Dr. John Berry
John Berry was President of the AGS in 2016-17, and is a Texas P.G.
He was Editor of The Professional Geologist (AIPG house magazine) 2017-2021. His interests include the geology of the southern Appalachians, the genesis of stratabound base metal deposits and of seepage in frontier hydrocarbon prospecting. For several years he has been helping a Swedish archaeologist to understand the interaction between the human societies of western Sicily and the area’s complex and rapidly evolving geology.
Abstract:
Western Sicily is underlain by African basement upon which is piled a series of south-verging thrust sheets (the Maghrebian Orogenic Belt) containing rocks as young as early Pleistocene. Uplift and large earthquakes continue to the present. Sediment loads of rivers are high, resulting in extensive alluvial plains: these were historically highly malarial, but are now drained and being de-watered by intensive irrigation. Iron Age settlements were often on the summits of high mountains, as were Arab settlements. At other periods settlements have clustered in or near the fertile but unhealthy plains. Our project seeks to develop cheaper, more effective techniques of archaeological survey using modern remote-sensing tools. We also hope to elucidate the opportunities and limitations placed upon Iron Age and later societies by the geology of their surroundings.