Cultures et Environnements. Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen Âge

Abstract Several syn and post-depositional processes are responsible for different degrees of site and assemblage formation and disturbance. Understanding the processes that lead to archaeological site formation is essential for interpreting past human activities, settlement patterns, and occupation dynamics. Among these processes, water flow is commonly recognized as a major factor influencing site and assemblage formation and integrity. Lithic taphonomy can add valuable information to the understanding of these natural processes. To better evaluate how different flint types react to both mechanical and chemical stresses, we carried out controlled and sequential experiments on knapped flint artifact replicas. These were realized on two different flint varieties, recognized in the archaeological assemblage of a Middle Stone Age open-air site located at Wadi Lazalim (Southern Tunisia). Our methodological framework is based on a sequential tumbling experiment that simulates the remobilization of artifacts by water. The resulting post-depositional surface modifications (PDSM) were observed and recorded. In addition, a sample of flint replicas underwent chemical alteration in a controlled environment, allowing us to document and measure both patina formation and changes in surface roughness. These experimental results were then compared with a sample of archaeological materials, providing the basis for a preliminary and exploratory hypothesis concerning the taphonomic processes at the site. Here, we observed that most of the alterations appear to be linked to patina formation, whose variable degree and kind are more strongly correlated with differences in raw material texture rather than to the co-occurrence of artefacts from different chronological spans.

This review examines the societal ramifications of large volcanic eruptions—not the proximal impacts of lava, ash, pumice, and gaseous emissions but rather the consequences of the climate forcing triggered by dispersal of volcanic sulfate aerosol in the stratosphere. Using ice core records of volcanism and tree-ring data of summer temperature anomalies, we analyze 38 preindustrial eruptions that injected an estimated 6 Tg or more of sulfur into the stratosphere. We then explore more than 100 works that consider the volcanism-climate-society nexus, teasing out the key elements of their arguments for or against the role of volcanically forced climate change in far-field societal impacts. As well as summarizing and interrogating the history of ideas and state of the art on this topic, we hope to stimulate further holistic, interdisciplinary approaches to assess the broader implications of volcanic eruptions, particularly for global food security—both in the past and in the future. ▪ There are compelling arguments to consider the role of volcanically forced climate change in explanations of history. ▪ Such research requires integration of geographical, ecological, demographic, econometric, and other data with historical sources and narratives, and therefore demands cross-disciplinary conversation. ▪ Statistical evidence is needed to attribute weather and climate extremes to volcanic forcing, and agricultural and pastoral responses to climate anomalies must be reconstructed at high spatiotemporal resolution. ▪ Several prominent climate forcing eruptions in circa 304, 1182, 1345, and 1453 CE have hitherto received comparatively little attention.

• Identification of a canal located in the Rhône Delta between Arles and Fos-Sur-Mer. • Chrono-stratigraphical and palaeoenvironmental analyses of the ancient canal. • The canal was navigable during the Roman period. • A palaeochannel from the 1st millennium BCE existed before this Roman canal. The Marius Canal is considered the first significant Roman hydraulic infrastructure in Gaul. This navigable canal, constructed at the end of the 2nd century BCE, was located in the Rhône Delta in southern France, connecting the Rhône River to the Mediterranean Sea. In the period following the construction of the canal, the large port known as Fossae Marianae was built on the coast. Despite numerous references in ancient sources, the precise location of the canal has remained unknown for the last two millennia. However, recent geophysical surveys in the eastern Rhône Delta have revealed a linear anomaly, alongside the discovery of Roman artefacts, which may indicate the presence of a Roman canal. The objective of this study is to examine morphological, sedimentary and chronological attributes of this structure, postulated to be the Canal of Marius. Sedimentary cores extracted from the supposed canal and the banks are studied on a high-resolution scale using a detailed multi-proxy methodology (grain-size, carbonate content, organic matter, magnetic susceptibility) combined with twenty-one 14 C dates. The morphological analyses and palaeoenvironmental data are consistent with the hypothesis of a navigable canal operable during the Roman period, built in a complex area where an ancient lagoon was partly eroded by a palaeochannel of the Rhône dated to the 1st millennium BCE. However, further archaeological research is needed to definitely confirm that this is the canal known as the Marius Canal.

• Archaeobotany successfully records viticulture in the absence of specialised production facilities. • Similar trends in seeds and charcoals suggest local viticulture by the 6th-5th c. BCE. • Winegrowing has developed in a favourable climatic context. • Taphonomic causes prevent archaeobotany from accurately recording the scale of specialised viticulture. Winegrowing has dramatically shaped the landscapes as well as the culture and economy of societies in the Mediterranean region. It is generally accepted that it appeared and expanded in Mediterranean France during the Iron Age and the Roman period (ca 750 BCE − 500 CE). Viticulture flourished massively during the Early Roman Empire, when wine was widely exported throughout the Empire. The objective of this paper is to propose an updated overview of the history of viticulture based on a multidisciplinary survey combining archaeobotanical, archaeological data and modelling of wine potential yields. We aim to compare the information provided by seed-fruits and by charcoal, and to better understand how these data can be used to trace ancient viticulture in relation to other archaeological data. We collected and entered into a database all available results of charcoal and seed-fruit analyses from Mediterranean France and the middle Rhône valley. Seed and fruits provide evidence of fruit consumption and processing (table vs . pressing), while charcoal remains are stronger indicators of local cultivation. We also included published archaeological information about wineries and amphorae factories. This provides another way of identifying areas of cultivation and processing into wine, and gives hints on the scale of production and the possible destination for export. The reconstructions based on the multi-proxy information contained in the database are compared to the climate-vegetation LPJmL model estimates of wine potential yields and their variations over space and time. Charcoal and seed evidence concur to show that viticulture started in the 6th-5th c. BCE and developed with the progressive increase of potential wine yields throughout the Iron Age and then with the Roman Climatic Optimum. In the Roman period, the development of specialised winemaking facilities provides impressive evidence of viticulture, but is at the same time less favourable to its record by archaeobotany. Apparently, charcoals and seeds are more frequently preserved in rubbish assemblages when winemaking activities are still associated with domestic activities. While wineries and amphorae factories bear witness to a wine crisis in the Late Roman period, archaeobotanical remains indicate that viticulture persisted, probably in a less specialised mode, and modelling suggests that potential wine yields did not decline in comparison with the heyday of regional viticulture. Archaeobotany also provides consistent evidence of the existence of grapevine cultivation in urban Roman contexts.

This study aims to determine the application of the reading aloud method in improving the ability to read the Qur'an, especially in Surah Al-Alaq, in grade III students of SDN 054895 Batu Jong-Jong, Bahorok District, in the 2024/2025 academic year. The reading aloud method is one of the effective strategies in helping students learn to read the Qur'an correctly, as well as improve pronunciation and tajwid. This study uses a qualitative approach with the type of classroom action research (CAR). Data were obtained through observation, interviews, and reading tests of Surah Al-Alaq, which were then analyzed descriptively. The results of the study showed that the application of the reading aloud method can improve students' ability to read the Qur'an more fluently, smoothly, and in accordance with the rules of tajwid. In addition, students also showed an increase in self-confidence and skills in reciting the Qur'an reading in front of the class. Based on these findings, it is recommended that the reading aloud method be used routinely in the learning process of Islamic Religious Education, especially in learning to read the Qur'an, to improve the quality of Islamic religious learning in elementary schools.