Vegetation History Human Impact And Palaeogeography Of West Estonia

This book reports about the results of a Special Symposium “The Baltic Sea Basin”, held on August 11, 2008, within the frame of the 33rd IGC at Oslo, Norway in order to foster the understanding of the Baltic Basin as a unit in terms of genesis, structure, ongoing processes and utilization. It is the first time that in a joint publication, scientists from different disciplines give a comprehensive overview about the Baltic Sea basin in such a general sense. The book will be used not only by students and scientist but also by engineers and decision makers from industry and politics. Summarizing the state of the art in the investigation of the Baltic Sea Basin, but also in the resource utilisation of the basin the book will enhance the development of new monitoring strategies and technical device design including satellite observation methods, the establishment of international research laboratories, innovative topics for interdisciplinary research projects, etc.

This volume is dedicated to the historiography and analysis of the present state of Estonian archaeology. Part I (articles by Valter Lang and Marge Konsa) provides a review of the general development of archaeological research in Estonia from the 19th century to the beginning of the 21st century, focusing on institutional changes and advances in theoretical thinking and approaches. Part II includes articles by Aivar Kriiska, V. Lang, Andres Tvauri, Heiki Valk, Ain Mäesalu, Anton Pärn, Erki Russow and Arvi Haak on the previous research into the prehistoric and historical periods. In Part III, A. Tvauri and Mauri Kiudsoo discuss the formation and present situation of the archaeological and numismatic collections, and the establishment and development of archaeological heritage protection. Part IV discusses some more specific areas of research in Estonian archaeology, such as application of methods from the natural sciences in archaeology (A. Kriiska), settlement archaeology (V. Lang), underwater archaeology (Maili Roio), and connections between archaeology and oral tradition (H. Valk).