Environmental Archaeology and Conservation

Introduction

Archaeology has an established role in heritage management, focusing on the built environment and monuments and, increasingly, on the management of archaeological landscapes, but contributions from environmental archaeology to conservation are less well established in conservation policy and practice. Growing awareness of intensified human impacts on Earth’s resources and ecosystems has created increased impetus to understand the interactions between society and environmental processes in order to anticipate future system responses (Dearing et al. 2010). Many of these ecosystem responses emerge over decades and centuries, well beyond the scope of most ecological records and misconceptions about the drivers underpinning ecosystem function and conservation values can result in misguided and ineffectual management practices and policies. Historical effects are embedded in the structure, biodiversity and function of ecosystems (Foster et al. 2003). Paleoecology and...