Remains of a vast Roman pottery production complex were found on the shore of the Plemići Bay (Općina Ražanac, Zadar county) in 2012, and confirmed by geophysical survey. Ground-penetrating radar measurements revealed outline of a rectangular building that finds analogies with Roman storehouses (horreum). The area occupied by remains of the Roman pottery workshop was covered by immense soil-debris flows. Three geological exposures located to the north of the remains of the Roman building were documented using lithological and malacological analysis, and magnetic susceptibility measurements. The profiles revealed at least three generations of slope sediments, formed in result of intensive soil or debris flows in a dry climate, most probably in 5th c. AD. In the next, wet phase sediments were transported downslope and deposited on the Roman structures after 5th c. AD. Environmental conditions at Pelmići were supply with paleoclimate evidence from the Adriatic region. At ca. 1.5 cal. BP lake levels in the eastern Adriatic area were drastically reduced, probably because of strong decrease in humidity, correlated with the so-called North Atlantic Bond event 3. The drought was followed by a humid episode, also attested at the Plemići archaeological site.
The article presents application of the new geophysical amplitude data comparison method (ADCM), resulting from integrated geophysical survey using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and magnetometry. The ADCM was applied to recognize the horizontal and vertical stratigraphy of a Roman senatorial villa located in Santa Marina (western part of Croatian Istria). The measurements were carried out in 2017−2019 at this site, accompanied by a use of GPR and gradientometer. These two methods significantly differ from each other, but on the other hand, they are complementary to some extent. This is due to the fact that the methods register different types of underground materials. The GPR records electromagnetic waves reflected from real buried remains or boundaries between geological or archaeological layers that differ significantly in electrical properties. The magnetic method, in turn, records the anomalies of the magnetic field intensity resulting from the underground concentration of ferromagnetic minerals, hence it is ideal for searching structures filled with organic matter or burning material. However, a separate usage of these methods does not guarantee a full picture of archaeological structures that are preserved underground. Only the application of the ADCM allowed for a comparison of GPR and magnetic amplitude data reading, following which a spatial image (2D and 3D) of the preserved archaeological structures and the geological stratigraphy of the Santa Maria site were obtained.
The freshwater dinoflagellate represent microfossils which are very rarely noted in lake deposits. In Late Holocene sediments of the Lake Młynek, the Iława Lakeland, northern Poland, we identified intense blooms of algae of the genus Palatinus. They occurred primarily in the period of strong human impact during expansion of the Monastic State of the Teutonic Order. The most amazing thing is that samples in which conventional palynological maceration has been used dinoflagellate are represented by armored vegetative forms instead of cysts. During this laboratory processes, especially acetolysis, cellulosic thecae of armored forms should be destructed. This is the second known example of acetolysis resistant thecae of modern dinoflagellate, built by substance other than cellulose. Palatinus blooms were associated probably with the hydrotechnical works made by Teutonic Knights in the catchment, which caused supply and discharge of micronutrients e.g. selenium in the basin.
A sediment core, 350 cm long recovered from Młynek Lake, northern of Poland (Warmia and Masuria Region) was analyzed with respect to their content of diatoms and chrysophyte cysts. The aim was to reconstruct the lake water level and climatic changes during the past 2500 years. The recognized diatom assemblages displayed marked floristic changes along the sediment core samples. The main change in diatom composition consists of a shift from an assemblage dominated by benthic Fragilaria sensu lato species through marked intervals to a planktonic one in distinct zones. A high proportion of benthic to plankton taxa has been reported as indicative for a lowering of the lake level with long ice cover in a cold dry climate and a shift from benthic to planktonic diatom taxa reflects arising water level with longest growing season and reduced ice cover on the lake during a warm wet climate. Multivariate statistical analysis included hierarchical ascending clustering distinguished four diatom ecological groups. The analyzed core section was divided into 11 diatom zones according to a distribution of ecological groups and variation in abundance of dominant species supported by 14C data. The results displayed a developmental history of the Młynek Lake that can be divided into 6 main phases of alternating warm wet and cold dry shifts. A distinct dominance of planktonic eutrophic indicator diatoms accompanied by a low abundance of chrysophyte cysts indicates increased lake trophicity and a general trend for the increasing anthropogenic impact.