About this Research Topic
Archaeological sites are evidence to help better understand past interactions between humans and their surrounding environments. Therefore, understanding site formation processes in archaeology provides an essential groundwork for interpretation of the cultural record (behavior) found at the site as well as the natural (environmental) processes that may have preserved, altered and/or obscured the archaeological record through time. In recent years multi-disciplinary geoarchaeological techniques in geophysics, geomorphology, sedimentology and geochemistry have revolutionized our understanding of formation history of sites. At the same time, advances and increased access to absolute dating techniques have enabled establishing highly robust chronological frameworks for archaeological sites. Thus, a combination of geoarchaeological investigations coupled with absolute dating provides a powerful means of understanding the human past in relation to a spatially and temporally evolving landscapes and environments.
In this research theme, we invite contributions that broadly aim at addressing the progress and challenges in reconstructing site formation processes in archaeology by combining multi-disciplinary geoarchaeological techniques with absolute dating. We encourage submission of manuscripts that may range over time periods scaling from the Quaternary to the recent historical past, and broadly encompass themes related to:
• Chronostratigraphy and human occupation
• Reconstructing land-use practices through time
• Human-landscape interactions through time
• Novel methodologies in reconstructing site formation histories
In this research theme, we invite contributions that broadly aim at addressing the progress and challenges in reconstructing site formation processes in archaeology by combining multi-disciplinary geoarchaeological techniques with absolute dating. We encourage submission of manuscripts that may range over time periods scaling from the Quaternary to the recent historical past, and broadly encompass themes related to:
• Chronostratigraphy and human occupation
• Reconstructing land-use practices through time
• Human-landscape interactions through time
• Novel methodologies in reconstructing site formation histories
Keywords: Quantitative Methods, Archaeological Sites, Site Formation, Chronostratigraphy, Land-Use
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
