Exploring Integrated Geophysics and Geotechnics as a Paleolandscape Reconstruction Tool: Archaeological Prospection of (Prehistoric) Sites Buried Deeply below the Scheldt Polders (NW Belgium)

Abstract

During extensive construction works in Antwerp harbour, well preserved Late Glacial dune formations were discovered buried deeply below the Scheldt polders and covered by peat, organic matter (OM) rich clays and marine clayey to sandy sediments. First, coring based archaeological prospection strategies for evaluating prehistoric occupation levels in wetland landscapes are reviewed. Next, a more effective approach including near surface geophysical and geotechnical techniques is proposed and tested in Doelpolder Noord. The results indicate that high resolution electromagnetic induction survey at multiple coil spacing provides a suitable approximation of the prehistoric landscape variability but is challenged by variations in groundwater brackishness. Gridded cone penetration tests provide a solution in such cases and serve as an excellent interpretation tool for the conductivity data in general. Due to the required effort, electrical resistance imaging and shear wave land seismics were judged inefficient. Finally, a small dune with indications of paleosol conservation and estimated suitability for Final Palaeolithic to Early Neolithic occupation is sampled by Dutch hand augering and Sonic Drill Aqualock coring. Archaeological indicators for prehistoric occupation such as burnt bone and flint fragments were retrieved from these samples after sieving.

CREMATION VS. INHUMATION: MODELING CULTURAL CHANGES IN FUNERARY PRACTICES FROM THE MESOLITHIC TO THE MIDDLE AGES IN BELGIUM USING KERNEL DENSITY ANALYSIS ON14C DATA

“…Human remains dating to the prehistoric periods (Mesolithic and Neolithic) were almost exclusively found in Wallonia thanks to excellent preservation conditions of caves and rock shelters. These contexts are absent in Flanders, where open-air burial sites were more likely to be destroyed or buried under meters of sediment, as often happens in dynamic alluvial and marine systems (Verhegge et al 2014(Verhegge et al , 2016Verhegge 2015;Sergant et al 2016).…”

Shaping pre-modern digital terrain models: The former topography at Charlemagne’s canal construction site

“…A combination of deductive and inductive approaches ( Table 4 ) might improve the performance of the model. Usually, there is an approximation of the palaeo-surface with an deductive approach, which is subsequently supported by a dense dataset of archaeological or geoscientific ground-truth data [ 17 , 52 , 13 ]. Zwertvaegher et al [ 17 ] developed an integrative process model to challenge the complexity of landscape evolution by combining a deductive approach to obtain a purged base layer and an inductive approach for the predictive modelling of archaeological finds within the landscape.…”

“…In recent years, there have been several approaches to reconstruct pre-modern terrain based on the interpolation of large datasets from drillings, archaeological excavations, and outcrops [ 9 , 10 ]. Other studies combine archaeological excavation data and geophysical data to interpolate detected pre-modern surface heights [ 11 – 13 ]. Both approaches are inductive methods based on field data interpolation and elaborate (geo-)archaeological and geophysical fieldwork, and post-processing.…”

Archaeological prospection of the nearshore and intertidal area using ultra‐high resolution marine acoustic techniques: Results from a test study on the Belgian coast at Ostend‐Raversijde

“…2) (Delefortrie et al, 2014). Previous studies have shown the suitability of the EMI method for the detection of peat excavation in polder areas (e.g., De Smedt et al, 2013;Verhegge, Missiaen, & Crombé, 2016). For the measurements at Raversijde, a Dualem-21S sensor was used with three different coil sizes (depth penetration of the different coils, respectively, 0.5, 1, and 3 m).…”