Inferences from footprints: Archaeological best practice
Authors: Bennett, M.R. and Reynolds, S.C.
Pages: 15-39
ISBN: 9783030604059
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-60406-6_2
Abstract:Animal footprints are preserved in the archaeological record with greater frequency than perhaps previously assumed. This assertion is supported by a rapid increase in the number of discoveries in recent years. The analysis of such trace fossils is now being undertaken with an increasing sophistication, and a methodological revolution is afoot linked to the routine deployment of 3D digital capture. Much of this development has in recent years been driven by palaeontologists, yet archaeologists are just as likely to encounter footprints in excavations. It is therefore timely to review some of the key methodological developments and to focus attention on the inferences that can and, crucially, cannot be justifiably made from fossil footprints with specific reference to human tracks.
Source: Scopus