Archaeology in the past century has seen a major shift from theoretical frameworks that treat the remains of past societies as static snapshots of particular moments in time to interpretations that prioritize change and variability.
This edited volume of 16 papers provides an introduction to the techniques and methodologies, approaches and potential of environmental archaeology within Ireland.
A detailed consideration of the ways in which human-environment relations altered with the beginnings of agriculture in the Neolithic of northern Europe.
Despite being one of the most successful branches of mainstream archaeology, wetland archaeology, as an academic discipline, is still relatively unknown.
Much archaeological work is concerned with identifying gaps in our knowledge and developing strategies for addressing them; we perhaps spend less time thinking about how research should proceed when we already know, relatively speaking, quite a lot.
Most research into humans' impact on the environment has focused on large-scale societies; a corollary assumption has been that small scale economies are sustainable and in harmony with nature.
Maritime communications have played a vital role in shaping both human cultures and the biogeography of the North Atlantic Realm, a region containing discrete groups of islands separated by deep water.
This book adopts a comprehensive approach, drawing from archaeology, physical anthropology, human genetics, linguistics, cultural anthropology, ethnology and ethnography, to explore the Austronesian link of 'Liangdao Man,' and the origins of Austronesian language groups.
Anglo-Saxon farming has traditionally been seen as the wellspring of English agriculture, setting the pattern for 1000 years to come – but it was more important than that.
Few areas of the world have played as prominent a role in human evolution as the Levantine Corridor, a comparatively narrow strip of land sandwiched between the Mediterranean Sea on the west and the expanse of inhospitable desert to the east.
This book charts and explains how human activities have shaped and altered the development of soils in many parts of the world, taking advantage of five decades of soil analytical work in many archaeological landscapes from around the globe.
Archaeology in the past century has seen a major shift from theoretical frameworks that treat the remains of past societies as static snapshots of particular moments in time to interpretations that prioritize change and variability.
This book is about sustainable agriculture and architecture in the past and the engineering works that supported them, but it also looks to the future.
Exploring the difficult and contested sites of deindustrialized society on the brink of transformation to either heritage or wasteland, this volume looks at the creative ways that such sites are (re)used and suggests that they are not always merely abject or abandoned.
This is the second volume arising from the 1994–2003 excavations of the Triconch Palace at Butrint (Albania), which charted the history of a major Mediterranean waterfront site from the 2nd to the 15th centuries AD.
The remains of snails in ancient soils and sediments are one of the most important biological indicators of past landscapes, and have attracted study for well over a century.
In this book, ethnographical and archaeological perspectives on tradeoffs help the reader to think about hard choices, and how to make better decisions today and tomorrow.
The Oxford Handbook of Historical Ecology and Applied Archaeology presents theoretical discussions, methodological outlines, and case-studies describing the field of overlap between historical ecology and the emerging sub-discipline of applied archaeology to highlight how modern environments and landscapes have been shaped by humans.
Some of the fundamental questions of our time are ecological - urgent environmental problems demand newly conceived solutions for the betterment and preservation of life on this planet.
The massive ancient earthwork that provides the sole commemoration of an extraordinary Anglo-Saxon king and that gives its name to one of our most popular contemporary national walking trails remains an enigma.
A study of Ice Age Americans, highlighting genetic, archaeological and geological evidence that has revolutionized our understanding of their origins, antiquity, and adaptations.
This book provides the current knowledge on prehistoric human contacts and migrations in Northeast Asia (consisting of far eastern Russia, Northeastern Siberia, Korea, Northeast China, and Japan), using obsidian as a commodity.
Peatlands are regarded as having exceptional archaeological value, due to the fact the waterlogged conditions of these wetlands can preserve organic remains that are almost entirely lost from the majority of dryland contexts.
All farming in prehistoric Europe ultimately came from elsewhere in one way or another, unlike the growing numbers of primary centers of domestication and agricultural origins worldwide.
The intriguing Bird's Nest Fungi (Nidulariaceae) of forest, meadow, and garden have been familiar to botanists since 1601, but only relatively recently has the significance of their peculiar form been realized.
Few areas of the world have played as prominent a role in human evolution as the Levantine Corridor, a comparatively narrow strip of land sandwiched between the Mediterranean Sea on the west and the expanse of inhospitable desert to the east.
This book highlights the importance of palynology in understanding floral biodiversity, paleoclimate and depositional environments in deep time and recent sediments.
The Eastern Fertile Crescent region of western Iran and eastern Iraq hosted major developments in the transition from hunter-forager to farmer-herder lifestyles through the Early Neolithic period, 10,000-7000 BC.
Archaeologists have long acknowledged the absence of a regular and recurrent burial rite in the British Iron Age, and have looked to rites such as cremation and scattering of remains to explain the minimal impact of funerary practices on the archaeological record.
A study of Ice Age Americans, highlighting genetic, archaeological and geological evidence that has revolutionized our understanding of their origins, antiquity, and adaptations.
Ancient Trees in the Landscape is the outcome of many years research into the history of trees in Norfolk, and represents the first detailed, published account of the ancient and traditionally managed trees of any English county.