Soils In Archaeological Research
by Vance T. Holliday /
2004 / English / PDF
6.9 MB Download
Soils, invaluable indicators of the nature and history of the
physical and human landscape, have strongly influenced the cultural
record left to archaeologists. Not only are they primary reservoirs
for artifacts, they often encase entire sites. And soil-forming
processes in themselves are an important component of site
formation, influencing which artifacts, features, and environmental
indicators (floral, faunal, and geological) will be destroyed and
to what extent and which will be preserved and how well. In this
book, Holliday will address each of these issues in terms of
fundamentals as well as in field case histories from all over the
world. The focus will be on principles of soil geomorphology , soil
stratigraphy, and soil chemistry and their applications in
archaeological research.
Soils, invaluable indicators of the nature and history of the
physical and human landscape, have strongly influenced the cultural
record left to archaeologists. Not only are they primary reservoirs
for artifacts, they often encase entire sites. And soil-forming
processes in themselves are an important component of site
formation, influencing which artifacts, features, and environmental
indicators (floral, faunal, and geological) will be destroyed and
to what extent and which will be preserved and how well. In this
book, Holliday will address each of these issues in terms of
fundamentals as well as in field case histories from all over the
world. The focus will be on principles of soil geomorphology , soil
stratigraphy, and soil chemistry and their applications in
archaeological research.