A Handbook of Geoarchaeological Approaches to Settlement Sites and Landscapes (Studying Scientific Archaeology)

129 Pages·2015·7.17 MB·English

by  Charles French

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A handbook of geoarchaeological approaches
for investigating landscapes and settlement sites
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To Francis Pryor and Richard Macphail
– for pointing me in the right direction
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Studying Scientific Archaeology
A handbook of
geoarchaeological approaches
for investigating landscapes
and settlement sites
Charles French
Oxbow Books
Oxford & Philadelphia
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Published in the United Kingdom in 2015 by
OXBOW BOOKS
10 Hythe Bridge Street, Oxford OX1 2EW
and in the United States by
OXBOW BOOKS
1950 Lawrence Road, Havertown, PA 19083
© Oxbow Books and the individual contributors 2015
Paperback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78570-091-0
Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78570-092-7
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015952657
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by
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storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher in writing.
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Front cover: The author taking soil blocks for micromorphological analysis from buried floodplain soils
of about 4500 years old in the Rio Puerco valley of New Mexico, USA
Back cover: Soil sampling on a systematic grid from an exposed floor level in an Hispanic period house
at Sangayiaco in the upper Ica valley of Peru (C. French)
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Contents
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................vii
Preface ........................................................................................................................................ix
1. Introduction ...........................................................................................................................1
2. Approaches to investigating landscapes ...........................................................................5
Theoretical and methodological considerations ............................................................8
Factors affecting archaeological recovery and environmental evidence .................11
Formulating research designs .........................................................................................18
Investigating wetland landscapes ..................................................................................27
Investigating dryland systems ........................................................................................34
Investigating temperate landscapes ...............................................................................38
3. Examples of fieldwork strategies and sampling applications
for investigating landscapes .............................................................................................41
The lower Welland valley and Cambridgeshire fen-edge, eastern England ..........41
The chalk downlands of Cranborne Chases and Wessex, southern England ........43
The central Rio Puerco valley, New Mexico ................................................................50
The Rio Ica valley, Peru ...................................................................................................54
The prehistoric landscape of Herm island ...................................................................62
4. Approaches to investigating settlement sites .................................................................69
Sampling strategies and techniques ..............................................................................70
5. Examples of fieldwork strategies and sampling applications
for investigating settlements .............................................................................................75
Saar, Bahrain ......................................................................................................................75
Kaupang, Norway.............................................................................................................78
Crossiecrown, Orkney ......................................................................................................79
6. Integration: Sampling and method combinations .........................................................83
7. Conclusions ..........................................................................................................................88
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vi Contents
Appendix 1: Bulk sample methodologies ...........................................................................90
Appendix 2: Sampling for soil/sediment micromorphological analysis .......................93
Appendix 3: A brief guide to making soil/sediment thin sections:
from the field to finished slide using the Brot grinding system ...............................97
with Tonko Rajkovača
Bibliography ..........................................................................................................................101
Glossary of terms ..................................................................................................................115
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Acknowledgements
I would like to thank a large number of people for the use of collaborative project
material that is an essential part of this handbook, as follows: Dr Mike Allen, Dr Manuel
Arroyo-Kalin, Dr Gianna Ayala, Prof Ian Bailiff, Crane Begg, Prof Martin Bell, Dr David
Beresford-Jones, Julie Boreham, Kate Boulden, Mark Dover, Chris Evans, Dr Martin
Green, Dr Richard Jones, Dr Kevin Lane, Dr Richard Macphail, Dr Wendy Matthews,
Dr Karen Milek, Dr Sayantani Neogi, Rog Palmer, Prof Mike Parker Pearson, Dr Richard
Periman, Dr Cameron Petrie, Prof Francis Pryor, Tonko Rajkovača, David Redhouse,
Dr Kate Roberts, Dr Edgar Samarasundera, Prof Rob Scaife, Prof Chris Scarre, Dr Colin
Shell, Dr Daryl Stump, Dr Federica Sulas and Dave Webb.
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Preface
This short book owes itself to all my students and whoever has worked with me in the
field and in the lab since 1979. In class at Cambridge I am often asked: “where can I
find this basic methodological approach stuff” and I have to reply “it is spread about
in various case studies and textbooks.” Consequently this handbook aims to explain
some of the basics of geoarchaeological approaches and research design used to tackle
the investigation of landscapes and settlement archaeology, and the application of
soil micromorphology to archaeological situations, each with a few good examples.
The intention is to present a handbook of basic good practice that any archaeologist
or aspiring geoarchaeologist can use, rather than be a textbook with all the data and
answers.
It was not until I worked for Francis Pryor on the fen-edge of Cambridgeshire at
Fengate from 1975 that I had actually saw a buried soil that I was able to recognise.
Prior to then, most of us had probably seen them as an horizon change, but thought
little of it and had certainly not recognised their significance. But it was later during
the Maxey and the Etton/Etton Landscape projects from 1979 and English Heritage’s
Fenland Project on the Southwest Fen Dyke Survey project that I really began to see
the importance of buried soils and their essential role in interpreting landscape settings,
processes and transformations. Moreover, the analysis of buried soils and the evidence
contained within them are able to give multiple reflections on past human activities
and land-use changes.
This naturally led me into the science and application of soil micromorphology.
This transpired through an opportunistic meeting with Richard Macphail in the spring
of 1983 in the 3rd floor Environmental Laboratory at the Institute of Archaeology in
London. Richard, just recently hired as English Heritage’s soil specialist for southern
England, asked what type of sites I was working on. As soon as I said buried soils under
Neolithic and Bronze Age barrow mounds, he said that I should definitely do some soil
micromorphology! Needless to say, I have not really looked back since.
It goes without saying that I would not be here if first Francis Pryor had not hired
me as a digger in 1975, and then Richard Macphail had not introduced me to soil
micromorphology in 1983! So, this handbook is dedicated to them.
2 April 2015
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