INQUA2015: Geoarchaeology: integrating palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records

[Geoarchaeology IAG]

With apologies for cross-posting.

 

Dear Colleagues, 

 

We would like to draw your attention to our session at the XIX INQUA 2015 Congress (Nagoya, Japan, 27 Jul - 02 Aug) entitled: 

 

Geoarchaeology: integrating palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records for ancient landscape reconstruction (HaBCom - H32)

 

Human-environment interactions are a key theme in Quaternary environmental research, and also in archaeology, where it forms a major research theme in the sub-discipline of environmental archaeology. The field of geoarchaeology is inherently interdisciplinary and palaeoenvironmental, geomorphological, and archaeological approaches are important in understanding climatic, environmental and societal interactions. Geoarchaeology is inherently interdisciplinary, although in many cases disciplines work independently, and it has been proposed that a greater degree of interaction between geosciences and archaeology could facilitate future research (Birks et al., 2014). One issue is how we can integrate different lines of palaeoenvironmental and archaeological evidence, which are often at different temporal and spatial scales and resolutions. How do we match the intricacies and cultural influences in the archaeological record with local, regional and even global environmental records? How do we understand the impact of a changing environment on formative periods of human development? How important are environmental factors in comparison with cultural ones in influencing the changes we see in the archaeological record? The role of the geoarchaeologist is to provide a perspective which meaningfully encompasses both ends of the spectrum.

This session invites papers which focus on the use of palaeoenvironmental, sedimentological and/or archaeological archives to reconstruct Quaternary landscapes in geoarchaeological contexts. We also welcome papers which discuss methodological and theoretical approaches to integrating palaeoenvironmental and archaeological records. Themes may include the impacts of environmental change on human development, and also how humans have influenced the environment. Approaches which effectively link multi-scalar datasets are encouraged.

 

More details can be found online at http://inqua2015.jp/index.htm and abstracts can be submitted until 20th December at: http://convention.jtbcom.co.jp/inqua2015/call_for_abstracts.html

 

We hope to see you at INQUA2015!

 

Thanks,

 

Rolfe D. Mandel [University of Kansas]
Lisa-Marie Shillito [University of Edinburgh]
Julie Durcan [University of Oxford]
Robyn Inglis [University of York]
Kathleen Nicoll [University of Utah]