ruth maher and the cuny/wpu students; international sustainability field school in orkney2012
TRANSCRIPT
ROUSAYInherited Landscapes, Coastal Erosion &
Sustainability Ruth Maher, PhD., Adjunct Lecturer William Paterson University
Julie Bond, PhD. , Senior Lecturer, Bradford UniversitySteve Dockrill, Senior Lecturer, Bradford University
First Goal: Community Archaeology
Creating a Vested Interest in the Past
– Kids Programs– Visitor Days– Established Tour Guides– Guest Book– Community Meet & Greets
Second Goal: Undergraduate & Graduate Education
Student Outcomes• To learn archaeological techniques and
teamwork• To understand and incorporate scientific
methods of data collection• To apply that knowledge to overall
research project• To study (and experience) the effects of
Coastal Erosion and Climate Change
Third Goal: Scientific Research
– Human Interactions with the Landscape
– Impacts of Coastal Erosion & Climate Change
– Secrets to a Sustainable Future
Background of The Orkneys
• 5000+ years of agricultural success– With subsistence fishing, of course
• a/k/a “The Heart of the Neolithic”– Quite a strong showing of brochs too
• Windy, temperate climate• Salty winds and sprays attributed to healthy agricultural conditions and healthy animals
Rousay Archaeology
Neolithic: 3,700 ‐ 2,200 BCE
Neolithic Settlement: RinyoExcavated in 1938 and 1946
Stone tools and Unstan Ware
long slabs separating spaces
Neolithic Period Space
Maes Howe Chambered Tomb
Bronze Age: 2,200 – 700 BCE
Burnt Mound: Excavated 2009
Bronze Period Space
Iron Age: 700 BCE – AD 400
Mousa Broch, Shetland
Iron Age Space
Viking/Norse 800‐1200
Rousay provides the opportunity to study the resilience of an island community to climatic and environmental change from the Neolithic to
the modern day.
Coastal Erosion is an unavoidable issue and research is targeting vulnerable sites with very limited life spans in terms of survival but with
multi‐period occupation sequences.
Research at Swandro
Current Research
• Focus – Swandro• Norse Hall adjacent to other remains
• Broch?– Maybe still…
• Neolithic Chambered Tomb– 5000 years continuous use
• Test Pits• Survey• Auguring• Excavation
Test Pits in Surrounding Fields
Midhowe Broch, 2010 Swandro, 2011
Deep Time Agricultural Soils
• Throughout fields, substantial evidence long‐term agricultural activity
Landscape Model• Two early trenches• GIS interpolated surface reveals overall
characteristics of mound• 2011 Excavation
– Revealed a “Broch”
2012 Revealed a Chambered Tomb
Could there have been more?
Compiled by Mark Littlewood
Well‐Constructed Feature Coming
Through…
Area D • Series of wall features • Perpendicular to the sea• At similar level (and
below) nearby Norse Hall
Climate: Past & Future• The Mid‐Holocene saw
substantial changes in atmospheric and ocean circulation patterns.
• In the North Atlantic, sediment cores suggest sea surface temperatures warmed between 8000 & 5000 ka
• We see increasing temperatures out of the Bronze Age increasing through the Viking Age
• We are back to levels we saw 2000 years ago
• Understanding the Sociocultural changes and adaptations will help us in the future
Race Against Time
Potential on Rousay• We already see long‐term occupation at Swandrofrom the Neolithic through Norse periods.
• As work continues, we have the opportunity to study all details of this sequence (before the sea swallows it up) providing the opportunity to– Create models which will lead us to a more complete occupation and use of landscape in Rousay and the Orkneys
– Create models of past adaptations to climate change, both abrupt and gradual as well as effective and ineffective approaches
– Prepare for wherever the future takes us