![]() |
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
|
Your cart is empty |
||
|
Books > Humanities > Archaeology > Archaeological methodology & techniques
Approaches to the Analysis of Production Activity at Archaeological Sites presents the proceedings of an international and interdisciplinary workshop held in Berlin in 2018, which brought together scholars whose work focusses on manufacturing activities identified at archaeological sites. The various approaches presented here include new excavation techniques, ethnographic research, archaeometric approaches, GIS and experimental archaeology as well as theoretical issues associated with how researchers understand production in the past. These approaches are applied to research questions related to various technological and socio-economic aspects of production, including the organisation and setting of manufacturing activities, the access to and use of raw materials, firing structures and other production-related installations. The chapters discuss production activities in various domestic and institutional contexts throughout the ancient world, together with the production and use of tools and other items made of stone, bone, ceramics, glass and faience. Since manufacturing activities are encountered at archaeological sites on a regular basis, the wide range of materials and approaches presented in this volume provides a useful reference for scholars and students studying technologies and production activities in the past.
Classical archaeology probably enjoys a wider appeal than any other branch of classical or archaeological studies. As an intellectual and academic discipline, however, its esteem has not matched its popularity. Here, Anthony Snodgrass argues that classical archaeology has a rare potential in the whole field of the study of the past to make innovative discoveries and apply modern approaches by widening the aims of the discipline.
In a period when, particularly in the West, the study of archaeological remains is enriched through new methods derived from the natural sciences and when there is general agreement on the need for more investment in the study, restoration and conservation of the tangible cultural heritage, this book presents contributions to these fields from South-Eastern Europe. This region is characterised by a contrast between the rather limited development of the above scientific methods and the particularly rich and diverse material remains of its past societies, as well as by an obvious need to bring closer together traditionally-trained archaeologists with specialists in natural sciences interested in the research and conservation of ancient material remains. The title ‘Bridging Science and Heritage in the Balkans’ intends to show that the volume is part of this effort. The departing point of this volume is the 5th Balkan Symposium of Archaeometry (25–29 September 2016, Sinaia, Romania), where most of the papers published here were presented in preliminary form. The contributors are specialists from South-Eastern Europe as well as from other European countries working there. Some chapters focus on methods (in the research of glass, restoration of stone monuments affected by contemporary graffiti, conservation by irradiation of organic materials such as wood and human and animal body remains); most chapters present case studies (analyses of ceramics, metals, soils, wood anatomy, isotope-based reconstruction of human diet, ancient DNA, radiocarbon dating, technology assisted field survey, as well as restoration of paper and pigments); sometimes several methods are combined. The volume covers nearly all aspects of heritage sciences employed in this part of Europe.
Dans le cadre du projet CBDAMM (Renforcement des capacites des methodes d'acquisition de donnees en vue de promouvoir les pratiques de gestion du patrimoine naturel et culturel au Maroc), un ensemble de recommandations pour les processus d'acquisition de donnees dans les milieux marins et les zones humides cotieres a ete etabli pour les parties prenantes marocaines. Cette brochure, intitulee 'Recommandations pour les bonnes pratiques en matiere de methodes d'acquisition de donnees pour la gestion du patrimoine naturel et culturel des zones humides cotieres marocaines', vise a decrire les procedures fonctionnelles pour mener des etudes cotieres scientifiques dans le contexte marocain. Cette brochure decrit les exigences, les methodes et les pratiques des quatre domaines scientifiques qui reposent sur des donnees partagees provenant de ces investigations: hydrographie, geologie marine, biologie marine et toxicologie, archeologie maritime et gestion du patrimoine. Le contenu resume les ateliers, les sejours scientifiques et les recherches sur le terrain menees au cours du projet CBDAMM, avec pour etude de cas specifique: Oued Bouregreg, une riviere a maree semidiurne de type mesotidal et une zone humide qui s'etend entre les centres urbains de Rabat et Sale, sur la Cote Atlantique du Maroc.
Archaeological heritage conservation is all too often highly conflicted and fraught with pitfalls in part due to a poor understanding of the historical and current underpinnings that guide best practice. When heritage places are managed with international principles in mind the sites stand out as evidencing superior outcomes. The International Scientific Committee on Archaeological Heritage Management expresses concern in the Salalah Guidelines of 2017 with the persistent problems facing archaeological sites that are open to the public. National heritage icons face overwhelming pressure to provide the mainstay of local, national and international tourism economies while in some instances being situated in locations destined for major development or military conflict. Leaders in the field of archaeological heritage conservation, particularly with respect to World Heritage listed properties, assert that economic interests often are at the forefront of management decision making while heritage values are given lesser, if any, consideration. Continuing and future zones of discomfort such as the impact of war, theft of national cultural property, over-development, unconstrained excavation, extreme nationalism, uncontrolled visitation and professionalisation need to be addressed if future generations are to be afforded the same heritage values as are available today.
Stone tools are the most ubiquitous and oldest variety of archaeological artefacts. Humans have made stone tools for the last 2.6 million years on every continent of the inhabited world. As such, they constitute the most important source of information about both past patterns of human behaviour and evolution. In spite of these facts and after more than two centuries of systematic study, the analysis of stone tools remains a relatively under-developed science. This book presents a series of research projects designed to "push the envelope" in terms of the limits of our methodological knowledge concerning stone tools. It presents a series of experimental studies designed to approach the analysis of stone tools, the construction of inferences about the human past, and the building of novel theory to explain it.
Archaeologists and archaeology students have long since needed an authoritative account of the techniques now available to them, designed to be understood by non-scientists. This book fills the gap and it offers a two-tier approach to the subject. The main text is a coherent introduction to the whole field of science-based dating, written in plain langauge for non-scientists. Additional end-notes, however, offer a a more technical understanding, and cater for those who have a scientific and mathematical background.
Drawing on written records, coins, inscriptions and other archaeological evidence, the authors present a detailed picture of how the Roman cavalryman and his horse were equipped.
Interest in all aspects of dyestuffs has grown considerably since an informal meeting of researchers twenty years ago developed into the annual forum of Dyes in History and Archaeology. Collections of papers from the meetings, including this one, have been published under the same name. Analysis has revealed that the early 20th century clothing and textile designer, Mariano Fortuny, used natural dyes for his glorious silks and cottons. Natural indigo is still used in some parts of the world, but dyeing with it is harder, less pleasant work than is popularly supposed. Species of Coleus - one of which is the flame nettle, a popular houseplant in the West - are used as sources of red, blue, purple and green dyes in Papua New Guinea and other parts of Asia. Research into the history of dyestuffs covers many disciplines. Their chemistry is especially of fundamental interest: the development of synthetic dyes was a breakthrough for chemical technology and industrial processes. Analysis has enabled the identification of historical textiles dyestuffs and paintings pigments.
CAA2016: Oceans of Data gives an up-to-date overview of the field of archaeology and informatics. It presents ground-breaking technologies and best practice from various archaeological and computer science disciplines. The articles in this volume are based on the foremost presentations from the 44th Computer Applications in Archaeology Conference 2016, held in Oslo. The theme of CAA2016 was 'Exploring Oceans of Data', alluding to one of the greatest challenges in this field: the use and reuse of large datasets that result both from digitalisation and digital documentation of excavations and surveys. The volume contains 50 peer-reviewed and highest-ranked papers that are divided in eight parts, including an introduction and seven chapters. The introduction sets the stage with Oceans of Data (C.-E. Ore) and Theorising the Digital (S. Perry and J. S.Taylor), discussing the current status of overall CAA research. These two papers present the current developments, challenges, and potential that lies ahead from different perspectives. Ore points to the importance of common authority systems and ontologies. Common conceptual data models will ease curation and secure long-term reusability. Perry and Taylor address the need to bring together theoretical and digital archaeology. In the following chapters, different topics are presented under the headings Ontologies and Standards, Field and Laboratory Data Recording and Analysis, Archaeological Information Systems, GIS and Spatial Analysis, 3D and Visualisation, Complex Systems Simulation, and Teaching Archaeology in the Digital Age.
The Archaeology of Nucleation in the Old World explores the role of the built environment in expressing and shaping community organization and identity at prehistoric and historic nucleated settlements and early cities in the Old World. The spatial layout of large settlements results from the interaction of social, political, economic, and religious orders. Subsequent structural changes governed by the application, manipulation, and challenges of these orders yield a dynamic built environment which influences the processes of organization and identity formation. Taking advantage of advances in archaeological methods and theory that allow investigations of nucleated settlements to an extent and depth of detail that was previously impossible, the contributors to this volume address specific topics, such as how the built environment and location of activity zones help us to understand social configurations; how various scales of social units can be recognized and the resulting patterns interpreted; how collective actions contribute to settlement organization and community integrity; how changes in social relations are reflected in the development of the built environment; how cooperation and competition as well as measures to mitigate social and communication stress can be identified in the archaeological record; and how the built environment was used to express or manipulate identity.
Epigraphy in the Digital Age: Opportunities and Challenges in the Recording, Analysis and Dissemination of Inscriptions originates from the International Conference El patrimonio epigrafico en la era digital: Documentacion, analisis y socializacion (Madrid, 20-21 June 2019), organized by the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of Santiago de Compostela. Taking the results of the conference as a starting point, the book presents epigraphic research using digital and computational tools, bringing together and comparing the outcomes of both well-established projects and newer ones, so as to establish a comprehensive view according to the most innovative trends in investigation. 21 contributions have been gathered together, involving 38 scholars, which address issues related to open-access databases, SfM Photogrammetry and Digital Image Modelling applied to textual restoration, EpiDoc (TEI-XML edition), and Linked Open Data. In this manner, the book offers a dialogue based on very different perspectives and previous experiences to generate common research questions, methodologies, practical solutions, and significant results. The outcome is intended more a starting point and platform for future research than as a definitive point of arrival in terms of so-called 'digital epigraphy'.
Fores et Fenestrae aims to analyse Roman doors and windows and their role as an essential part of daily life. They are the structures that connect not only rooms but also houses themselves to the outside world. They relate to privacy, security, and light in domestic spaces. Until very recently, the role of doors and windows in shaping the life and structure of Roman private dwellings has been greatly underestimated. The reason for this lies primarily in the difficulties linked to their study. The low level of preservation of walls and the widespread use of perishable and recyclable materials hinder in many cases a correct assessment of these structures. To achieve greater understanding, the author followed a computational approach. The two cores of the research are the analysis of the database and the observation of results based on new 3D models. 1855 doors and windows were surveyed across eight towns of Roman imperial Italy. The information collected has been organised in a database comprised of nine tables and mined through statistical analyses. Three 3D models of different dwelling types have been generated simulating natural materials and light conditions to observe the role of doors and windows in context. The work is subdivided into three sections. The first explains the study's methodology and analyses previous scholarship on the topic, highlighting how the issue of doors and windows has often be ignored or only superficially considered. The second section collects typologies of complementary sources to better comprehend the results of the statistical analyses and to integrate the 3D models; literary, epigraphic, and visual sources are considered. To these are added the analysis of the archaeological sources. The third part constitutes the core of the analysis. It is composed of two chapters, the fi rst of which provides a detailed overview of the statistical analyses produced from the sample collected. The latter chapter investigates the results of the renders and analyses views and natural light in the Roman house.
Objects of adornment have been a subject of archaeological, historical, and ethnographic study for well over a century. Within archaeology, personal ornaments have traditionally been viewed as decorative embellishments associated with status and wealth, materializations of power relations and social strategies, or markers of underlying social categories such as those related to gender, class, and ethnic affiliation. Personal Adornment and the Construction of Identity seeks to understand these artefacts not as signals of steady, pre-existing cultural units and relations, but as important components in the active and contingent constitution of identities. Drawing on contemporary scholarship on materiality and relationality in archaeological and social theory, this book uses one genre of material culture - items of bodily adornment - to illustrate how humans and objects construct one another. Providing case studies spanning 10 countries, three continents, and more than 9,000 years of human history, the authors demonstrate the myriad and dynamic ways personal ornaments were intertwined with embodied practice and identity performativity, the creation and remaking of social memories, and relational collections of persons, materials, and practices in the past. The authors’ careful analyses of production methods and composition, curation/heirlooming and reworking, decorative attributes and iconography, position within assemblages, and depositional context illuminate the varied material and relational axes along which objects of adornment contained social value and meaning. When paired with the broad temporal and geographic scope collectively represented by these studies, we gain a deeper appreciation for the subtle but vital roles these items played in human lives.
This volume is in honor of the American scholar Rev. H. Richard Rutherford, C.S.C, Ph.D (University of Portland). It contains the papers presented at the Archaeometry Symposium in the 74th Northwest Regional Meeting of the American Chemical Society (NORM) which took place in Portland (Oregon), June 18th 2019, covering a wide range of topics. The volume includes papers about the application of different techniques in archaeology in order to comprehend some aspects during and after the excavation, for instance, physics, chemical analysis, remote sensing, LiDAR, etc. This work compiles papers about sites from different places around of the world, Spain, Canada, Thailand, Lithuania or Russia. The aim of the symposium was to facilitate communication between scholars from different places, to present current work in the field, and to stimulate future research.
New Agendas in Remote Sensing and Landscape Archaeology in the Near East is a collection of papers produced in honour of Tony James Wilkinson, who was Professor of Archaeology at Durham University from 2006 until his death in 2014. Though commemorative in concept, the volume is an assemblage of new research representing emerging agendas and innovative methods in remote sensing. The intention is to explore the opportunities and challenges faced by researchers in the field today, and the tools, techniques, and theoretical approaches available to resolve them within the framework of landscape archaeology. The papers build on the traditional strengths of landscape archaeology, such as geoarchaeology and settlement pattern analysis, as well as integrating data sources to address major research questions, such as the ancient economy, urbanism, water management and the treatment of the dead. The authors demonstrate the importance of an interdisciplinary approach for understanding the impact of human activity on shaping the landscape and the effect that landscape has on sociocultural development.
Distinguishing between the bones of sheep and goats is a notorious challenge in zooarchaeology. Several methods have been proposed to facilitate this task, largely based on macro-morphological traits. This approach, which is routinely adopted by zooarchaeologists, although still valuable, has also been shown to have limitations: morphological discriminant traits can differ in different sheep/ goat populations and a correct identification is highly dependent upon experience, as well as the availability of appropriate reference collections and the degree to which a researcher is prepared to 'risk' an identification. The Neglected Goat provides a new, more objective and transparent methodology, based on a combination of morphological and biometrical analyses, to distinguish between sheep and goat post cranial bones. Additionally, on the basis of the newly proposed approach, it reassesses the role of the goat in medieval England. There are several historical and archaeological questions concerning the role of this animal that have so far remained unanswered: why is the goat commonly recorded in the Domesday Book, when it appears to be so scarce in the contemporary archaeological record? Is the goat under-represented in the archaeological record or over-represented in the Domesday Book? Why is this animal, when identified in English medieval animal bone assemblages, almost exclusively represented by horncores? Through the investigation of a number of English sheep and goat medieval assemblages, this study sheds light on these questions, and suggests that the goat was indeed rarer than the Domesday Book suggests.
This volume brings together presentations from two sessions organized for the XVII World UISPP Conference that was held from 1-7 September 2014 in Burgos (Spain). The sessions are: The scientific value of 3D archaeology, organised by Hans Kamermans, Chiara Piccoli and Roberto Scopigno, and Detecting the Landscape(s) - Remote Sensing Techniques from Research to Heritage Management, organised by Axel Posluschny and Wieke de Neef. The common thread amongst the papers presented here is the application of digital recording techniques to enhance the documentation and analysis of the spatial component intrinsically present in archaeological data. For a long time the capturing of the third dimension, the depth, the height or z-coordinate, was problematic. Traditionally, excavation plans and sections were documented in two dimensions. Objects were also recorded in two dimensions, often from different angles. Remote sensing images like aerial photographs were represented as flat surfaces. Although depth could be visualized with techniques such as stereoscopes, analysis of relief was troublesome. All this changed at the end of the last century with the introduction of computer based digitization technologies, 3D software, and digital near-surface sampling devices. The spatial properties of the multi-scale archaeological dataset can now be accurately recorded, analysed and presented. Relationships between artefacts can be clarified by visualizing the records in a three dimensional space, computer-based simulations can be made to test hypotheses on the past use of space, remote sensing techniques help in detecting previously hidden features of landscapes, thus shedding light on bygone land uses.
This study examines Middle-Late Bronze Age (c. 1750-600 BC) domestic settlement patterns in Ireland. Recent archaeological investigations have extended the knowledge of habitation, but no detailed, systematic attempts have been made to understand the domestic evidence, or to substantially revise the existing models for the development of complex Bronze Age societies. All available data relating to settlements dating to Middle-Late Bronze Age have been collated. An evidence-based chronology for settlement is established for the first time. The data are examined at multiple scales to investigate any spatial or chronological trends in settlement character or distribution. The relationships between settlements and the surrounding environmental and social landscapes are analysed through a GIS. The new data are investigated to see how domestic settlements operated, and if traditional concepts regarding the structure of Bronze Age society can still be upheld. Agent-based modelling and social network analysis provide another dimension to the discussion regarding power, regionalism, and hierarchy within the settlement network. The results reveal a distinct rise in the visibility, and a rapid adaption, of domestic architecture, which seems to have occurred earlier in Ireland than elsewhere in western and northern Europe.
New geoinformatic technologies have recently had a transformative effect on landscape archaeology, particularly by facilitating the high resolution acquisition and analysis of data over large areas. These techniques have fundamentally changed the nature and scope of questions that can be addressed regarding the archaeological record. Despite this stimulating potential, many practising archaeologists were not trained in these methods and so are not fully aware of their capabilities or the most appropriate ways to apply them. This volume collates state of the art research in the fields of geophysics, geochemistry, aerial imaging, dating, digital archaeology, GIS and marine archaeology to present a comprehensive overview of the specialised techniques which can contribute to landscape scale archaeological investigations. It is hoped that it will serve as a "best practice" guide for their use and encourage their widespread adoption by the archaeological community.
This volume brings together a selection of papers proposed for the Proceedings of the 42nd Computer Applications and Quantitative Methods in Archaeology conference (CAA), hosted at Paris 1 Pantheon-Sorbonne University from 22nd to 25th April 2014. The program was divided into different themes and this structure has been maintained in the arrangement of articles in the various chapters of this book. Chapter headings include: Historiography; Field and Laboratory Data Recording; Ontologies and Standards; Internet and Archaeology; Archaeological Information Systems; GIS and Spatial Analysis; Mathematics and Statistics in Archaeology; 3D Archaeology and Virtual Archaeology; Multi-Agent Systems and Complex System Modelling.
This book is for students and practitioners of not only knapping, lithic technology and archaeology, but also of fractography and fracture mechanics. At conferences on fractography of glasses and ceramics, the author has often been asked to demonstrate knapping as well as provide overviews of fractography learned from it. The first part of the book is intended to stimulate such interests further, in order to solicit contributions from a largely untapped pool of experts. Such contributions can advance significantly our understandings of knapping as well as fractography. In Part II of the book, fracture markings as the tools of fractography are introduced, with their formation, meaning and utility explained. Observations on the presence or absence of the markings in knapping are considered in Part III, along with a number of interpretations of fracture features. The basic principles and concepts of fracture mechanics and fractography apply to fractures produced in any cultural context. This volume therefore addresses most questions on fracture in a generic sense, independent of cultural contexts. In general, understanding of fractures provides a sounder basis for lithic analysis, and use of more recent scientific tools opens new avenues for lithic studies.
Cultural Resource Management (CRM) refers to the discovery, evaluation, and preservation of culturally significant sites, focusing on but not limited to archaeological and historical sites of significance. CRM stems from the National Historic Preservation Act, passed in 1966. In 1986, archaeologists reviewed the practice of CRM in the Great Basin. They concluded that it was mainly a system of finding, flagging, and avoiding- a means of keeping sites and artifacts safe. Success was measured by counting the number of sites recorded and acres surveyed. This volume provides an updated review some thirty years later. The product of a 2016 symposium, its measures are the increase in knowledge obtained through CRM projects and the inclusion of tribes, the general public, industry, and others in the discovery and interpretation of Great Basin prehistory and history. Revealing both successes and shortcomings, it considers how CRM can face the challenges of the future. Chapters offer a variety of perspectives, covering highway archaeology, inclusion of Native American tribes, and the legacy of the NHPA, among other topics.
This volume presents a range of petrographic case studies as applied to archaeological problems, primarily in the field of pottery analysis, i.e. ceramic petrography. Petrographic analysis involves using polarising optical microscopy to examine microstructures and the compositions of rock and mineral inclusions in thin section, and has become a widely used technique within archaeological science. The results of these analyses are commonly embedded in regionally specific reports and research papers. In this volume, however, the analytical method takes centre stage and the common theme is its application in different archaeological contexts.
Taking advantage of recent advances throughout the sciences,
Matthew Hedman brings the distant past closer to us than it has
ever been. Here, he shows how scientists have determined the age of
everything from the colonization of the New World over 13,000 years
ago to the origin of the universe nearly fourteen billion years
ago. |
You may like...
John Grisham Film Collection - The…
Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington, …
DVD
(1)R483 Discovery Miles 4 830
|