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The Geoarchaeology of Place: The Effect of Geological Processes on the Preservation and Interpretation of the Archaeological Record

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Michael R. Waters  and
David D. Kuehn
Michael R. Waters
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX 77843–4352
David D. Kuehn
Affiliation:
Center for Environmental Archaeology, Texas A & M University, College Station, TX 77843–4352
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Abstract

Because the landscape on which prehistoric people lived was dynamic and continually changed, the record of prehistoric activities across the landscape has been differentially preserved and destroyed. Insightful reconstructions of human organizational (settlement) systems from the archaeological record require a full understanding of the geological forces and history that have shaped that record. The landscape histories of the North Dakota Badlands and the stream systems of southern Arizona illustrate these points and the importance of geoarchaeological investigations to properly interpret the archaeological record.

Debido a que las formaciones terrestres que grupos prehistóricos ocuparon eran dinámicas y siempre cambiantes, el registro de actividades prehistóricas en el paisaje ha sido diferencialmente preservado y destruido. Reconstrucciones significativas de los sistemas organizacionales humanos (de asentamiento) requieren un entendimiento completo de lasfuerzas geológicas y la historia que le dio forma a dicho registro. La historia de las formaciones terrestres de los “Badlands” de Dakota del Norte y de los sistemas fluviales del sur de Arizona ilustra estos puntos y la importancia que guardan las investigaciones geoarqueológicas para interpretar propiamente el registro arqueológico.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 61 , Issue 3 , July 1996 , pp. 483 - 497
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for American Archaeology 1996

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