Paleolimnology in support of archeology: a review of past investigations and a proposed framework for future study desig
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D.G. FREY AND E.S. DEEVEY REVIEW
Paleolimnology in support of archeology: a review of past investigations and a proposed framework for future study design Madison A. Bell
. Jules M. Blais
Received: 30 October 2019 / Accepted: 16 September 2020 Ó Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract We conducted a systematic review of 89 paleolimnological studies applied to archeological questions. Where we discuss the physical, chemical and biological sediment variables used in these studies in terms of their advantages and disadvantages as paleolimnological proxies for archeological studies. We make four key observations: (1) This field is rapidly growing, (2) More research is needed, (3) More standardization is required for future integrative analyses, and (4) More robust studies with multiple proxies are needed as the field grows. To address these challenges, we developed a framework to help researchers design paleolimnological studies in support of archeology. The framework includes standardized terminology of proxy characteristics and definition of a new term: orthogonality. This framework was then integrated with decision matrix analysis to build study scores that can be used to help researchers optimize their study design. This approach will help future researchers build more robust paleolimnology studies to more effectively complement independent archeological work. We also summarized new areas of archeology and chemistry that could be integrated with paleolimnology in the future.
M. A. Bell (&) J. M. Blais Laboratory for the Analysis of Natural and Synthetic Environmental Toxicants, Department of Biology, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, ON K1N 6N5, Canada e-mail: [email protected]
Keywords Archeology Paleolimnology Proxies Biomarkers Paleoarchives Study design
Introduction Natural archives of paleoenvironmental information (e.g. tree rings, ice, peat, and marine and lake sediments) can reveal how past humans altered their environment (Dubois and Jacob 2016; Mills et al. 2017). The environmental information preserved is interpreted using chemical, physical, and biological proxies. These chemical and biological remains are referred to as ‘‘proxies’’ because they can be used to indirectly infer changes in past environmental and ecological conditions (i.e. temperature, pH, past species diversity, etc.), and these conditions can then be related to actual historical events or trends (e.g. agriculture, soil erosion, etc.) that cannot be measured directly. Many types of proxies are used in natural archives, and they can be classified into three main groups: (1) physical, (2) biological, and (3) chemical (Fig. 1). Physical proxies in lake sediments include descriptive characteristics of the natural archive like color, texture, density, magnetic properties, and particle size (Last and Smol 2001a; USGS 2016). They can provide information about past changes in hydrology, soil erosion, and cultural eutrophication (Mills et al. 2017).
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J Paleolimnol
Proxies
Chemical
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