Stuart Black
Biographic Data
| ID | 4131161 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Stuart Black |
| GIVEN NAMES | Stuart |
| FAMILY NAME | Black |
| SIGNATURE | BLACK S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Reading |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1396-4821 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 23 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 78 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 23 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1994 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
New perspectives on nutritional stress—first carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of pig remains from historic starvation experiments
This exploratory study presents the first isotopic data obtained from skeletal remains of pigs that are known to have suffered severe nutritional stress, compared to a control group of pigs from the same litters. A pilot investigation of pig remains from 20th century feeding experiments is conducted. The small dataset ( n = 10) shows that potential isotopic signals of starvation are obscured by the different dietary compositions of both test grou…
Tracking 4000 years of raptor diets through isotope analysis reveals urban scavenging with implications for conservation
Radiating Encouragement
This study builds on a preliminary investigation into the efficacy of gamma radiation surveying as a complementary tool for archaeological prospection. Improved surveying and data processing methods were implemented, including the use of a vehicle‐mounted Groundhog surveying system, use of alternative software tools and examination of the impacts of individual radionuclides. The study focuses on a range of targets within Insulae VII, XXXV and XXX…
An Assessment of Soil Phytolith Analysis as a Palaeoecological Tool for Identifying Pre-Columbian Land Use in Amazonian Rainforests
Phytolith analysis is a well-established archaeobotanical tool, having provided important insights into pre-Columbian crop cultivation and domestication across Amazonia through the Holocene. Yet, its use as a palaeoecological tool is in its infancy in Amazonia and its effectiveness for reconstructing pre-Columbian land-use beyond archaeological sites (i.e., ‘off-site’) has so far received little critical attention. This paper examines both new an…
Portable gamma ray spectrometry for archaeological prospection
Several studies have suggested the potential value in applying gamma radiation surveys to support identification of buried archaeological features. However, the number of previous studies is very small and has yielded mixed results. The true efficacy of the technique is therefore unclear. Here, we report on an alternative survey method that uses Groundhog®, a portable gamma radiation system with spectrometric capability, to achieve high spatial d…
Multi-method solutions to the problem of dating early trackways and associated colluvial sequences
The Baltic Crusades and ecological transformation
Late-Medieval Horse Remains at Cēsis Castle, Latvia, and the Teutonic Order’s Equestrian Resources in Livonia
EXCAVATIONS AT the castle complex of Cēsis, Latvia, uncovered an unusual find of large quantities of horse bones, some of which were partially articulated, along with equestrian equipment. These were associated with a destroyed building at the edge of the southern outer bailey. The horses included large males, most probably stallions, and pathology on several of the recovered vertebrae suggests these individuals had been used for riding. The size…
Evidence of resilience to past climate change in Southwest Asia
The environmental setting of Epipalaeolithic aggregation site Kharaneh IV
The Neolithisation of Liguria (NW Italy)
The archaeological evidence compiled for Liguria has enabled the formulation of a comprehensive model of Neolithic social, technological and economic development (∼7800–5700 cal yrs BP). The model indicates that during the Early and Middle Neolithic (∼7800–6300 cal yrs BP; ‘Impressed Ware’ and ‘Square Mouthed’ pottery cultures) human activity mainly focussed on low (coastal) and mid-altitude areas. By the Late Neolithic (∼6300–5700 cal yrs BP; ‘C…
Croig Cave
Activity within caves provides an important element of the later prehistoric and historic settlement pattern of western Scotland. This contribution reports on a small-scale excavation within Croig Cave, on the coast of north-west Mull, that exposed a 1.95 m sequence of midden deposits and cave floors that date between c 1700 BC and AD 1400. Midden analysis indicated the processing of a diverse range of small fish and the collection of shellfish t…
A Neolithic and Bronze Age Monument Complex and its Early Medieval Reuse
An early Neolithic causewayed enclosure, a middle Neolithic long enclosure and an earlier Bronze Age open enclosure were among a group of prehistoric features discovered and examined by excavation at Netherfield Farm, South Petherton during archaeological mitigation work ahead of the construction of a natural gas pipeline between Ilchester and Barrington, Somerset, in 2006. Of particular interest were burnt deposits within the long enclosure ditc…
Palaeoenvironments of the southern Levant 5,000 BP to present
In this chapter we review climatic and environmental changes during the middle to late Holocene in the southern Levant, and their potential impact on human communities. The Holocene is characterised in the eastern Mediterranean region by a trend towards aridity. Several climatic fluctuations are superimposed on this general trend, but contradictory palaeoenvironmental evidence often renders these variations difficult to characterise and date accu…
A review of palaeoclimates and palaeoenvironments in the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean from 25,000 to 5000 years BP
U-series isochron dating of immature and mature calcretes as a basis for constructing Quaternary landform chronologies for the Sorbas basin, southeast Spain
Immature and mature calcretes from an alluvial terrace sequence in the Sorbas basin, southeast Spain, were dated by the U-series isochron technique. The immature horizons consistently produced statistically reliable ages of high precision. The mature horizons typically produced statistically unreliable ages but, because of linear trends in the dataset and low errors associated with each data point, it was still possible to place a best-fit isochr…
Water table decline, springline desiccation and the early development of irrigated agriculture in the Wādi al-Ajāl, Libyan Fazzān
Uranium/Thorium (U/Th) and 226 Ra dating has been applied to spring deposits in order to determine the timing of the drying up of springs in the Wādī al-Ajāl, Fazzān, Libya. These dates are compared with results of archaeological surveys of irrigation structures and archaeobotanical studies of plant remains to further our understanding of the factors that controlled the introduction of irrigated agriculture, its nature and timing. Though there ar…
Differentiating Bone Osteonal Turnover Rates By Density Fractionation; Validation Using the Bomb 14 C Atmospheric Pulse
The density (BSG) of bone increases, at the osteon scale, during lifetime aging within the bone. In addition, post-mortem diagenetic change due to microbial attack produces denser bioapatite. Thus, fractionation of finely powdered bone on the basis of density should not only enable younger and older populations of osteons to be separated but also make it possible to separate out a less diagenetically altered component. We show that the density fr…
Wet Conditions during the Last Glaciation in the Chihuahuan Desert, Alta Babicora Basin, Mexico
A 467-cm core (B94/3) from the Alta Babicora basin in the Chihuahuan Desert, northern Mexico (29°N, 108°W), documents lake-level and climate changes over the past ca. 65,000 yr. Chronological control is provided by four accelerator mass spectrometry 14 C dates and five U-series dates on diatom silica. The core has been analyzed for magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition, carbonate content, sediment chemistry and mineralogy, and pollen and diat…
Rapid sea-level rise in the Gulf of Maine, USA, since AD 1800
Two sea-level records from salt marshes in coastal Maine are derived from foraminiferal analyses and AMS 14 C, 210 Pb, 137 Cs and pollen chronology. Both records cover the period from AD 800 until the present and show corresponding patterns of sea-level change when corrected for trends which could accommodate millennial-scale isostatic adjustments. The records provide a detailed sea-level chronology for the last few centuries and thus link the in…
The tempo of Holocene climatic change in the eastern Mediterranean region
This study presents results from a multi-proxy analysis of cores taken in a crater-lake sequence from Eski Acigöl in centr-al Turkey which cover the period from pre-c. 16000 cal. yr BP to the present. The sediments comprise an upper unit of enerally non-laminated, banded to massive silts and peats of mid- to late-Holocene age, overlying a laminated unit of late-Pleistocene to early/mid-Holocenie age. The laminae, comprising mainly aragonite. amor…
Quaternary environmental change in Cyrenaica evidenced by U-Th, ESR and OSL dating of coastal alluvial fan sequences
The coastal alluvial fan sequences of Cyrenaica are important archives of environmental change data, but hitherto relatively little has been known about their formative processes and rates. The Wadi Zewana coastal fan near Tolmeita was studied and a range of dating techniques (U-Th, ESR and OSL) applied to selected components of the stratigraphy. The sequence spans the last two global glacial periods separated by an Interglacial. Cemented alluvia…
Social welfare in rural Europe
The tempo of Holocene climatic change in the eastern Mediterranean region
This study presents results from a multi-proxy analysis of cores taken in a crater-lake sequence from Eski Acigöl in centr-al Turkey which cover the period from pre-c. 16000 cal. yr BP to the present. The sediments comprise an upper unit of enerally non-laminated, banded to massive silts and peats of mid- to late-Holocene age, overlying a laminated unit of late-Pleistocene to early/mid-Holocenie age. The laminae, comprising mainly aragonite. amor…
The Neolithisation of Liguria (NW Italy)
The archaeological evidence compiled for Liguria has enabled the formulation of a comprehensive model of Neolithic social, technological and economic development (∼7800–5700 cal yrs BP). The model indicates that during the Early and Middle Neolithic (∼7800–6300 cal yrs BP; ‘Impressed Ware’ and ‘Square Mouthed’ pottery cultures) human activity mainly focussed on low (coastal) and mid-altitude areas. By the Late Neolithic (∼6300–5700 cal yrs BP; ‘C…
Rapid sea-level rise in the Gulf of Maine, USA, since AD 1800
Two sea-level records from salt marshes in coastal Maine are derived from foraminiferal analyses and AMS 14 C, 210 Pb, 137 Cs and pollen chronology. Both records cover the period from AD 800 until the present and show corresponding patterns of sea-level change when corrected for trends which could accommodate millennial-scale isostatic adjustments. The records provide a detailed sea-level chronology for the last few centuries and thus link the in…
Social welfare in rural Europe
Differentiating Bone Osteonal Turnover Rates By Density Fractionation; Validation Using the Bomb 14 C Atmospheric Pulse
The density (BSG) of bone increases, at the osteon scale, during lifetime aging within the bone. In addition, post-mortem diagenetic change due to microbial attack produces denser bioapatite. Thus, fractionation of finely powdered bone on the basis of density should not only enable younger and older populations of osteons to be separated but also make it possible to separate out a less diagenetically altered component. We show that the density fr…
Croig Cave
Activity within caves provides an important element of the later prehistoric and historic settlement pattern of western Scotland. This contribution reports on a small-scale excavation within Croig Cave, on the coast of north-west Mull, that exposed a 1.95 m sequence of midden deposits and cave floors that date between c 1700 BC and AD 1400. Midden analysis indicated the processing of a diverse range of small fish and the collection of shellfish t…
A Neolithic and Bronze Age Monument Complex and its Early Medieval Reuse
An early Neolithic causewayed enclosure, a middle Neolithic long enclosure and an earlier Bronze Age open enclosure were among a group of prehistoric features discovered and examined by excavation at Netherfield Farm, South Petherton during archaeological mitigation work ahead of the construction of a natural gas pipeline between Ilchester and Barrington, Somerset, in 2006. Of particular interest were burnt deposits within the long enclosure ditc…
An Assessment of Soil Phytolith Analysis as a Palaeoecological Tool for Identifying Pre-Columbian Land Use in Amazonian Rainforests
Phytolith analysis is a well-established archaeobotanical tool, having provided important insights into pre-Columbian crop cultivation and domestication across Amazonia through the Holocene. Yet, its use as a palaeoecological tool is in its infancy in Amazonia and its effectiveness for reconstructing pre-Columbian land-use beyond archaeological sites (i.e., ‘off-site’) has so far received little critical attention. This paper examines both new an…
Portable gamma ray spectrometry for archaeological prospection
Several studies have suggested the potential value in applying gamma radiation surveys to support identification of buried archaeological features. However, the number of previous studies is very small and has yielded mixed results. The true efficacy of the technique is therefore unclear. Here, we report on an alternative survey method that uses Groundhog®, a portable gamma radiation system with spectrometric capability, to achieve high spatial d…
Multi-method solutions to the problem of dating early trackways and associated colluvial sequences
Late-Medieval Horse Remains at Cēsis Castle, Latvia, and the Teutonic Order’s Equestrian Resources in Livonia
EXCAVATIONS AT the castle complex of Cēsis, Latvia, uncovered an unusual find of large quantities of horse bones, some of which were partially articulated, along with equestrian equipment. These were associated with a destroyed building at the edge of the southern outer bailey. The horses included large males, most probably stallions, and pathology on several of the recovered vertebrae suggests these individuals had been used for riding. The size…
Quaternary environmental change in Cyrenaica evidenced by U-Th, ESR and OSL dating of coastal alluvial fan sequences
The coastal alluvial fan sequences of Cyrenaica are important archives of environmental change data, but hitherto relatively little has been known about their formative processes and rates. The Wadi Zewana coastal fan near Tolmeita was studied and a range of dating techniques (U-Th, ESR and OSL) applied to selected components of the stratigraphy. The sequence spans the last two global glacial periods separated by an Interglacial. Cemented alluvia…
Social welfare in rural Europe
Quaternary environmental change in Cyrenaica evidenced by U-Th, ESR and OSL dating of coastal alluvial fan sequences
The coastal alluvial fan sequences of Cyrenaica are important archives of environmental change data, but hitherto relatively little has been known about their formative processes and rates. The Wadi Zewana coastal fan near Tolmeita was studied and a range of dating techniques (U-Th, ESR and OSL) applied to selected components of the stratigraphy. The sequence spans the last two global glacial periods separated by an Interglacial. Cemented alluvia…
The tempo of Holocene climatic change in the eastern Mediterranean region
This study presents results from a multi-proxy analysis of cores taken in a crater-lake sequence from Eski Acigöl in centr-al Turkey which cover the period from pre-c. 16000 cal. yr BP to the present. The sediments comprise an upper unit of enerally non-laminated, banded to massive silts and peats of mid- to late-Holocene age, overlying a laminated unit of late-Pleistocene to early/mid-Holocenie age. The laminae, comprising mainly aragonite. amor…
Wet Conditions during the Last Glaciation in the Chihuahuan Desert, Alta Babicora Basin, Mexico
A 467-cm core (B94/3) from the Alta Babicora basin in the Chihuahuan Desert, northern Mexico (29°N, 108°W), documents lake-level and climate changes over the past ca. 65,000 yr. Chronological control is provided by four accelerator mass spectrometry 14 C dates and five U-series dates on diatom silica. The core has been analyzed for magnetic susceptibility, loss-on-ignition, carbonate content, sediment chemistry and mineralogy, and pollen and diat…
Rapid sea-level rise in the Gulf of Maine, USA, since AD 1800
Two sea-level records from salt marshes in coastal Maine are derived from foraminiferal analyses and AMS 14 C, 210 Pb, 137 Cs and pollen chronology. Both records cover the period from AD 800 until the present and show corresponding patterns of sea-level change when corrected for trends which could accommodate millennial-scale isostatic adjustments. The records provide a detailed sea-level chronology for the last few centuries and thus link the in…
Water table decline, springline desiccation and the early development of irrigated agriculture in the Wādi al-Ajāl, Libyan Fazzān
Uranium/Thorium (U/Th) and 226 Ra dating has been applied to spring deposits in order to determine the timing of the drying up of springs in the Wādī al-Ajāl, Fazzān, Libya. These dates are compared with results of archaeological surveys of irrigation structures and archaeobotanical studies of plant remains to further our understanding of the factors that controlled the introduction of irrigated agriculture, its nature and timing. Though there ar…
Differentiating Bone Osteonal Turnover Rates By Density Fractionation; Validation Using the Bomb 14 C Atmospheric Pulse
The density (BSG) of bone increases, at the osteon scale, during lifetime aging within the bone. In addition, post-mortem diagenetic change due to microbial attack produces denser bioapatite. Thus, fractionation of finely powdered bone on the basis of density should not only enable younger and older populations of osteons to be separated but also make it possible to separate out a less diagenetically altered component. We show that the density fr…
U-series isochron dating of immature and mature calcretes as a basis for constructing Quaternary landform chronologies for the Sorbas basin, southeast Spain
Immature and mature calcretes from an alluvial terrace sequence in the Sorbas basin, southeast Spain, were dated by the U-series isochron technique. The immature horizons consistently produced statistically reliable ages of high precision. The mature horizons typically produced statistically unreliable ages but, because of linear trends in the dataset and low errors associated with each data point, it was still possible to place a best-fit isochr…
A review of palaeoclimates and palaeoenvironments in the Levant and Eastern Mediterranean from 25,000 to 5000 years BP
Palaeoenvironments of the southern Levant 5,000 BP to present
In this chapter we review climatic and environmental changes during the middle to late Holocene in the southern Levant, and their potential impact on human communities. The Holocene is characterised in the eastern Mediterranean region by a trend towards aridity. Several climatic fluctuations are superimposed on this general trend, but contradictory palaeoenvironmental evidence often renders these variations difficult to characterise and date accu…
A Neolithic and Bronze Age Monument Complex and its Early Medieval Reuse
An early Neolithic causewayed enclosure, a middle Neolithic long enclosure and an earlier Bronze Age open enclosure were among a group of prehistoric features discovered and examined by excavation at Netherfield Farm, South Petherton during archaeological mitigation work ahead of the construction of a natural gas pipeline between Ilchester and Barrington, Somerset, in 2006. Of particular interest were burnt deposits within the long enclosure ditc…
Croig Cave
Activity within caves provides an important element of the later prehistoric and historic settlement pattern of western Scotland. This contribution reports on a small-scale excavation within Croig Cave, on the coast of north-west Mull, that exposed a 1.95 m sequence of midden deposits and cave floors that date between c 1700 BC and AD 1400. Midden analysis indicated the processing of a diverse range of small fish and the collection of shellfish t…
The Neolithisation of Liguria (NW Italy)
The archaeological evidence compiled for Liguria has enabled the formulation of a comprehensive model of Neolithic social, technological and economic development (∼7800–5700 cal yrs BP). The model indicates that during the Early and Middle Neolithic (∼7800–6300 cal yrs BP; ‘Impressed Ware’ and ‘Square Mouthed’ pottery cultures) human activity mainly focussed on low (coastal) and mid-altitude areas. By the Late Neolithic (∼6300–5700 cal yrs BP; ‘C…
Evidence of resilience to past climate change in Southwest Asia
The environmental setting of Epipalaeolithic aggregation site Kharaneh IV
Late-Medieval Horse Remains at Cēsis Castle, Latvia, and the Teutonic Order’s Equestrian Resources in Livonia
EXCAVATIONS AT the castle complex of Cēsis, Latvia, uncovered an unusual find of large quantities of horse bones, some of which were partially articulated, along with equestrian equipment. These were associated with a destroyed building at the edge of the southern outer bailey. The horses included large males, most probably stallions, and pathology on several of the recovered vertebrae suggests these individuals had been used for riding. The size…
The Baltic Crusades and ecological transformation
Multi-method solutions to the problem of dating early trackways and associated colluvial sequences
Portable gamma ray spectrometry for archaeological prospection
Several studies have suggested the potential value in applying gamma radiation surveys to support identification of buried archaeological features. However, the number of previous studies is very small and has yielded mixed results. The true efficacy of the technique is therefore unclear. Here, we report on an alternative survey method that uses Groundhog®, a portable gamma radiation system with spectrometric capability, to achieve high spatial d…
An Assessment of Soil Phytolith Analysis as a Palaeoecological Tool for Identifying Pre-Columbian Land Use in Amazonian Rainforests
Phytolith analysis is a well-established archaeobotanical tool, having provided important insights into pre-Columbian crop cultivation and domestication across Amazonia through the Holocene. Yet, its use as a palaeoecological tool is in its infancy in Amazonia and its effectiveness for reconstructing pre-Columbian land-use beyond archaeological sites (i.e., ‘off-site’) has so far received little critical attention. This paper examines both new an…
Radiating Encouragement
This study builds on a preliminary investigation into the efficacy of gamma radiation surveying as a complementary tool for archaeological prospection. Improved surveying and data processing methods were implemented, including the use of a vehicle‐mounted Groundhog surveying system, use of alternative software tools and examination of the impacts of individual radionuclides. The study focuses on a range of targets within Insulae VII, XXXV and XXX…
Tracking 4000 years of raptor diets through isotope analysis reveals urban scavenging with implications for conservation
New perspectives on nutritional stress—first carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes of pig remains from historic starvation experiments
This exploratory study presents the first isotopic data obtained from skeletal remains of pigs that are known to have suffered severe nutritional stress, compared to a control group of pigs from the same litters. A pilot investigation of pig remains from 20th century feeding experiments is conducted. The small dataset ( n = 10) shows that potential isotopic signals of starvation are obscured by the different dietary compositions of both test grou…
Geography (19 works) · Archaeology (17 works) · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies (13 works) · Geology and Paleoclimatology Research (11 works) · Geology (10 works) · Holocene (7 works) · Paleontology (7 works) · Ecology (6 works) · Geology (6 works) · Physical geography (6 works)