A review of soil geochemistry in archaeology
John Bintliff, Patrick Degryse
Abstract
Trace metal analysis of archaeological soils has grown in popularity in recent decades, as an additional means of measuring human impact on and off archaeological sites. Nonetheless there has been a tendency to ascribe such elements too easily to ancient metallurgy, whereas pollution research studies have identified many other causes of heightened trace metals in anthropogenic deposits. This article reviews the published history of research into these phenomena.
Topics & Concepts
ArchaeologyTRACE (psycholinguistics)Earth scienceGeologyArchaeological scienceGeochemistryGeographyLinguisticsPhilosophyHeavy metals in environmentArchaeology and ancient environmental studiesCultural Heritage Materials Analysis