Environmental archaeology

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Geoarchaeological survey of stratigraphic units using a versatile coring unit, a common tool for environmental archaeologists. Palaeoenvironmental core retrieval with a sediment coring unit..jpg
Geoarchaeological survey of stratigraphic units using a versatile coring unit, a common tool for environmental archaeologists.

Environmental archaeology is a sub-field of archaeology which emerged in 1970s [1] and is the science of reconstructing the relationships between past societies and the environments they lived in. [2] [3] The field represents an archaeological-palaeoecological approach to studying the palaeoenvironment through the methods of human palaeoecology and other geosciences. Reconstructing past environments and past peoples' relationships and interactions with the landscapes they inhabited provide archaeologists with insights into the origins and evolution of anthropogenic environments and human systems. This includes subjects such as including prehistoric lifestyle adaptations to change and economic practices. [4]

Contents

Environmental archaeology is commonly divided into three sub-fields:

Environmental archaeology often involves studying plant and animal remains in order to investigate which plant and animal species were present at the time of prehistoric habitations, and how past societies managed them. It may also involve studying the physical environment and how similar or different it was in the past compared to the present day. An important component of such analyses represents the study of site formation processes. [5]

This field is particularly useful when artifacts may be absent from an excavated or surveyed site, or in cases of earth movement, such as erosion, which may have buried artifacts and archaeological features. While specialist sub-fields, for example bioarchaeology or geomorphology, are defined by the materials they study, the term "environmental" is used as a general template in order to denote a general field of scientific inquiry that is applicable across time periods and geographical regions studied by archaeology as a whole. [6]

Subfields

Archaeobotany

Animal remains Unknown, Animal Remains (FindID 774474).jpg
Animal remains

Archaeobotany is the study and interpretation of plant remains. By determining the uses of plants in historical contexts, researchers can reconstruct the diets of past humans, as well as determine their Subsistence economy strategies and plant economy. This provides greater insight into a people's social and cultural behaviors. [7] Analysis of specimen like wood charcoal, for example, can reveal the source of fuel or construction for a society. Archaeobotanists also often study seed and fruit remains, along with pollen and starch. [8] Plants can be preserved in a variety of ways, but the most common are carbonization, water logging, mineralization, and desiccation. [7] A field within archaeobotany is ethnobotany, which looks more specifically at the relationship between plants and humans, and the cultural impacts plants have had and continue to have on human societies. Plant usage as food and as crops or as medicine is of interest, as well the plants' economic influences. [9]

Zooarchaeology

Zooarchaeology is the study of animal remains and what these remains can tell us about the human societies the animals existed among. [10] Animal remains can provide evidence of predation by humans (or vice versa) or domestication. Despite revealing the specific relationships between animals and humans, discovery of animal bones, hides, or DNA in a certain area can describe the location's past landscape or climate. [10]

Geoarchaeology

Geoarchaeology is the study of landscape and of geological processes. It looks at environments within the human timeline to determine how past societies may have influenced or been influenced by the environment. [11] Sediment and soil are often studied because this is where the majority of artifacts are found, but also because natural processes and human behavior can alter the soil and reveal its history. [11] Apart from visual observation, computer programming and satellite imaging are often employed to reconstruct past landscapes or architecture. [12]

Due to the multidisciplinary nature of archaeology in general, the range of research in the earth and environmental sciences, and possibility of methodologies, environmental archaeology has branched and connected with a number of other fields to include numerous cross and subfields such as: [13]

History

The human environment department of the UCL Institute of Archaeology in the 1970s. Human environment department, Institute of Archaeology, 1970s.jpg
The human environment department of the UCL Institute of Archaeology in the 1970s.

Environmental archaeology has emerged as a distinct discipline since the second half of the 20th century. [14] [15] In recent years it has grown rapidly in significance and is now an established component of most excavation projects. The field is multidisciplinary, and environmental archaeologists, as well as palaeoecologists, work side by side with archaeologists and anthropologists specialising in material culture studies in order to achieve a more holistic understanding of past human livelihood and people-environment interactions, especially how climatic stress affected humans and forced them to adapt. [16]

In archaeology in the 1960s, the environment was seen as having a "passive" interaction with humans. With the inclusion of Darwinism and ecological principles, however, this paradigm began to shift. Prominent theories and principles of the time (oasis theory, catastrophism, and longue duree ) emphasized this philosophy. Catastrophism, for instance, discussed how catastrophes like natural disaster could be the determining factor in a society's survival. [17] The environment could have social, political, and economic impacts on human communities. It became more important for researchers to look at the direct influence the environment could have on a society. This gave rise to middle range theory and the major questions asked by environmental archaeology in the 20th and 21st centuries. Research has since led environmental archaeology to two major conclusions: humanity originated in Africa and agriculture originated in south-west Asia. Another important shift in thinking within the field centered around the notion of cost-effectivity. Before, archaeologists thought that humans usually acted to maximize their use of resources, but have since come to believe that this is not the case. Subsequent theories/principles include sociality and agency, and the focus on relationships between archaeological sites. [17] Government research audits and the 'commercialisation' of environmental archaeology [18] have also shaped the sub-discipline in more recent times. [19]

Methods

Environmental archaeologists approach a site through evaluation and/or excavation. Evaluation seeks to analyze the resources and artifacts given in an area and their potential significance. Excavation takes samples from different layers in the ground and uses a similar strategy to evaluation. The samples typically sought after are human and faunal remains, pollen and spores, wood and charcoal, insects, and even isotopes [20] . Biomolecules like lipids, proteins, and DNA can be revelatory samples. [21] With respect to geoarchaeology, computer systems for topography and satellites imaging are often used to reconstruct landscapes. The Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer system that can process spatial data and construct virtual landscapes. [12] Climate records are able to be reconstructed through paleoclimatology proxies, which can provide information on temperatures, precipitation, vegetation, and other climate-dependent conditions. [22] These proxies can be used to provide context for present climate and compare past climate against the present. [23]

Significance

Lake sediment core used to help archaeologists reconstruct past climates. 2016. Lake sediment core. Forlorn Lakes. Gifford Pinchot National Forest, Washington. (38853497655).jpg
Lake sediment core used to help archaeologists reconstruct past climates.

Each focus within environmental archaeology collects information about a different aspect of humans' relation with their surrounding environment. Together these components (along with methods from other fields) are combined to fully understand a past society's lifestyle and interactions with their environment. [24] Past aspects of land use, food production, tool use, and occupation patterns can all be established and the knowledge applied to current and future human-environment interactions. Through predation, agriculture, and introduction of foreign biota into new environments, humans have altered past environments. Understanding these past processes can help us pursue conservation and restorative processes in the present. [25]

Environmental archaeology provides insight on sustainability and why some cultures collapsed while others survived. Societal collapse has occurred many times throughout history, one of the most prominent examples being the Maya civilization. Using lake sediment core and climate reconstruction technology discussed earlier, archaeologists were able to reconstruct the climate present at the time of the Mayans. [26] Although the Yucatán Peninsula was found to have extreme drought at the time Mayan society collapsed, many other factors contributed to their demise. Deforestation, overpopulation, and manipulating wetlands are only a few theories as to why the Maya civilization collapsed, but all of these worked in tandem to negatively impact the environment. [27] From a sustainability perspective, studying how the Mayans impacted the environment allows researchers to see how these changes have permanently affected the landscape and subsequent populations living in the area. [28]

Archaeologists are increasingly under pressure to demonstrate that their work has impact beyond the discipline. This has prompted environmental archaeologists to argue that an understanding of past environmental changes is essential to model future outcomes in areas such as climate change, land cover change, soil health and food security. [29]

Notable contributors

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Physical geography</span> Study of processes and patterns in the natural environment

Physical geography is one of the three main branches of geography. Physical geography is the branch of natural science which deals with the processes and patterns in the natural environment such as the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and geosphere. This focus is in contrast with the branch of human geography, which focuses on the built environment, and technical geography, which focuses on using, studying, and creating tools to obtain, analyze, interpret, and understand spatial information. The three branches have significant overlap, however.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zooarchaeology</span> Archaeological sub-discipline

Zooarchaeology or archaeozoology merges the disciplines of zoology and archaeology, focusing on the analysis of animal remains within archaeological sites. This field, managed by specialists known as zooarchaeologists or faunal analysts, examines remnants such as bones, shells, hair, chitin, scales, hides, and proteins, such as DNA, to derive insights into historical human-animal interactions and environmental conditions. While bones and shells tend to be relatively more preserved in archaeological contexts, the survival of faunal remains is generally infrequent. The degradation or fragmentation of faunal remains presents challenges in the accurate analysis and interpretation of data.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeological site</span> Place in which evidence of past activity is preserved

An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved, and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record. Sites may range from those with few or no remains visible above ground, to buildings and other structures still in use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taphonomy</span> Study of decomposition and fossilization of organisms

Taphonomy is the study of how organisms decay and become fossilized or preserved in the paleontological record. The term taphonomy was introduced to paleontology in 1940 by Soviet scientist Ivan Efremov to describe the study of the transition of remains, parts, or products of organisms from the biosphere to the lithosphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleoethnobotany</span> Study of plants used by people in ancient times

Paleoethnobotany, or archaeobotany, is the study of past human-plant interactions through the recovery and analysis of ancient plant remains. Both terms are synonymous, though paleoethnobotany is generally used in North America and acknowledges the contribution that ethnographic studies have made towards our current understanding of ancient plant exploitation practices, while the term archaeobotany is preferred in Europe and emphasizes the discipline's role within archaeology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paleoecology</span> Study of interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales

Paleoecology is the study of interactions between organisms and/or interactions between organisms and their environments across geologic timescales. As a discipline, paleoecology interacts with, depends on and informs a variety of fields including paleontology, ecology, climatology and biology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geoarchaeology</span> Archaeological sub-discipline

Geoarchaeology is a multi-disciplinary approach which uses the techniques and subject matter of geography, geology, geophysics and other Earth sciences to examine topics which inform archaeological and chronological knowledge and thought. Geoarchaeologists study the natural physical processes that affect archaeological sites such as geomorphology, the formation of sites through geological processes and the effects on buried sites and artifacts post-deposition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Survey (archaeology)</span> Non-destructive exploration of the archaeological material in a given area

In archaeology, survey or field survey is a type of field research by which archaeologists search for archaeological sites and collect information about the location, distribution and organization of past human cultures across a large area. Archaeologists conduct surveys to search for particular archaeological sites or kinds of sites, to detect patterns in the distribution of material culture over regions, to make generalizations or test hypotheses about past cultures, and to assess the risks that development projects will have adverse impacts on archaeological heritage.

Archaeological subfields are typically characterised by a focus on a specific method, type of material, geographical, chronological, or other thematic categories. Among academic disciplines, archaeology, in particular, often can be found in cross-disciplinary research due to the inherent multidisciplinary and geographical nature of the field in general. The lived human experience is vast and varied and reconstructing those lifeways and their consequences requires problem solving from numerous angles. In general, archaeologists work backwards with their research, starting with what is already known.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phytolith</span> Rigid structures found in some plants

Phytoliths are rigid, microscopic structures made of silica, found in some plant tissues and persisting after the decay of the plant. These plants take up silica from the soil, whereupon it is deposited within different intracellular and extracellular structures of the plant. Phytoliths come in varying shapes and sizes. Although some use "phytolith" to refer to all mineral secretions by plants, it more commonly refers to siliceous plant remains. In contrast, mineralized calcium secretions in cacti are composed of calcium oxalates.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to archaeology:

The archaeological record is the body of physical evidence about the past. It is one of the core concepts in archaeology, the academic discipline concerned with documenting and interpreting the archaeological record. Archaeological theory is used to interpret the archaeological record for a better understanding of human cultures. The archaeological record can consist of the earliest ancient findings as well as contemporary artifacts. Human activity has had a large impact on the archaeological record. Destructive human processes, such as agriculture and land development, may damage or destroy potential archaeological sites. Other threats to the archaeological record include natural phenomena and scavenging. Archaeology can be a destructive science for the finite resources of the archaeological record are lost to excavation. Therefore, archaeologists limit the amount of excavation that they do at each site and keep meticulous records of what is found. The archaeological record is the physical record of human prehistory and history, of why ancient civilizations prospered or failed and why those cultures changed and grew. It is the story of the human world.

Post-excavation analysis constitutes processes that are used to study archaeological materials after an excavation is completed. Since the advent of "New Archaeology" in the 1960s, the use of scientific techniques in archaeology has grown in importance. This trend is directly reflected in the increasing application of the scientific method to post-excavation analysis. The first step in post-excavation analysis should be to determine what one is trying to find out and what techniques can be used to provide answers. Techniques chosen will ultimately depend on what type of artifact(s) one wishes to study. This article outlines processes for analyzing different artifact classes and describes popular techniques used to analyze each class of artifact. Keep in mind that archaeologists frequently alter or add techniques in the process of analysis as observations can alter original research questions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Karl Butzer</span>

Karl W. Butzer was a German-born American geographer, ecologist, and archaeologist. He received two degrees at McGill University, Montreal: the B.Sc. (hons) in Mathematics in 1954 and later his master's degree in Meteorology and Geography. Afterwards in the 1950s he returned to Germany to the University of Bonn to obtain a doctorate in physical geography. He obtained a master's degree in Meteorology and Geography from McGill University and a doctorate in physical geography from the University of Bonn in Germany.

Quaternary science is the subfield of geology which studies the Quaternary Period commonly known as the ice age. The Quaternary Period is a time period that started around 2.58 million years ago and continues today. This period is divided into two epochs – the Pleistocene Epoch and the Holocene Epoch. The aim of Quaternary science is to understand everything that happened during the Pleistocene Epoch and the Holocene Epoch to be able to acquire fundamental knowledge about Earth's environment, ecosystem, climate changes, etc. Quaternary science was first studied during the nineteenth century by Georges Cuvier, a French scientist. Most Quaternary scientists have studied the history of the Quaternary to predict future changes in climate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biofact (archaeology)</span> Found organic material of archaeological significance

In archaeology, a biofact is any organic material including flora or fauna material found at an archaeological site that has not been technologically altered by humans yet still has cultural relevance. Biofacts can include but are not limited to plants, seeds, pollen, animal bones, insects, fish bones and mollusks. The study of biofacts, alongside other archaeological remains such as artifacts are a key element to understanding how past societies interacted with their surrounding environment and with each other. Biofacts also play a role in helping archaeologists understand questions of subsistence and reveals information about the domestication of certain plant species and animals which demonstrates, for example, the transition from a hunter-gatherer society to a farming society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archaeology</span> Study of human activity based on materials that people have left behind.

Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities. It is usually considered an independent academic discipline, but may also be classified as part of anthropology, history or geography.

Archaeobiology, the study of the biology of ancient times through archaeological materials, is a subspecialty of archaeology. It can be seen as a blanket term for paleobotany, animal osteology, zooarchaeology, microbiology, and many other sub-disciplines. Specifically, plant and animal remains are also called ecofacts. Sometimes these ecofacts can be left by humans and sometimes they can be naturally occurring. Archaeobiology tends to focus on more recent finds, so the difference between archaeobiology and palaeontology is mainly one of date: archaeobiologists typically work with more recent, non-fossilised material found at archaeological sites. Only very rarely are archaeobiological excavations performed at sites with no sign of human presence.

This page is a glossary of archaeology, the study of the human past from material remains.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendy Matthews (archaeologist)</span> British archaeologist

Wendy Matthews is a British archaeologist and academic, specialising in Neolithic and Bronze Age Near Eastern archaeology and Geoarchaeology. She is an associate professor at the University of Reading since October 2000.

References

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  2. ↑ "What is Environmental Archaeology?". Florida Museum of Natural History. University of Florida. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  3. ↑ Wilkinson, Keith (2003). Environmental Archaeology: Approaches, Techniques & Applications. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN   0-7524-1931-5.
  4. ↑ Branch, Nick (2014). Environmental Archaeology: Theoretical and Practical Approaches. London: Routledge. ISBN   978-0-340-80871-9.
  5. ↑ Kris, Hirst. "Site Formation Processes". about education. Archived from the original on 17 February 2017. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  6. ↑ Butzer, Karl W. (2012). "Collapse, environment, and society". PNAS. 109 (10): 3632–3639. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1114845109 . PMC   3309741 . PMID   22371579.
  7. 1 2 Van Der Veen, Marijke (June 2007). "Formation processes of desiccated and carbonized plant remains – the identification of routine practice". Journal of Archaeological Science. 34 (6): 968–990. Bibcode:2007JArSc..34..968V. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2006.09.007.
  8. ↑ "Archaeobotany". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  9. ↑ "Archaeobotany - Ethnobotany". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  10. 1 2 "Zooarchaeology Lab — Anthropology". anthropology.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  11. 1 2 Rapp, George Robert (1998). Geoarchaeology : the earth-science approach to archaeological interpretation. Hill, Christopher L., 1959-. New Haven. ISBN   9780300157345. OCLC   951622849.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
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  15. ↑ "History". Florida Museum. 2017-04-05. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
  16. ↑ Gkioni, Maria (2004). "The role of the environmental archaeologist in the study and reconstruction of cave palaeoclimate". International Journal of Speleology. 33: 115–127. doi: 10.5038/1827-806X.33.1.11 – via Scholar Commons USF.
  17. 1 2 3 G., Evans, John (2003). Environmental archaeology and the social order. London: Routledge. ISBN   0203711769. OCLC   54494457.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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  19. ↑ Howard, Andy J. (2019). "Environmental Archaeology, Progress and Challenges". Internet Archaeology (53). doi: 10.11141/ia.53.1 .
  20. ↑ Janovský, Martin (2024). "Stable isotope analysis in soil prospection reveals the type of historic land ‑ use under contemporary temperate forests in Europe". Scientific Reports. 14. doi:10.1038/s41598-024-63563-1.
  21. ↑ Jones, David M., ed. (2011). Environmental Archaeology: A guide to the theory and practice of methods from sampling and recovery to post-excavation. English Heritage. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  22. ↑ "Climate Reconstruction | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) formerly known as National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)". www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  23. ↑ "Past Climate | NOAA Climate.gov". www.climate.gov. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  24. ↑ Environmental archaeology: theoretical and practical approaches. Place of publication not identified: Routledge, 2016.
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  26. ↑ "Drought and the Ancient Maya Civilization | National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) formerly known as National Climatic Data Center (NCDC)". www.ncdc.noaa.gov. Archived from the original on 2021-10-08. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  27. ↑ "New clues about how and why the Maya culture collapsed". Harvard Gazette. 2020-02-28. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  28. ↑ "environmental Archaeology | Sustainability". sustainability.utah.edu. Retrieved 2020-07-27.
  29. ↑ Richer, Suzi; Stump, Daryl; Marchant, Robert (2019). "Archaeology has No Relevance". Internet Archaeology (53). doi: 10.11141/ia.53.2 .
  30. ↑ "An interview with Professor Karl W. Butzer". YouTube. Anne Buttimer. 1987. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  31. ↑ Turner, B. L. Jr. (2017). "Karl W. Butzer 1934 - 2016" (PDF). National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
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  33. ↑ Boslough, Mark (2022). "Sodom Meteor Strike Claims Should Be Taken with a Pillar of Salt" (PDF). Skeptical Inquirer. 46 (1): 10–14.
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