Editorial introduction: 25 years of Geoarchaeology

Abstract

emerged from the rapid growth in interdisciplinary research that took place in the 1970s and 1980s as new ideas and new methods (especially in geochronology and paleoenvironmental reconstruction) led to closer links between archaeologists and geoscientists, both in the field and in the laboratory. Looking back at the first editorial board of Geoarchaeology shows that many of the pioneers of this field, themselves representing a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds and traditions, had built highly productive careers at this interface. The editorial board of 1986 also featured a number of geoscientists who had moved away from traditional hard-rock and Quaternary research to forge new research agendas tackling archaeological questions. The rapid growth in the relationship between the geosciences and archaeology led to the need for a peer-reviewed journal that could present and promote this growing body of interdisciplinary research. Jack Donahue penned the following editorial in the first issue:The goal of the journal Geoarchaeology is to provide a publication outlet for interdisciplinary research involving the Earth Sciences and Archaeology. Such research has become increasingly abundant during the last twenty years and appears in many different publications ranging from several well recognized journals which are not specifically geoarchaeological in nature through monographs to unpublished site reports generated during the performance of contract or public archaeology.It is our intention to cover all aspects of the interface between the Earth Sciences and Archaeology. Thus, any research paper within this broad area is encouraged. It should be emphasized that an interface involves two-way interaction, so that research making use of archaeologic data to expand geologic interpretation and understanding is just as valuable as the reverse.The major portion of the journal will be devoted to research papers incorporating both geologic and archaeologic data. Review papers covering different aspects of this interdisciplinary field are also welcome. In addition, both book and meeting reviews in the area of geoarchaeology will be published.Finally, it is not the purpose of this journal to define, circumscribe, or attempt to explain what geoarchaeology is or, still less, should be. This subject has already been thoroughly exhausted to no resolution. Rather Geoarchaeology helps to illustrate what this specialization is by example, that is, by what it does. The success of that enterprise we leave to the reader.

On the definition and practice of Geoarchaeology

“…By the late 1970s, interdis-. By the late 1970s, interdisciplinary work was expanding rapidly, inferring specialism was becoming necessary and the academic accommodation was being created (Woodward and Huckleberry 2010). Through technological innovation and the greater body of information available, a wider base was needed to deal with the questions and information gathered from the increasing number of excavations.…”

“…The term geoarchaeology emerged and evolved in the 1970s and 1980s, and in similarity to the refinement of any sub-discipline, was not without debate as to the name and its application (Goldberg and Macphail 2006;Woodward and Huckleberry 2010). One of the first to use the term was Butzer in 1973, (Butzer 1973Butzer 1974) who used it repeatedly in his many publications during the 1970s, before publishing Archaeology as Human Ecology in 1982, which contained his own definition of the term in no uncertain terms (Butzer 1982).…”

Editorial introduction

“…2010 was an important year for the journal and the 25th anniversary of Geoarchaeology was marked in several ways. In the first issue of 2010 we recounted the origins of the journal and briefly reviewed its history (Woodward and Huckleberry, 2010a). Later in the year a special virtual issue was launched at the SAA conference in St Louis in April entitled 25 Papers from 25 Years (Woodward and Huckleberry, 2010b).…”

Guest editorial: Sheffield 2009—from landscape to laboratory and back again

“…In this sense, the meeting also reflects a coming of age for geoarchaeology, in an era of research in which the importance of interdisciplinarity is recognized. The importance of this approach is becoming increasingly appreciated in both research and teaching in academia, not least through the establishment of bespoke courses at the masters level in the U.K. and elsewhere (Woodward & Huckleberry, 2010). The title and content of the Sheffield conference reflected the need for iterative dialogues between field and laboratory practitioners; between theory, models, and data.…”