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Tectonic Archaeology

16 July 2024

Tectonic Archaeology presents both a general synthesis and specific case study of the relationships that connect human communities and tectonic activity in Japan. In doing so, Barnes advocates for a distinct discipline called ‘tectonic archaeology’, which she defines as a field that seeks to explain archaeological patterns through the lens of deep Earth processes, including the effects of volcanic eruptions and other natural hazards. This approach contrasts with more conventional ‘geoarchaeology’, which primarily deals with the effects of surface or near-surface geological processes on archaeological phenomena. The distinction between tectonic archaeology and geoarchaeology is revisited throughout the book, which begins with a general summary of tectonic processes and Japan’s specific geological history, followed by a discussion of previous research on Japanese archaeological sites and landscapes related to volcanism, earthquakes, and tsunami. 

The second half of the book is more suited for a specialist audience, focussing on Barnes’ own field research in the Nara Basin, southern Honshu. Here, Barnes highlights key geological events, such as the Pleistocene faulting that formed the Nara Basin’s distinctive topography and the Holocene environmental conditions that underpinned the region’s role as a cradle of early rice cultivation and state formation. However, these chapters also raise issues with Barnes’ definition of tectonic archaeology. Whilst undeniably fundamental in explaining the Nara Basin’s present-day topography, discussions of both lowland and upland palaeoenvironmental and archaeological sequences are less explicitly tied to deep Earth tectonism so much as surface geomorphology and historic landscape modification – blurring the boundary between tectonic archaeology and conventional geoarchaeology. 

The distinction between tectonic archaeology and conventional geoarchaeology is further clouded by several chapters that do not sit easily within the book’s wider structure. For instance, discussions of volcanic soils point to intriguing links between tectonic processes and instances of deliberate eco-engineering by past communities, such as the controlled firing of certain grasslands. Fully exploring this issue could have enabled a much firmer link between tectonic processes and human agency to be made throughout the volume. 

Nevertheless, Tectonic Archaeology successfully collates a highly useful body of reference material on the mechanics and broad archaeological implications of the geological processes characterising subduction zones. Whilst focused on Japan, the book has clear comparative value for similar regions across the globe. Crucially, and in contrast to many examples of so-called ‘disaster archaeology’, the volume successfully highlights past communities’ responses to both the problems and opportunities that arise from living within highly active geological landscapes. 

Reviewed by David K. Kay 

 

DETAILS 

BY: Gina L. Barnes (2022). Archaeopress. 554 pp. (pbk/ebook) 

ISBN: 978-1-80327-399-0 (pbk); 978-1-80327-400-3 (ebook) 

PRICE: £80 (pbk); £9.99 (ebook, institutional use); £0 (ebook, personal use) www.archaeopress.com