Contemporary applications of soil survey in archaeology intersect the boundaries of theoretical, interdisciplinary geoarchaeology and increasing methodological emphases on macro‐ rather than micro‐level scales of analysis. The widespread use of soil survey in investigations of soil distribution and the relationship between landscape and cultural interaction dates back to the early nineteenth century. Soil survey and mapping has been relatively underutilized in geoarchaeological investigations. However, geochemical investigations of land‐use patterns within the last decade have increasingly relied on soil survey to inform differential spatial patterns of past human–environmental interaction. Soil survey and mapping has seen an infusion of new digital methodologies emphasizing the quantitative power of spatial soil prediction. These new methods seek to address the confounding problems of scale and spatial distribution inherent in earlier soil maps, while addressing contemporary research foci including human health, food security, and water quality.
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