Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-l4dxg Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-28T02:40:45.578Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Geoarchaeology: The Geologist and Archaeology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Fekri A. Hassan
Fekri A. Hassan*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Washington State Univerity, Pullman, WA 99164
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Geoarchaeology is the contribution from earth sciences to the resolution of geology-related problems in archaeology. Its scope is wide, encompassing (1) locating archaeological sites, (2) evaluating the geomorphic landscape for site catchment activities and site location, (3) studying regional stratigraphic and microstratigraphic materials for relative dating and recognition of lateral and vertical distribution of activity areas, (4) analyzing sediments for the elucidation of site-forming processes and quantification of microarchaeological (sub-macroscopic) remains, (5) analyzing paleoenvironments, (6) studying artifacts to determine manufacturing practices, procurement range, trade, and exchange networks, (7) modeling cultural/environmental interactions, (8) conserving archaeological resources, and (9) geochronology.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 44 , Issue 2 , April 1979 , pp. 267 - 270
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1979

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References Cited

Brill, Robert H. and Shields, William R. 1972 Lead isotopes in ancient coins. In Methods of chemical and metallurgical investigation of ancientcoinage, edited by Hall, E. T. and Metcalf, D. M.. Eloyal Numismatic Society Special Publication No. 8.Google Scholar
Butzer, Karl W. 1971 Environment and archeology, an ecological approach to prehistory (2nd ed.). Aldine, Chicago.Google Scholar
Butzer, Karl W. 1975 The ecological approach to archaeology: are we really trying? American Antiquity 40:106–111.Google Scholar
Butzer, Karl W. 1976 Early hydraulic civilization in Egypt: a study in cultural ecology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.Google Scholar
Cook, S. F., and Treganza, A. E. 1950 The quantitative investigations of Indian mounds. University of California Publications, American Archaeology and Ethnology 40:223–261.Google Scholar
Daniel, Glyn 1962 The idea of prehistory. Penguin Books, Baltimore.Google Scholar
Davidson, D. A. 1973 Particle size and phosphate analysis—evidence for the evolution of a tell. Archaeometry 15(1):143–152.Google Scholar
Davidson, D. A., and Shackley, M. L. (editors) 1976 Geoarchaeology: earth science and the past. Duckworth, London.Google Scholar
Eidt, R. C. 1973 A rapid chemical test for archaeological site surveying. American Antiquity 38:206–210.Google Scholar
Eidt, R. C. 1977 Detection and examination of anthrosols by phosphate analysis. Science 197:1327–1333.Google Scholar
Fairservis, Walter A. Jr. 1967 The origin, character, and decline of an early civilization. American Museum Novitates 2302:1–48.Google Scholar
Farrand, W. R. 1973 New excavations at the Tabun Cave, Mount Carmel, Israel, 1967-1972: a preliminary report. Paleorient 1:151–183.Google Scholar
Folk, Robert L. 1975 Geological urban hindplanning: an example from a Hellenistic-Byzantine city, Stobi, Yugoslavian Macedonia. Environmental Geology 1:5–22.Google Scholar
Gladfelter, B. G. 1977 Geoarchaeology: the geomorphologist and archaeology. American Antiquity 42:519–538.Google Scholar
Gumerman, George J., and Lyons, Thomas R. 1971 Archaeological methodology and remote sensing. Science 172:126–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hack, John T. 1942 The changing physical environment of the Hopi Indians of Arizona. Papers of the Peabody Museumof American Archaeology and Ethnology 35(1).Google Scholar
Hassan, F. A. 1975 Geology and geomorphology of the Ain Mistehiya locality. In The prehistoric cultural ecology of Capsianescargotieres, edited by Lubell, D. et al. Libyca 23:60–70.Google Scholar
Hassan, F. A. 1977 Field manual to geoarchaeology, ms. Google Scholar
Hassan, F. A. 1978 Sediments in archaeology: methods and implications for palaeoenvironmental and cultural analysis. Journal of Field Archaeology 5(2):197–213.Google Scholar
Hassan, F. A., and Lubell, D. 1975 Prehistoric cultural ecology. In The prehistoric cultural ecology of Capsian escargotieres, edited by Lubell, D. et al. Libyca 23:92–98.Google Scholar
Hay, R. L. 1976 Geology of Olduvai Gorge: a study of sedimentation in a semi-arid basin. University of California Press, Berkeley.Google Scholar
Haynes, C. V. 1968 Preliminary report on the late Quaternary geology of the San Pedro Valley, Arizona. Southern Arizona Guidebook III, pp. 79–96. Arizona Geological Society, Tucson, Arizona.Google Scholar
Hays, T. R., and Hassan, F. A. 1974 Mineralogical analysis of Sudanese Neolithic ceramics. Archaeometry 16:71–79.Google Scholar
Kirkby, A., and Kirkby, M. J. 1976 Geomorphic processes and the surface survey of archaeological sites in semi-arid areas. In Geoarchaeology:earth science and the past, edited by Davidson, D. A. and Shackley, M. L., pp. 229–253. Duckworth, London.Google Scholar
Kraft, J. C, Rapp, G. Jr. and Aschenbrenner, S. F. 1975 Late Holocene palaeogeography of the coastal plain of the Gulf of Messinia, Greece, and its relationshipto archaeological settings and coastal change. Geological Society of America Bulletin 86:1191–1208.Google Scholar
Larsen, Curtis E. 1975 The Mesopotamian delta region: a reconsideration of Lees and Falcon. Journal of the American Oriental Society 95(1):43–57.Google Scholar
Linington, Richard E. 1963 The application of geophysics to archaeology. American Scientist 51(1):48–70.Google Scholar
Lubell, D., Hassan, F. A., Gautier, A., and Ballais, J. L. 1976 The Capsian escargotieres: an interdisciplinary study elucidates Holocene ecology and subsistencein North Africa. Science 191:910–920.Google Scholar
Michael, H. N., and Ralph, E. K. 1971 Dating techniques for the archaeologist. M. I. T. Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Michels, J. W. 1973 Dating methods in archaeology. Seminar Press, New York.Google Scholar
Peacock, D. P. S. 1970 The scientific analysis of ancient ceramics: a review. World Archaeology 1(3):375–389.Google Scholar
Pires-Ferreira, J. W. 1976 Shell and iron ore mirror exchange in Formative Mesoamerica, with comments on other commodities. In The early Mesoamerican village, edited by Flannery, Kent V., pp. 311–328. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Provan, D. M. J. 1971 Soil phosphate analysis as a tool in archaeology. Norwegian Archaeological Review 4:37–50.Google Scholar
Rapp, E. Jr. , Bullard, R., and Albritton, C. 1974 Geoarchaeology? The Geologist, the Newsletter of the Geological Society of America 9(1):1.Google Scholar
Renfrew, C. A., Dixon, J. E., and Cann, J. R. 1968 Further analysis of Near Eastern obsidians. In Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 34:319–331.Google Scholar
Selley, R. C. 1976 An introduction to sedimentology. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Sieveking, G. De G., Bush, P., Ferguson, J., Craddock, P. T., Hughes, M. J., and Cowell, M. R. 1972 Prehistoric flint mines and their identification as sources of raw material. Archaeometry 14(2):151–176.Google Scholar
UNESCO 1968 The conservation of cultural property with special reference to tropical conditions. UNESCO Museumsand Monument Series, #11.Google Scholar
UNESCO 1972 Preserving and restoring monuments and historic buildings. UNESCO Museums and Monument Series, #14. Google Scholar
Van Zuidam, R. A. 1975 Geomorphology and archaeology, evidences of interrelation at historical sites in the Zaragozaregion, Spain. Z. Geomorphology N. F. 19:319–328.Google Scholar
Vita-Finzi, Caludio, and Higgs, E. S. 1970 Prehistoric economy in the Mount Carmel area of Palestine—site catchment analysis. Proceedings of the Prehistoric Society 36:1–37.Google Scholar
Weide, David L. 1966 Soil p H as a guide to archaeological investigation. Archaeological Survey Annual Report 1966. Department of Anthropology, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar