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Book review of Model-Based Demography: Essays on Integrating Data, Technique and Theory. 2018. By THOMAS K. BURCH. Demographic Research Monographs Series. Cham: Springer. Pp. xviii+200. Open access (online) / £44.99 (hardcover). ISBN: 978-3-319-65433-1.

We review the current state of dendroarchaeology in the Iberian Peninsula and discuss its potential, outlining the particular relevance and complexity of this territory and its material heritage for dendroarchaeological studies. Whereas dendrochronology is used throughout the rest of Europe to answer questions about cultural heritage, the application of dendroarchaeology in the Iberian Peninsula has been remarkably underrepresented in comparison to dendroecology and dendroclimatology. Existing tree-ring chronologies in this territory have a widespread geographical coverage, but are often too short to allow dendroarchaeological studies, resulting in inadequate assessments of material heritage made of wood in and originating from the Iberian Peninsula. However, different studies have demonstrated that dendroarchaeology has a great potential in the area. This review illustrates the rich variety of Iberian material heritage from different periods and cultures covering over 8000 years that could profit from dendrochronological research. Future research possibilities in relation to the available Iberian heritage in Spain, Portugal and worldwide are proposed. © 2015.

The explosive eruption at Santorini in the Aegean Sea during the second millennium BCE was the largest Holocene volcanic upheaval in the Eastern Mediterranean region. The eruption was disastrous for the Minoan settlements at Santorini, but the effect on human society in the neighbouring islands and regions is still clouded in uncertainty. Tsunami generation was suggested, but comparatively little evidence was found. The lack of firm tsunami traces is particularly puzzling in Crete with its coastal settlements of the Late Minoan IA period, during which the Santorini eruption occurred. Here, we report the discovery of extensive geoarchaeological tsunami deposits at Palaikastro in north-eastern Crete. These deposits are characterized by a mixture of geological materials, including volcanic Santorini ash, and archaeological settlement debris. Various tsunami signatures were identified: (1) erosional contact with the underlying strata, (2) volcanic ash intraclasts in the lower part of the deposit, (3) reworked building stone material in the lower part of the deposit, (4) individual marine shells, (5) marine micro-fauna, (6) imbrication of rounded beach pebbles, settlement debris, ceramic sherds and even bones, (7) multi-modal chaotic composition. Late Minoan human settlement activities at Palaikastro provided architectural and stratigraphic frameworks in space and time that recorded and preserved tsunami evidence as geoarchaeological deposits. Such stratigraphic resolution and preservation may not occur in the natural landscape. Volcanic ash transported by wind from Santorini south-east to Crete preceded the tsunami. Geological, archaeological and radiocarbon dating criteria all converge, indicating that the tsunami deposits are coeval with the Minoan Santorini eruption. Field evidence suggests that tsunami waves at Palaikastro were at least 9 m high. Inverse tsunami modeling was attempted, based on these newly discovered tsunamigenic deposits. The initial wave in the generation region at Santorini that best fits the stratigraphic data is a wave with +35 to -15 m initial amplitude and a crest length of about 15 km. (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.