Unearthing Earthen Architecture: A Geoarchaeological and Environmental Perspective

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Advances in Geoarchaeology and Environmental Archaeology Perspectives on Earthen-Built Constructions" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

This presentation combines the findings of two distinct studies focusing on earthen building materials in different border regions, shedding light on the evolution of earthen architectural practices. The first study delves into the geoarchaeological analysis of earthen materials and environmental records from the site of Artashat in Armenia. This research seeks to uncover the dynamics of continuity and change in earthen architectural practices from the Urartian to the classical period in the Caucasus region. The second case study focuses on the geoarchaeological examination of public earthen structures found at two Levantine sites: Ashdod-Yam, linked to the Philistine Iron-Age Pentapolis in Israel, and Palaepaphos (Old Paphos), an ancient Iron Age city-state in Cyprus characterized by intricate multi-period earthen constructions. This contribution discusses the results of SEM-EDS, FT-IR, XRF, LOI, and micromorphological analysis performed on both case studies and the inference we can make on human-environment interactions in the longue durée, the concept of craft specialization in architecture and the identification of communities of practice through the geoarchaeological record.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Advances in Geoarchaeology and Environmental Archaeology Perspectives on Earthen-Built Constructions   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 39963.0