DataSheet2_The environmental footprint of Holocene societies: a multi-temporal study of trails in the Judean Desert, Israel.pdf

The global distribution of footpaths and their inferred antiquity implies that they are widespread spatial and temporal anthropogenic landscape units. Arid environments are of special interest for investigating historically used footpaths, as older routes may preserve better due to minimal modern impact and slower pedogenic processes. Here we examine footpaths in the Judean Desert of the southern Levant, a human hotspot throughout the Holocene. We studied one modern and two archaeological footpaths (one attributed to the Early Bronze Age and one to the Roman period) using micromorphology, bulk samples laboratory analysis, and remote sensing. Field observations and color analysis indicate that footpaths in the studied arid limestone environment can result in brighter surface color than their non-path surroundings. Similar color changes are reflected using both laboratory analysis and high-resolution remote sensing, where the difference is also significant. Microscopically, the footpaths studied tend to be less porous and with fewer biogenic activities when compared to their non-path controls. However, the two ancient footpaths studied do exhibit minimal indicators of biogenic activities that are not detectable in the modern footpath sample. Our study shows that high-resolution remote sensing coupled with micromorphology, while using appropriate local modern analogies, can help to locate and assess both the environmental effect and the antiquity of footpaths.

全球古道径迹的分布及其可推断的形成年代表明，它们是广泛分布于时空维度的人为景观单元。干旱环境对于研究历史上使用过的古道径迹具有特殊研究价值，因为较古老的路径因受现代人类活动影响极小且成壤作用（pedogenic processes）较为缓慢，往往能得到更好的保存。本研究聚焦黎凡特南部朱迪亚沙漠的古道径迹，该区域在全新世（Holocene）一直是人类活动热点区域。我们采用显微形态分析（micromorphology）、块状样品实验室分析以及遥感（remote sensing）技术，对1条现代古道径迹和2条考古古道径迹展开研究——其中1条被归为青铜时代早期（Early Bronze Age），另1条属于罗马时期（Roman period）。野外实地观测与色彩分析结果显示，在所研究的干旱石灰岩环境中，古道径迹的地表颜色比非路径周边区域更鲜亮。实验室分析与高分辨率遥感技术均能反映出类似的色彩变化，且该差异同样显著。微观层面上，相较于周边非路径对照区域，所研究的古道径迹孔隙度更低，生物成因活动（biogenic activities）也更少。但本研究中的2条古古道径迹，仍表现出微量的生物成因活动迹象，而这些迹象在现代古道径迹样本中并未被检测到。本研究表明，结合高分辨率遥感技术与显微形态分析，并辅以合适的当地现代类比样本，能够助力定位与评估古道径迹的环境影响及其形成年代。