Geophysics

The study of the physical properties of the earth - structure, composition, and development - such as magnetism, radioactivity, vulcanism, etc. Its applications to archaeology have been to provide dating methods (geochronology) and techniques for exploration (magnetometer and resistivity survey). Some dating techniques, e.g. palaeomagnetism, are based on geophysical properties of the earth. It is a subdiscipline of both geology and physics.

The physics of the earth. Many archaeological dating methods may be said to be based on geophysical principles. Geophysical methods are often used to investigate archaeological sites without (or prior to) excavation. Features of a buried site may change the physical properties of the earth. Electricity (see resistivity) and magnetism (see magnetic surveying) or both (see electromagnetic surveying) are the properties most often investigated in archaeology.