0632060441_1_pretoc.qxd 11/30/05 8:32 Page iii Practical and Theoretical Geoarchaeology Paul Goldberg and Richard I. Macphail Department of Archaeology, Boston University and Institute of Archaeology, University College London 0632060441_1_pretoc.qxd 11/30/05 8:32 Page i 0632060441_1_pretoc.qxd 11/30/05 8:32 Page i Practical and Theoretical Geoarchaeology 0632060441_1_pretoc.qxd 11/30/05 8:32 Page ii Dedicated by RIM to the late Peter Reynolds (Butser Ancient Farm, United Kingdom) and Roger Engelmark (University of Umeå, Sweden): pioneers of experimental farms (see Chapter 12) From RIM: to Mum, Jill, and Flora From PG: to my folks for sending me away to summer camp 0632060441_1_pretoc.qxd 11/30/05 8:32 Page iii Practical and Theoretical Geoarchaeology Paul Goldberg and Richard I. Macphail Department of Archaeology, Boston University and Institute of Archaeology, University College London 0632060441_1_pretoc.qxd 11/30/05 8:32 Page iv © 2006 by Blackwell Science Ltd, a Blackwell Publishing company BLACKWELL PUBLISHING 350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK 550 Swanston Street, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia The right of Paul Goldberg and Richard I. Macphail to be identified as the Authors of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs, and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. First published 2006 by Blackwell Science Ltd 1 2006 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Goldberg, Paul. Practical and theoretical geoarchaeology/Paul Goldberg and Richard I. Macphail. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-632-06044-1 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Archaeological geology. I. Macphail, Richard. II. Title. CC77.5.G65 2006 930.1’028–dc22 2005018433 A catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library. Set in 10/12.5 pt Meridien by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd, Chennai, India Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by TJ International, Padstow, Cornwall The publisher’s policy is to use permanent paper from mills that operate a sustainable forestry policy, and which has been manufactured from pulp processed using acid-free and elementary chlorine-free practices. Furthermore, the publisher ensures that the text paper and cover board used have met acceptable environmental accreditation standards. For further information on Blackwell Publishing, visit our website: www.blackwellpublishing.com 0632060441_2_toc.qxd 11/30/05 15:59 Page v Contents Preface ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 Part I Regional scale geoarchaeology 7 Chapter 1 Sediments 11 1.1 Introduction 11 1.2 Types of sediments 11 1.3 Conclusions: sediments versus soils 27 Chapter 2 Stratigraphy 28 2.1 Introduction 28 2.2 Stratigraphy and stratigraphic principles 28 2.3 Facies and microfacies 38 2.4 Correlation 40 2.5 Keeping track: the Harris Matrix 40 2.6 Conclusions 41 Box 2.1 Facies and stratigraphy: The Paleoindian-Archaic site of Wilson–Leonard, Texas 33 Chapter 3 Soils 42 3.1 Introduction 42 3.2 Soil profiles and soil properties 51 3.3 The five soil forming factors 52 3.4 Important soil forming processes 64 3.5 Conclusions 71 Box 3.1 The Five Factors of Soil Formation and Bronze Age Brean Down, United Kingdom 43 Box 3.2 Cold Climate Soils 53 Chapter 4 Hydrological systems I: slopes and slope deposits 72 4.1 Introduction 72 4.2 Water movement on slopes 73 0632060441_2_toc.qxd 11/30/05 15:59 Page vi vi CONTENTS 4.3 Erosion, movement, and deposition on slopes 76 4.4 Conclusions 84 Chapter 5 Hydrological systems II: rivers and lakes 85 5.1 Introduction 85 5.2 Stream erosion, transport, and deposition 85 5.3 Stream deposits and channel patterns 89 5.4 Floodplains 91 5.5 Stream terraces 99 5.6 Lakes 112 5.7 Conclusions 117 Box 5.1 Upper and Middle Palaeolithic sites of Nahal Zin, Central Negev, Israel 102 Chapter 6 Aeolian settings and geoarchaeological environments 119 6.1 Introduction 119 6.2 Sandy aeolian terrains 119 6.3 Examples of sites in dune contexts 137 6.4 Bioturbation in sandy terrains 140 6.5 Fine grained aeolian deposits 140 6.6 Conclusions 149 Box 6.1 Aeolian features in desert environments 123 Chapter 7 Coasts 151 7.1 Introduction 151 7.2 Palaeo sea shores and palaeo coastal deposits 151 7.3 Conclusions 168 Box 7.1 Boxgrove (United Kingdom) – the marine and salt marsh sequence 152 Box 7.2 Drowned coasts of Essex and the River Severn, United Kingdom 163 Chapter 8 Caves and rockshelters 169 8.1 Introduction 169 8.2 Formation of caves and rockshelters 169 8.3 Cave deposits and processes 174 8.4 Environmental reconstruction 186 8.5 Conclusions 187 Box 8.1 Kebara Cave, Israel 180 Part II Nontraditional geoarchaeological approaches 189 Chapter 9 Human impact on landscape: forest clearance, soil modifications, and cultivation 193 9.1 Introduction 193 9.2 Forest clearance and soil changes (amelioration, deterioration, and disturbance) 193 9.3 Forest and woodland clearance features 199 9.4 Cultivation and manuring 202 9.5 Landscape effects 207 0632060441_2_toc.qxd 11/30/05 15:59 Page vii CONTENTS vii 9.6 Conclusions 210 Box 9.1 Cultivation at Late Roman/Saxon Oakley, Suffolk, United Kingdom 204 Chapter 10 Occupation deposits I: concepts and aspects of cultural deposits 211 10.1 Introduction 211 10.2 Concepts and aspects of occupation deposits 212 10.3 Stratigraphic sequences as material culture; concepts and uses of space 216 10.4 Time and scale 217 10.5 Settlement–landscape interrelationships 218 10.6 Origin and predepositional history of occupation deposits 219 10.7 Depositional history 221 10.8 Postdepositional modifications 221 10.9 Conclusions 224 Chapter 11 Occupation deposits II: examples from the Near East, North America, and Europe 225 11.1 Introduction 225 11.2 Tells 225 11.3 Mounds 227 11.4 Urban archaeology of Western Europe 235 11.5 Early medieval settlement 239 11.6 Medieval floors of Northwest Europe 244 11.7 Conclusions 246 Box 11.1 Tells 227 Box 11.2 Grubenhäuser 242 Chapter 12 Experimental geoarchaeology 247 12.1 Introduction 247 12.2 Effects of burial and aging 248 12.3 Experimental “Ancient Farms” at Butser and Umeå 254 12.4 Conclusions 267 Chapter 13 Human materials 268 13.1 Introduction 268 13.2 Constructional materials 268 13.3 Metal working 283 13.4 Conclusions 285 Box 13.1 Brickearth walls 269 Box 13.2 Terra Preta and European dark earth 271 Chapter 14 Applications of geoarchaeology to forensic science 286 14.1 Introduction 286 14.2 Soils and clandestine graves 286 14.3 Provenancing and obtaining geoarchaeological information from crime scenes 289 14.4 Other potential methods 289 14.5 Practical approaches to forensic soil sampling and potential for soil micromorphology 291 14.6 Conclusions 292 0632060441_2_toc.qxd 12/5/05 4:21 Page viii viii CONTENTS Part III Field and laboratory methods, data, and reporting 295 Chapter 15 Field-based methods 299 15.1 Introduction 299 15.2 Regional-scale methods 299 15.3 Shallow geophysical methods (resistivity, palaeomagnetism, seismology, ground penetrating radar) 312 15.4 Coring and trenching techniques 316 15.5 Describing sections: soils and sediments in the field 321 15.6 Collecting samples 328 15.7 Sample and data correlation 333 15.8 Conclusions 334 Chapter 16 Laboratory techniques 335 16.1 Introduction 335 16.2 Physical and chemical techniques 336 16.3 Microscopic methods and mineralogy 352 16.4 Thin section analysis 354 16.5 Minerals and heavy minerals 361 16.6 Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), EDAX, and microprobe 362 16.7 Conclusions 367 Chapter 17 Reporting and publishing 368 17.1 Introduction 368 17.2 Management of sites and reporting 368 17.3 Fieldwork and assessment/evaluation reporting 374 17.4 Postexcavation reporting and publication 374 17.5 Site interpretation 380 17.6 Conclusions 387 Box 17.1 How to write a report – a suggested fieldwork report protocol 369 Box 17.2 Reporting – London Guildhall 370 Chapter 18 Concluding remarks and the geoarchaeological future 388 Appendices 391 Bibliography 404 Index 443 Color plate section between pp 224 and 225 0632060441_3_posttoc.qxd 11/30/05 8:35 Page ix Preface Geoarchaeology within the past two decades has become a fundamental discipline whose value is recognized by everyone interested in past human history. First, archaeologists have become increasingly sensitive to the fact that sediments and stratigraphy provide the ultimate context for the artifacts and features that they excavate. Understanding this sedimentary context and its impli- cations is a requisite for carrying out modern archaeology and for interpreting the archaeological record fully and accurately. Environmentalists (e.g. paleoecologists, soil scientists, sedimentologists, geologists, biologists, and climatologists) on the other hand, have turned to archaeology, because it provides a long-term view of human–environment interactions that have shaped both Quaternary and Holocene landscapes. Such knowledge can have a critical bearing on the future, for example, through identifying areas of sustainable landuse. Interpretation of such ecological information depends upon detailed understanding of the pedosedimentary and geomorphological context, as in archaeology. Geoarchaeology is an important discipline, because as shown recently, it increases our understanding of human impacts on the landscape through the study of ancient soils and occupation deposits. These investigations can provide detailed histories of human endeavors up to the present. Although geoarchaeology – though not defined as such – had its roots at least in the eighteenth century (Rapp and Hill, 1998) it never came together as a subdiscipline until the appearance of the edited volume “Geoarchaeology: Earth Science and the Past” by Davidson and Shackley (1976).