Showing posts with label geochemistry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label geochemistry. Show all posts

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Techniques in Archaeological Geology


Springer has been quite prolific in archaeological science texts recently. Another new publication is "
Techniques in Archaeological Geology", by Ervan Garrison, as part of the "Natural Science in Archaeology Series". This text puts archaeology in terms of its geological origins, from sites to sources.

Chapter titles include:

-Survey and Mapping the Geomorphological and Geological Context
-Geophysical Techniques for Archaeology
-Field Sampling Techniques for Archaeological Sediments and Soils
-Analytical Techniques for Archaeological Sediments
-Petrography for Archaeological Geology
-Instrumental Analytical Techniques for Archaeological Geology
-Statistics in Archaeological Geology

From the Springer website:
"The archaeological geology of the Quaternary or the geological epoch during which humankind evolved is a scientific endeavor with much to offer in the fields of archaeology and palaeoanthropology. Earth science techniques offer diverse ways of characterizing the elements of past landscapes and archaeological facies. This book is a survey of techniques used in archaeological geology for the study of soils, sediments, rocks and minerals. The techniques presented represent those most commonly used today. They are discussed in detail and examples are provided, in many cases, to demonstrate their usefulness to archaeologists."

At least from the preview this one is going in my research library, and I am looking forward to reading and reviewing it in full.

ISBN: 978-3-540-43822-9

Monday, November 2, 2009

Field geology session at the International Symposium on Archaeometry

I want to be sure you are aware of the session on


Field Archaeology (remote sensing and geophysical prospecting, sampling and field walking strategies, in situ observations of preservation, site monitoring)

to be held at the International Symposium on Archaeometry (http://isa2010.cas.usf.edu/) next May in Tampa.

This session is being co-organized by Luis Barba and myself (Rob Sternberg).

Please consider submitting an abstract. The deadline is 1 Dec. 2009.


Photo: Rob with student Ali planning out some magnetometer traverses at an Etruscan archaeological site.