The study of the human past requires knowledge of the solar system as well as of the home planet and its geophysical and biological systems, of which we are inextricably a part. The eternal fascination of archaeological research is that it challenges all our creativity, discipline, and enthusiasms; scarcely any knowledge is irrelevant to it. That is especially true of environmental archaeology – the study of paleoenvironments as human habitats. Habitats pose problems and opportunities for resident organisms of whatever size and complexity; humans are not excepted from this imposition. If we are to understand the behaviors of human beings in their unique cultural contexts, we must be able to define and examine crucial aspects of their habitats. Humanenvironments, originally restricted to sub-Saharan Africa, now include the entire world and parts of space – so, the study of human ecology, which is at the core of environmental archaeology (Butzer 1982), is necessarily comprehensive and resolutely dynamic. Not surprisingly, it is still very immature and experimental.

The means for defining and interpreting elements of human environments, both past and present, are expanding. Archaeologists, especially environmental archaeologists, employ techniques and concepts developed in the disciplines of anthropology, biology, ecology, zoology, botany, geology, oceanography, climatology, and pedology (soils), among others. Of course, no one can be expert in all these subjects; both compromise and consultation are required.