Archaeology Final

Ethnoarchaeology

The study of present cultures with the intent of learning more about past cultures

Social inequality/organization

Diffusion

When certain aesthetics or styles travel, although it takes much longer and doesn't gain as much popularity (ex. New york fashion vs rural areas)

Migration

The movement of people from one place to another- bering strait land bridge

Modeling cultural change

Style change in buildings, value change in monuments, needs and sizes change in houses

Machu Picchu

• The city was locally known but because of the location no one really needed to visit until Hiram Bingham who was into “lost cities”

• Incas built around 1450 and only used for 80 years. Agricultural terraces helped with drainage. Corn and potatoes were planted but not enough to feed everyone. Interconnected society but wiped out by smallpox

Archaeology of the first peoples of the americas

First peoples of new jersey

• Clovis points place people in NJ at 13-14,000 BP

• Paleo-Indians 12,000 BP-10,000 BP (no written language, highly nomadic, associated with certain point styles, no agriculture)

• Archaic period 10,000 BP-3,000 BP (people become less nomadic as the climate shifted, still no agriculture)

• Woodland period 3,000 BP-AD 1,600 (permanent villages, development of agriculture, first Lenape, hunting)

Clovis

People named for the stone tools associated with them, Clovis points (originally from a site in Clovis, New Mexico) 13,000 BP– Clovis points place people in NJ at 13-14,000 BP

New Jersey native people and sites

Lenape at Abbott farm 5,000 BP-AD 1,600 points found on farm

Lenape

First permanent villages, 1000 people, NY/Connecticut to Delaware/Maryland

Landscape archaeology and sampling

The study of individual features seen as single components within the broader perspective of the patterning of human activity over a wide area

Colonial headstone studies

Tells us about name, socioeconomic status, dates, occasionally cause of death, cultural norms of the time

cultural change in funerary motifs

• There was a shift in funerary motifs from morbid images (skulls) to imagery like cherubs to willow trees

• One style fades while another gains popularity

• Much debate as to why this change happened– great awakening, economics and consumerism

Seriation doppler effect in archaeology

The physical location of an observer distorts the understanding of popularity

The Arch Street project

• Graveyard found during parking lot construction. 3 stage excavations recovered 491 skeletal remains. Coffin wood, size and decor showed a lot about socioeconomic status and ages. Textile and gold rings/pins found. Answered questions about health, life and death in early philly

Bioarchaeology

The study of human remains

Biocultural approach

Shows connection between biology and culture that may impact behaviors and health

Relationship between climate change and archaeology

Climate change involves the melting of ice which reveals artifacts that were previously frozen over. This also removes environmental preservation of artifacts and potentially exposes them to water damage. Sea levels rising may cause sites to be flooded/washed away or harder to access

Preservation of the past: types of destruction

• Developing country: economical threats, mining etc

• Active conflict region: Intentional destruction– primary (regions controlled by groups with different ideologies. Destroyed on purpose), secondary (active fighting around, destroyed in the crossfires of fighting, not destroyed particularly on purpose), byproduct of destabilization (theft of artifacts to sell, not quite destroyed but loses much archaeological value), 

• Developed nation: development and lack of formal policy and law procedures. Loose wording and private property development remove a lot of rights from archaeological sites

Who has a right to preserve the past?

Native Americans now get to keep their ancestor’s remains properly kept under NAGPRA. Applies to all artifacts of a sacred nature.

NAGPRA

Native american grave protection and repatriation act (1990). Protects graves and remains of indigenous americans, hawaiians, etc from being excavated

Maria Pearson

Activist in the 1970’s that pushed for native remains to be reburied– Yankton Sioux descent

Psudoarchaeology

Fake archaeology– baseless theories under the guise of archaeology

NRHP

National Register of Historic Places, from the National Historic Preservation Act (1966). Preserves cultural heritage to maintain for future generations

NRHP designations

• District: concentration, linkage, continuity of sites/buildings/structures or objects united historically 

• Site: location of a significant event, prehistoric or historic occupation, activity, or building/structure that possesses historic, cultural, or archaeological value

• Building: resource created to shelter any form of human activity

• Structure: functional construction made for purposes other than creating shelter (ex. bridge)

• Object: a construction primarily artistic in nature or small in scale and simply constructed

Forensic archaeology analyses

Increased emphasis on precision recording, increased PPE to avoid contamination, increased importance of of time, preparation of being called as an expert witness in a trial

Clandestine burials

Quick, hidden burials often done with limited tools associated with crime

Who owns the past?

private property owners have a lot of rights in regards to archaeological finds– a site does not have to be registered or preserved if private owner does not wish for it to be