A
Research and Teaching Laboratory for the
Study
of Ancient and Modern Anthrosols
The primary goal of the Cultural Soilscapes
Research Group is the discovery and application of new knowledge about ancient,
historical, and contemporary human/soil dynamics to solve problems of the
present and future. To achieve this goal, we actively support collaboration,
training, and professional growth among faculty, graduate students, and
undergraduates interested in cultural soilscapes, past and present.
“Soil is usually
considered to be the product of numerous intersecting natural processes, including
those associated with the erosion of geological materials, topography, climate,
living organisms, and time. Recently, social scientists—but especially
archaeologists and geographers—have proposed that “culture” (learned and shared
knowledge and beliefs that produce, and are produced by, human behavior) be
added to this list, and that soil be understood and studied as a product of
social forces as much as natural ones. Indeed, soil surveyors and pedologists
have long recognized that physical, biological, and chemical properties of soil
may be altered significantly as a direct result of human activity. It is not
surprising, then, that recent approaches to soil morphology and related
research consider the cultural soilscape,
which can be defined as a given area of
the earth’s surface that is the result of spatially and temporally variable
geomorphic, pedogenic, and cultural processes. As the physical embodiment
of human/environment relationships, the cultural soilscape is an important
analytical domain, because it reveals the consequences of the complex and
multi-layered dialectic between human behavior and soil bodies over long
periods.” Read more…
HEADLINES
Leads Found But No Body At S. Tampa Home, Police
Say. The Tampa Tribune, http://www.tbo.com/news,
January 23. (Mike Wells, 2008)
Tomorrow Searching Again: Forensic
Specialists Will Be at It Again on Saturday Searching for Evidence on the
Disappearance of Sandra Prince. Televised interview, WFLA-TV NBC News Channel
8, Tampa. (Natalie Shepherd, 2007)
Anthropogenic Sediments, Example: El
Coyote. From “Chapter 15: Archaeometry” in Principles
of Archaeology, by T. D. Price, pp. 425-427. McGraw Hill, Boston, Massachusetts.
(T. Douglas Price, 2007)
Digging Deeply into the Past:
Chemistry Is Increasingly Helping Archaeologists Answer Questions of What,
Where, and When. Chemical
& Engineering News 84(17):35-38. (C. H. Arnaud, 2006)
Gritty Clues: How Soils Can
Tell Stories of the Past. Science
News 169(23):362-364. (A. Cunningham, 2006)
RESEARCH
GROUP
Coordinator & Principal Investigator
E. Christian Wells
Project Leaders
Stefanie M. Butera
Zaida E. Darley (2006-2007)
Robert P. King
Derek Lincoln (2006-2007)
Christine E. Martin
Michael Nicolay
Jolien S. Verdaasdonk
(2003-2007)
Analysts
James R. Hawken (2005-2007)
Meaghan R. Lawson
Lorena D. Mihok
José E. Moreno-Cortés
Claire Novotny
(2005-2007)
Faye Postma
Christopher Robertson
Nicole R. Shelnut (2004-2005)
FACULTY
COLLABORATORS
David G. Anderson, PhD (Department of Anthropology,
University of Tennessee-Knoxville)
Ruth F. Beeston, PhD (Department of Chemistry,
Davidson College)
David S. Butler, PhD (Department of Anthropology,
Rollins College)
Ethan A. Goddard, MS (College of Marine Science,
University of South Florida-St. Petersburg)
Karla L. Davis-Salazar, PhD (Department of
Anthropology, University of South Florida)
Richard W. Estabrook, MA (Florida Public
Archaeology Network-West Central Regional Center)
William J. Hunt, PhD (Midwest Archeological Center,
National Park Service)
Erin H. Kimmerle, PhD (Department of Anthropology,
University of South Florida)
David D. Kuehn, PhD (David Kuehn
Consulting)
Nicole Misarti, PhD (Institute of Marine Science,
University of Alaska-Fairbanks)
Sarah C. Sherwood, PhD (Department of Anthropology,
Sewanee: The University of the South)
Donald A. Storer, PhD (Department of Chemistry,
Southern State Community College)
Richard E. Terry, PhD (Department of Plant and
Animal Sciences, Brigham Young University)
RESEARCH
THEMES
Anthrosol Development
● Activity Area Analysis
Palmarejo (Honduras), El
Coyote (Honduras), El Marquesillo (Mexico),
Shiloh (Tennessee), Blueberry (Florida)
● Prospection
Falling Rock (Florida), Blueberry (Florida)
Soil Memory
● Ethnoarchaeology
Petoa (Honduras),
Palmarejo (Honduras)
● Forensic Science
Blackwater Hammock (Florida), South Tampa (Florida)
Human Impacts
● Sustainable Agriculture
Palos Blancos (Honduras)
● Geoarchaeology
Palmarejo Valley
(Honduras)
Cultural Perceptions
● Folk Soil Taxonomy
Naco Valley (Honduras)
● Ethnopedology
Maya highlands (Guatemala)
DELIVERABLES
Edited Works
Wells, E. Christian, and Richard E. Terry, Editors
2007 Advances in Geoarchaeological Approaches to
Anthrosol Chemistry, Part I: Agriculture. Special Issue of Geoarchaeology: An International Journal 22(3).
Wells, E. Christian, and Richard E. Terry, Editors
2007 Advances in Geoarchaeological Approaches to
Anthrosol Chemistry, Part II: Activity Area Analysis. Special Issue of Geoarchaeology: An International Journal
22(4).
Articles
Wells, E. Christian,
Claire Novotny, and James R. Hawken
2007 Quantitative
Modeling of Soil Chemical Data from Inductively Coupled Plasma—Optical Emission
Spectroscopy Reveals Evidence for Cooking and Eating in Ancient Mesoamerican
Plazas. In Archaeological
Chemistry: Analytical Techniques and Archaeological Interpretation, edited
by M. D. Glascock, R. J. Speakman, and R. S. Popelka-Filcoff, pp. 210-230. American
Chemical Society, Washington, DC.
Wells, E. Christian, and Richard E. Terry
2007 Introduction to the Special
Issue: Advances in Geoarchaeological Approaches to Anthrosol Chemistry, Part I:
Agriculture. Geoarchaeology:
An International Journal 22(3):285-290.
Wells, E. Christian, and Richard E. Terry
2007 Introduction to the Special
Issue: Advances in Geoarchaeological Approaches to Anthrosol Chemistry, Part
II: Activity Area Analysis. Geoarchaeology:
An International Journal 22(4):387-390.
Wells, E. Christian
2006 Cultural Soilscapes.
In Function of Soils for Human Societies
and the Environment, edited by E. Frossard, W. E. H. Blum, and B. P. Warkentin,
pp. 125-132. Geological Society, London.
Wells, E. Christian
2006 Pedology and Archaeology: A
Conversation with Vance T. Holliday, University of Arizona. Newsletter
of the Commission on the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Soil Science,
International Union of Soil Sciences 13(1):21-25.
Wells, E. Christian
2005 Review
of “Soils in Archaeological Research,” by V. T. Holliday, Oxford University
Press, Oxford, 2004. SAS
Bulletin, Newsletter of the Society for Archaeological Sciences
28(3):16-18.
Wells, E. Christian
2004 Investigating
Activity Patterns in Prehispanic Plazas: Weak Acid-extraction ICP/AES Analysis
of Anthrosols at Classic Period El Coyote, Northwest Honduras. Archaeometry 46(1):67-84.
Wells, E. Christian
2004 A
Brief History of Archaeological Soil Chemistry. Newsletter of the
Commission on the History, Philosophy, and Sociology of Soil Science,
International Union of Soil Sciences 11(1):2-4.
Wells, E. Christian
2003
La
arqueología y las lecturas químicas de las actividades rituales en la plaza monumental
del Sitio El Coyote, Santa Bárbara, Honduras. In XVI Simposio de Investigaciones
Arqueológicas en Guatemala, 2002, edited by J. P. Laporte, B. Arroyo, H. L.
Escobedo, and H. Mejía, pp. 918-930. Museo Nacional de Arqueología y Etnología, Guatemala
City, Guatemala.
Reports
Wells,
E. Christian, and Erin H. Kimmerle
2007
Scientific Report: Forensic Soil Analysis
for TTPD File No. 06-0000030. Report submitted to the Temple Terrace Police
Department, Temple Terrace, Florida.
Wells, E. Christian
2005 Soil
Chemical Analysis of Mound A, Shiloh Mound Complex, Tennessee. Report
submitted to the Southeast Archaeological Center, National Park Service,
Tallahassee, Florida.
Theses
Doering, Travis F.
2007 An Unexplored Realm in the
Heartland of the Southern Gulf Olmec: Investigations at El Marquesillo,
Veracruz, Mexico. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of
Anthropology, University of South Florida.
Hawken, James R.
2007 Socio-Natural Landscapes in the Palmarejo Valley, Honduras. M.A. Thesis,
Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida.
Lincoln, Derek
2007 Water Manipulation: A Key to
Power in Prehispanic Palmarejo? B.A. Thesis, Honors College,
University of South Florida.
Verdaasdonk, Jolien S.
2007 Assessing Agricultural
Potential and its Implications for Political Development in Northwest Honduras.
B.A. Thesis, Honors College, University of South Florida.
Posters
Butera, Stefanie M. (Advisor:
E. Christian Wells)
2008 Soil Chemistry of
Pseudomorphs through Spectrophotometry. Poster presented at the 6th Annual UR
USF Undergraduate Research Symposium, University of South Florida, Tampa.
King, Robert P., and
Christine E. Martin (Advisor: E. Christian Wells)
2008 The Archaeology of Cultural Soilscapes: Using Archaeology to Model Landscape
Legacies. Poster presented at the National Conference on
Undergraduate Research, Salisbury University, Salisbury, Maryland.
King, Robert P., and
Christine E. Martin (Advisor: E. Christian Wells)
2008 Toward Sustainable
Agriculture in Honduras: Looking to the Past for the Future. Poster presented
at the 6th Annual UR USF Undergraduate Research Symposium, University of South
Florida, Tampa.
Butera, Stefanie M., Faye Postma, E. Christian
Wells, and Erin H. Kimmerle
2007 Estimating Time since Death
Using Soil Chemistry of Burial Silhouettes. Poster to be presented
at the 4th Annual Forensic Sciences Symposium, Nebraska Institute of Forensic
Sciences, Lincoln, Nebraska.
Darley, Zaida E., and E. Christian Wells
2007 Archaeological Soil Chemistry in
Cultivated Orange Groves: A Test Case from the Blueberry Site, Lake Placid,
Florida. Poster presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of
the Florida Anthropological Society, Avon Park, Florida.
Darley, Zaida E., and E. Christian Wells
2007 Dirt Cheap Dirt Science: Simple and
Inexpensive Soil Analyses for Archaeological Resource Managers. Poster
presented in the symposium, “Archaeometric Methods, Archaeological
Applications,” at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Society for
American Archaeology, Austin, Texas.
Papers
King, Robert P., Meaghan R. Lawson, and E.
Christian Wells
2008 The Archaeology of Cultural Soilscapes. Paper presented
in the symposium, “Soils and Archaeology,” at the 73rd Annual
Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada.
Moreno-Cortés, José E., E. Christian Wells, and
Karla L. Davis-Salazar
2008 Applying Archaeology to Hydroecological and Agroecological
Development in Honduras. Paper presented in the symposium, “Archaeological
Contributions to Understanding Socio-ecological Systems: Emerging
Collaborations between Ecology and Archaeology,” at the 73rd Annual
Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, British Columbia,
Canada.
Wells, E. Christian
2008 Cultivated Landscapes as Inalienable Wealth in
Ancient Mesoamerica. Paper presented in the symposium, “Inalienable Possessions
in the Archaeology of Mesoamerica,” at the 73rd Annual Meeting of
the Society for American Archaeology, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (E.
C. Wells)
Davis-Salazar, Karla L., E. Christian Wells, and
David D. Kuehn
2007 Alternative Models for Settlement and Land Use
in Prehispanic Northwest Honduras. Paper presented in the symposium, “Living on
the Land: The Complex Relationship between Population and Agriculture in the
Americas,” at the 72nd Annual Meeting of the Society for American
Archaeology, Austin, Texas.
Verdaasdonk, Jolien S. (Advisor:
E. Christian Wells)
2007 Assessing
Agricultural Potential and its Implications for Political Development in the
Palmarejo Region of Northwest Honduras. Paper presented at the 5th Annual UR
USF Undergraduate Research Symposium, University of South Florida, Tampa.
Wells, E. Christian
2006 Sampling Design and Inferential Bias in
Archaeological Soil Chemistry: Cautionary Tales from Honduras. Paper presented in
the symposium, “Social Spaces and Activities in the Past and Present:
Evaluating Chemical Analyses and Techniques for Archaeological Interpretation,”
at the 71st Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology,
San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Wells, E. Christian, Claire Novotny, and James R.
Hawken
2006 Predictive Modeling of Soil Chemical Data by
ICP-OES Reveals the Uses of Ancient Mesoamerican Plazas. Paper presented in the
symposium, “Archaeological Chemistry: Analytical Techniques and Archaeological
Interpretation,” at the 227th Annual Meeting of the American
Chemical Society, Atlanta, Georgia.
Wells, E. Christian, and Donald A. Storer
2006 Archaeology through Soil Chemistry, Soil
Chemistry through Archaeology: Interdisciplinary Approaches to Teaching. Paper
presented at the 19th Biennial Conference on Chemical Education,
Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana.
Wells, E. Christian
2005 A Soil Chemical Approach to Understanding the
Diachronic Use of Space on Mound A. Paper presented in the symposium,
“Revealing Mound A, Shiloh, Tennessee: Research Results of the 1999-2004 Field
Program,” at the 2005 Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Columbia, South
Carolina.
Wells, E. Christian
2005 Soil Chemical Residues of Food Preparation:
Lessons from Mesoamerican Ethnoarchaeology. Paper presented in the symposium,
“Archaeological Studies of Cooking and Food Preparation,” at the 70th
Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Salt Lake City, Utah.
Wells, E. Christian
2003 Quantitative Approaches for the Archaeological
Study of Soil Chemistry and Activity Areas. Paper presented in the symposium,
“Advances in Archaeological Approaches to Soil Chemistry,” at the 68th
Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Lectures
Wells, E. Christian
2008 The Cornfield Spirits: Nonmaterial Motives for
Cultivating Landscapes in the Ancient Maya World. Lecture presented in the
Institute for Mesoamerican Studies Colloquium, Department of Anthropology,
University at Albany, State University of New York, March 7.
Wells, E. Christian
2008 Soil Chemistry in Archaeology. Lecture and lab
demonstration presented in the course, “Archaeological Science,” Department of
Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, February 26.
Wells, E. Christian
2007 Forensic Soil Analysis. Lecture and
demonstration presented in the workshop, “Outdoor Crime Scene: Forensic
Archaeology and Geophysical Techniques for Locating and Exhuming Clandestine
Burials,” University of South Florida, Tampa, December 10.
Wells, E. Christian
2006 Archaeological Soil Chemistry. Lecture and lab
demonstration presented in the course, “Archaeological Science,” Department of Anthropology,
University of South Florida, Tampa, January 24.
Davis-Salazar, Karla L., and E. Christian Wells
2006 Environmental Archaeology and Sustainable
Development in Honduras. Lecture presented in the “Environmental Research
Interdisciplinary Colloquium,” Department of Environmental Science and Policy,
University of South Florida, Tampa, February 15.
Wells, E. Christian
2004 Geoarchaeology and Anthrosols: Modern
Approaches. Lecture presented in the course, “Archaeological Science,”
Department of Anthropology, University of South Florida, Tampa, January 20.