Micromorphology of ancient agricultural Terraces in the Negev Desert, Horvat Haluqim (Israel).

Proceedings of the 14th International Working Meeting on Soil Micromorphology. Lleida 8-14 July 2012

292

5.2.O. Session V.

Micromorphology of ancient agricultural Terraces in the Negev Desert, Horvat Haluqim (Israel).

Hendrik J. BRUINS1 and Antoine G. JONGMANS

2

1 Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Sede Boker Campus, Israel,

Email: [email protected]; 2 Wageningen University, Laboratory of Soil Science and Geology, Wageningen, The Netherlands.

The rural archaeological site of Horvat Haluqim is situated in the central Negev desert (Cohen 1976, Bruins 1986). Average annual rainfall is about 90 mm and the region is too dry for agriculture. However, in ancient times series of cross-channel stone terrace walls were built in suitable dry valleys to capture runoff/floodwaters from local rainfall. Thus soil moisture of the terraced fields could be increased to enable agriculture in the desert. A remarkable cultural landscape developed through time as a result in the central Negev with thousands of stone terrace walls in numerous dry stream channels (Evenari et al. 1982, Bruins 2012). Three basic landscape elements are required to enable such farming in the desert (Bruins and Ore 2009). (1) Runoff contributing areas in the valley catchment suitable to generate runoff during local rainfall, i.e. the infiltration rate on the slopes has to be lower than the rainfall intensity. (2) Appropriate topography and geomorphic surface characteristics to enable sustained flow of runoff water to the terraced agricultural fields in the valleys. (3) Stone terrace walls capable to arrest runoff/floodwaters and valley soils of suitable texture and depth to store sufficient water in the root-zone for use by agricultural crops.

The soils in the valleys of the Negev are usually composed of loess with a silt-loam texture, capable to store the captured runoff water for months and even longer, held by capillary force (Evenari et al. 1982). Incoming dust from the surrounding deserts in North Africa and South-West Asia led to the widespread development of loess soils in the Negev (Yaalon and Dan 1974, Bruins and Yaalon 1992). The micromass of loess soils in the Negev is characterized by a calciasepic fabric (Wieder and Yaalon 1974). There are on average about 10 dust storms per year, during autumn, winter or spring (Offer and Goossens 2001), which continuously bring new soil parent material into the region. Average temperatures in the area range from 8°C in winter to 26°C in summer. Maximum temperatures reach about 40°C and light frost may occur in winter. Climate and climatic change in relation to plant growth (agriculture and grazing systems) are better expressed by the aridity/moisture index P/PET than by individual temperature and precipitation data alone (P = annual precipitation and PET = annual potential evapotranspiration). The average P/PET index for the nearby meteorological station of Kibbutz Sede Boker was calculated to be 0.07 for the decadal period 1990-2000 (Bruins 2012). Hence the site is situated in the arid zone (P/PET 0.05 to <0.20), albeit close to the climatic boundary with the hyper-arid zone (P/PET = 0.05).

The site of Horvat Haluqim includes three small first-order valleys (wadis), in which about 70 cross-channel stone terrace walls were built in ancient times (Bruins 1986, 2007, 2012). Geoarchaeological excavations were conducted in several terraced fields at Horvat Haluqim, including terraced field no. 3 of the Western Wadi and in terraced fields 7 and 12 of the Eastern Wadi. Calibrated radiocarbon ages of the oldest terraced field so far discovered in the Negev, terrace 12 in the Eastern Wadi at Horvat Haluqim, date back to the Late Neolithic (ca 5,000 cal BCE). Many terraced fields here appear to be multi-period, in which the Late Bronze and Iron Ages are prominent, while farming by a sedentary population ended in the course of the Early Islamic period, approximately 1100 years ago (Bruins and Van der Plicht 2004, Van der Plicht et al. 2009, Bruins et al 2011, Bruins 2012). The surface of each terraced field “grew upward” with time, as the stone terrace walls induced sediment aggradation. Annual runoff/floodwater flows in the rainy season transported recent dust and other surface material from the catchment area unto the terraced fields. New stone layers had to be added to the stone terrace walls in the course of time in order to keep the walls above the aggrading surface of the related terraced field. This on-going sedimentation, up to the height of the terrace wall after final abandonment, has recorded and preserved a unique record of human and environmental history in the central Negev desert region.

Findings are presented here of joint field and microscope studies by the two authors, involving thin sections prepared in the former Laboratory of Soil Science and Geology at Wageningen University (The Netherlands), where also the micromorphology samples were impregnated with epoxy.

mailto:[email protected]


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Figure 1. (a) PPL above, (b) XPL below. Thin section 04084, Horvat Haluqim, Western Wadi, Terraced field 3, depth 79-86 cm. Magnification 10x10. The width of the picture is 570 μm. An orthic ferric nodule (red brown) developed in the soil matrix, composed of angular silt-size quartz grains, carbonate grains, small charred organic particles and a calciasepic speckled b-fabric of the micromass. The ferric nodule, impregnated in the groundmass, partly surrounds a rounded carbonate rock fragment. The coarse/fine related distribution is both enaulic and porphyric.


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The essence of desert agriculture in the central Negev valleys is the capture of runoff/floodwaters from local rainfall through the building of cross-channel terrace walls and storage of the water in the terrace soil. Micromorphological studies of terrace soils at Horvat Haluqim clearly revealed the enhanced moisture status of the agricultural terraced wadi system in the past. The presence of orthic ferric nodules (Fig. 1 a and b) in terraced field 3 of the Western Wadi and also in terraced fields 7 and 12 of the Eastern Wadi provides unequivocal evidence of runoff/floodwater capture in the past, which caused alternating wet-dry reduction-oxidation conditions. The size of the orthic ferric nodules, impregnated in the groundmass, is up to 500 μm, but usually smaller. Following significant rainfall events, each terrace wall arrested a certain amount of runoff/floodwater. Temporary water saturation of the terrace soils resulted in reduction and translocation of iron, followed by oxidation. Present observations of hydro-climatic conditions suggest that the state of reduction in the desert terrace soils does normally not last beyond a few days after each significant rainfall event, as there is no groundwater table and no aquiclude in the soil profile. The gravitation water will drain away within a week and oxygen will return to the soil profile, as only capillary water is retained by the smaller soil pores for a much longer time period. The anthropogenic soil factor – the building of cross-channel terrace walls – enabled this particular soil development in a desert environment.

Ancient desert agriculture and soil fertility: micromorphological evidence of ancient soil manuring.

Figure 2. Thin section 04082, Horvat Haluqim, Eastern Wadi, Terrace 7, Depth 75-82 cm. Magnification 10x10, PPL. A piece of animal bone (600 x 380 μm), probably sheep or goat, and small charred organic material (black). The soil matrix is mainly composed of silt-size angular quartz grains, carbonate

grains and a calciasepic speckled b-fabric of the micromass. The coarse/fine related distribution is both enaulic and porphyric.

Two special types of micromorphological features were found in the anthropogenic terrace soils, which indicate the application of organic manure in the past, particularly in those soil layers that have macroscopically a somewhat darker or greyer colour.

First there is the regular occurrence of very small charred organic material, usually black in colour (Fig. 2), ranging in size from fine silt to sand or even larger. The larger particles often show plant cells. In addition, small pieces of animal bone (Fig.


295

2), sometimes partly burned, are common. The charred organic material gives a comparatively darker colour to certain soil layers as a kind of fine pigmentation. These anthropogenic constituents in the terrace soils show that the ancient inhabitants of Horvat Haluqim brought kitchen refuse, containing ash with charred organic remains and bones to the terraced agricultural fields to improve soil fertility. Larger bones found in the terrace soils, used for radiocarbon dating, were inspected by zoologists. Most bones are from sheep or goat, which indicates that pastoralism was an important component of land-use in the past. Remains of ancient corrals are present in the area. Also modern Bedouin in the region have herds of goats and sheep.

A second micromorphological feature related to soil manuring of the ancient agricultural terrace soils are a kind of faecal pellets, interpreted by us as manure aggregates. These aggregates often exhibit randomly distributed brown “stripes”. We associate these aggregates with animal manure, probably derived from goats and/or sheep that were kept by the ancient inhabitants in the past, as indicated by the type of bones. Additional confirmation for manuring with animal dung is provided by the ubiquitous presence of calcium carbonate spherulites of fine silt size in the deeper terrace soil layers. These small rounded particles show the typical cross extinction pattern under crossed polarizers. The present surface soil has a much lower content of spherulites. The intestines of sheep and goats are high producers of spherulites. In contrast with manure practices in ancient times, the modern Bedouin, do not apply any organic manure to the soil, although they keep herds of sheep and goats.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank Dr. Richard Macphail for his confirmation of the presence of animal dung aggregates, as observed in other thin sections from the terrace soils at Horvat Haluqim, during a recent visit (April 2, 2012) by the first author to the Institute of Archaeology at University College London.

REFERENCES

Bruins, H.J. (1986) “Desert Environment and Agriculture in the Central Negev and Kadesh-Barnea during Historical Times.” Published Ph.D. Dissertation, Wageningen University, Stichting Midbar Foundation, Nijkerk, 219 pp.

Bruins, H.J. and Van der Plicht, J. (2004) “Desert settlement in the central Negev: First 14

C indication of rainwater-harvesting agriculture in the Iron Age”. In T.F.G Higham, C. Bronk Ramsey, and D.C. Owen (Eds.) Radiocarbon and Archaeology: Proceedings of the 4th International Symposium, Oxford, 2002. Oxford University, School of Archaeology, Monograph 62, Oxford, pp. 83-98.

Bruins, H.J. (2007) “Runoff terraces in the Negev Highlands during the Iron Age: Nomads settling down or farmers living in the desert?” in Van der Steen, E.J., Saidel, B.A. eds., On the Fringe of Society: Archaeological and Ethnoarchaeological Perspectives on Pastoral and Agricultural Societies, vol. 1657 BAR International Series, Oxford, 37-43.

Bruins, H.J. (2012) “Ancient desert agriculture in the Negev and climate-zone boundary changes during average, wet and drought years.” Journal of Arid Environments (in press). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2012.01.015

Bruins, H.J. and Ore, G. (2009) “Runoff from loess or bedrock? Hillslope geoarchaeology of ancient runoff farming systems at Horvat Haluqim and Har Eldad in the central Negev desert.” Israel Journal of Earth Sciences 57(3-4), 231-247.

Bruins, H.J. and Yaalon, D.H. (1992) “Parallel advance of slopes in aeolian loess deposits of the northern Negev, Israel.” Israel Journal of

Earth Sciences 41, 189-199.

Bruins, H.J., Nijboer, A.J. and Van der Plicht, J. (2011) “Iron Age Mediterranean chronology: a reply.” Radiocarbon 53(1),199-220.

Cohen, R. (1976) Excavations at Horvat Haluqim. Atiqot 11, 34-50.

Evenari, M., Shanan, L., Tadmor, N.H. (1982) “The Negev: The Challenge of a Desert”, 2nd revised ed. Harvard University Press, Cambridge MA, pp. 437.

Offer, Z.Y. and Goossens, D. (2001) “Ten years of aeolian dust dynamics in a desert region (Negev desert, Israel): analysis of airborne dust concentration, dust accumulation and the high-magnitude dust events.” Journal of Arid Environments 47, 211-249.

Van der Plicht, J., Bruins, H.J., Nijboer, A.J. (2009) “The Iron Age around the Mediterranean: a high chronology perspective from the Groningen radiocarbon database.” Radiocarbon 51 (1), 213-242.

Wieder, M. and Yaalon, D.H. (1974) Effect of matrix composition on carbonate nodule crystallization. Geoderma 11, 95-121.

Yaalon, D.H. and Dan, J. (1974) “Accumulation and distribution of loess derived deposits in the semi-desert and desert fringe areas of Israel.” Z. Geomorphol. 20, 91-105.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaridenv.2012.01.015

PROCEEDINGS

Editors:

Prof. Dr. Rosa M Poch

Eng. Maria Casamitjana

Dr. Michele L Francis

IUSS Commission 1.1 Soil Morphology and Micromorphology

Poch RM, Casamitjana M, Francis ML (Eds). 2012. Proceedings of the 14th International

Working Meeting on Soil Micromorphology - Lleida 8-14 July 2012. Departament de

Medi Ambient i Ciències del Sòl (UdL). Lleida, Spain.

ISBN: 978-84-615-9132-9

© The Authors

Abstract reviewers:

Joselito Arocena

Octavio Artieda

Amy Brock-Hon

Brenda Buck

Thilo Eickhorst

Martine Gerard

Selim Kapur

With the support of:

Farhad Khormali

Irina Kovda

Peter Kühn

Richard MacPhail

Curtis Monger

Héctor Morrás

Przemyslaw Mroczek

Marcello Pagliai

Elvira Roquero

Daniela Sauer

Sergey Sedov

Albert Solé-Benet

Karl Stahr

Georges Stoops

Fabio Terribile

Íñigo Virto

Opinions, statements and information within papers belong to the authors and not to the editors of these

Proceedings nor to the organisers of the 14th IWMSM.

English- and copy-editing were carried out at the discretion of the Editors.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Opening session. STOOPS. The “fabric” of soil micromorphological research in the 20

th century - A bibliometric analysis. .........................................4

Chronology. SMART.International working meetings on soil micromorphology ...............................................................................................................6

SESSION I. Soil genesis and mineral weathering

1.1.K. FEDOROFF and COURTY. Textural features and microfacies expressing temporary and permanent soil water saturation. ..............................7

1.2.K. POCH et al. Benchmark soils on fluvial and fluvio-glacial formations of the upper-Segre valley........................................................................11

1.3.K. UZAROWICZ. SEM–EDS studies of iron sulfide weathering in technogenic soils (Technosols) developed on mine spoils. .............................16

1.1.O. SZYMAŃSKI and NIKORYCH. Similarity of micromorphological properties of the fragipan horizon in Albeluvisols of the Carpathian Foothills in Poland and the Precarpathian in the Ukraine. .............................................................................................................................................................18

1.2.O. GERASIMOVA et al. Zheltozems of Russia: micromorphology, clay minerals, and genetic problems. ..............................................................21

1.3.O. STOOPS. Soil development and evolution on Isla Santa Cruz (the Galápagos Islands). A micromorphological approach. ..............................25

1.4.O. LEBEDEVA et al. Fabric of topsoil horizons in arid soils of Central Asia. ............................................................................................................27

1.5.O. RODRIGUEZ-OCHOA et al. Micromorphology of salt accumulations in soils of north Monegros, Spain: optical microscopy and SEM. ..........31

1.6.O. SAUER et al. Processes of Albeluvisol formation in two soil chronosequences in S Norway. ............................................................................35

1.7.O. JANKOWSKI and KITTEL. Evidences of soil-forming processes in red coloured Ochre soils (Rubic Arenosols) at the Szynkielew archaeological site, Central Poland. ................................................................................................................................................................................40

1.8.O. KÜHN and PIETSCH. Response of pedogenesis to Holocene climate change in south-western Arabia. ..........................................................43

1.9.O. GERARD. Intrabasaltic palaeosols and sediments in continental flood basalt traps: recording weathering. ......................................................45

1.10.O. HSEU and IIZUKA. Chromite weathering as being a source of Cr in paddy soils on serpentinites. .................................................................49

1.11.O. FIANTIS et al. Micromorphology and submicroscopy of reconstructed tephra layer of Mt. Talang, Sumatra, Indonesia. ................................53

1.12.O. CABADAS et al. Micromorphology of calcretes in the northeast cost of Yucatan Peninsula: an evidence of soil development in karstic geosystems. .....................................................................................................................................................................................................................57

1.1.P. ARTIEDA et al. Calcite pseudomorphs after lenticular gypsum crystals in Aridisols of the central Ebro Valley, Spain. .....................................59

1.2.P. AZNAR et al. Micromorphological features and physical properties of gypseous soils in the Middle Ebro Basin. ..............................................64

1.3.P. CASTAÑEDA et al. Soil macro and microfeatures at the southern margin of the saline Gallocanta Lake (NE Spain). ......................................68

1.4.P. JIEN et al. The formation of ferromanganiferous nodules in plinthitic soils. .........................................................................................................72

1.5.P. RODRIGUEZ OCHOA et al. Relictic Periglacial Soils in the Middle Ebro Valley (Spain): Macromorphology and Micromorphology. ................75

1.6.P. LOAIZA et al. Periglacial features in the Santa Rosa de Osos (HSRO) high plateau deposits. ..........................................................................80

1.7.P. ABBASLOU et al. Micromorphology of arid soils developed on evaporites (Hormozgan Province, southern Iran). ...........................................86

1.8.P. TURSINA. Micropedology or micromorphology? ..................................................................................................................................................90

1.9.P. MANAFI. Micromorphic evidence of climate change in some arid and semi arid soils in the west of Urmia Lake, Western Azerbaijan, Iran. ...94

1.10.P. MANAFI and POCH. Micromorphic pedofeatures related to pedogenic calcium carbonate in some arid and semiarid soils in the west of Urmia Lake, Iran. .............................................................................................................................................................................................................99

1.11.P. GERARD et al. Weathering of Granitic Waste Rock Piles of former Uranium mines in the Limousin (France). ............................................ 104

1.12.P. SCARCIGLIA and BARCA. A novel method for assessing heavy metal distribution in soils coupling laser ablation (LA)-ICP-MS in thin sections with traditional micromorphological and geochemical approaches. .............................................................................................................. 107

1.13.P. LANGOHR and MARCELINO. Origin of the calcium carbonate of the bog marl deposit of the Moervaart Depression in the cover sand area of NW Belgium. Micromorphological evidences of decarbonation and clay migration under a permanent groundwater table in sand ridges. .......... 110

1.14.P. RAHEB and HEIDARI. Using micromorphological and chemical approaches to determine different forms of iron in selected paddy soils. . 111

SESSION II. Interpreting soil quality, interactions between organisms and minerals, and agro-environment sustainability

2.1.K. KHOKHLOVA. Micromorphological and radiocarbon evidence of carbonate accumulation in agrogenic soils within the Central Russian forest-steppe. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 116

2.2.K. MONGER et al. Soil carbonate: how biological and how important for carbon sequestration?. ....................................................................... 121

2.1.O. VIRTO et al. Influence of the soil mineral composition on short-term aggregation in semi-arid Mediterranean soils as observed in aggregate thin sections. ................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 125

2.2.O. BELOBROV et al. Micromorphological features of soils under vineyard. ......................................................................................................... 129

2.3.O. de CASTRO et al. Changes in a distroferric Red Latosol, cultivated with sugar cane in southern Cerrado, Brazil: Part 1 - macro and microstructural changes................................................................................................................................................................................................ 131

2.4.O. MORRAS et al. Topsoil microstructural models in no-till Pampean Mollisols of Argentina. Morphology and development. ........................... 136


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2.5.O. AROCENA et al. Evolution of potassium, magnesium and iron contents during biotite alterations in rhizosphere soils of Glomus-inoculated crops. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 141

2.6.O. KHORMALI et al. Experimental micromorphological evidence for calcite biomineralization along an ecological gradient in Southern New Mexico State, USA. ....................................................................................................................................................................................................... 144

2.1.P. COELHO GONÇALVES and MORAES. Effects of management systems on porosity and water infiltration. .................................................. 146

2.2.P. MOLNER et al. How organic amendments in dryland soils affect soil structure and organic matter fractions. ................................................ 150

2.3.P. GUTIERREZ CASTORENA et al. Micromorphological features and physical properties of different growing media and their relationship to lettuce growth................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 151

2.4.P. GUTIERREZ CASTORENA et al. Modification of edaphic properties by regime change in soil moisture........................................................ 155

2.5.P. MARKS et al. Biochar and soil structure: micromorphological identification for image analyses of porosity. ................................................... 160

SESSION III. Soils in extreme environments and under extreme events; micromorphological methods and analyses

3.1.K. COURTY et al. Unusual soil microfacies with exceptional debris assemblage tracing cosmic events. ............................................................ 161

3.2.K. KOVDA and LEBEDEVA. Morphological and micromorphological identification of soil forming processes in clayey cryogenic soil, Trans-Baikal region, Russia. ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 166

3.1.O. SCHMIDT et al. Comparative micromorphological and biogeochemical investigations of the soil-root interface in paddy soils. .................... 170

3.2.O. MELE et al. Pore characterization of oil sands by X-ray Micro-CT and 3D image analysis. ............................................................................ 173

3.3.O. BRONNIKOVA et al. Layered coatings of soils in extreme cryo-arid conditions as a compartment of soil memory. ....................................... 177

3.1.P. SCHAEFER et al. Micromorphology of semi-desert phosphatized soils from Hope Bay, Antarctica. ............................................................... 181

3.2.P. GARGIULO et al. Soil pore image analysis: methodological issues in 2D image acquisition. .......................................................................... 185

3.3.P. GUTIERREZ CASTORENA et al. Microcartography of fungi and spores in soil thin sections from volcanic soils. .......................................... 190

3.4.P. GUTIERREZ CASTORENA et al. Spectral patterns of soil basic components in soil thin sections. ................................................................ 194

3.5.P. HEIDARI and RAHEB. Characterization of puddled layer and its underlying plow pan using image analysis techniques. ............................. 198

3.6.P. BRZYCHCY et al.Analysis of groundmass colour as a tool for evaluating the advancement of pedogenic processes in Chromic soils. ........ 202

3.7.P. SMITH et al. Micromorphology of polygon evolution on hill slopes in Taylor Valley, McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica................................... 206

SESSION IV. Micromorphology for paleopedology, sediments and loess-paleosols sequences

4.1.K. SCARCIGLIA et al. Late Pleistocene-Holocene paleoclimatic changes in the Vesuvius volcano area, southern Italy: a micromorphological study of volcanic soils and primary tephra. .................................................................................................................................................................. 210

4.2.K. LANGOHR et al. Micromorphological characterization of clay migration features and their relation to soil structure in a 3 m deep plateau soil at Transinne, Belgian Ardennes. .................................................................................................................................................................................. 213

4.1.O. ROQUERO et al. Micromorphological features of soils developed in fluvio-marine sediments during the Last Interglacial in the Gulf of Cadiz (Atlantic South Spain). .................................................................................................................................................................................................. 214

4.2.O. SPRAFKE and TERHORST. Micromorphological investigation of the polygenetic paleosol development in the classic loess outcrop of Paudorf (Lower Austria). ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 218

4.3.O. SINGH et al. Micromorphology as a tool in evaluating basin depositional environments. ................................................................................ 221

4.4.O. KUHN et al. Micromorphogenesis of MIS2-3 paleosols in Kostiënki 14 and Borshchevo 5. ............................................................................ 225

4.5.O. MORETTI and MORRAS. Controversy on the origin of the ferrallitic pedological mantle in Misiones, Argentina: micromorphological evidence of autochthony. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................. 227

4.6.O. ALONSO ZARZA et al. Calcrete and insect trace micromorphology from the Pleistocene paleosol profiles of the Canary Islands. .............. 232

4.7.O. ZUCCA et al. Genesis and palaeoenvironmental implications of upper Pleistocene palaeosols on the NW Sardinian coast. ........................ 235

4.8.O. MARTI et al. Genesis and characterization of a recarbonated argic palaeosol in Monegros Desert (NE Spain). ........................................... 239

4.1.P. DIAZ ORTEGA et al. Origin of tepetates in Glacis de Buenavista, Morelos, Mexico: micromorphometric indicators. ..................................... 243

4.2.P. SWITONIAK and MROCZEK. Application of micromorphological methods to estimate the influence of accelerated erosion on soil cover in young glacial landscapes, Northeastern Poland. ......................................................................................................................................................... 245

4.3.P. RELLINI et al. Frost activity and ice segregation in loess deposits and paleosols of the Ligurian Alps (Beigua Massif, Italy): evidence of past permafrost?. .................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 250

4.4.P. BERNADES LADEIRA et al. Micromorphological characteristics of a silicified paleosol in the Paleogene Itaqueri Formation (Sao Paulo - Brazil). ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 254

4.5.P. TOVAR and SEDOV. Micromorphological evidence from alluvial paleosols for reconstructing Pleistocene landscapes in Axamilpa, Pue., México. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 257

4.6.P. BALASCH et al. Particle size and micromorphology of loess deposits in the Lower Ebro river valley. ............................................................ 261

4.7.P. TRINDADE et al. Micromorphology analysis of relict slope deposits of Serra da Estrela (Portugal): Preliminary results. ............................... 266


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4.8.P. VAN MOURIK and WALLINGA. Geochronology of initial soils in Late-Holocene polycyclic drift-sand deposits (Weerterbergen, S.E. Netherlands). ................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 270

SESSION V. Site-formation processes in archaeology and cultural landscapes, archaeometry and geoarchaeology

5.1.K.VAN MOURIK and JANSEN. The added value of biomarker analysis in paleopedology. ................................................................................. 274

5.2.K.SEDOV et al. Polygenetic soils and pedosediments of Teotihuacan (Mexico): micromorphological effects of landscape evolution and human impact during pre-hispanic occupation. ........................................................................................................................................................................ 279

5.3.K. MACPHAIL et al. Integrated microstratigraphic investigations and the potential of coastal archaeological soils and sediments to record past land use and cultural activities in Norway and the UK. ................................................................................................................................................ 284

5.1.O. MATEU et al. Different techniques used in the earth constructions at the protohistoric site of Sant Jaume (Alcanar, Tarragona, Spain): construction and furniture elements. ............................................................................................................................................................................ 288

5.2.O. BRUINS and JONGMANS. Micromorphology of ancient agricultural Terraces in the Negev Desert, Horvat Haluqim (Israel). ...................... 292

5.3.O. SCHAEFER et al. Micromorphological studies of archaeo-anthrosols from the Amazon floodplain (Amazonian Dark Earths) and shell middens from the Brazilian coast (Sambaquis). ........................................................................................................................................................... 296

5.4.O. RELLINI et al. Climate and environmental changes recognized by micromorphology in Paleolithic deposits at Arene Candide (Liguria, Italy). ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 301

5.5.O. GOLYEVA and MURASHEVA. On the experience of using biomorphic analysis for archaeological interpretation: the example of the floodplain part of Gnezdovo archaeological complex. .................................................................................................................................................. 305

5.6.O. KEHL et al.Solifluction deposits, reworked loess, colluvia and archaeological features at the Early Neolithic site of Düren-Arnoldsweiler, Lower Rhine area, Germany – a micromorphological approach. ................................................................................................................................. 308

5.7.O. MALLOL et al. Experimental Data on Flat Combustion Structures. .................................................................................................................. 312

5.8.O. GONZALEZ ARQUEROS et al. Dynamics of erosion and sedimentation in the Valley of Teotihuacan (central Mexico): insights from pedostratigraphy. .......................................................................................................................................................................................................... 316

5.9.O. COURTY. Ancestral processing of exceptional organo-mineral materials: microfacies and multi-analytical study ......................................... 321

5.10.O. KAPUR et al. Micromorphological Characteristics of the Tell Kurdu Archaeological Excavation Site, S. Anatolia. ....................................... 326

5.11.O. CABADAS et al. Petrographic analysis in Maya ceramics of Mexico: a micromorphological proxy. .............................................................. 330

5.12.O. ERN et al. Micromorphological aspects of forensic geoarchaeology: ultramicroscopic characterization of phosphatic impregnations on soil particles in experimental burials - preliminary results................................................................................................................................................... 333

5.1.P. BERGADA et al. Microstratigraphy of the Magdalenian at the Cendres Cave (Teulada-Moraira, Alacant, Spain): formation and diagenetic processes. ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 337

5.2.P. ZHUANG and FRENCH. Geoarchaeological investigations of Pre-Yangshao agriculture, ecological diversity and landscape change in North China. ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 340

5.3.P. DEVOS and VRYDAGHS. Unravelling urban stratigraphy: integrating soil micromorphology and phytolith studies to understand the early urban development of Brussels (Belgium). .................................................................................................................................................................. 345

5.4.P. STRAULINO and SEDOV. Weathering of carbonate materials in Ancient Maya constructions (Río Bec and Dzibanché): limestone and stucco deterioration patterns. ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 348

5.5.P. VILLAGRAN and SCHAEFER. Geoarchaeology of the first human settlements in Antarctica. ........................................................................ 352

5.6.P. SAGEIDET and PETERSSON. Soil micromorphological evidence from Iron Age land use at Tornby and Mörtlösa, in Linköping, Sweden. . 356

5.7.P. LEJAY. Taphonomy and Function of Aurignacian Fireplaces at Régismont-le-Haut (France). ........................................................................ 360

5.8.P. VILLAGRAN and GIANNINI. Mounded landscapes of the Brazilian coast: shell, sand and fish mounds from macro- to micro-scale. ........... 362

5.9.P. BORDERIE. Some quantitative aspects of thin section analysis for archaeological research......................................................................... 363

5.10.P. BARBIERI et al. Micromorphological study at the Punic settlement of Pani Loriga (CI, Sardinia). ................................................................. 366

5.11.P. BINICI et al. Thaumasite/ettringite development and durability in blended cement mortars exposed to magnesium sulphate and lime water for 10 years*.................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 370

5.12.P. GREEN and SIMPSON. Casting no shadow: The hunt for overlapping landscapes of Norse-Indigenous interaction in Northern Sweden, looking at the impact both cultures had on the landscape and how this was recorded within the inherent podzolic soils. ......................................... 373

5.13.P. ANGELUCCI et al. First geoarcheological and micromorphological data on the Middle Paleolithic site of Cueva Antón (Murcia, Spain). ... 376

5.14.P. ISMAIL-MEYER et al. Micromorphology of a Roman water mill in Cham-Hagendorn, Switzerland. .............................................................. 380

5.15.P. WOUTERS et al. A micromorphological study of the origins of an early medieval trading centre: the case study of Antwerp, Belgium. ...... 381

AUTHOR INDEX ........................................................................................................................................................................ 384

Micromorphology of ancient agricultural Terraces in the Negev Desert, Horvat Haluqim (Israel).

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