GRAIN SIZE ANALYSIS pp. 341-348 | Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology, DOI 10.1007/978-1-4020-4409-0, 2017 1 (Original Article; Accepted Final Proof; Allowed for upload as self-repository - not the original Springer typeset - ) ---------------------------------------------------------- GRAIN SIZE ANALYSIS ---------------------------------------------------------- pp. 341-348 Encyclopedia of Earth Science Series Encyclopedia of Geoarchaeology Allan S. Gilbert (Volume Ed.) Springer 2017 Print publication under ISBN: 978-94-007-4827-9 Electronic publication under ISBN 978-1-4020-4409-0 Print and electronic bundle under ISBN 978-94-007-4828-6 Gloria I. López Luminescence Dating Laboratory, Centro Nacional de Investigación sobre la Evolución Humana CENIEH, Burgos, 09002, Spain Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies RIMS, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel Synonyms Granulometry; Particle size analysis Definition Grain size analysis is an analytical technique typically conducted within the earth sciences and implemented as a routine laboratory study. Other disciplines, such as archaeology and geoarchaeology, also use it regularly. It is a sedimentological analysis carried out in order to determine the size of the different particles that constitute a particular unconsolidated sedimentary deposit, sedimentary rock, archaeological locus, or soil unit. The main goal of this procedure is to determine the type of environment and energy associated with the transport mechanism at the time of deposition; this is done by inference from the sizes of the sediment particles analyzed and their distributions. Introduction Granulometry is a basic analytical technique that has wide applications within the earth and archaeological sciences. Particle or grain size is a fundamental attribute or physical property of particulate samples or sediments and sedimentary rocks (Folk, 1980; Friedman and Sanders, 1978). Much can be said from analyzing not only the size of clastic or detrital (inorganic), bioclastic (organic), or chemical particles but also from the overall size distribution, size fraction percentages, textural maturity of the sediment or sorting, surface texture attributes of a particle, and sphericity/angularity and shape of a particle (Krumbein and Sloss, 1963; Syvitsky, 2007). Several sediment, soil, or material properties are directly influenced by the size of its particles, as well as their shape (form, roundness and surface texture or the grains) and fabric (grain-to-grain interrelation and grain orientation), such as texture and appearance, density, porosity, and permeability. The size of particles is directly dependent on the type of environmental setting, transporting agent, length and time during transport, and depositional conditions, and hence it possesses significant utility as an environmental proxy (McManus, 1988; Stanley-Wood and Lines, 1992). Grain size is related to a multitude of external factors acting on a local or regional scale. For example, in the coastal and marine setting, grain size is related to the bathymetry and geometry of the basin, nutrient regime, biogeochemical oceanography, coastal processes, net sedimentary inputs from land sources, and outputs. The study of