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Expanding the research parameters of geoarchaeology: case studies from Aksum in Ethiopia and Haryana in India

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Abstract

A wide-ranging geoarchaeological approach is put forward using two case studies in northern highland Ethiopia at Aksum and in Haryana province of northwestern India where the authors are part of collaborative archaeological research projects. Geoarchaeological approaches are well placed to underpin archaeological project design and contribute to the understanding and modelling of the human ecosystem legacy. There is also the potential to use that data to both inform wider audiences of the importance of long-term land-use dynamics in shaping our landscapes today and influencing modern land-use policy and implementation.

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Acknowledgments

For the Ethiopian data, the authors would like to thank Prof Rodolfo Fattovich and Dr Luisa Sernicola (University of Naples), Prof Marco Madella (Institucio Mila y Fontanales, Barcelona) and Dr Daryl Stump (University of York). The Agency for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (Addis Ababa) and the Department of Culture, Tourism, and Information (Aksum) are thanked for the permission and logistical support in Ethiopia and the Gates Cambridge Trust, the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the British Institute in Eastern Africa for funding. For India, the authors wish to thank Vikas Pawar (MD University, Rohtak) and Sayantani Neogi and David Redhouse (University of Cambridge) for their assistance in the field, Sayantani Neogi, for laboratory analyses and the support from staff of the various excavation teams, Dr Sanjeev Gupta (Imperial College, London), Dr Rajiv Sinha (Institute of Technology, Kanpur) and the project codirector Dr Ravindra N Singh, (Banaras Hindu University). The British Council and Archaeological Service of India are thanked for the financial support and relevant permissions, respectively.

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  1. Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

    Charles French & Cameron Petrie

  2. Centro Nazionale di Ricera, Istituto di Storia dell’Europa Mediterranea, via G.B. Tuveri n. 128, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy

    Federica Sulas

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Correspondence to Charles French.

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French, C., Sulas, F. & Petrie, C. Expanding the research parameters of geoarchaeology: case studies from Aksum in Ethiopia and Haryana in India. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 9, 1613–1626 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-014-0186-3

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