Papers by Sjoerd Kluiving
Geologie En Mijnbouw, 2014
EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts, Apr 1, 2015
EGU General Assembly Conference Abstracts, Apr 1, 2015
Catena, 2017
Romans who settled in the Low Countries at the northern margin of their empire were practicing di... more Romans who settled in the Low Countries at the northern margin of their empire were practicing diverse systems of water management to maintain economic and above all strategic stability. In the early Roman period (12 BC - AD 70) they created a shipping route from the Rhine towards the north by digging canals and constructing dams, such as the Dam of Drusus, accompanied by the adjacent Roman fortress of Carvium (Herwen). This dam was situated at the bifurcation point of the Rhine and Waal river branches and was designed to channel more water into the Rhine. All these engineering feats were undertaken in order to control the northern part of Germania via the Wadden Sea and the German rivers Ems, Weser and Elbe. By the middle Roman period (AD 70 - 270) the Romans had cancelled their efforts to subdue Germania and this is a period when the Rhine is known as the limes (Roman state border).
The research area described in this paper is situated near Herwen in the eastern part of the Rhine-Meuse delta system. The area has a dynamic late Holocene erosional and depositional history, close to the river system’s equilibrium point. In order to reconstruct the former landscape and to investigate whether evidence of Roman waterworks could be detected, geoarchaeological coring campaigns were carried out to gain insight into the sedimentology, chronology, stratigraphy and geoarchaeology of the region.
Results indicate that Pleistocene sediments are only preserved in the western part of the research area, but further east then previously known. Dating of gullies and levees has confirmed Roman and potentially pre-Roman fluvial activity closer to the Roman fortress of Carvium then was previously known. Four newly discovered residual gullies provide a greater insight into the character of the Roman landscape than hitherto known.
The largest of the newly identified gullies may be instrumental in finding the location of the Dam of Drusus, however, much depends on the question as to whether the gully represents an actual former stream channel or simply a crevasse and this cannot be ascertained on the current evidence. Nevertheless the results of this study reinforce the assumption that the Roman castellum was situated on the apex of the Insula Batavorum and close to the Dam of Drusus at the bifurcation of the Rhine and Waal.
The subdivision Soil as a Record of the Past (SRP) was founded during the General Assembly 2012 o... more The subdivision Soil as a Record of the Past (SRP) was founded during the General Assembly 2012 of the European Geosciences Union (EGU). The main mission of the subdivision SRP within the division Soil System Sciences (SSS) was to create oral and poster sessions focusing on the results of studies utilizing soils as archives. This includes:
1. Soils and palaeosols that provide information related to soil genesis and landscape evolution.
2. Results of analysis of soil records that may be relevant for disciplines such as soil science, geoecology, archaeology and landscape ecology.
3. Various analytical techniques that are (and have become) available to ‘read’ the soil records.
4. Bringing together disparate information from various soil records to contribute effectively to studies of the evolution of natural and cultural landscapes.
Environmental change and human activity both have an impact on soil development making soils and palaeosols important and significant as long-term geo-ecological and geo-archaeological archives. SRP sessions include relevant aspects of soils in various climatic settings, including using soil and sediment micromorphology, to reconstruct palaeoenvironments and historical and recent human impact on geo-ecosystems.
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Papers by Sjoerd Kluiving
The research area described in this paper is situated near Herwen in the eastern part of the Rhine-Meuse delta system. The area has a dynamic late Holocene erosional and depositional history, close to the river system’s equilibrium point. In order to reconstruct the former landscape and to investigate whether evidence of Roman waterworks could be detected, geoarchaeological coring campaigns were carried out to gain insight into the sedimentology, chronology, stratigraphy and geoarchaeology of the region.
Results indicate that Pleistocene sediments are only preserved in the western part of the research area, but further east then previously known. Dating of gullies and levees has confirmed Roman and potentially pre-Roman fluvial activity closer to the Roman fortress of Carvium then was previously known. Four newly discovered residual gullies provide a greater insight into the character of the Roman landscape than hitherto known.
The largest of the newly identified gullies may be instrumental in finding the location of the Dam of Drusus, however, much depends on the question as to whether the gully represents an actual former stream channel or simply a crevasse and this cannot be ascertained on the current evidence. Nevertheless the results of this study reinforce the assumption that the Roman castellum was situated on the apex of the Insula Batavorum and close to the Dam of Drusus at the bifurcation of the Rhine and Waal.
1. Soils and palaeosols that provide information related to soil genesis and landscape evolution.
2. Results of analysis of soil records that may be relevant for disciplines such as soil science, geoecology, archaeology and landscape ecology.
3. Various analytical techniques that are (and have become) available to ‘read’ the soil records.
4. Bringing together disparate information from various soil records to contribute effectively to studies of the evolution of natural and cultural landscapes.
Environmental change and human activity both have an impact on soil development making soils and palaeosols important and significant as long-term geo-ecological and geo-archaeological archives. SRP sessions include relevant aspects of soils in various climatic settings, including using soil and sediment micromorphology, to reconstruct palaeoenvironments and historical and recent human impact on geo-ecosystems.
The research area described in this paper is situated near Herwen in the eastern part of the Rhine-Meuse delta system. The area has a dynamic late Holocene erosional and depositional history, close to the river system’s equilibrium point. In order to reconstruct the former landscape and to investigate whether evidence of Roman waterworks could be detected, geoarchaeological coring campaigns were carried out to gain insight into the sedimentology, chronology, stratigraphy and geoarchaeology of the region.
Results indicate that Pleistocene sediments are only preserved in the western part of the research area, but further east then previously known. Dating of gullies and levees has confirmed Roman and potentially pre-Roman fluvial activity closer to the Roman fortress of Carvium then was previously known. Four newly discovered residual gullies provide a greater insight into the character of the Roman landscape than hitherto known.
The largest of the newly identified gullies may be instrumental in finding the location of the Dam of Drusus, however, much depends on the question as to whether the gully represents an actual former stream channel or simply a crevasse and this cannot be ascertained on the current evidence. Nevertheless the results of this study reinforce the assumption that the Roman castellum was situated on the apex of the Insula Batavorum and close to the Dam of Drusus at the bifurcation of the Rhine and Waal.
1. Soils and palaeosols that provide information related to soil genesis and landscape evolution.
2. Results of analysis of soil records that may be relevant for disciplines such as soil science, geoecology, archaeology and landscape ecology.
3. Various analytical techniques that are (and have become) available to ‘read’ the soil records.
4. Bringing together disparate information from various soil records to contribute effectively to studies of the evolution of natural and cultural landscapes.
Environmental change and human activity both have an impact on soil development making soils and palaeosols important and significant as long-term geo-ecological and geo-archaeological archives. SRP sessions include relevant aspects of soils in various climatic settings, including using soil and sediment micromorphology, to reconstruct palaeoenvironments and historical and recent human impact on geo-ecosystems.
The primary aim of the conference is to make a contribution to the ongoing debate concerning the form and content of interdisciplinary research on human-environment dynamics in past societies from prehistory to Late Antiquity. The conference will be an arena for innovative ideas, integrated methods and lessons learnt from current interdisciplinary projects in the Peloponnese and beyond. In answer to the open call for more collaborative research efforts, the conference will host 17 lectures by members of the PELOPS group and invited speakers, presenting well integrated accounts of human-environment interactions in past societies.
The conference will open on Thursday, 6 April, 2017, 7 pm at the Acropolis museum, with a lecture by Michael GIVEN (University of Glasgow), ‘Conviviality of the land: towards a new academic ecology’, followed by a welcome reception at the Swedish Institute at Athens.
The conference will thereafter take place at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 7-8 April, 9 am-18 pm.