“…The underlying logic is based on a correlation between organic carbon deposition and a given past process of interest. In archaeology, the process most often under investigation is population level change (e.g., Armit et al, 2013;Bamforth and Grund, 2012;Collard et al, 2010;Colledge et al, 2019;Faulkner, 2011;Gamble et al, 2005;Hannah and McLaughlin, 2019;Leipe et al, 2019;Lepofsky et al, 2005;Mclaughlin et al, 2018;Prentiss et al, 2014;Schulting, 2010;Shennan, 2013;Steele, 2010;Turney and Brown, 2007). Spatio-temporal variation in human population levels is thought to be related to variation in organic carbon deposition because certain human activities lead to concentrations of organic carbon in sediment and those activities occur more often when and where there are more people present.…”