Earth Sciences And Archaeology

This volume brings together contributions from an experienced group of archaeologists and geologists whose common objective is to present thorough and current reviews of the diverse ways in which methods from the earth sciences can contribute to archaeological research. Many areas of research are addressed here, including artifact analysis and sourcing, landscape reconstruction and site formation analysis, soil micromorphology and geophysical exploration of buried sites.

This volume brings together contributions from an experienced group of archaeologists and geologists whose common objective is to present thorough and current reviews of the diverse ways in which methods from the earth sciences can contribute to archaeological research. Many areas of research are addressed here, including artifact analysis and sourcing, landscape reconstruction and site formation analysis, soil micromorphology and geophysical exploration of buried sites.

Considering the history and theory of geoarchaeology, this book discusses soils and environmental interpretations; initial context and site formation; methods of discovery and spatial analyses; estimating time; and others. It is for all professionals and students interested in the field of geoarchaeology

The archaeological geology of the Quaternary or the geological epoch during which humankind evolved is a scientific endeavor with much to offer in the fields of archaeology and palaeoanthropology. Earth science techniques offer diverse ways of characterizing the elements of past landscapes and archaeological facies. This book is a survey of techniques used in archaeological geology for the study of soils, sediments, rocks and minerals. The techniques presented represent those most commonly used today. They are discussed in detail and examples are provided, in many cases, to demonstrate their usefulness to archaeologists.

Both earth science and geo-archaeology are two very unique discipline of science which shares a lot of resemblances to each other. Although the supposed differences between these two endeavors continue to be discussed (e.g., Butzer, 1982; Rapp and Hill, 1998), here we are basically concerned with any subject that bridges the interface between the earth sciences and archaeology, with the earth sciences including a wide array of subjects, such as geomorphology, sedimentology, geochronology, stratigraphy, geochemistry, geo-physics and pedology. Among the earliest of the volumes on geoarchaeology was a collection of papers from a symposium titled "Sediments in Archaeology" held in England in the early 1970’s [Shackley & Davidson, 76’]. The papers from this groundbreaking effort were organized into themes that included Techniques, sediments of biological nature, Sedimentary Environments (coastal, lacustrine, and terrestrial

This 2nd edition is a survey level review of key areas of archaeological geology/geoarchaeology. Principal subject areas include: historical principles; archaeologic and geomorphic surfaces and landforms types; sediments and sediment analytic methods; archaeological stoney materials - petrographic and mineralogic attributes; ceramic materials - mineralogic composition and analytic methods; geochemical methods useful in archaeological geology - studies of materials; commonly used geochronological methods for archaeological geology. Contributions to paleoecology, paleoclimate and ancient cultures as well as multivariate ICP and EDX data are now included.