Environmental Archaeology: Meaning and Purpose

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-x

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2. Introduction

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Exploring the Real Nature of Environmental Archaeology

      • Umberto Albarella

      Pages 3-13

3. Meaning and Purpose

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 15-15

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   2. Economic Prehistory or Environmental Archaeology? On Gaining a Sense of Identity

      • Terry O’connor

      Pages 17-27

   3. Re-Inventing Environmental Archaeology

      • Yannis Hamilakis

      Pages 29-38

   4. Whose Dichotomy is it Anyway?

      • Terry O’Connor

      Pages 39-41

   5. Environmental Archaeology is not Human Palaeoecology

      • Jonathan Driver

      Pages 43-53

   6. Environmental Archaeology is Dead: Long Live Bioarchaeology, Geoarchaeology and Human Palaeoecology

      • Ken Thomas

      Pages 55-58

   7. A Reply to Thomas

      • Jonathan Driver

      Pages 59-60

   8. The Poverty of Empiricism and the Tyranny of Theory

      • Steve Roskams, Tom Saunders

      Pages 61-74

   9. Commercialising the Palaeoenvironment

      • Gwilym Hughes, Andy Hammon

      Pages 75-87

   10. The Responsibilities of Archaeologists to Nature Conservation

       • Rebecca Roseff

       Pages 89-95

   11. Sustainability and the Rate of Change

       • Paul Graves-Brown

       Pages 97-99

   12. A Reply to Graves-Brown

       • Rebecca Roseff

       Pages 101-101

   13. What is Geoarchaeology? Re-Examining the Relationship Between Archaeology and Earth Science

       • Matthew Canti

       Pages 103-112

   14. Is Human Osteoarchaeology Environmental Archaeology?

       • Joanna Sofaer Derevenski

       Pages 113-133

4. Case Studies

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 135-135

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   2. The Rhetoric of People and Grains

      • Dragos Gheorghiu

      Pages 137-148

   3. A Match Made in Heaven or a Marriage of Convenience?

      • Chris Loveluck, Keith Dobney

      Pages 149-175

Despite the fact that the human life of the past cannot be understood without taking into account its ecological relationships, environmental studies are often marginalised in archaeology. This is the first book that, by discussing the meaning and purpose we give to the expression `environmental archaeology', investigates the reasons for such a problem. This is achieved through the use of theoretical considerations and the aid of a number of case studies, which, by taking us from Anglo-Saxon England to pre-Columbian Venezuela, and from Classical Greece to late Antique Egypt, emphasise the potential of an integrated approach. The book is written by archaeologists with different backgrounds and is addressed to all researchers who care about the past relationship between people and the rest of Nature. Despite the complexity of some of the issues tackled, the book is written in an accessible manner and should be of interest to all students who want to understand the essence of archaeology beyond the boundary of the individual sub-disciplines.

• Earth Science
• archaeobotany
• economic prehistory
• environmental archaeology
• environmental studies
• geoarchaeology
• historical archaeology
• palaeoenvironment
• prehistory
• reason

• Department of Archaeology, University of Durham, Durham, England, UK

  Umberto Albarella

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