An Archaeological Foundation to Soil Sustainability

Authors

  • Elizabeth Graham Institute of Archaeology, University College London
  • Daniel Evans School of Water, Energy and the Environment, Cranfield University
  • Richard Macphail Institute of Archaeology, University College London
  • Julia Stegemann Faculty of Engineering Science, University College London
  • Francesca Glanville-Wallis Institute of Archaeology, University College London

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.25817

Keywords:

anthropic, Belize, Maya, soil, waste

Abstract

Diverging from traditional archaeology, our ongoing research focuses on decomposition rather than preserved fragments of what people left behind. We are looking at the bulk of what constitutes archaeological deposits: soil. Comparing the thickness of soil where people have lived to thickness where there has been no human occupation shows greater accumulation, or soil formation, where humans have been active. These same soils are also often characterised by higher fertility than soils formed in the absence of humans. The implication is that the decay of what people throw away, leave behind or bury forms soil. Yet, what we characterise as archaeological sites do not appear to be “wastelands”, because they have been altered by time. Given modern threats to soil security, we are applying what we are learning from wastelands of the past to change attitudes today – we need to embrace waste, trash and rubbish as the soil of the future.

Author Biographies

  • Elizabeth Graham, Institute of Archaeology, University College London

    Elizabeth Graham is Emeritus Professor of Mesoamerican Archaeology at the Institute of Archaeology, University College London. She has been carrying out archaeological research in Belize since 1973.

  • Daniel Evans, School of Water, Energy and the Environment, Cranfield University

    Dan Evans is a Lecturer in Soil Formation at the School of Water, Energy and the Environment at Cranfield University. He leads both fundamental and applied research on soil formation and the parent materials from which soil is formed. His work focuses on the interactions between parent materials and soils, how soil parent materials support soil ecosystem services, and the natural and anthropogenic threats to the parent material zone. He also studies how soil formation can be accelerated, such as the manufacturing of new soils for urban green infrastructure.

  • Richard Macphail, Institute of Archaeology, University College London

    Richard I. Macphail is an Honorary Senior Research Fellow at University College London investigating archaeological sediments, soils and occupation deposits across Europe, especially Scandinavia, and has also worked worldwide. He was a researcher for English Heritage for 20 years, a Professor Invité at the University of Tours and the 2021 co-awardee of the International Union of Soil Sciences 10th Kubiëna Medal for Soil Micromorphology. He has published several textbooks.

  • Julia Stegemann, Faculty of Engineering Science, University College London

    Julia Stegemann is Professor of Environmental Engineering in the Department of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering at UCL. She is a founding Director of UCL’s Circular Economy Laboratory, and PI and Director of the UKRI Interdisciplinary Circular Economy Centre for Mineral-Based Construction Materials.

  • Francesca Glanville-Wallis, Institute of Archaeology, University College London

    Francesca Glanville-Wallis is an AHRC LAHP-funded PhD candidate at UCL, investigating past urban land-use change at the Maya site of Lamanai, Belize. She received a bachelor’s degree in Archaeology and a master’s degree in Environmental Archaeology from the Institute of Archaeology, UCL. Her research interests include the pre-Columbian Maya, past tropical urbanism and the study of anthropogenic soils. 

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Published

2023-10-25

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 1 (2023): Forum: Making Ground: The Archaeology of Waste Landscapes

Section

Forum

License

© Equinox Publishing Ltd.

For information regarding our Open Access policy, click here.

How to Cite

Graham, E., Evans, D., Macphail, R., Stegemann, J., & Glanville-Wallis, F. (2023). An Archaeological Foundation to Soil Sustainability. Journal of Contemporary Archaeology, 10(1), 70-80. https://doi.org/10.1558/jca.25817