Archaeologists today need a wide range of scientific approaches in order to delineate and interpret the ecology of their sites. But borrowing concepts from other disciplines demands a critical understanding, and the methods must be appropriate to particular sets of data. This book is an authoritative and essential guide to methods, ranging from techniques for measuring time with isotopes and magnetism to the sciences of climate reconstruction, geomorphology, sedimentology, soil science, paleobotany and faunal paleoecology. Their applications are illustrated by examples from the Paleolithic, through classical civilizations, to urban archaeology.