This work presents new methodological approaches and perspectives on the relationship between past humans and maritime environments by focusing specifically on the geochemical traces left by the users and inhabitants of coastlines. In order to do so it proposes four novel scientific techniques presented in four case-study papers, together with best practice protocols that archaeologists can use to conduct similar studies on other sites. These methods were designed to allow for convenient data collection, fast sample processing, sound statistical analysis, and meaningful data interpretations; all this in order to better understand past human activity in coastal areas. The thesis addresses various themes related to the character of human activity, its chronology, spatial distribution, zonation, and linkage to the neighboring waterbody. It tackles issues linked with geochemical signal preservation in different post-depositional contexts, and discusses various modes of soil sampling, extraction and elemental analysis (eg. colorimetric method, portable XRF or XRF core scanning), as well as problems related to geo-statistical analysis of complex, spatially distributed, multivariable datasets. In terms of its geographical scope, this thesis explores coastal sites and archaeological features in the North Atlantic region, and it covers vast chronological spectrum from the Stone Age to the Early Modern period. However, the results are considered universally applicable to any type of site and any period. Hopefully, by providing new sources of archaeological evidence, this work will inspire a lively discussion on the global maritime cultural landscape and the best methods for studying it.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:731616 |
| Date | January 2017 |
| Creators | Mikołajczyk, Łukasz |
| Publisher | University of Aberdeen |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://digitool.abdn.ac.uk:80/webclient/DeliveryManager?pid=234013 |
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