In 2002 the multidisciplinary research project ''Nasca: development and adaptation of archaeometric techniques for the investigation of cultural history'' (Nasca: Entwicklung und Adaption archa¨ometrischer Techniken zur Erforschung der Kulturgeschichte) started, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education andResearch(Bundesministerium fu¨r Bildung und Forschung, BMBF ) in its priority program ''New scientific methods and technologies for the humanities'' (Neue Naturwissenschaftliche Methoden und Technologien fu¨r die Geisteswissenschaften, NTG). This new project continued and in a certain way fulfilled a lasting goal of the ministry to integrate different branches of scientific activities and to foster the transfer of expertise gained in natural sciences to the humanities and vice versa. Archaeometry, by definition the application of scientific methods in archaeological investigation, has been a major focus of the priority program since its beginnings in 1989. After funding numerous fruitful research projects that developed new archaeometric techniques mostly in bilateral cooperation, an even greater outcome was expected from a more multifaceted approach with the participation of various scientific disciplines around a well-defined, archaeological research topic. Furthermore, it was intended to establish a project outside the traditional research areas in central Europe or the Mediterranean. It was the great merit of the person formerly in charge of the BMBF priority program, Dr. Edgar Pusch, to develop these far-reaching perspectives and we are extremely grateful that after a rigorous screening our project among other interesting ones was selected for funding.

Markus Reindel is an archaeologist specialized in South American and Mesoamerican cultures. He earned his Ph. D. degree at the University of Bonn in Germany. He carried out archaelogical fieldwork in northern Peru, on the coast of Ecuador, in Yucatan, Mexiko and again in Peru, where he is engaged in the investigation of the Nasca culture during the last ten years. Günther A. Wagner directed the Research Group of Archaeometry, Heidelberg Academy of Sciences, situated at the Max-Planck-Institute for Nuclear Physics, and was at the same time professor for geology at the University of Heidelberg. After his retirement in 2006 he joined the Department of Geography. In 1999 he became the first president of the German Archaeometric Society. He is member of the German Archaeological Institute. He has authored/coauthored several books and numerous articles. He acted as Managing Editor of the journal 'Archaeometry' and still is Editor of the series 'Natural Science in Archaeology'. His research topics are archaeochronometry, archaeometallurgy and geoarchaeology.

Introduction.- Geoarchaeology.- Geophysics.- Bioarchaeology.- Archaeochronometry.- Geomatics.- Archaeometallurgy.- Summary.- Index.