ReviewHydrological and post-depositional impacts on the distribution of Holocene archaeological sites: The case of the Holocene middle Rhône River basin, France

On a landscape scale, the location of archaeological sites strongly influences their potential for preservation. The recent progress made in the acquired knowledge of the Rhône River basin palaeodynamics, occurring simultaneously to the development of intensive rescue archaeological surveys on fluvial plains, provides information on the burying and post-depositional processes of archaeological records for all of the Holocene cultural phases. Even if the lowlands have traditionally been seen as having lower population densities and are dominated by Late Holocene sediments, the systematic exploration of the soil archives has revealed that the archaeological potential was concentrated in the lower alluvial plains and the Alpine foothill river fans. The taphonomic corrections and correlative predictive model carried out under GIS have changed our perception of the settlement history of the northwestern Mediterranean region. They put in doubt some initial settlement patterns, some chronocultural hiatuses, based on preconceived models of land use, especially for the First Neolithic and the Protohistoric periods.

Research Highlights► In this study we examine the importance of buried archaeological sites in the Rhône basin. ► The hydrologic constraints on past fluvial communities in the long term. ► We analyse fluvial archives potential from s mechanical surveys and geostatistics. ► We conclude taphonomical processes changed our perception of the settlement history. ► Our results feed the debate on cultural hiatuses and so-called “collapses”.