别是对湖泊沉积物的利用。重要的是，所有岛屿最近都进行了考古调查或正在进行调查（托里岛）。该项目将是第一个明确比较同一地区岛屿的考古代用物与考古和历史数据的项目。它还将在一个可控的考古环境中试验一些新技术（sedaDNA和生物标志物），在那里我们有最佳的机会验证数据并避免强化综合症。这些岛屿提供了最好的潜力，我们可以测试新的种群代用品，包括粪便固醇，硅藻衍生的磷代用品以及沉积C:N和稳定同位素比率。chironomid衍生的温度重建将提供气候背景。这个项目将是第一个对过去的政治实体采取区域范围办法的项目，旨在通过全面和跨学科的办法解决这些问题。我们将整合考古、古环境档案（包括古代DNA和生物标记），在大不列颠西海岸的小岛屿社区寻找殖民和人类对环境压力的反应的特征。

Small islands present archaeologists with the opportunity to study the sustainability and resilience of complex socioecological systems over time. Do they lack socioecological resilience as argued by Petzold (2017) or Ellwood (1968) "over one thousand people crowding on to Rathlin's flat windswept mass is almost an insult to nature". This project will investigate and reveal the changing landscapes, environment and population history of 6 small islands around the Sea of Moyle over the last three millennia. Today the North Channel of the Irish Sea is seen as a remote and border zone between Scotland and Ireland. In the past this was not the case, and the Sea of Moyle or Sruth na Maoile (Scots Gaelic and Irish), was at various times a coherent and central geographic region crossed by sea voyagers as part of a sea-highway and linked by culture and kinship. The area was also a major gateway into Ireland and Scotland from the early Mesolithic to the post-Medieval Period. Following on from a pilot study on the island of Rathlin, this project will compare the archaeological and historical evidence of changing demography and environment between the islands (Rathlin, Tory, Arran, Islay, Gigha & Colonsay) that superficially share a common history of colonization, but are geographically and topographically diverse. There is also a wide variation in the archaeological information base from recent and high (Rathlin) to minimal/unknown (Gigha). All have evidence of being both occupied and defended within the Iron Age and all six saw the establishment of early Christian communities. At least 5 of the islands were within the Dalriada (Dál Riata) over-Kingdom in the 6th to early 7thC, and all were subject to early Viking Raids and then formed part of the Scandinavian Sudreyjar, or "Southern Isles" for the next 400 years. The later Medieval and post Medieval history of the islands is more complex and divergent but lastly all six islands saw major, if not remarkable, well-documented changes in population over the last 300 years. The size of these islands, and weather-related isolation, can exacerbate social and environmental shifts and one aim is to investigate whether the preceding environmental and economic history of the islands conditioned their response to external pressures such as new colonisers (the Vikings) or population changes (18th-19th C). These massive changes in population (1 to 66 persons km2) are well recorded by abandoned crofts, villages, field systems and even alien plant species which have recently been surveyed. We also have evidence from previous studies that least four of the six islands have high potential for environmental archaeology and particularly the utilization of lake sediments from lochs. Importantly all islands have had recent archaeological surveys or are undergoing current survey (Tory Island). The project will be the first to explicitly compare archaeological proxies from islands in the same region with archaeological and historical data. It will also trial some new techniques (sedaDNA and biomarkers) in a controlled archaeological setting where we have the optimum chance to verify data and avoid reinforcement syndrome. The islands offer the best potential we can have to test new population proxies including feacal sterols, diatom-derived phosphorous proxy as well as sedimentary C:N and stable isotope ratios. Chironomid-derived temperature reconstructions will provide the climatic background. This project will be the first to adopt a regional-scale approach to a past political entity designed to address these issues via a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach. We will integrate archaeological, palaeoenvironmental archives (including ancient DNA and biomarkers) in the search for the signature of colonization and human responses to environmental stresses in small island communities off the western Coast of Greater Britain.