Techniques in Archaeological Geology

364 Pages·2016·14.6 MB·English

by  Ervan Garrison

Natural Science in Archaeology
Ervan Garrison
Techniques
in Archaeological
Geology
Second Edition
Natural Science in Archaeology
Series editors
Gu¨ntherA.Wagner
ChristopherE.Miller
HolgerSchutkowski
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/3703
Ervan Garrison
Techniques in
Archaeological Geology
Second Edition
ErvanGarrison
DepartmentofGeology,UniversityofGeorgia
Athens,Georgia,USA
ISSN1613-9712
NaturalScienceinArchaeology
ISBN978-3-319-30230-0 ISBN978-3-319-30232-4(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-3-319-30232-4
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Contents
1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 OrganizationofThisBook. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2 TheGeomorphologicalandGeologicalContext. . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 11
2.2 LandscapesandPeople. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.3 GeomorphicConcepts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.4 GeomorphicSetting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
2.4.1 FluvialLandforms. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . 15
2.4.2 CoastalLandforms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
2.4.3 SubmergedLandforms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
2.4.4 MountainandGlacialLandforms. . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.4.5 IcePatches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.4.6 LacustrineLandforms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
2.4.7 LoessicandGlacialLandscapes:Midwestern
UnitedStates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
2.4.8 Desert/AridLandforms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.4.9 TheSahara:GeoarchaeologyofPaleolakesand
Paleoclimate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
2.4.10 Karst/CaveLandforms.. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . 36
2.4.11 CombeGrenal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
2.4.12 VolcanicLandforms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
2.5 Earthquakes:VolcanicorOtherwise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
2.6 Mapping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
2.7 MapScale. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
2.8 DataSourcesforMapping. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
2.9 LiDAR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
2.10 StructurefromMotion(SfM). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
2.11 Drones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.12 MakingtheMap:ArcGIStoGoogleEarth. . . . . . . . . . 50
2.13 OtherTypesofMaps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
3 Sediments,Soils,andStratigraphyinArchaeological
Geology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
3.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 55
3.2 ABriefReviewofSedimentsandSoils.. . . . .. . . . .. . 56
vii
viii Contents
3.3 TheSoilCatena. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.4 TheSoilChronosequence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
3.5 DescribingArchaeologicalSedimentsandSoils
inProfile. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
3.6 TheGeologicalStratigraphicSection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.7 Nomenclature. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.7.1 Allostratigraphy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
3.7.2 SequenceStratigraphy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
4 TechniquesforArchaeologicalSedimentsandSoils. . . . . . . . 77
4.1 SamplingSedimentsandSoils:MonolithstoSediment
Grabs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
4.2 OneMethodforConstructingaSoilMonolith. . . . . . . . 79
4.3 HandlingandDescriptionofCores:SomeGeneral
Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
4.4 StandardOperatingProcedureforCollectionofSediment
Samples. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
4.5 “1700Sondages”:GeologicalTestingofthePlateauof
Bevaix,Neuchaˆtel(Switzerland). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.6 AnalyticalProceduresforSedimentsandSoils. . . . . . . 90
4.7 ParticleSizeAnalysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.7.1 HydrometerMethod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
4.7.2 ThePipetteMethod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
4.7.3 TheModifiedPipetteor“Fleaker”Method. . . . 95
4.7.4 TheImhoffConeMethod. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
4.7.5 OrganicContentDeterminationMethods. . . . . 98
4.8 DeterminationofTotalPhosphorusbyPerchloric
Digestion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.9 AbsolutePhosphateAnalysisVersusQualitativeColor
Tests. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
4.10 ColorimetryandSpectrophotometry. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
4.11 Micromorphology:DescribingArchaeologicalSediments
andSoilswiththeMicroscope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
4.12 Palynology:AMicromorphologicalStudyof
ArchaeologicalPollen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104
4.13 PhytolithsforArchaeology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
4.14 PhytolithIdentificationandMorphology. . . . . . . . . . . . 110
4.15 PhytolithExtractionandCounting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
5 GeophysicalTechniquesforArchaeology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
5.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 115
5.2 TheInternationalSocietyforArchaeologicalProspection
(ISAP). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
5.3 ElectricalMethods:Resistivity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
5.3.1 ResistivityArrays. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
5.4 VerticalSoundingMethodsinArchaeology. . . . . . . . . 122
5.5 ElectricalMethods:Electromagnetic/Conductivity. . . . . 123
5.5.1 ApplicationofEMMethods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Contents ix
5.6 Conductivity(EM)SurveyofaBurnedandBuried
CherokeeSeminaryBuilding,Tahlequah,Oklahoma,
CherokeeNation,USA. . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . 124
5.6.1 MagneticMethods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
5.6.2 Magnetometers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
5.6.3 Gradiometers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
5.6.4 MagneticAnomalyInterpretation:Basic
Principles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
5.6.5 MagneticProspection:Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . 130
5.6.6 DateAcquisitionandDisplay. . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5.6.7 AdvantagesandDisadvantages. . . . . . . . . . . . 131
5.7 AnAbandonedNineteenth-CenturyCherokeeCemetery,
ParkHill,Oklahoma,CherokeeNation,USA. . . . . . . . 132
5.7.1 Ground-PenetratingRadar:GPR. . . . . . . . . . . 132
5.7.2 FieldSurveyMethods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137
5.7.3 DigitalPost-ProcessingofGPRData. . . . . . . . 137
5.7.4 MultipleGeophysicalTechniques. . . . . . . . . . 139
5.7.5 UnderwaterGeophysicalSurveyTechniquesin
Archaeology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
5.8 TheSabineRiverPaleovalley,NorthernGulfofMexico,
USA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
5.9 Doggerland:MesolithicLandscapesoftheSouthern
NorthSea. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
6 PetrographyforArchaeologicalGeology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
6.1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . 145
6.2 MajorRockTypesandArchaeology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
6.3 SedimentaryRocks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
6.3.1 AreniteorAreniticSandstone. . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
6.3.2 ArkoseorArkosicSandstone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
6.3.3 GraywackesorClay-RichSandstone
(“Lutitic”). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
6.4 ARomanQuernProductionandSmithyWorks. . . . . . . 154
6.4.1 ClasticorCalcareniteLimestones. . . . . . . . . . 154
6.4.2 AphaniticLimestones. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155
6.4.3 DolomiteandDolomiticLimestones. . . . . . . . 156
6.4.4 Cherts,Gypsum,andIronstones. . . . . . . . . . . . 157
6.5 IgneousRocks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
6.5.1 Granite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
6.5.2 Diorite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
6.5.3 Andesite. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
6.5.4 Basalt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
6.5.5 RhyoliteandObsidian. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
6.5.6 Gabbro/Diabase. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
6.5.7 Tuff. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
6.6 MetamorphicRocks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
6.6.1 MetamorphicRocks:Foliated. . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
6.6.2 MetamorphicRocks:Non-foliated. . . . . . . . . . 166