Environmental Archaeology: Meaning and Purpose

317 Pages·2001·7.95 MB·English

by  Umberto Albarella (auth.)

EnvironmentalArchaeology: Meaning and Purpose
Environmental Scienceand Technology Library
VOLUME 17
Thetitlespublishedinthisseriesarelistedattheendofthisvolume.
Environmental Archaeology:
Meaning and Purpose
Edited by
UmbertoAlbarella
DepartmentofArchaeology,
UniversityofDurham.
Durham,England,UiK.
,
....
Springer-Science+Business Media, B.Y.
Ac.I.P.CataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheLibraryofCongress.
ISBN978-90-481-5634-4 ISBN978-94-015-9652-7(eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-015-9652-7
ThePhotographonthecoverwastakenbyDragosGheorghiu.
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©2001 SpringerScience+BusinessMediaDordrecht
OriginallypublishedbyKluwerAcademicPublishersin2001.
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Table ofContents
Preface ix
Umberto A/barella
INTRODUCTION
Exploringthe realNature ofenvironmental archaeology. An introduction 3
Umberto A/barella
MEANING AND PURPOSE
Economicprehistory orenvironmental archaeology?On gainingasense of
identity 17
Terry 0 'Connor
Re-inventingenvironmental archaeology. Acommenton "Economic
prehistory or environmental archaeology?Ongainingasense ofidentity" 29
Yannis Hamilakis
Whose dichotomy isitanyway? Areply to Hamilakis 39
Terry 0 'Connor
Environmental archaeology isnot human palaeoecology 43
Jonathan Driver
Environmental archaeology isdead: long live bioarchaeology,
geoarchaeology and human palaeoecology. Acommenton
"Environmental archaeology isnot human palaeoecology" 55
Ken Thomas
Areply to Thomas 59
Jonathan Driver
The povertyofempiricism and the tyranny oftheory 61
Steve RoskamsandTomSaunders
v
Commercialisingthepalaeoenvironment.Developerfundingand
environmentalarchaeology 75
Gwi/ym Hughes andAndyHammon
Theresponsibilitiesofarchaeologiststonatureconservation 89
RebeccaRosefJ
Sustainabilityandtherateofchange.Acommenton"Theresponsibilities
ofarchaeologiststonatureconservation" 97
PaulGraves-Brown
AreplytoGraves-Brown 101
RebeccaRosefJ
Whatisgeoarchaeology?Re-examiningtherelationshipbetween
archaeologyandearthsciences 103
MatthewCanti
Ishumanosteoarchaeologyenvironmentalarchaeology? 113
JoannaSofaerDerevenski
CASESTUDIES
Therhetoricofpeopleandgrains 137
Dragos Gheorghiu
Amatchmadeinheavenoramarriageofconvenience?Theproblemsand
rewardsofintegratingpalaeoecological andarchaeologicaldata 149
ChrisLoveluckandKeithDobney
Historical archaeologyandnewdirectionsinenvironmentalarchaeology.
ExamplesfromNeolithicScandinaviaandVenezuela(400-1400AD) 177
Stephanie KoernerandRafaelGassen
Can't seethewoodforthetrees.Interpretingwoodlandfirehistoryfrom
microscopiccharcoal 211
JennyMoore
Thepotentialforusingreligiousbelieftoderiveenvironmental
informationonpastsocieties,withacasestudyontheenvironmentof
Attica 229
RobertShiel
vi
Reconstructinghouseactivityareas 249
HelenSmith, Peter MarshallandMike Parker Pearson
Environmentalarchaeologyandtheinterpretationofsocialspace.A
commenton"Reconstructinghouseactivityareas" 271
Karen Milek
Whenmethodmeetstheory.Theuseandmisuseofcerealproducer/
consumermodelsinarchaeobotany 283
WendySmith
Producersandconsumersinarchaeobotany.Acommenton"When
methodmeetstheory:theuseandmisuseofcerealproducer/consumer
modelsinarchaeobotany" 299
Corrie Bakels
CONCLUSIONS
Agendasforenvironmentalarchaeology 305
Graeme Barker
Index 315
vii
PREFACE
This book includes the written version ofa number ofpapers that were presented at
the session of the same title that I organized for the annual conference of the
Theoretical Archaeological Group (TAG) in Birmingham in December 1998. All but
one ofthe contributors to that session have provided a paper for the volume and in
addition almost as many papers from colleagues who could not make the conference
have been added. Such an addition was regarded as necessary not only for providing
a greaterdiversity ofviewpoints but also to coversome ofthe areas that had not been
touched upon by the session contributions. The book does not cover all areas of
debate inenvironmental archaeology, but Itrust that itis reasonably representative of
the main topics of discussion, though I regret the strong bias towards contributors
based in England. I have been keen to organize the book in such a way that the
various subjects could be presented in a dynamic and discursive way. It is for this
reason that some of the contributions are presented as commentaries to the main
papers, rather than as self-standing articles. In three cases (Hamilakis, Thomas and
Graves-Brown) such a commentary has prompted a reply from the main author.
Ideally I would have liked all papers to be followed by a commentary, but some of
the contributions arrived too late to make this possible without delaying the
publication ofthe book substantially. In other cases the commentators did not write
their contributions on time and the idea had to be abandoned. All papers inthis book
have been peer reviewed by two referees. This has been a slow and time consuming
process but Ibelievethat itwas the right wayto proceed as ithas resulted inageneral
improvement of the quality of the volume, mainly due to the constructive way in
which most referees have analyzed their material and most authors have reacted to
their occasional criticisms. This has also allowed me togain comments on the volume
from a larger sector of the archaeological community. If we count all the main
contributors, commentators and referees, more than fifty people have contributed to
the preparation ofthis volume. lowe a big debt ofgratitude to all ofthem and to
many other colleagues that over the eighteen months of preparation have provided
support and encouragement. I would also like to acknowledge the fact that I
undertook the work while an employee of the University of Birmingham, on a
position funded by English Heritage; however, neither of these two institutions
should be held responsible for any opinions expressed in the introduction. Many
thanks to Lynne Bevan who organised TAG 98 and encouraged me to put together
the session that has eventually led to the preparation of this book, and to Andy
Hammon for helping me with the organization ofthe session. In various ways and at
different stages Simon Buteux, Marina Ciaraldi, James Greig and Emily Murray
helped with the editingofthe volumeorthe preparation ofitscamera-ready version. I
owe a very special debt of gratitude towards Graeme Barker, not only because he
found the time inhis very busy scheduleto write the concluding remarks to the book,
but also for his constant support, help and inspiration for almost fifteen years. Big
thanks to the publisher Kluwer, for accepting to publish the book, for always
ix
handlingthings very professionally and forthepatience ofitsstaff- particularly Paul
Roos, Mariette de Jong, Astrid Noordenneer-Zandee and Marie Johnson - in
answering my many questions and putting up with my inexperience as an editor. In
mentioningthe people who have helped me Ihave dropped all 'Mr', 'Dr', 'Prof etc.,
as Iam thanking them as human beings and not because oftheir social or academic
positions. The editing of this volume has been at the same time a strenuous and
rewarding experience. Most importantly it has allowed me to go back to the 'big
questions' on the nature of archaeology that I had somewhat put aside during my
years of specialization in animal bones. Many ofthe topics discussed in this book
were the object ofdaily and endless conversations with many ofmy friends in our
student days. Sometimes Ifeelthat all Ihave learnt has been because ofthe constant
intellectual challenge ofthose days. Ihave notexperiencedsuch aperiod ofscholarly
stimulation again and Iam sure Iwill never do so. Itistherefore only fitting that this
book should be dedicated to my friends at the University ofNaples, who liked their
fieldofresearch too much tomake acareer ofit.
UmbertoAlbarel/a(August 2000)
x