This 2nd edition of the encyclopedia keeps up with the latest advances in the ever-expanding and rapidly evolving field of geoarchaeology. New subjects have been added and previous ones updated to stay apace with innovations since the 1st edition. It describes terms, introduces concepts and problems, explains and illustrates techniques, and discusses theory and strategy in the use of earth science applications in archaeology. The breadth of the discipline is systematically covered, including environmental archaeology, dating, materials analysis, and paleoecology, as well as syntheses of important archaeological sites where geoarchaeology has played a prominent role in describing, analyzing, and interpreting the record of the human past. The text is clearly written so that technical topics become accessible to a wide spectrum of readers, from the general public and university students to researchers and practitioners. It will not specifically cover general sites, civilizations, and ancient cultures, etc., that are better described in other encyclopedias of world archaeology, but it does include entries on sites and past events that are better known as a result of substantial geoarchaeological contributions.

Renders geoarchaeology in simple, understandable terms Presents a comprehensive compendium for fast access to information Investigates the collaboration of archaeology and earth science to discover past human behavior

Autorentext

The Editor

Allan S. Gilbert is Professor of Anthropology at Fordham University in the Bronx, New York. He holds a B.A. from Rutgers University, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology were earned at Columbia University. His areas of research interest include the Near East (late prehistory and early historic periods) as well as the historical archaeology of New York City. His specializations are in zooarchaeology and geoarchaeology, especially compositional analysis of building materials.

The Associate Editors

Paul Goldberg is Professor Emeritus at Boston University, and Affiliated Professor of Geoarchaeology and Senior Researcher in the Department of Geosciences, University of Tübingen. His degrees are in geology (B.A. University of Colorado, Boulder, and M.S. and Ph.D. from The University of Michigan). He uses micromorphology to study sediments, soils, landscapes, and archaeological site formation. Most of his research has been in France, Spain, Israel, Germany, China, and Siberia.

Rolfe D. Mandel is Distinguished Professor of Anthropology at the University of Kansas, and Senior Scientist and Director of the Odyssey Archaeological Research Program at the Kansas Geological Survey in Lawrence, Kansas. He has spent most of career working with archaeologists in North America and the eastern Mediterranean, and over the past 22 years he has been focusing on the use of geoscientific methods to search for the earliest evidence of humans in the Americas.

Vera Aldeias is a coordinating researcher at the ICArEHB in the University of Algarve, Portugal. She earned a Ph.D. in Earth & Environmental Sciences from the University of Pennsylvania and was a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany. She specializes in applying geoarchaeological techniques to study human adaptations and site formation processes, with research spanning Early Pleistocene to Early Holocene contexts in Europe, the Levant, and in Africa.

Klappentext

This encyclopedia defines terms, introduces problems, describes techniques, and discusses theory and strategy of the fast developing field of geoarchaeology. The format is designed to make specialized details accessible to the public as well as practitioners. It covers subjects in environmental archaeology, dating, materials analysis, and paleoecology, all of which represent different sources of specialist knowledge that must be shared in order to reconstruct, analyze, and explain the record of the human past. It will not specifically cover sites, civilizations, and ancient cultures, etc., that are better described in other encyclopedias of world archaeology, but it does include entries on sites and past events that are better known as a result of substantial geoarchaeological contributions.

Inhalt

40Ar/39Ar and KAr Geochronology.- Akrotiri Aetokremnos, Cyprus.- Analysis of Carbon, Nitrogen, pH, Phosphorus, and Carbonates as Tools in Geoarchaeological Research.- Anthrosols.- Archaeological Stratigraphy.- Archaeomineralogy.- Arctic Geoarchaeology: Site Formation Processes.- Artifact Conservation.- Big Eddy Site, Missouri.- Burned-Rock Features.- Cactus Hill, Virginia.- Canals and Aqueducts in the Ancient World.- Casper Site, Wyoming.- Climatostratigraphy.- Coastal Settings.- Data Visualization.- Dolní Vstonice, Pavlov, and Milovice.- Dust Cave, Alabama.- Electron Probe Microanalyzer.- Ethnogeoarchaeology.- Fluorine Dating.- Geoarchaeology, History.- Glacial Settings.- Glass.- Great Plains Geoarchaeology.- Harris Matrices and the Stratigraphic Record.- Koster Site, Illinois.- Lithics.- Living Surfaces.- Loessic Paleolithic, Tajikistan.- Metals.- Minnesota Messenia Expedition.- Oxygen Isotopes.- Paleodemography: Methods and Recent Advances.- Paleoshores, Lakes, and Sea.- Poverty Point Site, Louisiana.- Santorini.- Shell Middens.- Site Formation Processes.- Site Preservation.- Soil Geomorphology.- Soil Stratigraphy.- Stable Carbon Isotopes in Soils.- Strontium Isotopes.- Susceptibility.- Troy.- X-Ray Diffraction.- X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrometry in Geoarchaeology.- York.- Alluvial Settings.- Amino Acid Racemization.- Archaeology of the Continental Shelf: Submerged Cultural Landscapes.- Archaeomagnetic Dating.- Archaeoseismology.- Atapuerca.- Beringia, Geoarchaeology.- Blombos Cave.- Boxgrove.- Built Environment.- Cave Settings.- Ceramics.- Cerén, El Salvador.- Chemical Alteration.- Chronostratigraphy.- Colluvial Settings.- Cosmogenic Isotopic Dating.- Dendrochronology.- Dmanisi.- Dumps and Landfill.- Eastern Sahara: Combined Prehistoric Expedition.- El Mirón Cave.- Electrical Resistivity and Electromagnetism.- Electron Spin Resonance (ESR) in Archaeological Context.- Eolian Settings: Loess.- Eolian Settings: Sand.- Experimental Geoarchaeology.- Field Geochemistry.- Field Survey.- Fission Track Dating.- Forensic Geoarchaeology.- Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR).- Gas Chromatography.- Geochemical Sourcing.- Geographical Information Systems (GIS).- Geomorphology.- Geophysics.- Gesher Benot Ya'aqov.- Grain Size Analysis.- Grimaldi Caves.- Ground-Penetrating Radar.- Harappa.- Harbors and Ports, Ancient.- Haua Fteah.- Hearths and Combustion Features.- Hohle Fels.- House Pits and Grubenhäuser.- Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry.- Inundated Freshwater Settings.- Isernia.- Isochron Dating.- Java, Indonesia.- Kebara Cave, Israel.- Kennewick Man.- Kostenki, Russia.- La Micoque.- Lake Mungo and Willandra.- Landscape Archaeology.- Lead Isotopes.- Liang Bua, Indonesia.- Luminescence Dating of Pottery and Bricks.- Magnetometry for Archaeology.- Mass Movement.- Microstratigraphy.- Monte Circeo Caves.- Monte Verde Site Complex, Chile.- Mount Carmel.- Neutron Activation Analysis.- Niah Cave.- Olduvai.- Optical Dating.- Organic Residues.- Paleodiet.- Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction.- Paleomagnetism.- Paleopathology.- Paludal Settings: Wetland Geoarchaeology.- Pastoral Sites.- Petroglyphs.- Petrography.- Pigments.- Pinnacle Point.- Pompeii and Herculaneum.- Pre-Clovis Geoarchaeology.- Privies and Latrines.- Radiocarbon Dating.- Raman.- Remote Sensing in Archaeology.- Rockshelter Settings.- Scanning Electron Microscopy.- Sedimentology.- Shipwreck Geoarchaeology.- Soil Micromorphology.- Soil Survey.- Soils.- Soils, Agricultural.- Southwestern US Geoarchaeology.- Speleothems.- Spring Settings.- Sterkfontein, Swartkrans, Kromdraai.- Stonehenge.- Stratigraphy.- Swanscombe.- Tells.- Teph…