ABSTRACT
Relatively little has apparently been written specifically about the biology of soils from an archaeological point of view since Charles Darwin [ 1 ] commented that “ archaeologists are not aware how much they owe to worms for the preservation of many ancient objects.” Darwin [1] described observations he had made on the influence of earthworms on the rates at which stone slabs sank and at which casts from their burrows were deposited on the tiled floor of a Roman villa in England and in the cavities around buried objects. There are two possible reasons for the work at the interface between soil biology and studies of the ancient human history (archaeology). First, many soil biological processes occur on a shorter time scale than is relevant to archaeological investigations. Second, from an archaeologist’s point of view, methodological developments in soil biology may appear to be less rapid than those in other branches of science that have been embraced by archaeologists. Information relevant to the interface between soil biology and archaeology has been collected, but the reports are scattered among several disparate disciplines [2]. Although archaeology was not featured in a recent list of foci for soil biologists [3], some knowledge of soil biology may be useful in archaeology, and exploring this is the overall aim of this chapter. Nevertheless, it is important not to overstate this point. Despite a popular image, many archaeological artifacts are not found in soil but, rather, covered by alluvial or colluvial deposits, volcanic ash, seawater, marine sediment, or peat, or desiccated in tombs or buildings, mummified, or frozen in ice, as well as buried in soil. It is also appropriate to mention that other related approaches are being 483
applied to archaeological investigations. In organic geochemistry, amino acid and lipid analyses-in particular compound-specific isotopic composition-have provided insights to the history of land use and dietary analysis [4-9]. The potentials of molecular biological approaches are also being explored [e.g., 8]. For more general discussions of the interface of soil science (rather than specifically soil biology) with archaeology and the study of landscapes and their associated human populations, the reader is referred to other articles [10-14].This chapter is specifically concerned with interactions of living soil organisms with materials that are either wholly or partly organic and that are of archaeological interest, as well as processes carried out by soil organisms that lead to modification of archaeological materials. The objectives are: 1. To illustrate that the principles that underlie the decomposition of non-archaeological materials can be applied to archaeological materials.2. To illustrate that information on soil biological processes collected to fulfill nonarchaeological objectives can be applied to archaeological situations.3. To highlight some emerging archaeological and related areas where an understanding of soil biological processes is particularly important.
