Reconstructing Archaeological Sites

Panagiotis (Takis) Karkanas is director of the Malcolm H. Wiener Laboratory for Archaeological Science at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Greece. He is member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. His research interests encompass all aspects of geoarchaeology including site-formation processes and palaeoenvironmental reconstructions. He has carried out geoarchaeological research in sites of almost all cultural periods and associated landscapes in many countries around the world. Paul Goldberg is a geoarchaeologist with over four decades of experience. He is Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong, Australia, Senior Researcher in the Institute of Archaeological Sciences, University of Tübingen, and Professor Emeritus, Boston University. His principal research focus is the use of soil micromorphology to understand how archaeological sites form, regardless of age or location, from Pleistocene caves in Europe and Asia, to Iron-Age sites in Menorca, Spain. He is coauthor of Practical and Theoretical Geoarchaeology (Blackwell, 2006).

“A welcome guide to analyzing the sedimentary matrix of archaeological deposits.” (Geoscientist, February 2020)

• Preface xiAcknowledgments xiiiAbbreviations xvIntroduction: A Depositional Approach to the Study of Archaeological Excavations 11 Principles of Site‐formation or Depositional Processes 111.1 The Concept of the Deposit 111.2 Types of Archaeological Deposits 141.3 Anthropogenic Sediments 141.4 Some Misconceptions of Site‐formation and Depositional Processes 161.5 Soils and Post‐Depositional Processes 161.6 Recording Deposits and Site‐formation Processes (Stratigraphy) 182 Natural Sediments and Processes in Sites 212.1 Introduction 212.2 Principles of the Transport and Deposition of Sediments 222.2.1 Physical Processes 222.2.2 Sediment Properties 242.2.3 Fabric 282.2.4 Sedimentary Structures 282.2.5 Some Remarks on the Interpretation of Textures, Fabrics, and Sedimentary Structures 332.3 Mass Movement in Sites 342.3.1 Slides and Slumps 352.3.2 Rock and Debris Falls, and Avalanches and Grain Flows 372.3.3 Solifluction 402.3.4 Debris Flows and Mudflows 432.4 Water Flows in Sites 472.4.1 Shallow Water Flows 472.4.2 Hyperconcentrated Flows 572.4.3 High‐energy Flows 602.5 Aeolian Processes 632.6 Biological Sediments and Processes 682.6.1 Dung, Coprolites, and Guano 682.6.2 Bioturbation 712.7 Post‐depositional Features and Processes 752.7.1 Erosional Features, Deflation, Lags, Stone Lines, and Pavements 762.7.2 Diagenesis 782.7.3 Soil‐forming Processes 862.8 Concluding Remarks 933 Anthropogenic Sediments 993.1 Introduction 993.2 Burnt Remains 1003.3 Organic Remains and Human Activities 1163.3.1 Biological Constructions (Matting, Roofing) 1163.3.2 Stabling 1173.4 Formation of Construction Materials 1243.4.1 Living and Constructed Floors 1243.4.2 Mudbricks, Daub and Other Mud Construction Materials 1323.4.3 Mortar, Wall Plaster 1353.5 Maintenance and Discard Processes 1383.5.1 Sweeping and Raking 1383.5.2 Dumping and Filling 1403.5.3 Trampling 1463.6 Concluding Remarks 1484 Site Stratigraphy 1494.1 Introduction 1494.2 Historical Overview 1504.3 The Definition of Stratigraphic Units in an Excavation 1514.4 Nature of Contacts 1544.5 Time and Stratigraphy 1574.6 Massive Thick Layers 1574.7 Basic Stratigraphic Principles 1584.7.1 The Principle of Superposition of Beds 1584.7.2 The Principle of Cross‐Cutting Relationships 1594.7.3 The Principle of Original Continuity of Layers 1604.7.4 The Principle of Original Horizontality of Layers 1604.7.5 The Principle of Included Fragments 1604.8 What is ‘In Situ’? 1614.9 Human Constructions and Depositional Stratigraphy 1624.10 The Concept of Facies 1624.11 Practicing Stratigraphy 1644.11.1 Erosional Contacts and Unconformities 1664.11.2 The Importance of Baulks and Sections 1674.11.3 Inclined Layers 1684.12 Concluding Remarks 1695 Non‐architectural Sites 1715.1 Introduction 1715.2 Open‐air vs Cave Sites 1725.2.1 Caves 1725.2.2 Open‐air Sites 1895.3 Other Stratigraphic Themes 1925.3.1 Burials 1925.3.2 Palimpsests 1945.4 Concluding Remarks 1976 Architectural Sites 1996.1 Introduction 1996.2 Roofed Facies 1996.3 Diachronic Spatial Organization 2036.4 Unroofed Facies 2046.4.1 How to Recognize an Unroofed Area 2046.4.2 Destruction and Abandonment of Buildings 2056.4.3 Courtyards, Gardens, and Other Open Spaces 2096.4.4 Street Deposits 2116.5 House Pits, Pueblos and Kivas 2136.5.1 House Pits 2136.5.2 Plastered Floors from Structure 116 2166.5.3 Pueblos and Kivas 2176.6 Tombs 2186.7 Monumental Earthen Structures 2196.8 Concluding Remarks 2217 Some Approaches to Field Sediment Study 2237.1 Introduction 2237.2 Drawing 2237.3 Photography 2247.4 Sampling Strategy 2257.5 Representative Sampling 2257.5.1 Sampling Methods 2257.5.2 Number of Samples 2267.5.3 Size of Samples 2277.5.4 Micromorphological Sampling 2287.5.5 Microarchaeological Sampling 229Concluding Remarks 231References 233Index 265