ANTH 103 - Scott Ferrara

Anthropology - 4 kinds

Archaeology , Sociocultural, Biological, Linguistic

Archaeology

study of past human behavior based on the recovery and analysis of direct physical evidence

Biological Evolution

- change throughout time
- foundational element to archaeology as it examines the origins of the human species and provides a reasonable explanation for changes through time

Charlin Darwins Book

"On the Origin of Species" published in 1859

Pre-Darwinian Ideas

- Aristotle
- Judeo/Christian Belief
- Charles Bonnet

Aristotle

"Scale of Nature" : the idea that species follow the rungs of a ladder(everything is more complex the higher you go up)

Judeo/Christian Belief

-God created everything
- all science can either support the bible or its inaccurate

Charles Bonnet

-coined the term "evolution"
- believed only fathers provide genetic DNA to offspring

Evolution Theory

- all living organisms have common ancestor
- some species haven't changed much over time, others changed significantly
- species that stayed the same can easily adapt to circumstances
- 99% of species that existed are extinct

Archaeological Site

any place where material evidence exists about the human past

Context

- Provenience (location)
- Association (surrounding artifacts)
- Matrix (surrounding sentiment)

Destruction of Cities

1. Monumental
2. Mundane
3. Abandoned

Garbology

-the study of a society by analyzing its garbage
- coined by William Rathje
- contributed to broader understanding of environmental sustainability
- ppl believed garbage in landfills decayed over time, rathje proved it to be false

Archbishop James Ussher

- earth was created 6000 years ago November
- came to this by counting back familial generations in the bible back to Adam and Eve

Nicholas Steno

- first to realize that the geological history of the earth can be observed and measured by examining layers of the earth called "strata" and the fossils found within them
- still believed the world was 6,000 years old

George Buffon

- the core of the earth was iron material and was created over million years
- by studying the cooling of a warmed iron ball showed to be 75,000

Stratigraphy

- oldest at the bottom
- youngest at the top

• top layer humus, all the way at the bottom culturally sterile soil

• relative dating method

Law of Superposition

older materials are deposited prior to later ones

Types of Deposition

- Aeolian: wind blow sendiments
- Alluvial: river deposited - sand, silt, clay, gravel
- Colluvium : erosion

Cultural Deposition

human garbage deposited by humans

Diff types of soil

- sand = large particles
- silt = much smaller particles than sand
- clay = smallest particle size
- loam = a mix of sand, silt, and clay

Archaeological Process

1. ask the locals
2. library research, archives, museums
3. mapping : GPS, Trimble GPS
4. total station
5. topographic maps

Remote Sensing Tools

-- magnetometry
- resistivity
- ground penetrating radar
- Drones
-LiDAR
-aerial photos
- crop marks
- side scan sonar

Non invasive method

metal detectors

surface survey:

documenting what lays on or near the ground by walking around the site and looking at the ground

Freeze/Thaw Process

over many years of changing seasons (winter to summer) the freezing and thawing of the soil can push up artifacts

bioturbation

disturbance and displacement of subsurface soil by plants or animals

archaeological unit

uses the pythagreom theory

Features

the non-movable evidence of tech usually fire hearths, architectural remains, artifact clusters, garbage pits, soil stains

Underwater excavation

-utilizes scuba equipment
-limitations : working time constraints, variable weather and ocean conditions, recovery of artifacts can be expensive, dangerous

Artifact

-object created or modified by humans

-its about understanding the world that existed around the artifact, the ppl, and the motivations that produced

morphology

the measurable and unique shape of an object

Reservation of Artifacts

- in situ: objects found in the place they were originally deposited

- secondary context: artifacts that were removed to a new location after they were deposited

   - archaeological burial mount being re-used for a new later burial or framing activity

- not everything preserves in an archaeological site, we can only base our interpretation on what we recover

Lithics and Ceramics

• preserve the best

• oldest artifact is 2.2 million years

organic materials

• dont always preserve

• need favorable environmental conditions to preserve: dry, water-logged, anerobic

Lithics (rocks)

• used to describe stone tools

• stone tools are the oldest artifacts because they preserve the best

• the shape of the stone tools represent specific strategies during knapping that can be associated with specific periods of past

• the more silica, the more easy to make smth else of it

Silica (glass)

• very important mineral for the production and use of stone tools

  - the silica content of a stone makes these tools durable with predictable breaking patterns

  - the higher the silica content the more predictable the breaking pattern and sharper the blade

   

Classify Lithics

- ALTHOUGH WE CLASSIFY LITHICS BY morphology to understand certain changes in time, we are trying to observe the evidence of human culture and behavior

Ceramics

-dirt:

-sand: large particles that we can separate and see with naked eye

-silt: grainy can somewhat hold a shape in between with size

-clay: smalls particles and moldable

 -Temper: ceramics need some kind of aggregate for a piece of pottery

 - from analysis if small shreds of pottery we can link diagnostic features to a place and time period

Ceramics Main Function

• cooking

• storage

• serving

• small = storage

• wide = cooking

Human Remains

- human remains are the most obvious evidence of human presence/occupation of a site

- human remains can provide biological insights into the health and behavior of past human activity

Faunal Remains

- zooarchaeology: examines the animal remains from archaeological context

- what we understand from animal remains:

- human diet

- domestication

-past environments

- social stratifications

style

the artistic choices made in the place artifacts were deposited

Archaeology

understanding past human behavior

Historical Stages in Archaeology

- Antiquarianism

- Culture Historical

- Processualism

- Post Processualism

Antiquarianism

- The "anything goes" period of archaeological history

- In the late 1800s, advances in numerous scientific fields lead to a widespread interest in stuff

- Collectors and looters sought to obtain old objects for their private collections

Johann Joachim Winckelmann

-"Father of Art History", aided in excavation of Pompei and preservation of its artifacts

- One of the first to argue that the artifacts and their contexts could yield vital information about human societies. First to distinguish artifacts as Greek, Greco- Roman, and Roman

Christian Jurgensen Thomsen

- Discovered that items from similar time periods and areas were composed of the same materials

- Developed 3 age system:

- Stone Age

- Bronze Age

- Iron Age

- Each age being more technologically advanced than the other

Giovanni Battista Belzoni:

- Referred to as " The Great Belzoni"

-joined a traveliing circus with his wife

- worked as a " Strong Man"

- Tomb Robber

- Used gun powder to blast his way into egyptian tombs

- Stole artifacts to sell to the Ottoman

- Dressed like an Ottoman Nobleman

- skilled inventor

- invented an ox -driven water wheel to help farmers

popularized Egyptian archaeology.

-Excavated Abu Simbel

Culture history Archaeology

- Inductive Reasoning: bottom up approach, collecting artifacts, recognizing patterns, then making theories on those patterns

- Problematic because these interpretations can include a wide range of possibilities. The opposite of forming a hypothesis and seeing if u can prove it with the evidence

- a focus on seriation and typology based on artifact morphology

Normative model

a culture is a set of norms that govern behavior in a particular society. The material remains reflect past behavioral norms

• During this period of archaeological science, past cultures were seen as isolated systems with practices set in time and unique to only that particular culture

Leonard Wooley

- excavated the ancient Mesopotamian site called Ur

- considered one of the first modern archeologist becuase of his methodical approach to excavation

- known for his fashion: short shorts with high socks

Gertrude Bell

•Founding member of the Women’s National Anti-Suffrage League in 1908

•Studied Mesopotamia

•Avid desert traveler and mountain climber

•During WW1, she had already been established in the Middle East, had gained respect of desert chieftains and became well-versed in the local political conditions

•Responsible for organizing the Iraq Antiquities Service and Museum

•Conducted and Oversaw the Excavations at Ur and advocated for the artifacts to remain in Iraq

•Friendly/Respected rival and co-worker of Leonard Woolley

Howard Carter

- discovered King Tuts tomb NOVEMBER 1922

- employed by wealthy antique enthusiasts in Egypt to create exact copies of Egyptian hieroglyphics and art

- was hired by British lord Edward Carnarvon lead the search for the tomb of king tut

Vere Gordon Chile

- childe was interested in the middle east and beginnings of farming, domestication

• Was part of Cultural Historical period

- was interested in studying the average person/commoners/peasants felt studying the elites didn’t tell anything about being a human at the time

- coined the term " Neolithic Revolution" marking the shift from gathering to farming

Challenging Scientific Racism

- believed races were biological in nature

German anthropologist Franz Boas considered the " Father of American Anthropology"

- argued against biological/cultural racism - race is a social construct

- Contributed to 4 fields of anthropology: linguistic, archaeology, socio cultural, biological

Objectivity

the search for knowledge in the world by looking only for measurable evidence and ignoring data based on feelings, emotions or perspectives. Only looking at facts

Subjectivity

viewpoint on a topic based on a unique perspective on an individual, often emotion-based, or based on a person’s beliefs and worldviews of a persons circumstances or background

“ New Archaeology” - Processual Archaeology

- introduced deductive reasoning

- adopt a theory, from a hypothesis, test it against the evidence, see if the hypothesis holds up or not

- adopted scientific methods of understanding the past

- a focus on the influences of the enviorment

Inductive reasoning

- starts with an observation of an already gathered collection of materials. hypothesis are formed solely from these observation

Processual Archaeology

- how cultures function/change over time

- based on objectivity and the belief that all human behavior can be explained through theoretical universals

- largely examines ecological causes and external pressure on communities and societies

Interpretive Archaeology (Post Processual)

- push back against processual arch

- human behavior and motivations are more complex than being reduced to environmental pressure

- begin looking into the inherent biases in science and the various perspectives of the scientific observer

- feminist archaeology, queer archeology, indigenous archaeology, race and labor, Marxist archaeology

- incorporating diversity in not only the questions you are asking them but who has is interpreting the data we find

- emphasis on the multiple and disparate lived questions

Ian Hodder

- leads excavations at Catalhayuk, a neolithic site located in Turkey that dates to 6,000 BC

- Pushed back against Binfords new archaeology, pioneered Post-Processual or "Interpretive"

- argued that all science in subjective

- Was Anti -Positivistic

Margaret Conkey

- one of the first to introduce Feministic Archaeology

- trying to understand the roles and influence of women in society throughout time

- draws on feminist theory to analyze and interpret Paleolithic cave art

 

Lewis Binford

• changed how we practice archaeology

• Pioneered “New Archaeology” - Processual Archaeology

• Emphasized a focus on cultures as constantly changing systems influenced by changing environments

  -Specialized in zooarchaeology and studied hunter/gatherer cultures both ancient and modern day

Flotation Methods

a technique used to recover tiny artifacts and plant remains from soil samples. The method involves agitating soil samples in water, allowing lighter materials to float

Ecofacts

organic or environmental remains found in archaeological sites. These can include plant remains, animal bones, pollen

Isotopes

isotopic analysis is used to study geological processes, date materials, trace migrations, and understand ecological relationships. radio carbon dating and margon

Half- Life

the half-life is the time it takes (60,000)for half of a radioactive substance to decay. This is used in radiometric dating methods to estimate the age of materials.

Typology

classification system used to organize artifacts based on shared characteristics. This helps in identifying patterns and understanding cultural change over time.

Tympanum

refers to the triangular or semi-circular decorative wall surface above a door

Descent with modification

central idea in evolutionary biology, associated with Charles Darwin. It suggests that species change over time through the mechanism of natural selection, leading to the gradual development of new traits and the diversification of life forms.

NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repratriation Act)

Requires that Native American burials (human remains), burial items, and sacred items (that are needed for religious ceremony) to be protected and repatriated (returned)  to the tribes or communities they are associated with

This law is still problematic because;

   -It only provides protections for Native American objects found on federally -owned property
   -cultural institutions have struggled to identify singular communities which catalogued items belong to
   -Only involves Indigenous collaboration after a discovery has been made and not before. 

Macrobotanicals vs Microbotanicals Botanical Remains

Macro(we see with naked eye) - carbonized (charred) or desiccated ( dried) : seeds, leaves, stems, wood, charcoal

Micro(we need higher magnification) : phytolithics, starch granules, pollen grains

Preservation Issues

And all these different places have different climates. Some climates you have great preservation and some not so much.

Blanket Sampling

Soil samples collected from every feature and depositional event.

Types of Sampling

-Point

-Pinch

-Column

Point Sampling

A bulk collection of soil from a feature.

Pinch Sampling

small amounts of soil from one context combined in one sample bag.

Column Sampling

collecting soil from each stratigraphic level

The Three Sisters

Corn,Beans, Squash

Paleoenthnobotany

-the study of the relationship between people and plants through time

-Examination of soil for residues from archaeological cont

BP/BC/CE/AD/KYA/MYA

Before Present/ Before Christ/ Common Era/ Anno Domini/ Thousand Years Ago/ Millions Years Ago

Refuse

• discarded or abandoned material found in archaeological sites. ex: artifacts, ecofacts, features, structural debris

Radio Carbon Dating

used to determine the age of organic materials. ex: wood ,bones, plant remains

• absolute dating

Drones

Remote control devices used for remote viewing and photography

Surface Survey

Documenting what lays on or near the ground by walking around the site and visual observing for anomalies on the ground.

vertical excavation

Looking at a deep stack of strata (layers) to get an idea of change over time by documenting how the artifacts differ from the bottom to the top

horizontal excavation

to get an idea of the spatial distribution of artifacts at a particular moment

Magnetometry

Helpful with locating burn pits, hearths, bacterial  action

LiDar (Light Detection and Ranging)

•Technology that measures distance by illuminating a target with a laser and analyzing the reflected light

Ground Penetrating Radar

•Sends signals into the earth to detect  sub-surface artifacts

•Helpful in locating buried structures like crypts, chambers, cavities, burials, cellars, etc.

The Scientific Method

• Ask Question

• Do background research

• construct hypothesis

• test with an experiment

• analyze results/draw conclusion

• Hypothesis True= Report Results

• Hypothesis False= Thing again

Shifting Baseline Syndrome

-Just because an environment, landscape, or process is a certain way now, does not mean thats how it always was

New World (North/South America) / Old World (Africa/Asia/Europe)

•-Outdated terms in anthropology
   -Implies antiquated notions of seniority    and superiority

   -Still used in biology

   -Instead, we say “the Americas”

Younger Drayas

End of the Ice Age
   approx. 10-12kya

The majority of human ancestors (hominins)

appear during the Pleistocene

Sandwich Dating

method of dating archaeological layers or contexts where two distinct layers sandwich a third layer. By analyzing the relative positions of artifacts, ecofacts, or other materials within these layers, archaeologists may be able to establish a relative chronology for the site.

Seriation

method of relative dating used to arrange artifacts, features in a chronological timeline based on their similarities in style or design