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Geoarchaeology and dark earths I

Tuesday 1st July: 08:30 - 10:30
2 hour session: 10-15 minute papers each followed by discussion

Yannick Devos (Universit‚ Libre de Bruxelles, Centre de Recherches Arch‚ologiques)
Manuel Arroyo-Kalin (University of Cambridge)
Cristiano Nicosia (Geoarchaeological and Soil Micromorphological Consultant)

Abstract

Dark Earths embedding archaeological remains have been considered until recently as homogeneous, dark coloured, poorly stratified deposits of rather ephemeral interest for archaeological understandings.

In the last decades, however, geoarchaeological studies have begun to show the enormous potential of studying these soils in their own right. In this session our explicit aim is to assemble researchers of European and Amazonian Dark earths, at first glance completely different types of anthrosols, to share their research experiences. We hope that by comparing different research strategies, new insights will arise to tackle the study of these and other archaeological soils in the future.

We welcome contributions :

* dealing with methodological issues, * examining the role of dark earths in specific landscape histories, and * problematising their position in the soilscape as an integral aspect of archaeological understandings.

Keywords: dark earths, anthrosols, anthropogenic soils, geoarchaeology, palaeopedology, open-air sites

Papers