Do still waters run deep? Formation processes of natural and anthropogenic deposits in the Neolithic wetland site Zug‐Riedmatt (Switzerland)

Abstract

Micromorphological analysis is used to improve our understanding of wetland site taphonomy and stratigraphy. Twelve profile columns from the Neolithic lakeshore site of Zug-Riedmatt are macroscopically described here, microscopic analyses are applied to sediment facies, defining 14 sedimentary units (U): The natural basal sediment (U1) is carbonate-rich, U2 a transition phase to the anthropogenic units U3 to U12. Uppermost are the natural carbonate-rich U13 and U14. The creation of a micromorphological database and the application of 27 defined indices allow a better understanding of the natural, anthropogenic and taphonomic processes taking place at the site. Natural sediment input originated from Lake Zug, the nearby river Lorze with its delta, and a local marshy waterbody. Organic rich accumulations and calcitic ash played a major role in pH changes, leading to carbonate and silica dissolution, alongside bone alteration. Signs of degradation processes under aerobic and anaerobic conditions within a single layer points to complex, multiphase processes under changing water levels, a milieu belonging to both land and water, an amphibious environment. Finally, good layer preservation seemingly correlates to low aquatic reworking in a stable depositional context linked to the marshy area.

Coping with marsh floods and fires: Resilience at the pile‐dwelling site of Dispilio, Northwestern Greece

“…Micromorphological analysis has recently become widespread in the study of wetland sites (Ismail‐Meyer, 2014; Ismail‐Meyer et al, 2013, 2020; Jennings & Wiemann, 2013; Karkanas et al, 2011; Oikonomou, 2023; Wallace, 1999, 2000, 2003) to explore various aspects of the depositional context of archaeological assemblages within lacustrine and marshy contexts and to determine the extent to which natural processes have distorted the anthropogenic signal.…”

Microarchaeological approach to underwater stratigraphy of submerged settlements: A case study of Atlit‐Yam Pre‐Pottery Neolithic site, off the Carmel Coast, Israel

“…Since the 1990s, micromorphology, the microscopic analysis of intact archaeological sediments and stratigraphy, has been applied to Neolithic and Bronze Age lakeside settlements in the Circum‐Alpine region of Europe where settlement installations were set in shallow water precipitated carbonate platforms or dried‐out lake marl along lake margins (Ismail‐Meyer, 2014; Ismail‐Meyer et al, 2013, 2020; Jennings & Wiemann, 2013; Wallace, 2003; Wiemann & Rentzel, 2015). Micromorphological characterization enables the reconstruction of lake levels and environments over time (e.g., lake regression, periods of drying out, seasonal deposits, flooding, erosional events), thereby allowing cultural occupation to be placed within broader environmental histories (Ismail‐Meyer, 2014; Ismail‐Meyer et al, 2013, 2020; Wiemann & Rentzel, 2015; see also work in Northern Greece, North Macedonia and Albania: Karkanas et al, 2011; Lewis, 2007). In intertidal environments, micromorphology has been used to characterize the effects of marine inundation at a series of prehistoric sites in southern England and Wales (Macphail, 2009; Macphail et al, 2010; Macphail & Cruise, 2000).…”