Quantifying the threat to archaeological sites from the erosion of cultivated soil

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3379147
AutoresKeith Wilkinson (0000-0002-3996-0696, University of Winchester), Andrew Tyler, Andrew N Tyler (0000-0003-0604-5827, University of Stirling), Donald A Davidson (University of Stirling), Donald Davidson, Ian Grieve, Ian C Grieve (University of Stirling)
Ano2006
Volume80
Fascículo309
Páginas658-670
Data de publicação2006-09-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoAntiquity (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0003-598X • E-ISSN: 1745-1744
EditoraCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0003598x00094114
OpenAlexW2240863502
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas11
Referências citadas12

Ploughing is probably the greatest agent of attrition to archaeological sites world-wide. In every country, every year, a bit more is shaved off buried strata and a bit more of the past becomes unreadable. On the other hand, people must eat and crops must be planted. How can the fields be best managed to get the best of both worlds? Perhaps the most pressing need for resource managers is to know how quickly a particular field is eroding: negotiation and protection is then possible. Up to now that has been difficult to measure.The new procedure presented here, which draws on the unexpected benefits of nuclear weapons testing, shows how variation in the concentration of the radioisotope 137Cs can be used to monitor soil movements over the last 40 years. The measurements allow a site's 'life expectancy' to be calculated, and there are some promising dividends for tracking site formation processes

Archaeology · Attrition · Erosion · Negotiation · Political science · Resource (disambiguation) · Archaeological Research and Protection · Computer Science · Geology · History · Law · Paleontology · Radioactive contamination and transfer · Radioactivity and Radon Measurements