Environmental archaeology - problem orientation, research planning and applications 7.5 credits

About the course

Environmental archaeology uses theories and methods both developed within the discipline as well as those adapted from other areas of science, for example geology, biology, chemistry and ecology. Advanced tools, including as Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and quantitative environmental reconstruction are used in combination with more general theorizing around human's impact on, and interaction with, their surrounding environment in order to understand changes through time, both before and during the Anthropocene. Within environmental archaeology, data from several different information sources within geoarchaeology (-morphology, -chemistry and spectroscopy, isotopes) are integrated; pollen analysis; fossil insects; plant macrofossil all of which facilitate interpretation of archaeological remains and their surrounding landscape. This course provides interdisciplinary perspectives, where practical exercises are included in using experimental archaeology, GIS, statistics, environmental reconstructions as well as interpretation and presentation of environmental archaeological data.

The course is problem-oriented with elements of applied experimental exercises.

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