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What is archaeological interpretation?
The process of analyzing artifacts, features, and contexts to understand past human behaviors, cultures, and societies
Provenience
The exact location where an artifact or feature is found, recorded in three dimensions (latitude, longitude, depth)
Ground-Penetrating Radar
A non-invasive method using radar pulses to detect and map subsurface structures and artifacts.
Fire
Evidence includes burned bones, heated stones, and charred plant remains found at sites like Wonderwerk Cave (South Africa). This provided warmth, protection, and cooking, marking a significant step in human evolution.
Wonderwerk Cave
An archaeological site in South Africa with evidence of early controlled fire use by humans around 1 million years ago, including burned bones and ash layers
Cave Art
Created by Homo sapiens, featuring Ice Age animals, handprints, and symbolic "mythograms." Caves served as liminal spaces bridging human and animal worlds.
Macrobotanicals vs Microbotanicals
Visible plant remains (e.g., seeds, wood, charcoal).
Microscopic plant remains (e.g., pollen, phytoliths, starch grains).
The Three Sisters
A traditional agricultural method involving the cultivation of corn, beans, and squash together. Each plant supports the others' growth through complementary roles, such as nitrogen fixation and soil coverage.
The Spread of Maize
domesticated in southern Mexico around 9,000 years ago, spread northward into the American Southwest and Eastern North America by 1000 BCE, reaching areas like the Mississippi Valley and the Great Lakes. By 2000 BCE, it had also moved south into Central and South America, where it became integral to agricultural societies. The spread was facilitated by trade, migration, and cultural exchange, with it adapting to various climates and becoming a major crop in diverse regions. Its widespread adoption greatly influenced the development of complex societies across the Americas
Mesopotamia
General Dates: Flourished from around 3500 BCE to 539 BCE.
Key Cities: Ur, Babylon, Sumer, Nineveh, and Lagash.
Formation of Mesopotamia
emerged around 3500 BCE between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The fertile land supported early agricultural communities, leading to the development of city-states. These societies grew through trade, innovation, and the rise of complex governance, forming the foundation of one of the world’s earliest civilizations
Key City Features (Mesopotamia)
Ur: Major Sumerian city known for its ziggurat, advanced urban planning, and wealth from trade.
Babylon: Renowned for its Hanging Gardens, Hammurabi's Code, and cultural and architectural achievements.
Sumer: Birthplace of writing (cuneiform), the wheel, and early religious practices.
Nineveh: Assyrian capital, famous for its impressive palaces, libraries, and military strength.
Lagash: Early Sumerian city, known for its art, temples, and innovations in governance.
Olmec
Date: Flourished around 1200-400 BCE in Mesoamerica.
Key Traits: Known for colossal stone heads, advanced art, and as a "mother culture" influencing later Mesoamerican civilizations. They developed early writing and a complex religious system.
Maya
Date: Flourished from around 2000 BCE to 1500 CE in Mesoamerica.
Key Traits: Known for their advanced writing system (glyphs), mathematics, astronomy, and monumental architecture (e.g., pyramids). They developed city-states and a complex calendar system.
Teotihuacan
Date: Flourished from around 100 BCE to 750 CE in central Mesoamerica.
Key Traits: Known for its impressive urban planning, including the Pyramid of the Sun and Pyramid of the Moon. This city was a major cultural and economic center with influence across Mesoamerica
Indus Valley
Date: 3300–1300 BCE.
Unique Traits: Known for advanced urban planning with grid layouts, standardized brick construction, and complex drainage systems. Cities like Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro featured public baths and wells. The civilization had long-distance trade links, particularly with Mesopotamia. They used an undeciphered script, and there is no clear evidence of warfare, suggesting a peaceful society
Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)
Date: Enacted in 1990.
Key Traits: U.S. law requiring federal agencies and museums to return Native American human remains, funerary objects, sacred items, and cultural patrimony to descendant tribes. It aims to protect Native American burial sites and cultural heritage
Repatriation
The process of returning cultural artifacts, human remains, or sacred objects to their rightful owners or descendants, often involving indigenous groups or nations. This process seeks to restore cultural heritage and respect for ancestral rights
Partage
The practice of dividing archaeological finds between the excavating institution or country and the local government or host country, often seen in colonial contexts. This division has been criticized for inequitable distribution and loss of cultural heritage
Origins of Farming in Middle East
Date: Around 10,000 BCE.
Key Traits: The transition from foraging to farming occurred in the Fertile Crescent, with the domestication of wheat, barley, and livestock like sheep and goats. This shift led to the rise of sedentary communities and the development of complex societies
Upper Paleolithic Sites with Dwellings
Date: Around 40,000–10,000 BCE.
Key Traits: Sites like Mezhirich (Ukraine) and Moncel (France) feature evidence of structured dwellings, often made of animal bones, wood, and stone. These dwellings indicate early human use of shelters and the development of more permanent living spaces during the Upper Paleolithic.
Rice Domestication
Date: Around 10,000 BCE in East Asia.
Key Traits: in the Yangtze River Valley, where early humans developed wet-field farming—a technique of growing in flooded fields, or paddies, to control water levels and promote growth. This innovation led to increased production and the rise of complex societies in Asia
Origin of cities in China
Date: Around 2000 BCE.
Key Traits: such as Erlitou (likely the early Xia dynasty capital) and Anyang (capital of the Shang dynasty), was driven by the development of agricultural surplus from rice and millet farming. As populations grew, centralized political structures formed, leading to the rise of urban centers. These cities featured complex social hierarchies, large-scale construction (e.g., walls, palaces, and temples), and specialized crafts, particularly bronze working. The need for trade, administration, and defense further contributed to the growth of these early cities
Metallurgy
Science of Metal Properties:
Cold Hammering: Shaping metal by striking it while cold to increase hardness and strength.
Annealing: Heating metal to reduce hardness and brittleness, making it more malleable.
Smelting: Extracting base metals from ore by heating it to remove impurities.
Casting: Pouring molten metal into molds to shape it once cooled.
Xianrendong Cave
Date: Around 20,000 years ago (Late Paleolithic).
Key Traits:
Significant for being one of the earliest sites of pottery use in East Asia.
Pottery fragments found in the cave are associated with early human occupation, providing evidence of pre-Neolithic use of ceramics.
The pottery found was typically hand-formed and not yet wheel-made, marking an early stage in the development of ceramic technology.
In addition to pottery, the cave also provided evidence of early human use of fire and rice grains, hinting at the beginnings of agriculture.
Rapa Nui
Population Decline: The population decreased from tens of thousands to 1,500-3,000 by the 18th century.
Myth of Deforestation: The theory that the people cut down trees to move statues is debated. Evidence of cannibalism is also lacking.
Deforestation Causes: Early deforestation occurred after colonization around 1200 AD, exacerbated by Polynesian rats eating trees and nuts.
External Factors: 19th-century South American slave raids, disease, and European contact caused further population loss and property destruction. Early South American contact is also supported by genetic evidence.
Newark Earthworks
- Located in Ohio
- Constructed by mobile farmers (moving locations year-round)
- Built by the ancestors of many Indigenous nations in the Great Lakes area
- Mortuary centre (burial components), gathering place, observatory, cathedral
- Adena-Hopewell: a religious movement that many different groups of people participate in
Early Domestication in Peru
Date: Around 3000 BCE.
Key Traits:
Domestication of crops like quinoa, potatoes, and maize in the Andean region.
Development of irrigation systems: Early Peruvians built sophisticated irrigation channels and terraces to manage water in the mountainous, arid landscape. These systems allowed for agriculture in areas with limited rainfall by redirecting water from rivers to crop fields.
Domestication of llamas and alpacas for transportation, wool, and meat.
Ile Ife
Location: Nigeria.
Key Traits: Ancient Yoruba city, considered the spiritual and cultural heart of the Yoruba people. Known for its impressive bronze and terracotta sculptures, especially of kings and deities, dating back to the 12th–15th centuries CE. It is regarded as the origin of the Yoruba civilization, with a rich tradition of art, religion, and political influence
How can Hunter-Gatherers manage Landscapes and Resources?
Firestick Alliance: Indigenous Australians used controlled burning to manage landscapes, promoting new growth and hunting opportunities.
Sustainable Foraging: Hunter-gatherers carefully managed plant resources by rotating harvest areas and leaving some plants to regenerate.
Seasonal Movements: They followed seasonal patterns to ensure resources were not overexploited, promoting long-term sustainability.
Selective Hunting: By hunting specific animals or using traps, they maintained balanced ecosystems and avoided overhunting.
Poverty Point
- Louisana
- Dates 3.5 to 3.1kya
- Six concentric earthen ridges enclosing plaza and large mounds
- Built by hunter-gatherers
- Pre-existing mounds on landscape dating almost 6000 years ago
- 1.3km across
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