Environmental archaeology

Environmental archaeology is a sub-field of archaeology which emerged in 1970s[1] and is the science of reconstructing the relationships between past societies and the environments they lived in.[2][3] The field represents an archaeological-palaeoecological approach to studying the palaeoenvironment through the methods of human palaeoecology. Reconstructing past environments and past peoples' relationships and interactions with the landscapes they inhabited provides archaeologists with insights into the origin and evolution of anthropogenic environments, and prehistoric adaptations and economic practices.[4]

Environmental archaeology is commonly divided into three sub-fields:

Other related fields include:

Environmental archaeology often involves studying plant and animal remains in order to investigate which plant and animal species were present at the time of prehistoric habitations, and how past societies managed them. It may also involve studying the physical environment and how similar or different it was in the past compared to the present day. An important component of such analyses represents the study of site formation processes.[6] This field is particularly useful when artifacts may be absent from an excavated or surveyed site, or in cases of earth movement, such as erosion, which may have buried artifacts and archaeological features. While specialist sub-fields, for example bioarchaeology or geomorphology, are defined by the materials they study, the term "environmental" is used as a general template in order to denote a general field of scientific inquiry that is applicable across time periods and geographical regions studied by archaeology as a whole.[7]

Environmental archaeology has emerged as a distinct discipline in the course of the last 50 years.[8] In recent years it has grown rapidly in significance and is now an established component of most excavation projects. The field is multidisciplinary, and environmental archaeologists, as well as palaeoecologists, work side by side with archaeologists and anthropologists specialising in material culture studies in order to achieve a more holistic understanding of past human lifeways and people-environment interactions.

A notable pioneer of environmental archaeology has been Karl Butzer.[9]

Subfields

Archaeobotany
Animal remains

Archaeobotany is the study and interpretation of plant remains. By determining the uses of plants in historical contexts, researchers can reconstruct the diets of past humans, as well as determine their subsistence strategies and plant economy. This provides greater insight into a people's social and cultural behaviors.[10] Analysis of specimen like wood charcoal, for example, can reveal the source of fuel or construction for a society. Archaeobotanists also often study seed and fruit remains, along with pollen and starch.[11] Plants can be preserved in a variety of ways, but the most common are carbonization, water logging, mineralization, and desiccation.[10] A field within archaeobotany is ethnobotany, which looks more specifically at the relationship between plants and humans, and the cultural impacts plants have had and continue to have on human societies. Plant usage as food and as crops or as medicine is of interest, as well the plants' economic influences.[12]

Zooarchaeology

Zooarchaeology is the study of animal remains and what these remains can tell us about the human societies the animals existed among.[13] Animal remains can provide evidence of predation by humans (or vice versa) or domestication. Despite revealing the specific relationships between animals and humans, discovery of animal bones, hides, or DNA in a certain area can describe the location's past landscape or climate.[13]

Geoarchaeology

Geoarchaeology is the study of landscape and of geological processes. It looks at environments within the human timeline to determine how past societies may have influenced or been influenced by the environment.[14] Sediment and soil are often studied because this is where the majority of artifacts are found, but also because natural processes and human behavior can alter the soil and reveal its history.[14] Apart from visual observation, computer programming and satellite imaging are often employed to reconstruct past landscapes or architecture.[15]

History
The human environment department of the UCL Institute of Archaeology in the 1970s.

In archaeology in the 1960s, the environment was seen as having a "passive" interaction with humans. With the inclusion of Darwinism and ecological principles, however, this paradigm began to shift. Prominent theories and principles of the time (oasis theory, catastrophism, and longue duree) emphasized this philosophy. Catastrophism, for instance, discussed how catastrophes like natural disaster could be the determining factor in a society's survival.[16] The environment could have social, political, and economic impacts on human communities. It became more important for researchers to look at the direct influence the environment could have on a society. This gave rise to middle range theory and the major questions asked by environmental archaeology in the 20th and 21st centuries. Research has since led environmental archaeology to two major conclusions: humanity originated in Africa and agriculture originated in south-west Asia. Another important shift in thinking within the field centered around the notion of cost-effectivity. Before, archaeologists thought that humans usually acted to maximize their use of resources, but have since come to believe that this is not the case. Subsequent theories/principles include sociality and agency, and the focus on relationships between archaeological sites.[16] Government research audits and the 'commercialisation' of environmental archaeology[17] have also shaped the sub-discipline in more recent times.[18]

Notable contributors

Louis Leakey contributed to a vast amount of research in this field. Leakey and his wife Mary Leakey are most known for their work in on human origins in Africa. Louis Binford developed the middle range theory. Under this theory, researchers study the relationship between humans and the environment, which can be depicted in models. Eric Higgs researched the development of agriculture in Asia and the method of "site catchment analysis", which looks at the exploitation of land based on the land's potential.[19]

Methods

Environmental archaeologists approach a site through evaluation and/or excavation. Evaluation seeks to analyze the resources and artifacts given in an area and their potential significance. Excavation takes samples from different layers in the ground and uses a similar strategy to evaluation. The samples typically sought after are human and faunal remains, pollen and spores, wood and charcoal, insects, and even isotopes. Biomolecules like lipids, proteins, and DNA can be revelatory samples.[20] With respect to geoarchaeology, computer systems for topography and satellites imaging are often used to reconstruct landscapes. The Geographic Information System (GIS) is a computer system that can process spatial data and construct virtual landscapes.[21]

Significance

Each focus within environmental archaeology collects information about a different aspect of humans' relation with their surrounding environment. Together these components (along with methods from other fields) are combined to fully understand a past society’s lifestyle and interactions with their environment.[22] Past aspects of land use, food production, tool use, and occupation patterns can all be established and the knowledge applied to current and future human-environment interactions. Through predation, agriculture, and introduction of foreign biota into new environments, humans have altered past environments. Understanding these past processes can help us pursue conservation and restorative processes in the present.[23]

Archaeologists are increasingly under pressure to demonstrate that their work has impact beyond the discipline. This has prompted environmental archaeologists to argue that an understanding of past environmental changes is essential to model future outcomes in areas such as climate change, land cover change, soil health and food security.[24]

References
  1. O'Connor, Terry (2019). "Pinned Down in the Trenches? Revisiting environmental archaeology". Internet Archaeology (53). doi:10.11141/ia.53.5.
  2. "What is Environmental Archaeology?". Florida Museum of Natural History. University of Florida. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  3. Wilkinson, Keith (2003). Environmental Archaeology: Approaches, Techniques & Applications. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0752419315.
  4. Branch, Nick (2014). Environmental Archaeology: Theoretical and Practical Approaches. London: Routledge. ISBN 978-0340808719.
  5. "Online Archaeobotany Tutorial". Integrated Archaeobotanical Research Project. University of Sheffield. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  6. Kris, Hirst. "Site Formation Processes". about education. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  7. Butzer, Karl W. (2012). "Collapse, environment, and society". PNAS. 109 (10): 3632–3639. doi:10.1073/pnas.1114845109. PMC 3309741. PMID 22371579.
  8. "History". Florida Museum. 2017-04-05. Retrieved 2019-02-23.
  9. "An interview with Professor Karl W. Butzer". YouTube. Anne Buttimer. 1987. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  10. Van Der Veen, Marijke (June 2007). "Formation processes of desiccated and carbonized plant remains – the identification of routine practice". Journal of Archaeological Science. 34 (6): 968–990. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2006.09.007.
  11. "Archaeobotany". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  12. "Archaeobotany - Ethnobotany". sites.google.com. Retrieved 2019-04-14.
  13. "Zooarchaeology Lab — Anthropology". anthropology.ucdavis.edu. Retrieved 2019-03-04.
  14. 1930-, Rapp, George Robert. Geoarchaeology : the earth-science approach to archaeological interpretation. Hill, Christopher L., 1959-. New Haven. ISBN 9780300157345. OCLC 951622849.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. Ghilardi, Matthieu; Desruelles, Stéphane (2009-05-30). "Geoarchaeology: where human, social and earth sciences meet with technology". S.A.P.I.EN.S. Surveys and Perspectives Integrating Environment and Society (in French). 2 (2). ISSN 1993-3800.
  16. G., Evans, John (2003). Environmental archaeology and the social order. London: Routledge. ISBN 0203711769. OCLC 54494457.
  17. Pearson, Elizabeth (2019). "Commercial Environmental Archaeology: are we back in the dark ages or is environmental archaeology a potential agent of change?". Internet Archaeology (53). doi:10.11141/ia.53.4.
  18. Howard, Andy J. (2019). "Environmental Archaeology, Progress and Challenges". Internet Archaeology (53). doi:10.11141/ia.53.1.
  19. G., Evans, John (2003). Environmental archaeology and the social order. London: Routledge. ISBN 0203711769. OCLC 54494457.
  20. "Environmental Archaeology: A guide to the theory and practice of methods from sampling and recovery to post-excavation". ResearchGate. Retrieved 2019-03-09.
  21. Ghilardi, Matthieu; Desruelles, Stéphane (2009-05-30). "Geoarchaeology: where human, social and earth sciences meet with technology". S.A.P.I.EN.S. Surveys and Perspectives Integrating Environment and Society (in French). 2 (2). ISSN 1993-3800.
  22. Environmental archaeology: theoretical and practical approaches. Place of publication not identified: Routledge, 2016.
  23. Grayson, Donald K. (2001-03-01). "The Archaeological Record of Human Impacts on Animal Populations". Journal of World Prehistory. 15 (1): 1–68. doi:10.1023/A:1011165119141. ISSN 1573-7802.
  24. Richer, Suzi; Stump, Daryl; Marchant, Robert (2019). "Archaeology has No Relevance". Internet Archaeology (53). doi:10.11141/ia.53.2.
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