Archaeology

For my gf

Laws of superposition

The oldest layers are at the bottom and youngest layers are at the top (undisturbed sequence of sedimentary or archeological layers)

Thomas Jefferson and the Mound Builders

• Credit for the first scientific archaeological excavation

• Excavates a mound at Monticello to gather evidence/data to answer question

• Dug a trench, recorded stratigraphy

• Concluded: Native Americans were capable of making the mounds and used them as burial places for 100s of years, was not widely accepted until 1894

• 1780s

Development of  Archaeology as a field of study

• General Augustus Lane-Fox Pitt-Rivers (1827-1900)

• Military methods of surveying and precision brought to archaeology

• Recorded exact position (provenience) of every object excavated

• Recorded not only “treasures” but every item recovered

• Published his findings

Antiquarians (when did this period occur, focus)

The pre-scientific, early phase of archaeology where interest in ancient objects was primarily driven by curiosity, the value of age, and a desire for collecting, often for private collections or display

• European interest in ancient Rome, Greece and Egypt

• Interest in sites of Britain

• Cabinets of curiosity

• Collection of curios as a hobby 

Culture- History period of Archaeology (when did this period occur, focus)

1900s-1950s

Focus is on 

1. finding sites

• Earliest urban cities across the globe excavated

(sites in Egypt, Mesopotamia, India, Zimbabwe, Peru, Mesoamerica, United States, Greece, Turkey, Europe ect.)

2. describing sites and artifacts 

3. Putting artifacts into chronological sequence

• Phases of societies in different regions established

• Types and distinct cultural assemblages groups of people 

Processual Archaeology /New Archaeology (when did this period occur, focus)

• A scientific approach that emerged in the 1960s to explain how and why past societies changed and adapted, rather than just describing them.

• Uses the scientific method, statistical analysis, and cross-disciplinary theories to develop and test hypotheses about cultural processes.

• Key goals include formulating general theories about human behavior, understanding cultural evolution, and studying material culture as a product of adaptation to environmental and social factors.  

Post-Processual Archaeology (when did this period occur, focus)

• A theoretical approach that emerged in the 1980s as a critical reaction to processual archaeology, challenging its emphasis on scientific objectivity and universal laws.

• Emphasizes subjective interpretation, acknowledging the importance of cultural and social contexts, human agency, ideology, and power in understanding the past.

• Advocates for multiple perspectives and context-specific interpretations, incorporating diverse viewpoints like those from feminism, Marxism, and post-structuralism, and recognizing the importance of marginalized groups and heritage in archaeological practice. 

• No longer places such weight on finding “universal truths”

Cultural Resource Management (CRM)

• The documentation and assessment of heritage sites

• Usually done because it is required by legislation, and

  it involves several stages.

• Focused on identifying, assessing, documenting, and preserving cultural or historical resources

• CRM archaeology aims to comply with heritage protection laws and avoid or mitigate adverse effects on significant cultural resources before they are disturbed by development.  

Salvage archaeology

• The rapid recording and excavation of archaeological sites that face imminent destruction from development, construction, or other land alteration

• Aims to recover as much information as possible about cultural heritage before it is permanently lost, often under legal mandates and tight deadlines

• Critical aspect of cultural resource management

Basic stages of archaeological fieldwork (see textbook and slides)

1. Identifying the need for field research

2. Doing background research

3. Formulating hypotheses or research questions

4. Determining the types of data to collect

5. Determining the field and laboratory methods to use

6. Detailing the logistics of making the project work

7. Collecting data

8. Making the data meaningful

9. Making the research meaningful

Methods for discovering archaeological sites

• fortuitous discovery (when sites are found without any deliberate attempt to do so)

• predictive modeling (forecasting where sites are likely to be found by factoring in such things as terrain, weather, and access to resources and transportation routes)

• consultation (seeking information from historical documents and advice from other people)

• aerial-based remote sensing (the use of

  aerial images taken from planes or satellites)

• ground-based remote sensing (manual, geophysical,

  or geochemical; digging holes with a trowel or

  shovel to check for subsurface cultural remains)

• surface survey (physically walking over the ground surface looking for evidence of past human activity)

Research Questions – why important, how they shape where you dig and data collection

• Crucial for providing focus, guiding methodology, and generating new knowledge about the human past.

• They help define scope and focus, prevent wasted effort, provide a rationale for the study, and determine methodology and analysis

• The question informs which sites are relevant and likely to contain the specific data needed

• They help refine what needs to be collected from a site

Judgmental/non-probabilistic vs probabilistic sampling

• Judgmental (non-probabilistic) sampling relies on researcher expertise to select participants, where not every member has an equal chance of inclusion, leading to potential bias.

• In contrast, probabilistic sampling, such as systematic sampling, gives every population member a known, non-zero chance of selection, ensuring a representative sample and allowing for statistical inference.

• Systematic sampling involves selecting every nth element from a list after a random starting point, creating a scientifically valid sample

Excavating by natural vs arbitrary levels

• Excavating by arbitrary levels means that the detailed notes will be taken at regular intervals, such as every 10 centimeters, arbitrarily chosen by the project director.

• Excavating by natural levels means the notes will be taken when the matrix changes, such as when a layer of silt overlies a layer of sand.

Relative dating techniques

• Used to establish a chronological order for artifacts and sites without providing exact dates, but rather determining what is older or younger than something else

• Cannot determine a specific numerical age or the precise amount of time between events

Fluorine/uranium/nitrogen

• Relative dating method for bones based on the principle that buried bones absorb fluorine and uranium from the groundwater over time, while their organic nitrogen content decreases due to decomposition

• Bones with higher fluorine and uranium and lower nitrogen are generally older, allowing archaeologists to establish the burial sequence of bones from the same archaeological site

Stratigraphic dating

• The study of the layers of soil and sediment (strata) to establish a relative chronological sequence of events and artifacts at a site

• Oldest is on bottom, unless disturbed

• The deeper the deposit, the older it is

Stylistic Seriation

• Relative dating technique that orders sites or artifacts chronologically by analyzing changes in style and form over time

• By arranging artifact styles (like pottery decorations or tool designs) in sequences where they emerge, become popular, and then decline, archaeologists create a "battleship curve" to establish relative timelines and understand cultural shifts

• Useful when absolute dating techniques are not available

Terminus post quem (the limit/time after which)

• Defines the earliest possible date that an object or event could have been deposited or occurred.

• Determined by the latest-dated artifact found within an assemblage or layer of an archaeological site, as everything in that context must be from at least that date

Terminus ante quem (the time before which)

• The latest date an artifact or event could have occurred

• Established by a feature or artifact that is known to be later in time

Dendrochronology

• Tree-ring dating

• Extremely accurate; most accurate of all methods

• Can only be used in areas where wood is preserved, like the arid Southwest or waterlogged sites

• Radiocarbon dates can be checked against these for accuracy and then calibrated