Archaeology is not a discipline with a single set of related paradigms, but rather is a multidisciplinary amalgam requiring concepts and methodologies from a host of separate disciplines, such as anthropology, ecology, geology, geography, art history, economics, and osteology. One might even suggest that the designation archaeologist requires an adjective or prefix, e.g., classical archaeologist, geoarchaeologist, or anthropological archaeologist. Archaeometry will play an ever increasing role in the analysis and interpretation of archaeological remains. The best known example of the application of physics to archaeology is radiocarbon dating. Nearly all of the rest of archaeometry is not congruent with this paradigm.
Most relationships require an active partnership.
There are increasing numbers of examples where archaeometrists work alone on the solution of archaeological problems. At the Thera Congress this past September, archaeometrists reported on dating the Minoan eruption of Thera through the analysis of sulfur in ice cores from Greenland. Early humans not only made artifacts, but they also altered the geomorphic, zoological, and botanical landscapes. This human activity of landscape alteration was as much a part of early culture as religious activities. This has now been recognized, and most archaeological surveys and excavations integrate environmental with all other investigations.