Anthony J. Newton, BSc PhD
Primary Affiliation
School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh (Lecturer)
Address
Institute of Geography, School of GeoSciences, Drummond Street, Edinburgh EH8 9XP,
Scotland, UK Tel + 44(0)131 650 2546, fax + 44 (0)131 650 2524, email
anthony.newton@ed.ac.uk
Secondary Affiliation
Adjunct Professor (Research), Faculty in Anthropology, The City University of New York (from
2010).
Some Recent Publications
Dugmore A.J., Larsen G., and Newton A.J. (1999) Geochemistry of historic age silicic tephras in
Iceland. The Holocene 9(4), 463471
Dugmore, A.J. and Newton, A.J. (2012) Isochrons and beyond- maximising the use of
tephrochronology. Jökull 62, 39-52.
Dugmore, A.J., Gísladóttir, G., Newton, A.J. and Simpson, I.A. (2009) Conceptual models of 1,200
years of soil erosion reconstructed using tephrochronology. Journal of the North Atlantic 2, 118.
Dugmore, A.J., Larsen, L. and Newton, A.J. (2004) Tephrochronology and its application to Late
Quaternary Environmental Reconstruction, with Special Reference to the North Atlantic Islands. In:
Tools for Constructing Chronologies (Eds Buck, C.E. and Millard, A.R.), pp 173188, SpringerVerlag, London.
Dugmore, A.J., Newton, A.J., Smith, K.T. and Mairs, K.A. (2013) Tephrochronology and the late
Holocene volcanic and flood history of Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland. Journal of Quaternary Science 28,
237-247Gísladóttir, G.A., Woollett, J.M., Ævarsson, U., Doupont-Hébert, Newton, A. and
Vésteinsson, O. (2013) The Svalbarð Project. Archaeologia Islandica 10, 69-103.
Hauptfleisch, U. Einarsson, Árni, Andersen, T.J., Newton, A. and Gardarson, A. (in press)
Matching 30 years of ecosystem monitoring with a high resolution microfossil record of chironomid
eggs and Cladocera from Lake Mývatn, Iceland. Freshwater Biology.
Hauptfleisch, U. Einarsson, Árni, Andersen, T.J., Newton, A. and Gardarsson, A. (2012) Matching
30 years of ecosystem monitoring with a high resolution microfossil record of chironomid eggs
and Cladocera from Lake Mývatn, Iceland. Freshwater Biology 57(10), 1986-1997.
Larsen, G., Newton, A.J., Dugmore, A.J. and Vilmundardóttir, E. (2001) Geochemistry, dispersal,
volumes and chronology of Holocene silicic tephra layers from the Katla volcanic system, Iceland.
Journal of Quaternary Science 16(2), 119132.
Lawson, I.T., GathorneHardy, F.J., Church, M.J., Newton, A.J., Edwards, K.J. and Dugmore, A.J.
(2007) Environmental impacts of the Norse settlement: palaeoenvironmental data from
Helluvaðstörn, Mývatnssveit, northern Iceland. Boreas 36(1), 119.
Lloyd, J.M, Bentley, M.J., Norðdahl, H., Newton, A.J., Tucker, O., Zong, Y. (2009) Lateglacial to
Holocene Relative SeaLevel Changes in the Bjarkarlundur Area near Reykhólar, Northwest
Iceland. Journal of Quaternary Science 24(7), 816831.
McGovern, T.H., Vésteinsson, O., Friðriksson, A., Church, M., Lawson, I., Simpson, I.A.,
Einarsson, A., Dugmore, A., Cook, G., Perdikaris, S., Edwards, K.J., Thomson, A.M., Adderley, W.
P., Newton, A., Lucas, G., Edvardsson, R., Aldred, O. and Dunbar, E. (2007) Landscapes of
Settlement in Northern Iceland: Historical Ecology of Human Impact and Climate Fluctuation on the
Millennial Scale. American Anthropologis, 109(1), 27–51.
Newton, A.J., Dugmore, A.J. and Gittings, B.M. (2007) Tephrabase: tephrochronology and the
development of a centralised European database. Journal of Quaternary Science 22(7), 737743
Newton, A.J., Metcalfe, S.E., Davies, S.J., Cooke, G., Barker, P. and Telford, R.J. (2005) Late
Quaternary and Holocene tephrastratigraphy preserved in lakes of Michoacán, central Mexico,
Quaternary Science Reviews 24 (12), 91104.
Sigurgeirsson, M.Á., Hauptfleisch, U., Newton, A. and Einarsson Á (2013) Dating of the Viking Age
landnám tephra sequence in Lake Mývatn sediment. Journal of the North Atlantic 21, 1-11.
Swindles, G.T., Galloway, J., Outram, Z., Turner, K., Schofield, J.E., Newton, A., Dugmore, A.J.,
Church, M.J., Watson, E., Batt, C.M., Bond, J.M., Edwards, J.K., Turner, V. and Bashford, D.
(2013) Re-deposited cryptotephra layers in Holocene peats linked to anthropogenic activity. The
Holocene. DOI: 10.1177/0959683613489586.
Tipping, R., Ashmore, P., Davies, A., Haggart, A., Moir, A., Newton., A.J., Sands, R., Skinner, T.
and Tisdall, E. (2008) Prehistoric Pinus woodland dynamics in an upland landscape in northern
Scotland: the roles of climate change and human impacts. Vegetation History Archaeobotony, 17,
251267.
Vesteinsson, O., Church, M., Dugmore, A., McGovern, T. & Newton, A. (2014) Expensive errors or
rational choices: the pioneer fringe in Late Viking Age Iceland. European Journal of Post-Classical
Archaeologies 4, 39-68.
Synergistic Activities
Tephrochronology
The development of tephrochronology in the British Isles, including the original identification of
many of the Icelandic–sourced tephra layers found in the British Isles with Andrew Dugmore. Over
research 30 visits to Iceland, working with geologists at the Science Institute, helping to develop
and expanding the tephrochronological record there and its application to palaeoenvironmental
and human-environment interactions (largely NABO based collaborative research with
archaeologists and palaeoenvironmental scientists from across the North Atlantic region). Similar
research also carried out in central Mexico developing tephrochronology and palaeoenvironmental
studies with colleagues in Mexico and the USA.
Website resources development
Since 1994 developed a number of website and databases which enable the sharing of scientific
data and information.
Tephrabase (www.tephrabase.org): a tephrochronological database, developed to encourage the
use of tephra layers in archaeological, palaeoenvironmental and volcanological research (funded
by NERC, UK’s environment research council). It contains data on tephra layers found Iceland, the
Faroe Islands, the British Isles, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, France, Belgium,
Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Poland.
NABO (www.nabohome.org): developed and maintained the NABO website since 1998. A Project
Management System has been developed which allows researchers to enter details about their
own projects and sites into the website. Also developed a Google Earth visualisation system
(VISQUE) for archaeological and environmental research, which has been integrated into the
NABO website (funded by NSF and other funding bodies).
GHEA (www.gheahome.org): developed and maintain the GHEA website since 2009. The GHEA
website and database detail over 190 people with an interest in human ecodynamic.
SPAD and SWAD (www.geo.ed.ac.uk/spad/ and /swad/): palaeoenvironmental and wetland
archaeological databases funded by Historic Scotland (Scotland’s historic environment agency).
Images for All (www.rsgs.org/ifa): developed a publically accessible website and database of the
Royal Scottish Geographical Society’s substantial collections.