Includes bibliographical references (pages 404-441) and index.

Part I: Traditional Geoarchaeology -- 1 Sediments -- 1.1 Introduction -- 1.2 Types of sediment -- 2 Stratigraphy -- 2.1 Introduction -- 2.2 Stratigraphy and stratigraphic principles -- 2.3 Facies and microfacies -- 2.4 Correlation -- 2.5 Keeping track: the Harris Matrix -- 2.6 Conclusions -- Box 2.1 The Paleoindian-Archaic site of Wilson-Leonard, Texas -- 3 Soils -- 3.1 Introduction -- 3.2 The five soil forming factors -- 3.3 Soil profiles and soil properties -- 3.4 Important soil forming processes -- 3.5 Conclusions -- Box 3.1 The five factors of soil formation and Bronze Age Brean Down, UK -- Box 3.2 Cold climate soils -- 4 Hydrological Systems I: slopes and slope deposits -- 4.1 Introduction -- 4.2 Water movement on slopes -- 4.3 Erosion, movement, and deposition on slopes -- 4.4 Conclusions -- 5 Hydrological Systems II: rivers, lakes, and wetland -- 5.1 Introduction -- 5.2 Stream erosion, transport, and deposition -- 5.3 Stream deposits and channel patterns -- 5.4 Floodplains -- 5.5 Stream terraces -- 5.6 Lakes and wetlands -- 5.7 Conclusions -- Box 5.1 Upper and Middle Palaeolithic sites of Nahal Zin, Central Negev, Israel -- 6 Aeolian settings and geoarchaeological environments -- 6.1 Introduction -- 6.2 Sandy aeolian terrains -- 6.3 Examples of sites in dune contexts -- 6.4 Bioturbation in sandy terrains -- 6.5 Fine grained aeolian deposits -- 6.6 Conclusions -- Box 6.1 Aeolian features in desert environments -- 7 Coasts -- 7.1 Introduction -- 7.2 Palaeo sea shores and palaeo coastal deposits -- The high energy cliff/beach zone -- Coastal dunes -- Low energy estuarine mudflat and lagoonal environments -- Salt marsh, mangrove and other swamplands -- Middens -- 7.3 Conclusions -- Box 7.1 Boxgrove, UK: the marine and salt marsh sequence -- Box 7.2 Drowned coasts of Essex and the River Severn, UK.

8 Caves and rockshelters -- 8.1 Introduction -- 8.2 Formation of caves and rock shelters -- 8.3 Cave deposits and processes -- 8.4 Environmental reconstruction -- 8.5 Conclusions -- Box 8.1 Kebara Cave, Israel -- Part II Nontraditional Geoarchaeological Approaches -- 9 Human impact on landscape: forest clearance, soil modifications, and cultivation -- 9.1 Introduction -- 9.2 Forest clearance and soil changes -- 9.3 Forest and woodland clearance features -- 9.4 Cultivation and manuring -- 9.5 Landscape effects -- 9.6 Conclusions -- Box 9.1 Cultivation at Late Roman/Saxon Oakley, Suffolk, UK -- 10 Occupation deposits I: concepts and aspects of cultural deposits -- 10.1 Introduction -- 10.2 Concepts and aspects of occupation deposits -- 10.3 Stratigraphic sequences as material culture, and concepts and uses of space -- 10.4 Time and scale -- 10.5 Settlement-landscape interrelationships -- 10.6 Origin and predepositional history of occupation deposits -- 10.7 Depositional history -- 10.8 Postdepositional modifications -- 10.9 Conclusions -- 11 Occupation deposits II: examples from the Near East, North America, and Europe -- 11.1 Introduction -- 11.2 Tells and mounds -- 11.3 Mounds -- 11.4 Urban archaeology of Western Europe -- 11.5 Early medieval settlement -- 11.6 Medieval floors of Northwest Europe -- 11.7 Conclusions -- Box 11.1 Tells -- Box 11.2 Grubenhäuser -- 12 Experimental archaeology -- 12.1 Introduction -- 12.2 Effects of burial and aging -- 12.3 Experimental "ancient farms" at Butser and Umeå -- 12.4 Conclusions -- 13 Human materials -- 13.1 Introduction -- 13.2 Constructional materials -- Mortar -- Plaster -- Turf -- Building clay -- Mud brick -- 13.3 Metal working -- 13.4 Conclusions -- Box 13.1 Brickearth walls -- Box 13.2 Terra preta and European dark earth.

14 Applications of geoarchaeology to forensic science -- 14.1 Introduction -- 14.2 Soils and clandestine graves -- 14.3 Provenancing and obtaining geoarchaeological information from crime scenes -- 14.4 Other potential methods -- 14.5 Practical approaches to forensic soil sampling and potential for soil micromorphology -- 14.6 Conclusions -- Part III Field and Laboratory Methods, Data, and Reporting -- 15 Field-based methods -- 15.1 Introduction -- 15.2 Regional-scale methods -- 15.3 Shallow geophysical methods -- 15.4 Coring and trenching techniques -- 15.5 Describing sections: soils and sediments in the field -- 15.6 Collecting samples -- 15.7 Sample and data correlation -- 15.8 Conclusions -- 16 Laboratory techniques -- 16.1 Introduction -- 16.2 Physical techniques -- 16.3 Soil characterisation -- Phosphate analysis -- 16.4 Magnetic susceptibility -- 16.5 Sourcing -- 16.6 Microscopic methods and mineralogy -- Soil micromorphology -- Fluorescence microscopy -- Image analysis -- Heavy minerals -- Scanning Electron Microscope -- 16.7 Conclusions -- 17 Reporting and publishing -- 17.1 Introduction -- 17.2 Management of sites and reporting -- 17.3 Fieldwork and assessment/evaluation reporting -- 17.4 Postexcavation reporting and publication -- 17.5 Site interpretation -- 17.6 Conclusions -- Box 17.1 How to write a report -- Box 17.2 Reporting: London Guildhall -- 18 Concluding remarks and the geoarchaeological future.

Practical and Theoretical Geoarchaeology provides an invaluable overview of geoarchaeology and how it can be used effectively in the study of archaeological sites and contexts. Taking a pragmatic and functional approach, this book presents a fundamental, broad-based perspective of the essentials of modern geoarchaeology in order to demonstrate the breadth of the approaches and the depth of the problems that it can tackle. This book reflects the rapid advances made in the discipline in recent years, but also gives the reader a firm grasp of conventional approaches. It covers traditional topics with the emphasis on landscapes, as well as anthropogenic site formation processes and their investigation. It also provides guidelines for the presentation of field and laboratory methods and the reporting of geoarchaeological results. Practical and Theoretical Geoarchaeology is essential reading for archaeology undergraduate and graduate students, practicing archaeologists, and geoscientists who need to understand and apply geoarchaeological methodologies.

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