The Archaeological Record

ANTH 210 Flashcards

The archaeological record

Configuration of archaeological materials, including artifacts, “ecofacts”, features, sites, and landscapers

Accumulation of physical remains of past human activity and environmental post-depositional processes

Artifacts

Portable materials whose form has either completely been made by humans or significantly modified by humans

Examples of artifacts

• Ceramics

• Stone tools

• Jewelry/ metalworking

• Art, if mobiliary

• Clothing/ textiles

“Ecofacts”

Organic materials that provide evidence for human activities, may or may not be modified

Examples of “ecofacts”

• Plant remains

• Seed grains

• Pollen

• Bones - human or not

• Soil

Features

Non-portable remains of human activity that cannot be moved without damage

Examples of features

• Buildings

• Post holes

• Earthworks (dams, forts, etc)

• Wells

• Middens

Sites

Spatial aggregations of any combination of Artifacts, “Ecofacts”, and Features

May be legally defined, varies by area

Landscapes

A multi-scalar way of conceiving past human activity: a regional distribution of sites, artifacts, features, etc

Why is the archaeological record always an underrepresentation of the past

Not all activities produce tangible material evidence, and not all tangible material evidence survives

Scale

Measurement of a range of time and space in either units or relative terms

Why pay attention to scale?

Helps with better understanding of how past (and present) human activities are distributed across time and space

Site formation processes and the creation of the archaeological record

Cultural activities and practices

Environmental processes

Post-depositional processes

• Can preserve or jumble the context

C-Transforms

Cultural transformation of the archaeological record

• I.e. plowing a field or repurposing stones for new structures

N-transforms

Natural transformation of the archaeological record

• I.e. earthquakes, floods, etc.

Two types of context

1. Archaeological context

2. Systematic context

Archaeological context

Location, matrix, and provenience of archaeological materials and their association with each other

Systematic context

Cultural practices or processes that combined to create the deposition

• Must be inferred from careful analysis of archaeological context

Matrix

Material surrounding an archaeological thing

Provenience

Vertical and horizontal coordinates of an archaeological material

• Horizontal provenience is usually relative to geographic grid system

• Vertical is usually relative to sea level

What do crucial questions with context have to do with?

• Association

• Issues of space and time

• Human activity and practice

Primary context

Archaeological context that has remained largely undisturbed

Two types of primary context

1. Use-related

2. Non use-related

Use-related primary context

Artifacts and/ or “ecofacts” recovered where they were used or made

Non use-related primary context

Artifacts and/or “ecofacts” recovered from locations where they may have been moved from their original location of manufacture or use

Intentionally discarded

Secondary context

Altered/ obscure context

• I.e. middens moved by erosion and reversed

Behavioural processes responsible for material remains

1. Acquisition

2. Manufacture

3. Use

4. Deposition

Taphonomy

The study of what happens to plants and animals after they die

• Temperature and humidity are generally the most critical elements

• E.g. bog bodies