Environments, landscapes, and ecological systems are often seen as fundamental by archaeologists, but how they relate to society is understood in very different ways. The chapters in this book take environment, culture, and technology together. All have been the focus of much attention; often one or other has been seen as the starting point for analysis, but this volume argues that it is the study of the inter-relationships between these three factors that offers a way forward. The contributions to this book pick up different strands within the tangled web of intersections between environment, technology, and society, providing a series of case studies which explore facets of this common theme in different settings and circumstances and from different perspectives. As well as addressing themes of theoretical and methodological interest, these case studies draw on primary research dealing with time periods from the late Pleistocene glacial maximum to the very recent past, and involve societies of very different types. Running through all the contributions, however, is a concern with the archaeological record and the ways in which scales of observation and availability of evidence affect the development of questions and explanations.
The diversity of the chapters in this volume demonstrates the inherent weakness in any attempt to prioritise environment, technology, or society. These three factors are all embedded in any human activity, as change in one will result in change in the others: social and technical changes alter relations with the environment–and indeed the environment itself―and as environmental change drives changes in society and technology. As this book shows, it is possible to consider the relationship between the three factors from different perspectives, but any attempt to consider one or even two in isolation will mean that valuable insights will be missed.
Author(s): David Frankel, Jennifer M. Webb, Susan Lawrence
Series: Routledge Studies in Archaeology 8
Publisher: Routledge
Year: 2013
Language: English
Pages: x+216
Archaeology in Environment and Technology: Intersections and Transformations
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
1 Complex Relations: Intersections in Time and Space
REFERENCES
Part I: Responses to Environments
2 Perspectives on Global Comparative Hunter–Gatherer Archaeology: Glacial Southwest Tasmania and Southwest France
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
COMBE SAUNIÈRE
Methods
Preliminary Results
Lithics
Fauna
SCALES OF COMPARISON
Palaeoenvironments
Technology
Faunal Exploitation
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
3 Strategies for Investigating Human Responses to Changes in Landscape and Climate at Lake Mungo in the Willandra Lakes, Southeast Australia
INTRODUCTION
The Commensurability of Records
CONTEXT
The Willandra Lakes
Stratigraphy of the Mungo Lunette
Traces of Past Human Activity
SETTLEMENT HISTORY
TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND PALAEOENVIRONMENTS
DISCUSSION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
4 A New Ecological Framework for Understanding Human–Environment Interactions in Arid Australia
INTRODUCTION
THE ECOLOGY OF AUSTRALIA
ETHNOGRAPHIC OBSERVATIONS
ARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDIES OF HUNTER–GATHERERS
ALTERNATIVE APPROACHES: THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF WESTERN NEW SOUTH WALES
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
5 Integrating Hunter–Gatherer Sites, Environments, Technology and Art in Western Victoria
INTRODUCTION
ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE
Sites and Assemblages
Lithic Analysis and Site Use
Raw Materials
Assemblage Composition
Formal Tools
Technology
Site Usage
ROCK ART
Stylistic Sequence
Art Phase A: Red Paintings
Art Phase B: Red and Black Drawings
Art Phase C: White Paintings
Understanding the Art
ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORY
INTEGRATION
REFERENCES
6 Pushing the Boundaries: Imperial Responses to Environmental Constraints in Early Islamic Afghanistan
INTRODUCTION
THEORETICAL DEBATES
MODERN AND HISTORICAL INSIGHTS INTO THE EARLY ISLAMIC ENVIRONMENT
ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE SINCE THE EARLY ISLAMIC PERIOD
HISTORICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL INSIGHTS
THE G̲H̲ŪRIDS’ EXPANSION IN THE NORTHERNINDIAN SUBCONTINENT
TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE G̲H̲ŪRID POLITY
CONCLUSIONS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
NOTE
REFERENCES
Part II: Technology and the Environment
7 A Long-Term History of Horticultural Innovation and Introduction in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea
INTRODUCTION
TECHNOLOGY AND PRACTICE
A PRACTICE-CENTRED METHOD
A CHRONOLOGY OF PRACTICES
INNOVATIONS AND INTRODUCTIONS
Foraging
Shifting Cultivation (Innovations: Plot Preparation and Planting)
Intensive Dryland / Wetland Margin Cultivation (Innovation: Mound Construction)
Intensive Wetland Cultivation and Drainage (Innovation: Digging of Ditches)
Semipermanent, Rotational Dryland Cultivation (Innovation: Casuarina Tree-Fallowing)
Intensive Sweet Potato Cultivation (Ipomoea Batatas) and Pig Husbandry (Sus sp.) (Adoption)
WHY ADOPT?
FROM PAST TO FUTURE
REFERENCES
8 Agricultural Economies and Pyrotechnologies in Bronze Age Jordan and Cyprus
INTRODUCTION
BRONZE AGE COMMUNITIES IN THE JORDAN RIFT AND CYPRUS
AVENUES OF INFERENCE
ANIMAL MANAGEMENT AND CONSUMPTION
CROP CULTIVATION AND FUEL CONSUMPTION
PYROTECHNOLOGIES IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
CONCLUSION
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
9 Changing Technological and Social Environments in the Second Half of the Third Millennium BC in Cyprus
INTRODUCTION
THE LATE CHALCOLITHIC/PHILIA EC TRANSITION
ADAPTATION, REJECTION AND ENCAPSULATION
THE DIACHRONIC PERSPECTIVE: IDENTIFYING PATTERN
THE FINE-SCALE PERSPECTIVE: IDENTIFYING PROCESS
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
10 Landscape Learning in Colonial Australia: Technologies of Water Management on the Central Highlands Goldfields of Victoria
INTRODUCTION
WATER SCARCITY AND THE AUSTRALIAN GOLD RUSH
STUDY AREA
LEARNING ABOUT GOLD AND WATER
CONCLUSION
REFERENCES
Part III: Nature and Culture
11 Exploring Human–Plant Entanglements: The Case of Australian Dioscorea Yams
INTRODUCTION
THE MATERIALITY OF YAMS—ABOVE AND UNDER THE GROUND
YAM DIGGING AND PROCESSING PRACTICES
HUMAN–YAM ENTANGLEMENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
REFERENCES
12 People and Their Environments: Do Cultural and Natural Values Intersect in the Cultural Landscapes on the World Heritage List?
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
CULTURAL LANDSCAPES ON THE WORLD HERITAGE LIST
DISCUSSION
NOTE
REFERENCES
Contributors
Index
