Using floristic characteristics of contemporary vegetation for identifying archaeological sites: Tel ‘Eton archaeological site as a test case: Supplementary material
Yair Sapir
Yuval Sapir
Avraham Faust
10.6084/m9.figshare.7228427.v1
https://brill.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Using_floristic_characteristics_of_contemporary_vegetation_for_identifying_archaeological_sites_Tel_Eton_archaeological_site_as_a_test_case_Supplementary_material/7228427
<p>Over the last century, crosstalk between archaeologists and
botanists had focused on the identification of plants remnants, such as
charcoal or seeds found in archaeological inventory. Here we demonstrate how
botany can play a fundamental role in identifying ancient landscape by using
current vegetation. Identifying the loci of ancient human activity is the
initial step of any archaeological study, enabling analyses such as settlement
patterns, economic structures and land use, as well as devising excavations
strategy. While mounds (<i>tells</i>) are standing out of their surroundings and
are easily detected, other sites are hidden underground, and require various
methods for detection. The cost and intensity of these methods vary, but most
are time-consuming, require a team of specialists, and show somewhat limited success,
leading archaeologists to seek new methods of site detection. Here, we describe
a study of vegetational parameters at Tel ‘Eton (Israel), located in a
semi-arid climatic region, where vegetation is mostly herbaceous, mainly comprised
of annual plants. We compared above ground biomass, species richness and
species composition among four plots in Tel ‘Eton and its surrounding. Two
plots were located where ancient settlement found in a previous study, one on
top of the mound and one below, where a “lower city” was previously identified.
The other two plots were located in similar topographies, namely one on a hill
and the other below, but in never-settled areas. While above ground biomass was
similar between settled and not-settled plots, species richness was
significantly higher in settled plots (40 and 32 species in settled plots,
versus 28 and 9 species in non-settled) and species composition was
significantly different between them. Our results demonstrate that loci of
buried remains of human activity significantly differ from non-settled ones,
hence providing the basis for an above ground indirect method of identification
of human remains. We propose that floristic sampling of ground-level vegetation
may allow archaeologists to identify buried sites, and hence increase the
validity of various types of archaeological analyses, such as creating maps of
settlements, which rely on the identification of sites without excavating them.</p>
2018-11-14 09:47:24
Archaeological survey
herbaceous plants
semi-arid climate
species diversity
species richness
Plant Biology not elsewhere classified