The Geoarchaeology of River Valleys

Rivers play a significant role in the natural environment in the process of culture and social pattern formation from the Palaeolithic up to recent times. The 8th annual meeting of the EAA held in Thessaloniki in 2002 provided a forum for academic debate on the significance of man’s relationship with his environment on the archaeology of certain regions of Europe. In particular, the contributors assess how this relationship affected settlement systems and the economy, the use of rivers for communication and as a border between communities, and the impact of natural and anthropogenic factors on the evolution of river valleys. The papers included case studies from the Guadiana Menor River Valley in southeast Spain, South Picenum in Italy, Hungary, Poland, the Black Sea coast and Russia. The papers in the volume concentrate on how the interrelationship between man and the natural environment contributed to changes in the settlement network system and economy; the river valley in context of climatic and cultural changes; the river as a means of communication; the river as a border between communities; and the impact of natural and anthropogenic factors on the Late Glacial-Holocene evolution of river valleys.