Geoarchaeology of ritual behavior and sacred places: an introduction

Critical Geoarchaeology: From Depositional Processes to the Sociopolitics of Earthen Life

“…Some scholars have recently framed these new orientations in geoarchaeology as "behavioral" geoarchaeology and others as "social" geoarchaeology (cf. Jusseret 2010, Love 2012, Roddick 2015, Roos & Wells 2017. Regardless of such different designations and genealogies, these approaches share an interest in highlighting how specific techniques of geoarchaeological research, such as careful stratigraphic delineation, soil chemistry, micromorphological analyses, or petrographic analyses of artifacts (e.g., ceramics), can amplify assessments of the cultural and social significance of deposits and materials in specific cultural and historical contexts.…”

“…Regardless of such different designations and genealogies, these approaches share an interest in highlighting how specific techniques of geoarchaeological research, such as careful stratigraphic delineation, soil chemistry, micromorphological analyses, or petrographic analyses of artifacts (e.g., ceramics), can amplify assessments of the cultural and social significance of deposits and materials in specific cultural and historical contexts. For instance, Roos & Wells's (2017) concern to advance a "behavioral geoarchaeology" shows commitment to amplifying interpretations of "ritual" and "sacred" activities and practices, such as how Fulton et al (2017) deploy chemical signatures of anthrosols to identify the location of ritual practices in plazas and open spaces in first-millennium Mesoamerican contexts (see also Contreras 2017).…”

“…In a similar manner, multiple recent geoarchaeological studies have illustrated how the finegrained analyses of soils and sediments may reveal hitherto unrecognized dimensions of ritual practices, the symbolic attributes of things, and the cultural values associated with particular substances (cf. Adams & Fladd 2017;Boivin 2000Boivin , 2004Boivin , 2008Contreras 2017;Maher 2019;Roos & Wells 2017;Sherwood & Kidder 2011). For example, Boivin's (2000) ethno-archaeological study of the use of different soils and sediments to plaster house floors and features according to physical properties (color, texture, etc.)…”

Gendered Places and Depositional Histories: Reconstructing a Menstrual Lodge in the Interior Northwest

“…These studies attempt to interpret depositional practices that defy traditionally functionalist explanations (Brück 1999a:328). The term is frequently employed in the material culture analysis of Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Iron Age assemblages (e.g., Brück 1999a; Pollard 2001; Thomas 1991, 1999), and worldwide similar concepts in interpretations of geoarchaeological data are used (e.g., Roos and Wells 2017).…”

“…More recently, some archaeologists have begun to recognize that places have unique life histories that are significantly different than other places or objects (Boivin 2004; Walker 1995). Recent geoarchaeological and paleoethnobotanical work has contributed to the understanding of structured deposits and their formation processes (e.g., Goldstein and Hageman 2009; Kidder and Sherwood 2016; Morehart 2011; Roos and Wells 2017; Van Keuren and Roos 2013; Walker 2002). These works look at patterning in horizontal space and stratigraphic sequencing to reconstruct behavior.…”