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Archaeology of Sustainability and Sustainable Archaeology

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Tourism, Culture, and Heritage".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2022) | Viewed by 33092

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Andrea Zerboni

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Guest Editor

Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra “A. Desio”, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via L. Mangiagalli 34, I-20133 Milan, Italy
Interests: geoarchaeology; arid land; climate change

Dr. Filippo Brandolini

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Guest Editor

McCord Centre for Landscape - School of History, Classics and Archaeology Newcastle University, Armstrong Building, Newcastle upon Tyne - NE1 7RU, UK
Interests: landscape archaeology; fluvial geomorphology; historical land use

Dr. Francesco Carrer

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Dr. Guido S. Mariani

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Guest Editor

Dipartimento di Scienze Chimiche e Geologiche, Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy
Interests: geoarchaeology; palaeosols; micromorphology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the context of archaeological research and practice, the subject of Sustainability has a two-fold implication.

From one side, the archaeological record provides evidence of sustainable practices carried out by ancient communities in different ecological niches around the globe. Adaptations to climatic and environmental variations, strategies for the exploitation and management of natural resources (soil, wood, water, etc.), changes in land use, and examples of resilience or fragility of human societies are commonly detected in the archaeological record and, at a large scale, in archaeological landscapes. In the context of the current climatic shifts, such information is a precious tool to build narratives for the public about the risks human communities face in front of a rapidly changing environment, and to show lessons from our shared past. Furthermore, it is increasingly acknowledged among scholars and policymakers that the current character of socioecological systems depends on their long-term evolution, which only archaeological research can unravel.

On the other hand, today, archaeological cultural heritage needs the development of good practices for sustainable investigation, conservation, management, and touristic promotion. The so-called Global North leads archaeological research, while archaeologists in the Global South are struggling because of their limited access to funding and scientific information. The archaeological record in the World is threatened by ongoing climate change and out-of-control urbanization as much as other destructive human practices. Many countries lack the proper laws to protect and manage archaeological sites and landscapes, rarely considered as a resource for tourism and for the sustainable development of local communities. The growth of FOSS/FLOSS (Free/Libre Open Source Software) would foster accessibility to scientific tools, reducing costs and boosting the adoption of proper sustainable management policies. New technologies in archaeological research may also improve the possibility to cope with abrupt interruption in field research in the case of natural disasters, social unrest or pandemic.

This Special Issue is intended to gather contributions illustrating the multifaceted aspects of archaeology of sustainability and sustainable archaeology. Papers presenting and discussing archaeological, ethnoarchaeological, and geoarchaeological evidence of past land use changes, resilience, and sustainable exploitation of natural resources are welcomed, especially if they focus on poorly investigated areas of the world, or regions undergoing profound socioecological transformations. Papers reporting on extant challenges for the sustainability of research and management of archaeological cultural heritage and the application of new technologies and FOSS/FLOSS protocols, as well as discussing topics on the future agenda for a global sustainable archaeology are solicited. We also seek contributions that explore the theoretical and methodological challenges of this topic.

Prof. Dr. Andrea Zerboni
Dr. Filippo Brandolini
Dr. Francesco Carrer
Dr. Guido S. Mariani
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

archaeology of sustainability
geoarchaeology
landscape archaeology, environmental archaeology
ethnoarchaeology
land use
resilience
climate change
cultural heritage preservation
cultural heritage management

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

24 pages, 3984 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Archaeological Evidence for Community Resilience and Sustainability: A Bibliometric and Quantitative Review

by Matthew J. Jacobson

Sustainability 2022, 14(24), 16591; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142416591 - 11 Dec 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2438

Abstract

Archaeology is often argued to provide a unique long-term perspective on humans that can be utilised for effective policy-making, for example, in discussions of resilience and sustainability. However, the specific archaeological evidence for resilient/sustainable systems is rarely explored, with these terms often used simply to describe a community that survived a particular shock. In this study, a set of 74 case studies of papers discussing archaeological evidence for resilience/sustainability are identified and analysed using bibliometric methods. Variables from the papers are also quantified to assess patterns and provide a review of current knowledge. A great variety of scales of analysis, case study locations, stressors, resilient/sustainable characteristics, and archaeological evidence types are present. Climate change was the most cited stressor (n = 40) and strategies relating to natural resources were common across case studies, especially subsistence adaptations (n = 35), other solutions to subsistence deficiencies (n = 23), and water management (n = 23). Resilient/sustainable characteristics were often in direct contrast to one-another, suggesting the combination of factors is more important than each factor taken individually. Further quantification of well-defined variables within a formally-produced framework is required to extract greater value from archaeological case studies of resilience/sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Archaeology of Sustainability and Sustainable Archaeology)

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24 pages, 11599 KiB

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Developing a Geocultural Database of Quaternary Palaeoenvironmental Sites and Archaeological Sites in Southeast Arabia: Inventory, Endangerment Assessment, and a Roadmap for Conservation

by Kenta Sayama, Adrian G. Parker, Ash Parton and Heather Viles

Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 14096; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su142114096 - 28 Oct 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1665

Abstract

Quaternary palaeoenvironmental (QP) sites in Southeast Arabia are important not only to understand the history of global climate change but also to study how ancient humans adapted to a changing natural environment. These sites, however, are currently missing from conservation frameworks despite reports of destroyed sites and sites under imminent threat. This study presents the Geocultural Database of Southeast Arabia, the first open-access database on QP sites in this region, created as a comprehensive inventory of regional QP sites and a tool to analyse QP records and archaeological records. The endangerment assessment of QP sites in this database reveals that 13% of QP sites have already been destroyed and 15% of them are under imminent threat of destruction, primarily due to urban development and infrastructure development. Chronological and spatial analyses of QP and archaeological sites and records highlight the intricate relationship between palaeoenvironment and archaeology and emphasise the need for sub-regional-scale studies to understand the variation of climatic conditions within the region, especially to study changes in the ancient human demography. This database illustrates the potential of a geocultural approach that combines archaeological heritage with Quaternary geoheritage as a way forward for the conservation of QP sites at risk. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Archaeology of Sustainability and Sustainable Archaeology)

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22 pages, 11777 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cognitive Accessibility in Rural Heritage: A New Proposal for the Archaeological Landscape of Castulo

by Santiago Quesada-García, Pablo Valero-Flores, David Mendoza-Alvarez and Joseph Cabeza-Lainez

Sustainability 2022, 14(18), 11581; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su141811581 - 15 Sep 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1685

Abstract

The long-lost Ibero-Roman citadel of Castŭlō, or Castulo as it is known today, has been revealed to be one of the most important centers of the southern Iberian Peninsula due to its size and its geographical position. The ancient walled holdfast occupies an area of about 50 hectares, with overlapping vestiges from different historical stages. During the last intervention in the northwest city walls, a set of important findings was revealed, notably a Roman high-quality relief depicting a lion which holds a human head between its paws. This article, in addition to contextualizing and presenting the archaeological site, focuses on the latest work carried out in the northern area of the city’s Punic wall. Based on the data obtained, an urban interpretation is also provided on the use and function of this walled city area and how it was attuned to the surroundings to configure a new kind of landscape project. Relevant endeavours have been undertaken by the authors in order to render the restoration feasible, and prominently to introduce a more innovative issue of cognitive accessibility for the visitors who are allowed to enjoy this significant piece of heritage despite the hindrances of the terrain. This is the fundamental objective of a former research project by the authors, and it was extended to offer a key to sustainable archaeology, establishing design criteria for the planning of spaces that fulfil the experience of visiting heritage for groups of people with cognitive problems: among them, those with Alzheimer’s disease. By addressing these pending requirements, the sustainable qualities of the archaeological sites would be significantly enhanced. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Archaeology of Sustainability and Sustainable Archaeology)

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21 pages, 2144 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Supervised Machine Learning Algorithms to Predict Provenance of Archaeological Pottery Fragments

by Anna Anglisano, Lluís Casas, Ignasi Queralt and Roberta Di Febo

Sustainability 2022, 14(18), 11214; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su141811214 - 07 Sep 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2554

Abstract

Code and data sharing are crucial practices to advance toward sustainable archaeology. This article explores the performance of supervised machine learning classification methods for provenancing archaeological pottery through the use of freeware R code in the form of R Markdown files. An illustrative example was used to show all the steps of the new methodology, starting from the requirements to its implementation, the verification of its classification capability and finally, the production of cluster predictions. The example confirms that supervised methods are able to distinguish classes with similar features, and provenancing is achievable. The provided code contains self-explanatory notes to guide the users through the classification algorithms. Archaeometrists without previous knowledge of R should be able to apply the novel methodology to similar well-constrained classification problems. Experienced users could fully exploit the code to set up different combinations of parameters, and they could further develop it by adding other classification algorithms to suit the requirements of diverse classification strategies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Archaeology of Sustainability and Sustainable Archaeology)

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13 pages, 7501 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Landscape Archaeology of Southern Mesopotamia: Identifying Features in the Dried Marshes

by Jaafar Jotheri, Malath Feadha, Jassim Al-Janabi and Raheem Alabdan

Sustainability 2022, 14(17), 10961; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su141710961 - 02 Sep 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 4024

Abstract

The landscape of the Mesopotamian floodplain is mainly structured by channel processes, including the formation of levees, meanders, scrollbars, oxbow lakes, crevasse splays, distributary channels, inter-distributary bays, and marshes. Moreover, several human-made features also form and shape this landscape, such as canals, roads, trenches, farms, and settlement sites ranging in size from villages to cities. A significant part of the Mesopotamian floodplain is covered by marshes, especially the southern region. These marshlands have thrived for thousands of years and are well known for their sustainable biodiversity and ecosystem. However, after the deliberate draining of the marshes in the 1990s, the areas have become dry and only small areas of shallow water and narrow strips of vegetation remain. Several kinds of archaeological landscape features have appeared on the surface and can be clearly identified in both ground surveys and with the use of remote sensing tools. This paper aims to determine the type and nature of the preserved archaeological features that appear in the landscape of the dried marshes and whether they are different from other features elsewhere in the Mesopotamian floodplain. An intensive ground survey was carried out in a selected area of the dried marshland, resulting in the identification of six types of archaeological features: settlement sites, rivers, canals, farms, grooves, and roads (hollow ways). These features used to be covered by bodies of deep water and dense zones of vegetation (reeds and papyrus). Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Archaeology of Sustainability and Sustainable Archaeology)

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20 pages, 886 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Developing Transdisciplinary Approaches to Sustainability Challenges: The Need to Model Socio-Environmental Systems in the Longue Durée

by Fabio Silva, Fiona Coward, Kimberley Davies, Sarah Elliott, Emma Jenkins, Adrian C. Newton, Philip Riris, Marc Vander Linden, Jennifer Bates, Elena Cantarello, Daniel A. Contreras, Stefani A. Crabtree, Enrico R. Crema, Mary Edwards, Tatiana Filatova, Ben Fitzhugh, Hannah Fluck, Jacob Freeman, Kees Klein Goldewijk, Marta Krzyzanska, Daniel Lawrence, Helen Mackay, Marco Madella, Shira Yoshi Maezumi, Rob Marchant, Sophie Monsarrat, Kathleen D. Morrison, Ryan Rabett, Patrick Roberts, Mehdi Saqalli, Rick Stafford, Jens-Christian Svenning, Nicki J. Whithouse and Alice Williams Show full author list Hide full author list

Sustainability 2022, 14(16), 10234; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su141610234 - 17 Aug 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 5885

Abstract

Human beings are an active component of every terrestrial ecosystem on Earth. Although our local impact on the evolution of these ecosystems has been undeniable and extensively documented, it remains unclear precisely how our activities are altering them, in part because ecosystems are dynamic systems structured by complex, non-linear feedback processes and cascading effects. We argue that it is only by studying human–environment interactions over timescales that greatly exceed the lifespan of any individual human (i.e., the deep past or longue durée), we can hope to fully understand such processes and their implications. In this article, we identify some of the key challenges faced in integrating long-term datasets with those of other areas of sustainability science, and suggest some useful ways forward. Specifically, we (a) highlight the potential of the historical sciences for sustainability science, (b) stress the need to integrate theoretical frameworks wherein humans are seen as inherently entangled with the environment, and (c) propose formal computational modelling as the ideal platform to overcome the challenges of transdisciplinary work across large, and multiple, geographical and temporal scales. Our goal is to provide a manifesto for an integrated scientific approach to the study of socio-ecological systems over the long term. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Archaeology of Sustainability and Sustainable Archaeology)

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24 pages, 5172 KiB

Open AccessEditor’s ChoiceArticle

The Sustainability of Rock Art: Preservation and Research

by Andrea Zerboni, Federica Villa, Ying-Li Wu, Tadele Solomon, Andrea Trentini, Alessandro Rizzi, Francesca Cappitelli and Marina Gallinaro

Sustainability 2022, 14(10), 6305; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14106305 - 22 May 2022

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 4436

Abstract

Rock art is a widespread cultural heritage, representing an immovable element of the material culture created on natural rocky supports. Paintings and petroglyphs can be found within caves and rock shelters or in open-air contexts and for that reason they are not isolated from the processes acting at the Earth surface. Consequently, rock art represents a sort of ecosystem because it is part of the complex and multidirectional interplay between the host rock, pigments, environmental parameters, and microbial communities. Such complexity results in several processes affecting rock art; some of them contribute to its destruction, others to its preservation. To understand the effects of such processes an interdisciplinary scientific approach is needed. In this contribution, we discuss the many processes acting at the rock interface—where rock art is present—and the multifaceted possibilities of scientific investigations—non-invasive or invasive—offered by the STEM disciplines. Finally, we suggest a sustainable approach to investigating rock art allowing to understand its production as well as its preservation and eventually suggest strategies to mitigate the risks threatening its stability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Archaeology of Sustainability and Sustainable Archaeology)

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19 pages, 9240 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Millets and Cereal Meals from the Early Iron Age Underwater Settlement of “Gran Carro” (Bolsena Lake, Central Italy)

by Ana Fundurulic, Ilenia Valenti, Alessandra Celant, Barbara Barbaro, Mafalda Costa, Ana Manhita, Egidio Severi, Cristina Barrocas Dias and Donatella Magri

Sustainability 2022, 14(7), 3941; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14073941 - 26 Mar 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 3911

Abstract

Archeobotanical materials recovered from pottery vessels originating from the underwater archeological site of “Gran Carro”, located in Central Italy on the shore of Bolsena Lake, were analyzed to obtain new insight into the agricultural habits present in this Iron Age settlement. The archeobotanical study of cereal remains was combined with analytical data obtained from an amorphous organic residue using optical microscopy, SEM-EDS, ATR/FT-IR and Py-GC/MS. The cereal remains of emmer wheat (Triticum dicoccum), barley (Hordeum vulgare), broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum), and foxtail millet (Setaria italica) were identified as the preferred crops used for food and/or fodder at the site. The presence of charred millets, which have been directly dated by AMS, confirms consumption at the site and adds to the little-known background of millet use in central Italy. The find of millets in a perilacustrine pile-dwelling during a period when the water level of the Bolsena Lake was several meters lower than at present, attesting to a general dry period, suggests that the cultivation of millets, complementing more productive crops of wheat and barley, may have been favored by the availability of a large seasonally dry coastal plain, characterized by poor and sandy soils unsuitable for more demanding cereals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Archaeology of Sustainability and Sustainable Archaeology)

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21 pages, 15358 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Role of the Archeological Heritage Sites in the Process of Urban Regeneration of UNESCO’s Cities—Boka Bay Case Study

by Slađana Lazarević, Dražen Arbutina and Svetislav G. Popović

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1566; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su14031566 - 28 Jan 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2503

Abstract

The role of the archeological and cultural heritage sites in the process of urban regeneration in UNESCO’s protected areas becomes more and more important for the natural and cultural heritage protection in the touristic cities with urban expansion. However, there is no clear methodological approach for the inclusion of these important natural and cultural heritage sites in the process of urban regeneration of the cities. The purpose of this study is to analyze how two contemporary urban planning tools, sustainable urban mobility plans and heritage impact assessments, contribute to the protection and sustainable use of archeological sites. The methodology that is used in this study is dual, theoretical, through literature review, and empirical, through the appliance of the case study method and expert observation and mapping of the most valuable archeological sites in Boka Bay. The results of this study show that practical usage of the two proposed tools in the process of urban regeneration could help in cultural and natural heritage protection and their inclusion as drivers of sustainable urban planning and cultural heritage management. The results of the study confirm the authors’ hypothesis that the role of the archeological sites in the process of urban regeneration is evident in the touristic cities in the coastal area of Montenegro, concluding that urban mobility principles and heritage impact assessment studies must be considered in the process of urban regeneration while at the same time cultural (archeological) heritage management is an integral part of this process. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Archaeology of Sustainability and Sustainable Archaeology)

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