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Mesolithic archaeology, environmental archaeology and human palaeoecology
Author(s) -
Mithen Steven J.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of quaternary science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.142
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1099-1417
pISSN - 0267-8179
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1099-1417(199910)14:6<477::aid-jqs482>3.0.co;2-b
Subject(s) - mesolithic , archaeology , natural (archaeology) , period (music) , paleoecology , geography , history , geology , art , paleontology , aesthetics
Studies of the Mesolithic period can boast effective collaboration between archaeologists and environmentalists, which stretches back to the initiation of Mesolithic studies by Clark. Indeed many academics working in this period would simply prefer to view themselves as human palaeoecologists. The emphasis on human‐environment interactions in Mesolithic studies does not arise from the view that human social interaction or the symbolic construction of the natural world are not important, but simply that these are complementary ways to study human behaviour as can be readily seen in ethnographic case studies. While collaboration between the environmental sciences and archaeology is substantial for the Mesolithic period, there are various ways in which this might be improved and these are discussed with regard to studies of human‐environment interaction at the regional, local and on‐site scales of analysis.