Tectonic Archaeology as a Foundation for Geoarchaeology

Gina L. Barnes
Additional contact information
Gina L. Barnes: Professorial Research Associate, SOAS University of London, London WC1H 0XG, UK

Land, 2021, vol. 10, issue 5, 1-20

Abstract: This article proposes a new subdiscipline, Tectonic Archaeology, based on the efforts of Japanese archaeologists to deal with the effects of earthquakes, volcanic tephra cover, and tsunami on archaeological sites. Tectonic Archaeology is conceived as an umbrella term for those efforts and as a foundation for Geoarchaeology in general. Comparisons distinguish between Geoarchaeology and Tectonic Archaeology, and a survey of major archaeological journals and textbooks reveals how the concept of ‘tectonics’ and specifically the processes of Plate Tectonics have been treated. Al-though the term ‘tectonics’ occurred fairly frequently, particularly as affecting coastlines and sea levels, it was not thoroughly defined and discussed. Volcanic activity was most mentioned in journals due to its provision of resources and modification of the landscape, while the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan seems to have stimulated more studies in Archaeoseismology. The textbooks were found to have scattered references to Plate Tectonic processes but no clear approach tying these together. The major exception is the Encyclopedia of Archaeology which addresses volcanoes, Archaeoseismology, and tsunami—soon to be linked together vis à vis Earth processes. Tectonic Archaeology attempts first to explain the processes of Plate Tectonics to underwrite investigation of their effects; it is applicable worldwide, in continental and coastal contexts.

Keywords: Geoarchaeology; Plate Tectonics; Japan; disaster archaeology; Archaeoseismology; volcanic archaeology; Tsunami Archaeology; Archaeological Geology; Earth Sciences; subduction zones (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/5/453/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-445X/10/5/453/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jlands:v:10:y:2021:i:5:p:453-:d:542227

Access Statistics for this article

Land is currently edited by Ms. Carol Ma

More articles in Land from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().