The application of soil-profile interpretation has been an essential tool in archaeological field research. Most of the treatises used by North American geoarchaeologists and other geoscientists studying the Quaternary are generally books on general aspects of soils with few or no references to their applications in archaeology. For example, Birkeland's (1999) Soils and Geomorphology has been one of the most popular reference books in these fields. Although an enormously useful book, it does not address particular interpretation of soil problems in archaeological contexts. Other volumes devoted to the subject are limited to a collection of case studies (e.g., Holliday, 1992) or volumes dedicated to specific analytical approaches to soils, such as the case of soil micromorphology (Courty et al., 1989). Therefore, a book devoted to all possible aspects of soils and archaeology had to be written.
Unlike other books on geoarchaeological topics, Soils in Archaeological Contexts presents a realistic analysis of the multiple challenges faced by soil geoscientists working in archaeological research. One such challenge is the bridging of the different scales and approaches developed by geologists, soil scientists, and archaeologists. In a series of examples, Holliday presents real cases in which specialists of different disciplines described a single soil profile, but their final interpretation of horizons differed (pp. 85-87). Throughout the chapters of his book, Holliday uses anecdotes to illustrate some of the issues encountered in interdisciplinary research. One experience that most geoarchaeologists can relate to is the "cigar box geoarchaeology" (p. 29), which is when a geoarchaeologist is given a collection of soil clods in a cigar box for interpretation.
Soils in Archaeological Contexts contains eleven chapters, three appendices, and a list of references. In Chapter 1 ("Introduction"), Holliday reviews definitions of soil horizons used in North America. Chapter 2 ("Terminology and Methodology") reviews the terms and meaning of the USDA soil taxonomy and other terms commonly used by soil scientists and geoarchaeologists.
Chapter 3 ("Conceptual Approaches to Pedogenesis") presents several views and models of pedogenesis and their significance in geoarchaeological research. Chapter 4 ("Soil Surveys and Archaeology") provides a discussion of the useful aspects of county soil surveys in the United States and the potential problems that one can incur when they are not used properly. Chapter 5 (Soil Stratigraphy) reviews concepts of stratigraphic nomenclature in relation to pedo-stratigraphic research. Some of the particular topics discussed here include soil facies, buried soils, and the differences between soil stratigraphy and soil horizonation.
Chapter 6 ("Soil Stratigraphy in Geoarchaeological Contexts") is a follow-up on the concepts discussed in the previous chapter, but in the context of archaeological research in alluvial (floodplains, draws, arroyos, alluvial valleys, and alluvial fans), eolian (sand dunes, sand sheets, and loess), and volcanic environments. Chapter 7 ("Soils and Time") is a review of soil stratigraphy and its applications to problems of relative and absolute dating. Chapter 8 ("Soils and Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction") illustrates the use of soils and paleosols for reconstruction of physical, biological, and human processes. In so doing, the author presents a variety of examples from around the globe, including loess from Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Israel. The chapter concludes with a discussion on the use of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes in soil research for paleoenvironmental reconstruction. Chapter 9 ("Soils and Landscape Evolution") is a review of concepts of catenas and paleocatenas in relation to landscape evolution. This topic is explained well through examples from several environments from a number of