1. Edition - January 2005
89.90 Euro
2005. 782 Pages, Softcover
ISBN-10: 0-470-01476-8
ISBN-13: 978-0-470-01476-9 - John Wiley & Sons








Short description
This book is a broad one volume introduction to the sciences relevant to archaeology. It provides an introduction to the scientific aspects of modern archaeology. The contributors are international authorities in their fields. Each contributor reviews the relevant basic science and puts it into the appropriate archaeological context. The book places scientific archaeology in the wider context of the other historical sciences. It is designed as the definitive general reference and guide to the archaeological sciences.

From the contents
List of Contributors.

Foreword: Martin Aitken FRS.

Acknowledgements.

Introduction: Archaeological Science: A current Perspective.

DATING.

Overview - Dating in Archaeology: Past, Present and Future.

Quaternary Geochronological Frameworks.

Radiocarbon Dating.

Dendrochronology and Other Applications of Tree-ring Studies in Archaeology.

Trapped Charge Dating (ESR, TL, OSL).

Uranium-Series Dating.

Magnetic Properties and Archaeomagnetism.

Obsidian Hydration Dating.

In Situ Cosmogenic Isotopes: Principles and Potential for Archaeology.

QUATERNARY PALAEOENVIRONMENTS.

Overview - Environmental Reconstruction.

Modelling Quaternary Environments.

Insects as Palaeoenvironmental Indicators.

Non-Marine Mollusca and Archaeology.

Mammals as Climatic Indicators.

Peat Stratigraphy and Climate Change.

Archaeology and Soil Micromorphology.

Taphonomic Investigations.

Global Biogeochemical Cycles and Isotope Systematics - How the World Works.

HUMAN PALAEOBIOLOGY.

Overview - Human Palaeobiology: Then and Now.

Pleistocene and Holocene Hominid Evolution.

Human Palaeobiology as Human Ecology.

Disease Ecology.

Assessment of Age at Death and Sex in the Adult Human Skeleton.

The Study of Preserved Human Tissue.

Palaeodemography.

Body Tissue Chemistry and Palaeodiet.

Cremated Bone.

BIOMOLECULAR ARCHAEOLOGY.

Overview - Archaeological Science in the Biomolecular Century.

Ancient DNA.

Blood Residues in Archaeology.

Survival and Interpretation of Archaeological Proteins.

Lipids in Archaeology.

Archaeological Microbiology.

BIOLOGICAL RESOURCE EXPLOITATON.

Overview - At the Beginning of the Task: The Archaeology of Biological Remains.

Biological Resource Exploitation: Problems of Theory and Method.

Human Impact on Vegetation.

Archaeobotany and the Transition to Agriculture.

Dietary Evidence from the Coprolites and the Intestinal Contents of Ancient Humans.

Vertebrate Resources.

The Exploitation of Invertebrates and Invertebrate Products.

INORGANIC RESOURCE EXPLOITATION.

Overview - Materials Study in Archaeology.

Ceramic Petrology, Clay Geochemistry and Ceramic Production - From Technology to the Mind of the Potter.

Lithic Exploitation and Use.

Glass and Glazes.

Science, Speculation and the Origins of Extractive Metallurgy.

Pyrotechnology.

The Provenance Hypothesis.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL PROSPECTION.

Overview - The Role and Practice of Archaeological Prospection.

Surface Collection Techniques in Field Archaeology: Theory and Practice.

Geophysical Prospection in Archaeology.

Remote Sensing.

Geochemical Prospecting.

Archaeological Data Integration.

BURIAL, DECAY AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONSERVATION.

Overview - Degradation, Investigation and Preservation of Archaeological Evidence.

Defining the Burial Environment.

Electrochemical Processes in Metallic Corrosion.

Post-Depositional Changes in Archaeological Ceramics and Glasses.

The Deterioration of Organic Materials.

The Deterioration of Bone.

Maximizing the Life Span of Archaeological Objects.

STATISTICAL AND COMPUTATIONAL METHODS.

Overview - Numbers, Models, Maps: Computers and Archaeology.

Spatial Information and Archaeology.

Multivariate Analysis in Archaeology.

Applications of the Bayesian Statistical Paradigm.

Animal Bone Quantification.

Quantification of Broken Objects.

Numerical Modelling in Archaeology.

Synthesizing Analytical Data - Spatial Results from Pottery Provenance.

General Index.

Site Index.

Species Names and Taxonomic Groups Index.