An 8000-year history of landscape, climate, and copper exploitation in the Middle East: the Wadi Faynan and the Wadi Dana National Reserve in southern Jordan

Hunt, Chris; Gilbertson, D. D.; el-Rishi, H.

doi:10.1016/j.jas.2006.10.022

Cited by 68 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 63 publications

(116 reference statements)

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“…As well as the north-south divide, there are also eastwest differences in moisture that have been recorded in the Mediterranean during the early Holocene , whereby during the early Holocene the northeastern region underwent a period of increased winter precipitation up until 6000 BP followed by a decline, whereas south of the Dead Sea, Hunt et al (2007) suggest a general decrease in precipitation through the early to mid-Holocene, and in the western region, though less pronounced, the maximum increases occurred between 6000 and 3000 BP before declining to current levels ; see Zielhofer and Faust (2008) for mid-late Holocene fluctuations recorded in Tunisia. Therefore, given Malta's central location, finding its "climatic" position poses an interesting task.…”

Section: Pronounced#cooling#mentioning

confidence: 99%

7300 years of vegetation history and climate for NW Malta: a Holocene perspective

et al. 2016

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Abstract. This paper investigates the Holocene vegetation dynamics for Burmarrad in Northwest Malta and provides a pollen-based quantitative palaeoclimatic reconstruction for this centrally located Mediterranean archipelago. The pollen record from this site provides new insight into the vegetation changes from 7280 to 1730 cal BP which correspond well with other regional records. The climate reconstruction for the area also provides strong correlation with southern (below 40 • N) Mediterranean sites. Our interpretation suggests an initially open landscape during the early Neolithic, surrounding a large palaeobay, developing into a dense Pistacia scrubland ca. 6700 cal BP. From about 4450 cal BP the landscape once again becomes open, coinciding with the start of the Bronze Age on the archipelago. This period is concurrent with increased climatic instability (between 4500 and 3700 cal BP) which is followed by a gradual decrease in summer moisture availability in the late Holocene. During the early Roman occupation period (1972-1730 cal BP) the landscape remains generally open with a moderate increase in Olea. This increase corresponds to archaeological evidence for olive oil production in the area, along with increases in cultivated crop taxa and associated ruderal species, as well as a rise in fire events. The Maltese archipelago provides important insight into vegetation, human impacts, and climatic changes in an island context during the Holocene.

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Section: Pronounced#cooling#mentioning

confidence: 99%

7300 years of vegetation history and climate for NW Malta: a Holocene perspective

et al. 2016

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“…Palynological analyses included pollen, organic-walled microplankton and palynofacies (the whole organic particulate assemblage: Tyson, 1995;Hunt and Coles, 1988). Recycled pollen was identified by having abnormal preservation and this was confirmed by fluorescence microscopy (following Hunt et al, 2007). The palynofacies counts followed Tyson (1995) and Hunt and Coles (1988) with classes including marine microplankton, foraminiferal test linings, freshwater microplankton, pollen grains and plant debris, fungal debris and thermally mature.…”

Section: Sampling and Analysismentioning

confidence: 82%

Holocene climate change, vegetation history and human impact in the Central Mediterranean: evidence from the Maltese Islands

Carroll

Hunt

Schembri

et al. 2012

Quaternary Science Reviews

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a b s t r a c tHolocene climates and human impact in the Mediterranean basin have received much attention, but the Maltese Islands in the Central Mediterranean, although a pivotal area, have been little researched. Here, sedimentary and palynological data are presented for three cores from the Holocene coastal and shallowmarine deposits of the Maltese Islands. These show deforestation from Pinus-Cupressaceae woodland in the early Neolithic, and then a long, but relatively stable history of agriculturally degraded environments to the present day. The major climate events which have affected the Italian and Balkan peninsulas to the north, and Tunisia to the south, are not reflected in the pollen diagrams from the Maltese Islands because of the strong anthropogenic imprint on the Maltese vegetation from early in the Neolithic. Previous suggestions of environmentally-driven agricultural collapse at the end of the Neolithic appear, however, to be substantiated and may be linked to regional aridification around 4300 cal. BP. Depopulation in early Medieval times is not supported by the current palynological evidence.

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“…The literature on the geoarchaeological and paleoclimatological context of ancient agriculture and metallurgy in Faynan is extensive (cf. Barker et al, 2007;Ben-Yosef et al, 2010;Hauptmann, 2007;Hunt and El-Rishi, 2010;Hunt et al, 2007;Levy et al, 2014a;Mithen and Black, 2011), and further review is beyond the scope of this paper.…”

Section: Description Of the Research Areamentioning

confidence: 98%

Environmental impacts of ancient copper mining and metallurgy: Multi-proxy investigation of human-landscape dynamics in the Faynan valley, southern Jordan

Knabb

Erel

Tirosh

et al. 2016

Journal of Archaeological Science

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a b s t r a c tThe environmental impact of mining and metallurgy is an issue that has affected societies in the ancient Near East over the past 8000 years. We present the results of a multidisciplinary project using agricultural sediments from ancient terraces as a cultural archive of environmental pollution and land use in the copper ore-rich Faynan valley of southern Jordan. Due to the simultaneous production of agricultural goods and copper metallurgy throughout the last 6000 years in the valley, environmental pollution and its consequences for human health have been considered as a factor in settlement abatement. Sediments from two farming terrace systems adjacent to the major mining and smelting locales were analyzed. The sediment analyses included metal concentrations, lead-isotopes and phytolith analysis, and OSL dating. Although measurable concentrations of lead and other heavy metals persist in ancient metallurgical waste piles, our investigations found minimal evidence for contamination in the adjacent terrace systems. Based on these results, we argue that the occurrence of environmental pollution in the Faynan valley is highly variable, and that the distribution of heavy metals resulted from a combination of natural and cultural factors, including persistent landscape features that helped contain the most polluted metallurgical deposits. These findings are significant for understanding the processes of landscape change and human impacts on desert environments, including the ways in which past human actions have negatively affected the environment, as well as preserved and protected the environment from further degradation.

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An 8000-year history of landscape, climate, and copper exploitation in the Middle East: the Wadi Faynan and the Wadi Dana National Reserve in southern Jordan

Cited by 68 publications

References 63 publications

7300 years of vegetation history and climate for NW Malta: a Holocene perspective

7300 years of vegetation history and climate for NW Malta: a Holocene perspective

Holocene climate change, vegetation history and human impact in the Central Mediterranean: evidence from the Maltese Islands

Environmental impacts of ancient copper mining and metallurgy: Multi-proxy investigation of human-landscape dynamics in the Faynan valley, southern Jordan

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