Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology (224 page)

Strictly, natural materials that have been used by humans, for example the remains of plants and animals that were eaten by a given community. More generally taken as material recovered from archaeological sites, or other sealed deposits, which is relevant to the study of ancient environments and ecology. Examples include: animal bones, seeds, snail shells, waterlogged wood, and pollen.

 
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The proposition that human culture is an adaptation to the environment, and thus culture functions to maintain humans and the environment in a sustainable balance.

 
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The study of animals and plants in relation to their environment. Human ecology deals with human communities in relation to their environment. In archaeology, the
ecological approach
involves starting with the natural environment and examining the place of human communities within it. Such an approach has most utility for the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods.

 
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See
PALAEOECONOMY
.

 
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Refers to the fact that, in the division of labour, individuals depend on others to produce all or most of the goods they need to sustain their lives.

 
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The aspect of a social system that functions to order technological procedures socially and to control them in the interests of social units, whether individuals or collectives.

 
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The set of relationships between living and non-living things in nature, or a specific natural community, including the interactions of climate, soils, rivers, and all forms of animals and plants. An environmental system maintained by the regulation of vertical food chains and patterns of energy flow.