Soil phosphate analysis as a tool in archaeology

Identifying activity areas in archaeological soils from a colonial Virginia house lot using phytolith analysis and soil chemistry

“…This environmental study of Rich Neck contributes a new application to a long line of historical soil studies conducted on archaeological sites [9,10,12,15,17,30,34,45,49,52,53,56]. Using phytoliths to study activity areas is a relatively new, but highly productive application of phytolith analysis, when used in combination with other microanalytic techniques.…”

Soil Scientific Research Methods Used in Archaeology - Promising Soil Biochemistry: a Mini-review

“…(Conway, 1983;Schlezinger and Howes, 2000). Soil phosphorus analysis takes into account two basic components; extraction of soil phosphorus and measuring the amount of phosphate in extract (Provan, 1971). The principle of extraction is to break the molecular bonds phosphorus forms with other substances using reagents.…”

Multi-Element Analysis of Soils from Scottish Historical Sites. Interpreting Land-Use History Through the Physical and Geochemical Analysis of Soil

“…Soil analysis has also been used to distinguish different functions or land-use activity over a site, and to aid identification and interpretation of settlement features such as hearths, mounds and livestock enclosures (e.g. Provan, 1971;Conway, 1983;Konrad, Bonnichsen & Clay, 1983;Craddock et al, 1985;Davidson, Harkness & Simpson, 1986;Bethell & Carver, 1987). However, in spite of the wide diversity of problems to which soil geochemistry has been applied, only a limited number of chemical elements are routinely analysed in this context.…”