Quantitative phosphorus measurement: A field test procedure for archaeological site analysis at Piedras Negras, Guatemala

Using in‐field phosphate testing to rapidly identify middens at Piedras Negras, Guatemala

“…Several studies of archaeological sites demonstrate a relationship between phosphate concentrations found in the soil and areas of specific household activities (Barba et al, 1987;Cavanagh et al, 1988;Craddock et al, 1986;Dunning, 1993;Killion et al, 1989;Konrad et al, 1983;Manzanilla and Barba, 1990;Middleton and Price, 1996;Ortiz and Barba, 1993;Proudfoot, 1976;Robin, 1999;Sá nchez et al, 1996;Terry et al, 2000;Wells et al, 2000). Ethnographic studies also illustrate the relationship between phosphate concentration and domestic activities (Barba and Ortiz, 1992).…”

“…16,NO. 8 In 1997, Terry et al (2000) introduced to archaeology an economical field procedure for determining phosphate concentrations that is more quantitative than Eidt's ring test method (e.g., Eidt, 1973Eidt, , 1977Eidt, , 1984 and more field-compatible than other quantitative methods (Hassan, 1981). This method permits archaeologists to achieve phosphate results in the field at low cost.…”

Ancient Maya Commerce : Multidisciplinary Research at Chunchucmil

“…We did not excavate standing architecture. Mehlich II phosphate analysis (see Terry et al 2000) was conducted on soil samples from each of the 95 pits. The grid of excavations and phosphate tests helped build a sense of how the spaces in the houselot were used (figure 5.7).…”

Environmental Archaeology at the Czech University of Life Sciences Prague – An Application of New Methods for Interdisciplinary Research

“…So-called "phosphate analysis" is routinely used in field archaeological research in many countries (Terry et al 2000;Erneé 2005;Roos, Nolan 2012), although phosphate analysis alone does not enable the identification of the phosphorus origin and various other details concerning ancient human activities. In addition, phosphates can be extracted by different solutions from the soil and the results of different authors are thus incomparable and do not enable comparisons over wide regions (see Holliday, Gartner 2007).…”