Geoarchaeological simulation of meandering river deposits and settlement distributions: A three-dimensional approach

Abstract

Fluvial processes have the potential to obscure, expose, or even destroy portions of the archaeological record. Floodplain aggradation can bury and hide archaeological features, whereas actively migrating channels can erode them. The archaeological record preserved in the subsurface of a fluvial system is potentially fragmented and is three-dimensionally complex, especially when the system has been subjected to successive phases of alluviation and entrenchment. A simulation model is presented to gain insight into the threedimensional subsurface distribution, visibility, and preservation potential of the archaeological record in a meander-floodplain system as a function of geomorphic history. Simulation results indicate that fluvial cut-fill cycles can strongly influence the density of archaeological material in the subsurface. Thus, interpretation of floodplain habitation based solely upon features visible in the shallow subsurface (through traditional techniques such as aerial photography and geophysical prospection) can be misleading. In the examples, the loss of archaeological record by channel migration ranges between 45% and 90% over 12,000 years for channel belt-dominated systems, decreasing to 10 to 30% for rivers where the floodplain width is a multiple of channel belt width. The modeling presented can be used to test excavation strategies in relation to hypothesized scenarios of stratigraphic evolution for archaeological sites.

In glacial environments beyond glacial terrains: Human eco-dynamics in late Pleistocene Mediterranean Iberia

“…A variety of computational modeling approaches are particularly useful for synthesizing proxy data and representing the dynamics of Pleistocene environmental change. Examples include different approaches to modeling climate, vegetation, and landscape change (Ruter et al, 2004;Clevis et al, 2006;Phillips and Dudík, 2008;Liu et al, 2009;Barton et al, 2010;McDonald and Bryson, 2010;Voinov et al, 2010).…”

Land use, water and Mediterranean landscapes: modelling long-term dynamics of complex socio-ecological systems

“…There are various, well-known ways of expressing mathematically the way in which water flows and its capacity to erode, transport and deposit sediments (Degani et al 1979;Mitasova et al 1996;Mitas & Mitasova 1998;Mitasova & Mitas 2001a,b;Warren et al 2005;Clevis et al 2006;Peeters et al 2006;Singh & Phadke 2006). We use a transport-limited algorithm to represent the flow of water over land surfaces, based on concepts described by Kirkby (1971) and adapted for two-dimensional surfaces by Moore & Burch (1986).…”

Assessing riverine threats to heritage assets posed by future climate change through a geomorphological approach and predictive modelling in the Derwent Valley Mills WHS, UK

“…In geomorphology, the application of computer modelling to elucidate landscape evolution and system response has a long history of development [35][36][37], but this approach has rarely been used for heritage management; Clevis et al (2006) provide one of the few examples, although it is tangential, providing a hypothetical simulation of deposition within a meandering river to consider issues of archaeological preservation [38]. This project aimed to simulate river erosion and deposition within the World Heritage Site using CAESAR-Lisflood [39], a model that divides the landscape into a series of cells representing the landscape over which the flow of water and the subsequent erosion and deposition of sediment is simulated.…”