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Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology pp 33–39Cite as

Archaeological Stratigraphy

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Introduction

Archaeologists have utilized stratigraphy in order to correlate sediment layers and archaeological assemblages for well over a century (Harris, 1989; Lyman and O’Brien, 1999; O’Brien and Lyman, 1999; Stein, 2000; Mills and Vega-Centeno, 2005). Relative-age determination based on the law of superposition and context is now used in essentially all archaeological excavations, and it is the foundation of almost every other dating technique as well as being more frequently applied than any other method. A site may contain hundreds of superimposed sediment layers, or built structures such as plazas, foundation walls, and streets, but in every case, stratigraphy is needed to interpret the age relationships of the artifacts and architecture. Stratigraphy is also crucial in reconstructing the landscape of occupation and past environments and in understanding site formation processes(see entry on Site Formation Processes in this volume). There have been few attempts to establish a...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Burke Museum of Natural History and Culture, University of Washington, Box 35-3010, Seattle, WA, 98195-3010, USA

    Julie K. Stein

  2. Anthropology and Departments Geosciences, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721-0030, USA

    Vance T. Holliday

Authors
  1. Julie K. Stein
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  2. Vance T. Holliday
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Vance T. Holliday .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fordham University, Bronx, NY, USA

    Allan S. Gilbert

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Stein, J.K., Holliday, V.T. (2017). Archaeological Stratigraphy. In: Gilbert, A.S. (eds) Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4409-0_3

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