Environmental archaeology

Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), UNESCO/EOLSS Publishers, Oxford.Article dans une encyclopédie en ligne (UNESCO/EOLSS Publishers)Environmental archaeology is concerned with the human ecology of the past, the relationship between past human populations and their physical, biological and socio-economic environment. The techniques of the discipline are the analysis and interpretation of biota (animal and plant remains) within the depositional environment of the archaeological site and its surrounds (sediments and soils). It encompasses a range of interconnecting sub-disciplines, including primarily geoarchaeology (the study of soils, sediments and geomorphological features), zooarchaeology (the study of animal remains), and archaeobotany (the study of plant remains)