ABSTRACT
In environmental archaeology there needs to be a theoretical perspective which keys in with mainstream archaeology. Environmental archaeology cannot be considered as archaeology, however flexible our interpretation of the environment may be, because the subject cannot be defined or characterized in a purely academic way. It is as much about the environmental archaeologists themselves and the plants and animals and soils from archaeological sites they study as it is about past human environments and an integration in the wider scheme of things. Even snails may have been introduced into an area or at least encouraged: many have a striking visuality in their shapes and different colour morphs. Many have vernacular names which go back to the Middle Ages or Celtic times and places like Snail Creep Hanging may be so called not for the presence there of edible species but for the general sense of snailiness their surfaces evoke. This tends to be forgotten in theoretical debates. Yet environmental archaeology remains, as it always has for me, the study of past human environments, and that is what this book has been about.
