From 300 BC to AD 300, the city of Pergamon underwent a profound transformation that impacted the rural settlement patterns and the concomitant geomorphodynamics. We present a geoarchaeological study in a long-term settled catchment in the Pergamon micro-region to disentangle the Holocene geomorphodynamics and triggering factors, for example, climate change and human activity. The analyses of eight radiocarbon-dated sediment profiles from the Tekkedere alluvial fan and its catchment indicate four principal sedimentation phases. Phase 1 (ca. 6.2 to 5–4 ka) is dominated by the floodplain aggradation of the receiving Bakırçay River, which is followed by the formation of floodplain soils (phase 2). Substantial geomorphodynamic changes occurred around 4 ka (phase 3), when the edge of the floodplain was buried by fan sediments of the tributary Tekkedere creek. This is attributed to supraregional aridization and rapid climate change events, superimposed by the onset of local human activities. Repeated cycles of coarse- and fine-textured fan sediments with age inversions after ca. 3.8 ka and valley infills younger than 1300 yr BP indicate the strong erosion and redeposition of sediments in phase 4. These increased geomorphodynamics may coincide with the changing settlement pattern and thus reflect human–environment interactions.

Haciendo eco de las crónicas coloniales sobre el sistema vial imperial andino, la mayoría de las investigaciones sobre caminos incaicos se han centrado en su planificación y tecnología monumental como las principales características de esta infraestructura prehispánica tardía. Mediante un estudio regional en los valles de Arica (18° S), abordamos, en este trabajo, una investigación del Qhapaq Ñan (sistema vial incaico) desde una perspectiva de redes. Analizamos un palimpsesto de 13.000 km de vías, producido por la acumulación de sistemas viales de distintos períodos cronológicos. Este es relacionado con el patrón de asentamiento prehispánico tardío para modelizar los flujos de movimiento durante los siglos quince y dieciséis: mediante análisis espaciales, delineamos las estructuras más probables de las redes viales local e imperial. Finalmente, consideramos medidas de centralidades y acumulación de flujo para discutir la hipótesis del control del movimiento como estrategia imperial. Los resultados muestran que la hegemonía incaica se pudo relacionar con el control espacial de los flujos de las interacciones, y también que el enfoque de red aplicado a los palimpsestos viales reviste gran potencial para la arqueología del movimiento en regiones desérticas y montañosas.

El análisis del patrón de asentamiento en sociedades no jerárquicas tiene un gran potencial para abordar su variabilidad, en la medida que sus niveles de integración tienen una expresión física en los espacios corresidenciales y en la distancia entre ellos. A partir de una prospección intensiva en la microrregión de Angostura, Chile central, se compara la organización espacial de los asentamientos habitacionales de los periodos alfareros del área. Se trabajó con el tamaño y densidad de los 19 sitios detectados en el área, así como su distribución espacial. Se los delimitó por medio de redes de pozos de sondeo, a partir de cuya densidad se estimó la extensión y estructura de los sitios. La asignación cronocultural se realizó a partir de la clasificación del material alfarero y por 150 fechados por termoluminiscencia. La comparación indica que los periodos Alfarero temprano e Intermedio tardío presentan tanto similitudes como diferencias. En ambos momentos el patrón de asentamiento es disperso y la principal diferencia radica en la estructura interna de los sitios. Los asentamientos del Intermedio tardío tienen una menor cantidad de concentraciones y la densidad tiende a ser mayor, lo que sugiere que la composición de las unidades residenciales es distinta, estando compuestas por un mayor número de personas en el momento más tardío.

This article presents a synthetic précis of enclosed and unenclosed settlement in Aberdeenshire over an extended period of study encompassing the later prehistoric and early medieval periods (1800 bc–ad 1000) where the perceived boundary between prehistory and history is of limited significance. The results will then be placed in a wider Scottish context, with a brief discussion of the changing nature of enclosure within the study area.

A recent upsurge in research, development, and survey work has, in particular, drawn renewed attention to a discrete cluster of around 20 hillforts in the Strathdon area, which lie well beyond Cunliffe's Hillfort Dominated Zones. In general, the settlement record is predominantly unenclosed but, in the first half of the 1st millennium bc the Strathdon area appears to reflect wider UK trends: there are relatively few hillforts and they appear to be aimed at communal gatherings. Their direct use in conflict appears to have been rare and their ‘defences’ perhaps marked a neutral zone rather than fortification. A putative increase in the volume of agricultural surplus may have led to increased social competition and eventually conflict. After c. 500 bc a variety of local factors influence hillfort design and there is an increase in their number and variability, before the emergence of a single dominant form from Northern Fife to Inverness, and then an abandonment of enclosure until the early medieval period. The current evidence indicates that hillforts were abandoned before the Roman incursions, perhaps by several hundred years and, while they may have been re-occupied, there is as yet no evidence for refortification. In contrast during the early medieval period hillforts appear to have been more actively used in both settlement and conflict. They may relate to a period of expansion amongst local competing polities and the cessation of their construction in the 7th century ad may be connected with the emergence of larger regional power structures.

Spatial organization is a central issue in Palaeolithic archaeology, since it reflects the behavioural capabilities of human groups. We present an analysis of the lithic spatial distribution in a Middle Palaeolithic site, the Abric Romaní. Discussion of these data provides some insights on the variability of settlement patterns among the Neanderthals.

Intensive survey in southwestern Spain has encouraged reassessment of Copper and Bronze Age settlement in the region. This paper explores the issues of social ranking and stratification, and incorporates both the different types of landscape and their relative economic productivity in new discussions on social complexity.