Environmental archaeology

Robin Bendrey (1) , Keith Wilkinson , Aurélie Salavert (2)

1 UOR - University of Reading
2 AASPE - Archéozoologie, archéobotanique : sociétés, pratiques et environnements

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).

Mots clés: archaeobotany; archaeology; environment; ecology; economy; geoarchaeology; zooarchaeology

Domaines: Etudes de l'environnement; Sciences de l'Homme et Société

Robin Bendrey, Keith Wilkinson, Aurélie Salavert. Environmental archaeology. Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems (EOLSS), 2013. ⟨halshs-01511495⟩