ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the approaches that can be taken to the analyses, and to describe the methodology employed at the Ancient Monuments Laboratory of English Heritage, where geoarchaeological studies are regularly carried out for English Heritage funded excavations. The breadth of information required from geoarchaeological work engenders a constant reappraisal of the methods by which it can be most effectively gained. Whilst few people in the subject would advocate the exclusive use of one technique or group of techniques, the growing demand for geoarchaeological analysis has tended to polarise workers around favoured methodologies and techniques. However, there are many situations where finer judgements are called for, and where geoarchaeological analysis can provide additional information over and above the original experimental design. Most archaeological layers are formed in, made of, or sealed by one or more deposits whose origin, make-up or taphonomic characteristics may be of significance to the final interpretation of the site.
