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Outputs (14)

A multi-proxy reconstruction of anthropogenic land use in southwest Asia at 6 kya: Combining archaeological, ethnographic and environmental datasets (2024)
Journal Article
Welton, L., Hammer, E., Chelazzi, F., de Gruchy, M., Gaastra, J., & Lawrence, D. (2025). A multi-proxy reconstruction of anthropogenic land use in southwest Asia at 6 kya: Combining archaeological, ethnographic and environmental datasets. Quaternary Science Reviews, 349, Article 109142. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.109142

Land use and land cover (LULC) changes have important biophysical and biogeochemical effects on climate via a variety of mechanisms. Several climate modelling studies have demonstrated the impact of LULC scenarios on past climate reconstructions. Tes... Read More about A multi-proxy reconstruction of anthropogenic land use in southwest Asia at 6 kya: Combining archaeological, ethnographic and environmental datasets.

Raincheck: A new diachronic series of rainfall maps for Southwest Asia over the Holocene (2022)
Journal Article
Hewett, Z., de Gruchy, M., Hill, D., & Lawrence, D. (2022). Raincheck: A new diachronic series of rainfall maps for Southwest Asia over the Holocene. Levant, 54(1), 5-28. https://doi.org/10.1080/00758914.2022.2052660

Fluctuations in climate have been associated with significant societal changes, both in the modern day and in the past. In dryland environments such as much of Southwest Asia, rainfall is often used as a proxy for soil moisture available for crop pro... Read More about Raincheck: A new diachronic series of rainfall maps for Southwest Asia over the Holocene.

Impact of anthropogenic activities on woodland in northern Syria (4th-2nd millennia BC): Evidence from charcoal assemblages and oak measurements (2021)
Journal Article
Deckers, K., Polisca, F., Riehl, S., de Gruchy, M., & Lawrence, D. (2024). Impact of anthropogenic activities on woodland in northern Syria (4th-2nd millennia BC): Evidence from charcoal assemblages and oak measurements. Environmental Archaeology, 29(2), 129-164. https://doi.org/10.1080/14614103.2021.1989977

In this paper charcoals from the Syrian sites Tell Mozan and Tell Jerablus are investigated to understand the impact of 4th to 2nd millennium BC settlement and urbanization on the vegetation. In total 18,786 charcoal fragments from these sites have b... Read More about Impact of anthropogenic activities on woodland in northern Syria (4th-2nd millennia BC): Evidence from charcoal assemblages and oak measurements.

The Khandaq Shapur: Defense, Irrigation, Boundary, Frontier (2021)
Journal Article
de Gruchy, M., Jotheri, J., Alqaragholi, H., Al-Janabi, J., Alabdan, R., Al-Talaqani, H., Almamouri, G., & Al-Rubaye, H. (2021). The Khandaq Shapur: Defense, Irrigation, Boundary, Frontier. Land, 10(10), Article 1017. https://doi.org/10.3390/land10101017

Khandaq Shapur has been named one of the great barriers of the ancient world, but very little is known about the monumental-scale linear feature. This interdisciplinary paper brings together archaeologists and historians to present (1) an updated his... Read More about The Khandaq Shapur: Defense, Irrigation, Boundary, Frontier.

Landscapes, climate and choice: Examining patterns in animal provisioning across the Near East c. 13,000-0 BCE (2021)
Journal Article
Gaastra, J., Welton, L., de Gruchy, M., & Lawrence, D. (2021). Landscapes, climate and choice: Examining patterns in animal provisioning across the Near East c. 13,000-0 BCE. Quaternary International, 595, 54-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quaint.2021.03.045

Understanding the organisation of food production is vital for understanding ancient societies. Multiple factors may influence decision making, including the local environmental capacity of a given area and individual and cultural preferences. This s... Read More about Landscapes, climate and choice: Examining patterns in animal provisioning across the Near East c. 13,000-0 BCE.

Collapse and continuity: A multi-proxy reconstruction of settlement organization and population trajectories in the Northern Fertile Crescent during the 4.2kya Rapid Climate Change event (2021)
Journal Article
Lawrence, D., Palmisano, A., & de Gruchy, M. W. (2021). Collapse and continuity: A multi-proxy reconstruction of settlement organization and population trajectories in the Northern Fertile Crescent during the 4.2kya Rapid Climate Change event. PLoS ONE, 16(1), Article e0244871. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0244871

The rise and fall of ancient societies have been attributed to rapid climate change events. One of the most discussed of these is the 4.2kya event, a period of increased aridity and cooling posited as the cause of societal changes across the globe, i... Read More about Collapse and continuity: A multi-proxy reconstruction of settlement organization and population trajectories in the Northern Fertile Crescent during the 4.2kya Rapid Climate Change event.

Holocene regional population dynamics and climatic trends in the Near East: a first comparison using archaeo-demographic proxies (2020)
Journal Article
Palmisano, A., Lawrence, D., de Gruchy, M. W., Bevan, A., & Shennan, S. (2020). Holocene regional population dynamics and climatic trends in the Near East: a first comparison using archaeo-demographic proxies. Quaternary Science Reviews, 252, Article 106739. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2020.106739

This paper illustrates long-term trends in human population and climate from the Late Pleistocene to the Late Holocene (14,000-2500 cal. yr. BP) in order to assess to what degree climate change impacted human societies in the Near East. It draws on a... Read More about Holocene regional population dynamics and climatic trends in the Near East: a first comparison using archaeo-demographic proxies.